Recent Pictures

Fun in the tub:



Elise with a babushka:

Cardboard City and the Big Move

Last week was an eventful week (and I quite frankly was too tired to think about anything other than sleep!). Here's the summary:

Cardboard City: On Monday, the movers came to pack up all of our stuff. After just 3 short hours, almost all of our belongings were packed into boxes. I'm not sure how things will look when we're ready to unpack, but the men were efficient.

Over the River and Through the Woods: Paul was off to NYC on Monday night (through Wednesday night), so Elise and I headed to my parents' house for a couple of days. After all, living in Cardboard City is hardly exciting for any of us! Elise was excited to see Grandma, but when Grandpa got home, she was ready to send him packing. Just wait until Christmas with all of the yummy treats. Grandpa will be her very favorite.

The All Clear: Elise had an appointment with the opthamologist on Wednesday morning. Dr. Tisch is so great. She's quick and knows how to get a child's attention so that she can see what she needs to see. I was really impressed and Elise did really well. She said Elise's eyes still look good and she doesn't see any signs of lazy eye or cross eye. We are really thankful!

The Big Truck: On Thursday morning, the moving truck arrived at 8:30a. It's amazing how much stuff we've accumulated over the 2 1/2 years! We were fortunate to have a sunny, dry day, but it was cold. The guys left at noon after having filled the moving van 3/4 full. We then had to finish cleaning and packing our cars....there was barely room for Elise and Briscoe, but somehow we managed to squeeze them in. Then we were off to Paul's parents.

Post-Move Hangover: Okay, so it wasn't really a hangover, but there's a certain feeling of having just done something big and then not having anything to do. There's no unpacking to be done (yet) and while there's plenty to do here, there's no particular urgency. I feel unproductive, but it's nice to have some down time.

The Latest

Many of you have been asking for an update of what's going on with our house, moving, the baby, etc. Here's the latest:

Selling the House
We are tentatively scheduled to close on our house (condo) on 12/15. I say "tentatively" because it may have to be delayed due to a "hiccup" our buyers have experienced with the sale of their cottage up north. Hopefully everything will be signed and sealed before Christmas. On a side note, Paul and I signed the closing papers yesterday morning.

Moving
The moving company is coming to pack all of our belongings on Monday (12/11). They will then come back on Thursday (12/14) morning to load the truck and take our stuff to storage. We're taking a bit of a gamble, moving without having a firm close date, but as I told Paul, I am not interesting in moving during Christmas and I'm tired of being in limboland as it relates to moving (or not moving).

We have corporate housing set up in Schaumburg, IL beginning in January (and until then, we'll be mooching off our parents for a warm bed to sleep in and food to eat). We'll likely be in the furnished apartment for 2 or 3 months, or until we can find an alternative housing arrangement (hopefully a house).

The Baby
The Baby will be 17 weeks old on Monday. Elise and I heard the heartbeat again on Thursday....it's really a sound to behold! My OB said she thinks the baby is a boy....she said (unscientifically) boys tend to have slightly lower heartrates than girls. We'll know in early January if she's right. My Grandma says that she'll believe it's a boy when she sees it. It's a well known fact that Bonner girls don't know how to make babies with handles (my Grandma has 7 granddaughers and 2 great-granddaughers, 0 grandsons).

I'm starting to put on a little bit of weight now and even have a little bump. This of course means that my clothes aren't fitting like they should and I'm in the weird stage where normal clothes are too short/tight but maternity clothes are much too big. I'm feeling a lot better for the most part, though I have my good days and bad days, but am still being monitored for a thyroid condition (hyperthyroidism) and this is always a bit of a concern.

The Girls
Elise and Briscoe are doing fine. Elise loves seeing all of the Christmas lights and trees and gets excited when she sees a clown (aka Santa Claus). Neither understands that we're moving. This next week should be interesting as all of our belongings are being packed up by strangers. I'm guessing Elise isn't going to like that too much. In addition, she's got a bit of a cold and was pretty cranky today. Let's hope that doesn't continue through the week, especially since Paul will be traveling Monday afternoon through Thursday morning. I think I'll be ready for a long nap by the time he gets back.

