Glad we started with a puppy

Elsie has made HUGE milestones this last week when it comes to movement on her own. She's our little Leo the Late Bloomer (one of my favorite books) and as I've watched her learn to do her thing, I've realized that it's not me at all that is encouraging her to finally move. No matter how much I cheer. No matter how much I prod. No matter how much I push. No matter how much I beg. I can do anything under the sun but it's not me that got her to move. It's our dog.

As I've watched Sparky get Elsie to move (since I'm sure that was his goal) I've looked back and started to make mental note of how similar Elsie and Sparky are. Jeff bought me Sparky as a birthday gift in 2010. It was that movie scene scenario that every girl wants. Come home from work, husband has a gift behind his back, open it up and there is a sleeping puppy in the bag. Loved it! We didn't think we would be lucky enough to get pregnant right away, so we thought we would start with a puppy to get our feet wet with the whole parenting thing. People say it is similar, so we thought we'd give it a go. Now that we have Elsie, and we've experienced both we completely agree with the sentiment that puppies are great practice to having the baby. Here are the ways the two are similar:

1. Lack of sleep - When we got Sparky he was 5 weeks old and we wanted to crate train him. He woke up every 2 hours on the dot the first week and at least 4 times a night the second week and at least 2 times the next three. It felt like he was never going to sleep through the night! All I wanted was a good night's rest and Sparky had other plans.

Fast forward a year - Elsie. Need I say more on the lack of sleep? I thought I needed 8 hours of sleep to function. Nope, Elsie taught me I just need 4 solid hours. Luckily she was sleeping 6 hours straight at 4 weeks, and through the night at 8.

We did not pose this. Jeff put Elsie down and Sparky curled up next to her. He loved her from the beginning. Just wouldn't admit it.

2. Potty training - Sparky took a good solid 9 months to be completely potty trained. I hated cleaning up his accidents. But it was part of having a puppy. Teaching them how to go where appropriate.

Fast forward a year - Elsie obviously is still at least a year from being potty trained but oh how I love having the diapers. Never thought I'd be grateful for the diapers but after having a puppy, I'd much rather change the diaper than clean the carpet 5 times a day. However if Elsie takes 9 months to be completely potty trained I might cry.

Both Sparky and Elsie love to sit on my lap. It gets interesting as Elsie continues to grow and I am quickly running out of room for both. Doesn't mean Sparky won't try. 

3. Toys - Sparky loves to bring all his toys out at once and play with them, especially when I am trying to clean up. Because he is a dog I can't tell him to pick up so I am forced to.

Fast forward a year - Elsie loves toys and wants all of them at once. Her attention span can't last for more than 30 seconds before she is ready for something new. I  pick up after her every night when she goes to bed but the same mess happens every morning. At least it's a mess that hopefully someday she can help out with :)

Sparky wanting to play, Elsie thinking Sparky is crazy

4. Games - We taught Sparky how to play fetch and we use it to wear him out at night. Luckily he doesn't need it as much now, but it was a great lifesaver a year ago.

Fast forward a year - Elsie loves games - especially pass back. We hand her a toy, she hands it back. This will go on for easily 5 minutes. She tries to do it with people at church but they don't understand what she is doing so by the time I explain to them she has lost interest.

This was quite the common sight when I was nursing. Sparky wanted to play so he'd bring a sock for me to throw. Yes, his favorite toy is Jeff's sock. Not to destroy. Just to fetch.Weird dog, I know. 

5. Attention - Sparky loves attention. When we brought Elsie home we were told he will get jealous and we need to be careful. Lucky for us that was not the case. Elsie wasn't any fun for him so he left her alone. It wasn't until she was about 6 months and sitting up by herself that he started to pay attention to her. He ignored her but wanted all the attention on him when people came over to visit Elsie. He'd pounce all around just because he was excited someone new was over, didn't even phase him that Elsie was there all the time.

Fast forward a year - Elsie likes to see people that come over but takes a while to warm up to them. However when we have baby #2 (not for a long while) I can see Elsie loving a little sibling but wanting some attention for her as well.

Sparky has ruined many photos as he wants to try and be in them. This is not one he ruined, just one he decided to step in  

No I didn't put the boppy there. It was all Sparky experimenting with the baby stuff. This one was too funny not to post.  

I love having Sparky around as I figure the whole parenting thing out. He's helped Elsie out in ways I couldn't. Almost every night now I see Sparky and Elsie playing some sort of game together. Normally it is Sparky bringing a toy to Elsie and Elsie trying to grab the toy. This will go on for 10 minutes. Just the two of them. Sparky growling his happy growl and Elsie laughing hysterically. Or Sparky will have something across the room that Elsie wants, Elsie will crawl to him and laugh when he gets up and moves as he doesn't want to be bothered. Talk about having a best friend right from birth.

Definitely her father's daughter

Since day one, everyone (minus my mom) has commented about how Elsie is definitely my daughter as she looks just like me. As almost a year has passed, and I have seen her personality come out I've been able to see how she is a lot like her dad, which makes me very happy! I love Jeff and love knowing my daughter has some of his personality traits already.

Proof #1 - She loves the computer! She will sit and type on the keyboard (only dad's mind you, apparently the Mac isn't as nice to an 11 month old), move the mouse, touch the mic. She will throw a fit if you take her away before she is done. Sadly this is Jeff to a T!

Proof #2 - She can be a shy little lady and would rather stick to the people she knows best. Jeff is not a fan of being social and would rather just be around the few people he loves and cares for.

Proof #3 - She is a home body! While she is super fun to take out and about, she is way more enjoyable at home where she is familiar with everything. She laughs and giggles so much more when she is at home then when she is out. Jeff would rather spend all day everyday at home.

Proof #4 - She loves books! Elsie will sit through an entire book and just love to listen. We read a finger puppet book last night and she laughed at an appropriate time (although I'm sure it was purely coincidental, I like to think it wasn't). We read "The Hundred Dresses" over the course of the week and she sat intently through it all. Jeff has a huge collection of books, all of which he has read. Between the two of us we already fill 3 large bookshelves and we've only been married 2 years. We will need a personal library the size of a 2 car garage by the time we are married 20 years.

Proof #5 - Elsie is quite the determined young lady. If she wants something she will figure out a way to get it. Whether it be her little gymnastics scoot, her rolling to the general vicinity or screaming till she gets it (definitely not my favorite) she will find a way. The brilliant man that I married knows how to get what he wants. Nothing will or can stop him. I hope Elsie continues with this trait :)

Proof #6 - She is quite the laid back girl. She goes with the flow and just enjoys life as she knows it. If she gets mad, give her 10 seconds and she will figure out something else to make her happy. Very few things get under Jeff's skin, he rolls with the punches a good majority of the time.

Proof #7 - Elsie loves her mama! She would rather stay and cuddle with mom than anyone else. These last few months Elsie and I have become quite attached, watching her learn and grow has been wonderful! Jeff is rather attached to me I like to think :)

Proof #8 - While she hasn't always been this way, she sure has become quite the cuddler these last few months. Around 6 months Elsie decided she wanted to cuddle anytime she was tired. She only does it with mom (which makes Jeff a little (okay a lot) jealous) but she loves to lay her head on my shoulder, put her arm wrapped around my neck and lay there before she gets in the crib. I love it! Jeff has always been a huge cuddler. Any time and any where he wants to cuddle.

Proof #9 - We bought Elsie an infant keyboard a few months back and it has quickly become Elsie's favorite. She will scootch to anywhere to play it. She likes any and all music she can play with it. The other day she figured she could pull the jumperoo and it would make noise, then she could play the piano. When one stopped she'd start it up again. She loved being in control of all the noise. Jeff's wedding gift was a piano. It was the best gift I could have bought and it will always be something we cherish. Jeff is quite the piano player. I wish I had his talent but sure do love reaping the benefits of it!

Proof #10 - Elsie doesn't like to show off any of her skills unless she knows she has them mastered. She will do them at home but don't ask her in public as she won't do any of them unless she is perfect at it. Jeff is brilliant! And by brilliant I mean BRILLIANT! He has 2 computer screens, one to play his game with, one to read whatever he can find. Does he share any of that knowledge? Not unless he knows for sure that he is 100% right. If there is any doubt he won't share with anyone but me.

I'm so glad I married a wonderful man that has been such a great father to our daughter! Watching Elsie grow and seeing some of these traits come out in her has been so wonderful! Elsie and I are very blessed to have such an amazing man in our lives. Looking at these pictures of Jeff and Elsie reminds me of how much love I have for this amazing man. The moment Elsie was born and every day since my love for Jeff has grown more than I ever thought possible. I've been quite blessed to have a husband who stepped into the father role so easily. He has that nurturing sense built in and watching that blossom even more with our little girl is so amazing. I am so truly blessed to have him in my life.

