Elisabeth Grace: 18 Months

Is it repetitive to keep getting on here and saying you are the cutest and sweetest thing that I have ever seen in my LIFE?! I just can't get enough of you :) You are soooo sweet and funny!

Right now you are weighing in at 29 pounds and you're 31.5 inches tall. When I weighed and measured you this month, it was the first time that you stood on the scale by yourself and I measured you up against the wall, not on the floor. Why do you just keep growing and growing and growing?!?!?!?!

You currently wear a size 5 diaper, but I'm forcing you to wear your 4's until they're gone. I wouldn't exactly say that they fit though :) You fit best in size 24 months but I bought all your summer clothes in 18 months so you're wearing both sizes right now. I think you would be best in 2T, but oh well :) You also are still loving your bows :) Thank goodness! You wake up in the morning and look at your big bow board on the wall and wave, "hi bows!!" When I get you our of your crib you ask for a "hat bow" and tap your head with your hand. It is the best :)

You are such a silly girl

You are still the best sleeper and napper in town and I LOVE you for it!! You sleep from 8pm-7:30am. That is our deal and you understand. Even if you're awake you generally do not start calling for me until 7:30. I usually get up at 6:30 and spend some time drinking tea, eating breakfast, and working on my bible study, so this 7:30 wake up call is really working for us :) Then, if we stay home, you nap from 9:30-10:30 or 11. Sometimes I have to actually wake you up at 11. We eat lunch around 11:30 and then we play hard. Then you go back down around 1:30 or 2, depending on what time you woke up from your morning nap. You typically sleep for 2.5 hrs in the afternoon. If we go out in the morning and you only take a 15 minute car nap, then you go down about 1 or 1:30 and sleep for a full 3 hours. You sleep with your pink bird blanket/lovey which you call, "blank" and paci. Blank and paci generally stay in the crib. We say bye bye to them and I have you put them back in the crib every morning.

You are walking everywhere! You just moved up to a size 5 shoe. Just in the past 2 weeks you have really taken off! You're also trying to climb into things now. You've even gotten up on the sofa a few times by yourself! It is so cute! Once I was running your bath and I must have turned for just a second and the next thing I know you dove head first into the tub full of water, clothes and all.

I just want to say, your dad and I could not POSSIBLY love you anymore. We honestly sit around and talk about how precious you are all. the. time. We more or less "argue" over who gets to spend one-on-one time with you. We read you books ALL the time. Your Dada is a little more fun than I am, though :) He chases you around the house wiggling his fingers at you singing this silly tune and you just run and run and giggle! It is so precious! He also plays "boo" with you. You open a door and look at us and he says, "Boo!!" and you just giggle and think it is so fun! Then, possibly the cutest thing in the world, is when you start saying "boo" back to him! And he gasps and pretends like you scared him so much and you think it is sooooo funny! One more super cute thing you've been doing is taking your sand bucket or leapfrog letter carrier and putting it on your arm like a purse and then walking around waving saying, "byeeee, byeeee." I'm 99% sure you're pretending to be your Daddy when he grabs his lunch and briefcase and says goodbye to us in the morning. How stinking cute is that?! The other day you even put it on, asked me for a KISS and then said, "byeeee" and started walking away and tried to start going up the stairs. You are SO cute and funny!

You've recently started calling me mommy instead of mama and I have to be honest, I'm not a fan!! I really want to be "mama!" It is so precious when you wake up in the morning or from a nap and call out, "Mama!?" You've also developed some separation anxiety this past month of two. You reallllly enjoy being with me :) You follow me all around the house, even to the bathroom :) I love you so much though, I don't even care.

You have also started to be Mama's little helper! I have you help do chores around the house and you honestly love it. You come downstairs and help me do laundry. One day I just asked you to find all the socks while I was folding a load of laundry and you actually DID! I was so impressed! And while I do dishes I give you all the silverware to put in the dishwasher. Tonight I tried to give you a piece of trash to throw away and you took it right over to the trash can..... and then took a piece of bread out of the trash and started eating it and running away :-/ Kind of gross sweetie. We'll work on it ;-)

You also really enjoy running errands with me and I truly enjoy having you there! You think everything is so interesting! You are always learning new words while we're out pointing to everything. You love to wave hi to everyone and it is so precious.

