Days 520 and 521: Out and About

Elise had her final swim lesson on August 11th. She did a great job in the course of her 4 weeks of lessons! Elise learned how to kick her legs, climb up onto the edge of the pool once you push her to the wall, dunk under the water without coughing or choking, and she even floated by herself! We're so proud of you, Elise!



On August 12th at the vet's office Elise tried to free the kitties waiting to be adopted. Her Grampy suggested that she might be an animal rights activist in the making, but I won't be convinced of that until she stops harassing our cats by pulling on their tails.

32 Weeks Pregnant with Clark

Nothing you can't see at the beach! In fact, I took this picture while I was getting ready to take Elise to her swimming lesson.

Isn't my belly huge?!? A little over 7 weeks left to go...



Click here to see me 32 weeks pregnant with Elise.

Day 519: Pucker Up

This is how Elise puckers up for a kiss (August 10th):

Days 516, 517, and 518: Chatterbox

Elise seems to be learning new words every day. She finds something she likes or is interested in, and then talks about it non-stop. On August 7th, it was "sky":



On August 8th, her word for the day was "undies." Elise is starting to wear underwear for a few hours at a time in the afternoons now, and she's doing a good job of keeping herself dry.



Another favorite word lately is "happy." Elise was very happy when she found this tiny pine cone on August 9th:

Days 513, 514, and 515

Elise always wants to smell the flowers at the grocery store. She likes lilies and carnations but roses are her favorite. August 4th:



Elise and Daddy came with me to Clark's prenatal checkup on August 5th. Clark is doing fine and he's in the head-down position... 8 more weeks until Elise is a big sister!



And what a silly big sister she'll be. August 6th:

Days 510, 511, 512

August 1st:



Pretending to have long, curly hair, August 2nd:



Pretending to go night-night. All of the kids play this game where they say, "Night-night!" then lay down for a second and act like they're going to sleep. Then they jump up and laugh. They think it's very funny. Here, Elise even collected some stuffed animals to make the ruse more convincing. August 3rd:

Day 509: Natural History Museum in Gainesville

We took the kids to the natural history museum in Gainesville last Sunday and met up with Elliot's dad and sister during our trip. It's a nice museum, and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves! Of course, Elise, Ingrid, and Caleb like looking at anything new, but there is also a kids play area in the museum that they spent time exploring.

Here is a picture of Elise and Papa Lee... I think Elise was trying to swipe a souvenir from the trip:

Days 506, 507, and 508

Snack time! Elise has lots of food words now. She can say milk, juice, cracker, bread, banana, apple, waffle, cheese, egg, food, eat, spoon, and bowl. She says these words on her own, not just when she's copying someone say them. Not bad for a 16 month old!

July 28th:



Elise helps me feed the cats in the morning by carrying their food bowls to each cat's special feeding place. She loves doing this little chore and she carries the bowls so carefully, held very straight out in front of her body. Here is a rare picture of Elise and Clotilda together, taken July 29th:



July 30th:

Days 503, 504, and 505

Mommy! There's a monster under my... oh, wait. I know that monster. July 25th:



Looking for coupon deals, July 26th:



Waiting for swim lessons to start, July 27th:

Day 502: The Ocean!

We took the kids for their first dip in the ocean on July 24th. They LOVED it! The waves! The sand! The seashells! Caleb, Ingrid, and Elise all had a great time.

30 Weeks Pregnant

We're in the final countdown! 10 more weeks to go-- 11 at most. Let's see how far my belly can stretch!



Click here to see me 30 weeks pregnant with Elise.

Baby Shower and Elise's Day 501

Elliot's step-mom threw Clark a baby shower on July 23rd. Yay! Thank you so much, Candi! We had a very nice time with family and a few close friends. Unfortunately, we can't post pictures of our foster children but there were definitely some cute pictures of the kids playing in the ball pit that we set up in the living room.

