Look Ma, No Hands!!!

Two new things this week:

1. Elsie has started calling for "Mama" when she wants me! *cheering*

2. Elsie has started standing without holding on to anything! *double cheering!*

Cheerful!

It was a good day. Elsie was so happy and chattering away while I made a cute pair of shorts for her.

I think this is a good beginning of the week! :)

Teething- Round Two!

It's that time again! Elsie currently has 2 more teeth (on the top) that are pushing their way through her gums. It's been about 4 days since I noticed the first one. I don't remember it taking this long for the bottom teeth, but she is doing so well! She only cries if I try to feel if either of the teeth are poking through yet. And in case you are wondering, one has barely cut through, but the other has not. Poor girl. 

Teething... One of those things that we all had to go through at one stage. But we don't remember how bad it was until we have a baby that's going through the horrible process. I was amused when I saw this illustrated guide to teething. (thank you, howtobeadad.com)

Well, I guess I have a lot to look forward to... 

Growing

My baby is growing so fast! I was looking through some pictures of her from a few months ago, and she has changed a lot! Maybe it's just the haircut. I don't know.

This whole mom thing is fun, especially when you have a camera and you get to capture cute moments like these.

My name is...

I've been told (by my mom) that most babies say dad before they say mom. So you can imagine how excited and proud I was of Elsie when she started crying for "Mama" as she woke up from her naps. I think that lasted for one glorious week. Then she learned how to say "Dadadadadada...." And all of a sudden, everyone and everything was Dada. She doesn't want Mom anymore, she wants Dad. When she's hungry, she asks for "Dadada" When she's tired, she's "daaaaa." When Ashley gets home she gleefully looks up and practically shouts "DAH" But what about me. What's my name? -- You guessed it -- "Dadad"

Sick Day?

So, this morning at about 3 am, I woke up feeling really sick. It must be Monday... I thought to myself, "Do moms get sick days? No. Great, I can't even hold my baby without keeling over. How am I going to do this?" Just so you all know, I'm not usually this babyish when I'm sick. It's extra bad this time. Like, I actually wish I had the flu shot this year.

Lucky for me, I am married to Ashley, who, being the amazing husband he is, took work off just so he can take care of me (and Elsie). And boy did I need his help! I told him I feel a lot like a toddler today. I can barely walk, I can barely eat one slice of toast, and I was struggling to drink out of a regular cup. He joked around that he was going to get me one of Elsie's sippy cups. I sort of secretly hoped he would.

Well, enough feeling sorry for myself. Because, do moms get sick days? This one does! :)

Little Miss Piggy

Last week Elsie had this new thing she was doing whenever she got excited. I took a video and now I think it's time to share it with everyone!

And another new thing - She loves waving her arms around and swatting at her toys and high chair! Notice this video also has some piggy snorts, although she has calmed down with those a little...

Yep. She gets cuter every day. And more charming. Have a good week, everyone!

First Haircut

Elsie had her first haircut on Friday. It was nothing major, I just got rid of the long strands above each ear. Now it is all the same length (except for the bald spot in the back...) And she was so good! She slept the whole time. *sniffle* my little baby's getting so big!

Before the hair cut

After

We kept those long strands for her baby book.

...And just a couple more pictures for fun!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Elsie is learning to stand up in her crib! We've been finding her like this after every nap lately. And in the middle of the night... And I just realized that I have a similar picture in my scrapbook! HA!

Elsie - 6 months old

Kaelyn - 7 months old?

  HAHA! Look at the hand placement! And we're both chewing on the side of our cribs.

The Sniffles...

She has a cold :(

Elsie has been sick for the past 5 days. She's had a stuffy, runny nose, a cough, mild fever, and all the regular cold symptoms.

My mom took a look at her on Thursday, and started telling me about how when my little sister Sarah was a baby, she had to take her to the hospital because she had RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) and she had to be on oxygen for a few days!

...She's still cute, though.

Of course, that made me a little bit paranoid when her little voice started sounding more and more hoarse and her breathing had a rattling sound. So, I took her to the doctor and guess what! Elsie has RSV! Apparently it has been going around this winter. SCARY! And you know what else is scary? There is no treatment for it. Although, most babies will get over it no problem, some do have to be taken to the emergency room and put on oxygen.

Today was our follow-up appointment, and Elsie is doing MUCH better! YAY! I could tell that she was improving, but it was nice to have a doctor look at her and confirm what I was thinking.

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!