You may need to sit down- This is adorable!

Eliza Barking:



More barking:



Last but not least, my favorite:

Eliza the ham!

, a photo by Rachel and Mark H. on Flickr.

Eliza updates. Her birthday is coming up!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow. We're celebrating on the 17th at my mom's house. Eliza's grandma Nancy will be in town to celebrate.

She can now bark, meow and moo. We're working on quack, but its slow going. She likes to click her tounge and sing along to whatever song is in her head. She has started rockin' out to music and has the one legged jig down. She sort of dances like her daddy!

She has been super fussy the past few days. We think more teeth are coming in. She had a slight fever last night 99, but it was gone by this morning and she was in a great mood. She isn't eating very well either.

Normally though, this baby is a hog. We sort of skipped the cereals and purees because she didn't want them and we're following "baby led weaning" where you let the baby tell you what they want. We just hand her what we're eating and she eats it. Its pretty simple. Last night she shared my chicken burrito. She also loves citrus. She has been eating oranges off the tree at my brother's house. She is still nursing like a little pig. She loves it. I hope that food starts to become her #1 source of food and I can become #2 and slowly phase out, but we'll see what she wants.

She is doing really well at her daycare. Things are good there.

My new job is going really well. I am happy, and that is important.

Thats all for now!

Eliza the happy and smiley little gal!

a photo by Rachel and Mark H. on Flickr.

Eliza updates!

She is now talking. She can say "dog" "mama" "dada" and she can bark. It sounds more like "ahh ahha" but she does it. She can also wave bye bye. She points to parts of the face if you say them. Nose is her favorite. She can point out the cat and dog in her favorite book. She is also turning book pages front and back when she reads with you. She climbs down and sometimes will sit in front of the book shelf and read by herself for up to an hour!

She is learning how to pet the dogs. I can say "pat Slappy" and she pats her, then I say "rub slappy" and she rubs her. I am working on high five, but she doesnt slap, she just sticks her hand up to yours.

Her birthday is about a month away and we're super excited. We're planning it at my mom's but if the weather is nice, we'll move it to the park. Lots of people are planning to come!

She is so much fun!

A lovely San Francisco day!

The family took a drive to see the beautiful Baker Beach in SF. The sky was clear, the ocean was beautiful and we loved playing in the sand!

This is a perfect picture- poor Eliza had the sun in her eyes, but its cute nonetheless!

Mark got an iPhone

And he has fun with the photo capabilities!

Is it bad to compare?

Park date with cousin Ava Rose *picture heavy*

It was 77 degrees and sunny, so we took full advantage!



Eliza met some friends:












I don't know why, but this picture reminds me of a picture we have of slappy

Eliza is a food maniac!

Eliza has just recently started showing interest in foods. We have decided to just forgo the cereals and purees, because she doesn't really like them. We're doing a more "baby led weaning" style by feeding her chunks of food. She has started loving food. We give her blueberries, peas, butternut squash french fries (I cut it like french fries and bake it with some olive oil), whole grain breads, banana, etc. All whole, and all just handed to her. She has recently started eating chicken. Now that she has 4 teeth, she is really eating well. She loves mexican chicken and can even handle heat. I gave her some food that was a little to spicy and she looked at me funny, but continued to eat it.

Eliza's first taste of chicken:








This is just cute:

Good news!

Mark passed his jurisprudence test! This is the last thing he needed to do before getting licensed in California.

YAY!

For your viewing pleasure- Eliza!

Eliza had a nice weekend!

Here are some cute pictures of her trip to Grant's first birthday party!

Daddy/Nugget day take 2

Daddy and Eliza went to Barnes and Nobel to look at books and then to a play place. These are the pictures that were sent to me at work!

Learning to climb stairs at B&N:



Eliza in the parking lot of B&N refusing to get in her car seat in the cutest possible way!



At the play place:

Eliza's new game!

Eliza loves Sassy. She also loves food. Sassy loves food.

Eliza + Food = Happy Sassy and Happy Eliza

Hey Sassy, do you like banana?



Here, have some!



Why thank you Eliza, I think I will!



And we all lived happily ever after!



The end!

Um... SUPER PROUD!!!!!!!!!!!

Some posed pictures I took because I knew I would miss KC!

I knew the moment that Ava Rose was born that we would end up back here in the Bay. I felt really sentimental about my beloved Kansas City before we left and we took a ton of pictures on our dog walks. We were so lucky to live in the coolest neighborhood of the coolest area of KC, in the coolest house ever! Here are some pictures of what we looked at every day-











I miss you kansas city!

Eliza and her Potato Pig

IMG_1947
Originally uploaded by Rachel and Mark H.

Eliza loves to harass Sassy in her crate. Sassy doesn't seem to care, but Eliza always goes over to the crate. We have since taken the crate down and put up a baby gate so that Sassy can be more free range, and she ignores Eliza for the most part. When Eliza eats, she throws food down for Sassy and they have fun

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 2011 Everyone!

We have a lot going on this year but first, some good news: Our house in KC is rented! Thank god! Three nursing students asked for an 18 month lease! We're very happy about this. Perhaps after 18 months of renting, we can put a little money into it and sell it. We love that house so much!

Mark is still working on details, but he may have a part-time teaching gig up his sleeve, more to come on that later!

We're very happy in our new condo. Our heating bill in KC averaged around $400 a month in the winter for gas/electricity. Here in CA its $77! We're very pleased about that.

The dogs are doing well. Its been so rainy here that they have been stuck in doors a lot. We try to get them out as much as possible, but its hard with the baby. Rain + Baby = Sad dogs.

Eliza took her first trip away from us this week. She went with Joey, Rachelle, Jenny and Ava to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. It was the furthest and longest Eliza had ever been away from me. I worried about her, not because of my family, but just the sheer fact that she was far away. I knew she had a blast, but its hard to let your little girl go. She came home extra late, so I went from about 7:30am-6:50pm without seeing her. Almost 12 hours. It was rough. She was in a good mood and was very happy. We're so glad to have family around so Eliza can benefit from being raise by many loving people! Here are some pictures!