I hope you have a wonderful day, and look forward to many more years of you spoiling me! Love you, Eleanor
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Happy Birthday, Grandma!
I hope you have a wonderful day, and look forward to many more years of you spoiling me! 
Monday, April 19, 2010
Yummy!
Ellie got her first experience with food other than breastmilk on Friday, yummy rice cereal. Overall, she was a fan and even opened her mouth for more!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
It's Race Day, Daddy!
Good luck at your race today, Daddy! As my 'Race Day Shirt' says: Eat My Daddy's Dust!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Rolling Over!
Nick and I were sitting in the living room this morning watching Ellie have tummy time on the floor, when she started to look like she was going to roll over. I commented that it would be awesome to have her first time rolling over on video, but most likely I would go get the camera and end up with 5 minutes of tummy time. I still decided to run to the other room to grab the camera just in case. Sure enough as I am grabbing the camera I hear Nick get really excited and cheering Ellie on as she rolled over! Although I didn't get to see it, because I was more concerned with getting it on video, I am glad Nick got to see it and experience such a milestone.
We quickly flipped her back to her tummy and sure enough, before I could get the camera turned on and recording she rolled over again! Here is the tail-end of her second roll:
Once again we flipped her back to her tummy, hoping to capture the full event, but she was done with her performances and having none of it. Two times on a Saturday at home, I cannot complain. Way to go Ellie!
We quickly flipped her back to her tummy and sure enough, before I could get the camera turned on and recording she rolled over again! Here is the tail-end of her second roll:
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tough Decisions
This past weekend was a sad one in the Larson’s household, as we said good-bye to our four furry friends, Toby, Oliver, Cooper and Noah.
Over a month ago, Nick and I had the discussion on what to do about the animals because my allergies were not getting any better, and I was tired of feeling like I had a ‘cold’ constantly. We decided it was time to find new homes for the animals.
A little back story: 6 years ago when I got the cats, then kittens, I had no idea I had allergies. About 2 years later I went to the doctor to figure out what to do with this ‘cold’ that I had been having for a year. Surprise, surprise- I found out I was allergic to dogs and cats. Since I wasn’t about to give up my cats, I started doing whatever I could to help with the allergies. I limited where the cats could go. I tried not to nuzzle my nose in their fur. I took medicine every day. I cleaned… a lot. During this time I met a boy who just happened to have two large labs. Go figure we would fall in love, and our houses would merge just over 2 years later. I stepped up the actions to help with the allergies. Weekly shot therapy for a person who HATES shots, very expensive nose sprays, and more cleaning--- lots more cleaning. Nothing fixed the problem, and the shots and nose sprays didn’t help any.
Over the past few months, my allergies started to get worse. I couldn’t tell when a cold stopped and the allergies took over. It was frustrating. I felt like I was constantly sick with sneezing, a running nose, coughing and headaches. The decision was made to re-home the animals. It wasn’t an easy one. Probably one of the hardest ones I/we have ever had to make. I know, the die-hard animals lovers out there are probably thinking “how could you,” and the non-animal lovers are thinking “who cares.” Until you actually live through the situation, it is hard to fully understand. At this point I had to be selfish and put my quality of life first.
We got really lucky with the dogs, Cooper and Noah, as one of Nick’s old co-workers said she would adopt them. The dogs started their two week trial period in Newton on Saturday (to make sure the dogs get along with their new doggy siblings and that eliminating the animals makes a difference in my ‘cold’). It sounds like they will have a rough life ahead of them in Newton… NOT… daily walks, no kenneling during the day and a bed of their very own to share with their new brother dog and sister dog! They are living the high life now. We were not as lucky with the cats, Toby and Oliver. We thought we found a home for Toby, but that fell through. Then we found a lady who was going to start a re-homing service for cats and would take both of them, but that too fell through. Postings on CraigsList, Petfinder, work classifieds and memos to friends didn’t result in a good home for the little guys. The cats ended up going to the ARL on Friday. I was very sad to have to take them there, but after talking with the workers there I felt a little better since Toby and Oliver seem highly adoptable, and I am hoping will find a new home really soon (if not already).
