Huggies Supremes 1, Elise 0.

Thank you, Heather, for the recommendation! I think over the last two weeks the score had been Pampers Swaddlers 1, Elise 13. That is certainly what it felt like! We went to Walmart today and picked up the Huggies. I will keep tabs on the score and let everyone know how it goes. I know you are all so curious about this issue :)

Ever since she figured out how to roll from back to tummy, she's been a rolling machine! I left her on the floor in the office while I went to my room to change clothes, and I came back to find her under the piano! She's been rolling and rolling and rolling all over the room. I will try to post a video of it soon. Here are some pictures from this week.


We had two fun playdates today. The first was with Anna, Asa, Laura, and Madelyn. It turns out that they all like Baby Einstein videos... yes, that is my daughter smiling at the TV!


Later, we came home and played with Kara, Zach, Lynda, and William. I didn't get a good picture of all three of them. Zach was born 11 days before Elise.

And here is William experiencing the Bumbo for the first time. He did great! He is almost 2 months younger than Elise.

There she rolls again...

Well Elise has been flirting with rolling from her back to her tummy for several weeks. I can't count the number of times that I set up the video camera out only to have another "she almost did it" clip. Today she finally decided to complete the roll. I didn't get the first one on video because I thought it was going to be another "almost", but I did get the second one. It took her 7 minutes from the time I started the video at "almost there" until she finally got all the way over and pushed herself up with her arms. She took a few thumb-sucking breaks in the middle. I think she was proud of herself though. Now that she can roll both ways, the brick fireplace presents an obstacle! Hopefully she won't discover that she can roll across the room. Her "see, I told you I could do it" pose...


Today we also played with maracas and rattles. She learned how to shake a maraca and even passed it from one hand to the other. She also "threw" a rattle about 2 feet away, startling her older brother Boss who was in the line of fire. She is becoming a lot more aware of her surroundings and loves to watch Boss play fetch.

Last but not least, a few lovely pictures of my sweet angel.

Nap in the carseat, check.

Fun in the jumperoo, check.

Growing more hair, check.
Poop on the carpet, check.

Happy 4 Months!

Elise turns 4 months old tomorrow! On one hand, it seems like time has flown by. On the other hand, I can't believe that it has only been a month since Mike left. This deployment is really dragging...already. We had her checkup today and she's 15 lbs, 6 oz and 25.5 inches long. This puts her in the 90th percentile for weight and height and the 75th percentile for head circumference, according to the Center for Disease Control charts at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm. I guess I need to figure out how to do a hyperlink. The doctor is very pleased with her progress and says she is a very healthy, strong, and happy baby.

Over the last week and a half she's gone through a major growth spurt. She'd been very consistent over the last 2 months at eating 5 times a day (at nearly the same times everyday) and sleeping 12 hours at night. All of a sudden, last week she started waking up to eat once in the middle of the night and also squeezing in 1-2 extra feedings during the day. I had definitely taken for granted how nice it was to have her on a schedule. When that was thrown out the window, I nearly went crazy! I'm crossing my fingers, but I think now she is back to normal. She slept from 8-8 last night and has eaten normally today.

I'm also excited because I finally found a diaper bag that I like! This style is perfect for me. The only problem is that I ordered 3 bags and the first 2 came today... and I am so tempted to keep them both! The flowered one is girly and fun and the black one is a little more practical. The black one is lime green on the inside and the floral one is brown on the inside. Opinions, please?


Also, I had to put this one in here just to show Mike what he is missing... (jk honey, I love you!) Elise is between diaper sizes right now and needless to say we've been doing quite a bit of laundry lately. The pants are pretty much soaked. I actually had to take the hose to the car seat this evening.


Finally, here are some not-so-recent pictures but I think you'll enjoy them anyway. We had pictures taken right before Mike left by our newborn photographer, Jessica Strom. Elise was in a terrible mood during the whole session (come to find out that is when she likes to take her longest nap...) and chewed on her hands or was fussy nearly the whole time... hence no smiles.

Songs

You know how certain songs remind you of certain events? For example, Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" was popular in July 2002 when Mike was at Fort Hood for CTLT. I spent hours driving back and forth from Austin to spend time with him and think about that time whenever I hear it (no, our relationship wasn't complicated... I just happened to like the song at that time). I remember Matchbox Twenty's "Unwell" during from the spring of 2003 when we got engaged. Colbie Caillat's "Bubbly" reminds me of when Mike returned from Iraq in December 2007.

Well, music continues to play when one is pregnant. During my first trimester, Chris Brown's "With You" and Buckcherry's "Sorry" were popular. To this day, hearing those songs makes me nauseous! I heard them both on the radio this week, immediately changed the station, and still felt sick! This has happened numerous times over the past 6 months or so... I actually had to take some songs off my iPod. Thank God I didn't listen to music when I was in labor!

My sister-in-law Jennifer came to visit yesterday. It was great to have some adult company on a Friday night. Here is J with her niece and nephew:


We enjoyed eating Chipotle and laughing at Elise. She thought it was really fun to sit in her Bumbo chair while we ate dinner. She drooled, smiled, spit up, and drooled again. Behind her are beautiful flowers from my sweet husband...


... and here is the reason for those flowers.


It is kinda hard to tell in the picture but her jeans are soaked too. I need to teach her not to poop in the Bumbo. Gotta love motherhood :) A fun fact: When I woke up on Mother's Day last year, I took a pregnancy test and found out that Baby Powell was on the way! I put a sign around Boss's neck that said "I'm going to be the big brother!" and let him wake up Mike. It was very cute :) Happy Mother's Day!

Playdate with John/Videos!

Since Mike left, Elise and I have stayed busy with playdates, lunches, dinners, and shopping (not to mention feeding, diapering, bathing, playing, and doing lots of laundry). Today, Elise met Ross and Sarah's cute little boy, John. Ross and Mike were roommates in Iraq during the last deployment, and Sarah and I were due within days of each other. John was born about 2 weeks before Elise (and at the time I was SO jealous that Sarah was no longer pregnant and I was, hehe). We are glad that they are back at Fort Hood!

Tummy time... don't we look happy?

Entertained by Sarah...

Not impressed with me, but at least they are both looking at the camera :)

Look very carefully at the first picture...this is what I found as I walked through the bedroom to get dressed this morning.

It's a bird....
It's a plane...
It's Boss!

Apparently, he thinks it is okay to adorn my freshly-washed sheets with dog hair. We used to think it was "cute" that he figured out how to jump on the bed.

Since we can't mail Mike anything for a few more weeks, I decided to try my hand at editing out the interesting parts of the videos I have taken. My first attempt covers any clips I think he would find remotely interesting since he left. They are in chronological order from 13 to almost 15 weeks. I finally captured the big tummy to back roll on video. She's done it about 10 times now and is REALLY close to rolling from her back to her tummy. There were several times today that I rushed to get the video camera only to find her teetering back and forth on her side. She hasn't mastered the concept of momentum just yet. Warning: The video contains 3 solid minutes of baby talk... sorry! :)

Bath time!

Elise has discovered that kicking in the bathtub is fun. Will it still be cute when she starts splashing me? :) Videos to come.

Chugging along...

Well we are now 12 days into the deployment... the good news is that Kuwait has wireless internet! Mike bought a one-week pass to test it out on his new laptop so that we could use the webcams both ways. We got to see him last night... I was so excited that I woke Elise up to come see her daddy. It was great to see how happy he looked when he saw his daughter.

Ever since I got her laugh on video last week I've been experimenting with how to make her giggle. One of her first "words" is "abu" (the monkey from Aladdin... she's so smart!). Anyway, today I was facing her and I just said "abu" and she started laughing hysterically... then we just laughed back and forth at each other. Of course the video camera was out of reach... and by the time it was ready, I wasn't funny anymore.

One way I pass the time is by taking pictures. I just got a new camera last week and Elise has been the guinea pig. Here are some recent ones: