On the Road Again

What a busy weekend of travels the Jackson family had! First, Elise and I went to visit the Weatheralls with Cara. This time, I remembered my camera and took some pics of us with the cutie. Too bad Elise had developed a cough on the way down and had to steer clear of sweet Rory--but we'll be sure to snap a photo of the two friends next time.

Rory and I with our first self-photo--not too shabby!
Cara getting some cuddle time with Miss Rory.

After Arkansas, Sean and I headed to KC for a quick trip to pick up his new truck. We went up Saturday (after I drove back to Springfield, dropped off Cara and Elise, and picked up Sean) and stayed in a hotel, which was loads of fun. All we did was lay in bed and watch Indiana Jones, the Last Crusade. As silly as it sounds, we had a great time relaxing together! And of course we were really excited to pick up his new truck Sunday morning!

We'll close this post with Elise and Will showing off their cheese-faces. It has to be noted that Elise has a full-blown crush on Will. She talks about him all the time and insisted all weekend on seeing the video of the two of them that Cara had taken with her phone. She loves both the Kelbs, but definitely has a crush on Wilbur!

Baby Rory, Valentines, and Horses, OH MY!

First and foremost, we were so excited that Rory Gray Weatherall graced us with her presence on February 4th. Elise will be thrilled to have a new friend...just as soon as Rory is big enough to play with. For now, she simply gave her a kiss and held her hand.

This is a bit of a random pic, but Daddy thinks it is hilarious that Elise likes to play with his fake hand from Halloween. Mommy thinks it is weird. :)

Back to Miss Rory: we went to Arkansas to visit her the week after she was born (unfortunately, she was born in the midst of the Arkansas blizzard, when they got 20 inches of snow, so we weren't able to go down the weekend that she WAS born!). Mommy drove, and just had to get this picture of her sleeping beauties!

For Valentine's Day, Elise discovered an extreme love of suckers. She already loved cake, so Mommy was excited to give her a cake-pop for an early Valentine's day present. Elise got to make her first Valentine's Day box (Mommy wasn't smart enough to take a pic of it before Elise demolished it) and got lots of neat Valentines at her party at Lala's house. She got some treats from her Mammy and Popa, her Maw-Maw, Paw-Paw and Grandma Halleran also sent her some cards. Mommy and Daddy got her a new Ariel doll. Not too shabby for a Valentine's day!

This evening, we went to Aunt Lori's. I am not sure if you remember, but a while back, I posted some pics of Elise and Aunt Lori's new kittens. Well, they are all grown up now, but just as easy with Elise as they were before! She's has learned to hold them right-side-up now!

We had gone to Aunt Lori's so that Aunt Sacy could take Elise on her first horse ride. It was interesting. First, she refuse to get on the gentle horse: Big John. She screamed bloody murder when we tried. But she kept insisting that she wanted to ride Cash, who is a bit young and rambunctious for a gal's first foray into horse-riding. Cash did fine when Elise sat still... but when Elise started squealing or when Lacy would try to lead him (with Mommy standing right next to Elise to prevent falls), he wasn't very good. Needless to say, the ride didn't last long and Mommy's nerves were frazzled!

At least I got some great pics of the little horse-rider!

Closing off with this adorable pic of Elise and Link. He's as big of a movie watcher as Elise. I think they'll get along just fine... :)

January Musings

January hasn't been particularly busy for the Jackson family, mostly because Mommy was sidelined for a week with the flu. Elise was glad to be a little nomad that weekend, and Mommy was grateful for the help from Aunt Lori, MawMaw, and Mammy. Thankfully, Mommy did recover!

Before the evil flu struck, we were very excited to have Baby Link stay with us for an evening. He's a good boy, and Elise had a good time cuddling with him (even though he's almost as big as her!)

Another fun activity this month was Elise's first basketball game. Our friend Tyler is a referee, and in order to hang out with the Porters (we've tried getting together for months!), we had to chase him down at one of his games in Nixa.

Elise's friend Lillie is quite the character. Elise was very entertained by her. Lillie liked Elise, too, but would get a little frustrated sometimes because she couldn't understand Elise's 2 year-old conversation!

