Utah Vacation... in pictures

We took a quick trip to Utah over the past weekend, and it was fun to go back and visit. It has been 8 years since I have lived there... time sure flies! We got to visit with Jason and Becky, and Elise got to play with cousins. We also got to see some other friends and family that either live there or were visiting. Sorry this is a long post. It is mostly because I think I'm getting senile. If I don't write something down, I don't remember it. Our kids decided that they could have fun playing in the cold weather too. Good thing there are parks everywhere! They go a long way in warming Elise and Steven up to a place.

We saw all the changing leaves. It was very pretty. This is what it is like to have an actual Fall season!Steven had his first encounter with snow, and decided he was just not a fan. He refused to step on it. If he was walking and came to a patch of snow, he would just freeze and wait for someone to pick him up and carry him over it.We visited the "This is the Place" Monument.

Dad read all the plaques while Mom chased Steven in circles and Elise picked all the dandelions and blew them to make wishes.

Finally the kids got tired of waiting for Dad to finish, and so they chased eachother across the plaques Dad was trying to read. Dad was not happy. Mom was too tired of chasing them in circles to care. We spent WAY too much time in the car driving around, and Steven's only defenses were screaming or sleeping. We all preferred the sleeping.

We visited the Salt Lake Temple, where my kids refused to pose for a picture together. This was the best I could get.All Elise wanted to do was dance on the "stage." What a nut.

Dad got some quality time with his biggest fan, Steven.

We all rode the ski lift up to the top of Sundance, against my better judgement. The whole time I kept picturing Steven jumping off, but Chris assured me he wouldn't let him do that, and told me I had too much of my mother in me. Yes, sometimes I worry a bit too much, but I think a two year old falling off a ski lift may be a legitimate concern.Elise and Dad had a snowball fight at the top of Sundance. There wasn't much snow, but it amused Elise anyway.Steven, once again, wanted nothing to do with touching the snow. Chris and the kids looking out over the edge. Yikes!Chris and Elise took off on a hike up the side of the mountain, leaving Steven behind. Steven was not pleased. He tried to take off after them, but his mean mom wouldn't let him get too far.
Steven actually even took a few steps on the snow trying to catch Dad and Elise up the side of the hill. Just a few though. Once he realized what he'd done, he turned around immediately and stepped off the snow. Then he just stood there staring up the hill at them, but refused to cross the snow.

Steven is such a Daddy's boy, he forgave Chris when they got back down the hill and wanted to snuggle him.We rode the ski lift back down the hill, which was even scarier. Looking down, it seemed much steeper. Luckily, we all survived.

Silly Sadness

On Sunday I was driving to a family dinner with Elise and Steven. Chris had a bad headache and so he had decided to stay home. We were about half way there when it dawned on Elise that Dad wasn't with us. I told her he didn't feel good so he was staying home. She got a very upset look on her face (much like the one pictured above), and said in the saddest voice you can imagine, "But, I will really miss him because I just really like his black hair!" It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing out loud at her comment.

Look Alike?

I have always thought that Elise looks so much like her Dad. However, tonight Elise was looking through some old photo books with me, and she kept saying that pictures of me were her. I think if you look at these pictures, there is a definite resemblance. Her smile is definitely all her dad, so I don't think my old pictures look as much like her if I am smiling. Most of these pictures of myself I was about 5 1/2. The petting zoo one is the only one where I was actually 4. She seems to look more like my older pictures though. Perhaps she is more of a mix than I have always thought. By the way, sorry the old pictures are so bad... my scanner is horrible!

All About Steven

I have had a lot of "Elise centered" posts lately, so I thought I would share a few things about Steven to keep things sort of evened out.

Steven absolutely adores both his binky and his blankie
Unfortunately, his mom has passed a bad habit onto him of "soda love."

He makes the goofiest faces, and is a constant mess. In this picture, he had rubbed his yogurt in his hair. Yum.:

He strips his clothes off any chance he gets. By the way, aren't kids still in diapers just the cutest in big boy jeans? It's so cute, I can't stand it.

