Leaving for MN Today...

Merry Christmas!
We're flying to Minnesota this afternoon to spend a week with both sides of our family.
We had a wonderful weekend! My parents flew in Friday and left Monday afternoon & the Christmas concert, "Stories", at church went really well. I believe lives were touched with the real message - that God came as a baby to save us. We're so thankful for our extended Charlotte "family" that we've come to know - they are dear and precious to us.
Elise had her 6 month Dr. visit last week Thursday. She continues to grow - she's now 28 inches long & 17 pounds, 3 oz. Christmas came a little early at our house - so that Elise could get her "big" present at home - a new wagon!
Her friend, Kaylie, next door turns 1 on Dec. 22nd, and the girls will have lots of fun in the wagon this next spring.

Well, I'm looking at the clock and time is ticking away...I have a few more things to do before we leave. Have a safe and blessed Christmas!

2nd Week of December

This week has been full of rehearsals, shopping & a little baking. I took a picture of our tree from Elise's vantage point...just so we get an idea of what it looks like to her. She turned 6 months this week! What a fun age...her little personality is starting to show, and she's also starting to let us know when she wants something and isn't getting it fast enough, such as a toy that's out of reach.

Our Christmas concert is this weekend & we have 3 performances - Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My parents fly in on Friday afternoon to stay for the weekend. It's been unseasonably warm here - record highs in the mid and upper 70's all week, and so getting into the Christmas spirit has been a little more difficult. The temps should drop into the 50's by Saturday. I've been Christmas shopping in flip flops...gotta write this down to remember!

Have a great week...the countdown to Christmas is on!

Getting Ready for Christmas

We got the tree decorated this weekend, and Elise loved the lights. We set her down by the tree & she was content to just feel the needles and look at the lights, but she soon decided that she wanted to pull the branch into her mouth to taste it, so it was a short lived moment, but we captured a bit of her intrigue. Saturday night Curt joined us and we had tomato basil soup, cheese bread & warm chocolate chip cookies before doing some decorating. It was a fun evening. We hope you all have a great week. We're hoping to get many things done this week to finish up Christmas shopping, because we have dress rehearsal & performances the following week, and then we leave for Minnesota. We hope to stay healthy and well rested. Take care! Merry Christmas!

Capturing the moment

The last week of November

This past week was a great week. Elise has started on a great schedule, and I told her she can hang on to this one as long as she likes. She wakes up to eat between 5:30-6 am, then goes back down to sleep until 7:30am. She'll get up to eat & play & then back down for a morning nap around 9:30, which usually lasts about 1 hour to an hour and a half. She gets up, eats, plays some more, then has rice cereal with fruit or vegetables, then down for her afternoon nap around 1:30 & sleeps till about 3pm. She'll get up after her nap & play a bit, eat a little more rice cereal, then it's bathtime, a bedtime story, eat & to bed by 6:30pm. It's been nice to have a few quiet hours in the evening to get things done.
On Friday night we went out to get our Christmas tree & we found a nicely shaped little tree. We almost thought about not putting one up since we'll leave for MN on Dec. 18th, but it just wouldn't feel the same without having one to enjoy.
This weekend we also got Elise a warm snowsuit so she is ready to visit family in the tundra. It'll be perfect to bundle her up.
She wasn't too excited about trying it on for us, but we're sure that she really does like it. LOL.

Santa's Helper

Pals

Thanksgiving 2007

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I just finished a plate of leftovers...mmm so good. I think we will tire of sweet potato casserole, cranberry salad & turkey within the next day or two - so thankfully they are almost gone. We have so many blessings & we give thanks to God for the many freedoms we enjoy in this country. We truly live in the land of plenty! This past week has been somewhat long. Elise had a cold and she wasn't feeling well, plus her naps started changing to last only 20 -30 minutes. I pulled out the wonderful book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child & Dr. Weissbluth had some good insight. Around 4-5 months, babies become more aware & interactive (which we've noticed with Elise) and they begin to want to sleep less & just play with mom & dad. So, we began working on a sleep schedule for her & it's worked like a charm. This makes everyone happier! (Plus her cold is much better). We are blessed to have great neighbors that shared Thanksgiving day with us. Michelle cooked up a wonderful Thanksgiving meal & we brought some sides to share. John had the day off on Friday & worked on some freelance projects most of the day, so Elise, Curt & I braved Wal-Mart with the throngs of people on the busiest shopping day of the year.
On Saturday night we had dinner with the Lindberg family. Denise is shown here in the last picture with Elise. They invited us over for a nice evening together. Denise is in choir with John and I, and it was so fun to be in her home, because she's so gifted in decorating, sewing & being crafty. We hope this finds you all healthy and ready to enjoy the Christmas season instead of rushing through it. May we carry the spirit of Thanksgiving through the next several weeks as we celebrate!

