Adventures. . . big and small

We meant to post this before we left town for Christmas. . . oh well.

The several weeks have been full. Full of travel, full of activities, full of family and full of . . . well, everything else that goes along with raising 2 young girls.

Early November brought the death of my grandpa, Papo Bursch. He turned 90 in September and decided shortly after that he was finished with his worn out body here on earth. He was a wonderful man and it's hard to imagine we're about to celebrate Christmas in NM without him. Oh the memories of him dressing up as Santa for all the great-grandkids. I'm only sorry my girls won't remember him. I'm grateful that he's with the Lord in glory.

After spending a week in NM with family, we ended up driving straight to Gunnison to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mom, Dad, Jenny, Aunti Zana, Great Aunt Evie and Grandpa Hulsbos. We had a great time in the Colorado sunshine and while it was a long 2 weeks away from home, it was good to be with family.

(yeah. . . you can ask Brad about why the Slease family is wearing hats. . . )

The girls with their Great Grandpa Hulsbos.

The day after we returned to UT from Thanksgiving, Brad flew to Houston for a week of work. He had a great time and we had a major windstorm that knocked out the power in 1/2 our house for 2 1/2 days. :) Oh yeah, below freezing outside and everything. Several houses on our block had 1/2 power and so luckily we could run space heaters (since of course the 1/2 that was out was the fridge, freezer, furnace, and various strange lights throughout the house). What an adventure. . . or a nightmare. At any given moment it felt like one of the two.

We did get out of the house for some beginning Christmas celebration stuff. Primary Children's Hospital does a fundraiser each year where people donate decorated Christmas trees, gingerbread houses, wreathes, quilts, playhouses, etc. to be auctioned off to donate the money to the hospital. We went to see the trees this year and WOW. Here's the girls with the Snoopy tree.

After Brad returned from his week in Houston, he took off 2 days later for a week in Southern California. Yeah, rough life for him. He had lunch in Malibu, slept in a nice hotel room and went to Wood Ranch BBQ. We didn't do much while he was gone except get ready for Christmas and do 'projects' for Addy's school. It actually was a relaxing week and I had a lot of friends reach out to us to keep us company with Brad gone.

Now we're preparing to celebrate Christmas while trying to maintain the true meaning of Christmas in our mindset. We've done a lot of talking with Addy about Jesus' birth and we've also tried to explain cultural Christmas traditions (like Santa) after people asking her what she wanted Santa to bring her for Christmas. All she could offer people as an answer was a blank/bewildered stare so we thought we might want to explain the Santa thing. Now she wants to meet Santa. Oh well, trying to teach history to a 2 year old might be a bit deep.

Anyway, we've made yummy Grama Juice Christmas cookies, visited Christmas street to see the lights (our neighbors across the street have a better display than all of Christmas Street put together. . . oh yeah, the lights are coordinated to music!), and we've had a few Christmas gatherings. It has been a blessing to have Brad home this last week and to be together as a family again in preparation for Christmas.

We hope your family has a very Blessed Christmas as you recall the good news the angels proclaimed to the shephers "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." (Luke 2: 10b-11) We know this news has brought great joy to us and we pray it will bring great joy to you this Christmas.

Fall Fun!

We've had a fun few weeks full of fall fun. Halloween was lots of fun with our little ladybugs and we've kept busy with crafts, baking, canning and outings. Here's a little slide show of the last few weeks.

Elsie has started sitting up pretty well now and she has her two bottom teeth peeking through her gums. She's a pretty good sport about trying new foods but she is giving me a run for my money with blowing raspberries of food at me. We're working on 'not talking with your mouth full' with both girls. :)

We hope you are enjoying fall. . . or maybe it's turned winter where you are. It's beginning to feel like winter here. Feel free to pass on any ideas about how to survive winter with 2 active little ones.

Oh the girls God has given us

Sisters! We are so blessed that they really do love each other. I think Addy still doesn't realize Elsie is her own person and not just a toy I brought home for her to play with. Things could get interesting when Elsie starts to disagree with Addy. We'll start praying about that now.

Well, I think we're officially on our way to winter. We pulled out all the hats, coats and gloves and now Addy has a whole new toy basket to play with. Unlike last year she can put on her gloves and hat herself so it's dress-up time all the time!

Just in time for the cold winter I got a new bike. Hmm. Actually, Brad 'gave' me a new bike when I got my master's degree (6 years ago!) but we never actually got it. I just always felt like the bike I've had since I was 12 still worked so why get something new. Well, after a few frustrating weekends of trying to get out for a family bike ride and my bike failing to function, we upgraded me. I've ridden 3 times since we got it on Saturday and yesterday I even pulled the girls in the trailer. 50 extra pounds is a killer for someone who hasn't really exercised since being 9 months prego and swimming 2x a week (if that even counts as exercise!). It was really cold but the girls were bundled and I was sweating plenty to get up the itty bitty hill to the park. Hopefully we'll be able to bundle and ride even through the winter.

