Spreading some Christmas cheer via Elise-isms

Me: "Elise, look it's Chuck E Cheese." Elise: "Yes, it's Yucky Cheese, right there."

Me: "Elise do you want to go to Chick-fil-a?" Elise: "Yes! Chick n Play, want to go to chick n play!"

Elise: (At KDO to one of her teachers) "I hear music!" Puts her little hand on the side of her face, "Isn't it lovely?"

Elise: "Mommy, want a tail! Want in the movie! (As she is watching The Little Mermaid and standing on the couch with her arms spread wide so King Triton can use his magic and convert her into a mermaid.)

Elise: "Mommy, I pee-peed in the potty! I'm sooooo proud of you." Mommy: (wait, that's my line!)

Me: "Elise, listen, I'm serious." Elise: "I'm NOT Junior sparagus!"

Elise: "Pooty, Pooty, where's Pooty!?!? Me: "Elise, what's Pooty? What are you looking for?" Elise: "Pooty, Mommy where's Pooty?" Me: Wracking my brain to figure out what she is talking about, "Elise, I don't know what Pooty is..." Elise: "There she is, there's Sleeping Pooty!" (Sleeping Beauty)

Me: "Elise, why is your banana in the floor and not on your plate?" Elise: "It got a time-out."

Elise has a BIG potty training accident, and I tell her "Mommy is NOT HAPPY with you, look at this mess..." Well, she just cups her little hand to the side of my face, looks me in the eyes, and says, "Mommy, you need to get happy".

Elise: "Mommy where's fish?" (While she is playing with her little princesses and the play-do at her little table. Me: Searching for Flounder, a small fish toy under the couch, the floor, everywhere..."I don't know where Flounder is." Elise: Grinning really big, "In the pla-may-to!" (play-do) I look at her table and see a ball torn open and the fish inside and all her princesses doing headstands in the play-do.

Hope some of these made you smile... Merry Christmas!

Our little "Cowgirl" in her Daddy's Hat & Guns

I received an email from Elise's Nana today:

"Our little 'Cowgirl' in her Daddy's hat & guns. We did not pose her. She did all that on her own. We told her she was a cowgirl but she said 'No, I'm a COWBOY!' "

Dare 2 Dance - Fall Party Dress Up

Elise's Big Girl Room

Here it is almost done. I plan to put up some sort of curtains and I still have one wall that is not quite finished.

The most exciting part is she slept last night from 9:10pm to 8:15am this morning - in her room!!!! WHOOP! WHOOP! (Big thanks to Nana and Granddad Pinkerton for wearing her out yesterday!)

She seems to really like her room and thinks the tent is really neat. The part that melted my heart though, is this morning after she drank her chocolate milk, she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and says in her excited little voice, "Daddy fix bed and slide cuz Daddy luvs Eweese".

Yep, sweetheart, he sure does... :)


She had to drag alllllll her friends up to her new play area - and eventually most of them tried out the slide. :)


Elise received this at her first birthday from close friends of ours, the Harwoods; I was so excited when I realized it would sit on the window ledge.

The first outfit above the door is the dress Elise was dedicated in. The next outfit is her first dance outfit we had pictures taken in at 4 months. The last outfit was supposed to be her coming home outfit from the hospital, but she was a month old before she fit into it. :)

Elise received so many beautiful blankets and handmade items at her showers that are so special to me, that I have them scattered around her room for decoration. The cross stitched blanket on the wall was made by my Aunt Kay. The yellow afghan on the corner of the bed was made by my Aunt Novel. Their are three more blankets around the armoire that were made by her Nana, her Aunt Oleta, and Grandma Snodgrass. The receiving blanket on the end of the bed was made by my Aunt Liz. The little handmade hats on the wall were also made by her Nana. We were very blessed!

The outfit on the wall behind the armoire is the clothes she wore to her first birthday party.

Elise has also really enjoyed her little chair, which were gifted to her by her Grandmom & Granddad Snodgrass.

Big Girl Bed

We have officially upgraded from a toddler bed. I had been searching for a solution to make the most of the space in her bedroom, and I stubbled across this bed.

We just put this bed together last night - so please do not look at her room decor, which I'm still arranging...

She decided her toy puppy needed to slide too.

I have enough room for her toy box, which doubles as a play table, and her toddler mattress under the loft bed. The loft bed will be more for play and housing stuffed toys, pillows, etc., until she gets older.

Her tent will velcrow shut, so she is trying to hold one of our cats hostage....

Who, me? Trying to look innocent....

Playing hide and seek, by hiding under her slide.

KDO Fall Parties - Sassy Ladybug

Of course, she wouldn't be a ladybug if she didn't fly around... (she just happens to be flying in a circle here)

Fall Family Photos

Bike Ride Bobble Head

Matt and I went for a 45 minute bike ride, and I noticed about 35 minutes into it, Elise's head started bobbing up and down like a Bobble Head doll. However, the last 10 minutes did her in... this is how she ended up.

Daddy's Little Protégé

Elise's 1st Bass

Dance Class

Soaking the kid...

Soaking the kid... same concept as soaking the dishes. After playing outside in the rain sodden grass and Mommy's flowerbeds, Elise had dirt all over her and so far under her toenails and fingernails - they only solution seemed to be a long lengthy soak in the tub. To prevent boredom and a bathtub escapee, we turned on the bubble machine.

1st Trip to the Fair

We took Elise to the fair for the first time. I have to admit I had mixed feelings because she didn't take a nap beforehand, and I didn't know if all the excitement would cause meltdowns. But I had a feeling she would love it - so I wanted to try. Well, we had an absolute WONDERFUL time. It was so much better than I could have even anticipated I am still amazed. She LOVED everything, the real animals, the carnival rides, and especially the pony rides. She minded really well - we didn't have even one stubborn fit. She is a little taller than 36 inches - so she qualified for all the kiddie rides. She was such a big girl and just climbed right in or waited to be put in most of the kiddie rides all by herself. Matt and I stood next to her while she rode the carousel and we each rode the swings with her - but that was it. When she climbed into the first little train ride all by herself to ride it by herself while I watched outside the fence - I have to be honest, my heart was proud and saddened at the same time. It really hit me - my little baby is gone - she is a big girl now.... and she didn't even look back or act like she needed or wanted Mommy or Daddy as she climbed into her train car! We let her try out all the rides we thought were appropriate for her, which took a couple hours. She would have rode rides all night, but Matt and I had saved the pony ride (by the exit) as a way to lure her away from the rest of the rides. We even coaxed her into finishing her pizza so we could go ride the "real" ponies. (Full tummy in anticipation that she would fall asleep on the way home....) She rode the pony ride twice and I got her sidetracked into petting the minature pony, because she really didn't want to get off her pony. After we petted the minature pony, we started counting the tractors and cars all the way to her carseat. AND she was asleep within ten minutes!!!

Here we are upon arriving at the fair.

Off to see the animals first...

Elise's first glance at the carnival rides. She immediately asked, "go play?" Which simply means, can I go play now?

riding the Partytime Ponies... and 10 minutes later

Out for the night!

The actual time she passed out. REALLY early for her!