I love toddler-hood.

Let me repeat: I LOVE toddler-hood, or whatever this stage is officially called by the Parenting magazines. By far my favorite stage so far. Call me crazy, but I don't mind the tantrums. I view it as an unavoidable by-product to all the awesome conversation, fun times and amazement this child brings me and her daddy.
As her vocabulary develops and personality blossoms each day, we are constantly glancing each other's way with the proudest grins. The things she absorbs are phenomenal!
And to watch the world unfold before her eyes is so awesome to watch. It's hilarious how literally she interprets everything and how much she mimics what she sees from others.
Her growing independence is bitter sweet sometimes, but its also so neat to watch.
She is so smart and VERY people-pleasing. Never meets a stranger and is friendly all of the time. Outgoing would be a good word and border line loud sometimes. She knows her manners and uses  "please" and "thank you" often. I love it when she says " thanks mom, you're the best" 

She's not a scaredy cat and has never been a fall down and cry kind of kid. Tough as nails and up for adventure. She is pretty darn funny too; I can see her being the class clown. Whenever she thinks me or Casey is upset with her, she'll do something silly to distract us and then say " are you happy? "

Yes baby, we are very happy.
She's very independent and loves the phrase " I can do it by myself". She likes to pretend she gets spooked so she can run to you with a huge grin and say 'save me! save me!'
Turning into a daddy's girl more and more everyday. Don't get me wrong - she loves her mamma, but when daddy gets home she absolutely lights up! And I'm usually not allowed to play with them once they start a game session. I'll try to join the fun and she'll say - "mom, can you go to the living room please.."
Finnnne.
But I get it, her dad is pretty awesome. I like him all to myself sometimes too.

Overall, this whole kid thing is pretty stinking fun right now. She's our buddy now, getting excited about where we go and what our plans are.

We couldn't ask for a cuter partner-in-crime.

Dear child

A quick note to our second child

Today is July 2,2015 and we’re about to head to doctor for our mid-term sonogram to find out if you are a boy or a girl. And your mamma is NERVOUS. I’ve only got one more hour to count down the time and my mind is spinning out of control with thoughts.

Not really for any reason that I can pinpoint besides that our storybook will get another sentence added to it that will shape our family forever.

Elise has a little brother. Or : Elise has a little sister.

The dynamics of our family will be forever changed.

Will we be a house full of girls that will drive daddy crazy and steal his heart all at the same time?

Will we be the ‘perfect’ nuclear family with one boy and one girl?

I kind of love the thought of both scenarios. Either option seems so magical and awesome, we can’t go wrong either way. Its just I’m still nervous with what your dad calls “anxious anticipation”

Just know we love you. You are coming into a world to three people who already ADORE you. Your sister loves to blow bubbles on my belly and insists that you are laughing. She’s pretty sure that she already cracks you up. Wait until you get out here and meet her. She’s awesome.

What’s crazy Is that most people are so worried about finding out if it’s a boy or girl at this appointment that they often overlook that this sonogram will reveal a lot about your health as well. We get to verify those two sweet arms and two sweet legs. We’ll get to see all the chambers of your heart and your growing brain. For some reason, I feel certain you are going to be perfectyly fine. Maybe its my trust in the Lord and all he has already blessed us with or the fact that you have been such an easy baby already. This pregnancy has been a cake walk. Minimal nausea, only a week or two of extreme fatigue, and not too much weight gain! You’re my pal already ;)

 

Can't wait to meet you soon!