Contact Info
The best way to reach us right now is via email or my cellphone (our current home phone number). We don't have a new address yet, but our mail will be forwarded (place TBD).

My Day in Court

Today was my day to report for Jury Duty. After getting up at 6:30a, I trudged downtown for the 8:30 reporting time. The Jury Room was crowded and at 9:00 they called the first panel of potential jurors. Without fail, I was called. The bailiff took us up to the 14th floor where we awaited entry (for 45 minutes) into the courtroom. While we were waiting, the bailiff made an off-hand comment that Jeffrey Feiger had been spotted in the building. What he failed to mention was that he and his lawfirm were representing the plaintiff of the case! After introductions were made, we were told that the trial was expected to last 2 weeks....not good considering we'll be in the midst of moving next week.

The first round of questioning potential jurors must have taken at least an hour and a half (the judge, plaintiff and defendent attorneys each taking 30 mintues). The trial was a wrongful death civil suit, which resulted in very interesting questions. Of course, you can always tell when people are saying things or making things up just to get out of their civic duty. I was called up to replace one of the 3 original jurors, but was quickly excused by the judge because of moving. Needless-to-say, with everything going on, I was happy and made it home by 12:30p.

I was really impressed with the judge today and how she not only handled the explanation of the case, but also how she put things in layman's terms so that we could understand what was going on. I was also impressed with the way she handled the attorneys involved. At some point in my life, I'd actually like to see a trial through to the end. This just isn't the best time for a 2 week trial.

Feiger, by the way, looks exactly the way you'd expect. He is probably best known for his defense of Jack Kevorkian, the doctor who was convicted of assisting terminally ill patients commit suicide (physician assisted suicide/euthanasia).

Caught Red Handed

On our way to The Henry Ford Museum, Paul was caught by a Dearborn cop going 64 (m.p.h.) in a 45.....a wee bit too fast. Because of his stellar driving record, Paul was issued a citation for 'impeding traffic' rather than speeding. The result....$125 less in our bank account. When asked if he'd like to comment on his ticket, Paul replied,

I didn't do it...the speed limit is obsurdly low for a three lane highway.

It could have been worse. If he were cited for speeding, it would have been $160 plus 4 points on his record. Ouch! Looks like I'll be the designated driver for the remainder of our time in Michigan (and for the record, I've never been caught speeding and have never been issued a citation).

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Since we're still in Detroit and had a quiet weekend at home, we decide to take Elise to The Henry Ford Museum on Saturday. While I'd like to show you pictures, I can't because we forgot our camera. Bummer! Elise was thrilled to run around and exercise her vocabulary (Train! Car! Motorcycle! Airplane!) She also ran up and down the steps and played with the Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs in the kids area. It was surprisingly very kid friendly, although it's tough to hold a 2-year old's attention span while trying to walk through a museum. Nonetheless, we ended our tour by looking at the Weinermobile and treated Elise to a $2 wax mold as a momento. She wasn't as impressed as we were. Funny how things that seem cool as kids really aren't that cool afterall.

Weird

Paul was playing with Elise while watching an episode of Smallville. At one point during the show, things started to get a little scary (something about Lex Luther) and as Paul was searching for the remote to change the station, Elise's response was:

Weird.

Perfectly appropriate response. Enough said.

Turkey Day 2006

With my parents out of town for the week and Beth, Jon and Libby in from Memphis, we decided to join the Kurt family for Thanksgiving dinner. We had such a great time! Here are the highlights:

• There are probably very few places we could go where we would immediately feel like part of the family.
• The food was fantastic, especially the turkey. I also thoroughly enjoyed the mashed potatoes and the cranberry fluff (jello). There was enough food to feed an army (of which I made none) and enough dishes to prove it!
• It was so nice out that the kids took a long walk outside with Papa Kurt while the ladies cleaned up the kitchen.
• Elise was very excited to play with her 'cousins' and had a blast running around Papa Kurt's house. She immediately claimed all the toys as 'mine' and was reluctant to leave them behind for next time.
• The Kurt family loves to dance. Who would have thought?! We brought along our PS2 and Dance, Dance, Revolution Game and Dance Pad. They immediately claimed it has 'theirs' and wouldn't let us take it home with us. :>)
• Soon after leaving for the evening, Elise fell soundly asleep and we had a very relaxing and quiet ride home. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

O Christmas Tree

Last Sunday, we decided to bring up our Christmas tree from the basement and begin the arduous process of putting the three pieces together and 'fluffing' the branches. Paul was kind enough to carry it up and build the tree, while I fluffed. After three hours of assembly, we finished with a beautifully fake tree (sans garland and ornaments).

