Good Morning, Sunshine!

I would never consider myself a morning person, but apparently Elle thinks that needs to change. Ever since the time change -- when was that? over a month ago? -- Elle has been getting up around 5:45 AM. And then last week she started getting up around 5:15 AM and this week she has started getting up around 4:45 AM. That's the middle of the night, people! I am at my wits end and have no idea what to do! We have tried keeping her up later and that hasn't worked and I've started going in there and trying to rock her back to sleep, but so far that hasn't worked either. Honestly, I usually end up leaving her in bed until she starts really fussing, which is usually around 5:45 or 6:00 AM, but once she wakes up, I am never able to fall back asleep.

It's been difficult lately because Noah likes to stay up until 11 PM or so, and then Elle is waking me up at 4:45, which means I'm running on under 6 hours of sleep each night. I try to take naps whenever Elle does, but really I just wish she would start sleeping later. I don't think many people read this blog other than family, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

On another note, our Christmas cards arrived a couple of days ago, but the top of the card was altered and it cut the top of Elle's head off. So, I had to have them reprinted and they are supposed to arrive by Friday. I am hoping they will be printed correctly this time, because they really turned out cute!

Noah and I got tickets through Sewell (we may or may not have requested them back in April) to Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We went last night, which was opening night, and it was wonderful! We had a great time! The opera house that we saw it at is sponsored by Lexus, so they had a reception before the show for Lexus owners and we were able to have some fantastic food/wine. We are very lucky that Noah works for such a great company that does nice things for their employees. We are sure never to take that for granted!

Lovin' this weather

Since I am convinced that it is EVENTUALLY going to get COLD around here, Elle and I have been trying to take advantage of the nice weather and do things outside as much as we can. She loves to walk around out in front of our house and crunch all the acorns and leaves. We usually go outside at least once a day to get some fresh air and swing in the backyard.

Yesterday Elle and I went to the zoo and had a great time as usual. It is nice now because there is never anyone there, so we pretty much have the entire zoo to ourselves, which is great with an active toddler who has a mind of her own. Elle was able to feed the fish in the koi pond, pet the goats, and we even went into the bird sanctuary and had several birds land on our shoulder and fingers (well, actually only mine, not Elle's, she was not too thrilled with them).

Today Kellie let us borrow her pass to the Arboretum, so Elle and I went for a couple of hours this afternoon. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and that is actually why I have time to be writing this post. Ha!

Here are a few pictures from today of Elle checking out the Texas Pioneer Village.

Hello December!

For some reason, I have been waiting for this day for a long time. I guess maybe it doesn't feel like Christmas time until it is actually December. Elle and I have been loving the cooler weather and getting to dress in our boots and coats.

I ordered our Christmas cards a couple of days ago, and I got an e-mail this morning that said they have been shipped - I'm so excited! I think I am going to wait awhile to mail them out though, because I don't want to look too overly anxious. Elle has been sooo good about not touching our Christmas decorations and I am so proud of her. The only thing she does sometimes like to touch is some gold beads I put on our Christmas tree. I couldn't figure out what was so appealing about them, until yesterday I caught her putting them over her head. Duh, she thinks it's a necklace!

Of course Noah has already been working on a puzzle and is almost done with his first one. I decided this year that instead of me reading in the other room while he works on his puzzle, that I would get a book that I could read aloud. We are several chapters into this book

and we are both really loving the time we get to spend together doing what we both love to do.

I talked Noah into baking our first batch of Christmas cookies last night and it was a success! We actually needed to bake them a little longer since they turned out a little gooey, but now we know and our next batch will be great!

18 months

How did my sweet little baby grow up into a one and a half year old? Where has the time gone? Even though the last 18 months have gone by way too quickly, I have truly loved every day with Elle. She is such a sweet spirit and she has "grown up" into such a fun little girl.

Elle, here is what you are up to at 18 months.

You weigh 21.1 lbs and are 32 inches long.

You continue to amaze us with your comprehension and understanding. You really seem to grasp what we say to you and it is so fun to watch you learn new things each day. You obey so well and it makes me so glad!

