Elsie is 20 Months Old!!!

 Another month.  Really? 20 MONTHS???  I can't believe our sweet baby girl is only 4 months away from being 2!!!!  I love her so much!!!!!  Elsie is turning into a little girl, she isn't a baby anymore.  Of course, she will always be my baby, but she is getting so big and learning so much.  I love watching her mimick Josh and I.  She does it all day long.  She says pretty much everything - most days I can understand everything she says.  If she repeats me, she can say anything, it is when she comes to me and says something without pointing to something, that I have a hard time understanding her.  Usually I can figure it out though.  Elsie is still OBSESSED with movies!  She wants to watch them ALL DAY LONG!  Due to the layout of our house, we are always in the living room, therefore, we do watch movies ALL DAY LONG!  Good thing I love Disney movies, Josh is getting better.  Bottom line: Elsie is spoiled and we like it that way!  Will it all backfire some day?  Probably.  We will deal with it when it comes.   We do all we can to love this sweet baby girl!  She is our world!!  Elsie's favorite movie changes every day.  Right now her favorites to watch are Shrek (Shek), 101 Dalmations (Pup-ees), Toy Story 1 & 3 (Buzz), Cars (Car), Cinderella (Re-llla), Anything with a princess, she says "Pin-sess" all day long :) She has started being more interactive with movies lately.  She laughs when they laugh on the movie, and most days, she realizes what is funny to her and laughs out loud.  I love it!  The other day in the car she actually laughed out loud then slapped her knee while watching a movie, it was super cute!  She says "uh-oh" all the time :)
A Day with Elsie:
Elsie wakes up usually between 7:30 and 8:00 every morning.  She usually hangs out by me while I get ready for the day.  She loves to stand on the chair in my bathroom and get into all my stuff.  She could do it for hours.  Some mornings she will watch a movie and play with her toys while I get ready, depending on if Josh is working that day or not.  If Josh is home, she hangs out with him while I get ready.  Then I get Elsie ready.  She is good to let me do her hair and get her dressed.  It is a painless process.  I hope it stays painless forever, but I know it won't last knowing how strong-willed this sweet girl is :) Then we get breakfast.  Breakfast is usually Elsie's best meal of the day.  She is a high-maintenance breakfast girl, she doesn't like cereal or any of the "simple" things :)  She loves scrambled eggs (sprinkled with grated cheese), toast and juice most days.  She also loves yogurt, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, bacon, all the good breakfast stuff :)  She is spoiled :) Then we will either hang out and watch a movie or go on a walk or run errands, something to get us out of the house.  Elsie LOVES to be on-the-go.  Whatever we are doing, she is game for a good time.  She loves to ride in shopping carts and wave and say hi to everyone she sees.  I will hand her things I am going to buy, she will look at it for a minute, then she will throw it in the back of the cart, makes me laugh every time!  When I have to work and Elsie is home with Josh, he takes her to the park every time!  He explores and tries new parks, I think we have finally found a perfect park for her.  There are like 6 slides and lots of things for her to climb on!  Elsie is so lucky to have such a great Daddy!!  She loves spending time with Dad!  Depending on what we did and how long we were gone, she sometimes falls asleep in the car, or we come back, eat lunch, watch a movie and she takes a nap.  Lunch is never Elsie's best meal.  Some days she falls asleep before even eating lunch.  I don't think Elsie is a picky eater, but she kind of is.  She will try anything, but if she doesn't like it, she won't eat it.  She likes bread, but she won't eat sandwiches.  She still loves any and all pasta, quesadillas, beans, most meat...It's hard to list everything she likes, because she tries anything.  Usually when she naps, it is anywhere from 1-3 hours.  If she fell asleep before she had lunch, the she has lunch right when she wakes up.  If she had lunch before she went to sleep, then she will play.  She loves to play with her Ariel doll or her babies and her stroller and anything from the kitchen.  She is pretty good at mimicking us, it is funny.  Yesterday, she was putting her baby in the stroller and she kept saying, "Ni-Niyt" and covering her with a blanket, then she said "Wate" it was super cute.  Elsie is also obsessed with closing doors.  She has to follow behind us and shut the doors.  She is just barely tall enough that she can get her little hand on top of the door knobs and take her tiny footsteps backwards as she pulls the door shut.  It is cute.  My favorite word Elsie says right now is "Yes"  It isn't so much the word, as the way she says it.  I will ask her if she wants something and she says "Yes" Sounds simple, but is is so funny how she says it :)  She says it so clear, loud and with conviction :)  It makes Josh and I laugh every time she does it!  My favorite is when she says it in the middle of the night when she is half asleep.  "Elsie, do you want a bottle?" Half asleep Elsie (in a loud voice with conviction - as if she were wide awake) "YES" it is so funny every time!!  She does this every night :)  Elsie started saying "ba ba" when she wants her bottle.  I would correct her and call it a "bottle" It was a lot easier for her to say "ba ba" but I felt she was capable of saying bottle.  She only said "ba ba" for about 2 weeks, then she started saying, "bottle" it was pretty funny.  Every time she wants a bottle she says it.  I love it!  Yes, she is still on a bottle, and she may be until she is 10!!!  Elsie plays, or we run errands, go on a walk or go to the park in the late afternoon, then we come home and eat dinner.  Most days, when we get Elsie out of her highchair, she immediately goes to the cupboard to get chips, or something else to eat.  I am still trying to understand this.  I think it is funny.  Yesterday, she immediately wanted chips, and she had already eaten all her dinner.  She ate like 10 chips.  This crazy girl :)  After dinner, we hang out, then around 8 or 8:30 I give Elsie a bath.  She LOVES bathtime!!!  She LOVES water!!  She loves to stand at the faucet while the tub is filling up.  She is so funny in the tub.  She will lay down and reach down and fill a cup with water, then she will take a breath, pull the cup up and dump it in her face, then scream, kick her feet, splash and giggle.  She does this repeatedly.  It is hilarious.  She will also dump the cup on her face while she is sitting up, she thinks it is hilarious.  Then we get on jammies.  I bought Elsie some pajamas with princesses on them, Elsie loves them and calls them "Rella" it is funny.  Now, every night when I am getting her jammies on, she says, "Rella?" It is pretty funny.  When she has her jammies on, we put on a movie and she cuddles with Daddy and has a bottle and usually falls asleep.  Some nights, she fights sleep so she can watch the movie.  Bad habits.  Lately we have been taking her into the bedroom and laying by her until she falls asleep, then we take her into her own bed.  Every night is a little different, but on an average night, She wakes up anywhere from 1-4 and we bring her into our bed (bad habits, I know) and give her a bottle (bad habits, I know) she immediately goes back to sleep.  Then she usually wakes up again around 6 or 7, has a bottle (bad habits, I know) and goes back to sleep until 8ish.  One of these days she'll be off that bottle!  I love waking up to Elsie in bed with me.  If she wakes up before us, she will tap our faces and say "wake" most mornings, she sticks her fingers in our ears (and says "ear") or in our nose (and says, "nos") it is pretty funny.  She is such a cuddler.  I love it!
I have no idea how much Elsie weighs, other than that she is getting big.  I can't carry her for very long anymore.  She is starting to look and act like a little girl more and more every day.  I want her to stay a baby forever.  I love this sweet girl more than anything!!  Josh and I are the happiest parents ever!!!  Thank you Amanda for blessing our lives!  We couldn't be happier! 