We dedicated Elsie Mae to the Lord at church on Sunday and celebrated by having Uncle Scott, Aunt Deb and Cousin Matt over for steaks after. They brought a cake and Addy really wanted to put candles on it so.

. . we did and we sang Happy Birthday to Matt & Addy. Elsie was sleeping so she didn't mind. :)

Yes, that is a big, pink bow on Elsie Mae AND she is wearing shiny shoes! I'm getting so much better with accessories. :) At least for the girls. Thank you Grandpa Hulsbos for the pretty dress for Addy!

Elsie is working on sitting up and does pretty good. She doesn't even mind face plants because usually she's trying to get to a toy out of her reach anyway.

This is a new one for us. Elsie likes to try to reach for things on the table (yes, her bouncy seat is on the table) when she's in her seat so she sticks her head through the toy bar to be able to reach further. She often gets stuck and can't get back. This was one such time. :)

Elsie had her 6 month check up today and she weighs 15lbs 3 oz (35%)and is 26.8 inches tall (90%) and her head is 16 inches around. She's growing like a week and is changing so fast!

What?!

Here's an update on our super happy baby. . .

Elsie threw us a look during the last few weeks. I'm still recovering. Once you get used to a baby sleeping well, any night waking feels next to death with the dread that she might be picking up a bad habit. Well, for Elsie, it was nothing but hunger but man, she nearly killed me! Elsie started waking up several times a night and talking a while but then falling back asleep. As a mom, I spent that time awake listening intently to her noises to make sure she was ok. Brad? He slept through all of it. Then, late last week she started crying when she woke up. We did all the checks (dirty diaper? no. wedged in the corner? no. too much daytime sleep? maybe.) one thing was sure though, she was hungry. How did I figure it out?

When I picked her up to check her. . . she about sucked my face off. I'm not baby whisperer but that one was clear. So, I started feeding her at crazy hours when she woke up crying and we started making rice cereal for her. (I love that I know how to make all the baby food so that it's second nature to me! Babies really are easier the second time around.) Elsie's been reaching for food and smacking her lips when we eat so I figured she'd love starting food for herself. Well. . . Here's Elsie's first bite. . .
She wasn't so sure. But, if you remember Addy's faces. . .

Now Addy will eat anything so long as we tell her it's ok to eat. Brad likes to take this a little far. . . smoked oysters, greek olives, wasabi peas. . . just to get a reaction. She'll try anything. The only things she really doesn't like (and you do get a pretty funny reaction when she does eat it) are eggs and zucchini squash. Last night we had fried rice and spring rolls and she asked for more crabs (they were shrimp) and more dip (spicy peanut sauce) to go on her bowl. She kept telling me it was a bit spicy but she just drank more milk and kept going.
Here's Addy with her spicy asian cuisine.

Here's Addy making binoculars to watch the birds in the neighborhood that God made on the 5th day of creation (our Bible story right now for her preschool stuff).
Finished product. We did go bird watching before lunch today but I think most of birds have headed south. Oh well. We'll go visit the ducks at the park to see birds on Friday and the fish at the aquarium tomorrow to see the fish God created on Day 5. Both of which were Addy's ideas for field trips. :)

These girls are so much fun! What a blessing!

Beautiful Fall Colors

Seriously, where do we live?! Last week we had our first snow of the year. Have we even had fall yet? Actually, I think this week could count as fall. It's been beautiful. But last week. . . rain, snow and bone chilling cold. So, we did some bundling and headed outdoors. We are still paying for it though. . . the girls have colds and even Brad is coming down with something now. Is that just an old wives' tale?

OK, side note about that hat Elsie is wearing. . . I had her propped up on the couch when I was helping Addy get ready to outside and she managed to twirl the hat around so that the flower over her ear ended up over her nose. I just died laughing at the poor kid with her eyes covered and a big blue flower over her nose. If only I had had a picture of that!

We recently returned from a week in Gunnison where we experienced brilliant Colorado sunshine, beautiful fall colors, fun outings and adventures and great visits with some old friends from Colorado, Brad's parents and my parents. We packed in the fun and are still recovering from it! Below is a slide show of photos. There are a few tree pictures. . . but really, it was so beautiful!