You are starting to say a few more words -- like "Yeah", "Yuck", "Papa", "Noo" and "Whoa!" You make the funniest expressions and always keep us laughing!



You are very outgoing and love to wave hello to EVERYONE! If anyone ever ignores you, you just keep right on waving until they say Hi to you!

You love your cousin Grayer and are (usually) pretty sweet with him. You have held him a few times and after some inital reluctance, you loved it! You think you are such a big girl. You didn't seem to mind when Mommy held him at first, but now you are starting to show some jealousy!

I had no plans to start potty training you yet, but recently you have started showing some signs that you might be ready. I think I am going to hold off on any further attempts until after Christmas when we will get you your own potty seat. We will see how things go then. I can't believe you are already old enough to POTTY TRAIN! What's next -- a BIG GIRL BED?

You are still working on your "I" teeth. None of them have come through yet, but your poor gums are pretty red and swollen. I bet it won't be too much longer.

For the past month or so, you have been getting up around 6 AM -- AKA THE CRACK OF DAWN! You help Daddy get ready for work in the mornings and you two spend some good time together, while Mommy may or may not get back in bed -- Ha!

You spent a lot of time with your Grandparents this month and you really loved it! You are so blessed to have such great Grandparents who will drop anything to care for you when Mommy and Daddy need some time away. You love to spend time with your Nona, Mimi, and Papa (you now calls Pops that) and they always SPOIL you!

Elle Adelaide, we can't believe you have already been the center of our universe for 18 months! You continue to fill our lives and hearts with so much love and joy. Sometimes I don't know what we ever talked/laughed about before you arrived! You are the sweetest, most tenderhearted girl we have ever known. We love, love, love you!


PS. I think this will be my last monthly post of Elle. I have enjoyed looking back at some of her first months and seeing how much she has changed, but I don't think she will appreciate me continuing it until she is 18!

17 months

(I wrote this post last week and apparently forgot to post it. Oops!)

Time is flying by! It seems like yesterday that I posted Elle's 16 month update.

Elle, here is what you are up to at 17 months.

You have certainly entered the toddler/terrible two's phase this month. If you don't get your way, you throw a tantrum or start crying.

You are teething again and that also has you feeling pretty crummy some days. I am hoping that once you get the next four teeth in we can take a break for awhile!

You learned to say "bye-bye" and "Kiki" this month. When we ask you to say Grayer, you do an imitation of a baby crying -- it is really cute!

You LOVE to dance! Whenever you hear any music, you always stop and start bouncing. You love to swing your arms around and bust a move. You and Mommy have dance parties in the afternoons most days when we turn the music up really loud and dance around like crazy people! You love it when I twirl you around!

You are such a good Momma to all your babydolls. You push them around in the stroller (sometimes at breakneck speeds!) and you will stop and pull them out and love on them. You always want everyone else to hug and kiss them too!

You still have some seperation anxiety and will usually walk to all the doors in the house and say "Mama? Mama?" whenever I leave. You usually calm down pretty quickly though and I am hoping this LONG phase is going to pass soon.

You love to play at the park. You now prefer slides over the swings (that was soo 3 months ago!) and you love to climb up them and then turn around and slide down. That tends to work much better when we are the only ones there...

You are obsessed with books and bring them to me all the time to read. Your favorites are the ones with animals in them.

Elle, you are turning into a very independent girl these days. Your Daddy and I love watching you learn. You are so sweet and we wouldn't trade your hugs and kisses for anything in the world. We love you!

Elle at 7 weeks

Elle at 7 months

Elle at 17 months

Our Little Pumpkin

Noah and I took Elle back to the same pumpkin patch that we went to last year in Flower Mound. Last year we went during the week, and this year we went on Sunday. Big mistake. It was PACKED. And so very HOT. And have I mentioned how frustrating it is to TRY to photograph a very active toddler? Well, if not, it is!

All in all though, we had a good, okay, okay, only a decent time :) I was so glad to have Noah there with me though. He made it much easier and we were able to get a few cute pictures of our sweet girl. Here are a couple of my favorites...

I'm hoping to be able to take her to another, smaller patch closer to our house this week. Even if I'm not able to get any more pictures I thought it would be a fun thing that we could do together. We got this book from the library this week and she asks me to read it to her about a hundred times a day. And how could I possibly refuse this sweet face?


Happy Autumn!

What happened to my sweetie pie?

Elle is 16 months old. Elle thinks she is 16 years old. We have really hit our first round of true, full blown temper tantrums this week. She is at the age where she really wants her independence, but she isn't old enough to have it most of the time. If she gets to do something that she thinks is fun, like walking down the sidewalk out front, climbing steps in a neighbors yard, or going down the slide at the park, she wants to do it over, and over, and over again. And then when it is time to stop or go home, she has a meltdown! I have been trying to stay away from big groups of people and keep her out of stores because I don't think I can handle the humiliation of a screaming toddler. It has been difficult this week for me, because at this age she can only understand so much, but we are really having to stick to our guns and discipline her when it is necessary.

On a lighter note, we have been able to do a lot of fun things this week. We have been to the park several times, which she absolutely loves! We went over to our friend Ellie's house on Monday for a play date which is always so much fun for both of us, and on Tuesday I took her to the Dallas Museum of Art. They have a kids area with a lot of fun things to play with, so we spent most of the time there. I was dying to go look at all the exibits though, so we did a speedy run through and I think I got to see almost all of them. There is a beautiful outside atrium area where they have some fountains and large pieces of metal art, so Elle and I spent some time out there and had a snack. It was a great day!

I have been terrible about taking pictures of the little monster lately, but we are going out to my parents house this weekend and I'll try to remember to bring my camera with me. Hopefully I can get some of Elle and her little cousin.

Fall, is it really you?

I'm sitting here in our house with the front windows and backdoor open and I am loving this cool weather! I have a feeling we still have some warm days in our future, but yesterday was the first day that has truly felt like fall. Today is absolutely beautiful and I really wanted to take Elle back to the zoo just so we could be out enjoying the sunshine, but it didn't work out for us to go today. I have an empty refrigerator and a pile of laundry that needs to be done, so we are staying home and working on that.

Sweet Grayer made his debut this past Wednesday and finally got to go home yesterday. We are so thankful that Kellie had a fairly easy delivery and that Grayer is recovering so well and quickly from the fever he had when he was born and the amniotic fluid he swallowed during delivery. Kellie and Justin are such great parents already and we are all so anxious for them to get settled in at home so that we can go hold that sweet boy! Since he was in the NICU and then had to go under the lights for his jaundice, I have only been able to hold him one time. We are planning to go over to their house this afternoon to get some loving from him!

Noah was asked to participate in a recruitment trip to A&M this week, so he and I are headed to College Station on Wednesday. I haven't been back since I graduated over four years ago. I have heard that many things have changed and I am really looking forward to poking around our old stomping grounds. My mom offered to watch Elle for us while we are gone (it will just be for one night) and Noah and I are excited to have a little time to ourselves.

Well, there's a pile of laundry calling my name...

16 months

We have been keeping fairly busy lately and honestly I just haven't been very motivated to blog this summer. I am hoping that once the weather cools off and all of the fun holiday activites start up that I will be more enthusiastic about blogging.

Elle, you are 16 months old. Here is what you are up to!

For the most part you have gotten over your picky eating and usually eat most, if not all, of the food you are served at each meal. You have recently started eating with a fork and are really good at it.

You had your first official "Daddy's Girl" moment the other day when you wanted Daddy over me. I think he really liked it and it kind of hurt my feelings, ha!

You still aren't saying many words, but you definitely know how to get your point across. When asked how old you are, you know how to hold your finger up to show that you're one.

You are a very busy girl and do not stay put for long. You are currently obsessed with books, but unless it's one of your favorites, you usually don't have the patience for the entire story to be read.

You love to push your baby dolls around in the stroller and stop to hug and kiss them. You make the cutest little 'muah' sound and it is precious to see what a good Momma you are.

