Elsie's First Christmas

Today's post is more of a picture collection from Christmas day than anything. Hope you enjoy! :)

Elsie opening her stocking and a gift from Ash's mom and dad.

My mom was taking pictures, and so was I... :)

Elsie awaits the siblings' arrival...

Good Morning!

My dashing prince.... I love you. Silly face and all.

My dad

The siblings with their stockings.

Elsie examining the contents of her stocking. 

Ashleigh and Brandon sent gifts for each of us. Elsie got 3 teddy bears. Perfect for this blog! Haha!

We had a wonderful Christmas, although I've been missing my sister lately. She didn't get to spend the holidays with us. I can only imagine how much my Ashley must miss his family. They are all the way on the other side of the world. My favorite part about this Christmas is that we had Elsie with us. She brings us so much joy.

My baby wants to walk!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'm so excited.... My husband informed me the other day that it is a tradition in his family to open presents at midnight. I was happy to hold up that tradition this year. Because I am impatient.

Our beautiful 4 foot tree... Yes, our stockings are already stuffed. 

Thursday was a special day. Elsie turned 6 months old! This is what we did for Elsie. But not really, because she can't eat it...

Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum.

Happy half-birthday to Elsie! To celebrate, I made a half a cake. Then decorated it. It's pretty sloppy, but I'm still kind of proud of it. Of course, she couldn't eat it, but WE could!! And yes, it was delicious.

I just can't believe how fast she is growing up! Elsie has been learning how to crawl lately. It's pretty exciting!  But she is in such a hurry to get to the next step... Check out this video. It's one of the cutest things ever! This was recorded last night. She looks so pleased with herself when she makes it to her dad. :)

Teddy Bear Tree

Let me start off by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little sister! Kristen turned 17 today, which means it's her golden birthday... ooo...

My gorgeous sister.

One of the things I really love about this Christmas is that I get to look for presents for Elsie! Actually, let's be honest. I've been shopping(/window shopping) for Elsie ever since I was 20 weeks pregnant. Haha. I love shopping for baby things! My mom also loves shopping for baby things, so this little girl is spoiled!

I have to tell you about this weekend. One of our neighbors, Rosalea, does this thing each year called the Teddy Bear Tree. She invited Ashley, me, and Elsie over for about an hour this Saturday. When we got there, she led us to a room with 2 Christmas trees covered in teddy bears, a miniature town surrounded by train tracks, and lots of other teddy bears. First, we got a little tour of her miniature town, then she showed us a few of her favorite teddy bears and told us stories behind each of them, then one of the teddy bears told us "'Twas the night before Christmas...". Elsie's eyes were completely glued to it the whole time. I wish I had brought my camera, but I didn't.

That room was all about "getting gifts", and the next room was all about Christ. She had about 50 different nativity scenes set up around the room. Some were about as big as my fingernail. It was really cool. She talked to us for a while about what gifts Christ received, as we sipped our wassail. At the end, we got to pick out a bear for Elsie. She was staring at the big blue one... Thanks Rosalea!

Also, we had our ward Christmas party on Friday, and we got to play the part of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus! Afterwards, a few people laughed with us about how active and lively the baby was... sitting up in the manger, trying to look at who all was there, sucking on the toes... It was awesome. One little boy shyly approached us, hoping to see the "real baby Jesus". How cute is that?

Anyway, we're really looking forward to our first Christmas as parents! 

The Babysitting Adventure

Ashleigh and Me when we were little :)

Last week, Ashley, Elsie and I had a babysitting adventure! We babysat 5 kids from our ward for 3 days. Four boys, one girl (the youngest), and all so... perfect! We really enjoyed it. I told Ashley that if our kids are that good, we will have 5. He agreed.

The youngest girl wanted to play with Elsie constantly. The first day, she followed Elsie and me everywhere! She danced, sang, made faces, played "baby hide and seek", and squealed in delight every time Elsie grabbed onto her finger or touched her face, "She LOVES me!!!". And Elsie did love her.

The two younger boys are best friends, and SO cute! They played made up games together, slid on the wood floors together, helped each other out, and occasionally had arguments. They remind me of how me and my older sister Ashleigh used to be.

Little Me and Ashleigh again

The two oldest were so helpful! They did all of their chores without being asked. They were never grumpy. The oldest one has (apparently) read every single book in their house, which is like, 500 or so.... And they are both really friendly.

