SANTA

( our Black Friday picture....Happy girl)

GOOD NEWS....Elle LOVES Santa!

Nick and I took her to see him last Tuesday and it was a riot. She got all gussied up for the big guy...hat and all! She did as we thought she would....she would not take her eyes off of him. She is so much like Nick, checking things out before diving in. She must have looked at him ( without blinking I might add) for at least a minute. She then put her death grip onto his jacket...a mere 1/2 inch away from his REAL beard! I didn't even get a real Elle smile....she was so concentrated.

I took her again today...Black Friday....and she did a little better as far as relaxing with the old man. She even let out a giggle...which was the cutest thing ever! I really want her to learn to love Santa and not be afraid of him...so far it is going GREAT!

( checking him out)

( ALMOST got the beard!)

The CAVE

So, our new favorite thing for Elle is a Cozy Cover aka....THE CAVE! They are the best invention for cold places for babies. Putting a big jacket on her is so uncomfortable for her to sit in her car seat....so this is a GREAT alternative. And little did we know, it is a magical cozy cover. Whenever Elle is put completely in the cave, she falls asleep. It is pretty funny, she knows how to unzip it and punch her hand out of the top....our smart child! But yes, the cave is awesome!

( Now you see her......)

( Now you DON'T!)

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Well we have had an awesome past two days! We were invited to our friend's the Walker's home for Thanksgiving dinner and it was so fun! Great food, great company and a gorgeous house to be in with the snow falling outside! Thank you Walkers!

The best part of Thanksgiving was having Nick be with us all day! No distractions, no studying....the perfect day! He made his amazing apple pie...one for the Walkers house....one for only US! :) That puppy was gone this morning! I was able to ichat with my family in AZ.....such a GREAT blessing for me to have a Mac computer. I really missed them!!!

BLACK FRIDAY....I decided to be daring and drive in the snow for the very first time ( I have literally been holed up inside for a week in fear of driving in the snow). I got some new snow boots which were desperately needed. What a difference it makes! Don't ask me why my first adventure out driving in the snow was on the busiest shopping day of the year....but it was and it went GREAT! I had so much fun walking around the mall with Elle. Looking at the lights....seeing SANTA again. Even though we didn't buy anything....it was fun to feel the energy of others and the excitement in the air of the Holidays! We went to the firework show in Coeur D'Alene,Idaho! It was amazing. I would rate it my number two favorite firework show...next to Disneyland! Elle was wide eyed looking at the lights....pretty neat to see! We are having a blast!

( light display over the lake)

( Nick and Elle by Santa)
( Mommy and mini)
( the only pic of Elle on Thanksgiving)

Busy!

We have been pretty busy here lately! Nick is constantly on the go and enjoying his time spent at his second home...aka...the library! We miss him, but know this will be worth it in 3 years when he is DONE! One semester ALMOST down!

I am staying busy with my little energy bunny! She is constantly on the go! Here are some fun facts about our little Elle!!!

- Elle's best friend these days is Stella, her pink elephant that sings twinkle twinkle little star

- Elle rolls over!!!! She would roll around the whole room if we let her!

-Elle started eating rice cereal. She does pretty well....one more month until solids!

-Elle sleeps through the night. She wakes up for a feeding at 5, then sleeps again until 7:30... WONDERFUL!

- Elle laughs so hard she starts to yell. She can't contain her happiness in that little body! It is hysterical to say the least. Nick and I have toooo much fun with her!

- Elle will laugh at ANYTHING I do. I was telling her that the Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol looked like a cute movie to watch....well she thought that was the funniest thing in the world. She is definitely my daughter...laughing at things that just are not that funny! :)

- Elle will NOT laugh at Nick. We don't know why....he can do the exact same thing I am doing and she won't even flinch. I really think she just soaks him in. She has started crying when he walks out the door....breaks my little heart!

- Elle loves movies. Particularly Baby Einstein and Charlie Brown!

We are getting her weighed in a couple weeks! The last time she was 13.9 lbs.

We are really enjoying Spokane. We had our first snow the other day and it was so refreshing. It is nice to walk outside and take a deep breath and feel clean air!!! We are excited to have our first Thanksgiving with Elle!!!

For you Scott

My brother informed me tonight that he " blog stalks" my blog....searching for pictures of Elle. Here ya go brother!

We have been busy as always. Nick just took his first mid-term and feels pretty good about it...we joined the YMCA and I left Elle for the very first time....I was a wreck the whole time....she of course fell asleep in a strangers arms...lol Good girl! We have been having some trouble with her having....what are they called again...oh yeah....temper tantrums! :) How are you supposed to lay down the law with a child as cute as Elle....especially since she will be crying...stop mid scream...and give a big smile! We love her!




Playing with my friends.....


My first day at YMCA kids care...............
Giving daddy love before he leaves for school...
My pretty Sunday dress!