We took you back to Perryton last weekend to go to Daddy's 10 year high school reunion. You were a huge hit and loved wearing around the mum we ordered you. You did pretty well in the car and are overall a good traveler.

You are starting to pay a little more attention to movies that I put on for you and yesterday you sat quietly and watched a Veggie Tales video that you got for your birthday (well, for a few minutes at least).

Your hair is getting longer and lighter the older you get. It is hard to remember the dark brown hair that you had when you were born. Everyone is always saying how much you look like me and I must admit that I love having a little mini-me following me around!

Your cousin Grayer still hasn't made his appearance yet, but you are anxiously awaiting him. I think you are going to be a great cousin and hopefully won't be too rough with him :)

You are such a sweet natured little girl. You light up our lives and we are so thankful to have you! Happy 16 months, Elle!

15 months

My sweet girl is 15 months old today! She is learning and growing so much each day.

Elle, here is what you are up to at 15 months.

You weigh 20.1 lbs (11%) You are 30.5 ins (50%) and your head is 18 ins around (45%). You are still in size 3 diapers and you are wearing 12-18 month clothes.

You are going through a picky eating stage and I am hoping that it is going to pass quickly. You used to love any type of sandwhich - peanut butter & jelly, grilled cheese, or turkey, and now you refuse to eat bread! You like to stick your little tongue out for a small "taste" before you decide if you like something, and more times than not you decide you don't. I have been trying to come up with different things to feed you, but after awhile it is too much work and too much wasted food. Right now your staples are strawberries, avocado, banana, veggie sticks, goldfish, string cheese, and turkey sticks.

You love to explore and get into everything! At any given time I can find these things hidden around the house and am constantly cleaning up after you...

You have shut down somewhat vocally and most of the time act very shy when asked to say any words or animal sounds. You do still like to stick your tongue out when we ask you what the lizard says, but only because you can give a silent response :)

You are learning how to climb up on the furniture and some of your toys, but aren't always sure how to get yourself down. You can get on your cars but can never figure out how to get off of them and will then just sit and fuss until someone helps you down. I am constantly telling you to "use your words" and not just whine about it, but I'm not sure you're very receptive to that statement at this point. haha.

You love to run to the window whenever Daddy is leaving for work or after lunch to wave "bye-bye" to him. It is really sweet and I think he enjoys it just as much as you :)


You are going on your first trip out of the country in a few days and I'm pretty sure you're extremely excited! Considering both sets of grandparents and one set of great-grantparents are going with us, I am sure you will be spoiled with all the attention.

You are a very easy baby (can I even call you that anymore?) and I just love you so much! You fill my days with so much excitement and entertainment and I love watching you grow into your own little person. I think you have a complete mix of my personality and your Dad's. At times you are very shy and others you are completely outgoing and want all the attention on yourself.

You are a total Momma's girl. You do not want me out of your sight, even if your Daddy is there. When you go to the church nursery you always cry when we drop you off, but they say you don't cry for long and are always happy when we come and pick you up.

You are still taking two naps a day, but I think you will switch to just one pretty soon.

You loooove to give Eskimo kisses and are getting very good at them. When I ask you if I can have one, you give me a smug look and then start to shake your head and put your nose to mine. It is so sweet!

I have a feeling you are going to be a girly girl since you love your sunglasses, lip gloss, and bracelets. We had to make a stop at the dollar store one day this week to pick up a couple pair of sunglasses and also a stop at Claire's to get some bracelets. You like to have all of them on at the same time and will prance around the house like you know you look cute!


We bought you a little garden cottage that you always like to play with at playgroup and in the church nursery. I was afraid that maybe you would get bored with it if you could play with it all the time, but apparently that isn't the case. You love to go in and out and "slam" the door shut. You also love to "check the mail" and play with the the carrots that you're "growing".


You love to carry your blankies around the house and have even been known to grab one of the rugs and sling it over your shoulder should you not be able to find one of your blankets!

You are growing up so quickly! We love you sweet girl. Happy 15 months!