I Love Her!!!!!

I'll never be able to get enough of her. Elsie makes me smile all day long! .... Well, there are a few fits that drive me crazy :) Usually her fits are because she wants to stand on the counter and play with the cups and I wont let her, or when she wants candy or "treeet" while I am making dinner :) Cute, crazy girl.
I love her perfect smile. I love her perfect teeth. I love her giggle. I love it when she hides her face under Ellie or a blanket and kicks her legs and waits for us to find her. I love her cute smile and laugh when we chase her around the house. I love how she tries to hide from us. I love watching her play on the bed. She loves to jump on the bed, get under the covers, anything... She LOVES to play on the bed! I LOVE seeing her so happy! I love her for making me want to be a better person, just for her. I love the way she loves her Daddy! The 2 of them make my heart melt! I love the way she mimics Josh and I. I love watching her "concentrate" when she hears a song, then hearing her sing it later. I love singing to her. I love singing WITH her! I love that she loves music! I love that she loves "cooking" she loves all the kitchen utensils and cups. I love that she loves princesses. All princesses. Yesterday Danielle came by and was wearing a long skirt and right when Elsie saw her she said "pin-sess" it was perfect and oh, so cute!!! I love her curls. I love her yummy smell. I love her soft, chubby cheeks. I love her huge blue eyes. They are a perfect blue. I love that she loves water. I love that she loves movies. I love that she loves people. I love that she is a social butterfly. I love that she loves babies, real babies and doll-babies. I love hearing her talk. I love hearing her try to say new words. I love how her sweet face makes other people smile. I love how her perfect features draw the attention of strangers so I can tell them about adoption (I love the surprise looks on their faces as I tell them our perfect baby girl is adopted). I love that Elsie is our daughter and will be for eternity!!!! We are so lucky! I love Amanda for choosing adoption so we could be parents. Thank you Amanda!!!!! I love everything about Elsie and I love everything about being a mom!!! I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!!!

Growth Spurt?...You Decide...

Oh, this cute little girl of ours!  It's cute now, but it wasn't very cute in the middle of the night.  Josh was working, so it was just Elsie and I.  Last night, Elsie woke up at 1:00 am crying.  Usually if she wakes up, I just give her milk, she drinks it, and goes right back to sleep.  This time she didn't even want milk.  She tried going back to sleep and whined for about 5 or 10 minutes.  Then she started really crying.  I had no idea what was wrong.  I tried cuddling with her.  She didn't want that.  I tried holding her.  She didn't want that.  She laid there and cried.  I tried getting her to tell me what was wrong, she just cried.  She screamed for a good 10-15 minutes straight.  I didn't know if she was sick, her ears, teeth (knowing she has all her teeth until her 2 year molers come in...but she has had a runny nose...), if she was scared, wanted Josh...I had NO IDEA!  I was so tired!  I was beginning to lose patience as I laid by her and watched her cry (she got more mad when I tried touching her to pick her up).  After the 15 minutes of her screaming, I finally stood up and held her.  She calmed down and cuddled me for a minute, then started crying again.  I took her to the kitchen and put her down and told her to show me what was wrong.  She stopped crying and went straight to the cupboard and said "tweet"  I said, "Are you hungry?"  She said, "Hun-gree."  Sheesh.  Who would have known?  30 minutes of crying?  Really?  She was hungry, duh mom!  I had a kiwi.  I asked her if she wanted a kiwi.  "Kee-wee" So I cut the skin off the kiwi, put her in her chair and gave her the cut-up kiwi.  She pretty-much swallowed each bite whole.  She barely chewed at all.  I decided at the last minute to record her.  That is the video here.  She is saying "pasta" throughout.  She wanted more pasta.  Sheesh.  By this time, it is about 2:00 am!  I was exhausted!  Lets go to bed Elsie!  After realizing she wanted to sleep with her Ariel (this was the first time she has ever wanted to sleep with something).  Her "hard" Ariel.  Really?  A hard doll?  We went in, she wrapped her arms around her Ariel, held on to Ellie, and went right to sleep and slept until morning.  Don't worry that her first word in the morning was "Pa-sa"  I love her more than anything!  I hope this "eating in the middle of the night" doesn't become a habit!

