Updates

I have a very talented friend that made me the hat Elsie is wearing in this picture. While I was packing up our winter gear to go to Rexburg for Christmas I turned around to see that Elsie had rifled through it, and had put on this hat. She loved it, and wouldn't take it off for the rest of the morning. This last week I brought out the Bumbo for Sam to start sitting in. He is doing pretty well in it, for a 3 month old. Elsie loves sitting next to him and playing. She also loves it when Sam is not in the Bumbo. She will jam her chubby little legs into the Bumbo and sit in it to color, watch T.V., eat dinner, etc. In the picture below she put it on the couch to watch T.V., but put it on backwards. Instead of turning the Bumbo the right direction she chose to sit in it backwards, and turn her head to catch one of her favorite shows, "Timmy Time". Here's a recent pic of 'lil Sam and his 'Archibald Afro'. Looks like it's coming in even better than Elsie's did! Elsie is showing more and more interest in being potty trained. We decided it would be a good idea to move her from her crib into a regular bed before we start the (dreaded) potty training. I am hoping that this way she will feel like she can get up and use the bathroom at her leisure during the night. In order to make the bed transition more fun for her, we purchased some super cute new sheets and bedding. She LOVES them and is now spending more time in her room playing than ever. I should have done this a long time ago! This weekend we watched my brother's kids for him while he and his wife had a new little baby. Here's the super cute new addition to their family. She's a doll. Here is the happy family!

Stuck

When I am in the kitchen cooking or doing dishes Elsie likes to play between the space between our fridge and the wall. It is just the right size for her (or used to be) to play with her magnets. Today when unloading the dishwasher I heard her grunt a few times, then shout "STUCK!" I went over to see if it was another false alarm (she likes to cry "wolf" a lot) and found that she was, indeed, stuck. Her shoulders have gotten a little too broad for her to sit like this now. I took a couple of snap-shots, then helped her get out. She wasn't too pleased to see me grab the camera before helping her get out....

Yeah Sun!

The sun finally came out on a day that wasn't -15 degrees outside. We donned our coats, hats and gloves and hit the street. It was so fun to get outside. Poor Elsie (and I) have been cooped up in our place since moving here due to tiny babies, extreme weather or crappy fog. We had a great time exploring our neighborhood, and hope it doesn't take another 2 months for the sun and warmth to come together in a wonderful day again. Here's the little squeaker just delighted to be outside. Here she is dressing up the fire hydrant. It was fun to watch her, watch her shadow. She splashed around in the puddle you see ahead of her, but I wasn't fast enough to catch it on camera. Here are me and Sam sporting Elsie's hat after she took it off. What a great day!

Tummy Time

Samuel having some tummy-time. He is actually pretty good about it. I just have to keep Elsie from throwing too many blocks on him.

Bruiser

Anytime Tyler or I go out the door Elsie gets excited and will stand right in front of it with her shoes in her hands and say "Go Go Go!" It is very cute. We tell her every time not to stand so close to the door. Usually we are pretty good about opening the door slowly and she has only been knocked (relatively gently) in the head a few times. UNTIL the other day... I was in such a good mood, despite my kids both being sick. I went running out to take the garbage out and came running back in (it was chilly and I didn't have my coat on). Upon reaching the door I slammed it open (it wasn't closed all the way) and saw my sweet, sick daughters legs go flying up in the air, heard her slam onto the ground, and saw her shoes flying out of both hands. She immediately started crying (understandably) and had a big, blue goose-egg on her forehead. The shots aren't the best, but you can kind of see it on the right-side of the picture. These shots were taken within minutes of the incident, so they are not the best... Too much flash, but look at those beautiful blue eyes. Gladly, this is the worse it looked. It has healed up quite nicely, so I won't be able to post any better shots of it getting yellow and green. Bummer.

Dinner Theatre

We have a table straight out of the 50s. No kidding. We got it from Tyler's Grandfather and it is so . . . fun. Elsie loves playing underneath in this little square when we are eating dinner. She bumped her head trying to get out. The fun comes to a quick stop. As does dinner.

The Peanut Butter Alternative

Nutella. We love you. Thank you for your delicious, chocolate-flavored protein. This is a great shot because you get a glimpse of how much is up her nose. A little on the difficult side to get out. Waiting patiently for Dad to clean her off.

Sharing

Usually we keep Samuel up pretty high so Elsie doesn't maul him when our backs our turned. Lately, I have been putting him lower so she will have a chance to see and play with him. She loves it when she can lay next to him, or lean over and give him hugs and kisses. On this day I was cleaning out the front closet and turned around to see Elsie sharing all of her toys with Sam. She was really piling them up... Awe When she grabbed the pillow to add to the pile, I decided that was probably enough sharing for the day, and moved Samuel back to his spot on the table.

6 weeks already!?!

How the time flies. I can't believe Samuel is already 6 weeks old. He is cooing, smiling and so much more alert now that just last week. The other day I walked by and his little face lit up. It was the cutest thing, and it made me feel so bad. I have been so busy with the move and chasing Elsie around when I'm not with Samuel that I had no idea he was already growing up so fast. Since realizing this I have taken a bit more time to spend with him when he is awake and alert. He is so much fun, Elsie just loves him - and so do we!

More pics of Sam