Little did we know that we'd receive a call from our realtor on Tuesday with a new proposed close date for the sale of our home....December 7th! We're pushing for a week later, but if we would have known that putting our Christmas tree up would sell the house, we would have done it about 4 months prior. Christmas in July, right?!

Elise's New Do

Elise had her hair cut today and did great. She sat still and was very patient. As a reward, Lisa (the stylist) gave her a sucker. She was thrilled.


On a side note, she was sitting on the floor playing just now with her zoo animals. As I was working on the computer, I heard her talking to the zebras and lions and other animals and I heard her say, "I'm a big sister." We have a book that we've been reading to her that she really loves that talks about how there'll be a new baby in the house. It's been really cute to see how she incorporates what she's learning into her playtime. Now, if only I could get her interested in babydolls.

Judicial Process at Work

I've been summoned to serve as a juror for the Third Judicial Circuit Court on December 4th. Normally, I wouldn't have a problem serving as a juror. What stinks is that it's downtown Detroit (a 45+ minute drive). While I'll earn $25/day for the first day of service and $40 for each subsequent day, they do not compensate for parking. The timing is also unfortunate. If only we had moved when we were supposed to.....bummer!

Believe it or not, I've served on a jury (personal injury lawsuit) once before in Cook County, Chicago. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Unfortunately, it was declared a mistrial so I didn't get to see it through to the end. This time, I'll remember to bring lots of reading materials and food...there's a lot of waiting around and courthouse food is nothing to get excited about!

Coo-coo for Clementines

It's been a long couple of months but thankfully, my appetite is beginning to come back. My latest craving is clementines. Yum! I just bought a box yesterday at Meijer and have eaten 5 or 6 already....the box will probably be gone by next week.

Brown-eyed Girl

This weekend we were shopping at the mall and a woman looked at Elise and said, "You have the prettiest brown eyes." Elise looked up at the woman in response and batted her eyes. So modest!

New Toy

Here she is....my first computer that I can call my own. She's an HP Pavilion Slimline and so far, she's a very nice addition to our family. The best part about her is that the CPU is so small (9.75" (H) x 4.375" (W) x 13.125" (D)). Oh, and she also has a ton of harddrive space, which means all the pictures we've taken of Elise will actually fit on one computer, rather than partially on an external drive. Happy day!

By the way, I have no idea who the strange looking man is on the monitor. As far as I know, we are not related....

Stoke of Bad Luck

Because we didn't have anything better to do, having not moved this weekend, we decided to take Elise up to the mall where they have an indoor playground for smaller kids. On our way, we came upon a bit of traffic here in Canton due to a train. After the train passed, we started to inch forward when all of a sudden we heard a loud bang from behind us, followed by a sudden jerk to our own car. Yes, we were rear-ended....again! This is actually the third accident we've been in since moving to the Detroit area. I find this a little bit ironic, considering we've lived in the Chicagoland area for 7 years without any problems and there's a ton more traffic there.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. And our car came out without a scratch. I can't say the same thing for the two cars behind us though. It wasn't pretty.

Elise was so good during the whole thing, especially because we had to wait several minutes for the police to arrive. She was a bit startled when we were hit and whimpered for a few minutes, but after asking her if she was hurt, she said "I'm okay, Mama." She followed that up with, "I'm sorry, Mama, I'm sorry." I'm not sure why she felt she needed to apologize, but it was sweet nonetheless.

Oreo Cookie

I learned while growing up that you should always sandwich bad news (e.g. no sale on our condo) with two pieces of good news. Here they are:

#1-Not selling our condo means that we won't have to spend the holidays in an apartment. That's good, right?!

