Quick pics

At the lake:



With Great-Great-Aunt Elizabeth:



In her new "big girl" chair (and check out the Don King hairdo!):



And, I think I've finally discovered why Elizabeth has trouble sleeping through the night - David's introduced her to caffeine!

Week in review

As usual, it's been another whirlwind week for us. Elizabeth was sick for most of the week but is finally feeling better. That is particularly good news for David, since she is extra clingy and whiny when she's sick, which makes his days very long. She also has had trouble sleeping, and has been up for at least 2 hours almost every night this week, so David and I feel like extras in a movie about walking zombies at this point. We're hoping her sleep will get back to normal this week, which would be just in time for it to completely fall apart again when we go on our family vacation to the Grand Canyon next week!

Although she's been feeling bad, Elizabeth has really continued to amaze us (as I'm sure happens with all parents) with how much she's learning every day. She can now pick out all sorts of things in her books and, when asked, can pick out her elephant, giraffe, and zebra from her Noah's Ark set. (She does remain indifferent to the "peacock" however....I'm not sure how to interpret that.) Her obsession transferred from balloons ("ba-ooo") to bubbles ("buh-buh") this week, so David spent a lot of time with her and the bottle of bubbles out on our deck. We've found she's quite territorial about her "buh-buh", so you'd better watch out if you try to take them away from her before she's ready!



She's also gotten very particular about not wanting things on her head and has learned how to pull every kind of hat imaginable off her head as quickly as possible. We were concerned about this, particularly with our upcoming trip, so David has started giving her "hat lessons". She's actually starting to do a little better!



Jonathan's last day of 6th grade was last Tuesday. In celebration, David took Jonathan yesterday to Mammoth Cave National Park for their "Introduction to Caving" tour, which let them be mini-spelunkers for the day, crawling in and out of cave passages and getting extremely wet and muddy. They had a blast! I stayed home with Elizabeth and was trying to get some of our pictures into frames. She went absolutely nuts over a picture of her big brother - she wouldn't let me get it away from her. Jonathan's definitely her hero!



Today, we went to a church picnic and had fun eating tons of good potluck and hanging out in the shade (there are record temperature and humidity levels in Kentucky right now!). Here are some pics Daddy took right after church with Elizabeth in her pretty birthday dress from BB:





Tomorrow, we're headed to Calk Lake to spend the day with Granddad, Granny Pat, Mamaw Helene, and Aunt Elizabeth. Should be fun!

Maintaining and creating memories at Crestridge

Last weekend, we went to Camp Crestridge for Girls in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. From the ages of 10 through 17, I spent every summer at Crestridge, and it holds a very special place in my heart. Jonathan will be going to Camp Ridgecrest, the boys camp equivalent, for the 3rd time this summer and Elizabeth is already being well prepared to be a Crestridge Cutiepie:



The Crestridge alumnae association holds a work weekend (Maintain the Memories) every year to help the camp prepare for opening day, by raking unfathomable amounts of leaves and placing mulch everywhere, planting, pruning, cleaning, painting, etc. It's a lot of work, but a lot of fun, and very rewarding for everyone involved. This year, we went and met the Hobbs family there as well. And, of course, we took some photos for everyone.

Here's a picture of Elizabeth with her Mommy in the Bear Trap:



And hanging out with the new Crestridge bear - which is concrete and won't rot. Yeah!



Here she is with Daddy outside the Dining Hall:



Here is the Hobbs family outside the Dining Hall also:



Jonathan worked very hard all day, then spent most of the afternoon and evening playing 4-square, honing his skills for this summer at Ridgecrest:



Everyone paused for S-Mores at the end of the day, and Elizabeth even got to taste her first marshmallow. She thought it was very yummy and enjoyed squishing it in her hands and making a mess!

Unfortunately, Elizabeth was feeling pretty bad throughout most of the weekend, and she was diagnosed with a bad sinus infection. She had lots of eye drainage for the last 24 hours, which has really irritated her eye and given her the appearance of a boxer, hence her new nickname "Rocky".

Birthday toys

Elizabeth continues to have fun playing with all her new birthday toys.

She loves putting things into other things, so she's really enjoying her Noah's Ark and piggy bank:





Aunt Amy gave her some fish that flip their tails back and forth when you wind them up, and she absolutely loves those. She's even learned the sign for "fish" this week!

