Erin Learns Peek-a-boo

What can I say? I think this is the cutest thing in the world!

Lots of Giggling

Last week I had a "proud Mom" moment - I put the girls down for their naps and then I heard them giggling back and forth. Of course the sound was so cute that Mike and I opened the door to peek in on them. Erin was peeking out of her crib at Elaina who was in her bed and they were both taking turns giggling at each other and making each other laugh. It was the first time I got to go in and say "ok girls, it's time for bed - no more giggling." I had to put on my pretend-stern face because I was actually so excited that they were being cute and having fun together - and I'm sure it was the last time I'll think it was fun to hear my girls playing when they're supposed to be sleeping. I just love watching the two of them growing up to become best little friends!

They've always gotten along remarkably well, but lately they're becoming friends - Elaina even calls Erin sweetie, it's so cute. And Elaina will cheer every time Erin wakes up or she's even started sneeking into the bedroom when Erin is sleeping to wake her up and play with her. She acts so innocent about it (because she knows she's not supposed to wake Erin up) - but she'll go in, wake her up, and then come running to me in another room saying "Erin's awake!! Yay, Erin's awake!!" Or if Erin's asleep in the car, she'll yell at her "Erin, wake up!!"


And Erin only has eyes for Elaina when Elaina's in the room - she'll just watch her every move with a huge grin on her face, waiting to see what big sister is going to do next. Erin starts giggling every time Elaina jumps - that's her favorite thing to watch.

Happy Valentine's Day

I tried and tried to get a cute picture of my girls in their Valentine's Day pajamas to post of the blog ...but I should have known that it's impossible to get a picture where both girls look cute at the same time - when one looked cute, the other was either looking away or slouched or something. And then Elaina just got goofy which meant that all hope was lost for a good picture...but of course I kept trying to get them to pose and be cute and so she kept getting goofier and started doing exactly what I wanted her NOT to do and the pictures just kept getting worse. So, after taking a million pictures that weren't great, the photo-shoot ended with Mom upset & Elaina hyper (right before bed)...and of course no good pictures of both the girls. But since I tried so hard, here are some of the not-so-good pictures for Valentines day:


Elaina made some beautiful pictures for all of us - using finger paints, crayons and pom-poms that she glued onto the cards. She also got Valentine's from some of her friends at playgroup this morning and got some more in the mail from Nana M and cousins in Calgary. They were Thomas-the-Train Valentines so they were a big hit!


We hope all of you had a fabulous Valentine's Day!!!

Elaina Loves To Sing

Anyone who's been around Elaina recently knows that she LOVES to sing...and she does it ALL THE TIME!!! She really is constantly singing and we love it! We'll be driving in the car and she'll be singing in the backseat to herself and gradually it gets louder and louder until Mike and I can't hear ourselves talking to each other in the front seat. Plus, how do we know what Elaina did in nursery each Sunday? Elaina spends the whole car ride home singing all the songs to us. And it's really exciting when she's singing a song that we know we haven't taught her - it means she learned and remembered it from church or somewhere else. And when we sing to her at bedtime she always chooses the song (and gets mad if you sing one that she hasn't chosen) and she ALWAYS sings along. She gets the hymn book out during church and sing from any random page - but keeps it open and sings from it during the whole song...and if she doesn't know the words she sings "aaahhhh." And she has a cd player in her toyroom (thanks to her Nana & Grandpa Ducky) that she turns on and sings along to while she is playing. And of course what is her favorite activity of the week?!? MUSIC MAKERS!!!! It's amazing to me how many songs she knows, but I guess all of her day is spent either listening to music or making her own music. :) So I remembered that my Mom took some videos of her singing at Christmas time - of course, isn't a grandparent's favorite past-time to watch their grandchildren perform for hours on end? So here are some videos of my little performer.





A few other funny things - the second video starts off with her singing one of our favorites - she learned the song "Where is Thumpkin?" around Halloween time so she thought it said "Where the Pumpkin?" So in her version, she sings "where's a pumpkin? where's a pumpkin?"

