These are a few of my recent phrases:

* Elyse, milk is for drinking, not for smearing.
* Babe, can you toss this in the diaper pail?  I'll wipe Emily up.
* Elyse, you need to stop squawking.
* Emily drinks milk, honey {meaning ELYSE}.  She doesn't eat apples yet.
* Babe, if you get the little one, I'll get the big one.  (My neighbor fondly calls them the "big" one and the "little" one since their names are tricky... I can't resist sometimes.)
* Elyse, it's okay if Emily's hands touch you.  She's not hurting you.
* GENTLE.
* You need to eat the rest of your vegetables before you can have . . .
* No, we're not having cookies today.
* Emily's actually not sleeping, but we still need to be quiet.
* No, that's not another moon, Elyse, there's only one moon.  It's up there!
* You can go see if that's a bus, Elyse.  No, Mommy can't make more buses drive down our street.
* Don't touch Emily's eyes.  Elyse?  Look at Mommy.  Don't touch Emily's eyes.

* Say "Yes, Mommy!"
* Say, "I will obey."
* Who do you want to sing "Happy Birthday" to?
* No, we're not going through the tunnel today, Elyse.  Maybe another day.
* Daddy has to go to work.
* Mommy doesn't do 1-2-3's, honey, Daddy does 1-2-3's! (1-2-3's being the game where you count to 3 and throw a 26 pound toddler into the air and catch her on the way down.  Sounds fun, right?)
* Yes, honey?
* No, it's "One, two, three, FOUR,..." not seven.
* "Happy birthday to poopie, happy birthday to poopie..."  Yes, I said it.
* Honey, do you have to go potty?
* Elyse, what do you get when you go on the potty?  No, not a kitty cat, a KIT KAT.
* "The wheels on the bus go round and round..."

Love those Mondays.

We enjoyed such a great day with Jordan on Monday.  It's been a while since we had a day together as a family, and I'm always reminded how great those days are!  The girls just love having him around & so do I.  He (for some strange reason) thought it would be fun to tag along on a couple of my shopping trips, but we just had to break the day up with an ice cream date.  

Let's just say, Elyse definitely double dipped.  Doesn't Daddy look sad? :) 

She was moving back and forth between our cones so fast, I'm sure was having brain freezes that she was just flat-out ignoring.  

Emily gnawed on her toy rings, and I was reminded that our family dates won't always be so cheap and simple :)  

Emily ALSO had her first shoulder-ride from Daddy, and she was in awe of the great big world around her.  It consisted of a shabby parking lot, but she seemed to be fascinated.  I'm so thankful for a husband that loves to be with us.  We sure love to be with him!

Another Look

Miss Elyse & Miss Emily at approximately the same age...I think :)  

Elyse wins the fat legs award, and Emily wins the big hair award!  I sure do love these two...

More Random

Seems like nothing THAT significant has been going on around here, and every time I've thought about posting something, I've returned to that same conclusion.  So, here are some snippets of life around here:

* I think Elyse is making a regular habit of talking in her sleep.  I was in her room the other night and heard her saying, "Boca, Boca, Boca" (her doggy friend).  Sure enough, she was sound asleep.  This morning she was repeating all of our names over and over again- asleep again.  :)  Poor Emily.

* I was waiting to return a movie at RedBox, and there was the cutest little couple in front of me, probably the ages of my grandparents.  They were going through every movie listed, and I could tell there was a hiccup somewhere in the "check out" process.  I was thinking about going over to help just as I noticed that the gentleman was holding his library card out.  Oops!  Thankfully, he realized it soon.  I hope Jordan and I still like to watch movies when we're in our 80's :)  Yay for date night!

* Yesterday night we spontaneously went out for dinner as a family, and it was so fun.  I love those last-minute decisions!  We went to a Mexican restaurant, and our server kept trying to get Elyse to like him by trying to tickle her arm.  It was NOT working.  It was embarrassing and funny all at the same time.  You'd think that if you saw a toddler shrinking away in disgust, you'd get the clue, right?

* Elyse is so in love with school buses.  She saw about four or five yesterday when we were out, and she was lovin' life.  Simplicity!!

