Christmas fun

We had a very nice Christmas this year. We didn't go visit family, but we were able to enjoy a quiet Christmas at home. Elise loved her presents from Santa--a new table and chairs, a doll, and coloring books with crayons--so much that she refused to open any presents Christmas morning! Whenever we tried to give her one she said, "No, no, no, no, no, no!" and would then throw the present across the room away from her. We soon stopped trying and let her just enjoy what she was already playing with. Most of her presents weren't opened until the 26th. We hope you all had a nice day, too.

Here are a few pictures, I tried not to post too many, but I got a new camera for Christmas and went a little crazy taking pictures...it was hard to limit myself to just a few pictures to share with everyone!

Elise first thing Christmas morning with her new table and chairs...

Yay for crayons!!

M&M's...the breakfast of champions (what's bad, is that is about all she ate all day long!)

Hugging her new doll...

...and trying to give it a bath!

Elise with pigtails, just like her new dolly!

Wearing her Christmas dress after church...trying to take off her tights.

Visit with Santa and a baby boy

Elise missed our ward Christmas party and the opportunity to see Santa there, so yesterday we took her to a store to see Santa. Last year she cried and wouldn't even get close to him, let alone sit on his lap. This year, she did better. She didn't start screaming until she was actually on his lap. Needless to say, that picture did not turn out well. We were the 2nd to last people in line to see Santa before the store shut down the line for the night, so when Santa was done he came over to talk to us some more. He wanted to make sure that Elise would have a good memory of meeting Santa, so he talked with us for a bit and got her to smile at him and stand next to him, even if she wouldn't let her hold him. He even offered to let us skip the line if we wanted to try it again before Christmas. What a nice Santa!

Elise with Santa after he came over to talk to us...

In other news, we had our ultrasound last week and found out that we're expecting a little boy! We're quite excited. Everything looked normal and he was very wiggly--arms and hands everywhere! I'm due May 11th.

Thanksgiving pictures

For Thanksgiving this year we had my parents and brother come to visit from Utah. It was a lot of fun to have them here. Elise loved all the attention, especially Grandpa's seemingly never ending supply of M&M's and other small candies that he seemed to have in his pocket at all times. We had a very nice Thanksgiving, Mom helped me do all the cooking, and then Friday morning (after only going out for an hour or so for Black Friday), we piled into both our cars and drove up to Washington DC for the weekend. We were able to go to Mount Vernon, Ikea (for some Christmas shopping), see all the monuments, and go to a session at the temple. It was a great weekend. My parents had to go home too soon, but it was good to have them visit.

Elise loves purses...if you aren't careful, she'll adopt yours! In one of the gift shops she fell in love with this horse purse...boy was it hard to get it away from her!

Elise loved walking on the marble benches in front of the Washington Monument and did not like it when tourists got in her way!




What's the best part of eating dinner at Ikea? Chocolate cake! What a messy, happy girl!





Elise looking through the bars by Washington's tomb at Mount Vernon.

Elise was enthralled by the Christmas camel we saw on the grounds of Washington's home...but Daddy couldn't get too close!

Grandpa carried Elise for quite a while during our trek to all the monuments...Elise is sleeping quite contentedly on his shoulder.

Pretend bunk bed for stuffed animals

Elise helped me put together a shelf today for her closet. She was very helpful handing me pieces and trying to assemble it like me. But instead of being a useful storage item she thought it was a perfect bunk bed for her stuffed monkey! The house where she's watched during the day has bunk beds in it and she's quite taken with the idea. She told me "Shh!" and pointed to her monkey (which means 'shh it's sleeping') and then carefully put it on the bunk and covered it with a blanket. It's fun to see her pretend! Here are some pictures...

Elise helping assemble the shelf

Elise putting monkey to sleep on his bunk bed

A video of her arranging monkey for bed with his blanket. If you listen carefully you can hear her tell him "shh!" since it's bedtime.

Halloween with a kangaroo

This year Elise was a kangaroo for Halloween, complete with her very own joey in her pouch. She really liked her costume, especially looking at herself in the full-length mirror. While she didn't understand everything about Halloween this year, she did finally realize that people were giving her candy and that she had a lot of it!

We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat a few days before Halloween and Elise loved following her friends around and that's where she figured out people were giving her candy. She especially loved the suckers and would hold onto one in each hand while she watched people putting more candy in her pumpkin bucket. On the morning of Halloween we went with friends to the special storytime and pumpkin carving contest at my library, which was a lot of fun. The local news was there doing a story and got some footage of Elise that they used as part of the teaser to the story...she looked very cute! On Halloween night itself Elise was too shy to walk and instead she clung to my side--James said she looked more like a koala than a kangaroo and that we picked the wrong costume!