Happy Halloween!!!

Every year as Halloween comes around.  I realize it is my favorite holiday of the year...until Thanksgiving comes around...then Christmas.  I just love the holidays and the good times they bring.  Halloween is super fun.  I have decided it is a lot more fun with a child of my own.  It is so fun to see it all through her eyes.  I love being a mom every day, it's holidays that make me love it even more!  Elsie loves her costume!  She seems to know how cute she is when she wears it :)  I bought the pattern and fabric and gave it all to my mom and she made it.  She did such a great job!  Thanks mom!!!!  I love it, Elsie loves it and everyone that saw her loved it and commented on how cute it was and how talented you are.  You really are talented.  Thanks!!!  Trick-or-treating was a lot of fun.  Elsie caught on very quick.  We went with Danielle and Macy, so Elsie was able to watch how Macy did it.  Elsie and Macy would get to a door, Macy would knock, so Elsie would knock too (actually Elsie's knock was more like barely touching the door with her fingertips - she still doesn't make a fist).  Macy would yell "Trick-or-Treat" and Elsie would say "Trr-eee" then most houses would hold the bowl down and let the kids grab the kind they wanted, every time, Elsie would grab as much candy that she could fit into one hand.  I told her to just take one.  It was pretty funny.  Then I would tell her to say thank you,  "Tank-yoo" then I would tell her to say Happy Halloween, "Hap-pee 'een" it was the same at every house, it was funny every time!  I had a lot of fun.  I was sad Josh had to work and missed it all. 

2 witches :)

I borrowed my costume from Danielle.

Her mom is talented, just like mine :)

Love this!!

Elsie did not want to hold still!

I picked her up and sat her down for a picture...she wasn't happy about it.

I finally started chasing her down the sidewalk

Of course, she had to stop and dance along the way :)

...maybe there will be less distractions in the backyard...

...not really...

A bench?  Will she hold still on a bench?

...not without a "sad-lip" picture :)

Sheesh!  I was feeling the same way.
I was getting tired of dancing and clapping to get Elsie to attempt a smile :)

Elsie knows this sad lip is funny - she tries to use it to her advantage :)

"Puh'kin"

I think she looks like a doll in this picture.  Perfect.

Our neighbor has a cool doorstep so we went there to get a picture and the cat was walking around.
 Danielle said to put Elsie down because "Every good witch needs a cat." 
I REALLY don't like cats, but Elsie LOVES them. 
In the end it was all good, cause this made for a good Halloween picture :)

TA DA!!!
My little performer :)

OOOHHH, she is so cute!!!!

I was running around the corner and scaring Elsie to get her smile this big :)

Apparently I am pretty funny :)
Thanks Danielle for taking all these pictures for us!!!

Josh and I had to work, so Elsie spent most of the day with Sierra :)
Thanks Aunt Sierra!

Sierra brought Elsie (and lunch) to me at school. 
Elsie thinks she is a big kid :)

After I left school, Elsie and I came back home, had a snack and got ready.
This is a picture of the cute spider I drew on Elsie's cheek :)

Then I took Elsie to visit Josh at work.
She was so excited to see Daddy and sit in the firetruck :)

I LOVE these 2!!!!!

Then we went to "Ma-Shee's" house to take pictures
Elsie didn't want to hold still...

Priceless.

The Johnston Family...
Completely out-did the Christiansen family.
...Again.

"Trick-or-treat"

Elsie and Macy in the wagon :)
Elsie had to eat candy every time she got into the wagon between houses :)

After trick-or-treating, we went back to Danielle's and had pizza.
I took off Elsie's dress so she didn't get it all dirty.
I couldn't resist taking some pictures of her dressed like this :)
I am not sure what Macy was so excited about :)

Elsie was being a little performer!
Macy was very entertained :)

It has to be all the sugar...