Love, Mommy

Rolling On

What's funny is (and I think I've said this before) I originally created this "family blog" to be able to post about my child all the time. Then I actually had our child and now I never post...Then once I get so behind, I feel like I can't catch up thus starts the cycle of non-posting. I may eventually go backwards one day and fill in the blank spots but today we are just going to talk about recent stuff. We are "rolling on"

Here's what is new with our family:
1. Let's just get me and Casey's updates out of the way so we can concentrate on Elise. ( I know that's what you came for here anyways) I am still working at the Lasik Eye surgery facility as the business manager. Love my job with every inch of my heart and could not be more glad that I made the change to get out of the banking business. Casey is still the branch manager at Citibank and rocking out the management position. He is the perfect combination of common sense and hard work ethic that every employee respects. BB&T just recently bought out Citibank's branches in our area and after losing about a night's worth of sleep we realized it was actually going to be a great change for Casey. Less conference calls and 'corporate-world B.S.' and more benefits, respect and community values. The merger will happen in May.
2. Elise is 16 months old and adorably feisty! (just like her momma?) She is a busy body, the captain of destruction and the best snuggle buddy. The trick is getting her varying personality degrees to coincide with the appropriate setting. For instance- she RARELY/NEVER wants to snuggle in church. That is when she wants to socialize, crawl all around, tear paper and wave hello to strangers. And she ALWAYS wants to snuggle while mommy is folding laundry or making dinner. Pretty funny
3. She recently went to her first dentist appointment and did great! She has 8 teeth total and like 5 more teeth coming in all at once. Our pediatric dentist is actually a friend of ours so the experience was super pleasant.
4. Last night we taught Elise how to bowl with some plastic princess set that I got from Ross. If she didn't get the ball to hit the pins, she would just walk over and knock them all down with her hands. We clapped anyways.
5. She currently sleeps from 7:30pm-6:30am every night. It is so amazing to report this! I thought we would never be able to say things like that but here we are! We have a set bed time routine that includes books with both parents a quick rock in her room and putting her in her bed drowsy. It's amazing, I'm not going to lie.
6. She recognizes the songs: "Itsy Bitsy Spider & Patty Cake" can sort of do the motions but loves to watch us do them. She also likes watching American Idol and standing in front of the TV swaying back and forth as the contestants sing.
7. She is really, really, really into animals right now. Books about them, videos about them, seeing them outside, or talking about them. She can point to : dogs, cats, birds, lions, tigers, ducks, fish, bears, elephants, pandas and of course horses. She LOVES horses. probably going to have to do a whole separate post about horses.
8. We love her to the moon and back. She squeals and dances every time Casey walks through the door in the evenings. she is never shy to give hugs and loves to lay on top of you on the floor. We're still working on the whole kisses thing. She'll blow kisses, but she's not too keen on the mouth part ... maybe we have bad breath...

Elise and I at Light Pediatric Dentistry. This is our friend, Candace. Elise doesn't look happy, but I swear she was!

Playing at a local restaurant

Adorable shot from the park the other day

From our ice day the other morning. Mommy and Elise took our time getting ready and ate breakfast like big girls at her little table. She was pumped as you can tell. 

Told you she loves horses

Snuggle time with daddy

More snuggles - think this was from Thanksgiving 

Park Day!

Sleeping angel

A year in Reflections

When we were in the first 4 weeks of Elise's life, I thought it was the hardest. I felt like one day during the second month of her life, I finally "woke up" and felt a tiny bit like a human again. Once we reached the 6 month mark, I thought we had cleared another big hurdle. We had gone through our first winter chock full of day-care colds. I was still breastfeeding but I could see the light at the end. Now that One year has come and gone, I feel like we have survived the hardest year of our life. All the consecutive nights of sleeplessness are behind us, my child can be mobile on her own, she can eat everything we eat, and is starting to communicate with us.(Mom's who have gone through the terrible two's and teenage years will probably laugh at me because they know better.) HOWEVER since I only have the experiences that I have been through, I can only surmise we have accomplished something great. Allow me to be bold and boast that we have survived the first year of parenthood!!!

I'll pause for your applause.

