Elsie is 9 Months Old!!!

Our sweet baby girl is 9 months old today! I can't believe it! Every day, I can't imagine her being any cuter or any more fun, but every day, she proves me wrong. I LOVE BEING A MOM!!!! Not a day goes by that I don't thank Amanda for her selfless decision. Elsie has brought me such unexplainable joy! I keep waiting to wake up and it is all a dream! I am the luckiest woman on earth! Thank you Amanda, Josh and Elsie!

I won't know any of Elsie's "medical stats" for a few weeks when she has her doctors appointment. All I know is that she is definitely growing! Elsie loves to eat! She only wants to eat what we are eating, she never did like baby food or baby cereal. You name it, she eats it :) Elsie is a very good eater. She still has bottles - she is eating about 4-5 6 oz. bottles every day (including her 2 night feedings - we are yet to kick them). Elsie is still my immobile princess :) I like it that way, but I know my days are short that she isn't moving :) I put a movie at the end where she is attempting to crawl. I thought she wouldn't ever crawl because she hates her stomach, but as you can see, she is finding another way around it. I don't help her crawl, but Josh and Elsie's 2 1/2 year old friend Macy do all they can to teach her to crawl. I know she will figure it out on her own, but until then, I am truly enjoying my immobile baby girl :) For the most part, Elsie's likes and dislikes are pretty simple....Give her ALL of your attention and keep her fed and let her sleep when she is tired, and she is happy! :) Sounds simple enough :) Elsie still loves her carseat! I think she will be in it until she is 5 :) That is the best way for me to get her to sleep (lately, she has wanted to nap on her daddy). Elsie LOVES to be out-and-about, she LOVES shopping! It's a good thing, cause so does her mommy :) She gets so excited. This last week I started carrying her into the store and putting her in the cart (without her carseat) she thinks it is the greatest thing! She kicks her feet and grins the whole time. She smiles so big at every person we pass (wether they are looking at her or not), it is very entertaining for me. It makes grocery shopping a lot more fun :) Elsie loves people! She may play shy for a minute or two, but she warms up quickly and is a happy smiler :) Elsie has the cutest 2-teeth smile I have ever seen! I love it! She melts the heart of anyone that looks at her :) She entertains all the old people in our ward, neighborhood and at the grocery store :) I am so glad that Elsie's smile can bless the lives of other people around us :) Elsie loves to have all of our attention. Just being in the same room isn't enough for her anymore :) We have to be sitting by her, interacting with her. She has become quite the acrobat (with our help of course). Josh has been trying to teach her how to do a somersault and helps her do flips, I do my fair share of flips and throwing her in the air too, she loves it :) I love to do anything I can to hear her cute giggle :) Other things that make her giggle: She loves to sit on either of our shoulders and we will hold her feet and lean back and tell her to hold on, she grabs onto my hair and Josh's ears and giggles, she LOVES it :) Elsie also loves Peek-a-boo, only, she smiles and giggles more when her face is uncovered and we say, "There she is!" It is super cute! Macy, Macy makes Elsie giggle. All Macy has to do is be in the same room, Elsie LOVES Macy! Elsie giggles the entire time Macy is around. It is very entertaining for the rest of us :) Elsie definitely has a set of lungs on her! She loves to squeal when she is excited! It is pretty cute. She squeals at the tv (of course, when Sesame Street is on - She LOVES all the characters, it is pretty stinkin' cute), she squeals when we are shopping and I pick up something to look at (either she likes it, or she wants to hold it), she squeals all the time - especially in church when she is supposed to be quiet :) I love this sweet baby girl more than anything!
Our photo shoots aren't so easy these days :)

Elsie is such a curious baby :)

Which is exactly why I don't want her crawling yet :)

I am not sure if she is smiling at me or the tv :)

Elsie "mid-sentence" :)
She has a lot to say!

LOVE HER!!!

Such a peaceful sleeper :)

Outfit of the day for the sweetest baby girl ever!!!

I think she looks like a doll in this picture :)

Elsie loves to play with Daddy's sunglasses...

