LouLou reincarnate

For those who don't know, LouLou was Elizabeth's first doll - the one she received from Aunt Erin on her first Christmas. She has always been Elizabeth's favorite doll and has been on every trip we've taken. LouLou has been Elizabeth's constant companion for the past 2-1/2 years.











LouLou is particularly important during family reunions because she wards off World War III when we visit Cousin Brooke, who has LouLou's twin - Zoe. Here are the two dolls hanging out together:



Just a little background information to help you understand why an ominous feeling fell over the car yesterday when David and I realized on the way home from Ridgecrest that we did not have LouLou in the car with us. Two possiblities existed: 1) LouLou was in Gran's car, or 2) we had left LouLou in one of our hotel rooms. Since Gran was still at Ridgecrest, I quickly called her cell phone and left her a message to make sure she had LouLou before she left. That would have been a great plan - if she had gotten the message before she made it back to Kentucky. Sure enough, Gran arrived without LouLou. Although we left a message with the conference center's Lost and Found, I've never once received anything back from a hotel that I've inquired about, so I was not feeling hopeful.

So, this morning, as we were preparing to go shopping, I remembered that Elizabeth had received a gift card for her birthday that we still hadn't used. So, I decided we should go ahead and try to find a replacement for LouLou. I figured we needed to try to circumvent the meltdown of epic proportions that would undoubtedly occur if Elizabeth went looking for LouLou later and was unable to find her. I told Elizabeth we were going to get a new LouLou, and warned her that she might not look exactly like the old LouLou. With that in mind, we headed off to the store.

Imagine my excitement when I looked on the very top shelf in the doll aisle and saw LouLou's twin staring down at me. They still had them in stock! And, they had one left in a pink outfit - not the same one, but it had a cat on it, which was even better in Elizabeth's opinion! So, I loaded LouLou2 in the cart and prepared to leave, very happy and relieved.

Then, all of a sudden, Elizabeth let out a shout of protest when she saw a Dora doll and decided she didn't want LouLou2 for her present - she wanted Dora. I had to think about it. Our family just didn't seem complete without LouLou. But, this was Elizabeth's birthday gift card, and I had told her previously she could use it to pick out anything she wanted. So, I decided it was only fair to let Elizabeth pick out her own present. Of course, the Dora doll was more than the amount on her gift card, so she then had to learn the cruel lesson that you can only buy what you can afford. After much discussion, she chose a Dora camera as her birthday present.

So, Elizabeth ended up happy and so did I. Me too, you wonder? Oh - I forgot to mention that I ended up buying the LouLou2 doll also. There was no way I was letting go of her after I'd found her. So, I guess technically, LouLou2 was for ME.

When we got home, Elizabeth happily started playing with her camera.



(Which by the way came with 100 little tiny pictures we knew nothing about...ugh...more mess!)

Despite my prodding, Elizabeth didn't seem to want anything to do with the LouLou2 doll. So, I took her out of the package and quietly put her in the stroller that had always been reserved for LouLou #1. Then, I waited.



Sure enough, within 15 minutes, Elizabeth had stopped playing with her camera and was giving LouLou2 a bath and putting her to bed.





Order is restored to our little piece of the universe - for now.

Maintain the Memories '08

We just returned from our trip to Camp Crestridge for Maintain the Memories, which is the annual work day for the Crestridge Alumnae Association to help the camp get ready for the upcoming summer season. A group of over 70 people gathered to rake leaves, mulch, paint, haul wood, and do anything else that was asked of us. And, for those of you who know Johnnie Armstrong, you know a lot was asked of us! In exchange, we got a weekend in the mountains, a campfire songfest, and S'Mores. If you ask anyone who was there (except maybe Jonathan and some of the other teenage boys), we got the better end of that deal.