Celebrating 100 Months

On Saturday, November 17, John surprised me with red roses to celebrate 100 months of marriage. I am blessed to have such a thoughtful man - I wouldn't have thought to count out 100 months, in fact when I came home to see them I had to ask what they were for? We were married July 17, 1999 & it's be a great 8.5 years.
Elise received a package from her aunt Debi this past week and got the most soft, snuggly sleepers. She's all smiles when she wears them, so I had to snap a picture and share with you.

The last couple of days she's been struggling with a cold - runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. Poor thing, but I think we're now on the upswing. It just makes my days at home longer when she's more needy.

This past weekend I went to a neighborhood bazaar to sell some of my purses & had a fun time. I have a few left - so just let me know if you need a great personal gift for a special lady in your life.

Hope you have a safe & blessed Thanksgiving weekend!

Visit with Jessica & Hadley

We just had the nicest visit with Jessica & Hadley Marston. They drove to Charlotte from D.C. on Tuesday and spent a couple days with us. Jessica and I grew up together in Mt. Lake and last fall when I called her to tell her we were expecting, she told me that she was also due with their first baby. Elise and Hadley are 15 days apart, and so it was so much fun to watch them interact and play together. We visited one of my favorite stores, the Sewing Arts Studio, and later that evening we strolled down to the shops at Blakeney and had pizza on the patio at Brixx. Jessica is one of my timeless friends - we can just pick up where we left off. It was a great couple of days. The trees have really turned colors here in Charlotte, and we feel like Fall is upon us. John, Elise and I will spend Thanksgiving here, and we're looking forward to a nice long weekend together. Have a great Thursday!

5 Months Old

Elise is 5 months. She enjoys sitting and playing with toys and her neighbor friend, Kaylie. Michelle made cute little pants for Kaylie, and yesterday the girls were both wearing them so we had to get a picture. The other big news is that Elise now has her first cousin, Ethan Micah Muhr. He was born to Steve & Sara (John's sister) on Nov. 10, 2007. He's about 4 weeks early, because Sara was having high blood pressure and so they started her labor on Friday, 11/9. He was 6 lbs 10 oz and is in the NICU on the vent because he was having some trouble breathing. Sara is doing well, however, her blood pressure is still a little high, so we're waiting to hear when they may be discharged.
This past week has been one where John and I have been overwhelmed by God's goodness and provision for us. Last weekend I had been reading Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." I'm a planner and like to see how everything will work out, especially when it comes to finances and so when I can't see how that turns out, I like to try to do things in my own strength. This verse challenged me - just wait on the Lord. I felt like God was asking me to take one day at a time...and to rest in the fact that I had what I needed for today - He would take care of tomorrow. In short, I took that promise from God that He cares for me and knows my needs, and I watched in amazement as God met every need! There were 3 days in a row where I was overwhelmed by His provision. One example: I was looking in Elise's closet, and cleaning out the things that didn't fit her anymore, and that left only a few outfits. With the weather getting cooler, I was needing more warm clothes in 6-9 mos. Wednesday night, my sister Debi called and said that one of her friends at work (she's at Macy's corporate) is in the infant department, and had a bunch of brand new baby clothes samples 6-9 mos that she gave to Debi, and she would send them. I cried on the phone, because again, God proved Himself faithful to provide for our needs, and Debi became part of that answer to prayer! I still like to plan things out, but God is teaching me to trust Him for each day, and this is much more exciting to live in His strength than trying to do it all on my own. We serve an Almighty God who sees our lives and loves us so much that He wants to provide, and He has proven to be faithful.

Happy 4th Anniversary, PB&J!

