adventures of Elsie

I know it's not the best picture, but I had to include it because it's Elsie playing with the door. She was obsessed with the double doors that lead into the den. She kept swinging them open and closed. It really kept her happy!Elsie with her aunt Gi Gi. Carson is such a sweety to Elsie. He would play with her and help keep her entertained and happy. He kept calling her "my little cousin" in the sweetest voice.

Elsie loved going under the piano bench. I don't know why she liked it so much. It must have felt like a cool fort or something. Now she keeps going under our side tables next to the couch. I'm sure she's going to bonk her head one of these times, but for now she's having fun.

I don't have a picture of it, but Elsie was also LOVING crawling after Murphy (my mom's dog). She would get so happy and laugh when he came around. She'd watch everywhere that he went. She would even slightly torture him just trying to show her love. Murphy was so good with her. It was interesting to see how much better Elsie's crawling got even after the first couple days of following him. She's a speed demon now!

Christmas outfits

We tried to get a picture of Carson, Kaiya, and Elsie in their Christmas outfits after church. Carson was the only really cooperative one. Elsie was sitting nicely on Carson's lap at first, but her patience didn't last too long. Kaiya absolutely would not seat down or pose for the picture. She was being quite the stubborn little thing. Jared was getting so frustrated (it was funny to watch!). Anyway, I could only get a couple pictures of Carson and Elsie and only a walking picture of Kaiya. They all looked so cute! I guess we'll have to try again another year.

Christmas is over...boo hoo

We had a great time up in Moses Lake this year for Christmas. Christmas morning is so much fun with kids! We didn't do a whole lot while we were up there visiting...just ate a lot, hung out and visited, and played some games.

We drove up Friday afternoon and got there early enough to go out to dinner at Inca...Aaron's favorite Mexican restaurant that's not actually in Mexico. Saturday morning Elsie woke up very early (there is a one hour time difference) and so Aaron and I hung out for a while with her. We went over to Grandma's to get some toast and jam...that was nummy! We also played a game of Phase 10 while Elsie played with some of her second cousins. That evening was the BYU game, so we went to J's Teriyaki (Aaron's other favorite ML restaurant) to get some food for the game. While Aaron was glued to the TV, my mom and I wrapped presents. That was quite a task! Good thing Aaron was able to entertain Elsie. Sunday morning we lounged around and then got ready for Church. Jared and Lindsay drove up that morning with their kids just in time for church. I got to see Chloe for the first time. She is so beautiful and tiny. It was fun to compare her to Elsie now. I've forgotten how small and fragile they are at first. My mom made a wonderful ham dinner for us that evening with pomegranate salad...which Elsie loved! We didn't do much on Monday. I went to the store with my mom that morning to do some last minute grocery shopping. We lounged around, played Acquire, and went to Grandma's for Christmas Eve dinner. There was so much food, but, of course, we filled ourselved up on rolls. The kids did the nativity (they were all so cute...I didn't get any pictures of that). Jeff and Brandon came over afterwards to play Settlers and Ticket to Ride. That was lots of fun!

Christmas morning Elsie woke up pretty darn early, so that got the ball rolling. Carson had left a note for Santa with some cookies and milk. He went to check that first and then they scoped out their Santa gifts. We all took turns opening our presents. However, the kids had way more than any of us, so they got to do a few at a time. Elsie wasn't too interested in opening anything or playing with the paper. Once we showed her what she got, she liked looking at it for a second. She was more interested in crawling around.
Elsie got: Little People bus, Little people barn, lots of books, a grab-n-go hippo, some cute outfits, a phone, a laptop (she loves this one), a few little trinkets, and some money to go shopping! Aaron got: The Bourne Ultimatum, Ticket to Ride, The Office (on DVD), a couple books, and a Michael Scott bobblehead. I got: Harry Potter DVD, Bath and Body Works gift card, a sweater, a spicerack, The Office. We also got some new silverware and some money to do some more shopping! Good thing, I need some clothes!

Christmas day we continued our laziness. I didn't even shower until late that afternoon. We watched the Bourne movie that night because Lindsay and my mom hadn't seen it yet. It was good the second time around. We left Wednesday to make sure that we didn't get stuck in any bad weather in the mountains. It wasn't too bad, but I'm sure glad that I wasn't the one driving.

We had a great Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we're off to Moses Lake this afternoon for Christmas. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with us for the drive. I'm sure it will!

