Merry Christmas 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

At Christmastime, we would like to take a moment to send out lots of love and joy to our family and friends!








We are very blessed to have you in our lives and give thanks to God every day for each of you!

Saddest...Carnival...EVER!

I don't know how to say it any other way! This was supposed to be this amazing Holiday Fair and Craft Show in a cute little town (the town is cute!) just a few miles up the road from us. But when we arrived,...well...it was pretty much deserted except for the people working there. (Carneys?...small hands...oh, nevermind!) At least it was indoors and well heated! ;-) Still not sure Elizabeth knew what to make of the rides. Judge for yourself:

Next Time Won't You Sing WIth Me?...

Warning: Gratuitous "proud-parent brag video" to follow. Viewing not necessary unless you are one of E's grandparents!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, and, What's That?...Oh Yeah, More SNOW!

Welcome to the Holiday Season from Okemos, Michigan! In case you were wondering...yes, we are FREEZING COLD!!!! Here are pictures of our house (and views of our backyard and neighborhood from the front yard) from last weekend!













And...it still looks the same...covered in SNOW!

Chillin' Like a Villain...

Check out the way Elizabeth is just kicking back, lounging in her pink chair, "reading" her bunny book. We're happy she loves her books so much--so, for now, we won't make a big deal about the fact that it's upside down! ;-)

"Yo, homey...I got some mad reading skillz!"

First Night in the Big Girl Bed!

Well...tonight is the night!

So...we are bringing you up-to-the-minute coverage on the Big Event!

Here are some pictures of Elizabeth's "Big Girl Room" with her "Big Girl Bed"!




























And then, a little video treat to document the bedtime ritual.




(You may notice...we did not have her crawl under the covers, yet. She is used to sleeping with these favorite little blankets on top of her, so we thought we'd ease in a little at a time before introducing the whole sheet and comforter situation.) I'll post tomorrow to let you know whether or not the first night was a success!

"Are You Chasin' the Train?"

Elizabeth got a Thomas the Train and little track for her birthday (yes, the cheapie plastic kind from Marshalls--but it's not supposed to be an heirloom, and it seems to do the trick!) As you can see, she never seems to tire of chasing it around the track. In fact, my guess is that you will tire of watching her chase it around the track long before she gives up! Enjoy!

The BIG Birthday Post!

So, as many of you may know...Elizabeth turned TWO last week! So hard for Mommy and Daddy to believe that she has already been on this Earth for 2 years!


Auntie P and Hunkie D came out to Michigan from LA to celebrate with us...and they brought SNOW! haha!




Okay, maybe they didn't bring the snow...but it worked out that the snow came to visit anyway!








Here is a video of Auntie P teaching Elizabeth to "lick the snow" and Hunkie D's half-hearted attempt to start a snowball fight! ENJOY!

Cute as a Bug on Halloween!

Elizabeth had her first "trick-or-treating" experience...and it did not go quite as Mommy planned. She looked adorable in her little Ladybug outfit, and seemed sort of interested in doing what the other kids were doing (we spent a few minutes watching all the hullabaloo from our front porth first)...but when it got right down to it, once we crossed the street and headed up to knock on the first door, she stopped dead in her tracks and repeated, "no...no...no..." and then began to cry. So, Mommy comforted her a little, then coaxed her to get some candy from the nice lady. But one piece was plenty for her...and she was ready to return home to the safety of of Daddy's arms on her own front porch. From then on, she helped us pass out candy to the kids who came to visit us. Ah...much better.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Uncle John's Cider Mill!





She can't wait to go back there again later this week with Grammy and PopPop! There was SO MUCH for Elizabeth to do and enjoy! I'll let these pictures speak for themselves!




Here, Elizabeth is peeking through a school bus window with Dash, Kai, and Emrys (Meghan and David's children!)

Look closely...can you find the pink pumpkin?!?!

Yep...there she is!

"Elizabeth's Goin' Crazy?!"

Every time we show this video to Elizabeth, she shrieks with delight and then laughs, repeating "Elizabeth's going crazy?!?!" It's a little silly, but it makes us all laugh! Hope it'll make you laugh, too!

Sing Us a Song, You're the Piano-Grammy!

When we visit Grammy's house, it seems like E wears Grammy out asking her to play her favorite songs for her over and over and over and over again on the piano! (Her current favorite is this one called "Six Little Ducks"...And, as you can see, Elizabeth really is her BIGGEST fan!!! And, she likes to pretend that she is playing along as well!

Sharing the Big News!

