Full-Fledged Toddler

...and we love her sooooo.

Elise is right at 16 months and I can hardly believe it.  I know every mom says that, but seriously, I just really can't comprehend how time flies by.

This girl is a legit toddler...
Unrolls toilet paper, you ask?  check.
Places miscellaneous objects on (thankfully, closed) toilet lid?  check.
Stomps her feet and squeals to get attention?  check.
One day loves banana and the next screams about it?  check.
Is the cutest girl around? check. check. check.

We love her.   It's been awhile since I've updated on her growing self, so I wanted to document a few cute things now, in random order.

Teefers - She now has six whole teeth!  Four up top and two below.  She's not the quickest teeth-grower, but man, the ones she has are cute as ever.  She can eat most everything, though tougher foods like apples and oranges need to be cut in half or small bites.

Bows - The girl knows where her bows are and if you catch her looking at them she'll say "more" over and over again until you get as many as you can in her hair.  It's quite humorous!

Baby Obsessed - E is completely smitten with her baby (or babies for that matter).  She knows how to give them "wawa," put in their paci, pat their backs, and rock them.  She even continually asks us to put her own shoes on her baby.  It's the sweetest...not to mention great prep for being a big sis soon!

Winter Wear - She's constantly asking us to put her winter coat on while we're inside.  She's too funny.

Ipad - It's kind of incredible how well she already knows the ipad.  Sometimes it amazes me.  Sometimes it makes me scared (I mean we really want to her be way more in to books, ya know?)  So we limit the ipad time.  But wow, it's impressive.

Mommy - It took her some time, but she now says "mommy" like a champ!  She says it quite often too, which warms my mama heart :)

Lil Burrito - One day I rolled her up like a burrito, or taco, in a big blanket we have and she was sold.  It's now a favorite game.

Alex and... - She still loves her favorite monkey Alex, but also needs "Mimmie" (Minnie) or  "Gigi" (her gingerbread girl) to accompany her to bed too.

Dancin' Queen - All you have to do is put some music on and this girl is in her groove (and has some for real rhythm!)

Ehh Veggies - E is still not a great veggie eater, but we manage to mix them in and she gets 'em down.

Keepin' Them In - She will only leave bows/clips in her hair if directly after they're put in she becomes distracted.

Words - Elise now has quite the vocab with some of my fav words being "rohhwull" (roll), "mnam" (yum), and "tenk ew" (thank you)

People - By all appearances to date it would seem that our girl is a "people person."  She doesn't seem to mind, and really seems to enjoy, being around other people.  We will see how this develops as she grows :)

Tenting - She really likes to do what we call "tenting" (like a forward bend, head on the ground, rumpus in the air, peeking through her legs).  It's hilarious.

(that pic of her above is so true to who she is right now...asked for her shoes to be put on over her jammies, wanted her shoes to be put on baby, she just finished giving baby "wawa," and she started tenting...too much adorable)

She's such a fun girl and brings such joy to our lives.  E, you are one well-loved lil chick :)

Snowy, Snowy Day

We've had quite the snow lately.  The last few days it just hasn't stopped falling (until today, that is).  So after language the other day, we took advantage of it.

I ventured out with the big camera and got some good shots, but then we retired it back to the house so that it wouldn't get all wet from the snow.  Wish I had kept it out a little longer because we ended up making a cute little snowman friend for Elise :) I did get a pic of him on my phone, however.

She wasn't quite sure what to think about it all at first, but then she warmed up (punny :) and seemed to enjoy her time just sitting in the snow.

But first, we got some pics together...

Family pic, but E said, "huh uh, I'm checking out this white stuff..."

And then we spotted a tiny snowman on a bench nearby.  Perfect for a photo op, or so I thought.  E had other ideas (aka decapitating Mr. Snowman).

Too funny she is.

And then we made our little snowman complete with a carrot nose and chestnut eyes, mouth, and buttons...

Fun, fun afternoon...even if after building our snowman Daddy decided to unleash a fury of snowballs on E and I (and therefore baby Nora too :)  Love them.

Sharpie Mug...Fail or Success?

If you're anywhere on pinterest I'm sure you may have seen the many "draw on your dish, mug, etc. and then bake it" pin.  If you haven't, there's definitely a lot of them out there.  But I have an undying love for Sharpies and wanted to give it a shot.  Upon further research of how to best go about this crafty diy, I realized that there were both positive and negative reviews (aka successes and failures).

So, I gave it my own go just to see what the outcome would be :)

I decided to design a mug for a close friend and cat-lovin' lady, thus the cat.  I just drew it up with Sharpies and decorated it with fun colors.  Then I baked it in the oven.  Word has it that 30 minutes at 350 degrees will do, but I read that it wasn't always a success (aka would wash off easily).  Others were saying try 30 minutes at 425 degrees.  Still others said you need to put it in a cold oven, let it heat up, wait the 30 minutes, and then let it cool down all in the oven.

