Alice the Camel goes to the beach

Elise loves when we sing "Alice the Camel" with her. Ever since she's been a tiny baby she has smiled or laughed as we sang the song and bounced her legs up and down. She can be crying and inconsolable and we just have to start singing and she's quiet and happy until the song is over. She especially loves when Alice loses all her humps and turns into a plain old horse-that's when she usually laughs the hardest. We couldn't resist posting this video of her giggling while I sing the song.

Last Saturday was the stake youth beach party in Nags Head, North Carolina. James and I were both chaperons, so we took Elise with us and made a family day of it playing at the beach. On the way down Elise started getting fussy and hungry, but we were so close to our destination that we tried to see if she could make it till we arrived to eat. How did we appease her and distract her? You guessed it, we all sang "Alice the Camel"--including the youth in the car with us. We sang it over and over again, sometimes starting with 5 humps, sometimes with 10 humps, and always counting back down to no humps. But she stopped crying and smiled until we got there, so it worked! Elise loved the beach--she loved watching the waves and the sea gulls, she loved the sand and the sun, but she didn't like the cold water. It was a perfect day, the temperature was only in the mid 80's and it was overcast so the sun didn't beat down on us. And Elise didn't get a sunburn! I was very glad about that!

Elise taking her nap at the beach. She loves being underneath her blanket when she sleeps, and was perfectly content to be all covered up.

6 months old already!

Elise is now 6 months old! Time has gone by so quickly! We got Elise's 6 month portrait done, and they were all such good pictures I had a hard time choosing which ones to buy. The photographer said she wished ALL the babies she takes pictures of were so easy and happy. Here are some of them, you can see why I had such a hard time choosing!
Elise and her guinea pig!

Another busy week...

I finally was able to make a small video of Elise rolling over! She's always so happy when she is able to make it all the way over!

It's been a busy week! Tuesday evening we had dinner at our neighbors house, they invited us over for dinner in exchange for a brief bicycle repair class from James. They are going on an 8-day ride and wanted to learn how to change spokes on their wheels in case they break, as well as a few other maintenance things. We've lived next door to them for just over a year, and this was the first social thing we've done with them. Dinner was delicious, and the conversation was interesting :)


Wednesday was the combined Young Women/ Young Men activity. It was at a local swimming pool and we had a cookout, too. James had fun with the boys in the pool, and Elise and I watched from the sides, ate, or talked with the youth as they came for food. James had gotten Elise dressed for the pool party, and she was adorable...little cover up and shorts over her little swimsuit. She loved having the attention of the girls!

Elise smiling in her swimsuit...

..and pausing mid-kick to look at the camera!

Thursday some of the women I work with at the library got together for dinner and a movie. We'd planned it originally just to have fun, but they turned it into a congrats party for my promotion. They even had a cake that said, "Congrats Boss Lady (aka) Julie" on it! It made me laugh.

Friday night felt good to just stay home and finally have a night in. I was able to talk to my mom on the phone and finally hear about her trip to Tonga. She'd been back almost a whole week and this was the first opportunity I had to call and see how it went! She and my aunt went to the King of Tonga's coronation ceremony. (He and my aunt were childhood friends and he invited her and a guest to come to the ceremony. My grandma and grandpa lived in Tonga for 6 years as missionaries when my aunts and uncles were young. Grandma was pregnant with my mom when they finally made it back to the US. Grandpa served as principal of Liahona College/High School and translated the Book of Mormon into Tongan.) I'm glad she had a safe trip.

Today has been full of errands and house cleaning, but I did get to sleep in! Yay! That felt wonderful. Also, we finally went out and bought a new TV. James has been wanting one for quite awhile now, since we have had to bang and strategically hit the TV to make it work right--now we won't have to hit the TV to make it through a whole show or movie! James is thrilled with it.

Parties, playing, and promotions...

We've been busy the past few weeks, hence the reason there's a gap since my last post. Last weekend we went to North Carolina to celebrate James' grandfather's 80th birthday. It was a lot of fun! The family had so much fun holding and playing with Elise, and she soaked up all the attention. She is VERY social and loves to watch people, and she especially loves to have them smile at her. There was a large group gathered to celebrate with Abuelo--he is well loved.

James and Elise are spending a lot of quality time together lately--since his semester ended he's been caring for Elise full-time until the fall semester starts up at the end of August. They've been having a lot of fun, Elise loves spending time with Daddy. We got her an exersaucer for her to play in, and she LOVES it! It's so fun to watch her play and work her way around the circle of toys. She is so proud of herself every time she does something new on it or discovers a new toy it has. It's also helping her get more strength to support her head and body. She is actually starting to sit up on her own, she's still very wobbly, but she can do it for a few seconds on her own before she tips over!

Elise playing in her exersaucer.

And, in other news, Julie just got a promotion at work! After much thought, I applied for and was chosen for a management position in the library. It's a wonderful opportunity, but I will no longer be the children's librarian anymore, which I will miss. I love working in children's services, but I can't wait to see what new things I can help accomplish in the library system with this new job.