...Daddy loves to watch Elsie :)

Naked baby girl getting ready for a bath :)

I love her sweet face and smile...

...her beautiful blue eyes...

...and her straight arms... :)

Elsie loves to empty her toy basket and play while she watches Sesame Street, Baby Signing Time or Baby Einstein - the only time Mom and Dad get to get anything done :)

A close up of Elsie's beautiful face!

So beautiful!!!

Big blue eyes!

This is a great picture of Elsie's beautiful long eyelashes and her thick hair :)

Someday she will out-grow this carseat, but even then, she will probably still take naps in it :)

Another "Outfit of the Day" :)

Kind of creepy that she is standing all by herself

She loves to stand!

Outfit of the day :)

Elsie has finally learned how to clap, it is so cute!!

Elsie playing in Ashley's car :)

Thanks Lila, Hali and Abby for sharing :)

Elsie, Lila, Hali and Abby

Elsie, Lila and Abby

No fun when sweet baby girls have a fever :(

Isn't this the saddest face ever?

Once again, I HATE TEETHING!!!

Elsie in her cute jammies :)

CUTEST baby girl ever!

Elsie and Baby Crew - Congratulations Reagan and Jenny!

Elsie still loves the swings!

Such a smart girl already :)

..Not only can she read, she is reading the dessert menu first :)

Elsie brings her hands together whenever she gets excited :)

Elsie's new favorite place to nap :)

Pretty in Pink!

I wish I looked as good as she does every day!

A 2 1/2 hour nap on dad

Doesn't get any better than that :)

Outfit of the day :)

I truly am the LUCKIEST mom in the world!

"Don't learn to crawl Elsie"

-Love, Mom

The attempt caught on video...some of it. My camera ran out of memory (are you surprised? I only take a few pictures of her each day) :)

Elsie giggling while Josh plays peek-a-boo with her :)

Thank you Amanda for making Josh and I the happiest parents in the world!!!

Ice Skating Adventure

Ice skating is always a good time :) We went with some of our friends. It got me excited for Elsie to get big enough to go ice skating with us. This time, she had to be a cheerleader - which she did a fantastic job at! :) Good times :)

Josh giving Benton a hard time :)

Doesn't he look so graceful? :)

Time out to rest :)

Josh, Laci and Benton :)

Another time out :)

A true cheerleader :)

She LOVED it!

She is talking in this picture :)

I LOVE this baby girl! I had to add this picture of her straight arms :) Love it!



Ice Skating Cheerleader

Ice Skating Cheerleader - Take 2 :)

True Cougar Fans...Start 'Em Young

Elsie finally made it to her first BYU football game :) She LOVED it! I knew she would - She is outside with lots of people, noise and clapping (of course, she thought all the clapping was for her). It was a lot of fun having her there. She was so good. I need to get her some Cougar Blue attire :) This was a fun, yet kind of boring game. I think Elsie (and Danielle and Sam) already have the Cougar Fight Song memorized :) The final score was BYU 55 UNLV 7. UNLV finally scored with about 1 minute left on the clock :)

Such a serious fan...

Daddy and Elsie with their "game faces" on :)

Danielle hanging out with Elsie :)

"GO COUGARS!!!"

Elsie was quite the cheerleader :)

Such a pretty girl :)

The game got a little too boring for Danielle :)

...and Josh :)

This was his nap during halftime :)

Elsie finally took a nap at halftime. She only slept about 20 minutes.

Even cute baby girl cougar fans need their beauty sleep :)
This is the most beautiful, kissable face I know!

Sam enjoying his "3rd Quarter Cougar Tail" :)

Elsie, Danielle and I showing off our "smuggled-in" Caffenated beverage (Cherry Coke, of course!) to the game :) Thanks to the large diaper bag, it fit nicely in the bottom of the bag :) There are perks to bringing a baby to BYU football games :) I sure wish they would just put the caffeine in their drinks at the stadium...What is the use drinking a Caffeine Free Coke? C'mon!

Cutest BYU fans I know :)