Summer so far...

Well, we're off to a great summer.  We've been in the Northwest for about a month now and we've been having a lot of fun with friends and family.  It's been really good to see Elisa interact with her grandparents, aunt, uncle and friends.  

Greg and I also got to take our first vacation without Elisa (thanks to my parents).  It was just a two night trip to Seattle for our anniversary.  We had a great time!  

Here are some fun pictures from our vacation so far...

Elisa had a great time at the "spray park" on a particularly hot day.

  
Elisa eating raspberries out of her container while sitting in the pool.  She LOVES raspberries and whenever we go outside she heads straight to the raspberry bushes to pick and eat all she can.

  

Happy Fourth of July!  Homemade Ice Cream - Yum!

 

New words

Greg and I have been amazed at how fast Elisa is picking up new words now. She learns at least a word a day it seems. Some of her new words include:

helmet - "met" (she loves going for bike rides)
poop (this makes me laugh)
eye
hot
Itty - "I eeee" (Her stuffed bunny... this is so cute, she will actually walk around the house calling Itty when she doesn't know where he is)
hippo - "Po"

I can't remember the rest of them right now. But it's been so fun to watch her learn new words.

We leave to go back to the NW tomorrow. Greg and I are both frantically trying to finish all our tasks before we leave. Can't wait to see everyone back there!

Homecoming

Well, I am back home again. The reunion with Elisa didn't quite go as either Greg or I expected. Elisa watched as I came through the security checkpoint. When I got close to her I knelt down and held out my arms. She looked at me and then turned and ran the other way. She had been playing in this kids area close to where we were standing and she wanted to show me the big plastic lion, and slide down the slide. It was so good to see my little family again, but also kind of sad to see how much bigger Elisa had gotten in just one week.

Here are some pictures from the trip. The first one shows a mobile that Anna and I made for Josiah's room. Turned out cute, didn't it? The second one shows us belly to belly. Anna at 31 weeks, me at 23.

It was such a great trip. So much fun to be with them, and such a nice break from the normal responsibilities of life!

Vacation!

So here I am in Phoenix visiting Anna and Caleb. I've been here since Friday, and I leave on Wednesday. Greg and Leesi are at home, having some quality Daddy-Daughter time. It's been really fun being here. I feel really relaxed... this is the first time I've been away from Elisa overnight.

When we were first planning this trip it was supposed to be during Greg's ACSD conference. And Elisa was supposed to come with me. Every year he goes to this week long conference in early June, and every year I sit at home alone, sad that he's gone. So this year we decided that while Greg was gone, Leesi and I would go to Phoenix. Well, about a week after we bought our plane tickets Greg's conference was canceled... wouldn't you know it! So, after much deliberation, we decided that Greg would keep Leesi at home with him, and I would go to Phoenix alone. And I have to say that I think we made the right decision. I thought that I'd miss her a lot and be sad to be away from her for so long... But I am really glad I didn't bring her! It's so nice to be able to lay in bed for as long as I want after I wake up. It's so nice not to have to worry about keeping her on her nap schedule, or her bedtime routine. It's nice not to change diapers. (Speaking of diapers, Greg said that Elisa said "poop" for the first time the other day- hee hee)

Anyway, Anna and Caleb have been great hosts. I've had lots of fun hanging out with them and their dog, Shep. And it's been fun to see Anna pregnant (she is a couple months ahead of me... due in August with their first, a little boy). This evening I think we're going to make a mobile for his room.

Greg has been updating his blog regularly while I've been away with pictures of Elisa. So head over there to see the latest!

Water play

This afternoon I was looking for a way to have fun with Elisa and ward off boredom (and fussiness) until bedtime. I decided that even though we don't have a kiddie pool we could still have some water fun. So I filled up a small bin with water, put various containers inside, and after lathering Elisa with sunscreen and putting her in her swimsuit, we were set! These are some pictures and a little video from the fun.

Ketchup and other happy thoughts...

Today was a gift from God to me. Truly a beautiful day... the weather was beautiful... but it was more than that too. After church we had our annual church picnic. I've been feeling so alone lately that it was great to hang out and talk with people at the picnic. I left feeling completely renewed and energized. Elisa had a great time at the picnic too. She ate a hot dog and a bunch of cheetos (apparently junk food is not an acquired taste). Then she ran around happily exploring, and sat with me playing with a water bottle (hours of fun... she loves putting the lid on and taking it back off, and of course drinking the water and spilling it down her front).

