The 5 Cranes

Monday, November 4, 2013

Ode to October

The last few weeks of October have flown by! There are so many fun things to do in Utah in the fall. I love it!

We generally try to discourage Ellie from eating others.

We hit up Day Farms in Layton. Who can pass up a hay ride and a pumpkin for $5? Ellie loved it. She kept waving to everyone and all the pumpkins. We found some good ones to take home. Danny's weighed in at a whopping 30 pounds. Woohoo! On the way home from the farm, we found out Danny's brother, Carl, is going to serve in the Billings, Montana mission. We are so excited for him and we know he'll be a wonderful missionary!

The 30-pounder pumpkin

On the hay ride with our pumpkins. Hi pumpkins!

Danny decided his knees just weren't up to a half-marathon this year, so he chose the 5.5 mile run instead. He did really well for taking 3-4 weeks off of training. He finished 2nd in his age group and 14th overall, with a 9 minute mile average. He got a nice pumpkin medal to take home, which is now in the abyss of Ellie's toy basket. Way to go, Danny!

Nothing like running through corn.

Thanks for the pictures, Sara!

Danny got 4 tickets to Black Island Farms for running so we went with some friends and had a fun time. I've never liked corn mazes and I think I've past this notion on to Ellie. She was on the edge of her seat (well, stroller) the whole time we were trying to get through. Finally, we just used the stroller to make our own path.

Hay!

While my family lived in North Logan, we would go to the Pumpkin Walk every year. Danny and I have gone the past 3 years, so we're hoping to keep that tradition alive. This year it was raining and cold, but we still had fun looking at what creative people can do with pumpkins

Singin' in the Rain

The Princess Bride

We were able to carve our pumpkins the day before Halloween. Ellie got a kick out of it. She went around saying, "Oh, gross!" the whole time we were carving. Danny's started out as the Headless Horseman, but morphed into an ugly elephant or something. Ellie's was Mickey Mouse/Winnie the Pooh, and I kept mine pretty traditional.

And finally, the big day of Halloween arrived. Ellie was the cutest bee. She got the Trick-or-Treat business down and said it at every house. Danny's cousin had a party, so Danny and I of course waited until the last minute to get our costumes. Danny was a zombie snowboarder and I was a farm girl (mainly because it's one of the 5 shirts I fit in at the moment). We had lots of fun!

Not so sure about the zombie/daddy thing.

Buzz!

Her cute little stinger.

October was definitely good to us. Now on to November. And here's some pictures of our beautiful girl. We tried to get some nice fall pictures like last year, but there was just so much to explore. At least we tried.

You want me to what?

Monday, September 30, 2013

It is time.

So it's October...tomorrow. Summer has flown by and we had a blast. But, we'll just leave it at that and spare the time consuming task of writing from my "pregnant & challenged" mind. On to the updates...

1. Yes, that did say "pregnant & challenged." Crane Baby #2 is coming the beginning of February. This pregnancy started out as a roller coaster, but things have thankfully slowed down. Now it's more like an "It's a Small World" type ride. Around 8 weeks we had a little scare which involved blood. More blood than you want to see when you're pregnant. After an ultrasound, our doctor discovered that I had started out with twins, but one had never really started to develop and that's where the blood was coming from. The other baby was perfect. Healthy and growing. Beautiful. My doctor wanted to do another ultrasound on my next visit, so we were able to find out a little early the answer to "The Big Question"- a boy! We're thrilled and so excited to have one of each. Ellie doesn't quite understand all the hype, but last night she was snuggling with me and rubbing my belly. She'll be a wonderful big sister!

2. Guess who is potty trained? Well, that one should be obvious. Hopefully. Ellie has been successfully using the potty for 2 weeks. She is so good about telling us when she needs to go- verbally and physically. She gets so excited. It's cute. But it was definitely not a picnic. 4 days of her running around practically naked, followed by another 4 days with just panties on, finally led to the joyful day where we donned the pants and called it a success. Stickers and M&M's did it for this kid. Good job, Ellie!

Our ghetto child

And that's Betsy the Giraffe

3. Fall is here! Fall is hands-down my favorite season of all. The trees are beautiful, the air is crisp and cool, soups and delicious delicacies filled with pumpkin find their way in to our kitchen. It's just wonderful! This fall we've whipped out our decor a tad early, but we've been enjoying it. We're still pondering what Ellie will be for Halloween. We've had some super amazing meals, tried lots of new recipes, and I just found more that will be gracing us with their presence soon. Aw yes. Fall is very good to us!

