Elise sitting up

Elise sat up for the first time yesterday.

Date Night with the Boys

We did our second date night with the boys and got a babysitter for Elise. The boys were so excited to go out for a special adventure! We went to My Jump Place...again! They never seem to tire of it. I was able to participate this time so that was a lot of fun. After two times up in the tubes, my knees had enough but Isaac and Levi did it many times. The first time we went, Levi was a little nervous about going down the big tube slide so he went on my lap. The next time, Dan and I stayed below and let the boys go by themselves. It was so sweet to hear Isaac talk to Levi and encourage him to go down the slide. He actually held on to him the first time and then after that, Levi was more comfortable. They would come down the slide, eat some popcorn and then run to climb up to the tunnel again. They must have gone a dozen times.
Afterwards, we went out to dinner at Chili's. I had an avocado burger and Dan had a jalapeno burger. Both were delicious. The boys had quesadillas but they had eaten so many chips and salsa beforehand that they weren't all that hungry! It was a great night out and Elise did really well with the babysitter. Praise God for that!!

Climbing in the bounce house.

Isaac and I up in the tubes.

Isaac and Levi getting ready to go down the slide.

Dan and the boys at the top of the big inflatable slide.

Peeking at Dan from above in the tubes!

Hanging out in the tubes.

Isaac and Levi

Isaac helping Levi down the tube slide!

Levi going down the slide by himself with Isaac following!

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Larson

Dan had the winter retreat last weekend with the youth group. I decided to go down to my parents' house and spend some time with them. The boys always enjoy Grandma and Grandpa! Rossy was still staying with them so we were able to see her also. On Saturday, we went over to Paul and Amy's to visit them and their family. The boys were excited to see their cousins again. On Sunday, Rossy spoke at my parents' church. She was able to share about her ministry to children down in Cancun. After church, my brother Paul and some of the kids came over to watch the Bears vs Packers game. Grandma had bought a Packer sweatshirt for Isaac, in honor of Dan. Isaac and Levi were the only ones with their Packer colors on. Everyone else had orange and blue!
I came back home on Sunday night. Dan had a good weekend at the retreat. My parents ended up coming up to our house on Monday to watch the kids. They dropped Rossy off at the airport in the morning and then came up here. Monday night is my day to work and Dan had Bulls tickets. Elise did really well with them, so I was very thankful for that. It's always a lot of fun when we are able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Bowling with the boys

We took the boys out for a "family date night" and left Elise with a babysitter. Elise has become very attached to Dan and I (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and it makes going places difficult. We haven't left all 3 kids with a babysitter, just Grandma and Grandpa. We decided to take the boys out and leave Elise home since usually we take Elise with us wherever we go. We went out to dinner and then went bowling. It was the first time the boys had bowled. It was a little interesting at first. Some of the balls didn't even make it down the lane :) The boys got a little restless at first since it was slow moving. The workers of the bowling alley must have seen us struggling and offered us one of the bowling assistants. It worked great and the boys seemed to have a much more fun time. Dan ended up beating me in the last frame with 2 strikes and a 9! We ended the night with ice cream. It was a great night and we look forward to doing a family date night again!

Elise's Firsts

Elise is now 5 months old. She is really getting a personality of her own and is very smiley. Isaac loves to make her laugh. She still has no hair but received many hair bows for Christmas. She will be needing those for quite some time! She enjoys being on the ground and has found her feet. She is close to rolling over but can't quite do it by herself. She loves to play with toys now and grabs at everything. She has discovered her voice and likes to make noises. I'm not sure if she is teething or not, but drooling is definitely a specialty of hers now. She also blows raspberries very well!! We have started giving her rice cereal although she hasn't consumed a whole lot of it. She still has the tongue thrust but hopefully soon enough she will get the hang of it. Unfortunately, sleeping through the night is not one of her first...yet!!



Sitting in the high chair.

Eating rice cereal.

Elise found her feet

Selah Joy

Our new niece, Selah Joy, was born December 26, 2010! She came 2 weeks late. We thought we would get to meet her at Christmas but instead we went down to meet her the second weekend of January. She is a precious little girl!! It will be fun for Elise to have a little playmate when she gets older :)

Amy and Selah

Jenny and Selah

Grace and Selah

Amy and Nathan

Seth and Noah

Nathan

Paul and Dan

Ellie and Amy

Selah Joy

Dan playing Wii with Caleb and Seth!

Christmas Part 2

We attended our Christmas Eve service at church in the afternoon. The kids actually did really well. Afterwards, we went home and cooked a pizza...something simple that didn't require a lot of dishes. Our neighbor Nancy joined us, so that was a lot of fun. After dinner, we read the Advent Book. The boys have really enjoyed reading that. When we get to the part of King Herod, Isaac always call him the "scary guy"!
We opened presents on Christmas Eve and then went to bed. On Christmas morning, we do stockings. The boys enjoyed their stocking stuffers. After breakfast, we headed down to my parents' house to celebrate with my family. It was fun having the whole gang there. Surprisingly, my sister-in-law was there too, still pregnant! We thought for sure there would be a baby for Christmas, but that did not happen. Amy was 13 days overdue on Christmas Day. The cousins had fun playing together and of course opening presents. A friend of my parents from Cancun was also visiting. Rossy has a ministry with children down in Cancun so it was neat to have her a part of our celebrations. My mom had a birthday cake for Jesus so we all sang Happy Birthday. That has become a fun tradition with the kids so that they remember the real reason for the celebration is Christ's birth.
Prior to Christmas, we had driven around looking at lights in the neighborhoods. There weren't as many decorations this year but it was still pretty. The boys had fun looking for baby Jesus and would get excited whenever they would find one.
We had a wonderful Christmas season celebrating with family. Elise enjoyed her first Christmas, although I'm sure next year will be a bit more exciting for her :)