The house is quiet and it gets a little lonely at times. I know that with time this will pass, and Ellie will keep us busy for years to come. I will miss playing fetch with Toby (he plays fetch better than a dog!), and watching Oliver roll around in an effort to get attention. I will miss Oliver playing with his rolling ball, and Toby lying in sun patches looking up at me with his sleepy eyes. I will miss the love they give when I am sad or feeling sick. I won’t miss their scratching at the door to get out in the morning. Or their jumping on the kitchen counter to see if we happened to leave them some extra food (although I am still baffled as to how Toby could get an entire loaf of bread off the counter in the kitchen, down the hall, and over the baby gate into his room--- without help.) I won’t miss Cooper slobbering all over the floor after getting a drink of water, but I will miss the love that he gives to Nick. I will miss Noah, and how all he wants in the world is love and food. I won’t miss the hair and dander, or cleaning as much. Most of all, I won’t miss the sniffling, blowing my nose, sneezing, headaches and coughing. I can already tell a difference, and haven’t had a headache in a few days! I hope it continues to get better after we get through the spring allergy season (I also have seasonal allergies). Only time will tell.
Miss these little (and big) guys!
Over a month ago, Nick and I had the discussion on what to do about the animals because my allergies were not getting any better, and I was tired of feeling like I had a ‘cold’ constantly. We decided it was time to find new homes for the animals.
A little back story: 6 years ago when I got the cats, then kittens, I had no idea I had allergies. About 2 years later I went to the doctor to figure out what to do with this ‘cold’ that I had been having for a year. Surprise, surprise- I found out I was allergic to dogs and cats. Since I wasn’t about to give up my cats, I started doing whatever I could to help with the allergies. I limited where the cats could go. I tried not to nuzzle my nose in their fur. I took medicine every day. I cleaned… a lot. During this time I met a boy who just happened to have two large labs. Go figure we would fall in love, and our houses would merge just over 2 years later. I stepped up the actions to help with the allergies. Weekly shot therapy for a person who HATES shots, very expensive nose sprays, and more cleaning--- lots more cleaning. Nothing fixed the problem, and the shots and nose sprays didn’t help any.
Over the past few months, my allergies started to get worse. I couldn’t tell when a cold stopped and the allergies took over. It was frustrating. I felt like I was constantly sick with sneezing, a running nose, coughing and headaches. The decision was made to re-home the animals. It wasn’t an easy one. Probably one of the hardest ones I/we have ever had to make. I know, the die-hard animals lovers out there are probably thinking “how could you,” and the non-animal lovers are thinking “who cares.” Until you actually live through the situation, it is hard to fully understand. At this point I had to be selfish and put my quality of life first.
We got really lucky with the dogs, Cooper and Noah, as one of Nick’s old co-workers said she would adopt them. The dogs started their two week trial period in Newton on Saturday (to make sure the dogs get along with their new doggy siblings and that eliminating the animals makes a difference in my ‘cold’). It sounds like they will have a rough life ahead of them in Newton… NOT… daily walks, no kenneling during the day and a bed of their very own to share with their new brother dog and sister dog! They are living the high life now. We were not as lucky with the cats, Toby and Oliver. We thought we found a home for Toby, but that fell through. Then we found a lady who was going to start a re-homing service for cats and would take both of them, but that too fell through. Postings on CraigsList, Petfinder, work classifieds and memos to friends didn’t result in a good home for the little guys. The cats ended up going to the ARL on Friday. I was very sad to have to take them there, but after talking with the workers there I felt a little better since Toby and Oliver seem highly adoptable, and I am hoping will find a new home really soon (if not already).
The house is quiet and it gets a little lonely at times. I know that with time this will pass, and Ellie will keep us busy for years to come. I will miss playing fetch with Toby (he plays fetch better than a dog!), and watching Oliver roll around in an effort to get attention. I will miss Oliver playing with his rolling ball, and Toby lying in sun patches looking up at me with his sleepy eyes. I will miss the love they give when I am sad or feeling sick. I won’t miss their scratching at the door to get out in the morning. Or their jumping on the kitchen counter to see if we happened to leave them some extra food (although I am still baffled as to how Toby could get an entire loaf of bread off the counter in the kitchen, down the hall, and over the baby gate into his room--- without help.) I won’t miss Cooper slobbering all over the floor after getting a drink of water, but I will miss the love that he gives to Nick. I will miss Noah, and how all he wants in the world is love and food. I won’t miss the hair and dander, or cleaning as much. Most of all, I won’t miss the sniffling, blowing my nose, sneezing, headaches and coughing. I can already tell a difference, and haven’t had a headache in a few days! I hope it continues to get better after we get through the spring allergy season (I also have seasonal allergies). Only time will tell.
