The Holidays and Birthday 3!!

Blink. The holidays are over. Funny how that happens when I spend over a month preparing and anticipating their arrival.  They come and go so quickly... 

It truly has been a whirlwind!

Christmas eve was spent hosting the Kaisers at our house.. first holiday in our new home. It felt nice to pull out the china and sit in the dining room (why don't we do that more often?!). Elise enjoyed opening her gifts, my gifts, daddy's gifts-- ok, she wasn't picky! Any gift would do!

After putting out milk and cookies for Santa, Elise went to bed. 

Wouldn't you know it but Santa paid us a visit-- of course he enjoyed our snack. Elise opened her Santa present. She had previously asked Santa for a 'Boppy' (apparently one stuffed lamb isn't enough). He obliged her request and now she is an owner of 'New Boppy'. This isn't to be confused with 'Old Boppy'. 

On a side note, we also gave Elise a real vacuum cleaner. She loves it. Wait, I guess that was a gift for me! Nevermind!

Later Christmas morning we drove to Medina... only bringing Garth who wasn't feeling well (more on this next time). Santa was nice again to grace us with his presence. Afterall, wasn't he super tired from delivering gifts?! He's a bigger trooper than I would be!

Cousin Amelie, Santa and Elise

Elise at Christmas dinner sporting a blinking Rudolf nose.

New Years was spent at home. Jeff and Elise were nursing bad colds. At least we were able to stay out of the Emergency Room this year. We did end up having to give Elise a few breathing treatments-- at least we had that nebulizer from the ER.

January 4th ushered in Elise's birthday and her first day of Preschool! We'd been preparing for the day with reminders that 'Mommy will come back' and 'Don't forget to cover your mouth when you cough' and other things that come into play when you are out at school. Even after going to bed the night before at 7pm (lucky duck!), we had to wake our Sleeping Beauty the next morning in order to make it out the door on time. 

Elise wore a new outfit (wasn't that the best part of your first day at school?!) and sported a cute little backpack. She was ready to rumble at 8:45!

At school, there were a few tears (hers, not ours). We said our goodbyes and left our little girl to learn important things. Hard to believe that we are shaping her to be that NASA scientist, architect, or dentist (I had to throw that in there for Jeff). I'm envious of her open possibilities and young mind!! What a blank canvas!

Here we are posing with Elise's teacher, Miss Gail. Elise wouldn't look at the camera since she was already starting to cry. But, you can see that Miss Gail doesn't look like a mean, scary person! Elise quit crying shortly after we left. All was well!

Information about what Elise did on the first day of school! We get an update every day.

By the time I came back to pick Elise up, she didn't want to leave and go home. Luckily there will be more school days! On her second day of school (Thursday) there were less tears! Soon, we'll be over the hump and Elise will be happy to have us take her school-- well, at least that's the plan!

After a birthday dinner of pizza, Elise blew out her candles. It was nice to spend the evening home and relaxing. We are having a family birthday get together next weekend. There will definitely be singing, dancing and an altogether wild time. Afterall, the grandparents will be there! Hopefully the neighbors won't call the police!

Happy 3rd birthday Elise! May all your wishes come true!