Blessing

We had Eleanor's baby blessing on December 7th. Janet and her three boys and Aaron's parents came to the blessing. It was sure nice to have them there. Janet and John picked out Eleanor's dress for me. Too cute.

The blessing itself was kind of funny. Aaron was up blessing the sacrament, so when they said they were going to bless Eleanor, Aaron just went over and stood waiting for the other men to come up. I was sitting in the back row with the family and I said to myself "Aaron, you need the baby." Aaron's mom replied "He'll figure it out." About 10 seconds later Aaron looked up at me, kind of blushed and started walking to the back to get Eleanor. It was cute and he did a great job on the blessing. Some of the ladies in the ward commented later on how cute it was that Aaron forgot the baby.

Pictures

We had some pictures taken of our girls, so I thought I would post a few.

One Month Old

Eleanor is 1 month old today. She had some trouble gaining weight the first two weeks of her life, but now that we added formula to our feeding routine she is gaining weight and she is so much more content. She has started smiling and I wish I could get it on film because it would just melt your heart. We are blessing her on the 7th and wish that family could come see our beautiful babe, but it is a bad time of year for travelling, so pictures will have to do for now. Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season.
Even though she doesn't get much sustenance from me, Eleanor loves to breastfeed, and occasionally Dad's arm will do. :)

Eleanor Rae

Eleanor was born Sunday, November 2nd, at 11:21 am. She weighs 7 lbs 12 oz and is 20" long. She has dark hair and good lungs. :) Penelope seems to be adjusting fairly well to having the little sister at home and likes to give her really soft little kisses.

Monkey

I didn't get a chance to post any pictures of Penelope's halloween costume. So here it is. She was a little nervous and shy when it came to trick or treating. We practiced saying trick or treat all the way to the door and then once we rang the bell she would freeze and hang onto my leg. But she had a lot of fun seeing kids come to our door. She loves this costume and calls it "no more monkey jumpin' on bed," not just monkey. She's cute!

Singing

Penelope was in a singing mood today while she was coloring, so I just had to take a video. If you cannot tell, she is singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Happy Day!

Today is Penelope's 2nd birthday! What a fun day. Every time she saw her birthday cake or presents this morning she would say "Happy Day." She was so excited. Yesterday we went to the store and bought a spider cake and a Cinderella balloon and today we had a little party for her with just the three of us.

This is a picture of Penelope being embarrassed and so excited as we are singing "Happy Birthday" to her. Blowing out the candle on her spider cake.Yum, purple frosting. Her American Girl baby doll and backpack that Aunt Penny sent. I wish you could have seen her when she opened it. She was so excited she was jumping up and down and yelling "yay."

Grandma Heaton sent a book called "My Mommy's Tote." This is going to be great for church!Mommy and Daddy bought Penelope a working vacuum and a playdoh set. Now she can make a mess with the playdoh and then vacuum it up afterwards. :)

Hello Belly!

Well, I am less than 3 weeks away from having this little girl and boy does it ever show. Check out that belly!!!

In the last 2-3 weeks the belly has grown exponentially. Of course, that is to be expected since this is the time when the baby gains the most weight, but it is still a little unnerving to see my midsection growing so fast.

Penelope likes my belly, especially my shallow belly button. Whenever I mention that there is a baby in my belly, Penelope says "Can I see it?" as she is lifting up my shirt. Pretty cute until the "can I see it?" happens in the grocery store and I am desperately trying to keep Penelope from lifting up my shirt. She also really likes to kiss the baby (which to her is my belly button). Aaron took a cute picture of Penelope kissing my belly button. But as cute as it is, that is one picture that will not make it onto the blog. No one needs to see my big white belly. :)

Smile for the camera. . .

I have always commented that Penelope is all girl. She has always loved pretty dresses, dancing, babies, flirting, etc. You should see it when the characters on her favorite movies kiss or when the prince arrives on the scene. Never was there a happier litle girl! Oh, and every prince is Daddy, of course. My favorite is when she starts giggling and says "They kiss," in her sweet little voice. But somehow, my girly-girl has not mastered the picture smile. She was dressing up in her dress ups the other day and I wanted to get a cute picture. This is what she did when I asked her to smile for me.

Not exactly what I had in mind.

Here is a little video of her walking in her princess shoes. She loves to hear the "click" of the shoes on the floor. I wish you all could see her on Sunday mornings when we put on her pretty dress shoes. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she starts dancing. Clickety, click, click, click.

