We booked a trip!

Our third/eighth anniversary is coming up on the 21st and we have been going back and forth for months trying to decide how to celebrate. We have been trying to decide between a hotel room for a night at the local Embassy Suites to a 7 day Easten Caribbean Cruise on the amazing new Norwegian Epic ship and everything in between.

We decided on a Vegas trip! We are going in August so it won't be over our actual anniversary, but will still be amazing! We finally got everything booked and finalized today! I am super excited and already wondering how I am going to be away from my gorgeous little girl for so long. Eep!

I can't believe it has been 8 years since Nate and I started dating. We have definitely had our ups and downs, but we get through it together. I am one lucky girl. I love my husband!

Well...

Looks like I didn't keep up with the "Picture a Day" thing for very long! I believe I have a picture for every single day, I just didn't keep up with the posts! Maybe one of these days... :)

Life continues to be a little crazy around here with a toddler! While she was a little slow to start saying words (in English), she has more than made up for it. She talks a lot.

She is constantly talking about "mama an' daddy,"
she says GeGe for Gammie Dianne,
says Bee for binky and book,
says hi, bye bye, ball, dee (for drink),
happy, hat, shoe, Gabba (like I need to explain this one to other moms :),
says something that sounds like goo gir for good girl,
eee for eat, says UP when she wants up,
and a word that sounds a lot like UP when she wants help with something (like putting on her shoes, which she does by herself except for the buckles, or if she stepped on tape or something),
she says hawk and eye but not together yet - we are working on it! (Go Hawkeyes!),
she says bebe for baby and points to herself - I think I must have called her my baby a few times!
When I ask "Who is my favorite baby in the whole world?!?" she says, "MEEEE!" hehehe
She says Nana and Papa for Grandma Judy and Grandpa Rob,
says ball and ball-ball for football,
Etc etc etc. She is saying so many words lately I stopped trying to keep my list updated!

She will also point to some body parts when we ask her where they are. So far we have tummy, head, nose, baby feet, ears, teeth, knees, shoulders, bunnies, tongue, and eyes. She can also point to these things on a stuffed animal or doll. So cute!

Something that Lizzie has done for a while is a little thing that we like to call "Pound Dog." She fist bumps us with the sweetest, cutest little fist ever! Until recently, when we would try to give her a high five, she would push our fingers shut and hold her little fist out. So cute! Now she high fives with gusto.

She also does this super adorable thing where she likes to hold our hand (well, our finger) and lead us around. It is the sweetet thing ever. She has the cutest little hands! She also started doing this thing where she'll fall down or step up on something, and then will reach out for our hand and say "Up!" (help) so we can help her up or down. It is so cute because they are things that she so obviously doesn't need help with, but seeing her reaching out for her mommy's hand is one of the greatest feelings ever. <3

Also in the last few months, much to my excitement, Lizzie has been getting more and more affectionate. It - is - AWESOME. She gives eskimo kisses, which are amazing. And she will just run up and hug our legs. More recently she will just reach her little arms out to give us a hug. And she'll say "awwww" or "mmmm" while patting our backs during the hug. I love her so stinking much.


So to summarize, Lizzie is still really super duper amazing and sweet and wonderful, beautiful, ornery, a little weird, and still the best daughter in the whole world.

May 14th, 2010 - Day 15

Here are several pictures of Elizabeth drinking out of my water bottle, which is almost as big as she is!

This face kills me. She is so cute!

This face also kills me, but for a different reason. =)

I love her smile. ♥

May 13th, 2010 - Day 14

Here is my little girl wearing her daddy's shoes while sporting her super cool new monkey jammies. Right after this picture was taken, she folded AND put away that whole hamper of clothes! (A mom can dream, right?)

This is a picture of my sweet little girl sleeping like a weirdo. =)

I loooooove my video monitor!

May 12th, 2010 - Day 13

So I guess today wasn't a very good picture taking day for us. So here is today's picture. :)

This is Lizzie standing in front of the tv probably watching Nick Jr. but I can't really tell what it is. There is also a kitty on her shirt. When we would say, "Where is the kitty?" she would look down at her shirt and sometimes would say, "kitty!" So smart. :)

May 11th, 2010 - Day 12

I don't remember if I posted about it or not, but a couple months ago, Lizzie managed to get out of her crib. I was watching her on the monitor as Nate was on his way to go get her out. All of a sudden, she was gone! Nate opened her door right then and said, "whoa!" I was already scrambling out of bed and saying "Is she out?? Is she out??" When he opened the door, apparently she was standing beside her crib. What a punk!

I have been worried about this happening ever since the day she turned 9 months old and learned to pull herself up. The front of this crib seems sooo low, even though it is on the lowest setting. (We very recently discovered that it has been recalled for other reasons, so we'll be getting it replaced soon anyway.)

So this is a picture of our solution for her escaping! We turned the crib around so the higher, back side of the crib is facing out and the really low, front side is facing the wall. And then we put parts of her baby jail on each side to keep her from getting out there. So far it has kept her contained!

This was Lizzie this morning when we went in to get her. She plays this binky throwing game with us, where basically we fetch the binkys she throws out of the crib. We just laugh and laugh and laugh... She is pretty fun. ♥

May 10th, 2010 - Day 11

Today was a rainy, stay-in-our-jammies kind of day. Here is my darling Elizabeth eating a graham cracker while in her jammies. Please note that the shoes over were her idea.

May 9th, 2010 - Day 10

It's is Mother's Day!!

The day started with Lizzie sleeping in until ten. TEN! It was awesome. Then we tried to get her to color me a pretty picture for my Mother's Day gift, but she mostly just hoarded the crayons and occasionally tried to eat them.

For supper, mom, dad, Joey, Michael, Grandma Connie and Grandpa Norm came over. Nate grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and sweet corn. Yummm... It is so nice spending time with family.

Even though Lizzie was still being a bit of a punk because of her teeth, I had a great day with my girl and my family. And now some pictures... =)

Nate thinks it is funny to put his socks on Lizzie. :) That is her masterpiece sitting in front of her. Nate turned it into my Mother's Day card from both of them.

"Nummy!"

I tried to get a decent picture of Lizzie and I today, but she wasn't very cooperative.

Lizzie and her Great-Grandpa Norm having a chat.

Lizzie playing with her Great-Grandma Connie. I'm not sure who enjoyed the toys more!

Poor kid hardly has a thing to play with.

I ♥ her

May 8th, 2010 - Day 9

Today when Lizzie woke up, Nate brought her in to our bed to play. Her little "Hi" is the sweetest sound in the whole world. She was being so adorable and so sweet. I love her so much.

Oh, and she also woke up with the snotty nose that she usually gets while teething. I thought we had gotten away with not getting it with this tooth, but no such luck.

In this picture, Lizzie is being super cute while wearing no pants and one sock.

May 7th, 2010 - Day 8

Today Nate and I got to go on a date while Gammie watched Lizard! (We went to Spaghetti Works and to see "Date Night" which was really quite funny!)

Lizzie is still feeling pretty crummy. :( She does okay after getting motrin or tylenol. And for the last few days she has been clinging like a monkey when she gets put down for her nap. Then she cries for anywhere from 30 seconds to a few minutes. I don't know why. :(

In this picture, Elizabeth looks so little just lounging on the couch. =)