a few other things to note

Elsie isn't officially napping anymore, but really still needs a nap every day. She usually falls asleep on the couch, or I let her "rest" (she doesn't like the word "nap" anymore) on our bed. Isn't she cute?!
Funny thing Elsie says: "This is driving me nuts."

Today Elsie said to me "It sure is a nice day" in the sweetest, cutest little voice.

Elsie can get fired up real easily. She gets very animated, uses her arms, the works. We'll ask her what she wants and she'll say "Nuffin'" and move her arms like an baseball umpire doing "safe". She always likes to say "Nevermore" very dramatically. I guess you kinda have to be there, but it's hilarious.

At our ward Christmas party, the primary children sang "Far, far away on Judea's Plains", and all the kids shouted out the part that says "Glory to God, Glory to God..." Elsie wasn't old enough to perform, but her friend Olivia taught her the words to that part. Elsie loves to sing it all the time and is quite good at it. I just love that she'll randomly shout out "Glory to God".

I was looking at family reunion pictures the other night, and was reminded again what a great family I have. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful memories of childhood and adulthood associated with them. I was specifically looking at the lip sync pictures, and just laughed out loud. We sure do have a good time together!

A friend of mine lost her 22-year-old son in a car accident a couple weeks ago. He actually passed away on Elsie's birthday. I went to the funeral with another mutual friend. I feel for her. I've just been thinking a lot about the people in my life that I've lost over the past few years. It's weird how life goes on and you find a new "normal", but there's still a sadness (even bitterness) there that just won't go away.


I had to video this little tantrum Elsie was throwing the other day. I showed it to her today, and she thought it was hilarious. We watched it like 10 times in a row.

This should've gone with my post about Grandma and Grandpa visiting. A cute video of Elsie dancing in her skirt.

Salon stylin'

Elsie has already had her "first haircut" but this was her first salon experience. We got her all excited to go get her hair cut, so she was really looking forward to it. We went to our appointment and Elsie was in awe. She got to go first, and she was such a big girl about it.

It took her a minute to relax while getting her hair washed. She was SO serious about the whole thing. It was making me laugh. Finally, I convinced her to smile for the camera. (Yes, I was the dorky mom taking pictures.)

Again, note the serious face. You would think she wasn't having fun, but she was loving it. Every once in a while, she's look at me and just give me the biggest smile.

I forgot to take a final picture at the salon. We just gave her a good trim, so nothing to drastic. But her hair looks healthy and happy.

Grandma and Grandpa couldn't stay away :)

There's nothing like a fun weekend with Grandma and Grandpa to cure the winter blues! Gary and Sylvia came up for an extended weekend to see us (okay, we all know they just came to see Elsie), and we loved it. We didn't do anything extraordinary, but still had a great time being together.

Elsie's birthday balloons were still full of air and were her favorite activity of the weekend. She chased them, hit them, kicked them, colored on them...you name it. Grandma joined in on the fun, too (not that she had much of a choice).

Grandma and Grandpa bought Elsie a piggy bank, some cute striped leg warmers, and this adorable purple skirt for her birthday. Elsie was being a bit shy...who am I kidding?! Elsie was a being a stinker about putting the skirt on, but we finally got her to do some twirls to show it off.

She's "free"

Elsie is three!! We celebrated her birthday with all sorts of fun. Elsie and I spent the day together doing things that she likes. We painted nails, watched movies, played with toys, and made cupcakes. Elsie wanted princess cupcakes for her party, but I didn't want to spend a ton of money on them. So, I got a little creative (that makes it sound like they were much cooler than they actually were) and came up with something that made her happy as can be! She loved helping me bake them and decorated them. We even helped ourselves to one before the party.

(Elsie was Cinderella for most of the day.)

We went to dinner at Pizza Hut since that is her favorite kind of pizza. Our friends, the Collins, met us there. It ended up being "Kid's Night" at the restaurant that night, so there were balloons and activities. Since there weren't many other people there, it was like a party just for Elsie. The kids loved it!

We invited a few friends over for a little party. She loved opening the presents, but had a really hard time when her friends wanted to touch and play with her new things. We're working on that!!

We both absolutely love and adore our little girl. I mean "big girl" as she likes to remind me. How do I even put in to words all that she means to us?! We are so grateful to have her in our lives and in our family. I truthfully don't know what I would do without her!

I think of you every day.

Happy Birthday to our baby boy, Paxton.

So behind!!!

I haven't blogged in a while. My goal for the day is to get caught up because we've had quite a busy month! They may not be the most detailed posts, but at least they are blogged.

I'm still not sleeping well, and have been a little (well, a lot!) frustrated and stressed about that. But, I'm turning over a new leaf today. Who cares if I'm tired? Who cares if I'm frustrated? Who cares if I'm stressed? That's life!

Christmas Morning

Santa came Christmas morning. We hid and spied on him. Elsie yelled "Boo". Carson was not happy with her for not being quiet. Opened presents. Elsie loved all her stuff...princess dresses from Santa, dollhouse from Grandma and Grandpa, games, crayons, stocking stuff. Had a great day playing with toys, made breakfast, took a nap, played some more.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at Grandma's house. Elsie was a shepard in the Nativity. Had a great time eating, visiting, and singing.

sleep issues

For the past five/six months I've been having problems sleeping...both getting to sleep and staying asleep. It's been so frustrating. I've had to rely on ambien way more than I would like to and I don't really know what the problem is. I have better days/nights and then some sort of anxiety sets in and it all starts up again. Yes, I'm awake when I should be asleep. But after still trying to fall asleep 45 minutes after taking an ambien, reading, "relaxing"...I don't know what to do.

Another trip to Washington

Elsie and I took another trip up to WA because Mitch was visiting from New York. I was bummed that Aaron couldn't come with us. :( The weather even cooperated with us and we had a great trip.

Elsie and Q took a bath together. They played really well together the whole weekend. Elsie loves being with her cousins!

We seemed to be on an Asian food kick while in ML. One day we went to the sushi place. I have never tried any form of sushi before, so I stuck with a shrimp and rice dish. But Angie had me try some of her stuff and I kinda liked it. I think it was pretty mild compared to a lot of stuff, but really good! Mitch entertained Elsie with some crayons and coloring.

A self-portrait of Elsie and Aunt Ang!

We spent Friday in Moses Lake and then went down to Jared's place on Saturday for more fun and a little Wii party. I love my siblings.

Uncle Mitch with the kiddos.

We tried taking a group shot with the self-timer and it wasn't working out. Fortunately someone came to their door right then so we had him take a picture for us. Not too shabby! Notice the girls' princess dresses. Elsie was in heaven wearing the Cinderella dress all day.

Elsie was such a champ in the car. I think the DVD player was one of our best purchases EVER! I don't know if I should be proud of the fact that Elsie could watch show after show without getting sick of it. It sure made for an easy trip both ways...in fact I was a little too bored.