Elise's surgery

Elise had outpatient surgery on Tuesday to remove a growth from her eyelid. She was scheduled for a 1pm surgery but did't end up going back to the operating room till 1:30. She started breaking down about 2 hrs before the surgery, but eventually fell asleep and stayed asleep as they wheeled her in for the procedure. She is still a little fussy but is doing well. David and I both felt so drained from the day even though everything was routine and went well. Having your baby go through general anesthesia and surgery is just stressful. We are all glad it is over. Elise has a repaired eyelid and new baby doll :)

Elise and the bow

I loved putting bow headbands on Elise when she was a baby, but right around 8 months, she started pulling them off her head. When she got enough hair for a real bow, I tried to clip one in her hair. However, until today, she has always immediately reach up and pull the bow out. Today was different. She was excited and proud when I clipped the bow into her hair. She wanted to look int he mirror, point out her bow, and reach up and make sure it was still there. I asked my sweet 17 month old baby girl if she wanted me to take pictures of her wearing her bow and she got excited and even posed.......

 "please, look at my bow from all angles"

 Elise was looking at her reflection in the fireplace glass and posing for the "mirror."

"Even though I'm 100% girl, I still love playing with brother's toys . . ."

Eat!

David's dad recently took John Harrison, Elise, David, and me to Texas de Brazil to celebrate my birthday (last month) and his birthday (last week). John Harrison is always up for a meal at Texas de Brazil---literally within minutes of leaving the restaurant, he was talking about how he wanted to go back there to eat the next morning. I don't think my stomach would go for that even if the place was open for business...John Harrison's go-to food at TDB used to be filet---he could throw down an impressive amount when he was less than 2 years old!---but now he prefers black beans and rice, mushrooms, plantains, black olives, cheesy rolls, and croutons---quite a shift in food preference. Elise liked the black beans, cheesy rolls, and croutons--not just eating them, but trying to pull a fast one on me by ripping her place mat off the table....All in all we had a fun night :).

Where have we been?

I make a healthy Nutella type chocolate dip made from almond butter, cocoa, stevia, and almond milk. John Harrison loves this treat just by itself or with fruit or nuts. He really enjoyed his chocolate the other night....so much that it covered much of his face, hands, and placemat :).

 Beautiful Elise is wearing another smocked dress my grandmother made for my sister and me when we were babies. If having one girl is fun, I can only imagine how precious two girls will be. I am already thinking...I have a matching white smocked dress just like this pink one.....Elise wearing one and sister wearing the other one....there are many matching dress pairs so the cuteness will be endless!

 John Harrison was doing a very strange contorted face....good of Uncle James and Caroline, though, so I decided to include it ....

 My brother and his wife Caroline visited last week from So Cal (Southern California :). We loved every minute of our time with them since we only see them a few times a year.

 Uncle James and Caroline came bearing gifts for John Harrison and Elise. Elise loves her hide and squeak eggs....and brother's new car garage.....John Harrison also loves Elise's eggs as well as his new car garage.

 Taking a horse ride at my parents' house

Elise is talking to Uncle James: "You really need to come back more often....we miss you."

Our friends Jamie and Chris got married last weekend. David and I enjoyed a few relaxing hours spent at the wedding and visiting with friends at the reception.