Then after Elisa's nap we all went for a bike ride. Just the other day Greg hooked Elisa's seat onto the back of his bike so that now we can all ride together. It's so great! I forgot how much I love riding with Greg, and Elisa loves it too. We stopped at Arby's for dinner and just had a great family "date". One of the funniest things we've discovered lately is that Elisa LOVES ketchup. For those of you who know Greg and I this should come as no surprise. I mean, we buy 3 packs of 44oz bottles at Sam's Club whenever we run out. But it's still funny to see a 1-yr old dipping her finger into a pile of ketchup, licking it clean, and dipping again. Tonight at Arby's she was in ketchup heaven. She refused to eat anything but fries until I figured out that she would eat the sandwich if I dipped it in ketchup first. After Arby's it was home and into the bath. Overall, just a great day. It was really refreshing; like I said, a gift from God.

Today's a special day...

It's a special day for two reasons:

First of all, Elisa is 17 months old today! Only one month until she is a year and a half. I am amazed at all the things that she is learning. She really isn't a baby anymore. She understands so much and is starting to talk. She still doesn't say a whole lot... but her vocabulary is growing. The other day I decided that I wanted to make a list of all the words that she can say, and I was surprised at how many words she has... here they are (in no particular order):
Momma
Dadda (though lately she's been calling Greg "Momma" too... but she used to call both of us Dadda)
Duck
Book
Bye
Baby
Ball
Balloon (Boon)
Boo
Uh-Oh (I think it is the cutest thing in the world when she says this)
Bath (Bapf)
Elmo (Melmo) ... (kind of weird that she knows how to say Elmo, as she has only watched Sesame Street once in her entire life... but she has an Elmo toy and an Elmo book. So I guess that explains it.)
Bird (she LOVES birds - she chases them all the time while wildly flapping her arms and shouting "bir")
Hi

She also can make the following animal sounds:
Dog - "hmm hmm"
Cow - "boooo"
Lion - a very quiet "roar"
Cat - "mow"
Pig - snorting noise
Duck - "mwack wack"

And she makes the signs for the words: more, all-done, milk, please, and eat. She's a quick learner when it comes to signs. But we haven't bothered teaching her more than these few words... I guess we figure she'll learn to say other things soon enough.

The second reason that today is a special day is that I am 20 weeks along. That means I'm officially halfway through this pregnancy! Maybe now I can quit throwing up! Either way, in my limited experience the second half of pregnancy is way better than the first. Only a few more months 'til we meet our little boy!

A little update...

So, good news and bad news. The bad news is that in the space of one month both Greg and I have gotten our second stomach virus. This past week after Leesi finished throwing up, I started... then yesterday it was Greg's turn.

The good news is that whatever Leesi had was just a stomach bug. As unlikely as it is for one little girl to get and recover from three different stomach viruses in the space of one month, apparently it is possible. So I am feeling hopeful for the future. Hopeful that this will be our last stomach bug for awhile, and that soon all of my pregnancy nauseau will be behind me. Hopeful that Leesi will start to feel like her old self again. Greg and I have been amazed the last few days at how pleasant and fun Elisa can be. She had been feeling sick for so long that we had forgotten what a happy little girl she is.

Anyway, Here's to a happy, healthy summer!

Mother's Day

Well, Happy Mother's Day to my all you moms out there! You deserve a rest and a huge pat on the back.

To my Mom: I love you so much. Thanks for all the love and care you gave and give to me.

Here are some Mother's Day Pics and some of my first pregnancy pics (I am 19 weeks along)...

At least she's snuggly...

Well, Elisa is sick once again. Greg and I figured it out the other day and out of the last month she has had severe diarrhea or vomiting 1/2 of the time. She gets sick, recovers, and then gets sick again about a week later. This is the third time through the cycle. Each time she gets sick it's worse than the last. We went to the doctor for the second time yesterday and he didn't really know what to tell us. He drew some blood (always a fun experience) and referred us to a Pediatrician... so hopefully we'll get some answers soon. The last few days Elisa has just been wasted. She spends most of her awake time lying on the couch or in my arms. She's thrown up most of what's she eaten for the last 3 days. The saddest thing is the whimpering. Anyway, we'd appreciate your prayers. I am praying that she recovers and this time stays well.