Your favorite TV people right now are George and Elmo. You have watched a lot of George (we possibly watched a little too much TV while I had morning/all day sickness) but you really haven't seen Elmo too many times so it is kind of funny how much you love him! You have some Elmo books so I guess that is where it all started. But now you have your Elmo cups which you love, and your coloring book and tooth brush. And he's on all your diapers! You're a big fan. Sometimes you will go to the couch and say, "sit" (which you pronounce, seee-it) and I'll help you sit, and then you'll say, "more George??" It is kind of cute. Although again , I don't even think we've turned the TV on in over a week. I TRY to keep you away from the television. But to be fair, I try to keep myself away from the television, too! You'll understand when you're older :)

Counting ducks! One - two - three!

You're really enjoying counting and learning animals and the sounds that they make. You try to count different things all the time and it is so cute. Most of the time we can tell you're counting by your intonation, but you're not actually saying the numbers :) You know a lot of animals and sounds though. Your favorite animal is definitely a puppy! You talk about puppies all the time. Every time you see one you yell, "Puppy, touch??" You call cows, "moooo" and sheep, "baaaa.' Ha! You also know cat, hippo, and bird. But you call a lion, tiger, and monkey by the sounds they make. I'm sure you know more and I'm just not thinking of them. You also really love letters right now, but you only know A and sometimes B. And all the other letters are A. But you LOVE to play with your leapfrog letters, they keep you busy for a long time.  You also love to play with your bucket and with your blocks. And your Noah's ark. And your puzzles... and okay, all of your toys :) You are SO good at playing with toys. You have recently really started developing an opinion though and it is SO SO SO funny! The other night I sat down and said, "Do you want to read 'Hop on Pop?'" and you said, "nooo." Then I asked about Snuggle Puppy and the story of Noah and one other, and you said no to all of them! Then I asked if you wanted to read 10 apples on top and you replied, "yeah!!" You do this all the time now! I will hand you something, but you will have something else in mind and you'll just say, "noooo" in the cutest voice you have ever heard

Baby girl, I don't know if I can adequately explain how much your Dada and I love you. Sometimes when I look at you, I am filled with so much love that it LITERALLY hurts me. I didn't even know that was possible before we had you. Your kisses, hugs, and snuggles make every day the absolute best. You have no idea how much I love staying home with you!!! 

For the past 4 or maybe 6 months your Daddy and I have been praying with you before you go to sleep. You clasp your hands when we ask if you're ready to pray and then we thank God for all the wonderful blessings that he has given us. You repeat after us sometimes and then always end with a good "Amen!" When I lay you in your crib I pray over you that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul. I pray that you will be a women after God's own heart and have an everlasting passion for him. The most important thing in life is to love God and serve others.

We love you sweet girl!! More than you could possibly ever know!! Until you have your own precious children one day and then you will totally get it :)

SAHM

More exciting news in the Neel home: In just a few months I will get to change my profile description from "Mostly SAHM" to "Full-time SAHM" and I am SO excited about it!

I love my job, I really do. God gave me a passion for working with children with autism many years ago and He has completely blessed me in this area! I have met so many wonderful kiddos and families and it has taught me so much! 

But now He has given me a passion for teaching and training my own children. For me, I know I need to be with them full-time to train them in the way that Josh and I desire. I want to spend my days with them playing and learning and training them to love God above all other things. I plan on homeschooling and I cannot wait for that as well :) 

Staying at home full-time means less money. I am not staying at home because I can't make enough for child care... OR because Josh and I rolling in dough and using $20's as toilet paper ;-) We have had to make some serious sacrifices for this to happen!!! Did you see what my daughter got for Christmas?? I think we spent $40. And we are TOTALLY okay with that. I feel like one day when she is my age and we say, would you have rather had a room full of expensive toys in a big house or have me home with you she will answer the latter. I hope :)

The truly amazing thing about all of this is how God had his hand in it every step of the way. Josh and I have desired for me to be a SAHM for a long time. We have worked hard to move things around in our budget a little bit at a time since before Elisabeth was born. Several months ago I was having a really tough week at work and a really tough time leaving my baby behind. At that time Josh came to me and said that he thought if we refinanced our house and were really tight with our budget we might be able to make this work! We had wanted to refinance before but for several reasons were not able to. Well, this time it really worked and it made a significant difference on our monthly budget! 