* Jordan and I are officially in that "DON'T LAUGH" stage when we're scolding.  Oh, I guess I should clarify: Elyse is not laughing.  We are.  Seriously, it's getting bad.  Elyse does this funny little face while looking at us over her glasses, and it's all we can do to keep a straight face.  I won't tell you how many times we've failed.  She's turning on the charm these days to get out of trouble, and it's so pathetically funny.  Really, it's not funny... but it is??  So torn.

* Along those lines, Elyse and I are having fun whispering things to each other.  That has recently backfired, though, when I'm looking for a response to a serious question.  I get this really low whisper tone that is borderline mockery.  Ahhh....

* Emily is in that stage where she doesn't like to sleep on her back, yet she insists on rolling to her back in the middle of the night.  Thankfully, I think she's figuring out NOT to roll over (since she has no interest in flipping from her back to her tummy).  We've had some loud nights :)

* The older Emily gets, I've been struck with just how close these two are in age.  Elyse probably only has about 10 pounds on Emily.

* Elyse has been more of a ham lately.  She is trying to make the most bizarre noises lately, and most of them end up terrifying Emily.  And me.

* We've all had at least one cold a month for the last three months.  I'm only consoled when I heard that babies typically get 10-12 colds a year.  WHAT?!?

* When I get Elyse up in the mornings, it's like she hasn't had a chance to talk in AGES.  She just starts gabbing about any words she can think of, rambling in the middle to fill any gaps.  It's quite possibly the funnest part of my day.  Emily's usually over in her crib pushing herself up and smiling.

* I cleaned poo off the carpet a couple of days ago.  I hope I don't have to do that again, but I'm guessing those days aren't over yet.  Turn your back for 2 seconds, and...

* Emily is fully into her fake cry routine.  It's so funny.  She can snap out of it in a split-second.

* I'm always amazed at how fast this season goes!  I can't believe how quickly the calendar is filling up.

* I was sitting in the rocking chair peeling apples the other day (multi-tasking), and I watched Elyse go over to kiss Emily, who was just chilling on the floor.  I could only see Elyse's head from my vantage point, but when she came up, Emily was gasping for air.  OOPS!  Time for kissing lessons.

* Jordan has this awesome nose-cleaning technique that he uses on Elyse called "roto-rooter."  It's his genius way of using a tissue to get way up into her nose, all the while, making Elyse laugh.  I commend him.  Anyway, the other day, Elyse was playing with her baby doll, and she asked me to do roto-rooter on her baby for "boogies."

* Now do you believe I didn't have anything of significance to post? :)

A fun ride

These recent days with my kidlets have been such a wild ride.  I admit, I don't always think that these rides are fun, but today, I think it :)  I am starting to clue in to the fact that this parenting gig can be a real roller coaster (I'm a little slow).  Healthy days, sick days ... happy days, sad days ... easy days, hard days ... funny days, horrible days ... clean days, messy days ... productive days, VERY unproductive days ... sane days, insane days ...  Each day is an adventure waiting to happen.  I confess, there are many days where I will fall into bed and realize that my day consisted more of investments than accomplishments, but I'm learning to be okay with that.  After all, that's what life should be comprised of, right?

Seriously, just when I think I have something figured out, I thought wrong.  Those of you who know me well know that I thrive on a nice, healthy routine.  I love the familiar, the predictable, and the comfortable.  Boy, parenting is none of the above.  Dealing with the unexpected has really startled me into relaxing :)  Is it really possible to go down the road to relaxation kicking and screaming?  I never thought I would get to the point where the spontaneous choices are sometimes the best choices.  I'm learning not to be shocked when my plan crumbles or when we have to eat pb&j again because I totally forgot to prepare dinner (okay, that hasn't happened too often lately).  And the biggest shock?  I am actually starting to LIKE living like this!  Now, I will still continue to make a plan... but hopefully in the future, I'll be even more easygoing when it crumbles.

