Hermann Visit

This weekend we took a trip to visit Daddy's family.

Elsa enjoyed her time there because she loves to be with her grandparents. She took a gator ride to the creek with her brother, dad, and grandpa. She tried hard to take a nap, but broke part of the crib her grandpa made 32 years ago. Oops! Se enjoyed the foods grandma Becky made, especially the angel food cake with concrete icing. She visited both great grandmas and got reacquainted with Uncle Larry/Cookie/Boo Boo. He fed her little bites of her supper and made her giggle.

She fell asleep nearly as soon as we left the city limit sign! It was a good and busy day.

Trip to STJ

Elsa was sure ready to get into her Nanny's car and leave Columbia! She got her own shoes on, packed a little back pack, and hung on the door knob! She is a good traveller!

On Saturday it was so warm and pretty. She played all day outside. Both her aunts were there to do swing set and bubble blowing Sunday was cold and windy, but Elsa likes inside time, too. She would tell them she needed "seep" and climb up stairs to her bed. She would say, "me" and climb into bed herself and put herself down for a rest.

Grandparents Visit!

Today Dan's parents visited. They enjoyed the kids and the kids enjoyed them. Elsa as happy to sit with Grandma Becky and have her feed her some shake, fries, Mac and cheese, and oranges. She really likes Steak and Shake! Then they went to Bass pro to watch the fish and shop around. Elsa was sad she could not get in their car and also go home with them. She really liked their visit!

Swing at Nanny's House

You enjoyed the lights and motion of her swing on our recent trip to visit your Douglas grandparents.  You were so tired, and this swing was a peaceful place for you to rest. 

Gifts from Grandma Becky

Baby girl clothes are just irresistible.  Here are two gowns from Grandma Becky!  She gave them to you with our family's Valentine's Day package.

We have a few of these gowns that we dressed your brother in, but if this is possible, they are actually a little more masculine than I'd like.  How can a dress be masculine? I know!  But these ones are frilly and beautiful. We really like them with leggings or leg warmers because they make cloth diaper changes so easy!

A Sweet Gift for You

My father, your Grandpa Douglas, gave this to me to give to you this Christmas season.  He addressed it jokingly to Martha Rose, which is sort of a joke name for you at my parents' home. 

The story is that my parents did not know which gender of baby they were having when I was born.  Ultrasounds were very poor in those days, and my mom did not have very many at all.  They had a girls' name selected (Bethany Lynn) and a boys name chosen (Elijah Robert), and while my mother really hoped for a girl since she did not care for the boy name, she did not pack any pink clothes for me to wear.  My father went to a local shop and bought this dress for me while I was still in the hospital.  Therefore, it is my first piece of real clothing!  And you can wear it, too.

 My mom told me that she has kept it safe and secure for 28 years now... safe from her daughters using it as a dress for baby dolls and safe from garage sales and aging.  It has been moved from at least four houses and is now in the drawer I have designated for your things.

Don't worry, it is not "so out of fashion" even though it is now 2011, not 1982.  It is still very classy looking, and the while with smocking is adorable.  If you are dressed it in, people will not notice that you are wearing an antique.  I may tell them because I think it is special, but really, it looks like a gown from a modern boutique.

Telling the Grandparents

For some reason, we really don't announce, "Hey, we're pregnant."

With our first pregnancy, I am not exactly sure how we brought it up, but it wasn't in casual conversation.  It was a bit formal.

For the Daniel's pregnancy, we waited longer to be sure we could have more proof of pregnancy, proof like 11 weeks into it.  It would be difficult to endure another miscarriage after JUST before telling everyone about it.  So we waited until Christmas and wrapped up little Baby H's ultrasound photo for them.  They were really surprised and delighted.

For this baby's pregnancy, I created a shirt for Daniel to wear.  It said BIG BROTHER on the back and had the number 11 on the front (which is the year he is a big brother).  It looked a bit like an MU shirt, which might be why his grandparents didn't catch on at first.  When they finally read the words on the back, they said, "What do you mean, he's a big brother?  Ah!!!! Ooooo!!".  There were a lot of smiles and it was a total surprise to them all.