I just can't rave enough about this family. They are all just so good-natured. We got to see them again yesterday at church, and the little girl was peeking over her mom's shoulder at us and smiling :)

Anyway, it was pretty tiring, taking care of 5 kids + 1 baby. Even 5 perfect kids. It kind of makes me wonder how my mom stayed sane with all of us. We were not nearly as well behaved as those kids were. Yeah, my respect for my mother grows more and more every day. She is amazing.

And NOW, for the Mommy Monday part of my blog post:

Yesterday, Elsie did something really cute and really funny. My dad was holding her, and she was playing with her feet. Pretty normal... then... she started sucking on her big toe! Elsie sure does bring lots of smiles and laughs. We were all laughing so hard at this, and I just had to get the camera and take a video of it.

Yes, Elsie sucks her big toe instead of her thumb.  And my voice is so annoying in this video! Sorry!

Trying New Foods

Elsie is at that stage where we get to introduce her to new solid foods each week. So far she's tried apple, avocado, and broccoli (oops). She loves avocado! 

She was doing so well, then we made the mistake of feeding her broccoli. For those of you who might not know (we didn't), babies should not have broccoli until they are at least 8 months old. Her little tummy was definitely not ready, and she didn't sleep well for 3 nights! (Aghhh!) But I think she liked it...

Doesn't it look like she's posing for the picture?

Ahh... The cuteness! Yet another fun part about being a mom! 

The Very Cranky Mom

See this sour face? This is how yesterday felt... haha.

Don't worry, I'm not cranky right now. It was yesterday. I am convinced this happens to every mom at least a few times in their life! Maybe it was because Elsie was a little tired and grumpy, or the fact that I had only slept about 4 hours (but really, what else is new...), or because my skin is looking particularly awful lately... I don't know. Anyway, it turned into a bad day kind of early on.

Before you start chanting "Negative Nancy!", allow me to share just a couple of stories.... But beware, they are a little bit gruesome...
Okay, that "Negative Nancy" comment is WAY lame. But it made me laugh, so I'm leaving it there.

First off, while we were at church, Elsie was really hungry, but she wouldn't eat. I don't know if anyone else has this happen to them, but it was SO frustrating! I missed most of Sacrament Meeting because of it.

Then, I changed her diaper in the mother's room (this is the gruesome part...), and when I threw it in the garbage, the whole room instantly filled with the stench of a toddler's diaper that had probably been sitting in there since the previous Sunday. Yuck! And I still had to put Elsie's new diaper on, so we both endured that for one whole minute...

and THEN, as we were driving home (a 30 minute drive because we were visiting another ward), Elsie was crying nonstop! This is where my sweet husband stepped in. He offered to sit in the back seat with Elsie while I drove because he could see how frustrated I was getting. Somehow, he managed to keep her calm for about 15 minutes! Hurray! You know, now that I think of it, maybe she was just so disturbed by the diaper incident that she just had to cry. I kind of felt the same way... haha.

We tried to take a nap before dinner time, but my mind was racing and I couldn't sleep. But then I looked next to me, and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world! There was my little baby girl, actually snuggling with me, which doesn't happen all that much anymore. And next to her was my wonderful husband, sound asleep. This is my life. This is what it's all about. I love these two SO much! And just like that, my bad day turned into a good day. And I just had to take a picture of them because they were both laying the same way. :)

Want to know the coolest part of all this? Today is totally different already. Today I woke up feeling like life is perfect. I didn't mind that Elsie was about to wake up at 5 am. I was just happy. And that's how it goes sometimes. Sometimes I completely ruin a day with my bad attitude, but it's okay. Life goes on.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" -Anne of Green Gables

Mommy Mondays: Naptime

I got this idea, tell me what you think. On Mondays I want to write a blog about something I love about being a mom, or just a fun mom moment. That way, hopefully I won't forget about my blog for more than a week (oops...)

Here's the first one:

Naptime is one of my favorite things about being a mom... and it's not just because I'm in desperate need of some sleep...

-Sometimes I love naptime because I really need to do the dishes or cook dinner or fold laundry (etc), and it's much easier to do those things when Elsie isn't crying for me to pick her up.

-Okay, I'll admit... Sometimes I really do love naptime because I am the one who wants a nap...