Thanks for being the great dad and husband you are! I love you Jeff!

Which Pic is best?

We are finished with the helmet!! Woo hoo!! Elsie's little head did amazing and now is completely perfect! She had it for 3 month, but wore it full time for 2. I'd say she did amazing. The average time is 5 months. I'll take my 2!

So our orthotist, Mark, the guy who does the helmet stuff, asked if we would give him any cute pictures to possibly include in his brochure. Elsie was one of his favorites, always happy to see him, never cried at the appointments, giggled the whole time, I mean really, what's not to love! Anyway, I'm having a hard time trying to decide which pic to send him. So here are some of my faves, now you tell me! If you would leave me a comment I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

I know which ones are my favorites, but I am curious to see what others think.

Zucchini Recipe #1 and #2

So with all this zucchini growing, I'm determined to find creative uses for it.

Recipe #1 was a Zucchini Muffin Recipe and was delicious (Elsie LOVED them!) however they were not very pretty, nor were they easy to remove from the pan (with 1 cup of oil and greasing the pans, not sure how that was even possible) I don't think I'll be using this again. I'm all about convenience. This one, not so much.

Recipe #2 was a Chocolate Zucchini Brownie - Sign me up! I love brownies, why not throw in some vegetables so I can justify my eating of chocolate. The brownies were tasty, definitely not as sweet as normal brownies, but I liked them. Jeff's response to putting zucchini in brownies was, and I quote, "Just because you can put zucchini in something doesn't mean you should" He tried the brownies anyway, wasn't too much of a fan, but then again he's not a fan of chocolate. So his vote really doesn't count. 

How yummy do those look? No where near as sweet as they could be, but still pretty tasty! 

The garden...Trial 1

Jeff and I decided we would try a garden out this year. We wanted to last year but by the time we got around to it we knew nothing would grow. So we were counting down the months till we could try our green thumbs out. When March hit we were ready to go. Jeff put in the soil, built a white picket fence around it (thank you sparky) and away we went in planting. We decided to do strawberries, carrots, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, chilis and cantalope. A complete myriad of food, but we knew this would be our learning year. No point in thinking we are masters at something neither of us had ever done.

This is the garden after about a week after the first planting. It's pretty large, about 12 feet by 16 feet. Way bigger than what I had in my mind, but this is what Jeff thought and since he was the mastermind, I was all for it!

About 6 weeks after our planting we started to pick the fruits of our labor! Zucchini and Squash are the most productive at the moment. The tomatoes are starting to bloom, but definitely not very quick. The cantalope is also blooming, but not anywhere near ready. 

Our first pickings! 7 zucchini and 4 yellow squash.

We've been picking zucchini and squash every week and have ended up with around 20 of each. For a family of three, that's a ton!! But we are loving having the fresh grown produce. I love baking and cooking with it knowing it came from our ward! This garden stuff is great!

The dreaded helmet

Plagiocephaly. Your daughter needs a helmet. Flat spot. Ears not aligned. All phrases you don't ever want to hear from your pediatrician. And guess who heard them. That's me. 

I heard all these phrases at Elsie's 6 month doctor appointment, the first pediatrician appointment I went to solo. Jeff had a class. So in addition to me being the bad guy with shots, now I am receiving this news solo. Awesome. I received 2 pieces of paper from the nurse, apparently they were prescriptions, for 2 different companies and had to figure out what to do. It felt like the world stopped at that moment. I knew Jeff would be home in a few hours, but I have no patience when it comes to my daughter. I immediately set up 2 appointments, one for Friday and one Monday, then started my research. I'm one of those people that needs all information possible. I'm not good with, "let's just see how it goes." I want to know and understand it all. Especially with Elsie. 

So I did my research (at least 3 hours worth) read all about plagiocephaly, helmets, how they measure, what they do, how much, why they need it, you name it, I read it. But I still had to wait till Friday for our first appointment. I can be patient at times, but this felt like forever! 

Friday comes and we visit Mark, the orthotist at Hanger. We immediately fall in love with him. He is amazing! He is very straight forward and lays down the facts for us. We love it. There is no fluff just facts which is what I needed. I already had a lot of info but I needed it to make sense and be put together. Mark did that for us. We found out that Elsie was born with torticollis, a fancy word for a tight neck. My OB talked about how Elsie was continuing to grow but my belly was not. Apparently when there gets decreased space in utero a tight neck can form. The Pediatrician gave us this 5 page packet on neck stretches around her 2 week visit,  which literally went right over my head as a new mom. I had so much going on with adjusting to baby, juggling family life, keeping the husband happy, the last thing on my plate was deciphering this stupid packet. 

