Kids again

Last night was full of RC's and fun.  Brian got out the little RC helicopter that we got for Christmas, and last years mini RC cars.  We raced around with the cars, and had fun learning to fly the helicopter.  Brian is getting the hang of how to fly it, and didn't crash as often as he did on Christmas Eve.  It was my first time getting to try the ropes with it, and I had a great time trying to figure it out.  It's quite a challenge in our apartment, but Brian learned first hand that it doesn't mix well with snow (or roofs either).  Elizabeth even got in on the fun, and after being okay with the crazy little thing that makes noise and flies around the room, she took over the controls.  It was so fun playing together!

Girls Party!

...in the middle of the night!

Elizabeth has been waking up in the middle of the night every few nights or so lately wanting to play.  Since she is sick and crying just aggravates her coughing, so crying herself to sleep hasn't worked out very well.  So Brian being the sweet guy that he is, has been playing with her when she's woken up, until she is sleepy enough again to go back to sleep.

Well, last night I decided to give Brian a break, and stay up with Elizabeth.  We had a great time together.  Elizabeth is not scared of the dark, and seems to thrive in it at times.  She was having fun putting the Santa hat on and saying "HO, HO, HO!"  She played with her toys, loved playing peek-a-boo in her cardboard castle, we 'read' books (in the dark), sang songs, she had lots of fun carrying boxes around, and other fun things.  We had lots of fun together, and I found that it was easier for me to focus my whole attention on Elizabeth in the middle of the night.  It was easier for me to 'see' her in the dark, and not notice the other things that can distract me.

After all this fun and more, she finally got tired.  I was able to get her back to bed, and go to bed myself when I heard her start crying again.  She tried to play some more, but we were both needing to get some sleep.  So, I rocked her then walked around singing to her as she snuggled against my shoulder.  After singing to her for a while she was okay to go back to sleep.

It was such a sweet night!  Even though I missed out on a few hours of sleep, I loved sharing last night with Elizabeth.  I love my Little Miss Elizabeth!

Cabin fever

Elizabeth has had croup for about a week now, and I can't wait until she is better.  We have only taken her outside a few times since she's been sick, when we thought that she was doing a little better, but each time she seemed to get a little worse.   So I decided that I would not take her outside again until she was completely better.

Well, being stuck inside does not agree with us.  We were okay when we would stay inside last year, but Elizabeth couldn't move around much last winter.  Now she is an energetic toddler that needs to move around, and an apartment doesn't have much space for that.

So with being sick, stuck inside an apartment all day long, oh, did I mention her molars have been coming through, we are both ready for a break!

All dressed up with no where to go!

 

My family is doing a contest with the new year, and one of the things that we need to do is be dressed and ready for the day by 2 pm.  Some might say that this is so simple, but I usually spend my days in my PJ's.  It's even more unusual to find me with both my hair and makeup done.  Come on, I'm a stay at home mom, that likes to be comfortable.

Well, I have decided that this challenge is a good one for me to do.  So here I am today, all dressed, hair done, and even some makeup on.  It feels good to be ready, but weird that I am not going anywhere.  Maybe someday I will get used to it, or find more places to go.

Merry Christmas!

A long night towards better sleep

Elizabeth hasn't been her usual great sleeper since this summer.  With all of the traveling, different time zones, different beds, different routines, her sleeping pattern got way off.  She hasn't been napping as well, and has been getting up in the middle of the nights every once in a while.

At first I thought that this would all go away when we finally were able to be home for more than just a week at a time, but I was wrong.  Some days would go just great, but for the most part she was off.  I thought maybe it was all of the teething she's been going through, or she was growing, but I finally realized the truth that was staring me in the face...I was the problem.

I had been taking the easy way out at nights, but causing a worse problem in the long run.  I would go and get Elizabeth out of bed, and nurse her, then she would be ready to go back to bed.  This meant no more crying, no bugging our various hosts from the summer travels, no keeping Brian up in the night, and I got back to sleep sooner.

I realized this a while ago, but I wanted to wait for the right time to retrain Elizabeth.  This have been really stressful around here, especially for Brian, so I didn't want to add anymore stress for him.  So, this weekend was the perfect time since Brian went camping.

This is how the night went for us....  I put Elizabeth down to bed at about 8:30pm.  Elizabeth woke up at about 3:30am crying, but not her desperate cry.  She continued crying off and on until about 4:30am, there were times I almost went and got her, and even ended up right outside her door once, but I didn't go in.  I was proud of myself for holding back, but hated myself at the same time, wanting to go and comfort my little girl.  At 5:30am I heard her again, but luckily this time it only lasted about 15 minutes before she went back to sleep.  She then made a sound at 7:15am, and I thought she was ready to start the day. I was wrong, she quickly went back to sleep.  Then I heard a beautiful sound at 9:00am...Elizabeth playing happily in her crib.  I quickly went and got her, and we started the day with a well rested, happy Elizabeth {Mommy could still use a bit more sleep}.

I am hoping to be able to keep this up, and soon have her sleeping like her old self again!

