growin' up

It's easy to see Elise growing and changing - each week it seems that she learns a new "trick" or meets a milestone.  With our bigger kid, the growing up sort of sneaks up on me these days.  Once in a while I look at Braden and think, wow - when did he get so old?

Last week our big boy was very excited to try something new too - going to preschool!  Braden just missed the "cutoff" date to be able to attend PK this year (children must be 4 by Sept 15, I think).  But because we've had some lingering concerns regarding his social speech skills, he's going to join the PK program in our local school district in January (he'll still go for a whole year next year too - we just wanted to give him an extra boost and more opportunities to work on social speech).  On Friday Billy took the day off to go with B on his visit day.  Braden will be attending at a site in a neighboring town (the classes in our town/at the school I teach at are all full), and so gets to ride the big yellow bus to school!  They caught the bus at Mommy's school (most days he'll get picked up right from daycare) on visit day, so I was able to see him off on his adventure. Braden was sooooo excited . . .

Getting to ride the bus!

Braden has also become quite the helper around here.  The other evening he was Daddy's assistant when Billy hung up some new hooks in B's room (he even dressed the part with his apron of tools!).

Elise had to get in on the action too.

Measuring the spot . . .

Tightening it up . . .

Yay! Project complete -  a great place to hang backpacks/bags, a super hero cape, and his AWANA gear

Jim Grandpa's puppies

Today we went to Jim Grandpa's (for some reason Braden says "Jim Grandpa" instead of Grandpa Jim, and we've all sort of adopted the title) to visit the new puppies.  I think they're around 3 weeks old.

Braden was excited to hold a puppy . . .

 . . . and Elise was curious as to what would happen if she pulled on a puppy's tail!

E's 9 month photographs

Last Friday Elise had her 9 mth check up in the morning, and we got her 9 month photos taken that afternoon.  I was a little nervous that she'd be sleepy (we took them at about the time she usually goes down for her afternoon nap), but she was a champ.  

Love that smile!

Elise did a good job sitting relatively still for about 5 minutes (which was actually long enough to get several cute shots), but then decided she'd rather be on the move - so we had to resort to some creative ideas to keep her somewhat still . . . "standing" was a hit . . ..

. . . and she liked the box too - but kept quickly crawling right out!

 

I requested the bathtub shot  . . .  (the photographer had to be FAST - I held her and plopped her in, and the second I let go Sandi had to take the picture because 2 seconds later Elise was standing up in the tub or was out of the tub)

Here's E in the tub at 9 mths . . .

 . . . and B in the tub at 9 mths!

Now we have a "set" of tubby pics for the kids' bathroom (I am sure they will LOVE that in about 10 years!) ;)

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?)