Reflection

Elsa turned 1 today. It's a little surreal. My dad came to get me this morning for me to take him to work and said, "Good morning birthday girl!" And I almost cried. We have a 1-year old! That is so crazy.

I went through pictures and quickly picked out one from every month so that I could go to bed at a decent hour. Each one brought back so many memories. As fast as the year went by, I really do feel like I have special memories from every month and I'm thankful that we were able to capture so many of them on camera. 

I tell people daily how easy she is. We have been blessed with a sweet, healthy baby girl. No one deserves a little blessing like this, but God chose to bless us in this way. I try to not let a day go by without thinking about this and thanking God.  I want our family to live in a way that serve the Lord whole heartedly daily whether we have a sweet healthy little girl, or if we are going through a trial. I have a ways to go...BUT, He loves us so much and showers us in His grace and mercy. I hope you all see how much He loves you too. 

And the reflecting begins...Thank you, Elsa, for giving us a special 2011-2012 and for the memories to come. 

1 Months

2 Months-
Met cousin Kate

3 Months-
mommy's sanity--> the jogging stroller

4 Months-
Trip to Cap Cod to meet Aunt L and see Uncle G, Grannie, and Papaw again

5 Months-
Thanksgiving- wrestling with Kate, Elsa won

6 Months-
photo shoot

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months-
"Sun" Bathing

10 Months-
Daddy Love

11 Months-
Love my books

11-12 Months

Well, I figured I needed to get this up before FRIDAY when Elsa turns ONE! I cannot believe it.

Before I get too far into what she's been up to, I want to welcome my newest nephew, Noah, into the world! He was born on May 9th. Look how cute he is! I'm so happy he is finally here, and I am so anxious to meet him!

I already wrote about month 11, so I am going to go ahead and write about month 12 and leave the one-year post for the birthday pictures.

As for 11 month stats, Elsa weighted 19 lbs 3 oz. And I never measured her length. Whoops.

 Well, we are excited to share that Elsa took her first steps April 29th. That is probably the biggest milestone for the month. Since then she has gotten pretty steady on her feet. It is so neat to watch her confidence develop and take more risks like walking on different surfaces. Now she is trying to climb up on the couch, and climb in and out of toys.

We continue to meet up with my friend and her daughter on Tuesdays, and we started meeting up with another friend of mine and her son. It's been a blessing to have other mom friends to talk to and relate with. Both of their kids are a couple months older than Elsa, close enough in age but old enough to give me an idea of what is to come. :) Perfect!

I was able to celebrate my first Mother's day this month. Shane was so sweet to me. I felt very loved. I feel so blessed to be in the place that I am.

 Elsa has started to say a few words...so we think. Shane and I have heard "dog" and "yogurt" (or "gurt"), my mom and David have heard "water," and Grannie and Pawpaw have heard "apple." She always waves hello and goodbye now, she's close to blowing a kiss, she signs "more," and she responds to the words duck, ball, walker, button, her name of course, book, cheese, and "want to go for a run?" (she goes and stands by the jogger <--my sanity, thank you G and L)...I think that's all. It's hard to think of everything while sitting here...I'm a proud momma, can you tell? Oh, and she tries to put her socks and shoes on...sooo sweet. And she has 6 teeth. Ok, I'm finished.

She continues to sleep 11-12 hours a night and nap 4 1/2-5 1/2 hours during the day. She put herself on a pretty impressive schedule. I told her that I get kind of lonely during the day with her sleeping so much, but she didn't seem to care enough to wake up sooner (and it leaves me with no excuse for a dirty house, dirty dishes, dirty laundry, or clean laundry not folded, thanks, Elsa). She's a great eater and tries everything. I had no doubt she would be between Shane and myself, but it is nice to see that she is eating well. Last week my parents neighbors brought over a tone of Lebanese food. I didn't want to share it because it was amazing, but I did end up giving Elsa quite a bit of it. She loved it! How could she not though? It was the best food I've had in a while.

Speaking of clean clothes still sitting in the laundry basket...

We bought her a couple early birthday presents. A pair of shoes and a seat for the bike. We've been on bike rides every weekend since we bought the seat. She seems to like it. And considering she fell asleep on the last ride, I think it's safe to say that she isn't nervous.

This past weekend we went to Monroe for the weekend. A couple weeks before that we had our first tear-free swinging at the park. I was excited to share that with Grannie and get her excited about swinging Elsa on the swing at their place...of course all of us forgot to bring the camera down to the gazebo, but here is one from the park from the week before. 

Grannie and Pawpaw were eager to teach Elsa new things. They were teaching her "up" and "down" and "off" and "on." Elsa got the hang of this little game (where you put the rings on the stand in order from biggest to smallest...not sure what the toy is called) and then decided she wanted Grannie to put all of the rings on her arms. She is a hoot. They also walked her out to the orchard to teach her about the apples, blueberries, pears, and peaches. 

When Shane gets home from work she follows him into our closet and then puts her hands up for the pull up bar. Does anyone else know of a 10 month old that could do a pull up? How cute is that? 

Then we take her for a run around the lake, and when we get home she plays on Daddy while he does crunches and I make dinner.

This month she's started to ask for piggy back rides. She comes up behind me when I'm sitting down and grabs the back of my shirt, and then tilts her head as if she's asking, "Do you see me mom? I want to go for a ride!" How can I resist the cuteness? I don't. I trot all around the apartment as she giggles on my back. Over and over and over and over again...it's a workout! 

Piggy back rides with mommy, and follow the leader with daddy. 

And here are a couple pictures from today to end on

She figured out how to climb in...

And her first attempt getting out. It looks like it would end ugly, but don't worry, she didn't hurt herself. And she's improved on her exit. 

It's looking like laundry is becoming a theme. 

Thank you to all of you that love her so much and so well. We are excited to celebrate her first year despite most of our families are not able to make it. We are so blessed to be apart of two amazing families and wish we were all together more often. We couldn't have asked for more love for this child. We pray daily that she will accept the ultimate Lover into her heart soon. We are so thankful the Lord gave her to us, and we will be so thankful when she gives Him her whole heart.

Big Girl E

Elizabeth pushing Elsa. Best buds. :)

10 Months

I am behind, once again. This was another exciting month! I'll try to remember everything.
I'll start with March.
- Started saying her d's.
- Climbs up stairs very well! And loves to be pulled down them (thank you Grandma for the stair lessons)
- Found buttons on her toys last month, but now if I ask her to press a button, she finds the closest toy and presses the buttons. Very cute.
- Throws things.
- Went to Monroe for Aunt Meghan's baby shower.
- Consistantly runs with mommy during the day, and daddy when he comes home. She goes into her room at least once a day and pushes her jogging stroller around the room...throwing hints, Elsa?
- Plays peek-a-boo with her towel after her bath. And plays with anything else that can hid her face from us...hats, toys, blankets.
- I finally started bathing her in the big bath instead of her little infant bath. She loves it. She crawls all around, eats bubbles, splashes, stands up and sits down over and over and over again, dips her face in the water....
- Went to Monroe to see Uncle Garin for a day.
- She reaches for her crib at nap times and bed times.
- Eats anything we put in front of her...nothing new there!

Recently she's been grabbing a toy and crawling around with it in her mouth. 

Ok and now onto April...

One morning I went in to get Elsa and she was sitting in her crib with her paci in her mouth, her Bunny in one hand, and her other paci in her other hand. She was trying to stick her second paci in her bunny's mouth. Ha, it was adorable. 

-G'ma and G'pa came over and put Elsa to bed for the first time while Shane and I went out for dinner. (I know, it's sad that it took us that long to have an evening out without her)

- First trip to the beach and slept in first hotel room

- First visit to Grow Zone at Port City

- Strawberry picking

- Grannie, Papa, and G babysat.

- Aunt Becca and Uncle Matthew's birthdays!

