This week...First Smiles

On Thursday, July 26th Elise gave us her first social smiles. It's fun to know that she acknowledges us and is beginning to respond. I've also noticed this week that she's more interested in her toys and follows the mobile with her eyes. What a sweet girl - and everyone tells me that it just keeps getting better as they become more aware of the world around them.


On Friday night we experimented with grilling pizza. I've read in several magazines that this is possible, but we've never tried it before. It was a success - we'd probably try a few things differently, but all in all it hit the spot. John decided that the pizza looked like the island of St. Thomas (we just got pictures printed from our trip to USVI...is this why he's thinking that?)
On Wednesday of this week, Elise and I are flying to MN to visit family and friends and John will fly up for the weekend, too. Life here is going well. The little babe is growing and I actually had to go through her drawer and pull out a couple things that no longer fit - specifically several socks that were too small - too funny.
That's about all that's news. We're enjoying the new smiles!

Weekend with Ben & Toni

Life is good! This weekend we had uncle Ben & aunt Toni visit us from Philly. They drove down to Charlotte Friday night and we had a great time with them. Elise met more family, and that was so special. On Saturday afternoon we went and toured the new Billy Graham Library - it is so well done. This was the first time I had gone through the entire Library - John got to do a test run through before opening as an employee - but I would recommend it as a must see while visiting Charlotte. Elise did great on the tour as well - mostly slept on dad's shoulder as we walked through.
Then on Saturday night we hung out on our back patio, and had hamburgers with potato salad, chips and homemade cherry pie. I made my grandma Ratzlaff's potato salad for the first time...can you believe I've never made any kind of potato salad before...but it turned out great - I think the only thing I would change is to cook the potatos a little less. Curt came over too with his friend, Tyson, who was visiting Charlotte this weekend to check out the schools here for College this next year.
At church this morning they announced Elise's birth and had a white rose to commemorate at the front. During the summer months our choir only sings once per month and this Sunday they were singing, so John and I joined the choir since Ben & Toni were here to watch Elise for us. The pastor made some comment that he was surprised to see the new parents in the choir already..pretty funny. We've been having fabulous weather here in Charlotte - absolutely beautiful - no humidity and very pleasant...so unusual. Take care...I'm off to bed.

5 Weeks Old

Elise is growing & growing. This past week John and I picked her up one morning and said, "She's changed since we put her to bed last night!" At her one month check up this last week, she weighed 9 lbs 8 oz and is now 22.5 inches long. She's in the 90th % for length & 50th % for weight. She's wearing her 0-3 months clothes as well as some 3-6 month clothes (depending on the brand). Poor girl has developed some baby acne on her cheeks - which will go away. She's a little more alert and tracks things more with her eyes. When we're holding her and talking with her she seems to be watching and listening more. And her sleeping just keeps getting better. She'll sleep at night for 5-6 hours at a time, so I'm only having to get up to feed her once a night. We've been continuing our baby massage classes and she's doing so well. This has been such a nice addition to our daytime routine, and I think it's helping her sleep better, too.
Today we went to church, and she did very well. John and I have noted that we probably would get more out of a sermon on playback at home, because it's hard to concentrate on listening, and helping her during the service. All is going well, and we're just settling in to taking care of this baby. What a blessing & gift from the Lord. We all got in a long Sunday afternoon nap (Another blessing)!! Have a great week.

Elise is 1 Month Old

Elise is 1 Month!
She is quite the contented baby - and for that we're so grateful. I've managed on my own here at home for the past several days, and it's been going really well. On Monday I took her out and we ran a few quick errands to Michaels, Wal-Mart & the post office, and she was so good the whole trip. (Of course, timing it right after a feeding helped to ensure an easier time of it as well.) I came home after this and thought, "This went smoothly - I feel like I'm getting the hang of it!" Tomorrow we have another baby massage class. I signed up at the hospital for this course, and I think it's something we will work into a routine for her. Right now she can only handle a small amount of stimulation (2-3 minutes for each week of life), but we'll get down the routine after a while. The instructor said that massage has so many benefits for the baby & parents: great bonding time to show them love, babies sleep better and have better digestion after routine massages. I know what I feel like after having a massage - can you imagine getting this kind of treatment each night before bed?

We are expecting Oma & Opa Brandenburg (German names for grandma & grandpa) this week on Thursday - and the following weekend aunt Toni & uncle Ben are coming to visit. It'll be nice to have family meet Elise and get to know her, and John and I are looking forward to having babysitters so that we can go out for dinner to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary next week as well.

Until next time...

Life as we know it...

The days just keep flying by here! Taking care of this sweet baby just takes lots of time - and the days just keep ticking by. My mom was here to help us out for a couple of weeks, and you can see that Ceasar wanted some of her attention, too. Thankfully our dog likes feet, so he gets a little attention when we're rocking Elise.

This weekend we're just taking it easy - we have John's parents coming to visit next weekend & help out. It's hard to believe it will be the middle of July already. Hope all you are enjoying your summer!

4th of July, 2007

We enjoyed our Lil' Firecracker for the 4th of July.
Our day was pretty low key. We just hung around the house, and grilled some BBQ pork riblets for dinner. My brother, Curt, came and spent the day with us, and my mom was here as well.

My mom also got Elise some cute sunglasses - we tried them out...but haven't used them too much yet...but we think she's awfully cute!!

Elise's 3rd Week of Life

On Friday we went to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc. to visit John at work. We had lunch at the new Library on campus and saw the prayer garden where Ruth Graham is buried. It's such a nice layout, and they have wonderful music playing on the grounds as you walk around - a must see for anyone coming to Charlotte.

We also dressed her up in a Northwestern college onesie (thanks, aunt Sara) and we'll have to send in her birth information for the Pilot.

On Sunday we went to church for the first time with our baby girl, and she did really well. It's been a great week, and we're starting to fall into a somewhat predictable schedule each day. She typically goes to bed at 10pm - sleeps until approx. 2:30-3am, up for an hour to feed, then down for another 3.5 hours - and up around 8am for a couple hours and then a long nap from 11am - 3:45pm, then awake for a bit, and the last nap of the day comes between 5 or 6pm - 7pm - then awake until bedtime. She is really a mild mannered baby - and pretty easy going. Thank goodness! I tell her that she takes after her father.
On Saturday night, John and I got away for a couple hours to go see a movie while Grandma June and uncle Curt babysat. After we got home, they told us how they had decided to take her for a walk in the stroller - but it took Curt a long while to figure out how to open the stroller - and once they had it open, they laid the baby down, and heard a loud rumble. She had just filled her pants - so they had spent all this time trying to get the stroller set up only to have it all stop short and have to go in and change her, and then the weather
got bad and it started thundering. So much for a stroller ride. Too funny!
It was nice for John and I to get out for a few hours. We can't believe she'll already be 3 weeks old Monday! It's been such a wonderful time getting to know her. We'll post more pictures as we have them.

First Bath

This past Thursday, June 28th Elise had her first real bath. She wasn't real excited, but she did like having her hair washed and dried. We have also discovered that when her hair is wet she has little curls in the back - too cute. It is the most wonderful thing to cuddle with a clean, fresh baby!