Here are a few pictures:

Elise painted her pumpkin all by herself this year--much safer than trying to carve a pumpkin with a toddler!

Elise as a kangaroo on the floor of the library...

Kangaroos love to forage for food...

...and sometimes make big messes when they get into chocolate!

We're expecting number two!

I've finally gotten around to sharing our news on the blog...we're expecting our second baby on May 4th. We are very excited. I waited to post this until after I announced it at work, so they wouldn't hear before I chose to let them know. Elise and her new sibling will be just over 2 years apart. She has no idea what's happening yet, but she loves babies (especially their little feet and their eyes) and hopefully will adjust well when the time comes.

Elise's new milestones

Elise had her 18 month old check up this week. She is now almost 22 lbs and 31 inches tall and perfectly healthy. The doctor predicts she'll grow to be 5'4" and 110 lbs as a grown up, I guess only time will tell if he's right.

Elise is such a big girl now. She started nursery a few weeks ago and LOVES it (I like it too, it makes church much easier!). She has also decided she's grown out of her high chair and refuses to eat in it. She likes to sit in a regular chair like us at the kitchen table for meals, which makes for a bigger mess, but a happier baby.

Here are a few recent pictures:

Elise with her book and her sort-of-pony tail.

Elise playing outside in her new outdoor toy--she loves it!

Helping Mommy in the kitchen

Big smile!

Our new car...

We bought a new (to us) car today! We are no longer a one-car (without air conditioning) family. We got a good deal on a 1995 Passat station wagon. It's the nicest car we've owned so far. It even has power windows! (But no power locks.) Here's a couple of pictures of it when it was on the used car lot...

When it rains, it pours!

Well, it's been awhile since the last blog post...so I'll try to be brief and give a quick update.

James just got back into town after being gone for 4 weeks, and boy, am I glad to have him home! He went to a bicycle mechanic and bicycle frame building school and is now officially certified. He loved it and it was worth having him gone for him to get the certifications, but it was hard being a single-mom for 4 weeks. I couldn't have done it without the help of my family and friends. My mom and brother flew out to help for a bit and friends pitched in after they left. Thanks everyone for being so supportive.

The Friday before James came home, I went on a youth temple trip and ended up getting in a car wreck that totaled my car. Elise and I, and the two youth in my car, are all okay--no serious injuries, mainly bumps and bruises. We were very lucky since the accident could have been a lot worse. We were stopped in traffic, the car behind us saw a car speeding towards them and were able to move into the left shoulder, so my car was hit at about 50 mph. We flipped onto our side, but didn't roll all the way over, it ripped off the roof rack, and sent us into the median guard rail. Lucky for us there was a trooper across the way who saw it all and caught it on his dash camera, so help was there really fast and we had a reliable witness. Some of the other drivers for the temple trip came back to help and were able to drive us all home, which was so nice since we were still about 3 hours away from home. Everyone in the ward has been great offering to help. Now we're just waiting to hear back from the insurance company about being reimbursed for our car.

I picked James up from the airport on Sunday and we went to the last part of church. It was so good to see him again! Elise was so happy to have her daddy home, she just kept smiling and holding onto him. After church we started to drive away, and the brake line in our car (our only car, at this point) busted. Luckily we were still in the parking lot. We borrowed a car to get home, got our car to a shop to be fixed on Monday, and finally made it home. I was glad James was driving, otherwise it might have been enough to keep me from driving for a long time! No brakes and a car wreck in one weekend...I hope the bad luck is over!

4th of July Fun

We are in Utah visiting family and having a lot of fun catching up with everyone. For the Fourth of July my amazing sisters put on a fair in the backyard for all of us to enjoy--we had games, food, and all sorts of fun booths. It was a wonderful way to spend the 4th of July. In the evening we went to watch the fireworks...Elise was up WAY too late but seemed to really like the glow sticks and the fireworks. She slept in late the next day.

The week is going by so fast! Before we know it, we'll have to head back home. But for now, we're enjoying ourselves.

Elise and Ethan

My parents

Grandpa and Elise

Elise fishing at the "Go Fish" booth

Ann and Elise

Playing with the Lincoln Logs outside on the grass

Elise in her swimsuit playing outside

Memorial Day Parade and more...

For Memorial Day weekend week we went to the local parade to watch James and his cycling group who were part of it. Elise and I went with our friends Amy & Mike and their girls, we had fun watching. Elise loved playing with their girls, and loved clapping her hands and waving at everyone in the parade. She didn't like her mommy stopping her from joining the parade and walking into the street. When James and his group finally came by, James wasn't riding his bike like everyone else, no he was carrying it, or juggling it...at first we thought he'd had a flat tire, but no, he was just trying to make things more interesting! Afterwards we had a barbecue and Elise loved playing with the girls and chasing them around.