She also has her own version of "Popcorn Popping"....rather than singing "I could take an armful and make a treat" she sings "I can take a farmer and make a treat" It cracks me up every time!

Erin's Baby Blessing

We had Erin's baby blessing while we were in California last month. It was special because we got to do with with Mike's side of the family, and almost everyone was there. We did it at their house. Here are some pictures of Erin's blessing day.

Erin & Daddy

Dad, Mom & Erin

Erin & Opa

Those that participated in the blessing: 2 Uncles, Dad, and Opa

L-R: Steve, Tim, Mike & Erin, Kyle

Trousdale clan - all but Kelli :(

Our Christmas with the Trousdales

On Christmas Eve we flew to Simi Valley, California to spend Christmas with Mike's family. Since Mike is the oldest of 7 and his brothers are between missions, its a rare opportunity that we all get to be together. But this year everyone was home for most of the time - so it was a full house, and so much fun! Elaina and Erin of course got lots of attention from grandparents & aunts & uncles. It was a good month for the girls! :) Here are some pictures of our trip

On our way to Grandma & Opa's house

Elaina & Aunt Kelli. Elaina claimed this crown as her own when it was really a gift for Kelli. She looks like a grouch in this picture, but I liked the crown, and at least Kelli looks cute :)

Mr. Illusionist himself - impressing everyone with his magic tricks.

I don't think Erin likes the mohawk Uncle Jonny gave her - thank goodness!

Erin & Uncle Tim

Going for a walk: Elaina & Aunt Staci

Feeding Aunt Staci's hamster

Erin & Grandma on Christmas morning

We love to go feed the ducks when we go to Simi Valley!


Helping Grandma make her oh-so-YUMMY cinnamon rolls

Monte Monte Caballo

My Dad started this thing when I was a little girl that now continues with the next generation. He made up this song (it's half in Spanish, half in English) that he sings while bouncing us on his legs, and then flips us over his head. Here's how the song goes:

Monte Monte Caballo
Caballo se llama Ducky
Ducky's legs go up and down
Little Elaina - she - flies - OFF!!

(when I was little I couldn't say Dad, so I called him Ducky, so now Elaina calls him Grandpa Ducky...so, that's why the "caballo's" name is Ducky...)

Anyways, I remember him doing this over and over with us as little kids and it's one of my favorite memories. I couldn't find a picture of him doing it with me, but here's a picture of my sister Jen getting a "Monte Monte Caballo" ride:


And as you can see, the tradition continues:

It's a good thing my Dad exercises regularly
because he's still got a few years of this ahead of him :)

Our Pre-Christmas Day

I'm so behind on our blog - I'm still posting stuff from December, but my Mom took SO many cute pictures while she was here and I just want to share them all - well, ok, I'll spare you from having to see ALL of them, but here are some! :) Even though these are almost a month late, I hope you all still enjoy them anyway!

These are pictures of our pre-Christmas. We were lucky enough this year to be with both sides of our family for the Christmas holidays - we were in California on Christmas day, and so we opened some presents with my parents when they were here the week before.

It's hard work opening presents!

This was a gift to both Elaina and Erin - and so we told Elaina to go sit beside Erin and have Erin help to open it. So, this is where Elaina plopped herself down so that Erin could help. And Erin just looks so thrilled to be involved in the present opening :)

Noisy toys! Mom and Dad's favorite! :)

Mike's usually more excited about building blocks than the kids, but that's ok :)

New pajamas from Nana M - a Christmas Eve tradition

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

My parents went to China this fall and brought us back 3 kites. Elaina had never flown a kite before and it's been so long for Mike & I, and my parents too probably. We had the funnest time - it brought back so many childhood memories for me.

Yes, Erin was included too - and she had the warmest spot of all:
cozy and happy in the stroller, and just content to watch! :)