So here's what I did:  1) placed it in a cool oven, 2) turned the heat on to 425 and let it heat up about 10 minutes (with the mug still in there obviously), 3) then left it in there to bake for 30 minutes, and finally, 4) let it cool down in the oven.

When I took it out the colors were faded, but that's supposed to happen (kind of like what happens in a kiln).  I'm not going to try it in the dishwasher, but hand-washing is fine (and you know, no scrubbing with washing)!  So when I give the gift I'm just going to give a hand-wash disclaimer.  And it's not technically food safe, but hopefully she won't lick the outside of the mug, ya know?

I want to try my hand at some more because it was way fun designing it.

And one last side note, if nothing else, she can use it as a pencil holder, or even to scoop out cat food...that's an idea, huh!?

Have you ever drawn on your dishes/mugs/etc. with Sharpie?  Success or failure?

Her First Tantrum

You ready for a wordy post?

This occurred during our trip to the states and I just want to document it as a reminder of the first time this happened and of the lessons I learned from it :)

Settle in, here goes!

My mother-in-law and I decided to take a trip to the outlets (I mean we're talking The Children's Place, Carter's...outlet stores...I was down!).  I was excited about looking for some baby things at a more reasonable price.  Anyway, all that's really background information.

We got to the outlets and E did pretty well in the stores...a little whining, but nothing major or out of the ordinary for being in her stroller.

Then we decided to head out, but first, a stop by one of the merry-go-round type rides.  Another father was debating letting his little girl ride, so I told him I'd split the price with him (it was a dollar for the ride!! CRAZY) and both girls could go together.  So we did just that.  E LOVED IT.  She was all smiles.

And the ride stopped.  I got her down.  Oh wow.  The floodgate let loose.  We're talking tears, flailing legs and arms, screaming "uppie, uppie," which in toddler language was meaning "put me down!" I mean we're talking a first class temper tantrum here folks...legitimate throwdown.

So then we walked, er, flailed, our way over to the outdoor (free) slides where I decided it would be smart to set up my expectations for her this time (ya know, since at fifteen months old she could understand them and all ;)  So we took a few rides down the slide and then I said something along the lines of "ok, E, this is your last go on the slide and then we're going home, alright?"  Down the slide she went, I picked her up and "WAAAAAAAA," there went the tears and wailing again.

I have to say as we made our way to the car passersby were looking at us, but truthfully, they reacted kindly.  One lady even said, "oh, I remember those days..." in an I-feel-sorry-for-you-but-I-don't kind of voice.  Ha.  So we got to the car and the screaming continued for some 10 minutes or so down the road.  But eventually, all was settled and calmness was restored.

I learned a lot that day.  My girl isn't perfect.  She's perfectly created by God for Jas and I to watch over, but she's a sinner.  Just like her mama and daddy.  She has her own opinions and her own will.  She's going to reacting accordingly, but it's our responsibility to set up guidelines and parameters for her so that she learns to obey the Father and us.  I also was reminded that even though I'm sure this was the first of future will-declaring moments, I have to continually pray for wisdom for Jas and I in the parenting department.  Thankfully, just as God has granted grace to us as parents, he's also granted grace to our offspring.  So glad.  And man, even when she pitches a fit, I love the mess out of her.  Unconditional love it is, little girl.

Here she is just minutes before it all broke loose.  Please note how she's riding backwards...that girl is a trendsetter, I'd say ;)

Twenty-Eight Weeks!

Say WHAT!?!?

How in the world did that happen?  Seriously.

Here is how the belly is shaping up these days...

Overall I'm still feeling pretty well.  Sleeping is starting to become more of an issue as it's harder to get comfortable and these hips 'o mine are generally aching when I wake.  But that's just how it goes.  Also, I've been in the habit of waking up around 1 am this past week to eat...because I'm SO HUNGRY. It's rather annoying to go to bed early enough knowing that I'll be waking up at 1 am, but ya know, pretzels and yogurts are my BFF's come snack-time :)

Lil Nora is moving quite a good bit and it still remains my favorite thing.  Tomorrow is the beloved glucose test (ick!)...praying all goes well with that.

And just for reflection's sake, below is a picture of yours truly at 28 weeks pregnant with Elise...

Surprisingly not as different as I thought, though I feel 10 times larger this time around...ha!

Oh and one last note, I guess I should explain the little approximation mark before the twenty-eight weeks.  Since I really don't have a good due date (somewhere between April 2nd and April 17th has been the general consensus), I am theoretically around the twenty-eighth week.  But what are due dates anyway?  Elise came six days "late" and for all we know this baby could come six days "early" (maybe late March?? might be nice!)...We will see what God has planned for this little one's life!  All the while I'll just be soaking up the moments of little tummy kicks and punches.

Maybe next we should guess Nora's due date, huh? ;)