We were still left with a big choice to make though!! We have a home equity loan and with me continuing to work, we would have that paid off in another few years. That sounds really appealing! But the reality is, we both feel like I'm not supposed to work outside the home right now. So even though it seems like continuing to work is the more financially responsible decision, we are stepping out on faith and following the path that we feel God has laid for us. I truly feel like the Lord will provide and we will be taken care of. We both really have a peace about it :)

God quickly started to show us how he would provide in ways that we did not foresee when we made this decision! Before I was completely ready to stop working, we needed to pay off our brand new (to us) Honda Odyssey. We thought we could hopefully pay it off by November so that I did not have to go back to work after our next baby was born. That was our goal! But then we saw that by refinancing, that left us with a chunk of cash that we could put towards the van! And then, I think just two days after we did this, Josh got an email that he was getting a very random, middle-of-the-year bonus. Oh my goodness. It was more than enough to finish paying off the car. SO GRATEFUL! So now the car is completely paid off. I could stop working today and we would be fine. Wow! This is a far cry from where we were a year ago!! I thought we still had years before this day would come. 

Of course, I can't actually just stop right now because I work with adorable children with autism and I need to set them up with their next providers so they don't miss a beat! :)

We really feel that God has provided for us and completely blessed us as we've tried to save money and be good stewards of what He has given. Thank you thank you thank you, God! I honestly did not think it would all happen like this! I would really encourage women who desire to stay home with their children but think that would never be possible to start praying about it! Start making small changes wherever you can! One month you might be $1500 a month away from your goal.... and then God might provide some unexpected income and you're even closer. And then closer. It truly is amazing! Give God a chance to show you how he will provide for those who seek His will! 

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. ~Psalm 37:4

And I am so excited to stay home with my baby GIRLS!! :) 

Exciting Family News!!

I'm pregnant!! 

Neel baby #2 is due mid-November and we are SO excited! Our babies will be 22 months apart and we think that's perfect. Some people will think that is too close together, but I actually always wanted babies even closer together. God had a better plan for our family, one that might help me keep my sanity ;-)

I'm 8 weeks pregnant right now and I'm feeling it!! Morning sickness all day and the constant desire to sleep. It's a beautiful thing... Sort of ;-)

We went to the doctors last week and listened to the heartbeat, but I forgot to bring my thumb drive so I can't post it today! But in 2 more weeks I should be able to.

Ps- it is true. You start showing a lot sooner with baby number 2!!!! Oh my goodness is it true.....

Have a happy April Fools day!! Enjoy wondering all day about whether or not this is true!! ;-) Although honestly, would I really spend time making a Big Sister dress for Ellie all for a joke?? No, I'm way to busy for that! :-)

I love this adorable and hungry little baby :)

Elisabeth Grace: 12 Months Old

YOU'RE ONE!!!

(like, a month and a half ago..... I can't believe I didn't write this sooner!!!!!)

If its any consolation, I have been putting this off because I have been too busy playing with you because you're soooooooo cute!!!!

I just love looking at all these pictures of you :) You have grown so much!!! 

Now... lets see if I can remember everything about you when you were 12 months old...

When I took you for your well-visit you weighed 23 pounds 8 ounces (90th percentile)

For height you were 30.5 inches (89th percentile)

You are a big girl! But totally proportioned and perfect in every single way. Your head was actually off the charts this time ;-) 

You continue to have the sweetest personality! Everyone just loves you when we go to the store. It feels like everywhere we go people are telling me how beautiful and sweet you are. I pray that as you grow up you continue to be sweet and smile and encourage others :)

You eat so wonderfully! The only thing you have turned down (at this point) is Grandaddy's green bean casserole  Lol!! I don't like green bean casserole either so I REALLY don't blame you! (at 13 months old you also refuse to eat mac and cheese, which is really funny because again, I reallllly don't like mac and cheese)  Other than that you eat just about everything! Daddy makes you oat flower pancakes with an egg and banana in them almost every morning and you also get some fresh fruit. Then you eat lunch around 11:30am, and have dinner around 6pm. At 12 months old you were still nursing 6 times a day, but maybe a week or so later we went to 4 times a day. (7am, 2pm, 7:30pm, and 10 or 11pm, whenever I went to bed).

You sign more, eat, and milk very enthusiastically. You are very passionate about eating and signing about eating! You LOVE the Itsy Bitsy Spider so much! When it comes on your movie you put one hand in the air and start rocking out. You are the funniest little dancer ever!!! You put one or both arms in the arm and just bob up and down! It is so cute! 