Addy is enjoying being '2' and we are having fun doing a home school preschool curriculum a friend told me about. We're doing art projects together, learning songs and Bible stories and practicing her manners and fine and gross motor skills. It is so great to have meaningful and purposeful activities to do together. I'm sure this will be a lifesaver this winter when we're stuck inside. (http://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/ for the free online curriculum for 2 - 4 year olds)

Elsie is Addy's #1 fan and loves to play with her. She's rolling over quite proficiently now and chews on everything she can get her hands on. She's a bear to nurse because she's so easily distracted and really just wants to see everything that is going on around her. Elsie is working on sitting up on her own but her favorite thing is to 'jump' up and down while you hold her under the arms. She loves music and if she's crying, she stops immediately and gets a huge grin if someone starts singing. If there are hand motions or instruments involved, even better. Elsie loves being in her exersaucer for Bible story time using the flannel board with Addy and she jumps up and down and squeals during our songs. Since she's almost 6 months old, I think we'll start rice cereal with her this weekend. I froze a batch of cereal for her this morning so more on that to come.

Brad and I have had the opportunity to get involved in a Bible study with some friends from church and we're enjoying doing that together. We're studying 1 Corinthians and we've had some great conversations so far. We're also starting to feel a little more capable of managing life with 2 small ones and so we're working on getting back in the groove of an organized life.

We hope fall is treating your family well!

North Carolina Adventure

We recently returned from spending 10 days in North Carolina with Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Tom. It was a big adventure for many reasons: it was Elsie's first plane trip, the girls' first time on the beach (and in the ocean for Addy), mine and the girls' first time to NC and our last plane trip before Addy turned 2 and required her own seat.

We had a great trip eating seafood, going to the beach and the aquarium, seeing New Bern and the outer banks of NC, spending time with Lynn and Tom and getting to have a few adventures as a family. The girls traveled really well and God saw fit to spoil us a little on the way home. Our plane didn't even leave New Bern until 5pm and Addy was able to have her own seat for that 1 1/2 hour flight as well as our family had a row of 6 seats to ourselves for the 8pm flight from Atlanta to SLC! The girls were able to stretch out and sleep and Brad and I watched a movie! What a blessing after such a long trip and a long day of travel.

News Flash

A big piece of news for our family is that we have welcomed a new family member and said good-bye to another. We bought a MINIVAN!!! I know, I know, we've always said we would NEVER get one but after our first 9 hour road trip to Gunnison, we jumped on the opportunity to buy Papo's van. It's amazing and we're really enjoying it. . . despite the fact that it's not an SUV. We're enjoying the good gas mileage. We did, however, sell the Civic. It was a tough decision because the civic gets 35 mpg, only had 94000 miles on it and was working great as a commuter car for Brad (and it was my first car!). But, Brad was ready for a 'big boy car' so he upgraded to the Subie and we sold the Civic. We actually got close to our asking price and for a 16 year old car, we were pretty happy with the sale. Brad is adjusting to the image wrecker of owning a minivan pretty well because Addy is so much more pleasant (and farther away from earshot!) in the van than she was crammed into the Subie.

Addy Paddy turned 2 last week and is just as busy as ever. She talks non-stop when we're at home and is fairly quiet around other people or in public until she gets comfortable. She loves being a big sister and has recently started reading books to Elsie Mae. She tells Elsie what is in all the pictures or she asks her, "Mae Mae what's dis?" to everything in the book. It is precious. Addy is really tall, most people think she is around 3 years old, and is working on getting her 2 year molars in. We found out she's in the 95% for height and she's almost 50% for weight. She gets a lot of 'owies' (she trips all the time - perhaps because she is so tall!) and likes to wear band-aids whenever possible. She's in the phase of asking what everything is, even people she sees walking past us. She points to them and says, "What's dat Mommy?" It's a little embarassing. She has a great laugh and loves to read books, take care of her stuffed animals, play in the pool and go for walks. She has also recently started praying after our family devotional time for everyone she knows.

Elsie Mae is almost 5 months old and she has been described by others as HUGE. :) She is really tall and has more chunk than Addy ever had and she's such a happy baby. At her check-up last month we found out she is 13 lbs 7 oz (50%), 25.5 inches tall (90%) and has a 15.4 inch head circumference (2%!). She just started rolling over from her back to her tummy and often sleeps on her tummy now because she can't flip back over. She squirms and scoots on her head (or face if she's on her tummy) to get around a little. She also touches everything and wants to put everything in her mouth. She loves making the music play on her mirror or the exersaucer. . .Addy was such an observer (and still is) that all this activity is so strange for me to see in such a little baby. She is super cute and loves face-time with whoever will give it to her. She's started giggling but it's hard to predict when she'll do it. She has also started sucking her thumb on her right hand while she puts her left arm over her eyes while she's sleeping.

Brad has officially welcomed his 2 new supervisors to the office and has finally has a full leadership team. He is really looking forward to getting them all trained and on their own so he can get a bit of a break! He's started mountain biking with a friend from church and he's looking forward to snowboarding with him this winter.

I have had a few breaks from the girls recently when I went to a Beth Moore conference in SLC and left the girls with Brad (Elsie decided to take a bottle after 5 hours without eating!), a girls night out and a trip to New Mexico for Papo's birthday last weekend (I took Elsie and left Addy at home). Whew! We've been busy lately!