three months old

i can't believe she's already three months old. she makes more sounds and louder sounds, she's noticed her feet a few times, she smiles all the time, she's gotten herself on a great schedule throughout the day, she loves to sit up, and she's gotten so much bigger. we have a doctor's appointment coming up soon and i am so excited to get her current height and weight. three months have flown by. i can only imagine how quickly time will continue to pass. i love being home with her. praise God for the privilege of being a stay at home mom and for a husband who works so hard to allow me to do this.

yup, that's curly hair...when it's wet you can see her curly locks best...and i can't help but fluff them up...one of these days maybe i'll put some gel in it and see what happens :)

two posts in the same day!

i know it's crazy, but i took these pictures of elise today sitting up in a bumbo seat (that our dear friends julie and mackenzie gave us). she's so cute...i can't stand it!!

easter

elise in her easter dress. yes we did have her in tights but she christened them with poop before we even left church :)

our family.

we had brunch with mimi, grampy and aunt mary. then we had dinner at oma's and papa's house with them, aunt char, nanny, and the sell's.

the girl cousins (except for nora)

the gang

my agenda or His?

our care group is reading Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges and last night we talked about anxiety and frustration. God convicted me of my anxiety regarding when/how long elise sleeps. her day time naps, as many of you know, are short and often on my chest or in the moby wrap. while i don't mind that, it doesn't allow for me to get much done while she's sleeping. even at night, though she sleeps very well, i find myself very tense and anxious that i will once again hear her helpless cry over the monitor. simply put: my anxiety is sin. i am not trusting God and i am more concerned with my agenda than His. we were reminded of the verse in psalm 139 that says every day of our lives was ordained and written in His book before one of them came to be. if that is true...why would i worry? isn't He trustworthy? can i not trust His agenda for my days? even down to the smallest things...like elise waking early from a nap? my prayer today is that i would not give in to the sin of anxiety once again...but that i would live trusting His agenda for my life and elise's...down to the smallest details and situations. Lord, help me to do this.

visit with nora

here are some pictures from when elise's aunt laura, uncle robert and cousin nora came to visit new jersey. elise and nora are 10 days apart (with elise being the older one-as i'm sure we'll hear all about from her when they're older). i'm holding nora, laura is holding elise, and nanny is the rose in the middle.

nora and elise side by side

matching pj's

elise with her papa

a more recent picture of elise with cousin jonas (if you remember a picture a while back, jonas was crying and elise was holding his hand. well, this time it was his turn to comfort her seeing as the face she's making here was the breather between sobs:) thanks jonas!

bathtime

this picture speaks for itself! elise loves to smile these days and bathtime is becoming more of a favorite. this was in oma's kitchen sink after a blowout poop five days in the making! she's such a blessing and a gift...and i'm so thankful i get to spend my days with her.

here we are

it's been a crazy few weeks for our family. laura and robert were in town with baby nora and we spent lots of family time with them while they were here. i'll be posting pictures of elise and nora soon...they're only 10 days apart and it was so neat to see another baby elise's age.

this pic is an updated one of us. elise is getting so big! she's in 3-6 month clothes now simply because of her height! it's unbelievable! her hair is getting curlier, her smiles are more frequent, (her naps less frequent!), she loves her play mat, the bouncy seat is still a favorite too, sleeping in the moby wrap is also still a preferred sleeping location, and she is pulling on my hands now to sit up...it's amazing!

she's waking up from an incredibly short nap as i write this, so off i go!