Big Girl!

Not only is Elle moving to a big girl bed but she's also getting a new room! We obviously want to make this transition as smooth as possible and have been talking about it with her for a little while. I would hate for her to feel as though she's being kicked out of her room when her brother arrives so we're hoping to get her situated sooner rather than later. All of which has pushed me into the full on "nesting" phase. The next few weeks we'll be busy with painters, contractors, assembling UPS deliveries and trips to good 'ol Target - my home away from home. I'll post pictures once we get her set up. Until then...


Playing with her doll house our neighbors gave her...




Elmo's potty trained!...




Elle was playing in her sandbox and I left her unsupervised for a minute...




Sorry Nola. You could have moved you know...




Making graham crackers...




And learning to vacuum...




Thanks for the recipe Andi! Yum!...




An afternoon with the deMerlier kids. George & Jilly...




Claire...







Ellery loves playing in the bassinet. I tucked her and baby in with the most plush blankie within arms reach, a dish towel :) ...

No.

Would you like to go outside? No. (then she runs to the door) Would you like to have a snack? No. (then she runs to the fridge) Would you like to read a book? No. (well, you get the idea) We've just entered the "no" phase and Elle's lovin' it! She says it very matter of factly too which is kind of cute but of course this has only been going on for 3 days. I'm sure it loses the cuteness factor after a week or so. The timing of the article "Getting Past No" in my January issue of Parents Magazine couldn't be better. It states that children this age are declaring their independence. It's her way of saying "I'm not you, I'm me!" I handed over the article to Zach and after he read about offering them choices he asked her if she wanted to give him a kiss or the table. She kissed the table 4 times! :)

Here's a few recent pictures of Little Elle...







After running her 3rd!! marathon, Amy came to visit...







Chasing her shadow...




Fun with RiRi...

Random Pics

Helping out with chocolate chip muffins...




This is what you'll get if you ask her to smile. There's a few of these in this post. :) ...




I turned my back to fill the muffin cups and...




Science Center!...




Family favorite! They have a camera that records you and plays it back backwards and at several different speeds. Zach was hilarious! We got so many laughs out of this simple silly game...
















Mark tried turning her into an Iowa State fan while out to lunch...




Weird dog...




SeaWorld!...






















Painting with RiRi...




Love this little girl...



Elle is talking so much more! New words are popping up daily. This week: pee pee, poo poo, bee, cracker, cheese, bowl, and baby. On a different note, she has started to show more interest in her potty. I'm in no hurry to get her potty trained as she is still pretty young but I set her potty out to get her used to having it around and she's taken a liking to it. Sometimes she tells me that there is something brewing in her diaper but it's always after the fact. Today she watched her cousin use the toilet and then sat on her potty for a really long time. Nothing happened but it's a step in the right direction!

Happy New Year!