He eats just about anything and everything. Also, he climbs in and out of his high chair himself. Since he can't say too many words, when he is hungry he sometimes lets me know he wants food by climbing in his high chair and grunting for food.

He HATES his car seat. Not enough wiggle room. But he does love his hat.

He loves to go outside, and always wants to be the one to open and close all the doors.

He likes Disneyland... sometimes.

He loves to climb on anything and everything.

Most of all, he is a bit of a Mama's boy and knows how to make her smile with his hugs, snuggles and chitter chatter.

Artwork and writing

Elise brought home this picture on the first day of school, and told me it was a picture of me. Don't I look beautiful? What I really appreciate about this picture is that I have a body. Usually her people pictures are a head with a face drawn in and arms and legs coming out of it, but without a body. The second picture is of the second time she wrote he name. I helped her write her name for the first time a few weeks ago when we were waiting at the doctor, and I carefully folded up the little scrap of paper we wrote it on and tucked it in my wallet for safekeeping. If you have ever seen inside my wallet, then you know that it is really not a very "safe" place to keep anything. It is on the slightly disorganized side. Now of course I can't find it, so I will just have to keep the paper from the second time she wrote her name. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

4!

Here are a few of Elise's four year old pictures:

Of course, when I took Steven to get his 18 month pictures he wanted nothing to do with it. He kept trying to run away from the camera lady. So it makes perfect sense that today when he didn't have his hair brushed and he was wearing play clothes, he wanted to try to jump in every shot! Oh well, I guess that is just how it works out sometimes. Maybe we will have better luck with his two year old pictures.

First Day of Preschool!

Today is Elise's first day of preschool. Before we went she was being sad and saying she was going to miss me, but as soon as I dropped her off, she ran in the door and could have cared less if I was there at all. I guess that is a good thing, and it is definitely more what I expect from my independent little girl. Here are a few pictures of her before preschool. In the second one she is making a sad, "I will miss you, Mommy" face, and in the last one she is acting like a dinosaur. She told me, "Mom, I need a picture where I am acting like a dinosaur, because I am in the Dinosaur class." What a funny girl.

Elise picked out her outfit, and she picked both a skirt and a shirt I made her (awww). I don't love the way they look together, but she couldn't be talked into either leggings with the shirt or a t shirt with the skirt, so oh well. And they have to wear tennis shoes to school, which look kind of funny with a skirt, but that's okay because she LOVED her outfit and told me she looked beautiful several times. At least she sort of matched!

A Few Fun Pictures from Elise's Birthday

What a difference a year makes

I think sometimes as I am going about my life, I don't realize how my kids are gradually changing. When I think back to Elise a year ago, I picture her looking just exactly the same as she looks now. So, I decided to look back at a few pictures of her from her birthday a year ago to see how she has changed. I think she definitely looks older, but the changes are becoming more subtle from year to year than they were when she was younger.

Elise on her third birthday:
Elise on her fourth birthday:

By the way, a few people have asked, and yes I did make Elise's Minnie Mouse outfit. The shirt was the easiest thing I have ever made, and turned out really cute. I followed a tutorial I found on a blog to make it, so I thought I would share the link. You can see the tutorial here if you are interested: http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/2009/08/ruffle-sleeve-top-tutorial.html

A Four Year Old That Can Melt My Heart

Today is Elise's birthday. I can't believe that she is four! We had her cake yesterday because we are going to be spending most of today at Disneyland, and will likely be home too late for celebrations. She was so excited about her Minnie Mouse cake and cupcakes. This girl loves cake! It was so cute, after she blew out her candles she looked at me and said, "You know what I wished for Mom? I wished that we could be friends forever, and I wished that we could go on an airplane to Nana and Papa's house!" What a sweet little girl. I didn't even remind her to make a wish when she blew out her candles, so I'm glad she remembered on her own. Here are a few pictures of Elise with her cake.

I made the cake by using a small round cake and I made the ears with two large cupcakes. The polka dot cupcakes turned out cute, and were so simple! I frosted them with red frosting, and then I used halved marshmallows to make the polka dots. Elise couldn't have been happier.