Well...we haven't really sat down to explain to Elizabeth that--come April--she is going to be a Big Sister. But, after I returned from my ultrasound in Los Angeles (which unexpectedly and surprisingly revealed that I was already 12 weeks pregnant!), Erin took this photo of the three of us together for posterity! haha! We will call this the first sibling photo!...and we'll attempt to explain the whole situation to Purple MUCH later...

Birthday Shoutout to Emily!

Elizabeth's little friend, Emily, turned ONE this week! So, we wanted to give a BIG BIRTHDAY SHOUTOUT to her, as today, she is the guest of honor at her own family Birthday Bash in LA thrown by Mommy and Daddy (Erin and Josh)!



Congratulations, EMILY!!!! XXOO






Here is a picture of Elizabeth and Mommy having a playdate with Erin and Emily during our visit to LA a few weeks ago! We miss you!!!!

Happy Early Birthday to E from Grams!

Grams sent this adorable little outfit to Elizabeth for her birthday (which is in one month!...can you believe it?!?)














So, we took some pictures of her wearing it while engaging in her favorite activities: reading and playing with Mo! Enjoy!...and thank you, Grams!

Sammy's "Little Girl"

This is just a shoutout entry to Samantha Jean and her "little girl"! We miss you, Sammy, and we can't wait to see you on Wednesday! :-)

Last Day at the Beach!

So...before we left Los Angeles, Elizabeth took Mommy and Daddy down to El Porto for one last look at the beach!


And here she is keeping warm on the car ride home!

Yep...that's Auntie Sammy's sweatshirt, swallowing her from head to toe!

It's Halloween Time!

Well, not quite...but for Elizabeth, it is! Before we left Los Angeles, Elizabeth had a fun little photo shoot for Carter's, modeling a green and orange witchy sleep set and an adorable Ladybug costume! Here is the link to the Carter's website for pictoral evidence of her short-lived career: http://www.carters.com/category/CategoryT4E.aspx?categoryId=56

Bikini Car Wash

Somehow, Elizabeth got wind of the controversial "Bikini Car Wash" in San Antonio, Texas. And, while she doesn't yet own a bikini, she seemed to think the concept of combining swimsuit with car washing was grounded in a strong foundation.




So, this afternoon, she decided to start a business of her own...on our front lawn...washing Mommy and Daddy's cars! Whoohoo!












Oh, and for those of you non-Californians who are thinking it is ghetto to wash your car on the grass (I know what you are thinking b/c when I first saw that, I thought it, too!)...it's actually a standard practice here, due to water supply issues in SoCal. You can read more about Water Conservation here: http://www.monolake.org/waterconservation/ and you'll see that tip number 8 under "Ten Ways to Save the Most: Outside" is-- "Drive your car onto a lawn to wash it. Rinse water can help water the grass." :-)

Conked Out!

The 2009 Acura NSX races from zero to sixty in 3.5 seconds! That's fast...but not quite as fast as Elizabeth's sixty to zero! ;-)

Today, after our weekly excursion to Polliwog Park with Erin and Emily, the four of us stopped at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch (sadly, there is no CPK near Lansing...and no Erin & Emily there, either :-(...so I have to get my fix of both before we leave!) It was approaching Elizabeth's nap time, but she was so busily chatting and gobbling up some bread that I thought she would easily make it through lunch!

Suddenly, however, I noticed her blinks getting a little longer, and--bless her heart-- she was trying to use her little hand to support her sleepy head! Erin cleverly whipped out one of Emily's "spare" dresses for Elizabeth to use as a pillow against the table, and, within a matter of seconds(!) she was out like a light! Needless to say, we ended up getting our meals in to-go boxes! But, before we left, I had to snap this picture of the sleeping beauty!

Convention

So, I just returned from Alpha Phi Convention in Arizona, and, while I was gone, Elizabeth had a fabulous time with Daddy, Grammy, and Pop-Pop!

Since I took the camera with me, I don't have pictures to post of Elizabeth, so I am posting some pics taken at Convention instead!

Here I am with my fabulous roommate, Laura, at the Red Dress Gala!


As you can see, we were all smiles...but that is before we spotted the giant Texas-sized cockroach crawling all over my dessert plate! EEK!

Here are some of the fabulous ELCs who will be traveling for Alpha Phi this year! Left to right (from memory!): Monica, Emily, Becca, Megan, and Kat! Whoohoo! Not pictured are the two Ashleys, Sarah Beth, Sam, and the incredible Courtney McCallum!

And finally, there are too many photos to choose from...so I will just add one more. Here is a picture of me with our fearless leader, Laura M-S...AKA "the big cheese"!