Thanksgiving 2009

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Nana & Grandpa

George's house this year. Daddy was working so

we REALLY missed him but had a great time

with the rest of the family. It was a busy weekend!

11/28 was Aunt Anna's birthday and then we spent a

night at Papa & Grandma Bernie's.

Some silly play time on the couch.

Handsome boy

With Nana & Grandpa George

Elise hanging out with some of the family.

All dressed up!

Need to Photoshop Bill in here!

Elise wasn't sure what to do with the turkey leg.

But she quickly figured out how yummy

mashed sweet and white potatoes are!

She couldn't shovel them in fast enough.

She had a blast feeding herself.

And of course, football...

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Serious Stuff

I don't know if its just a phase, but Elise

is a pretty serious baby. When she was younger

(about 4-5 mos), she was quicker to smile at

anyone and everyone. Now, she prefers to check

you out thoroughly before deciding to smile

your way. Strangers at the store can pretty much forget

getting a smile out of her (much to their chagrin).

But don't misunderstand, she is the sweetest baby!

Like I said, its hard to make her smile...

...unless your name is Jackson.

She has tons of smiles for her big brother!

Meet Kiki

Kiki is one of Jackson's new friends from school.

As the only other boy in the class (of 9), they have

a lot in common! They immediately hit it off and

are pretty much inseparable at school. Kiki is about

9 months older than Jackson and will be going to

kindergarten next fall but Jackson is able to keep up

with him for the most part. They like to pretend

they are dinosaurs, act silly and chase eachother

around.

On a school field trip to a local farm

At the Halloween parade at school

Playing in the fall leaves

Letting off a little steam after school.

Elise is 7 months!

At 7 months, Elise is doing really well with solids and

has recently mastered feeding herself a cracker. She

really enjoys being able to do this herself. She gained

a good amount of weight from last month and is now

up to 16.4 lbs. Maybe its all of the new foods she has

been trying like avocados and yogurt!

Hiking with Dad is FUN! Other fun activities

for Elise are: rolling around on her quilt from

Grandma Carol, slapping her right

hand on the quilt or any other surface, bouncing

in her saucer, (wildly) shaking a toy / object in her right hand.

(She seems to favor her right hand). Oh, and hanging

with Jackson is FUN. She also likes to growl lately

which is pretty hysterical and is starting to find

her voice more and more. Maybe we will have

2 talkative kids in the house in which case

we will have to wear ear plugs at all times...

More Halloween Pics

Family Photo

We got some rain as we were heading in

from trick-or-treating. Good thing they start

early in Westfield! (3:30 / 4:00pm)

Batcycle

Batman & Spongebob (Ethan)

We were very happy & excited to have Daddy

home for this holiday! Someone had to carry

the pink piglet...

Posing with some of the kids we trick-or-treated

with. He decided to forgo the cumbersome cape / mask

with ears ensemble and just do the eye mask.

She is not a fan of the mask.

Cool green / orange pumpkin!

Over the pumpkin and kicking it

out of the way.

Happy Halloween!

More pics to come...

October Fun

We had a great visit with Grandma Carol and

Grandpa Rick. Here we are on a beautiful hike.

Elise loved her first ride in the backpack carrier!

Elise conked out.

It was a big hike for baby girl!

Tired baby

Thanks for a great visit!

See you in Colorado for ski season!

BFF's

We know they won't always get along so well

so we will enjoy it now!

Lancaster Visit

My grandfather (or Big Papa to Jackson and Elise)

turned 89 in early October so we went for a visit.

Elise loved snuggling with everyone, especially Noni,

who sat with her often. We met Papa there and got to see

him also. There was lots of pasta eating and celebrating

and of course Jackson consumed many of Noni's cookies. Yum!

Whenever we go there Jackson eats crazy

amounts of apples - not sure why...

She was very comfortable with Great Uncle Tony!