6 more weeks. . .

So, I am now 34 weeks pregnant, which means I have about 6 weeks to go before this baby comes. I feel fairly prepared except for the fact that I cannot figure out a name for this girl. I have a bunch of names I like for boys, but I cannot seem to find something that I love for a little girl. I'm driving my poor husband crazy because I am constantly coming up with new names to ask his opinion on. I come up with a name to ask him about and I'll tell him the name and then I get silence and an "are you kidding?" kind of look. And then I am back on my quest for the perfect little girl name. It was so much easier the first time because I put Aaron in charge of the girl names and I got to choose the boy names. I didn't even have to make a decision. She was born and one of the nurses asked her name and Aaron confidently said "Penelope." Now if only I could be so confident this time.
Has anyone else had this much difficulty picking out a name? Will her name pop out at me once she is born? Any help would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Way too picky, indecisive, tentative mommy

Aaron's True Love

Aaron wanted me to post some pictures of his mistress. . . I mean motorcycle. . . for his brothers to see.

He just bought a new seat cover. . .

New front tire and rim. . .
And a new muffler.
Now as you salivate over Aaron's bike, maybe you will have a reason to come and visit us so you can take it for a spin.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Our countertops arrived on my birthday. Woo Hoo! I am so happy to have a kitchen and I'm sure Aaron is happy to have some real food too. Here are some pics of the new kitchen and our living room now that we are rid of the makeshift kitchen that was taking up half of our living room. As you can see, I am still working on painting the living room. The bay window has paper and painting tape on it still, waiting for another coat of paint. The last picture is a rockin' picture of Penelope's outfit today. She insisted on putting bloomers over her pajama pants. Totally stylin'.

Big Girl

So, I finally got around to painting Penelope's room, which meant that we could set up her twin bed with her new bedding, etc. As we were setting up the bed we were debating whether we should continue to have her sleep in the crib and get used to having the bed in the room or whether we should just make the switch. Well, she was having so much fun on the bed once we got it set up that we went ahead and took the crib down and put it away until it will be needed for the new babe. So, bedtime came around and Aaron and I were kind of nervous that we were going to have a bad night, but to our total surprise we put her to bed like we would normally do when she slept in the crib and she didn't make another sound. Out like a light. I couldn't believe it. It was the easiest transition we have ever made. Nothing like the night we made her sleep in the crib or when we got rid of the bottles. Easy! She did end up falling out of bed the first night at around 2 am, but she went right back to bed once we checked on her. (The bed is only 1 foot off of the ground thankfully.) Anyway, I am so proud of my big girl.

Pudding. . .

Kids are the best! Aaron and I just laughed and laughed at this video. Probably only funny to us, but I had to post it anyway.

Kitchen remodel

We are so incredibly close to being done with our kitchen and I am so thrilled with the way it is turning out. I just like to go in there and stand and stare. The pictures do not do it justice nor do the before pictures show how absolutely cramped the kitchen was before. I don't have any pictures of the kitchen before Aaron started pulling out the cabinets that were over the island. The stove top was on the island and above it was, of course, a vent hood. A vent hood that was so low that it came to my chin. I don't know how anyone could have cooked there. Anyway, my wonderful husband did the demo and repairs while I was away and then when I got back we fixed the walls, put in tile and installed the cabinets. Someday, if you would like a good laugh, you should ask about the geyser we created in the kitchen during cabinet install.

The first two pictures are the kitchen before. (Of course, Aaron had already removed the worst part of the kitchen). The third picture is of our makeshift kitchen that is still encamped in our living room and then the last ones are of the remodel before paint and countertops, etc. We should be getting our countertops on the 23rd or so and I have to paint and things, so I will post some more pictures later.

My Hero

Roni commented on Aaron being a hero and so I thought I would post an article that I think she was talking about.


