Josh, Ashlee and Elsie: 18 Months Old!

ONE AND A HALF YEARS??????? Holy crap! Where has the time gone?? Our sweet baby girl joined our family 18 months ago! We can't imagine life without her! I feel like I start out each blog entry the same. Saying how I can't believe how big, beautiful, and fun she has gotten over the last month. Each month I write my true feelings. I truly can't believe how beautiful, big and fun Elsie has gotten. She truly is the light of our lives! Right now she is learning and growing so much every day! Every day she says something new that makes us smile and laugh. She tries to say a lot of the things we say, it is so cute!
Elsie's Favorites:

Mom and Dad: Yes she still loves us! We hope this lasts forever!
Ellie: that cute little stuffed Elephand of hers! She now says her name (I will do my best to spell it the way Elsie says it) Eh-wwie. It is so cute! She smiles so big when she sees Ellie and she hugs her right up to her face and giggles.
Keys: Elsie's current favorite toy is our car keys. I have tried giving her different keys, she doesn't want them, she only wants ours! Luckily, she hasn't lost them yet. I pray she doesn't throw them in the trash or flush them down the toilet :) I keep a close eye on her when I know she has them. She loves to carry them around and try to open any and every door with them.
Going: Elsie loves going. Anywhere. Everywhere. I don't know the last day we stayed home and didn't go anywhere. I don't know if we have ever stayed home for an entire day and not gone somewhere.
People: She still loves people. People she knows, people she doesn't. As long as they smile at her and give her attention, she loves them! She has gotten more clingy to Josh and I, but she will still smile and wave at anyone that looks at her :)
Water: She loves water. Swimming, baths, any and all water. She has recently started LOVING to wash her hands in the sink, she is even figuring out how to rub the soap all over her hands :)
Lotion: It isn't a secret that I dowse Elsie in lotion morining and night, she now wants me to put lotion in her hands so she can help. She usually puts the lotion right on her tummy (if she has a shirt on, the lotion goes right on it) or her face and sometimes her little arms make it up to her hair :) Yes, I still style Elsie's hair with lotion (only lotion), this is why she always smells so delicious!
Books: She loves books! She still just loves looking at pictures, most of the time we never read them to her, she just looks at the pictures and then turns the pages. Time to start going to the library?
TV/Movies: Any and all. Well, you know what I mean, kid stuff. Her current favorite tv shows are: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (she loves the "Hot Dog" song - which I recently discovered is sung by my favorite band, They Might Be Giants), Sesame Street, Dora, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Blue's Clues...She loves tv. Movies: The Little Mermaid, Toy Story 3, Alladin, Cinderella, Robin Hood, Tangled, Chicken Run, she really isn't picky, as long as the scenes keep moving, she usually stays entertained. She has started to really interact with the tv more. She giggles at funny parts, she says "uh-oh" at parts something bad happens, it is so funny!
Dolls/Babies: She loves to play with her babies. She has started wanting us to lay out a blanket so she can lay all her babies on it. It is so cute. She will lay them all out and then just look at them and smile. It is so cute!
Music: Elsie LOVES music! I never understand what she is singing, but she sings (at the top of her lungs) ALL DAY LONG! I love it!!! I think most of the time she is singing "Part of Your World" from Little Mermaid. Her face gets so serious as she sings "...wowl..." it is hilarious!
Talking: Here are the sounds/words Elsie can currently say: Bye-bye, Hi, Cheese (one of my favorites! She will hold my phone or camera up in the air and say cheese really loud, it is so funny), Ellie, Mama, Dada, Grandma,...This is hard, because most of the time she will say anything I ask her to. The words I am writing are the ones she says on her own all the time. The animal sounds she knows: monkey, chicken, horse, puppy, kitty, sheep, hippo, elephant (my current favorite), she does pretty good, it is funny.
Snacks: Elsie has discovered she can get into our snack cupboard and reach the snacks, mostly chips. She still loves chips! Elsie's current favorite foods are: tomatoes, chips, strawberries, grapes, peaches, hot dogs, string cheese, eggs, yogurt, popsicles (are these considered food, or a staple ingredient in the summer when it is 105 degrees outside?), orange juice (she doesn't like apple juice and she usually only drinks orange juice with her breakfast), bottles....yes, Elsie is still on a bottle. I think she will be on a bottle until she is 15! She now says "ba-ba" If you would have asked me 2 years ago what my thoughts were on kids and bottles....lets just say I would have told you I would NEVER have a child over the age of 1 on a bottle...was I wrong or is Elsie spoiled? Any tips on how to get her off it? I don't want brag stories of how easy it was for your child, just help me :)
Nursery: Yes, Elsie is finally in nursery and she LOVES it! Of course a month ago, I got called into the nursery, so Elsie has already been a few times. She loves everything about it! I am glad I get to be in there to watch her interact with the other little kids. I know that Elsie would be fine without me in there because half the time she isn't paying any attention to me!