And, now that she's been introduced to balloons, she wants them all the time. She now knows how to say the word "balloon", although it sounds more like "ba-oo" right now!

Visiting with lots of family

We've gotten to see a lot of out-of-town family members this past week. First, Cousyn Robyn came to visit over Elizabeth's birthday weekend.



Then, Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Waldie stopped by last week on their way up North.



This weekend we got to visit with Aunt Amy, Aunt Erin, Uncle Brad, and Cousin Brooke at Mother Dot's house.



We had a lot of fun - mostly just being entertained by the girls! We took them both on a walk and to the park. Brad and Erin Brooke had a lot of fun playing at the park, but Elizabeth had fallen asleep before we got there.









The rest of the time was mostly spent watching Brooke and Elizabeth play with anything and everything, especially balloons, baby dolls and cat toys.

12 month stats

Elizabeth had her 12-month doctor's appointment this week. Drumroll please...

Weight: 17.8 pounds (5th percentile)
Height: 28.25 inches (20th percentile)

Yes, she's our little peanut! But, the doctor was pleased with her progress and said she was very healthy. For some reason, after looking at me and David, he thought she should be petite....go figure! She even took her MMR shot like a champ, although it did cause some mild fever and grumpiness later that night. All in all, a good visit.

It looks like she'll be rear-facing in her car seat for several more months, since the requirements to turn her around are that she has to be 1 year *and* 20 pounds.

Jonathan also had his camp physical this week. He was very pleased that it was just a "quick" physical and he didn't have to get any shots. He's definitely shot-a-phobic and was not in the least inclined to take his sister's shots for her either!

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!

Elizabeth had a wonderful 1st birthday. Gran, Granddad, Granny Pat and Cousyn Robyn were all here to help her celebrate. Many thanks to everyone, both those present and those who weren't able to be here. Everyone was so generous!



She has all sorts of new toys to play with, and she's enjoying every single one of them!








She had a lot of fun with her cake, once Jonathan showed her what to do with it!








Talk about a mess, but it sure was cute!!!

After Elizabeth's party, some of Mommy and Daddy's friends came over for a laidback Derby party. She got even more presents, and we all got to eat lots of junk food. Yum!

Elizabeth's birthday letter

Someone inspired me to write a letter to Elizabeth for each of her birthdays, which I will save and give to her when she's grown. Here's the very sappy 1st letter:

May 6, 2006

Dear Elizabeth,

It’s so hard to believe that my baby girl is one year old. This year has passed so quickly for me. I remember forcing myself to sit still and just hold you the first few weeks that you were home, thinking each day, “This is the only day my baby will be 2 days old, I’m going to sit here and enjoy it.” Then, 2 turned into 3, 4, 5, etc…. I ignored the dirty dishes, the work e-mails, and even my sheer exhaustion just to hold you. And, now, I’m so glad that I did. Just holding you puts life into perspective for me. And I still enjoy holding you every night before you go to bed, cherishing every minute I get to spend with my baby girl.

You have grown so much this year. I still can’t believe how big you are now - and how much fun! You make us smile and laugh all the time…from the funny way you pant your sign for “dog,” to the way you do your little dance whenever you hear music, to the way your face lights up when you see your doll “LouLou,” and even to the way you’re always lifting up my shirt to find my bellybutton and “tickle” me. Everything is new and exciting for you, and it makes everything new and exciting for me too. You now have your 2 bottom teeth (finally!), you’re crawling all over the place, you’re starting to talk and communicate, and you’re turning into such a wonderful little girl. But, even though you are no longer my tiny baby, you still are so snuggly and cuddly with us, which is so wonderful. I hope you will always stay my SnuggleBug.

Your father and I have already prayed so much for you. Even before you were born, we prayed to get pregnant…we prayed for a healthy baby…we prayed for you to stay in a few weeks longer while I was on bedrest…and now that you’re here, I still pray for you every day. I pray that I will be a good mom, and will be able to provide you with a firm foundation to grow on. I pray that you will stay the same loving, happy person that you already are. I pray that you will grow up to truly know God and to love him. And, every day, I thank God for giving you to me. You are such a blessing to our family. Every time I see you with your Daddy, I love him even more, because he is just so wonderful with you. And, you bring a smile to your big brother Jonathan that is different than any he ever had before you were born. You have truly made all of us a family.

Happy 1st Birthday, Little Bit. I love you!

Mommy