thanks for the stroller!

Eloise absolutely loves her new stroller. She getting pretty good at cruising around the house. Thanks GraMoM and Grampa! (thanks also to Kathy and David for the adorable dog that's in the stroller!)

arf arf

here a pres, there a pres, everywhere a president

Jimmy Carter and his wife live in Plains, Ga....a quick 3 hour drive from Atlanta on a Sunday morning. We heard that he still teaches Sunday School at his local Baptist church and decided to head down there for a visit. It's hard to begin to explain what a dynamic teacher he is! He was incredibly sharp, knowledgeable and made the Old Testament come alive. It was certainly a worshipful experience. (too bad eloise had to sit this photo op out).

not to worry, I didn't actually snap a shot of him while he was teaching...we were allowed to take pictures during the introduction time only.

kitchen helper

As I was cleaning up after dinner, Eloise busied herself by unloading the drawer full of clean kitchen linens.

and then restocked it after sufficient 'fluffing' of each item

my oh my, aren't we proud of ourselves???

our little chatter box

Eloise is very into phone calls lately. She immediately cups her ear with her hand and starts talking when she hears a phone ringing. In public, she also watches anyone on their cell phone and mimicks them, always eliciting plenty of smiles!

Hanging out with Daddy

These shots are from a couple weekends ago while we were babysitting eloise's cousin, emma.

the big party

Since eloise is still totally enthralled with dogs, we had a doggie-themed birthday party to celebrate her.

The party girl, all gussied up in her new doggy dress from Aunt Laurie and Uncle Evan. Thank you!

My, oh so wonderful sister-in-law, Dawn, and I made all these pupcakes for the party. Pretty impressed, huh? It was fun until I ran upstairs to get tweezers for critical cupcake decorating maneuvers and caught my pinky toe on the edge of the doorframe and broke it! I'll spare you a picture of that.

eloise's very own little cake to devour. She actually went at it very delicately.

This is the face she makes when she's trying to make you laugh. If you make it back at her it turns into a game of back and forth.

This is a picture of eloise panting back at the toy dog that makes barking and panting noises when you squeeze its hand. She's still completlely obsessed with acting like a dog....the other day the first noise i heard on her baby monitor as she woke up from a nap was panting and then barking!

We had a great time! There are a bunch more pictures on my picasa page if you want to check them out (especially all the cute decorations, thanks for the help mom!)
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=elseelinger2&target=PHOTO&id=5378734885150371362&aid=5378734874830183089&authkey=Gv1sRgCJnAvauv3auyzwE&feat=email

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

It's hard to believe it was only a year ago that this sweet little girl came into our lives. In a weird way it seems like I can't remember what life was like before her. We are so incredibly blessed that God entrusted Eloise to Alan's and my care and pray that everyday we realize His gift. We love you baby girl, Happy 1st Birthday!