Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Fun in St. Louis Continues

The fun is St. Louis continued with the annual Skeet Shoot at the farm on Friday.

Aunt Jen made Elise a giant cupcake to celebrate her second birthday.
Still trying to get that perfect picture of Elise and Drew in their matching jammies.
It was not successful.
Elise perked up back on the farm in a holiday outfit made by MiMi.
Jumping on the bed with cousins Ellie, Drew, and Clara.
Christmas lights at the sod farm.
Elise and Clara had a blast running around in the cold!
My happy family. Well, Matt and I are happy... not sure about Elise in this picture :)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, surrounded by family. We flew to St. Louis to be with my dad's side of the family this year. It was a blast. Matt, Elise, and I stayed with my cousin Jen, Joe, and Drew, who also hosted Thanksgiving for the whole family.

Elise and Uncle B.
Ellie and Elise
It snowed!! Big fat snowflakes!!! And Elise's first time to actually see snow!

Drew, Elise, and Tompa checking out the white stuff.

Familia :)
Elise and Drew in coordinating jammies.

We ended the evening downstairs with the cousins playing games and the older generation drinking the bar.
So much to be thankful for this year. We are truly blessed :)

Friday, November 26, 2010

Elise is TWO!

Two Year Stats:
  • Height- 32.8 inches, 29%
  • Weight- 24 lb 8 oz, 22%
  • Head Circumference- 48.3 cm, 70%
  • Teeth- all are in except for 2 year molars. Yipee!
WOW! How is it possible that our sweet Elise is two years old??? No longer a baby and officially a toddler/little girl. Elise is at such a fun age. I really think if I could freeze time and keep her where she is right now, I would. She's just such a sweetie with a darling and outgoing personality.
  • Elise continues to be a good little sleeper. She's usually in bed no later than 7:30 and sleeps 12-13 hours every night. Nap time is around 1:00 and lasts about 2 hours. Occasionally, Elise will just chat and play in her crib for the entire two hours without sleeping, but it sounds like she's having fun so I just let her do her thing.
  • Eating- Elise is still fairly picky. She eats a lot of fresh fruits but rarely any veggies unless I sneak them in. She is starting to eat more meat, still loves eggs, carbs, and dairy products. An odd favorite is black olives. I'll give her a few and as soon as she gobbles them down, I'll hear, "More olives!"
  • Talking- Elise is such a chatterbox. She has a huge vocabulary and is speaking in 4-5 word sentences. She speaks very clearly and is pretty easy to understand. The one word she refuses to say correctly, however, is milk. She pronounces it "nolk." We've tried to work on it and she just smiles and says "nolk." She's a very polite girl and will says "please" and "thank you" unprompted. She knows lots of songs and loves to sing. She has also begun memorizing some of her favorite books and can complete the sentences/pages for me.
  • The obsession with "Baby" continues and will keep her occupied for hours. Baby doll, baby stroller, baby bed... she loves it all. She also loves books and puzzles and is really good at entertaining herself.
  • Just like any two year old... Elise is non-stop. Busy busy busy... she rarely sits still unless we are reading a book or eating.
Elise is a pure joy. I love the little girl she has turned into and look forward to what this next year will bring!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Elise's Second Birthday Party

We had a wonderful, simple, and fun backyard party for Elise's second birthday. We were lucky to have amazing weather and the kids ran and played in the backyard all evening long. Elise is fortunate to be surrounded by so many people who love her; thanks to all who could come out and celebrate!

Tea Party with Natalie, Lauren, and Timmy
Swinging with Uncle B
Dinner with Sarah, Audrey, and Marissa
Happy Birthday!


Elise has been begging for a Pillow Pet every time we go to the store! She was thrilled!
New set of wheels for our big girl!

We had such a fun evening. Can't wait to do it again next year :)

Birthday Party Prep

Elise and I had a lot of fun together making and frosting the cupcakes for her birthday party.

She may have had a sample
or two..


Friday, November 12, 2010

Two Year Pics

We met with my favorite photographer, Beth, a few weeks ago and she captured some wonderful images of Elise!! I had to hold back a few for Christmas cards. Here are some other favs. I cannot believe my little girl is about to turn two!!! She's so much FUN!





Friday, November 5, 2010

Cloth Diapers- Final Thoughts.

I am thrilled to say we are done with diapers of all kinds- cloth and 'sposies!! Elise is potty-trained and has been for about 2 weeks. She is doing awesome and we are so proud. For anyone getting ready to PT their child, I highly highly recommend the 3 Day Potty Training program. I didn't buy a book or anything. I found a few summaries online and just followed them pretty strictly for those 3 days. It was much easier than expected.
Sooo... we are also done with cloth diapers. I have had so many people ask me about them and even a few mom friends (or moms-to-be: looking at you Marisa!) use them, so I know I'm not the only one out there. They are gaining in popularity so quickly, which I think is great! I just finished packing them all away in hopes that we will use them on our second child and I thought I would give some "final thoughts." If you don't know the CD lingo, this will probably be very confusing. But if you have started to research CDing at all, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. I hope someone out there finds this helpful.
When Elise was a newborn, we used mainly fitteds with a cover. It worked great, with not one single leak or dreaded "blow-out." When she started eating solid food and became more active, we switched to mainly pockets or AIOs. I didn't like the fitteds as much as she grew; I thought they were pretty bulky and honestly, she wouldn't stay still enough to get the diaper and cover on. So the pockets with snaps became our "go-to." I preferred the pockets bc they dried quicker than the AIOs. Our favorite diaper was Preston's Pants. We also really liked Fuzzi Buns and, for AIO Blueberry. For nighttime, I used Bum Genius . Never a leak- ever.
We used CDs full time until Elise was 9 months old. She stared to attend Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I know there are some out there who are hardcore CD and use them all the time, 24/7, but that really didn't work with our lifestyle. What worked best for us was using CDs Thursday, when she got home from MDO, to Monday. Then we used 'sposies T, W, and Th during the day. I did laundry twice a week. It wasn't a big deal... then again, laundry is one chore I don't really mind.
We have no regrets using cloth diapers. They probably saved us well over $1,000 (especially because I bought mine used and will use them on our next child as well.) So actually, the savings is probably closer to $2,000. Did I find them to be a pain? Sometimes, yes. I'm not going to lie. They are not as easy as disposables. But they're not all that difficult, time-consuming, or gross (not that much grosser than a 'sposie IMO) and they added maybe 30 minutes of laundry a week. If that. I'm kind of green and kind of crunchy... and heck, I've got to make up for the big carbon footprint my SUV leaves!! ;)
Are we happy to be done with diapers of all kinds- you bet!!! I don't miss washing or folding the CDs one bit. And I don't miss buying the disposables. But we have no regrets and we will certainly use them on our next child. They are not for everyone, but they are certainly a great option for some!
If you have any questions- I'll be happy to try and help!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Visiting a local Pumpkin Patch
The Buchecks hosted their annual Trick or Treating Party and we had a fabulous time, as always!! Alecia's food and decor were to die for!! (haha)

Kids eating dinner before Trick or Treating.
Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of all the kids? Next to impossible.
Karen and me with our very full wine glasses, hoping we wouldn't run out TorT-ing. *sigh* We did. Next year we're taking a bottle with us :)
Elise and Audrey. What a difference from last year!
Our little Pink Poodle.
The whole crew, getting ready to go! We might as well have been an ad for Radio Flyer.
Trick or Treating!



Afterwards, all the kids changed into their jammies... except Elise who wanted to keep her costume on.
Such a fun evening!!! Thanks for having us!!