Christmas

Christmas was very low key around here! My sister flew back to MN for the week, so it was just the three of us. I didn't have to work the week from Christmas to New Years and I enjoyed the time off to hang out with Elsa and Aaron. We went to mass Christmas eve and it was so crowded! Elsa kept dancing in the aisle and provided a lot of entertainment for those around us! Then, we came home and opened gifts! We are still trying to decide what new traditions to create for our family and which ones to take from our Childhood...One thing we are certain on is focusing on the meaning of Christmas and not spoiling Elsa with a ton of gifts. Once we are done having kids, I think we are going to have Elsa donate one gift (gently used toys) for each gift she receives.

She loved opening gifts. It was funny watching her rip little pieces of paper off. I was thinking she would tear into them!

18 months old

I am on a roll...three posts in one day. I had a lot of catching up to do!

Her 18 months stats: 26.4 pounds (77th percentile)

33 3/4 inches tall (95%)

Head....well, lets she say she is really smart :) (99%)

She still loves to cuddle and give us hugs and kisses.

Favorite food: grapes, blueberries, animal crackers, yogurt

Favorite song: ABC's, Itsy Bitsy spider

Favorite movie: anything Baby Einstein. HATES Monsters, Inc (screamed in terror at the opening scene when the monster sneaks into the bedroom)

Still wears Size 4 Diapers

Weened from the bottle (we were still giving her one at night)

Next step...ween from the pacifier.

Loves to read

Discovered a love for coloring (still trying to teach her how to color on paper and not floor, walls, windows, refrigerator, etc)

Loves to brush her teeth and get a bath.

Definitely starting to throw tantrums. And, whatever stage this is where she insists by communicating with screams can end any day now!! She still is only saying a few words, so we are working to change that. But, she babbles incessantly!

My favorite part of the day is coming home from work. As soon as Elsa hears me come through the door she runs to me with a huge smile across her face and gives me a huge hug. I laugh because sometimes she runs so fast she stumbles. Fortunately, she laughs and shakes it off.

Loves to hang out with Aunt Brittany.

We just love her to pieces.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we decided to head to Reno and Lake Tahoe. I was excited to check out Reno since we are always in search of an area out West in which to settle down. Aside from the down town area (casinos, strip clubs, pawn shops, loan places) it was beautiful. I must say my initial thought when Aaron mentioned Reno was that comedy central show "Reno 911" Although we did find the area where I think this was filmed, the area south of Town was beautiful and it was only 30 minutes to Tahoe.

The area received 6 feet of snow the week we arrived. It was a true winter wonderland. Here are some shots from the drive home. Look how tall the snow is compared to our car!!

Halloween

Elsa dressed up in her Dirndl for Halloween. What a cute bavarian girl!! Aaron took her to our neighbors' houses to say HI. I was so excited for Halloween. We live in a huge neighborhood, so I figured we would have a lot of trick or treaters. WRONG. I bought three humongous bags of candy from Costco and we had Three (yes, three) trick or treaters. I took the remainder to the candy to work and put it in the break room and it was gone in no time.

Goodbye England...Hello California!

**totally forgot I had this post unfinished....here it is 3 months later :)

We got back from our cruise on 3 July and the next few days were filled with mailing off the last off our stuff, meeting up with friends for dinner, and out-processing from Lakenheath. So many memories...but so ready to be back in the U.S. of A.
Yes, we are moving somewhere....
David Grant Medical Center...my new workplace.
Elsa loving the CA sunshine. Fortunately she was not walking when we arrived as I can't imagine how much more difficult the 12 hour flight would have been. But, within a few weeks she went from zero to 60. Meaning, she never really took any steps at all...and, then one day stood up and walked across the room.

Elsa loves her baby. She is so affectionate and gives her hugs and kisses all day long.

We lived in TLF (temporary living facility) for 9 weeks after we arrived. I was thankful for it since it was inexpensive, but it was a LONG 9 weeks. Especially for Aaron. It became increasingly more difficult to keep Elsa entertained. Thank heavens it is over.

We drove down to visit our friends the Griffiths. Elsa and Chloe were instant BFFs.

Spent the day at Half Moon Bay

Then, we took in a minor league baseball game in Stockton.
Elsa loves hats!!
Went to the Sacramento Zoo.

We moved in on 9 Sept and we were so grateful to have Aaron's mom fly out that weekend. She kept Elsa entertained while the movers were unloading our stuff and helped clean and unpack....definitely couldn't have done it all with out her! Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of her visit. I am such a bad daughter-in-law!!!

When my sister Brittany moved out here (yes, she is living with us) and my mom and Hilary drove out with her Aaron took them to Bodega Bay. I unfortunately had to work. It sounds like Elsa LOVED the beach!

I'm Back!!!

I bet you thought I had dropped off the face of the earth!! But, we are FINALLY in our house (as of 09 Sept 10) and have been unpacking like crazy while entertaining many guests (we have only had one weekend without guests since we moved in!!). Let me tell you how nice it is to finally have our own bed, more room for elsa to roam, all of my kitchen gear (it is nearly impossible to cook when you have less than the bare essentials in temporary living)....my mindset is much more calm...centered. But, I have a lot of catching up to do with this blog!!

June 2010--14 days Spanish/Italian/French Med cruise with the Sattlers.

We had so much fun!! It was so nice to cruise with another family as Linnea and Elsa entertained themselves (who knew playing peek-a-boo in the curtains and going between rooms via the balconies could be so entertaining) and allowed each of us couples to have a couple of date nights. The only down side was practically running out of diapers (Elsa had three teeth coming in and had the worst diarrhea/diaper rash...poor thing)...but we survived.

Here are some pics from the cruise. We stopped at Cadiz (Spain), Alleghero (Italy), Rome, Florence, Cannes, Gilbralter (UK commonwealth in Spain), Barcelona.

First day of the cruise!! Enjoying our welcome Champagne!!

Enjoying the Spanish port of Cadiz.

In Barcelona, we went to Monsterrat. It is a beautiful benedictine Monk retreat located high on a cliff with amazing views!!


Elsa and daddy in Cannes....check out some of those yachts!!
On the beach in Cannes. Elsa's first swim in the ocean. At first, she didn't know quite what to think of the waves, but her and Linnea had fun.

In Florence, we did a tour of a local vineyard. It included a carriage ride through the property.

Since we had already been to Rome, we did a tour to Lake Bracchiano. This is the castle where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were married in. Beautiful area. Apparently this lake is over 400 feet deep.

Relaxing on the balcony after a day of touring the Italian countryside. We stopped at a vineyard and they had these huge barrels of Italian Red that you could fill up any bottle for $3.00. So, our 1.5 L water bottle became a wine bottle.

Elsa loved the sunshine!! Something we rarely saw in England.
She kept trying to put her swimmers on as a hat. So, I put it over her head and she was so entertained!

Love waking up and having breakfast on the balcony. Fresh fruit every morning!!

We enjoyed a couple of date nights while the Sattlers watched Elsa. We dined at the specialty restaurants...an Italian and a steakhouse! Yummy!

Aaron and Jim went golfing in Spain while we went to the Rock of Gilbralter.

A baby nursing....

Elsa was intrigued by the apes!! There are over 90 apes that live on the rock of Gibraltar.

An ape trying to get into Jean's purse. I imagine them having a stock pile of cell phones, wallets, etc somewhere in their caves.
Last day on the cruise...boohoo. We are going to miss these guys!