You are still napping wonderfully, except at Auntie Kim's house :( For some reason you like to cry there. Not cool little girl!  We're working on it and I think you're getting better. On a typical day you still sleep for an hour if we're home (9-10) but only for 20-30 minutes if we go to the gym in the morning. Then you sleep for 2-3 hours in the afternoon, usually from 1:30-4:30. 

Also, around the time you turned 1 you got your two front teeth!! Then another 3 or 4 weeks later you got another bottom one to the left of the two you already have.You're growing so fast :( I don't understand how this has happened!!!! 

I promise to write more about you soon. Just know that I'm not writing about you because I'm too busy spending time with you :) On the day I write this you are 13 months and 4 weeks and you are just adorable. We have had so much fun today playing at the mall play ground and playing baby dolls at home. You're so precious to me!! You turn 14 months in just a few more days so hopefully I will upload all my pictures and write all about you!! Love you sweet baby!!!! 

Elisabeth Grace: 11 Months

This is the last month birthday before you turn ONE!!!

Elisabeth! You are so cute! You're such a happy baby and everybody just loves you. You are the most popular baby I have ever met! lol!

You are currently wearing size 18 month clothes, size 2 shoes (3-6 months), and a size 4 diaper! You are a big baby with very small feet :) You are the cutest thing I have ever seen.

You have two nap schedules that you are perfectly fine with. Sometimes you just nap for 20 minutes or so in the morning while we're in the car and then take a 3 hour nap around 1:30 or 2pm. If we stay home you usually take an hour nap in the morning and a 2-2.5 hr nap in the afternoon. 

You are still nursing about 6 times a day and you eat just about everything. This month we really started giving you whatever we were eating and you LOVE it. There is literally nothing you won't eat. I hope you stay this way!! And I should note that your daddy SPOILS you at mealtime. He has starting making you borderline gourmet purees. It is so cute! You two have really bonded lately... you're starting to prefer spending time with him a lot and I actually love it because y'all are so stinking precious!!! I used to feed you breakfast, but lately I've been delegated to dog walking duties so that daddy can change you and feed you breakfast :) He loves you more than you will ever know :-)

This month we celebrated Thanksgiving, decorated for Christmas, and went to the BAHAMAS! We had so much fun!

But before all of this, you spent the first 2 weeks of your 11th month sick. Again. :-(

You were the sadest sickest little baby and it was heart breaking. Your fever spiked at 104.7 and it was a little scary. I won't go into detail about how angry the nurse practitioner at your doctors office made me when she told me not to alternate between Tylenol and Motrin.... but take it from me little girl... when your future children spike a very high fever, always alternate between the two!!!! :)

Everybody was loving on you while you were sick. You loved snuggling with your daddy... he was so good to you!! 

You were still a little sick on Thanksgiving, but I think by Saturday you were feeling good again!! 

My friend Becky made your adorable Thanksgiving shirt! You were the cutest baby ever! You ate WAY too much thanksgiving food thanks to your grandparents ;-) I'm not sure how much they fed you, but when I tried to nurse, you refused. And that is the only time in your entire 11 months that you have ever done that! 

Look at you, standing like a big girl!! Just recently you have been wanting to pull up on everything. You can't do it by yourself yet but you are certainly trying!! You especially want to pull up on me. You grab my clothes and my hair and you just want to stand. I completely blame this on everyone except myself. I am always encouraging crawling like your physical therapist told me to do... but everyone else wants you to walk!! Crazy people, obviously its because they don't stay home with you all day. Who will be chasing you all day long?! Me! <3

Also exciting this month, Momma got a hair cut and you got a new bathing suit for the Bahamas! I have had long dark hair since a year or two before I got pregnant with you, but it was time for a change! And YOU just got a new bathing suit in December and it is a size 2T. You were so cute in it in the Bahamas!! That is going to be a whole different post though because I have so much to say about our amazing vacation! 

Here is one little picture of you at the ice cream shop that was on the resort. You are hamming it up!!! I love you little girl!!! Love Love LOVE!! Now I'm going to go Google ways to keep you this age forever......

Friday Weigh In: Week ??? (Okay fine, it's week 11, I guess I skipped a few)

Alright y'all.... let's get back in this!!!

Now, I don't have to say I completely fell off the dieting band wagon, I just stopped blogging about it. Last I checked in I had lost 7.6 pounds after 3 weeks of changing my diet. I wasn't really working out at all, I just changed what I was eating!