My thought lately is how much I'm going to miss these days.  I've probably said that exact thing to Jordan at least once a day for the last few weeks.  I'm constantly reminded that my little toddler isn't going to get any shorter, and she isn't going to get any less independent.  Her sweet baby talk will soon turn into polished speech, and I'll be correcting the "can I"'s to "may I"'s instead of the "pee-appia"'s to "butterflies."  She will have stairs mastered & won't need me to wash her hair.  My baby girl won't always fit in the crook of my arm or fit neatly in my lap.  She won't always ignore the fact that I'm cleaning out her nose or clipping her nails :)  She'll probably get sick of me asking her to smile & giggle every time she's awake & she'll soon get annoyed that I constantly squeeze her close just to smell her baby scent.  Yes, I will really miss these days.

This is a very fun ride indeed.  AND, I wouldn't want to be on this ride with anyone other than my amazing husband.  I don't always blog about my hubby since he doesn't let me follow him around all day with a camera. . . PLUS, I know that anyone reading would get nauseous reading post after post about how awesome and hot he is (heehee).  So, though I mostly blog about my girls & life with them, my heart still skips a beat for this guy.  Always.  This stage of life isn't exactly conducive to endless "quantity time" together, but it sure makes the time we do have together much more meaningful.  This stage is a fun ride, but I know I will enjoy every day of growing old with him.

22 & 2 til 2!!!

This baby is 22 months old and 2 months away from 2 years old.  Wow.  I've truly got a little toddler on my hands!  Miss Elyse is just as busy as can be these days.  I have learned so much about Elyse over the course of this month.  I've seen new sides of her, heard new noises from her, watched her accomplish new things & eat new foods... This little lady is keeping me on my toes.  I kind of laugh now at what an incredibly easy baby Elyse was.  I'll be honest, that's partly why Emily is here today :)  I remember thinking that this parenting thing was a piece of cake!  Heehee... Toddlerhood has definitely not been the easiest of stages, but it sure has been fun.  My mom reminded me the other day when we were talking that I actually went through a very long stage of NOT LIKING babies or kids.  I barely remember that stage, but I'm glad it's gone :)  I sure do love my two babies.  I was at the park with a friend the other day, and it hit me that I was the one pushing the swing.  Remember the days of being pushed?  Does anyone know where those days went?

Elyse is in the process of cutting her final eye tooth, so that means 2 year molars can join us anytime.  Hey, her 4 eye teeth spanned almost 4 months, so let's just make a year of it!  I love teeth.  Yippee.  Elyse is a bit behind the game as far as mobility goes, but she is trying so hard to run.  I'm amazed at how often she crashes, but she seems to enjoy making a game of having mommy kiss her boo-boos and fails to remember to cry most times.  I'm okay with that!  Her new greatest love is BUBBLES.  She will sit in the bath for a very long time and just play with the bubbles in her hands until they disappear.  That is one of my favorite things to watch.  She's oblivious of anything else during bath time (until it's time to wash her hair).  She is enjoying coloring and Play-doh, though her attention span is still not very long at these activities.  She enjoys puzzles & the challenge of removing every piece and tossing them all into her toy box.  She loves to find little things that she can hold onto during the day... an empty spice container (yes, they make great toys!), a sock, a hair bow, a rubber band, etc...  She loves to count: "ooonnnneeee, tttwwwooo, ttrrreeeessss, eight, nine, ten."  Once in a great while, she'll remember the numbers in between :)

As for jibber-jabber, we're on a roll.  Elyse is talking all day, and each day I seem to make out more and more things :)  My new favorites are "cose your eyes" (when we pray) and "take a walk" as well as "poopie in pottie get sucker."  Some classics still stick around like "Emmie take nap - shhhh!" and "Daddy go work - shhhh!" :)  Not sure why she's being quiet, but okay!  Lately, she seems to be abusing the "Mommy hugs" and "Daddy hugs" quite a bit.  I'm not sure if this clingy stage is at all related to this current tooth, but Elyse gets very overwhelmed these days when we're out of our environment or in big crowds.  I'm praying this will pass soon for everyone's sake :)  I do love hearing her chatter on about everything she sees, including the new favorites of "bus" and "trucks."  We are now into opening our front door so she can watch the bus drive by.  Any engine rumble indicates a bus or a truck!  She loves to play a one-two-three game with just about everything, from jumping in her crib to being tossed in the air.  She also loves "ready-set-GO!"  She loves to spin in circles until dizziness makes her fall over, and she gets in these moods where a cheesy laugh is the response to everything.