#2-Elise is going to be a big sister! Baby #2 is scheduled to arrive around May 21st, which puts him/her about 12 weeks old. Here's the baby's picture debut (at 10 weeks):
For those of you who are having trouble deciphering the picture, the baby is actually upside down. You can see the head, body and 4 small white blobs which are the arms and legs.

I'm excited to be moving into the second trimester, which hopefully means some better days ahead. Stay tuned....we'll know the flavor (boy or girl) around the first of the year!

Bad Day

It's not been a particularly good day for a number of reasons. Let me just tell you about the BIG one: we received a phone call this morning from our realtor letting us know that our house is back on the market. WHAT?!? Yes, that's what I said too! The sale of our buyers' house, which was supposed to close tomorrow, went sour and thus the trickle-down effect began. UGH!

I know that there is a reason that this happened, though it's hard to see it now. Being in limbo-land is very hard and when a lot of our belongings are in boxes, our house hardly feels like home to us right now. Elise, thankfully, has been a trouper and for the most part has been going with the flow of things. I wish I could say the same thing for me....I've never been very good about dealing with changes in my plans.

Trick-or-Treat

Last night, Elise and I went over to Dan and Kris' house for a little Trick-or-Treating (Dan is my brother-in-law Jon's brother, but we're really all one big happy family!). Elise was a wee-bit shy at first but after seeing Matthew, Andrew and Stephen transform into a chubby clown, Anakin Skywalker, and Harry Potter, she was ready to join in the fun. At 6:00, we headed out with the boys for Elise's first 'real' trick-or-treat experience.

All in all, she did great. She got the hang of saying "trick-or-treat" and with a little encouragement, even said "thank-you." She tried really hard to keep up with the boys, but after about 3 houses, we parted ways so that they could hit the neighborhood at a faster pace (and who could blame them, there was much to be gained!). The funniest part of the whole night was Elise's discriminating eye for candy. If she received something other than candy or chocolate, she would take it out of her pumpkin bucket and hand it to me. This included 2 bags of microwave popcorn, a bag of chips and a Halloween cup filled with three mini-containers of playdough. Oh, and a package of Raisinettes. Lucky me. I was hoping for a Snickers bar (and as my mom used to say, they were calling to me after Elise went to bed).

So, we had a great time! Elise loves her pumpkin bucket (Thanks Kris!), especially since it's filled with all kinds of yummy treats. We ended up trick-or-treating for about 40 minutes and then spent the remainder of time sitting on the front porch with Kris, passing out candy to the kids and throwing a plastic ball into the grass. By the end of the night, she was quite happy with being at "Miss Kris' " house and even let Mr. Dan carry her out to the car. Impressive. As we were driving away, she said "Bye Apple Jon"....I guess Mr. Dan reminded Elise of someone else.

Next year will be the big year where Elise will really understand what it's all about and it'll be Daddy's turn to take her out. I've been lucky....two years of moderate temperatures without precipitation. It'll probably be frigid next year with several inches of snow on the ground. So sorry!

Happy Halloween!

This would be funny if....

....I were a Cardinals Fan. As it is, I'm not really a Tiger fan either, but that's who we're hoping will make a comeback in the World Series! Roar!

Bubble Beard

Elise has loved baths (generally speaking) since she was a baby. Yesterday, she was having great fun in the tub making bubble beards.

Sold!

Our house (condo) has been up for sale since June 1st and as of Saturday, we officially have a contract in place. The closing date is set for the week of November 12th. There's a lot to do between now and then, but we are so thankful to have a buyer. The selling market here is not very desirable, so we are really fortunate. Next on our agenda....finding a new place to live! Stay tuned!

Teacher Arrested in Terror Alert

NEW YORK--A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement.

He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. "Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzales said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute values. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with co-ordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are three sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the president.

Special thanks to Tracie (Paul's cousin) for the funny story!

Pooh on the Brain

Elise and I were at Home Depot today looking for compost bags. As we were walking through the gardening section, Elise said "Look Mama, Honey Pots." She was pointing to the flower pots.