Then I stopped tracking my food... I never gained weight, but it was coming off much much much slower.

BREAKING NEWS: Last Wednesday I got on the scale and I was BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight!!!!!   But my weight loss goals do not stop there. Let me explain....

My pre-baby weight was not really my goal weight. During the months that we were trying to get pregnant, I gained 6 pounds. 6 pounds is an entire pant size for me, people! I did this thing where every month during the two-week weight (You Mama's or people trying to conceive know what I'm talking about!) I would be like, "Oh my gosh, I'm soooo hungry! Maybe I'm pregnant!" And then I wasn't. I did this cycle 6 times and gained about a pound each time. Ha! Needless to say, my pre-pregnancy weight is not really where I want to be....

NEXT GOAL: Lose 6 pounds. This will put me at my REAL pre-pregnancy weight

So to recap, after 10 weeks (3 of REALLY watching what I ate and 7 of just making slightly better choices) I lost 11 pounds.  Not too shabby :)

Weight Loss

Start- X lbs (BMI: 25)

Week 1: -4.6 lbs

Week 2: -1.4 lbs

Week 3: -1.6 lbs

Week 4-10: -5 lbs (BMI: 23.1)

Week 11: NOTHING (HA! I worked sooooo hard!!)

Total Weight Loss: 11 lbs!

Current Weight- 143

Current Goal- 138

I'm 5'6''

Can everyone please note how much I exercised this week!!! And I didn't loose any weight! Grrrrr

I have stopped eating flex points and started eating activity points (points you earn from working out). I don't eat them the same day, I just try to be close at the end of the week. This week I was at exactly 29 for both which is great! 29 is a lot of activity points! I've been busting my butt at the gym! I would be there longer but I don't really like leaving Elisabeth there for too long :)

I'm just going to try to do the same thing this week! My plan for Thanksgiving is to totally enjoy all the food, eat just a little more than I normally would, and not count any points. I'm going to a two-hour special Thanksgiving class at the gym in the morning, so I'm not too concerned.


In my opinion though, this is where the real work is going to come in! I think loosing baby weight might be easier than loosing the same weight that has been on me for a few years, so we will find out!

So, this is going to be harder... so I needed some extra motivation!  Let me share with you my two motivators right now (okay, maybe 3... actually 4. lol! I'm just making this up as I go!!)

1. Transformations- Fitness for Women

This gym is amazing!! I have been going for about a week and a half and I LOVE it! I think what I like about it so much are the classes. Before I would (maybe) go to the gym and get on the elliptical for 20-30 minutes. I might lift a few weights, but eventually I didn't have time to lift weights, and then I didn't have time for the elliptical. I think I was a little bored. Transformations has classes most of the day and its an all womens gym, so its a little less embarrassing to go the classes and look a FOOL! Speaking of looking like a fool.... that brings me to my next motivator....

2. Shasta Patel- my amazing friend that is mildly addicted to the gym.

Seriously, this girl loves the gym. She only goes three times a week now, but she has been consistently going for 5 years. Anyone that consistently goes for more than a few months is like, my hero. She also goes to transformations. You should have seen us on the Zumba floor two nights ago looking like fools!!! Oh my goodness. If Shasta can get to the gym 3 times a week with 3 kids, surely I can get there with just my one little baby, right??? Thanks for the motivation, girl!!

3. The Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas

I've got exactly 3 WEEKS before we are in Atlantis!! I mean, enough said right? Who doesn't want to loose weight before they go to the Bahamas?

And last, but certainly not least....

4. My amazing husband

Ummm... oh my gosh. My man looks GOOD ;-) He can't be showing me up like that!! My husband is so supportive of any decision I make to live a healthier lifestyle. We encourage one another to make healthy choices about what we eat and he is so supportive in helping me find time to get to the gym! It is so much easier when your spouse is along for the ride with you!!!




Good luck to anyone else trying to loose weight this week!

Elisabeth Grace: 10 Months Old

Ummm... Whoops!! What happened to the 9 months old blog post?? Elisabeth, please forgive me :) You have been sick and I have been tired. But I love you and will just write all about it here.

**Get ready people, I think this is going to be a long post! Elisabeth has done SO MUCH this past month!!! **

Oh my heavens, why are you so big? Only one more month birthday before it is your REAL birthday!!! You are the cutest little boo boo bear ever.

