Christmas Eve

Christmas is coming!

first candycane


waiting for Santa

sitting with Santa

play time at the mall

first present

Cookie Swap

Eight ladies participated in the Cookie Swap last night at our place, although I think there were at least 11 different kinds of cookies! Impressive, aren't they?!

A few husbands tagged along and there were lots of babies too... :)

Elise and Maren had matching outfits. How cute are these little holiday munchkins?!

Thanks for the Santa hat Nana and Papa!

Elise & Maren

Elise and her buddy Maren at "Soup Night." They loved standing together at Sarah Robert's coffee table.

A view from behind. :)

"Coffee at Audrey's" was Tuesday morning. Elise decided to inspect Maren's 4 teeth. She loves to touch other people's faces.

Finger Lickin' Good

Elise now prefers to feed herself. So, forget the pureed fruits & veggies, pass Elise the finger foods. Tonight's dinner? Green beans, sweet potatoes, and hard-boiled egg yolk (her new favorite).

snowy day

Elise had her first skiing experience on Saturday. We've had several days of light to moderate snow, and so on Saturday Toby wanted to try out his cross country skiis. We put a very bundled Elise in the backpack to enjoy the ride.

Elise's 1st Christmas Tree

Yesterday afternoon we went - on a perfectly wonderful snowy day - to pick out our Christmas tree at Meister's nursery. With eggnog cappuccinos in hand, the Charlie Brown Christmas movie playing in the background, and one very tired baby girl napping in her crib, Toby and I began the decorating. I'll post some shots of the finished product next time.

We wish all of our family and friends a joyous Christmas season! Enjoy all your favorite holiday traditions!

growing girl

Elise had a doctor's appointment today. She weighed in at 17 lbs. 11oz! That means Elise gained 1.5 lbs in the last month, and she grew a half inch. And... she's even cuter now than last month. Amazing.

Her next appointment is at the end of January right after her first birthday. Wow... can you believe she's going to be 1 in just a couple of months?!

reunion

Friday was my ten-year high school reunion. Toby was a good sport and tagged along while I had the opportunity to visit with old friends and find out what everyone has been up to since we last roamed the halls of Heritage high. I enjoyed the "reuniting" and the dozens of very similar conversations, answering and asking all the typical questions, like 'where do you live?' and 'what do you do?' Unfortunately Toby and I didn't take a lot of pictures. I think we were too busy talking, but I'll post above the few shots we did take.

three little longs

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend "down state" with our family. For the third year in row, we had the pleasure of visiting with Toby's cousin Wes and his family. His wife Donna and their girls Natasha and Tenille have shared with us a new tradition - building candy houses on Friday after Thanksgiving. Their creativity is awesome! We also enjoyed an outing to the park, and Elise had her first experience in a playground swing. :)

Thanks everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving. We love our family!

The view from the top of Sugarloaf...

We miss you Nana!

It was great having you here, mom. We look forward to seeing you and dad on Friday!

SO BIG!

That's right... Elise is "SO BIG!" Nana successfully taught Elise how to raise her arms and show us how big she is. Well done Nana!

Rose Tea & Piano Keys

On Saturday our neighbor Bettie invited us to her house for Rose tea. While there she pulled out an old child-sized piano for Elise to play with. As she predicted, Elise loved it. I'm sure "Grandma Bettie" will be inviting us over again soon for Elise to get in some piano practice.

giving nana some lovin'

we're happy to have nana here this week! elise has been especially excited to have some extra love and attention. see above how elise shows her nana some love.

Soup Night at the Jastifers

Last night we went to the Jastifer's for "Soup Night." This event takes place a couple of times a month with all the 3rd years and their families. Elise was able to stay up a little bit later than usual, and she LOVED every minute of it. She's such a social butterfly. You might even say she's hyper. Yes, she is like her daddy in many ways. :)

The pictures above are of Elise playing with her friend Maren last night. They already have a love for shoes. :)

We love to swim at the Y-M-C-A...

Today was Elise's second trip to the YMCA pool. She loved it. She was a little scared the first time we went, but this time she wasn't scared AT ALL, and she was really good at kicking her legs. Isn't the suit cute? (Thanks again Aunt Tarami!)

Ready for Church

This morning Toby, Elise and I walked to church. It was only 38 degrees, but the sun was out and the lake was gorgeous. Of course, Elise had to be bundled up. She did great and slept most of the ride home. Now we're getting ready to take Elise swimming at the Y. Maybe I should take the camera???

Coffee Time

Every week Elise and I get together with a group of other women and kids at my friend Audrey's house. Audrey can make a killer cappuccino, and her house is a comfy cozy home with gorgeous views of Lake Superior. So, the setting, the company, and the caffeine are a wonderful combination. I always look forward to coffee time.

Yesterday, Audrey's son Logan was off from school and joined all the ladies. (Actually, there were two boys there because our friend Megan brought her newborn cutie named Nolan.) Well, Elise LOVES to see other kids, especially Logan. In the photo above, Logan is giving Elise a lesson on the solar system. You can see Logan's sweet three-month-old sister, Maddie Ann, in the background.

Toby is not on call this weekend - hooray! But he did just go into the hospital this morning for a couple of hours to see a c-section. We don't have any big weekend plans, but I'm definitely looking forward to the upcoming week when my mom visits. See you on Tuesday, mom!