Daddy and Mommy got a bit stressed out because Elise didn't want to sit with us--she was excited to be at a new place and wanted to roam. We told her as long as she stayed with Lillie and in our section, she could run around. She listened to that direction for about 20 minutes. Mommy only had to chase her down twice, though. Usually, a stern "get back here" was all it took to set the little adventurer straight.

In other January news, Elise is really big into building "towers". Don't try to help her, it makes her mad. She has quite the independent streak! Mommy finally thought to snap a picture of her with one of her towers (after a big day of play at the park, please don't mind the crazy hair :)).

Elise is also a huge fan of her "bicycle". She does NOT like to call it a bike, trike, tricycle, or anything else. She has gotten very good about getting on and off it, but still can't quite figure out how to pedal. She likes to rope people into pushing her on it though (and she often does).

Next month is all sorts of busy: there are FOUR birthdays in the family. We're also hoping for a good snow this week so that Elise can finally build a snowman. She got a neat "snowman kit" for Christmas that she's been itching to use (okay, she doesn't get it: Mommy's the one with the itch).

Looking Back on 2010

Okay, I confess: I stole the idea from my friend Natalie's blog and loved it. So here they are, my Top 10 (+1) Favorites Pics of 2010.

1/2010: Elise falls in love with her blanket. It's been called different things at different times this year: "Night Night" and "Banket" are her two favorites. But just ask Sean: do NOT think she'll go to bed without it! :)

3/10: During a Trip to Branson Landing, I got this great snapshot of Elise walking with her Daddy. She looks so small here--what a difference a year makes!

4/10: This is one of my all-time favorite pics of Elise and I. She's almost-grinning and her curls are very visible. And I just got my hair done :)

5/10: Every year since Elise was born, we take a Mother's Day pic with Amanda, Rhonda, Elise, and Sean. This was the pic for 2010 and it turned out pretty good!

5/10: This isn't the greatest of everyone, but it has everyone in it :) We traveled to Omaha to see Brooke graduate from HS. Elise was well-behaved during graduation, and that made me happy!

6/10: It is often a challenge to get these three cousins together and smiling in one shot. Here, they were playing in the dirt at the annual family reunion, and I got two out of three smiles. Not bad.

9/10: Elise is in love with her new baby cousin: Link Ray Collins. So are the rest of us!

9/10: This isn't the greatest pic of the three of them, but they were distracted by elephants :) I love what this pic represents, though: Elise's first trip to the zoo (which she loved), her first stay in a hotel (which Mommy and Daddy DIDN'T love because she wouldn't sleep for the excitement of sleeping in bed with us), and a great trip with Pa-poo and Kathy!

10/10: Elise's first dance. Her and Popa had a great time dancing around the dance floor at Aunt Lori's 50th Birthday party!

12/10: TWO YEARS OLD?! How did that happen? I can't believe I am the mother of a child who is 2 years old. God has richly blessed me.

12/10: Elise might sometimes get jealous of her cousin Link, but she does love him a lot and will just have to learn to share her Mammy!

Here's looking forward to a WONDERFUL 2011 with lots of love, blessings, and surprises!

Christmas 2010

The Jackson Family started out Christmas 2010 on Dec 18 with Christmas at Nan and Pop Stevens with the extended family, followed by Christmas at the Lippys house. Mom totally forgot the camera that day, but Elise got some great presents. She got some bubbles and a new ornament at Nan and Pop's. Then, she got food for her kitchen, a movie, and a new bowl at the Lippys (forgive me if I forget anything, it has been a few weeks!) She was very pleased with everyone and once again THANK YOU!

Our next Christmas was at home on the 23rd. Daddy was going to have to work Christmas day, and Santa knows that firefighter Daddys want to be home to see their kids open presents, so he makes an exception and comes early. Elise had the most fun with her stocking, then she opened the presents from Santa and Mommy and Daddy. Unfortunately, she had her 2-year shots that afternoon, so the fun stopped there :( Happily, though, our girl is still a grower. She's evened out some, and is now only in the 75th percentile for weight. Still 90th for height though!

The next Christmas was at Pa-poo Mike's and Kathy's house. We had to switch some plans due to snow (Pa-poo had to do snow-removal), so we had lunch instead of breakfast. No worries: we all were very happy with the lunch (except for Elise, who was too excited to eat!) She got some great gifts there, too--she got an awesome easel to draw on, a new puzzle, and lots of other great stuff.