I still love singing to her before bedtime while rocking her.  I'm so thankful she still lets me do this!  I try to plan Emily's evening nap during this time every once in a while, so we can spend some time together.  It's fun to have the same time with Emily 30 minutes later :)  Both girls are waking up around 7:30am together, and I could listen outside their door forever (if only Em would let me).  Elyse is usually listing off things she sees in her room, from her soccer ball to wipes.  I'm not sure if this is a phase, but Elyse's afternoon nap has shortened from 3 hours to 1.5 to 2 hours at most lately.  I'm HOPING this is a phase, but perhaps I should be prepared?  Uh, oh.  On another note, Elyse started the summer with a size 2 foot.  Yes, size 2.  By the August, she was a size 3.  Today, she is a size 5.  SLOW THIS TRAIN DOWN.  I'm going broke.

Elyse has just started to try singing, and it's pretty funny.  She usually only gets a word or two out before getting all shy on me, but it's encouraging to know she'll try :)  She loves to wave her little "light" around in "This Little Light of Mine" and it looks more like interpretive dance.  We still deal with random tantrums, and though they're fewer now, they come like bolts of lightning: unexpected & deadly :)  God's been teaching me so much about his unconditional love for me as his child.  Seriously, I am reminded all the time of how rotten I am.  It makes me give Elyse an extra hug at bedtime as I'm reminded of how badly I want for her to know her Heavenly Father's unconditional love for her.  I'm learning to love everything about the way God made Elyse, even the parts of her personality that make some days difficult.  I see so much of me in her, it's not even funny :)  (Mom, quit laughing.)

Here are some of my fun's and not-so-fun's for this age.  I do love this kid so much- it's hard to pick :)

fun's:

* hearing more spontaneous "lie-love-lou"'s
* When I wear my glasses for the day, Elyse will go back and forth between pointing to "Mommy's goggies" and "Leese's goggies" over and over again.
* Elyse still waits up for Emily if I keep Emily up later at night.  If Elyse goes down at 6:45 and Em at 7:15, Elyse will pop up when I go in their room and ask to kiss Emily.  Almost regularly, they'll both fall asleep as soon as I leave.
* Getting Elyse up in the morning and hearing her say "Daddy work?"- and being able to answer "no!" :)  I love watching her face light up.
* Watching her scrape every smidge of peanut butter off her graham cracker.
* Trying something new with Elyse and seeing her enjoy it immensely . . . like the slides at a new park or tea parties with her tea set :)
* hearing Elyse point to her crib and say "sleepy time now."
* Elyse LOVES dogs.  If we hear a bark of any sort, "DOGGIE!!!!"  In fact, Jordan was outside cleaning the gutters, and he sneezed loudly.  Elyse jumped and said, "Doggie?"

not-so-fun's:

* If I turn my back at all while Elyse is eating yogurt, she'll look around sneakily and start smearing yogurt on her hands and over her arms.  If I'm lucky, she'll get her hair, too.
* Going to bed in a pack 'n play is NOT fun anymore at all.  I'm thinking we need to start working on sleeping in a sleeping bag, or something like that when we're out.
* The tangles in her hair are still giving me (and her) grief.  I feel so badly for her.  I always have to ruin bath time with the conditioner and the comb!
* hearing her change "nana" to "banana"  :(

 We love you, Elyse Noelle!

You sure do know how to make us smile.

Happy 22!!! 