Sweetgrass Rescue(07/18/2008) The United States Border Patrol has maintained a legacy of honor and achievement spanning 84 years and multiple generations of agents. This legacy is sustained and moved forward by the current generation of Border Patrol agents who so frequently make immense contributions to the public good. The actions of Sweetgrass, Montana Border Patrol agents on June 20, 2008 serve as a case in point. At approximately 10:30 a.m., the Sweetgrass station received a request for assistance from the Toole County Sheriff’s Department (TCSD) concerning a hiker who had suffered an apparent heat attack while hiking in the rugged Sweetgrass Hills. The hiker contacted the TCSD and advised that he was lost, had suffered a heart attack, and was stranded. Immediately after receiving the call, Sweetgrass Border Patrol agents Curtis Logan, Leon Peterson, Jerry Benge, Aaron Heaton and Lead Border patrol Agent Obadiah Rouse responded to the area and began to search for the hiker on foot. Supervisory Border Patrol Agents John M. Miller and Mike Nice responded from the Sweetgrass Station on ATVs. Within 25 minutes of receiving the call, SBPAs Miller and Nice were on scene and accessed the rugged terrain on their ATVs. Shortly after, they located the injured hiker on a steep butte and observed that he was suffering the obvious signs of a heart attack. SBPAs Miller and Nice immediately rendered first aid, stabilized the subject, returned to the staging area to pick up EMS personnel and transported them back up to the injured subject. Upon their arrival, EMS personnel began treating the subject and called for a Life Flight helicopter. While awaiting the arrival of the Life Flight, agents once again drove their ATVs back to the staging area, retrieved additional life saving equipment, and returned to the scene. Although the Life Flight arrived shortly after, it was unable to land in the immediate area due to rough terrain. Ultimately, the helicopter landed over 200 yards away, which amounted to a 30 to 45 minute hike on foot. The agents managed to use the ATVs to bring the subject to the Life Flight helicopter, where he was air lifted to a hospital in Great Falls, Montana. It was later confirmed that the subject had a heart attack and he immediately underwent surgery to relieve major heart blockage. There is little doubt that the actions of these Sweetgrass Border Patrol agents saved the injured hiker’s life. Thankfully, the victim is expected to make a full recovery based in large part on the actions of Sweetgrass Border Patrol agents. If not for their quick response, knowledge of the area, and dedication to duty the outcome would have likely been tragic.

Love you all!

Wow, I got onto my blog for the first time in what has seemed like ages (we are still waiting for the phone company to put in a DSL line for us at our new house) and I couldn't believe how many responses I had. You are all so great!

To answer some of your questions: we are partially moved into our new house. We are remodeling the kitchen and we have to wait until August 7th for our cabinets, so we will be in the move in process for quite some time, but I am so happy to be out of that nasty rental house that I could just sing. We haven't decided on any names for our new girl yet but we have made an informal list and we will just have to wait and see what fits when she is born. We are excited that Penelope will have a little sister. Sisters are definitely the best. My pregnancy is going well and I am feeling soooo much better now. I don't even feel that tired now, which is great! I will post some pictures of my house in about a month, we should be almost done with our kitchen renovations by that time. (cross your fingers) I am in the process of painting my living room and I am so excited with the way it is turning out. Love it.

For those of you that I will see in Cokeville this week and Vernal in 3 weeks, I am so excited to see you! For the rest of you, I wish I could see you soon, but I'm kind of glad you won't see me with this huge belly. :) Thanks for being great!

It's a Girl

We found out Tuesday that we are expecting another little girl. Aaron was a little disappointed but I think he is over it now. It will be very nice not to have to buy a bunch of clothes, although we will have to get a few items to keep our little one warm this winter since Penelope's clothes consisted mostly of summer items.
We are buying a house here in Shelby. We close on July 1st. It is smaller than our house in El Paso, which is kind of sad, but it is a really cute little house with a great layout, so I will get over it. We have some renovations we have to do before we move in, so we will still be renting the house we are currently living in until August. We are remodeling the kitchen in our new house and there are limited options for eating out here, so we decided to keep the rental for another month to help with cooking.
We have some trips planned for July and we are looking forward to those. Penelope and I are going to Cokeville the weekend of July 19th and we will spend about 5 days there and then we will be going to a Heaton family reunion on July 30-August 2, so we are excited to see some family since the whole purpose behind our moving from Texas to Montana was to be closer to family. So anyway, we are looking forward to the next few months even though they will be a little hectic.

Purse-y

Girl

I just had to post some pictures of my sweet girl. She has always been in to dressing up in my clothes and shoes, but now if I leave any article of clothing lying around it becomes part of her outfit. These are some pictures of her wearing my pajama top as a dress. Oh, and of course she has to have a purse. I also attached a video clip of her saying purse (pursey) and ball (bally). She has started this new thing where she adds a "y" to everything she says. Chooy (choo choo), booky, boonsy (spoon), doggy, etc.