Here is a picture of Elliot, his sister Katie, and Elise taken during the shower:

500 Days Old!!!

Elise turned 500 on July 22nd! Best 500 days of my life :)

Day 499

Elise did not appreciate being spied on yesterday morning. July 21st:



Applesauce and Elise, snuggle bunnies forever. July 21st:

Days 497 and 498: Instruction Needed

I guess we'll need to have a talk about how Legos work. You stick one Lego to another Lego, Elise, not one Lego to your own hands. July 19th:



And here is Elise reading a baby instruction manual of sing-a-long nursery rhymes. July 20th:

Pregnant Belly Weeks 26 and 27

I almost forgot to post these pictures of my pregnant belly!

Here I am 26 weeks pregnant:



At first my belly with Clark looked so much bigger than it did with Elise, but I think that now it's starting to even out. Click here to see my 26 week pregnant belly with Elise.

And I'm 27 weeks pregnant in this picture with Elise. Not the best belly photo, but you get the idea. This is the first picture they took of Elise at the Sears portrait studio on July 5th. She was NOT happy and I was trying to help make her comfortable, sitting with her and letting her hold my phone.



Click here to see my 27 week pregnant belly with Elise.

Day 496: Elise's First Swim Lesson!

Elise had her first swim lesson today. She's a natural! I knew she'd love it because she enjoys being in water so much. She kicked and splashed and put her face in the water and even went underwater a couple of times. She loved jumping off the edge and letting me catch her:



Happy Elise!

Days 494 and 495: Weekend Fun

Here is a picture of Elise enjoying some watermelon at an Indian restaurant on July 16th. We like serving the kids lots of interesting foods from all over the world, and consequently they're all pretty good eaters. No matter the main course, fruit always makes the best dessert!



On July 17th, Elise played in some bounce houses for the first time. She was scared at first, but she warmed up to them eventually. Here she is getting ready to go down a big bouncy slide:

Days 492 and 493

Elise sleeping in the morning of July 14th:



Elise constructing her own nudist colony, July 15th:

Day 491: She's Getting So Big!

Day 490 and 28 Weeks Pregnant: Baby Love

My babies! This melts my heart.

Click here to see my 28-weeks-pregnant belly with Elise.

Day 489: Pockets!

Elise has discovered pockets!



Elise is very physical. She loves climbing, wrestling with her foster brother, playing in water, and playing "find Daddy" (where Elliot hides and then calls Elise to find him). She's very aware of her body, and in fact knows a lot of body parts-- pretty much any external body part you can think of. She's a good baby. I'm so lucky!

Days 487 and 488

Snack time! Elise, Caleb, and Ingrid all LOVE Cheerios. July 9th:



July 10th:

Day 486: Pout Face

Elise did not want her picture taken today.

Days 484 and 485

Elise the nomad, traveling the house with nothing but her blanket and two stuffed animals for company. July 6th:



Yesterday Elise dropped a can on her foot and split open her toe. The doctor at our urgent care clinic put some medical super glue and an adhesive strip on the cut to help it heal. Elise's first big booboo! July 7th:

Days 482 and 483

If we'd have gone to watch fireworks on the 4th of July, this is what Elise would have looked like:



I took Elise to get some pictures done at Sears on July 5th. She cried nearly the entire time. Not at all happy about being there. Poor baby. I took this picture with my phone, just to show her that it was okay. She usually likes when I take her picture and then show her the picture of herself on the phone. As you can see, it didn't really work.

Happy 4th of July; Days 480 and 481

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! I hope you all go out and enjoy some fireworks. I LOVE fireworks, but with 3 toddlers who have an 8 pm bedtime, there's nooooooo way we're going to watch a show this year.

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Sometimes at snack time, Elise turns into a witchypoo! Dress-up play can happen anytime, anywhere. July 2nd:



Elise prefers to use the big potty now, not her little potty chair. No complaints here! Less for me to clean up! July 3rd:

Days 477, 478, and 479

Elise has a molar coming in, so sometimes she has to chew on something to make her mouth feel better. A finger will do in a pinch. June 29th:



Elise loves playing with the computer. June 30th:



I got her to make a silly face! July 1st: