It's been awhile...

...my last entry was before Christmas! We've been busy the past month or so...Julie's family came out to visit for 2 weeks over the Christmas holiday, James started a new semester, and Elise is getting used to going back to daycare after the Christmas break. She's also trying to figure out how to walk and is cruising around all the furniture.

Here's a few pictures to catch up on what we've been up to:
Elise with her monkey pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa (Julie's parents) for Christmas. She had so much fun playing with them and she loved all the attention! (I think Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed it, too!!)

Elise has learned how much fun the dishwasher is...she loves to help unload it. And we've learned to only load the spoons until she's not around and we can add the knives!

Elise and James went on a daddy-daughter-date to the car show in January. They both LOVED seeing all the pretty cars!

Elise loves her new sunglasses. She's a little diva and loves the attention that she gets when she dresses up.

Julie's birthday was in January, and Elise loved helping with the candles. Once they were blown out and removed from the cake Elise really enjoyed sticking her fingers in the small candle holes in the frosting...She likes to put her fingers in everything she can.

Elise loves to read, and here's a pretty picture of her with one of her favorite books in the pretty dress that Grandma made her.

First visit with Santa...what a scary beard!

Elise had her first visit with Santa last night at our ward Christmas party. I didn't know how she'd do with him, especially since she seems to be afraid of facial hair. A bearded or goateed man comes near her and she clings to us and screams. Once, her uncle came to visit with his new goatee and she cried every time he looked at her. It took almost 2 days before she'd play with him. So, I didn't have very high expectations for a happy Santa experience. And I was right. The beard was just too scary. Elise jumped out of Santa's arms and back into James' arms just as fast as she could. Here's some pictures.

(Sorry I couldn't get this turned the right way...just tilt your head and it works fine!) Elise is trying to figure out why she's being taken over to this strange man in a red outfit.

A split second after being placed in Santa's lap, she's out of it again as she lunges for the safety of daddy's arms.

Elise would talk to Santa as long as she didn't have to TOUCH him.

Or...not.

But Santa has to be okay since he DID give Elise a crinkly bag with candy in it...Elise loves crinkly bags. Maybe in a few more years she'll figure out what this Santa thing is all about.

Thanksgiving updates and more...

It's been a long time since I posted to the blog...life has been crazy. James has been busy with school, I've been busy at work, and Elise has been busy learning a bunch of new skills--she can now get to a sitting position on her own, pull herself up to stand, tries to walk when holding our fingers, has 3 teeth that have popped through, and loves to explore. She's growing up fast! We also went to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving for a week, and it felt so nice to have a good long visit.

Here are some pictures to catch up on what we've been up to lately:

Elise talking to her grandma on the phone-as soon as she hears her voice she smiles so big!

Our first day in Wisconsin it snowed 4 inches, so we had to go play in it. While Elise liked the cold, she did NOT like riding down the hill on the sled!

Elise and her dad out in the snow.

Elise and Grandpa watching the boys play in the snow.

We went to a meat market and bought beef sticks...Elise decided it looked yummy and stole Julie's and enjoyed it so much she refused to give it back! She sucked on that beef stick for 45 minutes!

Elise hanging out with her dad, uncles, and grandpa.

Elise, grandpa and Julie on Thanksgiving.

Grandpa, grandma, and Elise before we left to drive back home.

We set up our tree and decorated for Christmas. This is Elise on her first Sinterklass Day that we celebrated (the Dutch christmas). She loved opening the presents!

Tired out and sleeping in her crib.

Trick or Treat...ladybug style

For Elise's first Halloween she was a cute little ladybug. She loved all the attention, even if she's too young for the candy! We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church and then on Halloween night we took her to a few of the neighbors houses.

Videos of Elise playing

This board book has pictures of babies in it, and at the end, is a mirror where Elise is always surprised to see herself!

I love listening to Elise laugh. The other day we were playing with her blocks together, and she was laughing so hard, I had to get out the camera and take a small video of it. Enjoy!

Elise loves music and gets very excited when she hears it playing. She has a little toy house that plays music when she touches the right buttons, and she loves it--its one of her favorite toys.

We read Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood together. Elise really likes turning pages, and it's hard for me to read fast enough to keep up with her!

More pictures of Elise...

I'm really enjoying having our camera back, so here's a few new pictures of Elise:

Now it's getting colder, Elise gets to be all bundled up just like Dad!

Elise loves wearing her bunny rabbit hat...












Elise playing on our couch with one of her favorite toys.

She is very flexible, and tonight spent a good deal of time sucking her big toe. I'm glad I was able to get at least one picture before she noticed the camera.

Elise loves stealing her dad's water bottles to drink out of (and spill on herself...notice how her entire pajamas are wet from her neck to her knees?)

Tag of unspectacular quirks...

My friend Amy tagged me to list my unspectacular quirks...

The rules are:
*Link to the person who tagged you ... Amy
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things/unspectacular things about yourself
*Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
*Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

So, here are Julie's unspectacular quirks...
1. I'm a bookworm, no surprise to most of you, but how do I have so much time to read? Well, I read as I cook, as I do my hair and my make-up (I know, that explains a lot!), on my breaks at work, and I read while I nurse my baby. I have a few rules that I never break though, I never read while driving or while crossing the street--that can be very dangerous!
2. I drink a lot of milk...4 gallons a week all by myself.
3. I like to sleep with my feet hanging off the edge of the bed.
4. I drink Dr. Pepper medicinally to get rid of migraines.
5. I hate cleaning the shower and avoid it as often as possible (James cleans it by default).
6. I don't instinctively know right from left and have to think about it when giving or following directions.

***I now tag: Ann, Heather, Delee, Timille, Emily, and Brooke.