Christmas in Virginia

Before we drove north(-ish) for the holiday, I let Elle open the gifts she had received from family and friends.

Yay! Just what I needed for my kitchen!

Looks like a pro, doesn't she?

I think we have a future composer on our hands - a mini-baby grand piano!

She really enjoyed trying out her new piano. At one point though, she was sitting on top of the piano, playing it with her feet. She really does love all music so maybe we have a future musician on our hands!

Thank you to everyone who was so kind to Elle at Christmas - she loved everything she received!

And like all pre-teens (sort of), the new 'cell phone' captivated her attention first.

Mushrooms and Silly Elle

People laugh at me when I say that Elle's favorite foods are broccoli, kale and mushrooms. What can I say, cook anything in enough butter and garlic, and she is a happy kid!

I was trying to cook dinner but she couldn't wait.

(No judging her sitting on the counter...keeps the peace and she spends her time stacking the spices!)

Aren't I cute?

When are we going to Florida, Mom??

Cheese!!

Elle versus the Yogurt!

The other night, I was trying to get Elle to head upstairs and start getting ready for bed. She starting getting upset (nicer than saying 'pitched a fit'??) so I tried to get her to tell me what was wrong. She led me to the kitchen and tried to get into the refrigerator. Apparently she didn't eat enough and wanted some yogurt.

When spoons just aren't fast enough...

I don't think she will think a uni-brow is quite so funny in 20 years!

She can actually use utensils pretty well these days!

Use them as a paintbrush, that is.

Is there more in there?

I think Elle won.

Wreaths Across America

Saturday morning was the annual wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. The event is actually part of the Wreaths Across America program to place wreaths at the graves of service members. This is my 4th year participating - and by far, it was the warmest!

They always start the day with an opening ceremony. This photo is of the start of the chaos that follows as people start spreading out to find the sections of the cemetery being covered and the semi-trucks of wreaths. I think last year there were about 5000 people at this cemetery.

Elle and I placing a wreath for an Unknown  Soldier.

Full disclosure - she started the day with a hat and mittens. She tried losing one of the mittens by throwing it out of her stroller at one point...and wore me down about the hat. After I put it back on her about 10 times, I gave up. The cold didn't seem to bother her, thankfully!

Elle, me, and our friends Sam and Jacob.

Jacob's mom (also Erica) and I met through our breastfeeding moms group - the kids have known each other since Elle was about 3 weeks old. They also were in the same room at daycare for a while! Good thing they get along :)

This is how Elle spent most of the morning. When she was in her stroller, I hadn't noticed how long her snow pants were on her...a little slow on the uptake some days. At one point, she was rolling around on her back like the kid on A Christmas Story...

When we were finished.

Every year, there have been more and more volunteers. And, every year, we've been able to place less and less wreaths... The first year, everyone in the group I was with placed about 10 wreaths. This year, we had 3 adults and 2 kids. We placed 5 wreaths TOTAL. Oh well, we decided it was more about the thought and the meaning than the number of wreaths.

100th Post!

Two milestones! 100 posts and 18 months of Averelle.

She went for her 18 month well-baby appointment. She is weighing in at a whopping 22 pounds, 7 ounces (26th %), 32" tall (65%), and super cute (100%).  

For the 100th post...a few cute pictures from the last week!

Thanksgiving

With all the travelling we had been doing, I decided that if we couldn't make it to San Diego to see Clay (thanks a lot USN), we weren't going to travel. So, we stayed home and my Mom came to see us.

When she is in a good mood, Elle will say 'cheese' for a picture - that is what she did for this one.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house and spent the rest of the weekend getting our house decorated for Christmas. Here is Elle with my Mom.

And with me!

Denver

In November, we went to New Orleans and Denver. New Orleans is my least favorite place to travel with Elle. The novelty of walking down Bourbon Street has worn off, to say the least! I didn't take a single picture while we were there this time.

But, the weekend before Thanksgiving, we were in Denver, CO. Once again, the nanny used my camera while they were exploring the city.

Their destination on the warmer day we were there was the Denver Convention Center to see the big blue bear. He is 40 feet tall!

Standing under the bear!

Denver had decorated steer around the city. I don't think Elle was impressed.

Oh, and we were at a Kimpton Hotel so we got a fish in our room. She was enthralled.

Oh, and yes, that is a beach ball in the background. When you are trying to travel in one suitcase for two people and bring all the baby stuff, you get creative. Beach balls deflate and take up no space but are very fun to play with!

Tucson, AZ

At the end of October, I had a meeting in Tucson, AZ. I left my camera with the nanny - she was the photographer for all of these pictures.

Elle really seemed to 'take' to this nanny. On the second morning, she said 'bye' and didn't even cry when I left to my meeting.

We had a great patio off of our room. Elle spent most of our stay out there looking at the birds that came to visit.

They also spent a good part of both days at the pool. I heard a great compliment from the wife of one of my committee members. She saw Elle at the pool and wondered if she was my daughter but the nanny was doing so well with her she ended up thinking Elle was the nanny's daughter! Great compliment from a bystander :)

And exploring the hotel grounds.

 

The nanny's secret to Elle's happiness?? A gallon sized bag full of markers for Elle to play with!

I think Elle definitely had a much better time than I did in Tucson. I did get a chance to take her to the pool and have the afternoon ice cream sundae on our last afternoon there though!

Pumpkin Patch

Since I finally downloaded pictures, this post starts a historical look at the last month and a half!

Back in mid-October, we had plans to go to a pumpkin patch with friends. I also realized that Elle had never had a cookie made by her Mommy. So, I made some yummy sugar cookies to take on our pumpkin patch adventure.

Elle isn't really into sweets much - she seemed to like the cookies without frosting best!

The finished product with frosting. I didn't want to use food coloring to turn them orange - used orange juice and zest instead. They were really tasty but more yellow than orange!

We met our friends at Homestead Farms in Poolesville, Maryland for the afternoon. It really turned out to be more of a petting zoo/working farm than pumpkin patch but the kids loved it.

These are our friends Chandra and TC.

Elle loves all animals and got up close and personal with the chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, sheep and goats!

This was the only shot I got with all the kids together that day - TC, Riley, Jacob and Elle.

She is also fascinated by scarecrows. She tried to steal this one's shoe.

And his pumpkin...poor guy.

We eventually got around to looking at the pumpkin selection. Elle went around trying to give herself a hernia. We ended up bringing home a pie pumpkin. More her size!

Santa!

Yesterday was early pick up at daycare. I decided we should try to avoid the lines to see Santa. Fortunately, my plan worked. Walked right up.

No lines, no tears, sort of a smile.

Even the same Santa helper as last year!

Merry Christmas - enjoy the holiday season!