Surprise surprise!

Elise is going to be a big "tister"!

*Sorry, this post is way out of order but if I try to cut stuff and paste it in a new location, it disappears... weird. I uploaded all the pictures last week and I don't have time to edit it so I'm just going to post it like this. Maybe I'll go back and fix it later, maybe not :)

11ish (edited: 12 weeks) weeks at our photo shoot with Melody Clampet (www.melodycphotography.com)

9 weeks with Elise (at starting weight)

9ish (edited: actually 10 weeks) weeks with baby #2 (Yes, I am a nerd and put on the same outfit to take this picture! I had lost 5 lbs at this point. Belly is already protruding (albeit slightly)!)

Positive test!

Pics from the "You're going to be a big sister!" day (late August)!

"When are you due?"

I am 12ish weeks pregnant and we are guessing that my due date will be in the second week of May. The Army does not schedule initial ultrasounds to date a pregnancy, but with a little begging, I am scheduled for an NT scan on November 8 that should result in a pretty accurate due date. I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat last week at my first appointment and it ranged from 170-179 beats per minute.

"How are you feeling?"

The first trimester has been rough! It is very hard being nauseous and tired while chasing an active toddler around. The nausea was constant from 6-8 weeks and since then, it comes and goes and is generally worse in the evening. I don't have any long-standing aversions (except for nutella, graham crackers, and frappuccinos, yuck!) but I generally have a hard time figuring out what I can/want to eat. Something that was delicious a few days ago is all of a sudden disgusting, and vice versa. After the really bad nausea passed, I was able to continue running a few times a week. Yesterday was the first day that I felt pretty good all day long, so hopefully that will continue!

"Have you gained any weight yet?"

I actually started this pregnancy at the same weight as my pregnancy with Elise. Thanks to the nausea, I've lost about 8 pounds, but I am not sure where it has come off from! My lower abdomen is definitely rounding out but I can still comfortably wear (and button!) all of my jeans. We'll see how long that lasts! Ha! I will take another picture at 13 weeks/3 months.

"Who made Elise's adorable shirt?"

I asked my friend Shannon over at Jelby's to make this for a friend of mine... and when she finished it and gave it to me, I knew that I had to keep it for Elise to wear. Sneaky, I know :) Hopefully it still fits her in May!

"Where did you get the pregnancy test from?"

Ok, so this is kind of weird but I think it might benefit some of you so I want to pass along a little secret! You can buy really cheap pregnancy tests online from amazon.com... and they work BETTER than the more expensive tests that you buy in a store! I ordered a bunch of them and tested randomly in the afternoon one day because I was feeling "weird". I was planning to wait a few more days before taking a test. Well, the cheap strip (that you dip in a cup) showed a definite positive. Just to make sure, I ran out and bought a box of First Response Early Result tests from Walmart and stuck it in the same cup and it was negative. So, if you are trying to get pregnant, save yourself some money and order the cheap tests online! If you really want to know the specific brand I used, I can probably look it up for you.

The next two weeks are jam-packed with visiting grad schools, packing, moving, and celebrating Thanksgiving early with our families. I am very thankful that I am feeling better and should actually enjoy eating at our upcoming Thanksgiving dinners. I will try to check in once with a 13 week picture and an ultrasound picture from the NT scan. Happy Halloween!

Picture sneak peek!

We had our family pictures taken by Melody Clampet last weekend (http://www.melodycphotography.com/index2.php) and they turned out great! She did a wonderful job of chasing Elise around. Here is our sneak peek! I wanted to get the pictures taken in the fall instead of around her birthday so that we could use them for Christmas cards and take them outside. Thanks, Melody!

Here is the link to the sneak peek:
http://www.melodyclampet.blogspot.com/

21 months

*For some reason, when I try to cut and paste, it will cut but not paste... so the pictures and text are a little out of order. I've also realized that for some reason, the edited versions are showing up on my computer but not after I upload them... weird things are going on. Sorry!

Tea party with Gram and Grandpa

Walking at the zoo

Halloween preview: I was cheap and decided to use her ladybug pajamas with a cute ladybug bow (all of her bows are made by Aileen of Lillian Layne Designs). I like the way it turned out and she is very comfortable wearing pajamas.

Playing with Daddy on the swing

Showing off her new hair "trim" (the ladybug, zoo, and tea party pictures were taken before the hair cut)

Visiting with her great grandma

Cuddling with Daddy

I'm actually going to be on time with the monthly update! Elise had a doctor's appointment earlier this week and she measured 35 inches tall (95th %) and 28 lbs (75th %). She has been in those percentiles for height and weight for a long time, and if they stick, she should be at least 5' 10'' as an adult. What a big girl! She wears a 7.5-8 size shoe and 2T/3T clothes. Eating and sleeping habits haven't changed much from last month. She still sleeps 12.5-13 hours at night and takes a 2-3 hour nap. She eats very well and loves her fruits, vegetables, beans, and cheese. She is still reluctant to try "adult" meals (basically, anything that looks like it is combined together) but since she is eating healthy food, I don't mind fixing extra things for her.

She regularly says 4-5 word sentences that begin with a subject and then a verb and then the rest of the sentence. She has an amazing memory and often remembers things from weeks or months ago. She really pays attention to details. She is starting to understand consequences. The other day, she hit Boss with her purses. I told her that it wasn't okay and put her purses on top of the refrigerator. About 30 minutes later, she asked for her purses and...

Me: "Why did mama put your purses on the refrigerator?"

E: "Elise hit Boss."

M: "That's right. We don't hit Boss because it hurts Boss. I will give you the purses back but we don't hit Boss."

E: (walks over to Boss while carrying purses): "Sorry Boss! Sorry Boss!"

Her counting has also developed more this month. She really understands what it means to count something and initiates counting quite frequently. After she is finished counting, she usually keeps saying the numbers until she reaches her limit (right now it is 13, but sometimes she skips 9). She has known uppercase letters, numbers, shapes, and colors for a long time, so now I have decided to teach her lower case letters. I just bought the LeapFrog magnetic word builder and we plan to start using it (a few letters at a time) as soon as I get the upper case letters out of the storage unit. She loves to fasten buckles and she is able to place the correct key in the correct door on her Chicco Animal Cottage. She can easily take her shoes on and off but sometimes puts them on the wrong foot. She is pretty accurate with identifying "left" and "right" body parts. She often says "please ____" and "thank you _____".

She asks for a new diaper every time she pees or poops and rarely gets distracted by anything else until the new diaper is in place. A few weeks ago, she accidentally peed on herself after a bath and freaked out. The girl is TERRIFIED to be diaper-free and insists on getting a new diaper the second she gets out of the bath tub. This should make potty training rather interesting. Anyone have experience with this particular issue?

Mike's change of command ceremony is on Friday (hallelujah!) and then we'll begin a whirlwind two weeks of spending time with friends and family, visiting grad schools, and getting our house packed and moved. Thankfully, the Army does all of that for us and we'll just need to pack the items that we want to drive in the cars. We are closing on our house on November 15 and planning to start the long drive on November 16. Of course, we will miss our friends and family in Central Texas, but we are very very excited about this next stage in our lives. Visitors are always welcome!

Pumpkin patch and other pictures

I have been TERRIBLE about uploading pictures, but here are a few from the last week. I also added a few funny lines at the end. Enjoy!

Here is Elise's first successful attempt with pigtails... she actually left them in until Mike got home. I think she looks so much older.


This is what she does when you ask her to smile.




Boss also likes to play in the playroom with us. He is a much easier subject to photograph.


Here are some pictures from the pumpkin patch. Elise had fun running around for 15 minutes and then wanted to be held the rest of the time. She refused to participate in the group pictures. Thank goodness that I had the Beco baby carrier in the car... otherwise my arms would have been killing me after holding her for an hour.




And this was the last picture I took... little drama queen!


She's been saying some really cute things lately, like "How ya doin mama? I'm great!" She is very interested in the bathroom and follows me in all the time. Our typical bathroom dialogue goes like this:

E: "Mama pee pee potty?"
S: "Yes, Mama is gonig pee pee on the potty."
E: "Mama need new diaper?"
S: "No, Mama doesn't need a new diaper because Mama goes pee pee on the potty. Do you want to go pee pee on the potty?"
E: "No!" (at least this is her response most of the time... occasionally she will want to sit on her potty too but she hasn't done anything on it)

A couple of weeks ago, I walked in to get her after her nap and she said...

E: "Hi mama!"
S: "Hi sweetie, how was your nap?"
E: "Mmm good!"
E: "Big poop! New diaper!"
S: "Okay, let's get a new diaper."
E: (laying down on the floor with her legs in the air) "Big poop! Don't touch it!"
E: (after I changed her diaper) "Tank yooooo mama!"

20 months!

Elise turned 20 months old last week. I started this post a while ago but since I'm up with allergies for the second night in a row I decided to finish it tonight (make that this morning?). Maybe next month I will actually finish the post on the 23rd.

She is at such a fun age right now. She is generally very happy and playful. She continues to talk and talk and talk. Most of the time, we can rationalize with her. She understands what is hers and what is not and accepts it. If she wants something that she can't have (or can't have at the moment), she generally accepts the "we'll have a snack when we get home" or "we'll have some more milk at home" or "that's daddy's food" or "we'll eat lunch in a little while" or "you already had an orange for breakfast, so we'll wait and have another orange tomorrow" or "we'll go to the park tomorrow" or "finish your ___ first, and then you can eat ___" or "we might see another ___ later" (if she sees a school bus, airplane, helicopter, etc and immediately wants to see "another one!"). If she gets upset about something, it is usually that she wants to be picked up while I am making dinner or doing something that requires both of my hands.

Highlights of this month:

*says a ton of 3-4 word subject-verb sentences (like "Mama peel orange", "Elise did it", "Mama go get it", "Mama pet Boss", etc

*counts to 10 (we like to count pieces of food in the high chair and she especially likes to alternate saying the numbers with us)

*often uses a fork at mealtimes, though not exclusively

*is starting to get a little bossy! She has been "ordering" Boss around for a few months (by saying "down here, Boss", "right here, Boss", or "come play, Boss" and now she is doing the same thing with us

*memorized a lot of her books and constantly surprises us by what she remembers. If you start reading and pause, she will fill in the next word, phrase, or sentence. Sometimes she will even turn to a page and tell you what it says without you saying anything at all. The other day, she opened "Moo, Baa, La La La" and read the first three pages without me doing anything.

*knows the name of her books by looking at the cover or looking at the spine (when the books are in the bookshelf)

*often plays with duplos, tea set/dishes, books, crayons, and purses

*loves to pray at mealtimes and before bed... sometimes will ask you to pray and always asks you to "pay again!" when you are finished

*often says "please mama" and "thank you mama" without being prompted

*likes to "sing" along with songs from her learning home or from the radio in the car

*immediately recognizes many places and says the name as soon as we drive past it or into the parking lot (like HEB, Walmart, Gap (the mall, haha), Starbucks, church, home, Mark and Ali's house, Mimi's house, Gram's house, etc)


Sleeping

Elise is still a GREAT sleeper. Right now she goes to bed around 7:30 and usually wakes up around 8:15 or 8:30. I usually let her talk happily in her crib for another 15-20 minutes. She has been going down for a nap between 12:45-1 and sleeping for 2-3 hours. If she wakes up crying (which rarely happens), I will go in there, read her a book, and tell her it is time to go back to sleep. She'll either fall back asleep or just lay there and eventually start talking to herself.

Nursery

She is doing very well in the church nursery for 2 services (from approximately 9:25-12:10). We weren't sure how this was going to work out since she used to eat lunch around 11:30 and take a nap around 12, but I slowly pushed all of this back and she has been doing great. Several of our friends have worked in her class and say that she is super quiet. Last week, the workers from 2nd hour said that she had been talking a lot and seemed surprised by all of the words that she says. I was excited to hear that she is getting more talkative in there. There are usually fewer kids in there for the second service so maybe she feels more comfortable in a smaller group. I am hoping to start a mother's day out program with her when we get settled in Alabama and I think she will love it.