 Well apparently I should have read/asked/deciphered the 5 pages. With torticollis, if the neck doesn't loosen up the baby can play favorites to the looser side. Sure enough, Elsie prefers the right side. But since this is all behind us now, what do we do now? Mark said "Head to shoulder, Chin to shoulder" Umm hello, where were you 6 months ago! 6 words vs 5 pages. Oh my. It is now my mission to tell all parents with their first child "Head to shoulder, chin to shoulder"

We knew right away that is who we wanted to go with, but since we had the last appointment Friday with him, and I scheduled the first appointment Monday with the other company, we couldn't cancel the other appointment. The other company was not impressive at all. I was talked down to the entire time, the lady spoke to Elsie the majority of the time in baby talk (pretty sure the parents will be the ones to make the decision, probably should talk to them in adult language) and they started talking about getting Elsie a second helmet! Hello! I am adjusting to getting the first one, let's not discuss a second one! Bottom line, we went with Hanger. Thank you Mark. 

Jeff does the measuring visit and fitting visits. I knew I'd be a nervous wreck and would do more harm then good. Jeff didn't seem to care so he willingly obliged. This was the first picture I received with the helmet: 

My heart sank immediately. My little girl didn't look like she did before. I had to adjust quickly as this helmet was going to be part of my life for a least a few months. After some reassuring words from a close friend who talked about how Elsie will be the poster child for helmets and how all parents would want a helmet because she pulls it off so well and how he little cheeks are so cute in it I was able to relax and know that this was only temporary and going to be well worth the ride. I found a blog that discussed how the mom could have been sad over the helmet or made it a joyous occasion. She choose to be happy, so from that moment on I did to. This helmet was part of Elsie. And it's just a few months. It'll fly by. (Later I will post my top ten reasons I love the helmet)

I've been big into bows and flowers for Elsie's hair, and I knew the helmet would need to be decorated. I made these 4 bows and have intermixed them based on her outfits. Everyone compliments her flowers. Definitely adds to the look (also helps that the helmet is pink) 

We went to the park one morning and did a little photo shoot of her different bows. I like them all :)

Time really has flown by for us and the helmet. Elsie has been quite the trooper. The first month we had LOTS of issues with her head not wanting to accept the helmet. Between allergic reactions and growth spurts it took us a full month to finally be wearing the helmet full time. Luckily we got the helmet on at the PERFECT time! She was at the beginning of this huge growth spurt, which lasted almost 2 months. In the first 2 months (and remember the first month we were not wearing it full time, just a few hours a day) she went from a 9mm difference to a 4mm difference. That is huge. They say anything less than 4 mm isn't noticed by the naked eye! Woo hoo! Go Elsie! We are hoping to be completely done with it May 29th. Cross your fingers that the helmet will be gone before summer is here! We want to swim!!

 Enjoying a baseball game with Nonno and Grandma Boo. Who needs baseball when a straw is closeby?

Still happy as can be! 

Balloons make this girl very happy!

One Proud Momma!

Earlier this week, Elsie and I were finishing up dinner. Elsie ate some yummy yogurt and was on her second can (yes this girl can eat still!) and started waving. I quickly gave it a name and she did it again and again! We've worked on waving when at Grandma's and Nonno's, however she normally just looks at everyone like we've got something growing out our heads and looks for the door. Well, she's now mastered waving! But not just any wave, the "Princess Wave" Check it out...

How cute is she! I had to share! We tried to facetime everyone we know and finally Tracy called us back. Of course Elsie got camera shy, but she did eventually do it (after we hung up and had to call again). Thanks Aunt Tray! Now she will do it all the time. She loves showing off this new found skill.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Elsie wants to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! (Sorry the post is late, that's mom's fault)

Barbies already!

For Christmas, Grandma Boo bought Mindy Faith Hill and Tim McGraw Barbies. Mindy was in heaven. Apparently so was Elsie! She lit up the room when she saw her first Barbie doll! It was wonderful! Coming from a house of all girls, we had tons of Barbie Dolls! We still love them, so to see the awe and love in Elsie's eyes when she first saw them, I was ecstatic!! Lots of years of Barbie dolls in front of us!

Pure joy right there!