Gone to Holland

Today we went as a family to Holland, Michigan.  It was so fun to see all of the beautiful tulips that lined the roads as we drove into town.  We then quickly found a beautiful park and enjoyed watching some dancers practice some traditional dances for the weekends festivities.  I of course had to take millions of pictures {mostly of Elizabeth} and here are a few from the day.

Elizabeth loved watching the people that were watching, waving, and even taking pictures of her.  She's my little social girl, that loves having everyone's attention on her.  Makes it hard to get her to look at the camera though.

Elizabeth is using Brian as a stabilizer as she works on standing.  She just can't wait to walk.

I am so glad that we were able to find someone to get a picture of all of us together in this beautiful park.  I love the vibrant colors of the tulips!  This shot actually reminds me of Brian and my engagement picture.

We accidentally stumbled upon a small college that was just down the street.  I got so excited I loved the buildings and had to take pictures!  Elizabeth fell over while sitting in front of one, and I thought her feet were so adorable!  I think Hope College looks like a nice school to go to.

We then made our way to see this windmill.  It is so big, and neat!  We got to go inside for a tour.  This is the only windmill of it's kind in the US.  They had actually moved this here from Holland.  It went through WWII  and has a bullet hole from that time.

After getting our fill of the gorgeous tulips we made our way to a nearby beach for a nice evening walk.  It was fun to see how much Elizabeth loved the wind {it was extremely windy!}.

Eight months

My little girl just continues to grow each day.  This last month she has been working hard and becoming more and more mobile.

Here are some of the things Elizabeth has learned and loved this month...

• Pulling herself up to stand
• Walking along the furniture
• Wave "Hello" and "Goodbye"
  
• Sitting down without any help
• Pass things from one hand to another
• Pick up small objects
  
• Figured out how to crawl forward
• Sit up all alone
• Bang two objects together
• Makes kissing noises
• Walking around with Mommy and Daddy is still a love of hers

Elizabeth's size

• Clothing~3-6 months
• Diapers~3

Tornado Warning

Elizabeth and I spent about an hour playing in the closet today.

Brian had listened to the weather radio in the morning and heard that there was a tornado watch, so he told me to listen throughout the day to check how the watch was going.  He then later emailed me from work mentioning that the weather was looking like a possible tornado.  As I was replying he called, and as soon as I answered, the tornado warning at MSU went off.  He quickly told me to grab Elizabeth and get somewhere safe as he headed to the schools basement.

Well I grabbed her and was hoping to go to our downstairs neighbor {since we live on the top floor of the apartments}, but she wasn't home.  Brian had called back, but I didn't reach the phone in time so I tried to call Brian back to let him know what we were doing, but the lines were all tied up.  So I just took Elizabeth {with some toys, snacks, and other stuff} into our most central closet.  We played in there for about an hour, and I tried to call home to just give me something else to think about, but no one answered.  I was so glad that I had thought to bring the weather radio with me so that I knew when the warning was over.

It was not only Elizabeth's first Tornado warning, but mine too!  I am so grateful that everything was all right, and I hope that I never have to do that again!

Easter Time!

This Easter weekend was wonderful!  Having a little girl makes holidays so much more exciting, as I enjoy sharing the traditions and fun as she experiences them for the first time!

On Saturday, our friends invited us to join them for and Easter egg hunt, and then a delicious brunch with crepes and fresh fruit!  It was INCREDIBLE!!!

Elizabeth loves walking to get things while holding onto our fingers, so this was perfect for her!  She loved walking to the eggs and picking them up.  She only got a few, but she can't eat the candy yet anyway.  We just enjoyed taking it slow, and of course taking a bunch of pictures.

Elizabeth finding her first egg...

Brian snap a picture of me on the ground snapping a picture of Elizabeth...

Enjoying her egg...

The entire group...

{Funny story, we recorded Elizabeth walking towards an egg, and one of the other kids didn't realize what was going on so he snagged the egg before Elizabeth got to it, and then did it again.  The third time Elizabeth finally was able to get the egg!}

Elizabeth was thinking about crawling upstairs after the fun, but she's not ready for that yet...

Easter morning we woke to some fun Easter treats.  Elizabeth was so excited...

I had been completely surprised to walk out and find these bright and beautiful flowers from Brian...

We then hopped into the car to play Easter Bunny for some kids we know...

I love when Easter and Conference are on the same weekend!  It is the perfect combination!  During sessions we got to enjoy a beautiful walk outside.  There were blossoms all around, I love this time of year!

We then dyed and painted eggs.  I had never painted them before, but loved the idea.  I had a great time coming up with different ways to paint them, and enjoyed Brian's sunflowers that he painted onto his.  Elizabeth even got in on the fun.  Brian painted her had all white and then we had her grab onto one of the eggs.  It turned out PERFECT!

All the eggs...

It was so much fun helping Elizabeth get the eggs.  She was great at it too!  The cutest part was when she would stop about a foot away from the egg and sit down, then proceed to reach all the way over to the egg.