Funeral for a zebra

Last night during dinner Dallin came up to me at the table and said, "Mommy, I'm sad." So I asked why. He said, "My zebra got a lot of ahwees and he died." Okay, some background. This is the zebra that I bought for Dallin when he went to get his tonsils out. It actually went into surgery with him and was by his side the whole time we were in the hospital. So it has become very special to him. Back to the story, I told him that it was just pretend and that he was okay, but he was very insistent that he was in fact dead. Jon and I really were holding back from cracking up as Dallin had tears in his eyes. He was really upset about this. So Jon (being the sweet daddy that he is) told Dallin that he was going to give him CPR to bring him back to life. But of course that didn't work and Dallin continued to mope around being sad about the death of his favorite zebra for 20 minutes of so. I told him to put him in a box and we would have to have a funeral, but he said he was just too sad. So we finally came up with the idea to that the zebra to the vet because he could "bring him back to life". Thank goodness he bought that one. So the zebra is back and Dallin is happy again.

My future Daughter-in-law?

I was laying next to Dallin the other day for his nap and he said he was going to be a daddy someday and he asked what I was going to be when I was all grown up.. So I said just a mommy for now. And he gave me that look like huh? Then he said well when I'm a daddy then daddy will be a grandpa (smart thing!). I told him he was right I will be a grandma someday. So I asked him if he was going to marry a cute girl and he said yeah, her name is Taylor. Taylor Swift. He cracks me up! Nothing like shooting for the stars right? Not to mention that she is like 14 years older than him. Oh well, at least he has good tastes.

Stats

Elise had her 1 year well check last week and here are her stats:

Height: 29 3/4" - 50-75%

Weight: 19 lb. 5 oz - 15-20% (WHOA!)

Head: 45.4 cm - 55%

(This is so different from Dallin. He has yet to make it to the 5-10% percentile. It is a huge relief to have a kid that you don't have to worry about size wise. )

Crawling: Yes (started at 5 months)

Walking: Heck no! She can, but chooses not to.

Talking: She can say Mama and Dada, she shakes her had "No", and says "Dah" for Dog, "Ah" for Eye, she says "Uh-oh" when she drops something or gets into trouble, and she makes a monkey sounds when she sees a monkey. She does lot of babbling so it is promising that she will be saying more soon. She understand A LOT. I can show her 2 choices for a snack and ask her which she wants and she will point.

Signs: She can sign for "Please" and "More".

Teeth: She has 4 on top and 2 on bottom and has lots of swelling for molars.

Favorites: Milk, she LOVES milk. She eats just about anything, but has a sweet tooth. She LOVES her brother, A LOT. She has a doll that she got for her birthday that she will dig through the toy basket to find and hold. And she has a little baby bottle that she feds it too, it is SO adorable. She loves music, she dances to it. She laughs all the time. She really can't be mad for long. She growls, a lot. She sounds like half baby, half gremlin some days. She LOVES her shoes, especially her pink, sparkle ones. She will find them and make you put them on her feet. She loves baths. She likes little boys at church- oh my. This last Sunday I caught her kissing the Kelly boy in the hall. He is like 15 months and so cute, but Elise... She loves her family. She loves her Grandparents, and Aunts (not uncles so much though- Sorry Dan and Matt), and cousins.

Dislikes: Anything being in her hair or near her hair. I can't touch her hair without her getting mad at me. So at the moment she doesn't look so cute with her hair in her face all the time. When Dallin isn't home with her. She needs her brother to play with her. When Daddy puts her down; she is a daddy's girl and she gets her feeling hurt when he doesn't give her enough attention. She isn't a cuddlier which is so hard because she is so sweet I want to hold her, but nope. She doesn't really enjoy rocking either.

So there you have it. I'm sure I forgot lots of stuff, but that is all I can think of at the moment. She really is a treasure! We just love her so much!

He makes me smile!

Today when we were leaving church, I put Elise in the car and drove to the front door of the building to pick up the boys (since Dallin had to walk along the rocks). Jon had my 2 bags plus all of his stuff for his class so he put Dallin in his seat and threw all the stuff in the car and got in the front seat. I heard Dallin say "A little help here!" I didn't think too much of it since he has his sunglasses and he had been trying to put them on. Then I heard, "I guess I'll just do this myself." So I looked and Jon hadn't buckled him in yet and he was trying to put the straps on. It was too funny! I guess we have read him the Little Red Hen book a few times.

Queen for Day!

My precious girl just turned 1 on the 31st. I can't believe how fast that year went by. Elise is the best baby is every way. I don't think we could ask for a better daughter. We are so grateful to have her in our life. I can't believe it has been a year since her birth.

Here is a quick journey through her life in pictures:

4 days before she was born:Birth:

1 month:

2 months:3 months:
4 months: 5 months: 6 months:
7 months:
8 months:
9 months:10 months:
11 months:
1 year: Remembering Dallin's first birthday, I didn't want to do a big party because my kids tend to get really shy and stand offish with too many people around so we just did cake and presents with Grandparents. It was just right for her and she loved every second of it.

"It's my party and I can cry if I want to!" She was mad because Daddy went outside without her. She is a HUGE daddy's girl.She didn't even make a mess with her cupcake. The floor was clean and so was her bib. Go figure! But Dallin made enough mess for the two of them! Part of the loot.Her very own cell phone. This girl is all about the electronics!

Happy Birthday Elise! We love you!

Vegas Trip

I have really slacked with my posts lately, but I have good reason. The kids and I recently went to Vegas for a long overdue visit. My family in Vegas have never seen Elise, so we needed this trip. We stayed there for a week and a half and unfortunately got sick on day 4 and had sick kids for days after we got home, but that is a completely different post. Anyway, we stayed with my brother, Jason and his wife and really enjoyed time with their new baby Bryce. He is too cute and so big! He seriously was the same size as Elise, but 7 months younger. (This picture is a few months old- I didn't take any pictures of Bryce- I am so lame!)We also got to spend a day with my other brother and his wife and my beautiful nieces that I miss so much. It was so bittersweet to see them. I loved every second, but knew that I had to leave. They are adorable and so sweet who can blame me!

Taylor (So sweet! I love that girl so much! She's been like my little girl before I had my own.)

Kamdyn (This girl is too cute! She played with Dallin ALL day. That takes some skill. So patient and so sweet. She makes me cry when I talk to her on the phone and she tells me how much she misses me... I just love that girl!)

Brooklyn (Brooklyn is such a cute girl. And so smart! That girl will take any money she finds and keep it safe for you! The last time I saw Brooklyn she was a year old, so I really loved being able to get to know her better. And it is such a blast from the past looking at her. She looks exactly the way I remember her sisters. She is so sweet!)

I got to see Ronda who is my best friend in the whole world and I loved it! We have been friends since elementary school, we were roommates at college, and I consider her the sister I never had. And her little girls are so cute! This is Emily and Oh my gosh does she look like a spitting image of Ronda!

I visited my friend Chrissy, who use to be my boss, who converted to the church with her adorable family and now is one of my best friends.

An added bonus was that Jon's sister Sarah (who I miss so much since she moved to Michigan) was in town at the same time, so we surprised Dallin and Ava. It was so fun to see her boys were are huge and walking and to see Dallin and Ava pick up where they left off. Those two are just too cute together.

I was able to go to the temple and do some family names which was so awesome. There is just something about being in the temple you were sealed in. I loved it! We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was beautiful everyday. We had a lot of fun, well until all of us got sick. We won't get into that, I want to end on a happy note. So here is a cute picture of Elise that makes me smile: