Yummy...

We had some friends over for dinner last night.  Unfortunately my camera battery died right after I took these so I don't have any of Elise and Jacob playing together.  He's 8ish months older than Elise so he was very busy.  Elise kind of followed him around.  It was so cute!

Apparently this is way more efficient than using your hands.

Auntie Winnie

I can't believe I forgot this picture! It's just so cute. Elise was loving Auntie Winnie's fancy earrings. We were so happy to have a visit from her, and lucky that it coincided with Elise's birthday! SO good to see you Auntie Winnie!

The Big Birthday Post

It took me awhile to get all these pictures organized!  Poor Elise didn't feel so great on the day of her birthday party.  She had a little temperature and was definitely not her normal self, which was so so sad because she would have had SO much fun.   She was for sure the center of attention.

Here she is right after she woke up.  She looked totally spaced out and her eyes look so tired.  Poor baby.   Oh and she tore that bow out of her hair about 3 seconds after this picture.

Elise had lots of company!  Thanks everyone for coming!

A little bit of the decorations.  I had a lot of fun getting all this stuff together.  And I did a little copycat project on the birthday "wreath" for the door.  Thanks Janae!

 

The best family picture we got.  Not great.  Good thing we've got some professional pictures scheduled for this week.  

 

Some major love happening here...

 

We did eventually get a few smiles out of the sweet Birthday Girl.  She started feeling better towards the end of the afternoon.  

Elise and her Great Grandma.

 

We decided to just skip the bathing suit.  She was having too much fun to bother with it.  

Sick of pictures yet?  Ha!

Happy Birthday Elise!  We love you!

1 Year Doctor Appointment

Elise had her 1 year doctors appointment today.  Everything looks great!

Her Stats:

Weight:  20 lbs 10 oz    (43%)

Height:  28.5"     (30%)

Head Circumference:  44.4 cm    (30%)

She had two shots today too, poor thing.   After our doctor appointment we had lunch at Olive Garden with Auntie Winnie, Grandma, & Auntie Lauren.  Elise was loving the pasta and breadsticks.   

Those shots really must have knocked her out because she fell asleep on me this afternoon.   I don't think this has happened in months!   I pretty much savored every minute.  She didn't even wake up when Lauren came over.  She was OUT.

Oh yeah - a birthday party post is coming.  Soon.  I promise.

Her first year.

Dear Sweet Elise,

Today, on your birthday weekend you came down with a fever.  You were completely unlike your normal sweet, happy, smiley self and it broke my heart.  You only wanted to be held.  By your mom.  Which actually I totally loved.  Hopefully you are back to normal tomorrow so you can dive into your birthday cupcake!

It's so hard to believe you have grown from "just a bag of sugar!" as your Great Grandma would say, to a laughing, walking, talking little person.   I love going into your room to get you in the mornings.  You are usually standing in your crib just waiting with a huge grin.  Then you get a little embarrassed and have to lay down and "hug the bed" a few times before you're ready to get out.  

These days you are toddling around the house, sometimes crawling, but mostly walking.  We have to make sure the baby gate is up or you will climb the stairs in about a minute.  You want everything Mommy and Daddy have.  Coffee, a magazine, Daddy's glasses...  all are much more fun than all your toys. 

As you're turning one, I find I'm much more aware of how big you are getting.  When we put you to bed at night, you once would fit perfectly on our chests, and your legs that used to be full of cute chubby rolls have quickly turned skinny.   You have opinions.  You will only drink the bottle if you can do it yourself.   You'll push our hands away when we try to help.  You're turning into a toddler!

Elise, we are so happy to have you.  We love your generous open-mouthed kisses and snuggly hugs.  I love how you yell "dadadada!" out the window when we wait for Daddy to come home from work.   Daddy loves it when he walks in the door and you drop whatever you're doing and get to him as fast as possible.  

You are more than we could have ever hoped for.

We love you Elise!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

...and we're walking!

She definitely walks more than crawls now.   Fancy pants. 

I'm getting a little emotional over this whole  "my baby's turning one" thing.   Sigh...it's going too fast!  Although we do have lots of birthday cuteness coming.  I've been getting very crafty...

Oh - and this was me a year ago today.  Crazy.

 

Morning

I love mornings.  Elise is extra generous with the hugs and kisses.  We sit and cuddle and watch the Today show while I have coffee and she has her morning bottle.  We read lots of books.  "How big is baby Elmo?" & "What does baby do?" are a few of our favorites.   We have some cheerios.   She loves to torment Ollie who just wants to sleep in the sunshine.  I was SO happy when swimming lessons were done so we could get back to our normal routine in the mornings. 

 "Here Mom - have some Cheerios!"

So sweet. 

Friends

On Saturday some of our friends came out to the lake.   Elise got to hang out with her friend Nicolynn!  They're only 8 months apart and she is oh-so-cute. 

Here Elise is either trying to kiss her or conk heads.   The head thing is her favorite lately.  She finds it hilarious.  Unfortunately Nick missed it all because of a work emergency - and even had to fly to Mexico in his company's private jet to help fix a problem.  He is sorta fancy.  We missed him so much!

Since Nick was gone I stayed at my Mom & Dad's since Elise was already sleeping.   We spent Sunday trying to stay cool around the lake. 

Watch out, Sports Illustrated.  Here we come. 

Summer Nights

 Tonight we went to Grandpa & Grandma Goote's for dinner since they're leaving on a little vacation and wanted to see us Elise before they left. 

 

 Elise showed off her walking skills to Great Grandpa & Grandma - who could hardly believe her eyes.  Just today Elise started taking 10 or 12 steps in a row!  She's feeling a lot more confidant I think.  (And that box behind her is Elise's first birthday present!  I have a feeling she's going to be pretty spoiled on her big day...)

 "Oh hey guys!"

Daddy came for dinner too!!  These two sure love each other.  Hugs and kisses all around.  

Um...  I love this kid so much I sometimes want to eat her face.  Is that weird?

 

Thanks Grandpa & Grandma for an excellent dinner!

Splashing!

Elise finally ventured into the lake.  She likes it!

Watermelon

Elise was loving the watermelon we gave her this afternoon. She was only content if we let her hold it and she did it herself. It was very juicy.

Hi. I'm cute.

For some reason she really wanted to be on the hard cement today. Except she couldn't crawl on it so she resorted to this...apparently this is still easier than walking.

Bike Ride!

We tried out our new bike seat and helmet tonight! Elise had so much fun - she was smiling the whole time. Or maybe she was squinting - it was pretty sunny. Either way she was definitely enjoying herself. FYI - baby helmets are hard to find. Target, Walmart, and Meijer only had helmets that started at age 3. I had to go to a special bike shop and buy the purple helmet with the crazy bunnies on it for $45.00. This thing better be F.U.N.

She was ready to get off by the time we got home...

First Steps!

Elise is taking a few steps now! She's taken 5 or 6 in a row and she get SO excited. (And the things on her knees in the video are wristbands my mom made into kneepads...)

Fourth of July Weekend

We started off the weekend on the most beautiful, hot, hot, day at the lake.

Elise had it made during a little afternoon snack.

Happy 4th of July!!

Uncle Carl had Elise practically running through the house! She was having SO much fun! (We have to tuck her dress into her little bloomers so she doesn't trip over it when she crawls.)

Swimming Lessons

We're in our 5th week of swimming lessons. Today she had to wear winter clothes, socks, and shoes. She wears her regular diaper too and it weighs like 5 pounds afterwards. But she can still float! Mr. Michael thinks she'll have it mastered by next week.