Eleanor Gore Sturdivant

Introducing Eleanor Gore Sturdivant

Born August 24, 2011 at 5:05pm

7lb, 8oz  20 inches long

Absolute perfection. 

 

What a beautiful family!

Moppy always says, "You can never be closer to God than when you hold a brand-spankin'-new baby. Straight out of His arms."  So true, Mop.

Uh Oh... Spaghetti-O

First time for spaghetti:  Success. 

Silas (in total "boy" fashion) was not timid about jumping right in. Avery, however, approached the slimy, sauce-covered noodles with care. She pinched each noodle for inspecion and after satisfactory approval she began to stuff her face too. They had a blast. So did we.  They no doubt get their manners from...  I foresee many family suppers where we learn from the book Soup Should be Seen, Not Heard.



"May we touch it? Really??!!"




"Slippery noodles... "




"Can't stop... so good!"




Excuse me!




FYI, that's a spoon with a knob on the end... not a tennis ball. According to Silas, spoons are for smearing everything on the tray.




Get in my belly!!


Of course, we held both at arms length and placed directly in the bathtub. And yes, I cleaned noodles out of the tub.

Sunday afternoon, we went for a swim!  The challenge this time was keeping them in the pool. They wanted to get in and then get out, get in then out, pet Millie through the railing, get in.... you get the picture.

Poor Millie wanted to be a part of the party.



Silas and Avery loved the bubbles!

We're anxiously awaiting cousin Eleanor's arrival WEDNESDAY!!  Since most of the family will be in town today, we're going to have Silas and Avery's "first" birthday party this afternoon. Seriously... has it been a year??  I don't even want to think about it! 

p.s. Avery is taking about 5 - 6 steps before sitting down.... any day now we'll have another bipedalist in the Warf household!  (Silas is still hanging on with white knuckles... cute cautious little guy. I will never complain about a boy that is a little cautious:-)

howdy, pardner

Mimi and Papaw brought cowboy hats from Texas for Silas and Avery on their way back home from her checkup last week. These two little people have no idea (yet!) exactly how wonderfully blessed they are to have their Mimi, aka big person play toy.

Howdy, pardner!!



Yippee Ki Yay!

 In other news, Silas and Avery have become little Houdinis. To date, Bruce and I have spent $__ on three different kinds of cabinet "locks".  All three have been no match for these two. In fact, Bruce and I spent about 10 minutes with the lock pictured below before we finally figured it out. We turn around in 2 minutes to see these smiling faces!



Avaliable for any of your "pop a lock" needs, 7am - 7pm.

Bedtime these days (or most days):
6:00 or 6:30 - supper
7:00 - bottle
7:30 - bath
7:45 - bedtime story and lights out



Doesn't get any better than this!



Trucks and Giggles (the doll)

Last week, Mimi brought one of Grace's and my baby dolls and the Barbie Jeep from (ahem... almost 30 years ago...) for Avery to play with.  How in the world she kept things in such good shape through the years is beyond me. Kudos, Mimi!  How fun it is to watch Avery and this baby doll named Giggles. If you squeeze Giggles at her tummy, she cackles and laughs... Avery has gotten a kick out of punching (literally) Giggles to make her laugh... she laughs hard right back. We're trying to learn how to "love the baby" so we can be ready for Eleanor... seems that we have a long way to go...

Since Silas immediately took to the pink Barbie Jeep... we had to go get the poor little man a truck. And boy, did he love it. He sits and rolls that truck in a circle as he spins on his bottom like a top. So funny.  It's amazing and neat to watch how boys are girls are born into this world wired up to love babies or trucks. 

Picture moment before church last Sunday:

We were so excited to have Aunt GayGay and Uncle Bobby come stay with the twins while we attended Caleb and Abbie's engagement party. They were such a huge help all day and Sunday morning (hence the photo op!).  AND, Uncle Leo and Aunt Tonya graciously offered to keep them Friday night while Bruce and I enjoyed a rare and prized date night!  

Here are a few pics of Silas and Avery's facial expressions. It seems like every day they each have another expression to communicate to us... only slightly animated, they are:

Running... or Riding

A few weeks ago, Silas and Avery participated in their first two 5K races! I'll let you look at the pics and decide who wanted to enjoy the ride and who wanted to catch a few more Zzzs... 

Fun with friends!

