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.