Elise's first trip to Ohio!

This past weekend, my mom, Elise, and I flew to Ohio to visit my grandma (Elise's great-grandma.) My Aunt Judy, who lives in Boston, also came into town. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone, including Uncle Bud, Aunt Peggy and their family! Elise got to meet all her cousins that live in Ohio! (Okay, so she met MY cousins and my cousins' children... I guess that makes them her second cousins.) We had such a fun time!

Shopping in Medina 

Elise with her Great-Grandma

"Wading" in Uncle Bud's pond

Elise with her (second) cousins Faith, Joy, and Joey

Having so much fun with Aunt Judy!

Elise- 5 months!

Dear Elise,

Today you are 5 months old. You are changing right before our eyes and every day you seem to learn something new. You have totally mastered rolling and you roll and scoot all over the place. I often lay you down on your back and you promptly roll onto your tummy and push yourself up with your hands. You are very interested in all your toys and you especially love "Sophie la Giraffe" and "Whoozit." You also have a lot of fun standing and playing in your exersaucer. But most of all, you LOVE to be outside! We go on walks daily. Most babies sleep on walks but not you. Our walks often last around an hour and you stay awake the entire time just looking around and cooing. Sometimes if you're in a fussy mood, I'll take you outside and you calm right down.

At 5 months you

• go to story-time at the library on a weekly basis
• have been on 9 airplane rides and in 6 different airports. You have even traveled in first class! Nothing but the best for our princess :)
• weigh 15 lbs. 4 oz
• sleep on your tummy
• love to be in my sling or Becco carrier.
  
• love to be held upside down by your ankles
• love bath-time, especially playing peek-a-boo with the shower curtain

You have gotten to be a pretty good nighttime sleeper. You have a self-imposed bedtime of 6:30 and you really don't like to stay up much later. You still wake at least one time during the night, usually around 4am. However, you're just a little hungry and you go right back to sleep after you've nursed. You like to sleep until 7:30am. You still take a morning and afternoon nap but they're much shorter.

Jaws is your good friend. You love to watch him and grab his fur, ear, or jowls. He loves you so much that he doesn't seem to mind one bit. You have a lot of fun watching Jaws and Bailey wrestle and you always giggle when they run past you. You are still a very serious and observant baby. You don't smile often at strangers, but you don't cry either. You are very mild mannered... as long as your needs are met, you're happy!

Daddy and I adore you and can't wait to see what next month brings!

What a difference one year makes!

On April 23, 2008 we had our first look at Elise. It was my first doctors appointment to confirm my pregnancy. I was 9 weeks pregnant and everything looked great!

April 23, 2008

And one year later, here is our little Elise... on her way to being 5 months old!!!

April 23, 2009

4 Month Pics

I recently met Beth, with with Tip Toe Photography

She captured some amazing pictures of Elise!!! She even got her to smile, which is no small feat in this house. Thank you Beth! The pictures are great!

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter and I hope you did too! We woke up to clouds and rain, but that quickly cleared and it was a beautiful day here. Of course Elise is a bit too little to hunt Easter eggs; at least I got her to pose with her Easter basket.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Our neighborhood had a fun little Easter celebration and egg hunt on Sunday. There was a great turnout and it was fun to meet other neighbors with small children. 

There was a little petting zoo with some baby animals. The little piggies were the cutest! This little guy was following Matt around trying to suck on his toes!And just for fun, we did a photoshoot with Elise and her buddy Jaws. He was such a good sport. Elise was pulling on his ears and jowls and Jaws didn't even budge. 

An Afternoon in Gruene

Wednesday we met Mary Helen, Brian, and Caroline in Gruene. We enjoyed a late lunch at the Gristmill and had fun walking around town.

Caroline & Elise striking a pose above the Guadalupe River.

Elise with her Pearls

Elise's MiMi gave her the prettiest set of pearls!!! Looks like Elise is destined to be a Tri-Delta!!! ;) Her Aunt Bobbie took this picture while we were in Springfield and Mary (aka MiMi) photoshopped the background. I think it came out great!