Some of the other funny Pooh-isms she's used recently are, "Tut-tut, it looks like rain" and "Blustery Day". Silly girl. She sure does love Pooh (the bear, that is).

2-Year Well-Child Exam

Elise had her 2 year doctor's visit this afternoon. I was hopeful that everything would go well since we were seeing a female nurse-practitioner, rather than her regular male pediatrician, whom she is not fond of. Things were going well. Elise was in a good mood, despite missing naps over the last few days. When we were called back for the appointment, a male nurse assistant met us at the door. Oh boy....not good. But then I was pleasantly surprised when Elise stepped on the big-girl scale without incident to be weighed (29 1/2 lbs) and then volunteered to lay down on the table to have her height measured (34 5/8"). Wow! Impressive.

My surprise was short lived. After a few minutes with nurse practitioner Beth, Elise began to throw the biggest temper-tantrum I have ever seen. Red face, fists tight, screaming. She was not happy about having to take her shoes, pants and sweater off to be checked over. And this went on for the remainder of our appointment. It took me about 10 minutes to get Elise composed afterward so that we could leave. Lack of sleep definitely kicked in, hard!

Overall, Elise is very healthy. She's right where she needs to be on the growth charts and is exceeding expectations on her vocabulary and ability to be understood. She's one smart cookie.

Elise's 2nd Birthday

We've reached another milestone....Elise is 2 years old (on Friday). We had her Pooh Party at my parents house on Sunday afternoon and had many guests....2 grandmas, 2 grandpas, 2 great-grandmas, an aunt and uncle, 2 great-aunts and a great uncle and 2 second-cousins. A great time was had by all.

The Potty

On the Potty.....



In the Potty.....
Good thing the 'potty' wasn't on the toilet. She might have experienced her first swirly.

One of a Kind

It's been a tumultuous and challenging 12 months for the Kurt family, and I don't think that even begins to describe it. Many of you have been praying for my brother-in-law Jon and his family as his mom has been fiercely battling pancreatic cancer. I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell you about Mrs. Kurt:

Beth and Jon have been married 10 years and dated for several years prior to that. Having said that, I've had the privilege of knowing the Kurt family for many years. I actually worked with Mrs. Kurt at Eddie Bauer on a couple of different occasions in college, once during the holidays and again during a summer. From the day we met, it was not unusual to be greeted with a hearty hug any time our paths crossed. Her home was always open to us and as 'extended family,' we were (and still are) often invited and strongly encouraged to come to Kurt family functions and parties.

Fast forward several years....I will never forget the phone call that I received from Mrs. Kurt when she learned that Paul and I were expecting a baby. You would have thought she was to be a grandma again. She was so excited for us and read to me Psalm 139 (the entire chapter) over the phone. Here's a sample:

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

I later received a package from her that included a small plastic baby at 3 months gestation, and a description of all the miraculous ways the baby was growing and developing at such an early age. Truly every child is a gift of God. I know that Mrs. Kurt believes this with all of her heart. When Elise was born, Mrs. Kurt came by to meet her. I will never forget the way she held Elise with a look of adoration and love. "What a beautiful baby!"

When it came time for Libby (my niece) to join the Kurt family, Grandma and Papa Kurt traveled to Memphis to be present for the big day. Paul, Elise and I were there too. Because Bethie was scheduled for a C-section, we were unable to be there when Libby was born but that didn't stop Grandma Kurt. At the appointed time, Grandma, Papa and Auntie Laura sat in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for some news (any news) of Libby's arrival. Grandma was absolutely beside herself as she waited to see her newest granddaughter. She even attempted to schmooze the nurses into giving us information....Unfortunately without success, but the nurses learned about her family and all of her grandbabies in the process.

Others have said it and I will too, Mrs. Kurt is a beautiful demonstration of the Proverbs 31 women. Here are some of the verses that she exemplifies:

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

One of the most beautiful things about the last 12 months is to see the love and dedication of her family and friends as they have gone through this experience with her. Dave and Susan have some entries in their blogs that will make you both laugh and cry. Be inspired! This family is one of a kind! And Mrs. Kurt will truly be missed! We love you!