Miss these little (and big) guys!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Ellie and Sophie
When Ellie was born our friends, Rich, Jess and Ben, sent her this really cute gift pack. It included a number of toys that their little boy loved. Along with that they had written a little bit about each item and why Ben loved it. What a great idea! (In fact, I may have to steal it for future friend’s babies.)
One of the items was Sophie the Giraffe by Vulli. Little did the gift giver know that giraffe’s are one of Nick’s favorite zoo animals, so it was an instant hit with Ellie’s Mom and Dad.
This toy is the greatest! For such a small, simple looking toy it covers all the bases with the baby’s senses:
Sight: the dark and light colors are great for a little baby to recognize from the beginning.
Taste: Sophie is flexible and has lots of parts that fit into a baby’s mouth, without causing the baby to choke. Parts like ears, legs, nose/mouth (which happens to be Ellie’s favorite part to “kiss”). Sophie is also soft enough that she doesn’t hurt the baby and rubber so it is easy for Mom and Dad to clean off.
Touch: the legs and neck are perfect for little baby fingers to grasp and are flexible to squeeze.
Smell: well, it smells like rubber. But since it is super easy to clean off (unlike other stuffed toys), it doesn’t smell like baby spit up!
Sound: Sophie squeaks, which gets the attention of small child. Unfortunately for us, it also gets the attention of a very playful brown Cooper dog. Thanks to a protective Mommy and Daddy, Cooper has only been able to play with Sophie once (he made it into the bedroom he is not supposed to be in, jumped on the bed he is not supposed to get on and grabbed the toy he is not supposed to touch). But, since Sophie is so durable and easy to clean off, even a dog’s mouth didn’t matter!
I would also like to note that Sophie made her debut on my favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless. I was watching it on-line, spotted her and had to pause it so Ellie and Nick could see. She must be an awesome toy if she made it on TV!
The best part is that Ellie loves Sophie even more than I do! When we bring Sophie out for Ellie to play with she gets an instant grin on her face; she has also been known to take Sophie with her everywhere (to church, car rides, visits to friend's houses, she even tried to take her to day-care the other day). Want proof of just how cool Sophie is:
So there it is. A little bit about Ellie’s current favorite toy, and why I love it so much too. Thanks Rich and Jess!
One of the items was Sophie the Giraffe by Vulli. Little did the gift giver know that giraffe’s are one of Nick’s favorite zoo animals, so it was an instant hit with Ellie’s Mom and Dad.
This toy is the greatest! For such a small, simple looking toy it covers all the bases with the baby’s senses:
Sight: the dark and light colors are great for a little baby to recognize from the beginning.
Taste: Sophie is flexible and has lots of parts that fit into a baby’s mouth, without causing the baby to choke. Parts like ears, legs, nose/mouth (which happens to be Ellie’s favorite part to “kiss”). Sophie is also soft enough that she doesn’t hurt the baby and rubber so it is easy for Mom and Dad to clean off.
Touch: the legs and neck are perfect for little baby fingers to grasp and are flexible to squeeze.
Smell: well, it smells like rubber. But since it is super easy to clean off (unlike other stuffed toys), it doesn’t smell like baby spit up!
Sound: Sophie squeaks, which gets the attention of small child. Unfortunately for us, it also gets the attention of a very playful brown Cooper dog. Thanks to a protective Mommy and Daddy, Cooper has only been able to play with Sophie once (he made it into the bedroom he is not supposed to be in, jumped on the bed he is not supposed to get on and grabbed the toy he is not supposed to touch). But, since Sophie is so durable and easy to clean off, even a dog’s mouth didn’t matter!
I would also like to note that Sophie made her debut on my favorite soap opera, The Young and the Restless. I was watching it on-line, spotted her and had to pause it so Ellie and Nick could see. She must be an awesome toy if she made it on TV!
The best part is that Ellie loves Sophie even more than I do! When we bring Sophie out for Ellie to play with she gets an instant grin on her face; she has also been known to take Sophie with her everywhere (to church, car rides, visits to friend's houses, she even tried to take her to day-care the other day). Want proof of just how cool Sophie is:
So there it is. A little bit about Ellie’s current favorite toy, and why I love it so much too. Thanks Rich and Jess!Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter!
I hope everyone takes time to remember the real reason for the holiday, and truly appreciate the sacrifice that was made by one Man so many years ago.
Happy Easter!
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