Caring Siblings

We are very lucky to have two siblings who enjoy each other so much. Elsie gets excited and screams every time she sees Alstan enter the room, while Alstan gives Elsie more kisses in a day than his mom got on her honeymoon.

I'm sure as they grow into their teen years they'll continue to show the same kind of enthusiasm they do for each other now. :)

Elsie's First Christmas

Elsie got into the decorating fun too. She's heading into her first Christmas, and she is already trying to grab on to the ornaments. She's also a big fan of the large Nutcrackers.

Christmas Tree

I've been breaking all my rules with kids. The weekend before Thanksgiving we put up the Christmas tree. Trees and lights are never supposed to go up before Thanksgiving! Alstan loved to help and hung many of the ornaments. Now he's asking where the presents are.

Even though we put the Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, I'm waiting to post it until after Thanksgiving. Drawing a line in the snow!

Thanksgiving Dinner

This was our first attempt to cook our own Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was a little pink at first, but we got it back in the oven. Both kids loved the meal. Alstan ate his turkey, stuffing, and mashed sweet potatoes. Elsie devoured the mashed sweet potatoes too (which mom was REALLY excited about).

Alstan also enjoyed his cheesecake. When he finished eating he asked if we could get out the cake even though we hadn't talked about the cake we bought all week. I said sure and he replied, "Well what are we waiting for!"

Elsie at Play

Brainwashing Continues

Jessie doesn't even like sports, let alone understand them, yet she is insistent that her kids cheer for the home team. Here are the kids in their Badgers clothes. Tomorrow they'll be in their Packers gear for Thanksgiving!

Go Blue!

Bubbles for Elsie

Alstan thought that Elsie should have bubbles with her bath last night. She was very fascinated by them and Alstan was just as excited about making them for her.

Elsie

Elsie steps to the beat of her own drum when it comes to food. Here she holds her mouth shut while mom tries to feed her some pureed bananas and then turns her head to place some puffs in her mouth instead.

Elsie is Crawling

Dad caught some of Elsie's first attempts at crawling on video. This was taken just a week ago and already she is crawling from one side of the room to the other.

Bedtime Stories

We are trying to get in the routine of reading Elsie a bedtime story. Alstan loves to sit and listen too.

No Packers Fan

Jessie convinced me to buy Elsie, Alstan, and her Green Bay Packers clothes for Thanksgiving since they play the Lions. We ordered three Packer outfits and a Lions shirt. The Lions shirt was sent on Nov. 8 and arrived on Nov. 11, while we are still waiting for the Packers clothes.

The tracking information for the Packers clothes is above. Look at how many times it went around and around! It was in each of Chicago, New Berlin, and Dubuque twice. I am pretty sure someone does not want my kids to be Packer fans!

Elsie's Crazy Hair

Elsie's hair sure looks cute in pig tails, but a bit crazy when we take it out at the end of the night.

Snap Shots of Alstan

In the top photo Alstan is racing. You can see he has his head band on. He received glow necklaces from his sitter for Halloween, but I guess a runner needs a headband not a necklace.

Elsie at Nine Months

Elsie had her nine month check up on Monday. Her height was 26", which put her in the 8th percentile. While her weight was in the 22nd percentile with 17lb.
Here is a photo of Elsie with Alstan's Halloween candy. She was way more interested in it than he was. He had a few pieces the first couple of days and now does not even mention it.

First Snowfall of the Year

Usually the first snowfall of the year does not accumulate to much, but this year we had enough to make a snowman. Here are some pictures of dad and Alstan enjoying the snow.

New Books

Mom has little, if any, resistance to buying the kids books. Here they are with some of their new books from a recent shopping trip. In mom's defense, a new book is an excellent way to entertain them while shopping.

Halloween Candy

Alstan has barely touched his Halloween candy. Elsie on the other hand is very interested in his candy.

Trick 'r Treating

Here are some photos of Halloween this year. We were a bit bummed out about Elsie's costume. We bought her a lion cub costume for 6-12 months, but really it should have been labeled 6 months. The head piece didn't fit at all and the rest was a bit small. Alstan enjoyed his costume though. At times he ran up the sidewalk roaring and at one point decided a real lion should crawl.

Uncle Stan with Elsie

Extra Large Pumpkin

Dad brought home this extra large pumpkin from school. We ended up taking it to the farm for hours of fun. On the Sunday before we left, the pumpkin was used as target practice (Uncle Jeff style).

Picking on his sister already

Alstan loves playing with his sister, but sometimes that includes picking on her. He likes to mess up her hair or, in this case, throw leaves on her. At least he is nice enough to pick the leaves out of her hair at the end.