Center of Attention!

Today was a BIG day for the Little Cheese. We went out beyond Boyne Falls and got her first set of professional photos taken (it's about time!).  We even got a couple family portraits, which Ted really loved posing for.  :-P

Based on a recommendation from a a coworker in Boyne City, we went out to Center of Attention Photography.  I cannot begin to tell you about how excited I am to see the results.  She has them on her website in about 10 days.  They will be secured with a password, but for those of you who are dying to have a pic of Eloise Iden on your mantle, I will share the password so you can pick your favorite. 

Let me tell you....it will be hard.  We had her in about 5 different outfits (including a couple DARLING dresses) and she is sitting in baskets and in chairs and lying on fluffy rugs.  She was a little model.  :) 

She was so, so good too!  She lasted way longer than I thougt she was going to.  About 258 pics in 60 minutes.  (In one outfit, over to the backdrop, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP (x10), okay.  Out of that outfit, into the next outfit, and this headband, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP...over and over again.  Whew!)  She was a trooper.  Although, Eloise was getting a little testy when it came time for the family portrait.  I think next time we will try to do those first.

So about 10 days folks! 

In the meantime....

We are headed downstate tomorrow to see my side of the family and to have our Christmas with them.  We also get to celebrate New Year's.  I know I will have a ton of pics after that adventure.  :)

OH!  And I almost forgot to say that yesterday my Mom visited us after her first day at her new JOB!!  It is in Elk Rapids, so the visits won't be few or far inbetween.  Ted and I are excited to travel to Elk Rapids as well.  It is a cute little town on Lake Michigan and I have heard about their art festival called Art Rapids, which Ted and I are super pumped for!!

Oh, and one more thing, you want to know the best part about this whole photo thing???  We are getting more family pics downstate with my sister and her family, my brother, my dad, Tami and her girls.  So, even if these do not turn out so well (which I highly doubt), we have another opportunity in about 3 days.

Poor Eloise.  I think she will be able to dress herself when we are done with all of this!  :-P

Oh What Fun!

Santa came!  And, boy did he deliver!  Eloise woke us up around 8am on Christmas morning, and then we all ventured into the living room.  Stockings came first, and for Eloise, what was in her stocking ended up being her favorite toy: Max! He is a hit!

She also got some sippy cups and some spoons in her stocking. 

Then, Eloise moved on to her presents under the tree.  She got lots of blocks (also a favorite), a book, a Classic Pooh Ornament, some outfits (of course), and some Automoblox cars (which she is a little young for, but Daddy and I thought they were so so cool).

Santa also got Momma and Daddy some great gifts too!  Ted got lots of books...he's super into reading right now (as am I), The Swell Season (the couple from the movie Once have a real band, and this is their CD), and the latest PASTE magazine.  I got a 4GB flash drive to store photos on, a book, some ultra comfy socks, a new snow hat, a water bottle, and an amazing vase from this art gallery that's on the way to Traverse.  Ted remembered that I said I liked it about a month or two ago, and got it for me!  He is the best!

Take a look:

and here are my super cute socks and hat!

Which...you can't really see my new haircut under the hat...so here you go!

TA-DA!  (I really like it)

anyway...

Ted and I got lots of little treats like hot chocolate and candy and cherry-chocolate bars in our stockings as well.  Santa is so good! Eloise had tons of fun Christmas morning, and that was just the beginning. 

We went over to Boyne City and joined up with all of the rest of the family, and had lots of fun exchanging gifts and eating a yummy turkey dinner.  Ted got a nice 4 person Kelty tent (so we are camping this summer!) and I got a cute pair of vintage wool mittens from our sibling gift exchange.  Oh, and Mom Polleys made a beautiful (I cannot say this enough!!!!!) quilt for us.  I will have to post a picture of it, once we get all organized and unpacked at home again.

We hope you had a very merry Christmas as well!

Love, The Polleys'

(Christmas Eve 2009)

Six Months Already.....

It is finally Christmastime...and what Ted and I have been dreaming about for the past year or so....

Eloise's first Christmas!

We can't believe it is finally here.  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and Eloise will have visions of sugar plums dancing in her head (well more like mashed apples and bananas--her new fave!)  while Santa (and his wife) put out all the goodys for good a good little bear cub and her parents.  :)  We can't wait!  Seriously...we can't. I have been so tempted to put out presents early and let Eloise look and drool (literally) over them.  But, Santa comes on Christmas Eve! 

Something that is so crazy to me is that it's not only Eloise's first Christmas, but also she is past her halfway mark toward her first birthday.  I know parents say this all the time, but the times FLYS by so, so FAST. 

Example:

Just two nights ago I was looking in the mirror and playing with my hair when it hit me that I hadn't gotten my hair cut or colored for six months.  SIX MONTHS.  The last time I got my hair cut was the day before I went into labor.  I immediately told Ted all about my hair and what was wrong with it, and the next morning I had an appt. at 11:35! (Such a sweetie!) So, now that my hair is all ready to go, with about 5 inches cut off, I am ready to move on to the next thing we haven't done in six months: go to the movies.  Renting movies is nice, but I miss going out to a movie, and I know Ted does too.  We should get on that while I am on Christmas break.

