Saturday, February 18, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

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





Monday, February 13, 2012

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!

6 months old

So it's been 6 months (almost seven) of being a parent. Definitely way better than I could have ever imagined! Here are some stats of our 6 month old pipsqueak...

Height - 27 inches (50th percentile)
Weight - 15 lbs (20th percentile)

Elsie is very calm and shy. She definitely knows her home and likes things that she is used to.

Elsie loves to eat! She will down 4 oz of cereal in a sitting, 2 times a day! She loves it!

She loves to laugh, but will make you work for it. She doesn't give giggles out easily. Mom and Dad can catch them almost daily, but everyone else better be ready to put on a show.

Comments made about Elsie:

"That's not a scowl! It's a mean mug! I give mean mugs out daily, she needs to have a mean mug!" Aunt Tract in regards to Elsie not smiling at anyone but family.

"She always looks like she is deep in thought. I don't think Johnny has ever had a deep thought." Aunt Katie (Dad and mom call it her pensive look)

"Wow, she's gorgeous!" Anyone who sees Elsie for the first time

"Watch her just soak everything in. She watches everything!" Grandma Boo and Grandma Barney

"Where's her bow!?! No worries Elsie, I got your back" Aunt Tracy anytime Elsie doesn't have a bow on her head. Aunt Tracy has been deemed the bow Nazi. :)



My feet are my favorite toy! Lots of things will keep my attention as long as someone is by me. I definitely like company even if I do want to play by myself.

First time in a high chair in public! She loved it!



Thumbs Up

Elsie never took a pacifier. Hated it from day one. Occasionally dad or Natalie could get her to take one, but never mom. When Elsie was about 2 months, she found her thumb, oh how we love that thumb! She only does it when she is bored or tired. Who can resist a 6 month old sucking her thumb! Too cute! (Notice the location of the first finger - always around her nose)





I'm done eating mom!
(Elsie takes forever to eat when she is tired! Every 2 or 3 bites she
will suck her thumb. Definitely makes it interesting!)



Don't be fooled by appearances...

Although our Elsie is tiny, don't be fooled. She can eat with the best of them! In fact, she loves eating! She is only on oatmeal cereal now, but will be starting solids this week. She is more than ready, mom just needs to get to the store to buy some fresh veggies to test out. Aunt Katie came over during winter break and was surprised at how wide Elsie would open her mouth. I thought it was normal, however when looking at my gigantic nephew and seeing him barely open his mouth, it made me laugh! Here are some pictures of our little pipsqueak chowing down!





Fall Activities

The fall in Arizona is perfect for outside adventures. Not cold at all, just cooler than 110˚ which is beautiful to us! Elsie got to experience quite a few different outdoor events the end of October and November.

Balloon Festival
Aunt Katie and Johnny joined me and Elsie for an evening outside watching hot air balloons light up. It was very fun! Hopefully it will become a family tradition!




AZ State Fair

I have always loved the fair, only for 2 reasons - Indian Fry Bread (San Tan Fry Bread is the only place we get it, family favorite) and the exhibits. I love the cakes, my mom loves the quilts. The Curtis family all went and enjoyed a night together at the fair.
Check out the gorgeous blue eyes! Heartbreaker in the making!
Aunt Katie and Cousin Johnny
What a cute little face!
Hey, look at me!!

3 generations enjoying the fair! (How gorgeous is Grandma Boo!)

Oh do we love the quilts. Someday we will convince
Grandma Boo to submit one of her gorgeous creations!

Christmas Photo Shoot

I really should learn to not look on pinterest for photo ideas, they never quite turn out how I hope. However this was Elsie's and my first attempt at taking photos at the house by ourselves. Definitely way harder to try and balance a 5 month old and camera plus a dog thinking its time to play because I am now on his level. But it was fun nonetheless.

Shoot #1







Shoot #2 with Christmas quilt - Thanks grandma boo!








Pictures with Cousin Johnny

Elsie and Cousin Johnny are exactly 4 months apart, but you would never guess that based on the size. They both are on total opposite ends of the spectrum. Elsie is our little pipsqueak who lands somewhere between the 20th percentile in weight. Johnny is our huge little man who has always been in the 90th percentile. We wanted to get some picture of them together on Christmas. Elsie would have nothing to do with it, which made Johnny annoyed. These our are efforts.

Take #1: Grandma Boo and grandbabies...


Take #2 Grandma Boo: (Maybe if I put a finger in her mouth. she will be happy. Nope!)


Aunt Tracy's turn! A little more successful...
However, holding one 12 lb baby on one side, and one 25 lb baby on the other, makes for quite the workout and balancing act!



Meeting Santa


Being Elsie's first Christmas, she had to meet Santa! There was no way I could rationalize a mall trip to pay for ridiculously expensive pictures with Santa. So instead we made it to Grandma Boo's house and we were able to catch some photos. Elsie loved sitting on Santa's lap!




Christmas Day

Elsie's first Christmas

Being barely 5 months old, Christmas was just another day for Elsie, however it was fun to spend time with both sets of families. I'm really horrible at taking pictures without a reminder. Luckily Katie is a great reminder as she always has a camera, which in turn reminds me to bust mine out at the Curtis events. However the Barney side of the family hates pictures! So I always forget. Needless to say, I have 1 picture from the Barney Christmas...

Grandparents first Christmas with Grandkids. We think they liked it!

Mom and Elsie

Oh, how I love toys I can put right in my mouth!

Aunt Tracy waiting her turn.

Cousins playing




Elsie's First Thanksgiving(s)

Thanksgiving(s) 2011

Over the course of Thanksgiving week, Elsie was able to experience 3 Thanksgiving dinners.

The Curtis family does Thanksgiving the Sunday prior, which is wonderful! This year there were about 20 of us over there enjoying all the cooking Grandma Boo and Nono (Grandpa Curtis) slaved all day on. (No worries the turkey was on the bar-b-que as usual) As night is Elsie's least favorite time of day, she was definitely not too thrilled the entire time. Dinner
started at 5:30, she put on a smile for a few minutes and tried to be a trooper but really she just wanted her bed. I don't blame her.

Thanksgiving morning we drove down to Pima to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with both sets of Jeff's grandparents. We started with dinner with the Barney's at 2. Finished there around 4, took a quick break and finished off our festivities at the Bryce Thanksgiving. It was definitely a lot of food. Great company, but we were very exhausted! 3 Thanksgiving dinners in 4 days, but we loved every minute of it.
Our little Turkey!
Grandma Boo and mom helped to make this. It turned out way cuter than we had ever thought!

One eye fell off (oops!), but Elsie can still pull off the cutest outfit there!

Family photo


One of the few times Elsie would cuddle at this age. Can you tell she is ready to be done?

The moms and their babies.
Johnny and Katie, Elsie and me, Bethany and Bronwyn