The Mother Load

Each afternoon, Elise typically goes down for a nap (and sometimes I do too). She doesn't always sleep. In fact, sometimes she'll read books or listen to music (yes, she's figured out how to work her radio and can turn her CDs on....she even knows how to adjust the volume). This afternoon was no different. Except that at 4:30 I realized that both of us were still sleeping....not good considering we're usually up and moving by 3:30. Paul said he didn't realize how late it was either and it was still quiet upstairs, so he wasn't worried.

Paul went upstairs to get Elise and before waking her, came to get me. I was struck by the terrible smell coming from her bed. But then I noticed that Elise's big girl bed was covered with all of her CDs, completely disassembled and littered around her. Cute at first, except that some of the covers were torn and ripped. As I was changing Elise's very smelly diaper, she's crying and doesn't want to have her pants changed. I'm not too concerned, as this is not all that uncommon. Then we find the mother load.....while we thought Elise was sounding sleeping, she was in fact shredding Kleenex and hiding the evidence behind her bed (reminds me of a story about my sister Beth and her underwear). We pulled the bed away from the wall and asked Elise what happened. She's now sobbing, as if to say that she knows what she's done (remorse?). Guess who got to clean up her mess. I guess that's punishment enough. :>)

Elise will be 2 on October 6th. I'm sensing that the 'terrible twos' are already in full swing!

Watch What You Say

Elise is at a very impressionable age now. She's been repeating a lot of what we say, but today's the first day that she's actually said a full sentence/phrase.....a full day after she last heard it. Briscoe, being the puppy that she is, has been a troublemaker the last couple of weeks, from peeing in the house to shredding tissue to just being a pest. At the height of her troublemaking, I've said to Briscoe, "I'm gonna beat you." Just a figure of speech, not that I would ever inflict much pain. Paul reminded me just last night that I might not want to say that anymore because of Elise's propensity to repeat things. He was so right! I've once again learned my lesson. We were riding in the car this morning and Elise is saying, "I'm gonna beat you" over and over again. I couldn't believe my ears. Now we're going through detox of that phrase!

So if you're around Elise in the near future, please watch what you say.

Thud! (Big Girl Bed Update)

Elise fell out of bed last night. Paul said it was around 12:15a (I was already sleeping, but he was still up). When he heard the thud, we went up to check on her. Although she was crying, she was trying hard to get back into bed by herself. He tucked her back in, turned on her music, and after a few minutes, she was back to sleep. No harm done! This morning she was as happy as can be. Good thing kids are resilient.

Briscoe's First Birthday

Briscoe had her first Birthday on Saturday. Sadly, we didn't do much to celebrate. I did give her some beef broth on her afternoon kibbles, but I'm not sure this made her feel particularly well.

Although she's 1 (or 7 in dog years?), she still has the energy of a puppy. She loves to play with Elise and I wouldn't be surprised if she'll be sleeping in Elise's room before too long. She knows several commands (sit, wait, down, off, roll-over and shake). She's still not great at going for walks, but that's my fault for not taking her regularly.

Today, she had her hair cut at Perfect Pets Dog Salon. Paul says he'd shave her every now and again if I'd pay him what I pay Perfect Pets....it is pricey, but she sure does look and smell better. Funny thing is, I have to take her every 6-8 weeks and it costs more than I pay for my own haircut. There is something wrong with that!

Our Big Girl

Today marked another big milestone for Elise! Grandma and Grandpa Kloosterman brought over her big-girl bed (the twin beds that the Bonner girls used as kids). And tonight, as we speak, she's sleeping on it. It took her a little while to fall asleep, but she didn't cry much. She was listening to her music, talking to "Baby" and "Ralphie" and playing with her new pillows and blankets. (...sigh...) She's practically all grown up. Where does the time go?

Our only fear is that she'll fall out of bed or that we'll wake up in the middle of the night with Elise sandwiched in between us!

Locked Out

I was outside this afternoon letting Briscoe out to do her business. Elise was patiently waiting at the front door. A few moments later, Elise said, "I want to close the door." Okay. No problem. Only when Briscoe was finished and we went to go in, the door was locked. Yes, that's right. Elise locked us out of the house. And to top it off, she kept pulling the window treatment aside as if to tease me that she was inside and I was out.

