holiday traditions

I LOVE holiday traditions!  One tradition that I've heard about, but hadn't yet participated in is the Anderson (Billy's mom's family) cookie bake.  For one reason or another, it just hasn't happened for several years.  On Sunday we changed that, and gathered at Aunt Amy's (Billy's sis) for a yummy lunch, followed by cookie decorating for the kiddos, and a cookie exchange for the adults.  

Billy's cousin, Traci, also has an Elyse -- so here's Elyse and Elise! (3rd cousins, I think?)

Braden was much more into EATING the cookies than he was into decorating them . . .

Hard at work . . .

Lovely cookie creations :)

The cookie decorating concluded with a tradition that I'd never heard of, but that Braden is now a BIG fan of . . . using the leftover cookie frosting as finger paint!

 messy . . . yummy . . . and FUN!

Sunday evening we got to take down the second advent stocking - Braden is loving his "stocking surprises."

We also (finally) read our new elf on the shelf book and met our elf, which Braden named "Rugby." (Initially he wanted to name the elf Jesus, but somehow that just didn't seem quite right.)

We're anxious to see where Rugby will show up!

Braden has been adding to our holiday decor. . . I keep finding "additions" to our Christmas tree on the lower branches.  Can you see Mater resting in the lower left?

Elise: 9 months

Little Miss E is NINE months old today.  Though I reeeeeeaaaaaallllllly love and miss those newborn weeks, I must admit that this stage is a lot of fun too.  Elise definitely has developed a spunky personality all her own, and we're really starting to see more of it. . . for example she lets us know that she'd like a bite of whatever we're eating by producing a little growl (think baby bear), and can hold up her end of a conversation (bob bob bob/mamamama).  She continues to be our little snoop, and gets into everything. E has no fear at all, which makes my heart race quite often.

She's always on the GO, and can go from this . . .

. . . to this in a matter of milliseconds.

She still adores her big brother, and prefers to do whatever he's doing (although sometimes this means she's playing defense). He also still adores her, and is eager to "help" E do new things.

At 9 months, Elise:

• is eating a lot of "real" food, which she much prefers to baby food (can you blame her?).  She loves bananas, bites of potatoes, mac and cheese, cottage cheese, and meatloaf.  She very much enjoyed tasting her first Thanksgiving dinner.

• Is starting to be able to pick up food to feed herself (cereal puffs -- she is NOT eating the trix that B is trying to feed her!) ;)

• Is interacting more with toys, and likes driving Braden's cars, looking at (and chewing on) books, shaking/pushing buttons on any toys that make noise.  She is also currently loving a "walk behind" push toy that she happily pushes from one end of the house to the other

• Has learned to crawl up the stairs, and can do the whole staircase

• Is cruising all over the place, and once in a while will stand on her own for several seconds

• Wears size 6-12 or 9 mth clothes, and some things in size 12 mths, is in size 2 diapers, and wears size 3 shoes

• Claps for herself/generally on request

• Knows the sound of running water and comes quickly hoping that it's her turn for a bath (and tries to climb in the shower with you); still loves her baths, and will happily splash in the tub for as long as we'll let her.  She also has discovered that there is water in the potty and loves to splash in there as well (ick! - I told you she gets into everything) - so the boys are having to learn to put the lid DOWN and we keep all bathroom doors closed

• Is getting more hair . . .she still doesn't have a ton, but I think it's definitely getting thicker/fuller and there are some longer wisps here and there.  It will be awhile before we can do any clips/ponies though.

• Is friendly and willing to smile at/be held by strangers, but also lights up/loves to see a familiar face.  Billy and I spend a couple of nights away several weekends ago and Miss E was sure glad to see us when we got back.  She also seems to have a special love for Grandma Jane (who babysat the kids for 8 weeks while our daycare provider was on maternity leave), and gets very excited to see her.

• Has been improving her sleep habits (yay!) . . . now that we're back into a regular daycare schedule that is more consistant, she's taking much better (and longer) naps.  And we're working on night time . . . at her 9 mth check up our pediatrician had a few suggestions, and we've actually had some longer (like 6 hour) stretches!  Hopefully we're turning the corner and she'll be sleeping through the night again soon.

At her 9 mth check up her stats were as follows:

Height - 28.9 inches 75th % (up from 60th percentile) - this would be why her pants are getting short, but 12 mth clothes are too loose
Weight - 18.5 lbs  50% (same percentile)
Head - 17 3/4"  75% (up from 50th percentile - and the Dr. commented that that doesn't even include her cheeks!) :)

While attempting to take her "monthly picture" in the pink/gray 12 mth outfit, Elise was not real into laying down and posing for me on the floor . . .

This was the best I could do . . .

   . . . most shots were blurry with kicking legs or she was rolling over/crawling away . . .

it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas . . .

The extra week between Thanksgiving and the beginning of December this year has been driving me crazy!  It's not that I want time to fly by any more quickly than it already is, but usually right after Thanksgiving I am ready to begin the countdown to Christmas.  We put up our holiday decor last weekend (it's always nice to do that big job on an extended weekend), and it just seemed like time to begin our advent activities.  

Now that Braden is old enough to understand the idea of "counting down," I've decided to start what I hope will become advent traditions in our family (if I had done this last year he would have been asking daily if tomorrow was Christmas . . . in fact I sort of think it will be a recurring question for the next few weeks!).

One activity that he is very excited to begin is our advent stockings . . .

I got this idea on (of course!) Pinterest.  Last year I shopped the after Christmas clearance sales and picked up assorted kids' Christmas socks to use; add a roll of ribbon and mini clothespins, and you've got advent stockings. Our plan is to place a slip of paper listing a fun family activity or a small gift for the kids to pull out of one stocking each day (you could also get small trinkets/goodies to put in the stockings). . . . some of our slips say things like bake Christmas cookies, go for a drive to look at the lights, take a treat to a friend, watch a Christmas movie, make hot cocoa, and unwrap a new Christmas book) . . .  so excited to start this tomorrow!

That leads to something else I plan to do: read a Christmas book each night.  I raided my children's book collection and pulled out all of the holiday books, and then also shopped for some new titles (to be opened via advent stockings) - I think we now have enough books to read one each night during advent.  I am going to pack up all the books and store them with our holiday decor so that they will be sort of a special Christmas season treat (and hope that we continue to read one each night each December).

Earlier this week Elise and I were home alone together one rare evening, so I thought it would be fun to try taking some pictures of her in front of the tree/lights.  E was a trooper and did a pretty good job sitting still while I experimented with the camera . . . 

 (I think this last shot is her "Are we done YET?" expression . . . ;)

Thankful

I know I'm late to hop on the Thanksgiving/Thankful train, but here's my post . . .

We are so fortunate to get to celebrate most holidays with our families (and we just get to see them often, a huge benefit of living in our home community).  I love traditions, and love to gather with everyone to share a yummy meal.

This year I am thankful that we got to host one of the meals (the extended Miller family)!  Before you are too impressed, please realize that hosting is just about all that we did -- my mom did the traditional hostess cooking of the turkey, dressing, and potatoes, and everyone else pitched in and brought the other side dishes -- way too many to name -- but all sooooooo delicious.  Billy did make his amazing pumpkin spice cheesecake too! (drooling . . .)

As always, the food was amazing and plentiful (there is always wayyyyyy too much/too many options!), and it was fun to be able to host everyone in our home.  We were missing 6, but were able to seat 21 Millers comfortably.  

Here's the kids' (and their kids') table in the living room. . .

 . . . and the other table in the dining room - the "grown ups" with a few more "kids" mixed in

I was very excited to (finally!) have the opportunity to use the lovely "good" dishes, silverware, and glassware that we got when we were married (I've used it only a handful of times, really). It was also a lot of fun to decorate the tables.  (I felt like a real grown up!) :)

Miss Elise thoroughly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving feast . . . and eagerly ate mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and even cranberry salad!

It happened to be unseasonably warm on Thanksgiving day (and then the temps plunged the next day), so the kiddos were able to play outside. Madi and Norah were great cousins and spent the afternoon playing with Elise.  They took B & E on their first double wagon ride in the backyard.

As is our tradition, the women crafted, while the men lounged and watched football slept.  I didn't get any pics of our completed projects, but this year we made yarn wrapped letters, inspired by (none other than) pinterest!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Hartsocks on Friday evening, but sadly I don't have any photos of that feast.  We again stuffed ourselves with yummy turkey, ham, and all the trimmings.  Mmmmm!




I haven't blogged in a while, and therefore had not uploaded any pics off our camera in a while . . . but when I did last night, I found some of these that Billy took.  I sure am thankful for our little ones (who are not seeming so small these days!) . . .

Elise will be 9 months old on Sunday (sniff, sniff).  She is growing like a weed and thinks she's big stuff.  Doesn't she look soooooo big here?  She's loving her discovery that she can see out the porch windows!

What a pair . . . couldn't imagine life without these two! (What?  Is it not typical for a member of your household to wear PJs and a monkey cape in the middle of the day?)

overheard

{On our way to AWANA a few weeks ago}
Me: Braden, do we need to go over your verse?  Are you going to say it to Miss Sarah tonight?
B: We'll find out if I will later, Mom.



{This one is paraphrased, as told to me (as best I can recall) by Mom - but you'll get the idea.
It's naptime.  B is not ready to lay down for nap.}
B: I want to read books.
Mom: Go get some books and I will read them to you in your bed.
B: You're tricking me. Don't trick me. I don't want to go to bed.



{every day since Thanksgiving}
B:  Mom, is Santa coming tonight?