Next, it was off to Grandpa and Grandma Jacksons! Elise has so much fun playing with her cousins Landen and Lainey. She was also glad to finally meet her other cousin: Caydence. Lainey, Caydence, and Elise were all born in 2008!

Christmas Day was spent at Mammy and Po-pa's. Link and Elise had a lot of fun opening presents there! Elise was especially excited to get a new tent! She's spent a lot of time in it (and since it is so light, she has spent a lot of time hauling it to different places in the house!)

Our final Christmas was the 26th at MawMaw and PawPaw's house. Uncle Dave got her a unicorn pet pillow that she promptly named "Horsey" (she's thrilled to have two! Pa-poo and Kathy got her a lady bug one!) Aunt Amanda and Uncle Rob got her an awesome "bicycle" as she calls it. She still can't quite figure out the pedals, but it won't take long! She spends a lot of time practicing! MawMaw and PawPaw got her some new books and money in her savings, Grandma Halleran got her some new babies, and MawMaw Sweaney got her an awesome teapot!
Thanks to all our families for making 2010 a great Christmas!

This Little Monkey is TWO!

Elise turned TWO on December 5, 2010. It is so hard for me to grasp that! It seriously seems like yesterday that I was bringing her home from the hospital, a nervous wreck about how I was responsible for this beautiful little life. I think her Daddy and I have done a pretty good job so far, though--with lots of help from a great family and wonderful friends. Elise's birthday party is a testament to how very loved she is, and I am so thankful that she is so blessed!

In honor of her nickname, Monkey, Elise had a monkey-themed birthday party. Stephanie Dill did a WONDERFUL job with the cake and cupcakes--Elise was thrilled and they were tasty too!

We all had a great time watching Elise open presents. She was easily distracted, but when she'd take the time to open presents, she was so excited about each and every one. Jessie did an awesome job capturing memories for me while I tried to corral Miss Elise!

Despite only having a 1 hour nap before the party, Elise was in a great mood the whole time--all smiles! :)

No one can argue that Elise definitely has all her grandpas wrapped around her finger! Here, she has Poppy (Great-Grandpa Stevens) and PawPaw (Grandpa Halleran) cleaning with her! She had Popa (Grandpa Stevens) opening presents for her, and she gave big hugs to Pah-Pa (Great-Grandpa Jackson) and Pah-Poo (Grandpa Jackson)! Elise really does have all these names for her grandpas, which she herself made up--and she knows who is who. Her grandmas have names too: Mammy (Grandma Stevens), Nana (Great-Grandma Stevens), MawMaw (Grandma Halleran), and Mimi (Great-Grandma Jackson). She also calls Great-Grandma Sweaney MawMaw--the only duplicate in her arsenal of Grandparent Names!

BIG THANKS to all the wonderful people in Elise's life who came to celebrate her SECOND birthday with her! May God bless my sweet daughter in her years to come, and may He give her daddy and me the patience and wisdom to raise her well and according to His will.

Thanksgiving Fun

Our Thanksgiving started on 11/21 with the Stevens Family Thanksgiving. We had a huge crowd this year: 26 including Alanna who didn't get in this picture for some silly reason!

Elise was not in a picture taking mood that day, and though we tried several times, we didn't get any good pictures of the Link Stevens family... sigh... maybe next year? :)

Our next Thanksgiving was on Thanksgiving day at the Fire Station with Daddy. Though Mommy forgot to take the camera, it was still fun, with plenty of little girls running around for Elise to play with. She was very excited to check out the big truck, too!

Our next Thanksgiving was 11/26 at MawMaw and PawPaw's. Elise had a great time running around and playing with everyone. She even sat still long enough to take a smiling picture with Aunt Amanda, even if she wouldn't look at the camera!

That night, Link had his first slumber party at our house. Elise was very helpful with him, and was asking constant questions about what he was doing. She held his hand for this picture before he went home on Saturday.

The final big piece of news for the end of November is this: Miss Elise is in her big girl bed! Daddy set it up last night and she was super-excited to get in it! She helped him "fix things" with his tools and then jumped in her bed for a little while after it was ready. She slept all night in her bed, and didn't even get out when she woke up this morning, only saying "DADDY" and sitting there waiting patiently for him to come get her!

Our sweet baby girl is a toddler now: all ready for her SECOND birthday on December 5th!