CEB

Today Elise wore a little sun dress I made for her. I fell in love with the fabric - and even took it in to get her monogram put on the front. She looked great! It's nice to put her in something other than pink for a change. We just kept snapping pictures - so I'm sorry if it's a bit much - but she was also looking very patriotic, so we handed her a flag & took more pics! John commented on how it's getting harder and harder to take pictures of her - she wants to be constantly moving. The last picture in this series is from yesterday - she decided to climb into the fridge so she could reach the shelves in the door...or maybe just stay cool in this Carolina heat? As we were making dinner last night, she also decided to climb onto the door of the dishwasher when it was open. I'm not sure what kind of weight restrictions they have, but I'm sure they didn't make it to withhold small toddlers walking on it! Another one of those things I don't want her to get used to trying again and again....This afternoon we took naps (all but John who watched Germany vs. Spain in soccer) and took a bike ride and rode to McDonald's for dinner. Now we're settling in for a new week. Hope you have a great one!

Fun at Carowinds!

Yesterday we had a fun afternoon at Carowinds. We've been so busy in the last several weeks, that we haven't had an opportunity to use our season passes, and so we ventured to the amusement park to cool in the water park attractions...and so did lots of other people. But despite the crowds, we were able to find a spot & Elise enjoyed it so much! After playing in the water, we walked over to the Nick Jr. area and she rode the carousel & a little Dora the Explorer Train with us. There may be more rides she can go on, but she was quite sleepy by the time we got off the train, and some dark clouds were brewing overhead, so we headed back to the car. Later that evening when John was giving her a bath, he said that she wanted to put her hands in the running water from the faucet, and would have played with her bucket and shovel much longer if he'd let her...too funny. She really is starting to remember things.

Life as a 1 year old...

Busy Girl...

Summertime in June

Spinning round & round in the backyard!! Elise just giggles and giggles when Daddy turns her around. We had fun with Ben & Toni this past week - they stayed with us after the rest of the family went home from TN. Toni & I had fun doing "girl-things" around Charlotte & Ben joined us after several days of hiking the Appalachian Trail. So much fun...it's great to have family relatively close (9 hrs to Philly) and to spend good time together, too.

Visit to TN Mountains

As I stated in my earlier post, we spent Father's Day weekend in the mountains of TN with John's family.
We got a great cabin with a pretty view & lots of space for everyone. Elise enjoyed playing with her cousin, Ethan & we were entertained watching them. We took a couple small hikes, and this group picture shows us at Laurel Falls. Elise loved splashing around in the cool mountain stream after a warm hike. On the way back, she fell asleep in the carrier, as did Ethan....they were too cute! We also drove through Cades
Cove & saw wild turkeys, lots of deer & one bear (I only saw it on pictures...and it was fuzzy at best). It was such a nice weekend away to spend with family. We ate very well & were able to relax a little too.

Happy Father's Day, John!

We celebrated Father's Day in the mountains of Tennesee outside Pigeon Forge with John's family. Each year when I've asked him what he'd like for his birthday, he would tell me a grill apron. Well, I finally made him one this year, not in time for his birthday, but thankfully Father's Day was right around the corner and gave me a little more time to put it together & gift it to him in June. We had a great weekend enjoying the beauty of the mountains and we did a little hiking as well.

Growing & Growing

We just got home from Elise's 12 month checkup, and she is growing up. She is 23 lbs 3 oz. & 30.75 inches tall. All is well & she was so good for Dr. Valder. He was surprised at how receptive she was to him, usually at this age they start to get shy and timid around other people. We brought along her white birthday bear for comfort, and when the Dr. asked if it was her bear she held it out to him. Again, he was surprised that she knew what he was talking about! I think she's beginning to understand more than we think...

Happy 1st Birthday, Claire Elise!

Our little girl is one today! Last year at this time we were at the hospital & entering the new role of parenthood. Time flies, and every parent I meet tells me this, but until you experience it for yourself you don't know how true it is. Elise arrived at 12:09pm June 11, 2007 & we have certainly been blessed to call her our little girl. We had her 1st birthday party with friends on Saturday & Grandma June was here for the week to celebrate, too. Her party theme was pink & green polka dots. She was very dainty when she ate her little patty cake - just dipped her finger tips in the icing and tested it out again and again! (She was awake until 10:30pm that night, so we know not to give her icing too close to bedtime again.) It was about 98 degrees outside & 85 degrees in the house that day - our air conditioning couldn't keep up with the high temps and extra bodies in the house, so thank you to all our friends who put up with warm temps to celebrate with Elise!! She received so many fun gifts & enjoyed a birthday wagon ride with her new canopy.

First Steps

On Friday night, Elise took her first steps all by herself. We were so excited for her - and just before her 1st Birthday! Here's a little video clip of her practicing.

A Fun Week

We've had a full week! Last Friday morning we had breakfast with Colleen & Kata McLaren as they were passing through Charlotte - great to see you two. Also, with my mom in town we did some swimming at Curt's pool & sweet Elise even took a little snooze in the water. It was almost the most comfortable place to be with the 10 day heat wave we experienced (99 nearly every day). And Elise even wanted to help out John with the flashlight as he was fixing our kitchen sink this weekend, too!

Happy Birthday, Sara

Lots of birthdays in our family during the next few weeks. Happy 30th birthday, Sara! Hope you have a wonderful day & we look forward to a belated celebration with you in a few weeks!

Summertime

On Sunday we picked up a little pool & float for Elise. She's already been out twice to enjoy her new little backyard fun. Even in the last week or so, John and I feel like she's becoming more and more expressive & curious. She plays hard!

Happy Birthday, John!

On Friday we celebrated John's birthday by eating out at Villa Antonio's. Bruce & Marnee flew down to spend some time with us & we had such a wonderful evening of great food, eating outdoors, live music & of course free entertainment from Elise. She loves to smile at everyone & she loved to go through Oma's purse. We had a nice visit together, and had a few days to relax on the back patio with a little sunshine & some cold drinks. You can tell that we are parents: John's birthday gifts included a new baby backpack carrier to use with Elise & he also got fitted for running shoes to stay in shape. He also received some rhubarb specially delivered from Minnesota, so we will be enjoying a rhubarb pie & jam at some point soon.