I got all my shopping done this week, except I feel like I totally failed with Aaron's gift. We had decided that we would do some presents for each other, but not spend a lot of money. The only reason we even decided to do presents for each other is because a couple years ago we didn't and Aaron hated it. I honestly didn't mind not having much to open, but Aaron was sad. The only problem with getting presents is I know exactly what he's getting me and he knows what I'm getting him. We went shopping together and picked things out. So, really, what's the point of having them to open. Oh well! It makes Aaron happy. However, I couldn't think of what to get him and he couldn't even think of what he wanted...besides a truck. We even went out last night to try to find something for him to have to open Christmas morning. It just too stressful for me. So, I'm the big loser this year that didn't buy much for Aaron. I just had to get it out there. He, on the other hand, had no problems buying for me because I have plenty of things I want. At least I'll have a good Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas to you all! We'll be back next week.

she's on the move

Our world has completely changed now that Elsie is crawling. Everybody kept telling me to grateful that she wasn't on the move yet, but I was still very concerned that she wasn't crawling. Well, I can see their point. Don't get me wrong...I'm so excited that Elsie is crawling because, seriously, it was time and she is loving it. I just need to do some major houseproofing and not try to multi-task as much. (When I say multi-task, I mean I can't watch TV and kind of watch Elsie). Oh darn! It is so fun to see her getting better and better each day. She is able to sit up and lay down and move around all by herself. This morning was the first time that she was sitting up in her crib when I went to get her. It was really cute! Anyway, here's a little video of her crawling...ignore the annoying voice in the background.

Aaron taught Elsie to clap when he cheers for her, so Elsie does it completely on cue now. It is so funny because, even if she's crawling, as soon as she hears us say "Yay!" she'll immediately rollover and start clapping. She was doing this funny face that looked like, "OK, I'm not sure what's going on here, but everyone's clapping so I will, too" and she'd kind of look around like she was super confused. Too bad I couldn't get it on video.

another Elsie update

So, we've kind of put Elsie through a little boot camp the last couple weeks. She's been on the floor as much as possible. She was really good at rolling all over the place, but was still not crawling.
She did this sort of backward scoot sometimes. (I don't know why she's crying in this picture. She had just been smiling a few seconds earlier. I think it's because she rolled onto the hard floor or something.)

She'd get up on her hands and knees and then fall down or choose to roll instead.

Anyway, I think it's working. Last night she was totally trying to crawl and even made some small movements forward. It was different from anything I've seen her do. Aaron and I were pumped! I know she wants to do it, she just has to keep practicing. Yippee!!

I think she's decided that it's little more fun being more independent. She's much more demanding when it comes to doing things on her own. She's willing to eat more foods on her own and will even hold her own sippy cup....she's still working on the tilting. Grandma Wise gave her a Rudolph nose when we were down there for Thanksgiving, but Elsie wasn't a fun of putting it on. I tried it again the other night and she loved it. She kept trying to put in on herself....and she even kept it on long enough for us to take a picture. It's been so fun to watch Elsie grow and change so much. I love it! It makes every day so interesting. You never know what she's going to be like or do that day.

I am happy!

I was so nervous about getting my hair cut, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. The girl who cut my hair was very thorough and made sure she was doing what I wanted. I feel like a new woman! It was funny because she was asking me if I liked a little volume while she was styling it. I told her I did, but I had a hard time doing it. She used some product and worked on it, and then she said, "Your hair is really slick. It doesn't even hold the backcombing very well." No kidding! I told her I get it from my mom. Our hair is soft, but so slick. Oh well, you can't have it all.

tomorrow's a big day

I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! I know that probably isn't a big deal to most people, but I've been building up to this for a while. I've never been the type to do crazy things with my hair. In fact, I have pretty much had the same style for the last 10-12 years. Every once in a while I change the length, but otherwise I'm pretty boring. I have done some short styles, but I always seem to grow my hair out right after and am really horrible about getting it trimmed as often as necessary. Last year I had a cute hairstyle, but I let it grow out. This year I have looked like a complete slob. I never do my hair...it is always pulled back. So I finally decided to take some pride in what I look like and get my hair cut cute and shorter. I know I won't be able to pull it back, but I've got to move on from this. I need cute hair!!! I'm excited and will post a picture tomorrow (assuming it looks good...I'm going to a new person).

warts, noodles, and more!

This past week has been pretty mellow around here. I've had my Christmas music playing, we've started to get some gift shopping done, and Elsie is still keeping us very entertained and happy.
Last Wednesday I went to the doctor to get some warts frozen on my feet. I know you're probably thinking you don't really want to hear about my warts, but I have to whine for just a second. I had quite a few small ones on both feet, so I had him do both feet at the same time. I'm miserable now. They hurt so bad and it still hurts to walk on them. I'm hoping by the end of this week, I'll feel better. Until then I'll continue to walk like a gimp...and have Aaron get me things!

I've really been trying to give Elsie new things to try eating by herself. She's funny, though, because she really doesn't like to touch many things. I did give her some plain cooked ramen noodles the other day, and she LOVED it. She was so cute as she was eating and trying to suck in the noodles. She makes the cutest noise, too. I don't know what else to try giving her. Every time I give her anything slightly wet or mushy, she won't touch it. She is a bit of a diva...I STILL have to hold her bottle for her as well.

Aaron got shower with Elsie before church yesterday, and they had a good time. Elsie was loving feeling the water on her back and even snuggled right into Aaron (that is a special treat)! She definitely loves the water and could stay there all day.


(Aaron thinks it looks like he has hairy boobs in this picture...and it does! I will clarify that it is his arm and left part of his hairy chest. But it's much more fun to say he has hairy boobs!)