5 MONTHS

Emily Mae is 5 months old today!  She celebrated by taking long naps and a long bath.  Pretty good day, right?  She is getting big, but not by packing on the pounds, by any means.  She is definitely our little string bean!  I keep waiting for those chunky baby rolls, but my wait might be for nothing.  I tend to think she has a super high metabolism like her mommy's family (notice I didn't say like her mommy).  Emily is reaching for toys and seems to really enjoy chomping on everything she can gets her hands on.  Her fingers are still her favorite toy, and you will be hard pressed to find her without her fist in her mouth during the day!  She loves taking walks and being outside, but her favorite entertainment is still Elyse.  Em LOVES the television, and it cracks me up to see her contort to get a glimpse of what's on (see picture below).  She loves to sit up (with help) and she's scooting all over her crib at night.  I get lots of questions from people about who we think Emily looks like, but we just really don't know!  I see everyone from my brother, Jordan's sister, my mom, Jordan, a bit of myself . . . ???  I guess she just looks like Emily.  It's hard to believe that I was pregnant just over 5 months ago.  This is definitely the craziest life has been for us, but it couldn't be more fun!  Not much has changed, but here are the "fun's" and "not-so-fun's" for the big 5:


fun's:

* Emily will NOT belly-laugh, but she "laughs" by breathing in loudly and making a funny gasping/cooing noise.
* She loves to clasp her hands together and try to fit both in her mouth.
* She does this funny move on her belly where she stretches out spread eagle and flaps around!
* Em gets so giddy in the morning when I pick her up.  She's almost beside herself with happiness :)
* She loves kicking around in the bathtub. Most of the time, she holds her breath and looks so surprised when she splashes herself!
* She's sleeping about 12 hours consistently, which is pleasant :)
* She loves to suck in her bottom lip and make a smacking sound when she pushes it out again.
* I love to cuddle this girl.  She loves to be carried around just about anywhere.
* Listening to Emily talk might be one of my favorite pastimes.  She cracks me up!
* Emily gets this wide-eyed crazy look when she plays sometimes- I love watching it :)

not-so-fun's:

* She's NOT a big fan of her car seat on long trips.  We found that out over the weekend.  UGH.
* Emily hasn't found out that it can be fun to switch over to a 4 hour eating schedule. :)  We're hoping she'll figure that out soon...
* She's getting big :(  I wish I could keep her this size forever!!!  (Okay, I don't mean that, but it still doesn't have to go so fast!)

Giggles.

Elyse has said some other funny things lately, and I wanted to record them in the history book while they're on my mind.

* Elyse is really into listing off all of her friends.  She loves to name them in a sing-songy little voice, and the list usually goes like this: "Shiloh, EEEEEli, Nonny (for Natalie), Brynna, A-Day (for AJ), Ben (for Brynne), {some other names we can't make out}, etc..."  The other day, she said "hi!" one-by-one to her complete list of friends and ended with, "Hi, Potty!"

* She has a little book from Gramm called "Thank You, Lord."  She was prompted the other day to say "No, thank you, Mommie" instead of "NO!!!" when I asked her something, and she responded with, "No, thank you, Mommy, no thank you, Daddy, no thank you Lord."

* Elyse is totally into sharing everything food-related.  She wants to give us a bit of everything she is eating or a "bite" of everything she's drinking.  She's especially perplexed by the fact that Emily can't try anything. I can no longer give Elyse anything to eat without 100% supervision when she's close to Emily.

* Elyse named her dolly "Momika" for either Aunt Anneke or my friend Monika.  Can't tell.

* The other night, Jordan was trying to get Elyse's attention about *something* and said "Look at me, Elyse."  Elyse looked him right in the eye and said "Look at ME!"  Glad I wasn't the one that had to look away!

* She is OBSESSED with going through tunnels.  She asks to go through the downtown tunnel at least twice every day.  I think Elyse might think that her friend Brynne lives in the tunnel, since I always reiterate that we go through the tunnel when we visit Brynne...

* Elyse is into an "okay?" phase that cracks me up.  For instance, she'll ask me to read a certain book to her, and if I can't read to her at that particular time, she'll "insist" by saying, "Mommy?  Read good book, OKAY???  OKAY???  OKAY???"  She'll even back up to me with her little bootie so she ends up right in my lap.  Hard to resist, I must say.

* WARNING: This is gross but hilarious to me.  Don't scroll down if you are squeamish about spit-up.  Emily isn't into saying anything FUNNY yet, but these two pictures crack me up.  Gotta love self-portraits. I was wondering why I felt something warm all over my arm...