Those eyes!

OOOHH, I love that grin!!!!

She needs to stop growing!!

"Cheees."

Not sure what the fit was about, but this is normal :)

Elsie loves ketchup, with a side of hot dog :)
That cute belly :)

"Cheees."

Little did I know that this would be the last trip
to the splashpad of the season :(
Elsie LOVES the splashpad and water!!

I think she likes the soup :)
This is the first time she has ever licked her bowl clean :)

I was playing around with her hair and took this picture :)
I don't really love the pigtalis, cause you can't see her cute curls
..but look at those eyes and lips!  I can't ever get enough!!!!!
She is perfect!

Did I mention she is perfect?

Elsie and Jake

It's a 2 man show!

Outfit of the day!
She looks so big!!

Bathtime!  This was taken with Josh's cell phone, no fix-ups - her eyes really are that blue!

I was making dinner and Elsie was playing - I had no idea she was playing in the dryer!
I love her eyes in this picture!!!

Clapping at the parade!  She LOVED all the horses!

Ice cream with her bff, Macy - life doesn't get any better than this!

BFF's!  Crazy girls! 
Most days, "May-shee" is the first word Elsie says in the morning :)

Elsie loves nursery at church!

Elsie LOVES slides!!!!  Any, and EVERY slide!!!
The bigger, the better!!!

Snack time at nursery.  I am not sure if she would love nursery as much as she does, if I wasn't in there with her every time.

All ready for church!

Dancing to "Hot Dog" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
while she helps me make Sunday dinner :)



Elsie's favorite place to stand while I am getting ready.
She is so happy in the morning!



This is the first time Elsie has ever done this.  She ate a really good dinner at about 5:30, I got her out of her highchair, put her down, was washing dishes and before I finished, this is what I found.  It had been less than 10 minutes.  She mush have been exhausted!

I love her cute smile!

My friend Allyson's daughter Kassie, taught Elsie the "sad lip" Elsie does it, then smiles and giggles every time, she thinks it is hilarious :)

Going on a 4wheeler ride with dad!

MMMMMM! A chocolate dipped strawberry!!

Elsie and Kenley :)  Elsie loved Kenley, but Kenley wasn't so sure about Elsie :)

Pumpkin-carving-Sunday :)

Such a good daddy!

She still loves tomatoes!!!
"Mado"

Oooh, this is a good fit :)

Check out those curls!

Her hair is getting so long, yet, it is SOOOO curly.  The curls are SO TIGHT!

Elsie loves to wear my shoes, she has just barely been able to actually walk in them :)

Playground.  She LOVES the park!!

SLIDE!!!!!!

Elsie is such a happy girl!  She loves to be active and loves to be around people!  We are the 2 happiest parents in the whole world!!!!  We love you Amanda and we love you Elsie!!!!!