Although I 1000% realize that I will one day look back on this and laugh at how much I.did.NOT.Know, I kind of feel confident right now. (Which is a huge new breakthrough.) But before I go and get a big head, let's talk about some exciting things I learned over the last year:

1. You cannot spoil an infant. Hold the baby 24/7 for the first 2 months of it's life and it will still want to wiggle out of your arms as soon as it becomes mobile.
2. It is extremely hard to change a baby's bed with baby bumpers on. Do you take the bumpers off everytime you wash sheets? No, you just jam your fingers trying to wedge that stupid crib mattress down. I count it as a 15 minute workout everytime I do it.
3. Baby wipes are multi-purpose. They can clean a bottom, take makeup off without a problem and even wipe down bathroom counters in a pinch.
4. A full baby is a happy baby. Just feed the baby first and if that doesn't work - work down the list of other qualms.
5. Your hormones rage for much longer than just during pregnancy. I'm going to venture out and say mine are still not the same as pre-pregnancy. I think it has something to do with the massive amount of love that pours out of your heart and the expansive amount of responsibility you are thrown into. Bad combo.
6. Being a mother has given me a LOT more grace towards society as a whole. ESPECIALLY other mom's. I will never judge another mother again. As long as she is trying, she's allright by me. None of us know what the hell we're doing and to judge another mother based on how much of a mess her child is, how loud they are or what brand of diapers they wear is ridiculous. Being a mother is an excellent tool that God uses to humble women. I trully believe that.
"Oh, you're a hot woman in your twenties with a fantastic job and walk around extremely self-centered???BOOM! Here's a kid. Lessons learned."
7. Becoming a mother made me a little bit of a road-rager. Never before did I get angry when driving, but if I'm on my way to pick up my child and there is a traffic jam? Move over buddy! You've got one hot momma on your hands!
8. Having children at approximately the same time as your friends is a must. We would not have survived the first year with any dose of sanity had we not had fellow 'trainees' to swap stories with and cry with. 

Google

So I realize that the internet cannot solve all our problems. but since I'm from a generation where it is a fast resource tool, I find myself using it more than referring to books. And to my sweet surprise, I realized my phone keeps a record of my recent 'search' history. Hooray! Now I have a way to chronicle all the uncertainty that I have navigated on this road called motherhood. : )
Apparently my phone only goes back 6 months, but this is the list since March. Man, I wish I could see what I searched during the first few months of Elise's life.

Kristi's internet searches in March 24th, 2013. All of these are absolutely true and hilarious
Enjoy!

• Red spots on baby's bottom
• fisher price toys
• hormone crash after stop breastfeeding
• Ear infections
• Post-weaning blues
• how long does baby ear infection last
• how many ounces should a baby have in a day
• feeding tips 
• phone apps for parents
• University Pediatric Association
• kayro syrup and babies ?
• when baby's poop texture changes
• Little Bunny Foo-Foo Lyrics
• how to stop co-sleeping
• I suck at letting my baby cry-it out
• Lollacup
• 8 month old will not sleep
• sleeping in your babies crib
• ways to get your baby to sleep
• Prayers for mothers
• baby ear wax
• baby sleep training
• cry-it-out methods
• working mothers guilt
• my 10 month old has an attitude
• far-sightedness in infants
• glasses for children
• Toddler nap guide
• benefits of in-home child care

Baby proofing - Zimmerman Style

Check out all the new additions to our house :)

Baby gate strategically around the dog food because we've learned that Elise really likes that stuff! 

Baby gate around the entire TV area - because it's just easier than saying "NO" two thousand times a day 

Bouncer still in front of the fireplace even though she hasn't used it in months. All because it distracts her from the ACTUAL fireplace and all the danger there. 

Adult items on top, baby things on bottom. Now mommy doesn't care what gets pulled off and thrown on the floor 

Obviously. I mean, what are we - amateurs? 

Toys just line the walls!

I thought having baby stuff everywhere would annoy me, but instead I love it!

More toys - These are lining the walls of our bedroom. All beautiful distractions for a very curious girl. This stuff buys mommy at least 20 minutes to put on make up in the morning 

Hard to tell, but this exer-saucer is up on its side hiding a huge pile of cords and computer accessories. So clever!