And not only does she love dressing up, she also loves her baby, her toy kitchen, spoons and cups. She really enjoys "making us food" and then feeding it to us. She also wraps her baby in blankets, hugs and kisses her and puts her in the stroller for a walk. She also loves to sing. She just learned the birthday song, except for her version just repeats happy over and over and over again. It is really quite cute. I'll try to get a video of her singing it. Her favorite time to sing though is when we are in church. As soon as the organ starts playing, Penelope opens the hymn book and starts singing as loudly as possible. In a ward with lots of kids this would probably not make any difference, but in a tiny little branch that is totally silent the whole meeting, quite a different story. Anyway, she is fun and keeps me very busy.

Montana

We have finally surfaced! I know it has been a long time since we have been in contact with anyone, sorry about that. We are currently renting a house in Shelby, MT, but we are looking at a house in Sunburst that we might buy. We haven't found a whole lot of choices when it comes to housing here. We were quite disappointed in all of the house that we were shown. Most of the houses in this area were built in the 1920-1940's and are basically not in great shape. They are also all only 2 or 3 bedrooms, which is hard with a growing family. Anyway, this house in Sunburst is not perfect, but it has potential. It has a really big yard which will be great for the kids and a big garage which will be great for Aaron, and for me. . . newly remodeled kitchen!! Unfortunately it only has 3 bedrooms and no basement, so we may have to add on at some point. Anyway, we'll let you know what we decide.

Mohawk

Hee Hee!

2 Weeks!!!!

Well, we accepted an offer on our house and our tentative closing date is April 30th. That's right, I have 2 weeks to pack up and move and I am freaking out just a little. Ok, maybe a lot. It seems like I have something already scheduled for Penelope or Aaron or I every day for the next 2 weeks, so I have no idea when packing is going to occur. It also doesn't help that Penelope is being very clingy. I think she knows something is going on and wants to be close to me. Anyway, I'm sure I will get it done somehow. Montana here we come!

Sweetgrass, Montana

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, Aaron accepted a transfer to Sweetgrass, Montana. We will probably live in Shelby, MT, a town of about 3000 that is about 100 miles north of Great Falls and about an hour east of Glacier National Park. It is kind of funny that we got this station because Aaron did not apply for this station, so we are just going to go with the flow and see what it brings. We are excited to be (a little) closer to family. My sister Janet lives in Great Falls so we will be really close to them. Our tentative date that we have to be there is June 8th but that may change. I guess if we sell the house sooner than that then they will change our date. Anyway, we are excited and hope that we will be able to find a house there and get settled before we have this baby in November.

Riddle. . .

“What type of bun bakes in an oven, but can’t be eaten?”

Pigtails. . .

I just had to post a picture of Penelope's first pigtails. Yeah!

Cheerios

I am so use to giving Penelope Cheerios as a finger food, that I almost forgot their real purpose. We had a big lunch today for Easter since Aaron had to go to sleep after lunch, so I decided that cereal and strawberries would be an adequate dinner. Well, I already know that Penelope loves strawberries, but I had no idea how she would react to her beloved Cheerios being doused with milk. She ate 3 small bowls of cereal and as you can see, she was having a great time and loved every bite. It is so fun to see her reaction to new foods. Last week I had her try pickles and if I let her she would eat a whole jar.

Squinty Eyes

This is the opposite of scowling. When Penelope is trying to be cute she tilts her head to the side and gently closes her eyes, smiles and then squints a little. Too cute. We can't get enough of it!

Oh, and as you can see she likes homemade strawberry jam.

Scowling. . .

Penelope has just started scowling at us. It is so funny. When she is mad at me she bunches her little eyebrows together and squits her eyes a little. The bad part is that I know she gets it from me because that's what I do when she is in trouble. This pictures is only a little taste of her scowl. This is a kind of, what are you holding, scowl. You should see it when she is really mad.

We have started potty training and it is going pretty well. We got out the potty because I was going to start trying when she was 18 months but she was interested in it and so I put her on and she started peeing! It is kind of a hit and miss during the day but every morning this week she has woken up dry and I immediately put her on the potty and she does her business. I need to get some training pants for her, diapers are just way too good at absorbing. Anyway, I am hoping she will continue to do well with the potty. She seems to like it now.

Penelope is my little helper. I had her help me pick up all of the pine cones in the front yard one day and now whenever she sees a pine cone out in the yard she has to pick it up and take it to the garbage.