Now THIS...

... will make me forget about the laundry that needs to be folded,

...about the lack of dinner plans,

... about the mess in the girls' room,

... about the severe tangles in Elyse's hair,

... and all about my messy kitchen floor.

At least, temporarily :) 

That's what's been goin' on.

* I'm getting a new nephew this winter!  I couldn't be happier about this little guy, and I hope he looks just like Kris  :)

* I've been offline recently due to a small technical disaster.  I can still close my eyes and envision my sweet Elyse trying to take a drink of water out of my big girl cup not three feet from our computer.  The wave of water splashing onto the keyboard is forever etched upon my mind.  Note to self: do NOT plan to cook chicken enchiladas, talk on the phone, and expect that your toddler will sit quietly and twiddle her thumbs. :)

* My girls are getting so big.  Schedules have aligned lately in such a way that these two get to go through the bedtime routine together. I love having a girl on each knee as we try to read, sing, pray, and keep Emily's hands from touch Elyse in any way.  Ah, sisterhood.

* Elyse won't stop talking.  No, I'm not upset about this, but it's just the way it is.  I should count how many times I hear "Mommy?" in a day, but I'm not sure I could.  It's quite possibly the most adorable stage yet.  I hear "look at this!" and "C'ya!" at least 4 billion times during a day.  She makes her hand go "bye bye" under her shirt (while laughing hysterically), and she loves to identify each and every item around the house.  "Mommy?  Emmie's banket."  "Mommy?  New shoes."  I do love "Mommy hug" and "Mommy kiss" the best!  Lately, she's been confirming her obedience by chanting, "I will obey Mommy, Daddy, Emmie..."  Can't wait to tell Emily that one some day...

* Emily is just loving life.  Plain and simple.

* We pulled out the little pink potty the other week to break Big E into seeing what her little potty looks like.  She seems to love looking at it.  Going on it, not so much.  We'll take that one slowly...  We do have a lot of "potty" language going on, though :)  FUN.

* New favorite moment with my girls: as I'm burping Emily, Elyse loves to come up closely to her face and just smile at her.  Emily just smiles back :)

* I've made at least 6 trips to the grocery store this week.  3 of them were made in the span of 1 hour.

* Elyse loves having tea parties.  We had a tea party this morning with Daddy & Emily.  Elyse downed the pretend sugar bowl.

* It's been raining for three straight days, and I've actually loved the excuse to stay in with my girls!  Plus, naps have been longer :)

* I am totally and completely addicted to Smuckers Natural Creamy PB.  New favorite snack: stir a spoonful of pb into a bowl of vanilla yogurt- add a chopped apple or a crushed graham cracker.  Yep.  Deeeeelish.

* Emily is almost officially out of her 0-3 month clothes.  She still seems tiny to me, but she's obviously not that tiny...

* Elyse is totally and completely addicted to cornbread & grapes.  I can get her to eat just about ANYTHING if there's a grape or a piece of cornbread waiting for her.  It's SO so so so great.

* Elyse loves to drag a blanket around the house lately.  She also loves to say "cuddle" and actually does cuddle with me if I'm on the couch.  I love it.

* I'm starting to wonder when Elyse will automatically say "thank you."  I've only been prompting her for a few months, but I'm starting to wonder when she'll pick it up on her own.  Hmm...  I must say, that will be nice.

* Emily's awake more these days.  I really like that.  I think she's awake between 50 min and 1 hour between feedings.  I get kind of sad when she goes down for a nap!  I do love hearing Elyse say, "Emmie take nap; bye bye, Emmie!"

* We have a silly book called "Baby Face" - I think I actually got it at a grocery store (lame), but pictures in the book describe facial expressions, and one of them is called "yummy face."  The baby in the picture has nasty sauce smeared all over his face.  What is that?  There is no expression called "yummy."  Plus, I'm not a fan of that word.  Sure enough, Elyse had spaghetti all over her face the other day... You guessed it! "Mommy?  YUMMY face."  Guess I should start previewing books before I pay even a buck for them :)  

* I made the most ridiculously delicious minestrone soup the other night.  Yummy face!  J/k... :)

* I love my husband.  He's seriously so nice to me.  From making coffee to other random thoughtful gestures, he makes me thankful every day that we got married.