Daddy time

Nick is doing GREAT in Law school! He is busy busy busy....but of course makes time for his Elle!
Elle literally lights up when Nick comes home! By 5:30 she is DONE with Mommy....and is ready for a fresh face....Daddy's face! Her new favorite thing to do is spit up on him. It is the funniest thing....whenever he hold her...she always spits up all over him. He had to change his shirt twice the other day within like 20 minutes!

Elle is just a happy girl. I think she may be teething a little....but other than that she is perfect. She got her first cold last week....we went to the Doctor ( who I LOVE) and she gave her some stuff for her little eye and some Tylenol. She is all better now...but it was so sad when she was stuffy and sniffly!

I am enjoying the fall weather. I have been going on walks with my new JOGGING stroller( which I LOVE LOVE LOVE) and enjoying the stillness and quiet of Spokane! It really is a pretty quiet place....beautiful! I have been using that as "Mommy" time. :)

Elle

Some recent, fun pictures of our little chatter box!

Thank you!!!

Shout out to my mother in law, Pam, for giving us a gift card to Amazon.com so we could by this AMAZING Vacuum! I only vacuumed our front room and it picked up SO much dirt! I am in love with the color!!! Thanks Pam!!!!

Walking

Elle and I have made some good friends! I have started walking finally...took my body a while to start working out again....but I finally am and it feels great! There is a great little trail that goes from the Law School to Riverfront park. It is a huge park and it is just awesome! The walk is gorgeous too! I went walking with my friend Melisa and her son today through the neighborhoods by my apartment. What a GORGEOUS walk. The homes here are amazing! The pictures are of my friends Karen and Sarah and their little boys!

First day of Law School

Nicks first day of Law school at Gonzaga was on Monday. It was a long day for him, but he enjoyed it and likes his teachers a lot. We barely got to see him, but when we did we were eating special first day of school chicken marsala followed by homemade peach cobbler and homemade ice cream!

We are so happy and proud of Nick ( Elle and myself!)

TWO months old!

Elle turned TWO months old on Saturday! What a big girl she is! We went to the farms and picked some peaches...and then home to her BUMBO! I thought maybe she was a little too young to put into the bumbo....but she loved it and held her head right up! I am putting her in it about 10 minutes a day to strengthen her little neck muscles.

I was packing and unpacking Elle's last box today and came across her " old" onsies...lol I can't believe she was THAT small and now she is THIS big! Time is flying, but I am loving every minute being Elle's mommy!

At TWO months Elle can....

*Roll over to either side....still takes a bit of effort, but she is getting there

* Sit all by herself in her bumbo

* Lift her head fully upright when being held....she loves to look around!

* Lay on her tummy and lift up her head

* Sleep through the night

* Falls asleep on her own

* Sleeps in her big girl crib

* Giggles at anything and everything

* Smiles a TON!!!

Green Bluff Farm

We went to a farm on Saturday with our new friends Doug and Karen AND Charles ( Elle has a HUGE crush on him). :)
It was so much fun! We took the fruit-loop express to the peach treas and picked tons of peaches! So far I have made AMAZING peach cobbler....it even passed the test to make it into my cookbook! The weather was perfect and it was so nice to meet and hang out with new friends. Doug is a first year Law student too. After we picked peaches we all ate some homemade peach ice cream....Nick LOVED it!

Garden Party

There was a relief society "Garden Party" tonight. I went with my Bestee,Elle, and we had a lot of fun! I met a lot of new people. One girl is pregnant and due in October with a GIRL.....so Elle will have a friend the next few years in the ward! Somehow Elle's name was known by all.....even the people we had never met. I think she was the talk of the ward on Sunday or something! lol Of course Elle woke RIGHT up and kept everyone entertained....she sure did ham it up for all the ladies. Smiling and talking.....she LOVES being outdoors. She gets this calmness on her face when she is outside. Which I LOVE, because we are spending a lot of time outdoors. So this sister's house was amazing. This HUGE garden in her front yard. We got to walk around it and enjoy the beauty. The husband said sometimes he goes crazy taking care of it...but that is was worth it....and BOY is it! Very fun night! The picture of this sister is SUE....she was my first friend on Sunday and we had a lot of fun together tonight. She has 26 GREAT Grandchildren....WOW

Our New Apartment

Our new apartment is called Pasadena Ridge and it is on a golf course. Literally....ON a golf course. I have already had to look for Nick, come to find out he was putting! :)
We were so blessed to find this place. It is a perfect location, beautiful surroundings, 8 miles away from about 10 different farms ( pick your own!!!)...and the BEST part is that we won't have to move for 3 years! In the 3 years we have been married we have moved SIX times...so this will be awesome. We love looking out our living room window or our office window....or our bedroom window and seeing the green grass....also hearing the sprinklers in the morning...lovely!!!

Pictures

Just some pics for SOME people to get their fix...will post more tomorrow...I am trying to figure out how to upload my videos!

My Darling