Elena's 1st CD

Yet another highlight of our stay in Rochester was visiting Uncle Tom’s studio. Seth’s uncle is a DJ on the radio, and we brought Elena to the studio to record her talking. Of course, she froze up and wouldn’t talk even though she talks almost non-stop otherwise. We eventually got her to say a few phrases, and Tom put her voice over a few songs so she now has her very first CD. He also put her on live radio. If anyone was listening to the radio in the Rochester area and heard a little voice going "uh-oh!" and "bye-bye" during a Mariah Carey song, that was Elena.
She loves her new CD and gets mad if we try to play anything else. Here's a video of her dancing to it in the studio.

Pumpkins

As promised, here's footage of Elena running through the pumkin patch.

Our Little Lab Rat

While in Rochester, we were able to go visit an orchard with all sorts of yummy apples and pumpkins. Elena had a blast running through the pumkins, yelling "Pumkin! Pumkin!" (although it sounded more like "Papi! Papi!") I'll save that video for another day.

Also at the orchard, there was a little maze for the kids to run through. We stuck Elena at the beginning and she very quickly ran through. It was an easy maze, but we were still pretty impressed. Here she is at the finish. As soon as she was done, she ran back to the beginning and started over. What fun!

Making Friends

We're staying with Seth's aunt and uncle in Rochester this week while he trains for his new job. It's loads of fun, and Elena loves having more people to play with. She woke up at 3:00 this morning and kept trying to get out of bed, saying "Ka-col" (that's how she says Michael, Seth's cousin).

I was also going to write about Elena's progress in the world of making friends, but the news has already made it onto another blog (with a better picture than I have) so I'll just direct you there. Joy writes better than I do anyway. Simply click on Muffinshire on the right side of the screen and read the entry for Sept. 29th. Ciao for now!

Goodbye, Old House!

This last week has been a time for major life changes around here.

1st, My sister had her baby Thursday of last week- you already knew that.

The next day, Seth had his last day of work at True Value. He was offered a job selling life insurance with the Knights of Columbus and, after many months of consideration, decided to take it. The first year or two will be a big adjustment for us, but in the long run it has a lot of potential. He will now be working from home, which is great...although he'll also be working mostly evenings which will take some getting used to. We also hope that I will be able to do some of the office work to give him more time with the kids. We've had to promise everyone at True Value, though, that we'd still stop by to visit - Elena has made quite a few friends there!

The following Wednesday, my best friend from college moved back to the UAE after 7 years in the States. We're really going to miss you, Rachana!

Also in the last week, my parents moved to a new house in Marshall and sold their house of 20 years. We'll miss the giant yard with all the fruit trees and the porch. We also had to say goodbye to Maria's cat, Blaze, who has moved to a farm. (The video below is of Elena saying goodbye to Blaze just before he left). It will be sad not having a home in Cottonwood, but it will be nice having Papi and Grandma in Marshall since we go there about once a week.

Welcome, Alex!

We've got a new arrival in the family. My sister and her husband just had their baby, Alex, on Sept. 18th. He is an absolute sweetheart, and Elena just loves him. She can already say his name.

Here they are meeting for the first time. Elena is pointing out his eye. (Why must it always be the eye??)

And here she is giving him a kiss.

In honor of the new baby, 2 of our best friends from the ol' Cottonwood days, Mandy and Alissa, came down to visit with their Mom (Deb is pictured above). The 4 of us girls grew up like sisters, and now we've all had babies in the last 17 months. It was so fun to see all the babies in their different stages - we had a newborn, a roller, a crawler and a toddler.

Here we are! (Mandy is standing with Sophie, and Alissa has Markelle (who was sleeping)).

And here's Elena working on sharing with Markelle.

Be ready for lots more baby pictures in the future. My "women I know who are pregnant" list was up to 25 at one point. It's actually been maintaining itself right around 20 because every time someone has a baby, it seems someone else gets pregnant. Looks like all the Baby Boomers' kids are starting a baby boom of their own. What fun!

10 Little Indians

My apologies to anyone who is offended by the political incorrectness of this song, but she absolutely loves it.

She does this all the time....

I don't even want to know what she'll be like as a teenager.

Wearing Daddy's Socks

New Pictures

Sorry about the long wait. It seems like life gets busier every day. Also, I've been reading a couple of good books lately which takes over computer time.

Not too much news here. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Helping Mom fold laundry


The downside: I had to sweep up and throw half a box of cereal.
The upside: It's probably the healthiest cereal available, and she loves it!




Showing her muscles!

She's even got the "stoned" look for her rock star impersonation.