Four Months Old!

Wow.  I seriously need to come up with more creative titles to these posts.  Emily Mae almost missed getting a special post today because Mommy almost went to bed without remembering to post this!  But, how can I neglect these important milestones and still sleep well???  We have lovingly nicknamed Em our little piglet these days.  Partly because she's suffered from 3 colds this summer (yuk), but also because she's got that natural newborn stuffiness you hear about in the "What To Expect" books :)  Yes, I'm admitting that I actually took her to the doctor to find out why in the world she still sounded stuffy weeks after a cold.  I'm sure the doctor was really impressed with my keen maternal senses.  She's also our little piglet because she seems quite tiny (though she was almost 13 pounds a couple of weeks ago) and loves to raise her eyebrows in the most genuine look of innocence and curiosity that I've ever seen.  Okay, that might not have much to do with piglet, but she kind of looks like piglet, too :)  Emily enjoys playing on her tummy, which is fun, but she still doesn't notice very many toys.  Perhaps that's because she's too busy following her big sister with her eyes?  Elyse is her primary source of entertainment!  She loves to give Elyse big smiles and even "talks" to her.  Not only is Emily's jabbering incredibly loud at times, but she's so expressive with her inflections :)  She is starting to do some 12 hour stretches at night, so Mommy is LOVING that!  She loves Mommy, Daddy, Elyse and long walks in her double stroller.  Here are my new (or repeat, since not that much has changed...) fun's and not-so-fun's for this month:

fun's:

* having her wake up happy in the morning
* watching her wiggle her little eyebrows
* She is almost constantly fidgeting with her hands and fingers!  I have no idea why, but she always seems so busy :)
* smiles, smiles, smiles
* she is interacting with us all so much more, but she especially interacts with Elyse
* hearing the girls "work it out" in their room at night :)  Sometimes I just have to sit here on the couch and laugh as they try to talk over each other!  I know it's only the beginning...
* This should probably be in the next category, but I believe I'm sensing a fake cry??

not-so-fun's:

* still dealing with weekly blowouts.  Seriously.  When will this end?
* Emily still jumps a mile when Elyse gets up in her face and laughs or yells...
* The poochy lip is killin' me!!
* She's getting less flexible when she misses a nap & she's not falling asleep as much in random locations...
* She's outgrowing all of her cute baby stuff, and I think I might need to do some shopping for her winter wardrobe!

Emily Mae, you can quit getting big anytime now!  STOP!  We love you to pieces and can't imagine what our family was like without you!

A couple of funnies...

While it's on my brain, I thought I'd type out a few of the funny things that Elyse has done lately...

* The other day, Elyse was digging in my clean laundry basket and discovered a pair of my shorts.  She likes to identify laundry, so she immediately said, "Daddy shorts."  I responded by saying, "No, those are Mommy's shorts."  She said, "Daddy shorts" a few times and finally left and went to check with Daddy since I apparently wasn't giving her the right answers.  She holds the shorts up to Jordan and says, "Daddy shorts."  Jordan responded just like I did.  After a few more go-a-rounds, Elyse stood up and yelled, "DADDY SHORTS!!!!" at the top of her lungs :)  For a 20 month old, that's one stubborn response!  We then had a short discussion about arguing that went totally over her head.

* We were at a friend's house Saturday night, and they have a dog named Riley.  Elyse really like Riley and enjoyed playing with her for a few minutes.  A couple of days later, we had some new friends over to the house, and their little girl is named Rylee.  I told Elyse that her little friend had arrived, and she laughed and said, "Riley, woof woof!"  She barked at her a few more times before she eventually forgot.  :)

* Elyse was playing with her doll house, and she held up one of the little beds and asked, "Whazzat?"  I responded it was a bed.  She repeated, "Bed.  Nana bed."  This girl is obsessed with banana bread!!!