eleanor is five years old!

 for eleanor's birthday breakfast i made hot chocolate and waffles

 then she had a bath and got her birthday dress on

 twirl

 we met michael for lunch and took the kids to burget king by his work

 we had spaghetti for dinner and then she opened her presents

she got playdough, tic tacs, girl legos and a scooter

 the scooter was a big hit 

now she challenges me to daily scooter races (she cheats almost every time)

and if i'm busy and can't race then she'll race an imaginary friend

 she wanted an ice cream cake

so michael got her this cute cat cake from dairy queen

she loved it since she's obsessed with her kitty stuffed animals named mama and baby violet

 eleanor is such a fun girl

she is constantly singing, dancing and performing

she loves music so much and has killer dance moves

she is so nurturing, she is already a professional food pusher

and loves to take care of people

i think she has an old soul

she loves sweets almost as much as her dad

she prefers wearing dress ups and pajamas to clothes

she loves to take care of jude and fight with henry

she is smart and hilarious

and i am so glad i get to be her mom

jude is 6 months!

sweet baby jude turned 6 months old 

he is such a happy, sweet baby

especially since i eliminated milk protein from my diet

he's like a different baby than the one he had been for the first 5 months of his life

he still really likes attention and prefers to be held a bit

but finally doesn't mind spending some time on the floor, in his swing

 or the exercaucer our friends are lending us

he is getting really vocal trying to talk, growl and sing a little bit

he is about to get his bottom teeth and loves to chew

he is an awesome nurser and it makes me so happy to breastfeed him

 he had a bit of an eczema breakout right at 6 months 

but a mix of steroid cream and yeast cream helped

he is now 6 1/2 months old and has started to eat tiny bits of my food and take little sips of my water

he loves it

his first little bottom tooth is poking through

and he's starting to have a little bit of separation anxiety

he is also sleeping way worse since our spring break trip and his teething but i love him anyway

we love our baby jude!

eleanor's fifth birthday party

the saturday of spring break we had a birthday party for eleanor

she has been very excited about her birthday and requested a pajama party

and also rainbows

she picked out some new jammies for her party

and wanted a crown to wear, too

having a pinata was a must

we finished her party with a dance party to the trolls soundtrack and all the kids loved it

especially eleanor

playing with her new playdough set afterward

it was a little crazy putting a party together right after we got home from a big trip

and on the saturday of general conference but it went well

and eleanor loved it so that's what matters

the rest of spring break: after we got back home

the day after we got home from our spring break adventure to washington

michael's brother and his family came to visit us on their way home from a trip to utah

first thing we did together was swim in their hotel pool

the kids had so much fun

henry in goggles 

hot tub

we desparately needed groceries after our trip so we took all the kids to winco

we gave henry his birthday bike

he loves it

friday afternoon we went to the aquarium with steven and janet's family

henry thought this deep sea diver was a star wars guy

the kids loved how interactive the aquarium is

we tried to convince/fit all 10 kids into the photo booth but it wasn't happening

this is what happens when you try to get steve and michael's picture

it was such a good visit and we were so happy to see them

....

socks on his hands to try to get him to stop scratching his eczema

saturday morning cuddles

michael and rosie

the chicken? or bird that showed up in our yard

inspiring us to get two more chickens and a coop

general conference

hazel and her starburst carrot

such a cutie sitting in his high chair

jude loves mum mum

conference went better sunday when every one took notes

jude was still cute and distracting

general conference was great
and it was a fun filled crazy spring break
(eleanor's birthday party was in there, too but that's another post)