With Paul in Milwaukee, I'm thankful for remote garage door keypads....

Apple Jon

This is 'Apple Jon'. At least that's what Elise affectionately calls him. Funny....when shown a picture of her other uncle, she says 'Uncle Rudi'. I'm sure there are other nicknames for Jon that I don't know about....

The Great Houdini

Elise never ceases to amaze me. While in Memphis, we learned that she can escape from her Pack-n-play. Okay, I can deal with that. Yesterday, we found out that Elise can climb out of her crib. In fact, while in a 2-minute time out, it became so quiet upstairs, I began to wonder what was going on. When Paul went to check on her, Elise was standing at the top of the stairs. She climbed out so stealthily, we didn't even know.

Houdini strikes again. While supposedly taking a nap this afternoon, we hear the click of her door. Elise once again climbed out, went to her bookcase to get a book, and was ready to head down the stairs. I'm at a loss for words. She's going to have to work on her Alcatraz escape plan if she wants to get past me!

I think it's time to think very seriously about a big-girl bed (and maybe a lock for the outside of her door). :>)

Mud Island River Park

While in Memphis, Jon took us to the Mud Island River Walk. Libby was content pushing her stroller around the park, but Elise loved the Mississippi! Here's proof:

Libby's New Teeth

Come on, Libby.....smile for the camera. Cheese!

We're Back!

It's time to play catch-up....

St. Louis
As I mentioned before, Paul, Elise and I caravaned to St. Louis with Paul's parents. Our primary purpose was to catch up with the Solomon's, good family friends. But, in the meantime, we also spent some time visiting the Zoo and Grant's Farm.

Here's a family shot (they are so rare, I thought you might be interested in seeing one):

This is Mrs. Solomon....feeding the fish by moving the Hippo's tail. As the sign says, "the tail acts like a 'manure spreader' to shoot dung everywhere." Remember, God made animals for all sorts of reasons....

Elise had a great time brushing the goats at the Children's Zoo...



and at Grant's Farm....


(Grandma and Mrs. Solomon enjoyed Elise being nibbled on by a couple of the goats, but Elise didn't seem to mind.)

Southern Hospitality

Do you believe the weather down here? Paul and I feared we'd be suffering through high 90s with high humidity, but it appears that Hurrican Ernesto has brouht milder temperatures to the mid-south. It was in the low 70s in St. Louis and it's in the low 80s here. No kidding! Absolutely perfect!

Good thing we didn't go to South Carolina or Massachusets as we originally planned! It's thunderstorming in Hilton Head and it's cold and rainy in Boston.

Zoo, Farm and More Zoo

You may be wondering what happened to us...it's been a while since the last post. Paul, Elise and I have been touring the zoos of the mid-south. Okay, it's been more than that, but so far we've been to the St. Louis Zoo, Grant's Farm and the Memphis Zoo. Elise has been in pig-heaven!

We left on Sunday for a trip to St. Louis to visit some of friend's of Paul's family, the Solomon's. Grandma and Grandpa Seamon came along with us for this part of our trip. It's been several years since we've seen the Solomon's and it was the first time that they had met Elise, so it was fun for everyone. We did tour the St. Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm over the two days that we were there. My favorite part of the zoo was watching the month old baby Elephant named Maliha. So cute! Elise loved the carousel and the train ride.

On Wednesday afternoon, we continued down I-55 to Memphis to visit my sister Bethie, brother-in-law Jon and niece Libby. Libby turned 1-year old on August 26th and is as cute as ever. She has really warmed up to Paul and me and Elise loves to play with her (I mean her toys!). Yesterday was a home improvement day, which went surprisingly well. We (Jon, Paul and I) moved a 220V outlet for the dryer and also relocated a dryer vent. Paul and I are really impressed at Jon's handyman skills (but mostly that he's willing to try things he's never done....something we're not particularly good at). Today we went to the Memphis Zoo and we'll be going up to St. Jude's this afternoon to get the grand tour and to visit Bethie. More on that soon!

Stay tuned for pictures.....