Pretty, Pretty Princess

I wish I could take any credit for this beautiful baby girl! This beautiful dress is from our dear friend Allyson Ekins (I got a lot of my parenting skills by practicing on her 2 girls - I was thier "nanny" for 2 summers when I graduated from high school - I Love you Alex and Kassie!!) Allyson's sister-in-law made this beautiful dress! When I put it on Elsie today, tears came to my eyes at how beautiful she looked! It looks all too much like a blessing dress, and I can't wait until the time Josh and I can take her to the temple to have her sealed to us!!! Thank you Allyson!!!! PS. the pictures don't do justice to how beautiful Elsie and this dress really are!

Pretty in Pink!

Elsie's 1st Lake Trip!!

We finally made it to the lake for the first time this season! Josh and I have been dying to go! It wasn't super warm, but it was warm enough for us! Our lake trip wasn't very long. We had barely launched the boat (Cole's boat, of course) and it stopped running. :( Cole quickly realized that the impeller had been ruined (boo-hoo)...boats don't run without the impeller. Josh went and got the truck and the 2 other guys tried swimming the boat back to the dock (very entertaining for the rest of us on the boat). Their attempt to swim us back, was more like anchoring us in the center, due to the wind. Thank goodness for a boat that came to the rescue and towed us back to the dock. We managed to get in about 1/2 hour of good sun. Maybe next week we will have a successful trip! I was looking forward to some serious wakeboarding! :)

As cute as her life jacket is, she didn't love it... a little tight maybe.

Don't worry, I have been going to the gym, I just can't kick my Cherry Coke addiction!

The attempt to swim the boat back to shore - thanks guys!!!

Elsie is 2 Months Old!

I had to take more pictures on Elsie's "2 Month Birthday" - Even though it was in the same week as her 8 week pictures :) Here is a list of Elsie's likes and dislikes at 2 months:

Likes:

• Mommy and Daddy
• Visitors
• Sleeping (she loves to bury her face in Ellie the Elephant or in her blanket)
• Eating (formula only, of course)
• Taking a bath
• Her "friend" Ellie the Elephant
• Her binki
• Being held
• Being talked to
• Laying on a blanket
• Looking at lights
• Surprisingly enough, she likes being in her carseat :)

Dislikes:

• Being hungry (boy does she already have a temper! :) )
• Getting her clothes changed
• Getting rubbed with lotion
• Being cold
• Getting her hair done - I don't even use a comb, I style it with my hands and lotion :) - (I hope this isn't a problem later on in life - She may be naked and never get ready the rest of her life if she is in charge :) ) - Good thing she has a lot of natural beauty :)

Outfit of the day :)

Big blue eyes :)

If Elsie could talk... (I Love you daddy!!!!)

Outfit of the day :)

She loves her swing today - We don't put her in it very often. Elsie is so alert :)

Elsie is 8 Weeks Old!

I can't believe Elsie is already 8 weeks old! She is getting so big. I swear I can see her growing in her sleep. :) This has been a super hard week for me, because I had to go back to work! I do not love work as much as I used to, I HATE being away from my sweet baby girl all day. Josh got his new job at Home Depot, but he hasn't started yet (they had his social security number wrong, so they had to re-do his background check - I think it is a blessing in disguise for me). Josh has been able to stay home and be "Mr. Mom" I am so jealous he gets to stay home with her all day. :) He is such a fantastic dad. Elsie and I are such lucky girls! I am not sure how much Elsie weighs or how long she is, her 2 month check-up is next week. I would guess she is around 10-11 pounds (she feels like a lot more when I am carrying her in her carseat :) ) She is still eating 4 oz at every feeding, still wearing size 1 diapers, has now moved to 0-3 or 3 month (some of them are still too big, and some are getting small already - who knows?) We put her to bed around 8:30 or 9 and she gets up around 3 and again around 7. She is a pretty good sleeper. We LOVE Elsie!! Thank you Amanda!

Elsie's 1st Manicure and Pedicure

It is no secret that I am known to have baby girls come to "Ashlee's Spa" and get their hair and nails done :) It is about time I have a sweet baby girl of my own to practice on :) I have to practice on Elsie while she has no idea. I fear one day she will not even want to wear pink or anything girly :) I decided to paint her nails and toes (of course, while she was sleeping) When I finished, it was so cute, but it actually was kind of weird to me because she looked like she has old lady hands because her nails are so perfect (Amanda says her nails are so pretty because she took so many prenatal vitamins and drank so much milk :) - Thank you Amanda!) Old lady looking, or not, Elsie's nails are beautiful!! I LOVE her!!!

She kept her hands like this for about 20 minutes :) A true lady :)

Cute baby girl toes :)

Elsie is 7 Weeks Old!

Elsie is 7 Weeks old! She is getting big! She is starting to interact more and is more of a baby (not just a sleeping infant :) ) She has been so good! I think we have finally figured out her eating! She still poops a lot, but we finally have her diaper rash under control! I would rather her poop a lot than be constipated :) We are able to lay Elsie on a blanket on the floor, and she will be happy there for usually an hour or so. She is a very content baby. Some days, if she is fussy, and we lay her on the floor, she is much happier, she just doesn't want to be bothered :) Elsie is a pretty good sleeper. We put her to bed around 9 or 10 and she will sleep until 3-ish and she wakes up again around 6-ish. She is a good sleeper :) This past week she has started having a stuffy nose. It is frustrating though, because it isn't constant. I have noticed it gets worse when she lays flat on her back (but it isn't every time) I have to use the "booger sucker" to get the boogers out - Elsie HATES it! It makes me sad to torture her (if only she knew that it was for her own good :) ) I hope it clears up soon. Elsie is such a good baby! We are so blessed! Thank you Amanda!!! We love you as much as we love Elsie!!!

Crazy hair baby :)

Naked baby Elsie getting ready for a bath :)

Outfit of the day :)

Outfit of the day :)

Outfit of the day :)

Outfit of the day :)

Sleepy Girl

I have decided to do a post dedicated just to cute pictures of Elsie sleeping :) I will update this as I take cute pictures of her sleeping :)

6 weeks

6 weeks

She Smiles!

Elsie is finally starting to smile more! It is still a struggle to get tons, but we are getting a few, mostly when she just wakes up. She is so beautiful!!! These are a few that I manged to get on camera. She smiles bigger and better, but it is a challenge to get the timing right :)

I had to put Elsie's sad face in too :) It is as cute as her smile :) I love her!!!

Family Pictures....Mostly of Elsie :)

Our friend Melanie called us when Elsie was about a week old and told us that her cousin was starting up a photography business and needed infants to practice on and that she would take Elsie's pictures for free. Of course, we were in!! We drove to Vegas when Elsie was 2 1/2 weeks old to have these pictures taken. It was hard, because Elsie doesn't like being "bugged" while she is sleeping. It was very hard to get good pictures because she wouldn't hold still. She was super tired, but when she fell asleep and we laid her down, she would wake up. Knowing that, I am super happy with these pictures!!! Thank you Katy!