I am not even going to start a list of things Elsie doesn't love, because the list would be short. Elsie really is a SUPER FUN, easy going girl, with a huge temper! I love everything about her! I love everything about being a mom! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband and daughter! I am so lucky! Without embarrassing Josh, he is the most amazing husband and dad ever! I love watching him interact and play with Elsie, we are 2 of the luckiest girls in the world! We love you Josh! Amanda, I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you and your sacrifice! We are so happy! We love you and we love Elsie! Thank you!!!

This was the 2nd picture of this sitting I took...I stopped here :)

One morning Josh stood Elsie up on one of the chairs by the kitchen counter and Elsie saw this tomato, so Josh gave it to her, thinking she didn't know what it was....She ate half of it!

Those blue eyes....yes, they really are that blue!

Sharing some vanilla bean cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory with Mom and Dad

I am not sure which she loved more: the actual cheesecake, or feeling like a big girl eating it...

Elsie's new favorite place to be...

...She hasn't fallen yet. She stands at these chairs and whines until we pick her up and put her on one.

We were in Las Vegas at the Town Square shopping center. I knew this splashpad was here, but we had already been swimming all day, so I didn't bring Elsie's swimming suit...I couldn't resist her cute face wanting to get into the water. I am SO GLAD I let her get wet, because she had more fun here than I have seen her have in a long time! She LOVED IT!!!! She was definitely the cutest one there and she didn't even have a swim suit! I didn't have a change of clothes for her, so we left there with her in just a diaper. Good times :)

Elsie and Grandma Gay

Elsie LOVES Grandma Gay :)

I love Elsie and Grandma Gay :)

I made this cute dress and this long grass made for a perfect picture, but Elsie HATED the grass in her face (I don't blame her, but I still wanted a cute picture). I couldn't get her to smile, so this is the best I could get :)

Elsie thinks she is a big girl. I love watching her mimick me when I get ready. Every morning, she comes into our bathroom and says "teee" meaning that she wants to brush her teeth :) Gotta keep those pearly whites pearly white :)

I have started giving Elsie snacks in a little bowl...the little bowl gets spilled A LOT!

Riding the Merry-go-round at the Washington County Fair

She giggled the entire way down the Giant Slide!

She loves rides!

"Cheees"

She is an adventurer :)

"Woa"

This picture represents me having to go back to work. Elsie woke up at about 6:00 and Josh brought her into our bed then he left for work. I go ready and was ready to leave and this is Elsie...I had to wake this sleeping princess up for her first day of "school"...ok, so she was only going to Charice's but you get the idea. Elsie LOVES going to Charice's :)

Love the early morning grin and you gotta love that hair!!!!!!

"CHEEEEEES"

Watching tv :)

Seriously, does she get any cuter?

Elsie and her BFF Macy watching tv :) This is Macy's attempt at smiling for a picture without missing any of her show :)
Notice that Elsie didn't even attempt...

I love this sweet girl!

I was getting ready and Elsie was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, when I came out and saw this...She said "cheeees" perfectly :) Breakfast of champions?...

Good girls get to pick their movies...She LOVES this!

Exhausted.

Another attempt of mine to get a cute picture of her in my mom's tall grass...Elsie still hates it in her face.

I LOVE this smile!

Elsie and Aunt Sierra
Sierra's mom, Charice is the one that watches Elsie on the days Josh and I both work.

Playing with her babies :)

Silly girl.

Relaxing on the boat :)

She is becoming quite the boat driver :)

Swimming with Dad. She loves to float on her back! This night, she would sit on the swim deck and shout "tooooo" then fall, or jump into the water. This is the first time she has ever attempted trying to count :) She probably did it 20 or 30 times. She is quite the fish :)