Since Elizabeth is still not old enough to just run free at camp like the other kids, David and I were not able to do as much work as some of the other participants, since one of us usually had to be watching her. But, the other parents let us slide this year. Elizabeth had a great time exploring camp. Her favorite activities were playing on the playground and down by the creek and the lake. Fortunately, we managed to convince her to get a little bit dirty while she was there, so there's hope for her yet! And, of course, she loved the S'Mores! She was disappointed that we didn't let her sleep on one of the top bunks, but keeps reminding us that when she's bigger and goes back to camp, she's going to sleep in a top bunk, and Cousin Brooke is going to sleep in the bottom bunk beneath her. (In all fairness, I told her Brooke might prefer a top bunk next to her, but she's adamant that Brooke will be beneath her. I see some interesting camp arguments in their future...)

And, here are the pictures!

Playing on the top bunk in our room at the Conference Center:





Playing in the rocks:



Playing on the Chip/Chick playground:






At the Pavilion:




Jonathan and the other teenage boys made the most of things by playing a lot of 4-square:



In between the times their parents caught up with them and actually made them work, of course!



And, here are some shots of the S'More finale down at the campfire area:







Finally, some comparison shots of Elizabeth with the Crestridge Bear.

Here she is at MTM in 2008:



And at MTM in 2006:

A much better break

Thursday was my birthday - the 34th one, for those who are still counting. I had a very good birthday. My mom fixed me a chocolate Checkerboard cake - one of my favorites. And, I received several nice gifts.

Elizabeth was very excited to have another birthday in the house. And, since she had recently had a lot of practice, she was very good at helping me blow out my candles and open my presents.







Then, I received the best present of all last night. At the suggestion of one of my brilliant sisters, David and I managed to get a night away through a combination of my mother trading nights off and us arranging for a babysitter to come over to help with Elizabeth this morning.

This was only our 2nd time away without the kids since Elizabeth was born, and since the first time took place right in the middle of David's Bells Palsy scare, I'm afraid it didn't really count as much as we'd hoped.

We took full advantage of it by staying at a wonderful bed and breakfast, the Burlington's Willis Graves Bed and Breakfast Inn. This place was highly recommended to us by friends of ours, and it definitely lived up to the billing. If you go, and we strongly recommend that you do, stay in the Williams Rouse Retreat. It's in the upper level of a rebuilt log cabin and comes complete with a jacuzzi tub and steam shower. Ahhhh..... Then, breakfast this morning was absolutely wonderful. We ended the trip by stopping by the Cincinnati Art Museum to get some culture.

It was a very nice and much needed break...much better than my last one, which by the way does seem to be healing nicely. I'm going to chance a game of tennis on it tomorrow, then if that doesn't bring any pain back, I may even try running again next week. Wish me luck!

This is what happens....

...when you wake up really early and don't take an afternoon nap:

Lexington's Mayfest

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny, Spring day. David, Elizabeth, and I took advantage of the wonderful weather and headed downtown for Lexington's Mayfest. We had a great time there. David was particularly excited because he got to carve his own Native American flute out of river cane. He's been learning to play the flute in preparation for his mission trip to an Indian reservation in June. Here are some pictures of his creation:







While he was doing that, Elizabeth had fun participating in all the children's activities, including making sand art, jumping in the inflatible house, and riding a pony. It was a great day!







I'm glad we took advantage of the nice weather while it was here. Today, it's cold and rainy again...sigh...

36 month stats

We took Elizabeth in for her 3-year check-up yesterday. She's definitely still a member of the peanut club!

Weight: 24.8 pounds (that includes her stuffed kitten, Shazam, that she was holding at the time)
Height: 34-1/4 inches (in shoes)

She was less than 3rd percentile for both height and weight. She weighed 23 pounds at her 2-year check-up, so she's gained less than 2 pounds in a year. Fortunately, the doctor still realizes it's just genetic, since both David and I are fairly small. He just told us to keep her on whole milk and to let her eat as much peanut butter and ice cream as she wants. Now, who wouldn't love to have doctor's orders to do that?

The party's over

After a fun-filled birthday week, things are getting back to normal in our house. Elizabeth was pretty disappointed to wake up this morning and realize that her birthday was officially over. She's now starting to ask when she'll turn 4 years old. :)

On her birthday, David, Elizabeth, and I enjoyed the beautiful weather at lunchtime with a picnic at the park. Then, for dinner, we all headed to Chuck E. Cheese (aka Home of The World's Most Expensive, Really Bad Pizza).