- eats turkey and cheese quesadilla

We still continue to meet up with my friend and her daughter. When we got back from our walk, they pushed the stroller around the house. 

Shane and I got some barefoot running shoes this months, which has slowed down my running. After running a few days in a row with them, I could barely walk because my calves hurt so bad. They say to start out slow...and they mean it. I guess we'll find out in a few years what horrible things they are doing to our legs. Hopefully not though. 

Elsa had her first trip to the beach in April! Shane surprised us with a weekend in WIlmington to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. We had beautiful weather. 

Elsa and I spent most of our time on the beach in the tent. I didn't want her to get burned. 

Then we went to UNCW to walk around and see the new construction. It's crazy how much the school has grown since we started going there. 

The next week a friend of mine picked us up and we went Strawberry picking! Yum. I love Spring and Summer and the fruits that are in season. 

Our most recent walk with Elizabeth, she wanted to be the big girl and push Elsa in her stroller. 

Then they came home and shared some Puffs. 

Friends of ours got married this past weekend. We got to see some close friends from college and celebrate with them. And we also got a date night out of it! Shane's parents and brother came in town and watched Elsa while we were at the wedding. It was a fun night out. 

8 of the 12 girls from our small group in Wilmington were there, and our 2 leaders. A fun reunion!

Shane and Josh being goof balls. 

Congratulations Sara and Scotty!!!

And while we were at the wedding, Elsa was playing on G's face.

Grandma and Grandpa watched Elsa the week before when Shane and I went out to dinner. They brought Elsa her first ball. And this visit Grannie and Papa brought Elsa some cute flip flips. :) So cute. 

That's all for now! She will be 11 months a week from today! And since I already wrote everything that happened in month 11, I guess all I will have are stats. Until then!

9 Month Appointment

Elsa had her 9 month appointment today. I really lover her doctor. What a blessing.

She didn't have to get any shots today, which was nice. The doctor also said she was right where she wants her to be.

She's 17 lbs 12 1/4 oz (25th %)

28 inches long (58th %)

and her head is 17 in around (23rd %)

She's eating 3 meals a day and snacking in between lunch and dinner, and still breast-feeding 4 or 5 times a day. She continues to be so easy and we have more and more fun together every day. She is so happy. She is ticklish on her neck and arm pits and giggles so much. I have yet to find something she won't eat. She doesn't like the word "no" (surprise surprise) and continues to try and play with cords, blinds, the computer, shoes, anything in the bathroom (yuck). She loves bath time! After we eat dinner, Shane goes to her bathroom to fill the bath and she darts over there. So cute. She also darts to the door in the evenings when Shane gets home from work. Melts. Our. Hearts. She climbs on anything she can. She's found the buttons on all of her toys and is very proud of herself when she pushes them. She loves her books, especially her dog book (ut-oh). She's a dare devil, which inevitably leads to bruises, bumps, and blood blisters, and surprisingly not too many tears. This morning she woke up with a snotty nose, but the doctor said she has 2 more teeth coming in up top and most likely the snot is in relation to that. She is a boogery mess.

Since breast-feeding has slowed down, I've had to pick up my running, so we run 4 miles a day now, which we don't mind considering the weather has been amazing. AND the geese haven't bothered us since I last wrote, thank goodness.

Alright, that's it for now!

Multi-Purpose Toys

These toys/objects may not be intended to be used in more than one way, but Elsa found ways...Enjoy!

To walk...

Or to climb...

To swat at...

Or to topple over...

Or stand and hit the button that changes the song...

To sleep...

Or to pull the decorations off the wall...

To sit in...

Or to crawl under...

Or walk around...

To store dishes...or to sit in. Good thing it was already empty. :)

Thank you, Elsa, for entertaining yourself with your toys as long as possible.

Happy 9 months!

It was a beautiful day today! 80 and sunny! Elsa and I ran over to Grandma's to take some pictures on the back porch, and then ran back to the house to hang out by the pool for a little while. We are so glad that Spring is on its way!

Happy 9 months big girl!

Stats and new tricks to come...