Elise: 8 months

I know I'm a little late posting this - Elise actually hit the 8 mth mark on 11/2 . . . but that's just how I'm rolling these days (one day at a time, focusing on what has to get done first, which means other things sometimes get done a bit later than I'd like -- such as the huge pile of clean laundry that is on our bedroom floor waiting to be folded:  the clothes are clean (had to get done) but not folded/put away (on the to do list, but not top priority). :)

So . . . how can it be that our Miss E is closing in on the 1 year mark?! 8 months seems so old.  Like she's already phasing out of the baby stage.  In fact I caught myself the other day I was relaying some story to a friend, saying "When Elise was a baby . . . "  - as if she's not still a baby? But somehow it feels like she's not so much my baby baby anymore.  This is not ok with me.  :(

Our happy girl




At 8 months Elise:

• is eating more "real" food, and loving it!  When we have meals, she is no longer satisfied with just her baby food - she squeals until she gets a bite of something from our plates.  She loves mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, sweet potato, cheesecake, and of course any taste she can get of sweets (ice cream, a lick of icing, etc.).  I am told that she even gummed down some mac and cheese at daycare one day last week, but I have not been brave enough to try anything that "chunky" yet . . . she still sometimes gags on the cereal puffs that we've been trying at home.

• loves to explore, and is getting into everything.  Our girl is a curious one, that's for sure.  We have to keep all of the bedroom and bathroom doors closed to limit her exploring ventures. She has been found pulling nightlights out of wall sockets, emptying the trash in several locations, stealing kleenex, raiding book bins, trying to crawl into the bathtub, and peering into the potty.  One of her favorite pastimes is removing the register covers to our floor vents - we are seriously looking into purchasing the kind that screw into the floor.  The funny thing is that B never really did anything like that.  Sure, he'd get into his book basket, or mess with laundry while I was folding it, but he just didn't go looking for things to "get into" like E does.  We have to be aware of where she is at all times, or she just might take off see what she can find!

(I took these pics a few nights ago when I headed downstairs to do some laundry . . .E immediately came over to investigate what I was doing and I thought she was pretty cute peering through the spindles of the bannister)

 

(We are hoping that the baby gate will be able to stand up to our little explorer!)

• loves her family.  Elise has shown recognition of us for a while now, and has always especially been happy to see her big brother, but these days she gets so excited to see us.  One of my very favorite parts of the day is walking in the after work and watching Elise.  She looks up, and when she realizes that mommy is home, her sweet face breaks into a huge grin and she stops whatever she's doing to crawl just as fast as she can to get to me, stopping at my feet and lifting her arms upward in anticipation of a big hug.  Love love love it.

• is sort of figuring out some hand movements/gestures.  She can clap (not always on demand yet, though), and has started to wave once in a while (also not on demand yet).  She loves to play games like soooooo big and peek a boo and patty cake in which she gets to do movements.

• is tough.  I reported in her 7 month post that Elise needs a helmet.  While this is still true, I am amazed at how tough she is.  She recovers very quickly from falls/bumps/crashes, and I think has already figured out that if she cries when Braden is close by, he will likely get into trouble (due to the fact that many of said falls/bumps/crashes are caused by her big bro).  On Monday I took E in to get her flu shot booster, and when she got stuck by the needle she took a deep breath and scrunched up her face like she was ready to let out a huge scream, but then switched to a smile as soon as I gathered her in my arms.  Even the nurse commented, "That's one tough little gal!"

• continues to be a big fan of water (looooooves bath time, especially with big brother in the tubby too!), is still such a wiggle worm (we actually did have to take her out of church last week because she was insisting that she get down, and we knew if we let her she'd crawl right up to the front!)

(Watching the tub fill up and waiting to hop in)


• is wearing mostly size 9 mth clothes, and size 2 diapers

• is not a good sleeper.  There. I admitted it.  My child is just not a good sleeper.  It's not the just because of the teeth (that STILL haven't poked through . . . it's just how it is.  I guess when she was painfully dealing with what we still think is/was teething, we established the routine of waking up (and eating) in the night, and now we're stuck with it.  Several people have recently shared with me that their children never slept through the night until they were one, but that really doesn't make me feel better (please, Elise, do NOT wait 4 more months to go back to sleeping all night. . . . Mommy and Daddy are tiiiiiiired!).  And it's not just night.  Oh, no.  This lil' girl likes to try to stay awake alllllll day long.  We're sometimes lucky to get her to sleep for a total of an hour or two during the day (and Braden will still nap for 2 hours sometimes!).  I am hoping that her recent return to our "usual" day care provider will help in establishing a better daytime schedule (for the past 8 weeks the kids have been with my mom for 3 days/week and a substitute daycare provider 2 days/week, so things have been a little less consistent) . . . and if anyone can get a child on a schedule, it's our daycare provider (plus she is pretty good about somehow making kiddos nap - so I have some hope).

And here's my attempt at 8mth pics in "the outfit" (we take pics in the same outfit each month) . . .

Now that she's a big girl, I had a hard time getting E to lay down . . .

   . . . she wasn't very happy with me . . .

  . . . and immediately sat up and crawled away . . .

  . . . then turned around to see if I was still watching her . . .

  . . . then decided to investigate the bumper ties are on her crib . . .

  . . . hmmm - I will just pull on this and see what happens . . .

 Who, me? What?