January

Bah - I have to say I'm glad January is over. It's the longest, coldest month and nothing fun happens. At least February is short and has a fun holiday in the middle. And then it's March, when we go on vacation and then it's practically spring. I can't wait until we can take the stroller around the block and sit outside!

Some pictures from the past few days:

Grandpa & Grandma really missed Elise while they were in Mexico. They hung around all day on Sunday - it was so fun! Here's Grandpa and Elise right before bathtime.

Elise got to try a banana in the mesh feeder thing. She loved it, and Grandpa thought it was gross. I don't love the clean-up.

Elise can sit up now!

We went to a kids consignment shop in Ada and out for lunch today. Elise thinks she is SO fancy when she holds her own bottle.

Jumping!

She figured it out! She can jump!

And... my loyal followers the past few days. It's a freaking kennel in my house.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm Cold.

I'm currently the only one in my family whose outside temperature is below 70. This is mildly depressing.

While my parents are enjoying a view that looks something like this:
And doing things like this:
And this:
My sisters are gallivanting around Orlando going to crazy places like this:(don't be fooled - the snow is fake.)

I am stuck here - with a view something like this:
The high today is 23 degrees and the highlight of my day is going to Costco and hoping they're giving out cake samples.

On the bright side - I have this sweet girl to keep me company:

Fun with Auntie Sarah

Today Elise and I went to the mall with Auntie Sarah. We had lunch at Panera and did lots of shopping. She was so good and even sat in her stroller like a big girl almost the whole time!

We got Elise laughing harder than I've ever seen... this is just part of it. She was belly laughing and it was SO cute and funny! She always puts her hands in her mouth when she doesn't want to laugh - that's why I keep pulling them out. It's usually pretty hard to get this girl going but she thought this was SO FUN.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Auntie Sarah got Elise this sleeper way back before she was born. I remember thinking how huge it looked! It says "I love Daddy" on it and has kitties on the feet! So cute.

6 Months Old!

Elise is six months old! I can hardly believe we've only known her for six months. She is acting so much older now - eating baby food, playing with toys, rolling both directions and almost sitting up. We love this girl!

Elise had her 6 month check-up today. Everything looks perfect!

Her 6 month stats:

Weight: 16 lbs (50%)
Height: 25 1/2" (50%)
Head Circumference: 41.3 cm

Sweet Potatoes and a Future Knight

Elise got to try sweet potatoes today - She loved it!

We may have a future Calvin Knight on our hands. Here is Elise wearing her Christmas present from Auntie Aubrey!

Meet me in St. Louis

On Tuesday night at Elise's bedtime we left to meet my Auntie Gracie, Cousin Emily, and her kids Eli and Caroline in St. Louis. The 7 hour drive down went amazing - sweet Elise slept the whole way. Except when we got there at 2am she thought it was morning. She was SO happy and excited and just wanted to play.

We were SO happy to see Emily and have her meet Elise!

Sweet Caroline pulled out all the tissues from the bathroom counter before falling asleep for her nap. She does not look too comfy to me...

Auntie Terri let Caroline eat some sugar packets at Applebees. Yum!

Elise was very good - as long as we have the Baby Bjorn handy we can take this girl anywhere.

Elise went swimming for the first time. Doesn't she look SO CUTE in her little bathing suit?? Thanks Auntie Gracie!

(you can click on any of these collages to enlarge them)

It's really hard to get a picture of Eli...he liked running up and down the hall at the hotel.

We did lots of coloring...

I'm pretty sure Elise will love Auntie Gracie as much as I do (a lot!!)

Fish face?

The ride home was not so easy. She didn't sleep much at all - here are some of the many things that kept her occupied. She did her fair share of screaming too but I was too busy trying to get her to stop crying that I didn't get a picture. These are cuter anyways. We did learn that if we ever take a road trip again with Elise - we are driving at night! She got to try lots of new treats like suckers and Baby Mum Mums from Auntie Gracie.

It was a long trip but SO worth it to see AG, Emily, and her sweet kids. Eli and Caroline are the cutest and sweetest and we are so glad we got to see you guys while you are here!

New High Chair

Ah... the high chair. Elise will tolerate it for a maximum of 10 minutes - but it sure is cute. This is actually the SECOND high chair that I assembled. The first one had an incorrect (backwards) part, and it was the LAST step in the 20 step instruction manual. So two hours after I started assembling the darn thing, the last piece was backwards and I had to haul the whole thing back to Babies R Us and get a new one. I told them I refused to dis-assemble it before I brought it back. And since you all know I am very technical with a high attention to detail, I was thrilled with the idea of putting a new one together a second time. (Ha!) At least that one only took an hour and a half.

And..... the many faces of Elise eating rice cereal in her high chair. We got a new camera and I LOVE it - the pictures are so much better!

Fun with Auntie Lauren

Lauren came to visit for a couple days and we went to the GRAM to see the Princess Diana exhibit. We are sort of fancy and cultured. We even ate gyros for lunch.

"So, what'd you do today?"
"Well, we ate some Mediterranean food, spent a couple hours at the art museum and then sipped lattes while watching the Food Network tape a segment on ice sculptures in Rosa Parks Circle".

See -- Fancy.

Elise pretty much has fun wherever she goes. She's so happy and sweet!

She has also become an unstoppable drool machine. She loves to lick everything. Lauren still drank this even after Elise left a puddle of drool over the whole top. Now that's love.

Weekend Recap

What a fun weekend! Elise spent this afternoon relaxing and reading the paper.

She is such a big girl and holding her own bottles (sometimes).

We got all bundled up and went to Arnies for dinner with Grandpa & Grandma Goote and GREAT Grandpa & Grandma Alligator. [Note to self: Beige is not my color - yikes.]

And we spent a little quality time in the Johnny Jump-up. She has not quite gotten the "jump-up" part of this thing - she mostly just dangles and spins around.

Raspberries and Rolling

We spent part of the afternoon today out at Grandmas. Elise was having lots of fun playing patty-cake with Grandma. I was not allowed to take a video of this but it was very cute.

A good spot for a baby girl on a snowy day...

She LOVES Minnie. She kind of likes to make out with her.

Grandpa Goote taught Elise how to blow raspberries a few weeks ago. She is a pro now. And - I got a couple rolls on video! She didn't do it for forever and now she acts like it's no big deal...stinker!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

She's Rolling!

Elise has finally figured out how to roll over! She rolls from her tummy to her back with no trouble at all, and then laughs because she knows she just figured something out. It's SO cute. I still need to get some pictures of the rolling - but here a few from the last few days...

She loves this ball...

Ollie has lots of competition when Nick comes home now. He will often just set his rope on Elise's head in order to get Nick to throw it...poor buddy. Whenever Nick comes home now Elise will see him in GRIN - it's so cute.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Actually our new years was spent putting Elise to bed at 6:45 and playing Ticket to Ride with my parents. I had been out in the rain and did not feel like getting gorgeous to go out - even though our parents generously offered to babysit. So after a couple games and a glass of wine I was in bed by 10. Slightly pathetic.

Elise loves to hold on to everything now. Even after she drinks a bottle she likes to hold it and just suck on the top. Whatever - more snuggle time for Mommy.

This video is a little on the long side - but I just combined a couple I took over Christmas and then one from tonight's rice cereal snack. She's getting a little better and she likes it so far!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I got this little outfit in the mail with a Christmas Card from my Auntie Susan and Uncle Mitch! It is SO cute and comfy! Thanks guys!! Yes...I am aware of the double chin situation in this picture (me, not Elise). Believe me, I'm on a diet of basically spinach, yogurt, and chicken. It completely sucks.