Time Has Flown

Wow...I can't believe how fast the time has flown by these past few weeks! In two days, my little baby is going to be THREE months old and a few weeks ago, my big baby turned three YEARS old! I honestly can close my eyes and remember vividly the day Elyse was born and it feels like yesterday that I brought Ashley home. It just amazes me how they grow and learn and change. It is a wonderful feeling yet sad all at the same time.

So the last time I wrote was shortly after Nate's wedding and sooooo much has happened since then. For starters, Elyse had her 3rd birthday on September 3rd. We had a much desired Cindarella party with a few of her little friends here in the Muskegon area. We went to the park, cooked out, played "Kiss the Frog Prince", had a silly string war (an idea I stole from our past daycare provider...thanks Jen) and of course topped it all off with a great Cinderella birthday cake. Elyse truly thinks she is a princess so it was fitting. Her new obsession: Polly Pockets. God Help Me. The pieces to these things if you have never seen them are literally the size of a pencil eraser. Yeah. CHOKING HAZARD once Ashley is mobile. That should be fun. What else....Elyse thinks she should only wear dresses because obviously she is a princess and that is the appropriate attire. *sigh* She had her 3 year check up and is a light weight at 27 pounds. She is wearing size 2T clothing and finally moved to a "6" toddler sized shoe this fall. She is growing just slowly. She is also testing her boundaries like mad with me. Her word of choice when angry: SHUT-UP. Yes, I love it. YEAH RIGHT. I just try to tell myself that she is a toddler and she is supposed to be this way. I know you are laughing so just please let me live my fantasy dream and keep it to yourself ok? *wink wink*

On to Ashley my chunky monkey. Her 2 month apt showed us that little miss weighed 12 lbs 1 oz!!! She is such a great little baby. She rarely fusses and only does so for good reasons like being hungry, being tired or having gas bubbles. She is now in the huge baby "gum" smile, a few giggles have been heard and she is starting to chatter a bit with "oooo" "eeeehhhh" and the famous "goooo". She is also starting to reach out and grab toys and things in front of her which is fun to watch. She has found her hands and takes great pleasure in watching them in front of her face to make sure they don't go anywhere of course. And recently, she has basically started sleeping through the night only to wake up very early in the morning around 4 am for a feeding...I am betting that once we move into our own home & she has her own room that we won't disturb her sleeping and she will just stay asleep longer. I love her so very much and she is truly a joy for our family.

Other news is that we have not sold the house in Kentucky but have decided to go ahead and purchase the home we found regardless. Yes, that will be scary with finances but we feel it will be worth it in the long run. We found a great 3 bedroom ranch with a full basement. It has plenty of space for us and the most spectacular yard & landscaping. One of the best things is that it is located in a wonderful school district for Elyse to start school in. We are hoping to be closed on the house by the end of October and be really settled by the time the holidays start to roll around. We'll keep you posted on that.

We also just returned from our annual family vacation to "the shore" in Ocean City, NJ. Not too many beach days this year since we went after labor day and it was breezy and cooler...but we had a great time all the same. Plenty of time on the boardwalk, riding rides on the piers with Elyse, eating enough junk food for a small country and of course searching for seashells at the ocean.

Things as you can see are going well. We are excited at the prospect of settling into our own home again yet will miss my family so much once it happens...so be thinking of us through the next few weeks as we prepare for the final leg of our journey. Michael couldn't be happier at his new job and that truly makes getting out of the Army worth it.

So, the next post will be a few photos and this time, a link to all the photos that you will need to copy & paste to see! Enjoy and we hope everyone is doing well! All our love!!!