Behavior

She is very good about not getting into things that she isn't supposed to. I have never walked into a room and found a big mess. She just doesn't get into things that aren't hers. She also does well at other houses that are not babyproofed. I think she's going to be a neat child. She is very bothered by seeing trash on the floor (or ground outside, etc) and hates having messy hands. She asks for us to wipe her hands several times during a meal. She still behaves very well in the car, in the stroller, in the high chair, and during errands.

Eating

She is still a good eater. I think she has been going through a growth spurt because she has been eating constantly for several days in a row. Last night, she claimed that she was hungry just before bedtime. I heated up some frozen peas and carrots and she devoured them and then asked for "more peas carrots?" What a yummy bedtime snack! Haha. She is very reluctant to try new things, especially things that are mixed together and cooked (for example, this week she has rejected spaghetti and enchiladas). However, she will eat most vegetables, all fruits, cheese, beans, and most meat.


A few funny things that she's done this month...

A few weeks ago, we were reading an alphabet book that pairs letters with animals. I got to the J page and said "J is for...." and she excitedly said "John John!" I'm not sure where she picked this up, but it was pretty funny. To this day, she still equates "J" with "John John".

One day, I was making dinner and she climbed up on the couch. She triumphantly shouted "Elise did it!" followed immediately by "Elise sit down! Elise sit down!" I guess she had heard that before :)

She looooves her grandparents and could care less if Mike and I leave while she is with any of them. Recently, my mom was playing with her and Mike and I walked into the room. She looked up and said "Bye Daddy! Bye Mommy!"

So, I know I promised pictures last month and it still hasn't happened... I do think it is highly likely that I will post some pictures as my next post. Please forgive me! In other news, it looks like we have a buyer for our house! We're still negotiating but we expect to go to the title company with the buyer next week to start the process. Please pray that God's hand would be on this process and that it would work out as He intends. We would love to close within the next few weeks and then rent the house back until mid-November. Have a great day!

For sale by owner!

http://1910stonehenge.blogspot.com

19 months of Elise

August has been a very fun month for us! After we returned from Lake Tahoe, Mike and I took Elise to Sea World. She loved it! We didn't love the drive (traffic in San Antonio both ways with a toddler is not a good combination). A few days later, Elise and I flew to Chicago to visit Sarah and John. Elise did great on the plane (aside from a brief meltdown around bedtime on the way there, which was quickly stopped by a sheet of stickers). Luckily, I was able to bring her car seat on the plane and she stayed in it almost the entire time we flew. We had a wonderful trip and the kids definitely got some good sharing practice! A week later, we flew back to Texas with Sarah and John (with another very smooth plane ride, even though it started at 8:30 pm). We had such a great time hanging out with our friends for two weeks! A few days after they left, we dropped Elise off in Austin and headed to Horseshoe Bay for a fun weekend away at an Army marriage retreat. Pictures to come from this month, I promise! I started this post over a week ago and it will never get finished if I sort through all the pictures right now.

She is still eating and sleeping wonderfully (7 pm - 8:15 am almost every night, with a nap from 12:30-2:30!). If you give her a big piece of food, she will tear it into little pieces before she eats it. She has outgrown her size 7 shoes and is probably a 7.5, but a size 8 with a pediped foam insert underneath fits well. We turned her car seat around last week, and she is really enjoying the new view in the car... especially since we live very close to the high school and she see a "yeyow cool bus" multiple times a day. She is very accurate with her colors and loves to point out the colors of cars, trucks, buildings, toys, clothes, etc. She continues to enjoy labeling things with the person who owns or uses them. For this post, I'm mostly just going to share some funny stories that I wrote down from this month. Our video camera has been acting funny and I don't have many videos.

Story #1:
Here is some evidence that Elise did in fact learned something about sharing this month. The day after John flew back to "Cago", we were at the store looking at tricycles. They had a floor model out so I showed Elise how to push on the pedals and helped her ride it. After a minute or so, she suddenly said "Mama turn!" and climbed off the tricycle! I obliged her sweet request and rode a tricycle designed for 1.5-3 year olds down the aisle of Walmart. I then announced that it was "Elise's turn!" and she smiled and climbed back on. About 15 seconds later, it was "Mama's turn" again. We are making progress!

Story #2:
One of my favorites... we were driving and...
Me: "Elise, do you want to go to Starbucks with Mama?"
Elise: "No!"
Me: "Well, where do you want to go?"
Elise: "Gap!"

Story #3:
I was sitting on the floor against the couch while Elise sat on the couch behind me and John played across the room. Elise was obviously trying to turn my attention from John to herself but I didn't respond quickly enough because she said "Mama.... Mama! STEPH!". She knows the first names of her parents, grandparents, etc, but she has never called any of us by our first name before!

Story #4:
We were visiting Mike's grandma and Elise noticed her cane and quickly pointed to it and said "cane". I commented that I didn't know that she knew that word, and Mike's grandma asked Elise "Where did you last see a cane?" Elise thought hard for about 20 seconds, and then smiled and said "Gigi's house!" Gigi is my grandmother, and she uses a walker but my grandfather "Paw paw" does use a cane... so it totally makes sense that the last time she saw a cane was at Gigi's house. She is always amazing us with the things she understands and remembers.

Story #5:
While we were in Chicago, Elise and John got to go to a fun bookstore to play in the toy area. They had a train table set up and the kids loved it. Fast forward a week or two later... While Sarah and John were in Texas, they went to Barnes and Noble to meet up with a friend. Elise kept asking for them while they were gone, and I told her that Sarah and John went to the bookstore. She ran to the door and said "train? train?" because the last time she went to a bookstore there was a train there.

Story #6
When Mike comes home from work, Elise yells "Daddy home!" and either runs to the door or runs to me to pick her up and carry her to greet him. When he got home yesterday, she walked toward the garage door and said "Daddy home! Happy! Happy!" We didn't even know that she knew the word "happy". How sweet is that?!


Here are a few other things that describe Elise at 19 months. She says "new diiiiiaper" whenever she poops or pees, and if you ask her which one it is, she'll tell you. She has sat on the potty a few times but never done anything without a diaper. She will sit on the potty and poop or pee into her diaper sometimes. I feel like the potty training time is getting closer, but I'm not planning to start anything until after we move.

She carries around 2 little Vera Bradley purses all the time. She loves these things so much and gets quite upset if she can't find one. She has 2 cell phones and a set of keys that she transfers back and forth. She leaves the purses on the glider while she sleeps and takes them with her everywhere. Depending on where we go, sometimes I make her leave them in the car. Sometimes she is okay with this and other times she cries. The only time that she willingly parts with them is if she is eating. She will say "thank you" and hand them to me. Anytime that she hands something to me, I say "thank you", so she has started saying "thank you" instead of "here you go" before she hands something to me.

She still loves to read books. She knows a lot of titles and asks for specific books. With many books, she anticipates what is on the next page and tells you before you turn the page (or fills in a word if you pause in the middle of a sentence). For example, in the "Polar Bear, Polar Bear" book, if you pause before you announce who the animal hears, she will tell you the animal that is on the next page (with a pretty good degree of accuracy). In the "Go Dogs Go" book (which she calls "Dog go!"), when you turn to the second to last page, she yells "Almost there!" and on the last page she yells "Dog party!". She tries to sing the ABCs (up through G-ish) and often counts 1-3 things (usually pieces of food). If asked, she will usually tell you what she has done or seen that day. She even remembers things that happened weeks and weeks ago. For example, she will tell us which animals she saw at Sea World at the beginning of August.

Our moving time is rapidly approaching and we look forward to starting a sequence of moves over the next several years (with no deployments!). We will start in Alabama from November to July-ish, then follow Mike to grad school for 2 years, and then go to West Point for a 3-year teaching assignment. Of course, we are going to miss our family and friends in central Texas, but we are both very excited and ready to move forward. Therefore, we are getting ready to put our house up for sale next week (this might explain why I have been behind on blogging!). If anyone has home staging tips, please let me know! I promise that I will try to get pictures up sometime soon :)