Elise playing with Amy and her girls waiting for the parade to begin.

James' bike group in the local parade...


James showing off after juggling his bike

James also finished my custom made bicycle. He built the frame, built it up, and painted it himself. It looks really nice. And it's a nice ride, too. I went on his normal ride with him and did 28 miles without being totally worn out! It's the best bike I've ever ridden. He can't wait to build another one.

James' handiwork...my new bike! I love the color...

Thursday morning, about 5 minutes after getting Elise out of her bath and all dressed, she made quite a mess of herself after finding the cocoa crunchies cereal...so much for being clean!

Playing with her doll and showing off her new teeth poking through on the top...

Elise wearing her dress from France...grandma's pen pal sent it when she was born and she finally fits it.

Elise has become more mobile and brave lately. She loves to climb and has gotten quite ingenious in figuring out how to get where she wants to go. She moves James' briefcase next to furniture to use it as a stool to climb onto the couch or chairs. Once she climbs up she's so proud of herself, she smiles big, kicks her feet, and claps for herself.

Elise has also figured out walking and now seems to prefer it to crawling. She's still a little wobbly and funny to watch, since she can't always walk in a straight line, but she's doing really good! Here's a little video showing her walking skills.

Playground fun and more...

Last week Elise discovered how much fun the local park and playground can be. There's wood chips to play with, things to climb, and best of all a slide to go down! Whee! She loves going down head first, she has no fear! We've taken her to the park a few times now, and she cries like her heart is breaking when we decide it's time to leave.

This week has been full and busy already. James did well in his classes last semester and started his summer classes this week--they are online, so we'll see how he likes them. Ben, James' brother, came to visit us for the past few days with Kyle who is Elise's age. Elise loved having her cousin Kyle here--when you put the two of them together they can make a lot of trouble!

I had some of the young women come to our house this week to learn to bake cookies, which was fun. The girls did great learning how to follow the recipe and working together. I realized how small our kitchen is when we tried to fit 7 girls and me in it at the same time!

Elise had a follow-up EEG test this week, we'll meet with the doctors next week to get the results. Hopefully all will be well and they'll take her off the medicine she's been on as a precaution ever since her February hospital stay. She did NOT like having the EEG though, you could tell she remembered what it meant when she saw the room and the hospital staff. She's strong for how little she is and she can put up a fight!

Here's a few pictures from our week...

Elise in her ladybug dress I couldn't resist buying when I found it...

Playing in the laundry basket

Having fun at the park...

...climbing up to the top of the playground equipment...

...and finding the slide! She LOVES the slide, and even more, she loves going down the slide head first!

Here's a little video of her climbing to the top of the playground equipment...

...and here's a little video of her gleefully going down the slide.

Phones, Bikes, and Birthday Parties

We had a fun and busy week! James finished up his classes for the semester (Yay!) and Elise has been perfecting her walking skills. Her confidence is rising, and she can now turn while walking instead of just going in straight lines! I think she's figuring out that walking can be much faster than crawling. Elise also has discovered the joy of pulling toilet paper off the roll and pulling tissues out of the box. I think all children discover this at some point, and now she's reached this milestone, too. She also likes to shred it into itsy bitsy pieces...so small that it looks like fake snow you buy at Christmas time.

Saturday I took Elise to a birthday party at the local natural living museum for a boy from her daycare who turned 2 years old. It was a fun party. She got to see a bunny and an owl close up and then they opened presents. Elise quietly sat and watched all the other kids tear into the birthday boy's presents, until the last gift was opened...a tricycle. Then, she couldn't help herself and raced over to it and tried to get on it before the dad even had it on the ground! Elise loves bicycles (like her dad) and is always trying to play with his bikes and help fix them. When James is working on a bike Elise will go pick up a tool and help fix it too, so when she saw the bike at the party she was all over it. It took me a while to tear her away! After the party Elise and I went through the museum and she loved it--she could get right up close to see the animals and fish in the aquariums. Her favorite to watch were the stingrays, the jellyfish, and the otters. She insisted on doing most of the walking (and falling...) while we went through the museum and did really well.

Here are a few pictures from the week...

Elise talking on the phone...she loves to hear a voice on the other end!

Trying to help Dad with his bike...

Just one of her many toilet paper escapades...

The bunny from the birthday party

Elise and her friend Benjamin

Elise looking at an exhibit at the museum

Crawling through a log display at the museum...as soon as she saw the other kids doing it she had to try too!

...with some of the fish...

...sitting on a turtle shell...

Here's a little video of Elise helping James with his bicycle, and also showing off a little of her walking skills.