Sorry, back to the original topic of Eloise and how she is already 6.5 months old....I looked through some pics since her birth, and decided to have a little review of how our little baby has grown and changed.  It is amazing how different she is already...I can't imagine what next June will be like.   So sit back, relax, and scroll down to see Eloise Iden Polleys! :)

Oh my.  My Little Baby is no longer so little.  This last picture was taken this past weekend, when we went for about an 8 minute walk, because we decided it was too cold.  These next pictures were taken this past weekend too. She is such a blast to be around!

Oh, and that heart outift is from Eloise's Aunt Samantha for Valentine's Day....but, um, if she doesn't wear it now, she won't ever wear it..so, Happy Valentine's Day! haha.

Okay, so I think this post just needs a few more pictures and then it will be all set...

Kidding. 

HELP!

We're addicted!

...to nicknames that is.  Ted and I have about 1.2 million nicknames for Eloise.  Some of you know most of them, but others are probably a little confused when I talk about something "Choo-Boo" did. (Although, you can most likely guess who I am talking about....who else??)

I thought I might list some of the nicknames, because they are so cute, and they won't last forever.  Some nicknames are already almost forgotten because we have moved on to others.  Okay, so here we go. (I will try to put them in order of progression.)

Eloise:

Weezy...Squeezy...Cheesy...Parcheesi...Weezer...Cheeser...Squeezer...EllaCheese...EllaWeezer...EllaSqueezer...Chugga...ChooChoo..ChooTrain...Relly...RellBell...RellyBelly...JellyBelly...ChooBoo...RooBoo...RooChoo...RubyChew...Chewy...ChewyMcChewerson...BabyBearCub...LittleBiggum...BabyChewy...LittleOne...(and many more variations of all of these)

Ted's favorite nickname as of now is Chugga.  Mine is RooChoo.

I wonder what Eloise thinks about all of this????







Oh Eloise, please forgive us. :-)

Weekly Cheese #6

Here is Choo-Boo in a pile of fleece blankets.  We were hanging out at church a couple of Sundays ago while Ted had a Soup Cafe Fundraiser.  There is a HUGE box in the Fellowship Hall that our church (and other churches around us) are filling up with fleece blankets for children in Africa.  Eloise needed a little break and so did Mommy's hip! ;)

Oh My Word...I Made Something!

For those of you who know me well...or even not so well...you know that I am not exactly a crafty person. 

I love buying crafty, one of a kind, original things. And I love thinking up new ideas for crafty things.  But, when it comes to making them my hands and brain don't get along.  My hands try to be unique and cute, but then my brain kicks in and tries to overpower them by trying to make everything perfect.  I am a little OCD when it comes to things being straight, neat and organized....and that doesn't mix well with art.  At least for me.

So, today, when I actually completed a couple little gift tags for Christmas.  I was proud of myself.  I didn't let my brain tell me that they aren't perfect enough, which is kind of a big deal.

So, let me tell you about my craft.

I made some Christmas Gift Tags. (You know, because everyone gets tired of those sticker ones and sometimes you want a present to look extra good!) I just used some old Christmas cards (we recieved from years past), some cardstock, and some ribbon, glue and a hole punch....and viola!  A Gift Tag!  Go me!  (Sorry, but I am really excited about these.)

Now, I just need to wrap some presents, so I can use these babies!

Just another day closer to Christmas............

Way to Go Cheesy!!

Eloise rolled over yesterday!  Yup. She did.  And she waited for her Momma to be home on her lunch break to do it!  Here's how it happened:

I was sitting on the couch and Ted was out shoveling slush off the driveway.  Eloise was on her back on her blanket on the floor chewing on a red penguin.  I was talking to her saying things like, "Eloooooiiiiiise...mama loooooooves you!" and other things you would only say when you have a little baby. 

Then I started making train noises.  (We make train noises because Eloise LOVES trains...not real ones, but the kind in Papa's basement.) I said, "Chugga chugga, chugga chugga, Chewwwwwwww-eeeeeeeee!!!" And, as I was saying it she was twisting around to look at me.  This is usually where she would stop twisting, and she would just crain her neck so she could look over onto the couch. 

BUT, THIS TIME SHE JUST KEPT ON TWISTING!  Soon she kinda plopped over onto her belly, where she propped herself up on her elbows and gave me a big grin.  I wanted so badly to go and pick up, but I was kind of preoccupied on the couch with one of my motherly duties ;) (since I am at work all the time).  So, I was praising her, and telling her how great she is, and on and on ...and on.  As soon as I was done I ran over and picked her up and squeezed her and squeezed her.  And, then we went outside and told Daddy all about it!   

Eloise even went as far as cheering for herself later that night!

Yay Eloise!  It took her six months, but now she is a pro!