SUGAR!!!!!!!
HOLY CANDY!!!

 After a night of so much sugar.....

We MUST brush our teeth!!!

Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Big Girl

I won't lie, that I fear Elsie will be on a bottle until she is 10.  Am I just being weird because she is my one and only child? Probably.  If we get more children, they will probably have a bottle AND a binki until they graduate high school.  It's different for the first child.  So that's what I hear.  Josh thinks she is still a baby, but I think she is a big girl.  Plus the fact that I do not like her bottles, they leak all the time!!!!  Grrrrr!  Josh decided to go hunting, so I took it upon myself to begin the horrible journey of Elsie getting rid of her bottles.  This all started last Friday night (October 28th).  I knew I was going to have to do this when Josh was gone, because he would give in and give Elsie her bottle.  I was going to have to be the strong one.  My friend was coming over with her baby Friday night.  So I took Elsie to Target and let her pick out a new sippy cup because she was going to give her bottles to Baby Kennzie.  I am pretty sure Elsie had no idea what this really meant, but she picked out a super cute Woody & Buzz sippy cup with a smile!  When Baby Kennzie came over, I had Elsie put all her bottles in a gift bag and give it to Kennzie.  She put the bag in the baby's carseat and giggled.  I talked it up all night long about how she was so nice to give her bottles to baby Kennzie and how she was a big girl now.  She did great...until it came time to go to bed.  She cried for a bit, but I told her she could have her NEW WOODY SIPPY CUP!  I was excited for her, she didn't seem to think it was very funny.  She finally fell asleep (keep in mind Elsie has fallen asleep with a bottle in her mouth her entire life).  It was a sad night for me.  I felt like a bad mom, but I knew it had to happen.  Elsie would look at the sippy cup I was handing to her, and go to reach for it, then realize it wasn't a bottle, and she would cry.  It was so sad!  She slept until 4:30.  Woke up and wanted a bottle.  I got 3 different sippy cups of milk from the fridge, tried handing each one to her.  She cried when she looked at each one.  She fell asleep and woke up again at about 5:30.  She was so sad!  I laid there and cuddled with her and told her it would be ok (all the while, feeling like the most horrible mother in the entire world!).  She cried for about an hour.  The longest hour of my life!  Believe me, I wanted to give in so bad, but I had to stay strong!  Usually Elsie would say "bottle" when she would wake up in the middle of the night.  This night, she knew where her bottles were.  She didn't even ask.  She just cried.  This made it that much harder.  Finally, to get her to calm down, I took her into the living room and started a movie.  She immediately calmed down and by 7:00 am she was back to sleep.  I took her back into the bedroom and we slept until about 9:00.  WE SURVIVED NIGHT ONE OF NO BOTTLE!!!!!!!!  I coundn't believe it!!  The next day was normal, until naptime arrived.  She finally fell asleep in the car while I was running errands..  She refused any sippy cup all day long.  She did take a good nap.  I told Josh to stay away for one more night.  I had stayed strong this long, he wasn't going to come home and reverse what I had done.  I was prepared for another long night.  She finally fell asleep (so sad, of course).  She didn't cry as much Saturday night going to bed, but she didn't drink any milk either!  She woke up around 5:00, I asked her if she wanted some milk she said, "yes" so I got her her Woody sippy cup and she drank it for about 5 minutes, and passed it to me and went back to sleep.  She did this 2 more times before we finally got up at about 8:00.  WE SURVIVED NIGHT TWO OF NO BOTTLE!!!!!!!!!  Night 2 was much more painless!  It has been about the same process each night since.  She will drink a little and go right back to sleep.  We are slowly getting back on a schedule of naps BEFORE 4pm and bedtime BEFORE 10 pm.  It has been a long 4 days, but Elsie is officially off her bottle!  And she isn't even 10 yet!  I am so proud of her.  I just hope she will start drinking milk again and that she will learn how to put herself to sleep without a bottle. 
Moral to the story:  Don't ever start putting your child to sleep using food/drink.  Mothers follow your instincts and make your husbands follow through with what you know is best.  I knew we would have problems with Elsie not being able to put herself to sleep clear back when she was about 2 weeks old.  Josh would always say, "She was tired, she wouldn't drink anymore"  Bless his heart for being the best dad ever!  I just hope I never have to break her of bad habits again.  It isn't fun.
Needless to say, I am glad this is finally over.  I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I am so proud of Elsie!  I love everything about being a mom!  Thank you Amanda for allowing me to have this opportunity!  I know the Lord is present in our lives, because Elsie is a perfect fit into our lives.  Josh and I are so happy!  We are so blessed!!!!  THANK YOU!!!!