Yesterday afternoon, our wonderful friends Brian, Sally, and Vera Kate Ray came over for play time! They live in Hernando and were in town visiting Brian's parents. It's been way too long since we've seen them - so glad they came over:-) Vera Kate is one year old plus a few weeks (almost exactly 6 weeks older than Silas and Avery) and is such a doll!  Silas and Avery watched in amazement as she walked all over the living room. They all played and had a big time while their parents were able to enjoy catching up with each other. After attempting to hang with the ladies, Silas eventually gave up and sat in the chair watching the crazy girls. So funny.

Wow. You ladies sure know how to make some racket!

Umm, this is too much for me.

Cheese!

Then, Bruce and I met Micajah, Grace, and baby Eleanor at Shapley's for a divine dinner to celebrate Bruce's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Bruce!!  We love you!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Catching up...

I'm catching up on some posts here... finally!  June 28 was my 29th birthday (the last birthday I'll have, right?)... and I must say my first birthday with Silas and Avery was better than any other!  Mimi and Aunt GG graciously kept Silas and Avery while Bruce and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Parlor Market. Grace made a delicious cake and I had two cutie pies to help me blow out ALL those candles.  After all, they need practice... they'll be turning ONE in a short month!



Not so sure about the candles...



Mid-July, Bruce's parents came to visit for a few days!  We were excited to see them and had such a fun time all weekend. Silas and Avery showed them the ropes in the house and all around town. (I'll post more pictures as I get them. Aaahhheemmm, Bruce)



my two boys!



Some little people look just like their daddy! 

 Sunday afternoon photo shoot:  Good grief, pictures are getting more difficult with the little hams we have on our hands!

Okay, the next series of pictures needs no explanation. Their personalities are self-explanatory. (and yes, I know Silas has on no pants. This particular day he not only decided he hates to have his diaper changed, but also prefers to wear no shorts. Oh well.) (and yes, they're in each other's chair. This seems to be the theme nowadays: they only want what the other has, i.e. sippy cup, pacifier, toys, snack, chair) Notice one with four poses and one who doesn't move a muscle, except for hand to mouth, that is.  

We cannot believe that Silas and Avery will be turning ONE YEAR OLD in a few short weeks. They'll be 11 months next week and each one does something new every day. Avery is standing alone a pretty good bit - in fact, as I handed her the bottle early this morning, she proceeded to let go of the ottoman and turn up the bottle with both hands...while standing up!  Elizabeth (the nanny) told me she took one step Tuesday. I told Avery she couldn't do that again until I was watching!  It won't be long.

Silas is hanging right in there... but I think he'll be learning to walk by watching his sister. We'll see! 

It is fascinating to watch these two people who are so different figure out this little thing called life. What an incredible Creator we have.

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord....a reward. Psalm 127:3

Oh yes, how true. How blessed we are.

Bedtime...for Silas

Somebody doesn't want to go to sleep... this has been the routine for Silas after his bottle at bedtime.  Can somebody say... stalling?

Happy 4th!

Silas and Avery (and dad and mom) had a great 4th of July weekend in Grenada at Papaw and Mimi's house! This was the first time they've been to Grenada and been mobile. They had a blast exploring and hearing "no" from me! Usually the reaction is to stop what they're doing, look at me and give a big sweet (but mischevious) grin, then go right ahead at their original intention. These days, we never know where they'll be when we look away for one second:

Papaw barbequed delicious ribs and we enjoyed all the trimmings with Mop, Pop, and GayGay who drove down Sunday afternoon. Even Mr. Terry and Aunt Mar came over for a little while. Yay!

Pop:  "And Silas, there was once this little boy..."



Silas:  "Silly Poppy, that's not what the book says..."



Avery telling Silas how to play in the fountain...

Still talking to him...

Avery:  "You're not playing hard enough unless you're soaking wet...."

Silas:  "Ok, I think I got it. How does this look?"

Latest happenings at the Warf household consist of both Avery and Silas finding their 4th and 5th gears... especially Avery. She is lightening fast crawling anywhere she wants to go and will be walking soon - she has no fear. She'll let go of whatever she's pulled up on for a few seconds before sitting (or falling) down and trying again. Oh boy, she'll be independent soon. Silas won't be far behind. While he may be a little, ok, well a lot more cautious than she, when he figures out how to move, he takes off like a pro.

This is such a fun age. I know I'll be saying that for many years to come, but they do something new every day... and we can't blink or else we'll miss it!

Happy boy!