Remembering the warm Caribbean breezes..beautiful turquoise water..and Paul & Jodi's wedding in St. Thomas Nov. 7, 2003.
Beautiful couple...hope you're enjoying your anniversary!

Curt turns 25!

We celebrated Curt's birthday yesterday with a Spicy Ravioli dinner and cake and ice cream with all our neighbors. Thanks for giving us a reason to celebrate, Curt! Now he enters a world of lower car insurance (hopefully) and the ability to rent a car without a premium. John and I are so grateful to have him here in Charlotte, however, the longer he's here the less we see of him. He's a leader for the youth group which keeps him busy, and he is a full time student and works part time for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was telling us last night at dinner that he gets to do lots of really cool things at Gibbs. We're really proud of him. Last night he was also helping Elise with another "hat" made out of her ladybug book...silly.

Giggles

Fall in Charlotte

We took Elise for a walk this week, and she was bundled up to stay warm. It was nice to gain an hour today, but I don't enjoy dark evenings. This weekend was fun.

We both had to laugh, because on Friday I must have had too much caffeine too late in the day. Elise was up 2 hours past her bedtime, just awake and looking around, so she watched the Bobcats basketball game with John and Ceasar on the couch.


I also made Elise a cute little pair of pants. I had to re-cut one of the pattern pieces, but overall they turned out cute. Now she has pink corduroy pants with monkies. The pattern was a cinch, so I may end up making a few more for the winter. I put the pocket on the wrong side, so you can see that she has an extra pocket in the front...oh well. I'm off to take a quick Sunday afternoon nap...hope you have a great weekend & great start to November!

Elise's First Trick or Treat

Elise had her first Trick or Treating experience yesterday. She and Kaylie were so cute! We took her to a few of the neighbors, but she was sleeping before we even got started. I guess it's a lot of work dressing up and asking for candy...

We hung out at Chad & Michelle's next door. They brought their firepit and grill to the front yard and we passed out candy while relaxing around the fire and grilling out. What a fun time!

End of October

I have neglected to update this blog in awhile, so for you frequent readers...sorry. Things here have been busy. Last week Monday, my parents had a long layover in Charlotte on their way back from Germany visiting Paul & Jodi. After getting them back to the airport, bags checked in - they got to their gate only to discover that the flight was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to take the next day flight back to Minneapolis. If we'd only checked it out sooner, they could have spent the night here. They'd already checked all their bags and couldn't get them back if they chose to stay overnight, oh well, maybe next time. Elise has started eating rice cereal, and is doing pretty well eating from a spoon. Her other big accomplishment in the last week or so is that she can sit unassisted for several minutes at a time. With all this growing and learning, her daily routine/schedule is once again changing. Just when you think you've figured it out - it changes!! I am so happy to be home with her each day, but this last week was challenging. She wasn't napping well
which makes my days very long. I think that in some ways I've had a few days of mourning the way things used to be...come home and have dinner, relax on the couch...long, relaxed Saturday mornings with a cup of coffee...just quality time for John and I. After talking with several of my girlfriends, I realize that this is completely normal after you have a baby and adjust to meeting their every need - it can be all-consuming. This weekend has been good - and especially today, she took a long afternoon nap (and I did too).
Here's just a few fun snapshots from the last couple of weeks. She tried on the pumpkin costume (borrowing it from her little friend, Ali Slack) , and she'll probably wear this for Halloween around the neighborhood this week. We also bought her a fairy costume, but the wings make it hard to carry her - so I think we'll save that one for next year.
She's enjoying books more, and she slaps the pages when we read to her - or she tries to help us turn the page or bring it to her mouth.

John and I are both involved with the choir at church, and we're gearing up for a Christmas production Dec. 14, 15 & 16. We're discovering that having a baby with all the dress rehearsals and performances is a little more challenging. Thankfully they have childcare many of the rehearsals, but it makes for a few later nights for Elise, too.

On Saturday I took another sewing class - we learned how to make zippered cosmetic bags. My neighbor, Michelle and I are also going to another class on Tuesday night - how to make hair bows. It should be a fun evening. I'm planning to sew up several bags to have a small inventory for Christmas gifts - so if you need a quick, fun gift for the holidays - let me know! Well - the evening is getting later and later...so I'm off to bed. Thanks for reading.