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

First Halloween

Knowing Elsie was only going to be 3 months, I had a hard time trying to decide if it was worth spending money on a costume. However, while discussing with a friend who lives far away I decided I probably should invest in a costume just for memories sake. While looking for a costume, I found this adorable photo and knew that is exactly what Elsie would be doing for her Halloween photo this year.

How cute is that? And Elsie is a total thumb sucker, she could so do this! I was ecstatic. I also knew that our annual pumpkin carve is at night, so I didn't want her to freeze. I bought a cute pumpkin onesie that I thought would just add to the whole feel of the photo. Look how cute she is in it. Just adorable. I made the flower on her head that I felt just added to the whole cuteness factor.

Cutest pumpkin ever!

Now all I had to do was get her in the pumpkin. Great hopes with great intentions. Sadly, they were a little high. This is the photo I got...

And this wasn't after sitting in the pumpkin for a while. It was instantaneous! She HATED the pumpkin. Oh my, apparently it can be quite traumatizing. We tried to take her out and try again... nope didn't work either. Once she was out of the pumpkin, life was ok. In the pumpkin, life is miserable! However, I don't really want to sit in a pumpkin either, so can you blame her? However she is still adorable and the cutest pumpkin ever.

Parenting Lessons Learned

So know that we have six weeks under our belt, here are some crucial lessons we've learned from the boss (some easier than others...)

Elsie definitely is the boss around our house now.

1. Always remember the diaper bag, it will add 15 minutes to your trip if you forget it and have to return for it.

2. Pack change of clothes for mommy in diaper bag as well, sometimes babies use their mom as the diaper.

3. It is possible to survive on 4 hours of sleep. (Very surprising to me!)

4. Nothing can take the place of cuddle time with the little girl. I love it when she sleeps on me

5. Sometimes all you need is to hear mom and dad's voice to calm down.

6. Once that second yawn is released it is time to take a nap, don't wait for that 3rd yawn. No one sleeps then.

7. The bouncer is a lifesaver at all hours!

8. Never plan on getting anywhere on time. I always was late before, now I am REALLY late!

9. A smile can make everything better. No matter how hard the day or night was, one little smile from Elsie makes everything go away!