-But this is my absolute favorite part about naptime at this stage...

Also, excuse the hair....

I love it when Elsie rests her hand on my face, not so she can scratch it with her sharp nails, but so she knows I'm there while she falls asleep.

I love this little girl so much!

And just for fun, here's a few more recent pictures of Elsie!

Going for a walk in the snow!

She really wants to crawl...

Beautiful baby

In her little nest.... Haha

Well, Happy Monday, everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving week!

Snow, and a Happy Birthday!

When you live in Utah, you can basically expect snow before November. Today was the first day that snow stuck on the ground long enough for me and Elsie to get out there and look at it :) SO, we bundled her up in a fluffy blankie and a hat, and took her outside!

She was quite intrigued by the fluffy white stuff outside.

It took her a few seconds to realize that the snow was really cold :P

Warming up those hands

I love you, Elsie!

After being out there for a few minutes we decided (actually I decided) that we needed some hot chocolate. We were watching Elsie in her high chair with her toys, and she was just staring at things around the room, like she does when she's really tired. Kind of like a teenager in math class. By the time we finished eating our breakfast and drinking our hot chocolate, she was fast asleep!

......

...Guess what! Today is my mom's birthday! I love you, Mom! You don't look a day over 29. Haha.

You are an amazing mom! And I appreciate everything you did (and still do) for me -- even more now that I am a mom. You're the best!

The Jumper

 Take a look at our 4 month old girl! Yes, this Saturday Elsie turned 4 months old! 

If you look super closely, you can see her tooth in this pic!

Big news: She can sit up on her own now! 

On another topic, My sister Ashleigh and her husband Brandon came to visit at the beginning of September for Elsie's baby blessing. While they were here, they got her a jumper. Of course, she was a little bit... little for it back then. But now she's not! I love watching her stand up and spin around. And she loves it too! See for yourself:

(oh, and I was trying to get her to giggle too)

She doesn't know how to jump yet, but when she does, there will be a video!

Ashleigh was the one who got me to start this blog. I miss her SO much! She has a blog too! Check it out!

pandaandlion.blogspot.com

Baby Giggles and Some Old(ish) Pics

Elsie has found her laugh! She has giggled before when we tickled her, but this completely took us by surprise. Luckily, we had a camera nearby, so we captured this:

Also, it was my old camera, so it has a bunch of old pictures from when Ash and I were dating!

February 2011

March 2011

March 17, 2011

April 2011 (General Conference!)

It's funny to think that this was just last year.

Somebody's been sleeping in MY bed.

So, a few weeks ago we decided it was time to start putting Elsie in her own bed at night. It was WAY too easy. She only woke up once a night and went straight back to sleep after being fed. Then about a week ago, things changed. All of a sudden she would NOT sleep in her crib anymore. She was so fussy. She was waking up 4 or 5 times a night. We figured out that this was because she was teething. Already. I tried to take a picture of her tooth last Monday and this is what happened:

See, she was happy at first... then...

So sad! I feel like such a mean mom! And you can't even see the tooth.

Anyway, in desperate need of sleep, we brought her back to our bed. I think she is done with this tooth now, so she will be back in her own bed soon.

Also, have you seen this video? It's hilarious! We have never done this, but I totally know how this dad feels.

Happy Tuesday!

Once Upon a Time, There Were Three Bears....

...a Papa Bear, a Mama Bear, and a Baby Bear:

Papa bear was a great dad. He loved to play with Baby bear. He was the one that went to work so Mama bear could spend all the money! (MWAhahaha...) He was also going to school so he could learn new things and get even smarter.

Mama bear liked to stay home with Baby bear. She would bake all sorts of goodies when she had the time. She also liked buying little dresses and toys for little Baby bear. 

Baby bear was the cutest of them all. She was just 3 1/2 months old, and she loved to smile and giggle and pull hair. But no one minded her pulling their hair because she was just adorable. She was so cute, that Papa and Mama bear just HAD to take pictures of her. Every. Day.

Mama and Papa bear took SO MANY pictures of Baby bear, that they decided to start a blog where they could share some of those pictures with family and friends that were living far, far away.

Here we are with the fall leaves.

Elsie's perfect profile. I love her!

Cutie

Happy little girl

Tummy time

Enjoy! :)