Elise's first (of many) trip to Springfield!

We flew to Springfield last weekend so Elise could meet her aunts, uncles, and cousins on Matt's side. We had such a wonderful time! Elise proved to be a great traveler and did so well out of her element. She slept great and loved meeting her cousins Jack, Preston, & Brett. She loved all the extra attention and was especially content sitting with PaPa and observing everyone. 

On Sunday a Sip and See was hosted for Elise. MiMi loved showing off her darling granddaughter!!!

Elise had fun chillin' with Aunt Barbi. 

Elise got to meet her cousin Brett who is only 2 months older than her. They spent some quality time together reminiscing about the good ol' days (of being 1 and 2 months old!)

Elise loved sitting in PaPa's lap. 

We had a great time and can't wait to see everyone again in June!

Elise- 4 Months

Dear Elise,

Today you are 4 months old!!!!!!! Unbelievable. You are still the cutest thing your daddy or I have ever laid eyes on. We are having so much fun watching you grow and change and getting to know your little personality. You are a very happy and easy going baby. Most of all though, you are very alert. You love to watch the world around you. You are a people watcher. You like your toys, but you love watching people. Sometimes you have a very serious expression on your face, other times a smile. You love to lay on your back with your fingers in your mouth and squeal, shout, and babble. You have gotten great at blowing raspberries; it seems like you have a lot of fun doing that. You make the silliest sounds. You have gotten great at grasping your toys. You have also mastered rolling from tummy to back and I suspect rolling from back to tummy isn't far behind. You still love to sit in your bouncer and bumbo seat. And Daddy gets you to take great naps in your swing! You love playing with your rattle that Lindsey gave you. You smile all the time now, but not to just anyone. I often joke that your smiles have to be earned!!! Once you recognize someone, then you'll give them the biggest grin! Strangers don't often get to see you smile. You still love to listen to me sing. I like to lay you on your tummy on our bed while I fold laundry... I sing all sorts of songs but your favorites are either songs from Aladdin or The Little Mermaid. I slip Evita in there too.

A typical day (when I do not have to work) begins anywhere from 7:00-7:30. You wake up cooing with lots of smiles. You are never hungry first thing in the morning. You like to wait about an hour and then you'll nurse. Usually about an hour and a half to 2 hours after you wake up, you are ready for your morning nap. You take most of your naps in your crib. You are an excellent napper!!! You will sleep any where from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours. After your morning nap, we play for a bit. We go to Baby Story Time at the library once a week. You love that!!!!! We also try and make it to Mommy & Me Yoga. You take your afternoon nap around 1:30-2:00 and usually sleep until 4ish. Once you're up and fed, we take Jaws on a nice long walk. You take a bath every other night, which is a lot of fun. I pour water right over you face and you just blink and grin back at me. You go to sleep anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00. You are pretty easy to put to bed... however, I'm not going to lie. You are not a great nighttime sleeper and you wake often. This is relatively new and I'm hoping to get back to our old habits of you sleeping longer stretches each night.

We took your to Dr. Pauli for your 4 month wellness visit. You now weigh 14 lbs and 10.5 oz and are 24 1/2 inches long. You are getting so big and strong! We can't wait to see what this month will bring!

Party in 'da crib!

You love to stand and are pretty good at balancing yourself.

All dressed up for Ava's birthday party.

First Airplane Ride!

Elise, Matt, and I flew to Springfield last weekend to visit Matt's family. Elise did so well on her first plane ride, which included a layover at DFW. Everyone was so nice; flying with her couldn't have been easier! Elise either looked out the window or slept; she was a great traveler!!!  I was a little worried; traveling with an infant has never looked fun to me. I could tell as we boarded the plane that passengers were silently praying that we wouldn't be sitting anywhere near them. And I don't blame them!!!!! However, Elise was excellent. Not even a peep came out of this girl. We also started a log book for Elise. We figure since her daddy is a pilot and her mommy is obsessed with travel, this girl is going to log a lot of miles and it will be fun to keep track!

Happy Birthday Matt!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband!!! Matt turned the big 3-1 on Friday. I think it's safe to say he had a wonderful birthday weekend, despite the cooler temps and rain. Friday night we went to a new restaurant, Ciao2. Saturday he played in a golf tournament at Canyon Springs for one of Acme's biggest customers, The Geo Group. It benefitted the Special Olympics.  Even though they had a great time, I think all the golfers decided that 47 degrees is a bit too cold for golf!! Last night we had a night out without Elise and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Wildfish. I finally got to taste the infamous truffled macaroni & cheese!! :) We've had a wonderful weekend and I hope you all did as well!!!

Matt's project for March- the roof!!

Well, it's March and Matt has vacation. And if you know Matt, you know that vacation = projects around the house!! This time- the roof. No, I'm not kidding. Since we have moved into this house, we've known we were going to have to get a new roof at some point. Matt worked a little bit on our roof last year... and he decided last week that we really couldn't put it off any longer! Instead of hiring this big job out, Matt decided that he (with the help of a rented "toy") would do it himself.So Matt worked all week and got a lot of it done himself. Yesterday, my brother joined him and they finished it. Needless to say, I'm very impressed and proud that they were able to do this big job together and get it done! Thanks for the help, Brett!!!!

And just so there is no confusion, they did have a little bit of fun! Before the day was over yesterday, Brett repelled off the "boom" !!

3 Month Pictures

So we had Elise's 3 month pictures taken last Sunday. Wouldn't you know it- Elise didn't crack one single smile. Not one! She wasn't fussy or anything, just very serious. I brag about my smily girl and we can't get one on camera! Go figure :) Despite that, we're very pleased with all the photos. Hope you like them as well!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Grandma, along with my Aunt Peggy and cousin Cindy came to visit us last week, all the way from snowy Ohio. While they were here, we celebrated Grandma's 90th birthday on March 2nd!!!! Happy Birthday Grandma! We had a wonderful week, filled with good food, wine, and shopping. Elise was an angel and enjoyed meeting her Grandma. Elise is Grandma's eighth great-grandchild. (She is also the eighth great-grandchild on Matt's side.) She can't wait to see everyone again!

4 Generations