She also got to open the rest of her presents, which included a really cool bug catcher from Aunt Erin, a fun floor puzzle from Aunt Amy, a wheelbarrow so she can garden with Daddy this summer:



A kid-size tent that she's already had a bunch of tea parties in:





And, a big girl bike!





I'm afraid it's going to take her a while to learn how to use the bike, but I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually!

Back by popular demand

On the eve of Elizabeth's 3rd birthday, one of my faithful readers has reminded me that it's time for another birthday letter to my beautiful little girl. (Refer here and here if you have no clue what I'm typing about.)

Dear Elizabeth,

Tomorrow you will turn 3 years old, so I'm writing another birthday letter to you. It's hard for me to believe another whole year has passed by. I'm afraid this letter is going to be short and sweet, because I've had a very long day. But, that's one thing I always want to remember about you. No matter how hard and long my day has been, you make me forget about it as soon as I walk in the door. I always love to come home and hear you running down the hall to see me with such excitement and joy. And nothing melts my heart more than when I hear you say, "Mommy, I miss you when you're gone." Little girl, I really miss you too.

I love the time I get to spend with you, whether it's a special trip to the Dollar Store, or sitting down on the floor to play Hi-Ho-Cheerio, or running through the "Spooky Forest" with your Dora lantern, or finding you hiding under the pillows for Hide and Go Seek, or one of our other many games. I try to make every minute that we're together count, since I see how quickly you are growing up. Now that you're older, we have so much fun together. Your bright little mind is full of such creativity that you can transform a teddy bear into a bridge or a puzzle piece into prickly-pear stew, and it's always fun to see what you will think of next. I get to be a kid again when I play with you, and you help me to see the world in a completely different way through eyes that are bright with excitement.

You are learning new things daily, and it amazes me how much you remember and how easily you learn. You're so proud of yourself when you learn new things, and I'm so very proud of you too. You love to "read" your books and I love to watch you when you don't know I'm there, because you are so expressive. Some of my favorite books from childhood are now your favorite books, and I love having that special bond with you. I remember sitting in my mother's lap (your Gran's lap) while she read them to me, and now you sit in my lap while I read them to you. One day, I pray you will do the same with your own little one...but at the same time, I don't want that day to come too quickly, because that will mean you're too big to sit in my lap anymore.

So, while you're still the perfect size for my lap and my arms, I'm going to cherish every minute we have together. I'm excited for this upcoming year. You're going to start preschool in the fall, and you're going to continue to grow into a beautiful young lady.

Happy Birthday, Libby Lou. I love you!

Elizabeth's 3rd birthday party

We had Elizabeth's 3rd birthday party yesterday. (Really, we invited a bunch of friends to a cookout and had a cake for Elizabeth, but don't tell her, because she didn't know the difference!) The party was great. We were very worried when we woke up, because it was raining and very cloudy, but the rain went away just in time for the party. That was good, because there was no way our house was going to fit 40 people, especially with half of them being rowdy kids!

David's mom (Elizabeth's BeBe) came up for the weekend. Before the party, she gave Elizabeth a new make-up kit, which she used to give Elizabeth her first manicure and pedicure. Our girly-girl really loved that! As you can see, she even was putting on lipstick while getting her nails done:



She really liked the bright pink nail polish!



Then, all of our friends started to show up. We thought it was pretty funny that every single girl arrived wearing something pink. Guess Elizabeth isn't the only one that prefers that color! Everyone had a great time playing outdoors:





Including with the new game of "Hillbilly Golf" that David made:



Elizabeth really loved her Dora cake, and got a really sweet grin on her face when everybody sang "Happy Birthday" to her.





She also enjoyed eating it, of course!



Then, she and the girls had fun playing with her presents while some of the boys played video games.





And, I think everyone has realized the depth of her Dora infatuation, because she received a bunch of fun Dora gifts that she's completely enamored with, including a Dora cell phone, a huge Dora coloring book, and this Dora balloon:



Wow! What a great day!

Check out how much Elizabeth has grown since her past birthday parties!

This year:


Last year:


And 2006:



Our little girl is growing up quickly!