You sleep like an angel. When you were sick this month you were not sleeping through the night, but we're back on track with that!! If we are home you take an hr long nap at 9:30 and I wake you up at 10:30. I do that so that you take a long nap in the afternoon, usually from 1:30/2 - 4/4:30. If we're not home in the morning, that is fine too! You will just take a 20 minute nap in the car and then you will usually sleep a full 3 hours that afternoon. That is my preferred schedule right now because we can be out and about and do more things!

You are currently wearing size 12-18 month clothes. How did that happen??? You still sort of fit in 9-12, but honestly, some of your 12-18 are a little small!  You are busting out of your size 3 diaper, too! We are almost out of them and then we'll move on to size 4. At your 9 month check-up you were 28 inches long (I think you were really 28.5 in) which is the 66th percentile. You also weighed 19.6 lbs which was the 70th percentile. And your head is still in the 98th percentile ;-)

You. Eat. Everything.

For breakfast you usually eat baby oatmeal with mixed in banana or a strawberry, blueberry, banana mix I make for you. For lunch you typically have Greek yogurt and a little of what I'm having. For dinner you are getting to the point where you just eat whatever we're eating. and then we also make you some chopped veggies that you can feed yourself. You like, fish, chicken, pork, rice, beans, corn, tomatoes, quinoa, and basically anything else I have ever given you. Let's all hope that you stay like this :)

You love music and dancing!

You LOVE to dance. I don't even know how it started! We never taught you to move back and forth, you just started doing it! And you do it to everything! Music on your toys, in the car, in the grocery store, or on TV. If there is music, you are dancing! You like to wobble side to side and now you also shake your head up and down and throw your arms in the air (cutest thing ever!)

You also have recently learned to imitate "arms up" and "clap." You don't always do it when we ask, but I
think that is your little personality showing through. Because of my job I am always asking kids to do something and then giving them a reward, but if I'm holding something in my hand that you want and I ask you to do something first, you scream at me and lunge for the reward. I would never let\ the kids I work for get away with that, but I totally let you do it ;-)

You also just learned to sign "more" the other day. It all really started when Auntie Kathy gave you pumpkin pie.....

She worked hard to get you to sign "more" but you wern't having it!! You still are very hit or miss with it, but the other day you did it for food like, 8 times in a row! 

signing "more"

You also learned how to stand on your own this month! Actually, it was almost an entire month ago, RIGHT after you turned 9 months old. And to be honest, you haven't really done it since! Just 2 or 3 times. But I don't really encourage it. I really want you to crawl before you walk so I put you on your belly to play most of the time and almost never let you stand on your feet :) Who knows if that even matters... probably not! Ha!

First time standing on your own! We're at the little park in our neighborhood  :)

Earlier this month you got your very first tooth!! October 18th to be exact. And two days later, the bottom left popped through too! This also marks the beginning of a 3 week sickness for you :( It was SO sad. I thought it was just teething... but apparently it wasn't. It started with a two day fever and turned in to a 3 week cold with several fevers. You were SO congested and just sleeping terribly. Dad and I got the cold as well and we were all just a mess.

Elisabeth, you are so cute with your toys! You are in a stage where you just LOVE to play with your toys! You will play with them for as long as I let you and you're really not demanding of my time. I have to purposefully stop myself from what I'm trying to get done and sit down and play with you (which I constantly do because I LOVE to play with you!!!) Sometimes you just make life to easy. Watch it girl or you won't be an only child that long ;-)

And last, but definitely not least, while you were 9 months old we went and voted for our President!! I know this may not sound like a big deal, but it really really is. When I found out I was pregnant with you and that your due date was 1/12/12 I actually thought, "Oh wow, that's an election year, I can't wait to take my baby to go vote with me!" I'm not joking. 

Well, I was so excited about the election that I obviously needed to set aside a special outfit and make you a special bow just for the day!!! :) One day you are going to look back at these pictures and think about how crazy I am. But just know that I am CRAZY in love with YOU!!! :)

You are the sweetest most precious little angel baby in the entire world. I literaly want to eat you up! Your dad and I love you so much. You bring us so much JOY! Every morning I feed you and he changes you and we just marvel at how precious you are. I hope you grow up knowing how much each one of us loves you and that we would do anything for you.

Note to self: write a separate post about Elisabeth's first sleepover, Halloween, our trip to the pumpkin patch, and Dad's birthday :)

* I did not proof read this post because I'm in a hurry. How embarrassing....  but I will do it later!