4. I recently was switched from teaching the 4-5 year old class at Church to the 9-12 year old class. Yeah, big age group. The differences between these two classes is huge! But I'm learning that bribery with fruit snacks works for any age. Yesterday I taught about the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I told the class how a posse of angry men came and attacked Carthage Jail. One of the girls in my class said, "Oh, is that what they called them back then?" I said, "No, they still use that word today." She looked at me and said, "I think we call them homies today, not a posse." I tried so hard not to laugh, but I'm not sure I made it. Got to love those kids.

5. Danny has decided to run a half marathon with his cousin, Phil. He's been doing so well with his training. We have a nice running track close to our apartment so we've been going there a lot. Ellie and I walk, Danny runs. He got up to 6 miles, but then his knees started giving him problems. He's been icing them and bought some knee braces. Hopefully he gets back up to speed soon. Anyway, because he couldn't run this weekend, we went on a walk down the Ogden River Trail. It was beautiful!

Yeah! 20 weeks.

We found a "Leaf Bug" or a bug that looks like a leaf. Ellie wasn't quite sure how to take it.

She eventually warmed up to it.

So much for that short update. And I don't know why I did 5 random things, but oh well. Here's a couple more photo gems. Happy Monday!

Strolling around the Brigham City Temple

This kid is a sour cream fanatic. Yes, we're raising her right.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

All Things Ellie!

I feel like these days are just flying by. Ellie's growing up. I want to just capture her in these moments because I know they will be gone so soon. She is a total sponge! Anything we say or do, she imitates. It is so darn cute! She loves to talk! Yesterday she mastered the art of spinning around, or twirling. Adorable! Anyway, here are some fun Ellie facts.

She loves animals. She can make the sounds of a puppy, cow, lion, bear, duck, owl, horse, elephant, parrot, kitty, bunny (for this she just pats the floor with her hand like my dad does when he's playing with their pet bunny), plus she can sound like a car and an airplane. She says "Mama", "Dada", "Ellie", "I love you", "water", "shoes", "baby", "yum", "diaper", "uh-oh", "bye-bye" and she makes cute kissing noises when you ask her for a kiss. She loves reading books. Sometimes, I'll peak into her room and she has one book in her hands while the rest are around her. Although, she also uses this time to wreak havoc on her room and pull down all her clothes, diapers, headbands, washcloths, but we won't focus on that.

She loves food! Her favorites include pasta with any sauce (as long as pasta's involved, she's good), peanut butter & honey sandwiches, quesadillas, grilled cheese, broccoli, peas, olives, cauliflower, applesauce, strawberries, grapes, oranges, pineapple, tomatoes, yogurt, crackers of all kinds, Raisin Bran Crunch, granola bars, fruit snacks, and recently Danny got her addicted to popcorn. Guess it runs in the family. Obviously, she loves going to Costco for samples.

She's not so much into toys anymore. She has a couple favorites, but gone are the days of her sitting down by her toy box and amusing herself for hours. Lately, her favorites are her baby, Minnie Mouse, blankets, anything with buttons on it (i.e. breadmaker, remote, phones, Ipad), bowls, anything she can with a handle/strap that she can carry around. She also loves shoes! Go figure. I have to hide them sometimes or she'll carry them around all day. She loves to be outside, and with the weather finally warm, it's fun for me, too. She loves songs, especially ones with actions. Isty Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Popcorn Popping, and If You're Happy and You Know It are definite favorites. I love watching her throw her arms up for "Shout Hooray!"

She knows where her nose, hair, eyes, tongue, fingers, toes, ears, and tummy are and she's not afraid to point them out on other people either. She also loves to tickle your toes. Silly girl! She likes to pat her belly after a good meal. Mmmm!

Growth wise, I think she's always going to be tall and skinny. For her 15 month check-up, she was in the 12th percentile for weight, but high 80s for height. Also, she has a big head. Welcome to the family, girly. Her head has always been in the 90th percentile. But she's definitely growing! And always eating. I'm guessing Danny and I passed on our amazing metabolism. Slightly joking, slightly serious.

Well, I think that's good for an Ellie update. I'm loving this stage! It's so much fun to be with her all day, watching her learn new things. I feel like we're just singing and dancing all day, which is fine with me. Love her!