Thirty, Flirty and...Thriving

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me-ee, happy birthday to me!!!

HOLY CRAP!!!  Am I really 30 years old??  Yes.  It's true.  I am 30.  I am a very spoiled 30 year old.  Josh had to work on my birthday so Danielle, Elsie and I drove to Vegas, picked up Melanie and went shopping at our favorite store, Rhapsodielle!  Then we took Elsie to Kelly and she watched her while we finished out the night's festivities :)  We went to The Venetian and picked up our tickets for the show, then we ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck's.  It was super yummy!  Probably some of the best salmon I have ever had.  MMMM-good!!!  Then we went to The Blue Man Group show.  It was so good!  It was really fun!  A perfect show to make me feel young as I grow another year older!  After the show, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory for some dessert :)  I almost got my original favorite (Vanilla Bean Cheesecake), then I was talked into being brave...I got the Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake.  I was very nervous until I took my first bite..... 

HOLY CRAP IT WAS THE MOST DELICIOUS CHEESECAKE I HAVE EVER EATEN!!!!!!!!!!!!  Thanks for making me be brave!  

Then we went and picked up Elsie, drove Melanie home and Danielle and I headed home.  We got home at 3:00 am.  Sheesh!  I am way too old to stay out that late!  It took all we had (energy-wise and stories to keep us awake - it was some good bonding time of sharing lots of crazy stories from our pasts) to stay awake on our drive. It was a lot of fun!  I am a very spoiled girl!  The next day I realized Josh had ordered me a birthday cake from Costco (best cakes ever!).  So sweet.  He is the best husband ever!  Thanks everyone for making my birthday so great!  Here's to another decade of happiness.... 

Josh and Elsie had these beautiful roses with balloons attached sent to me while I was at school.  I was so surprised.  I LOVE roses!  Thanks Josh and Elsie for making me so happy today, and every day!!!!

Yes, the man in blue "barked" at me :)

It is rough to find a good photographer.
I guess the 3 Oriental girls did an ok job.
This is one of the only pictures that Melanie or I wasn't cut out of :)

The cheesecake...
Yes, it really was that delicious!!!

The sign speaks for itself.
Too bad I don't drink Coke anymore...
I am still Vegas refreshed...Coke or not.

My sweet baby girl singing Happy Birthday.   

She loves to sing this song :) 

Thanks again everyone for all the birthday love!

Firefighter Christiansen

Our friend, Danielle found out Macy's preschool class was studying the letter "F" so she asked Josh if he would come talk to the class about being a firefighter.  He says he does this all the time at work.  It is a "service" they provide to anyone that calls them.  Josh didn't want to go alone, so Elsie and I came and watched.  He did a good job.  The kids loved him, but were a little "scared."  The teacher said, "Class, this is a REAL firefighter" it was pretty funny.  A firefighter, a fantastic husband and a terriffic father!  What a good catch!  Elsie and I are so lucky!

Telling the kids what firefighters do all day

Talking to the kids about not hiding from firefighters.

Stop. Drop. and Roll.
Except for Macy, that had to turn around and pose for the camera :)

Apparently he was pretty interesting :)

They were a little more scared when he put on all his gear

He was so cute with all the kids

He let the kids that wanted to, try on his helmet, of course Macy was first!

At the end, we were getting ready to leave and all the cute little girls were crowded around Elsie trying to get her attention.  She just wanted to play with the "big-kid" toys.  It was cute!