Springfield Trip

Hi everyone. Just thought I would drop a line to catch everyone up. Elise and I got back last weekend from spending two weeks in Springfield with my parents. I thought I might have to have some surgery and needed recovery time but it turns out everything was ok and I did not need the surgery. Instead, we spent the time visiting with everyone, and doing a lot of winter shopping! We had to fill a suitcase and a giant box just to get everything back! Elise changed so much in those 2 weeks we were gone. She started sitting up much better, smiling more and making raspberries. Jay barely recognized her! We had a lot of fun though and are looking forward to spending time with the Tomtens when we go back in January.

On another note, Jay and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. Two of the airmen from the shop came over and I made a turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, and potatoes. It was good but we had tons of leftovers!! Thank goodness I started going to the gym again because I need to work off all that I ate!

Elise has her 4 month checkup on Monday so check back to hear how that went!

Miss you all!








I changed my font at thecutestblogontheblock.com

Happy Halloween

Ok so I guess you could say we were scrooges for Halloween because we didn't do anything this year. I figured Elise was too young to dress up and I didn't want to buy Halloween candy because it would be too tempting to eat it, so we just stayed in and hung out this Halloween. I did take Elise to MVMS to the Red Ribbon Week assembly/VB game. She slept through the whole thing. I have no idea how.
Candice and I decided to play with her and put Pam's glasses on her during the game.
There are also some new videos of Elise sucking her fingers and playing with Attila, her best friend. Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!

October

So I ended up taking Elise home for the reunion. It was a little bit stressful. The weekend was just too short for that kind of trip I think. But, she got to see her grandparents and Auntie Mona and Dave as well as Sarah and Alexa and Hop, so I think it was worth it. The reunion itself was a lot of fun and I was so happy to see dear friends whom I have not seen in awhile. My attempt to surprise Jeremy and Fawn went sour however, I guess more people read this blog than I had thought!! Oh well! Hopefully next time I see them they have Brennan with them. I cannot wait to see that little man!

We ended up not being able to go to Albuquerque for the balloon festival because Jay had to go to Nashville for the debate. Maybe next year! I did get to see some great balloons as White Sands however.



Elise is still growing and changing every day. Sometimes I have my moments where I want to go back to work, and then she smiles at me and I think, "How could I ever leave her?" She is such a great baby and we are truly blessed. Oh and did I tell you all that she is sleeping 12 hours a night now? She sleeps sometimes until 9:30!!! I usually wake her by 8, but man does she like to sleep!

I am heading back to IL again next month for some possible reconstructive surgery to repair some damage from childbirth..then my mom will come down here for 2 weeks to help me with Elise while I heal.

Hope everyone, wherever you are, is doing well! We miss you all and love you very much!

Lauren, Jay and Elise (and Attila and Gus too!)

September

Hey everyone! Not much new is going on here in good ol' New Mexico, but a friend told me she keeps checking the blog for updates so I guess I should post something!! Jay, Elise and I are quickly settling into a pattern and things are going well. She now only gets up once a night, which is a big relief to us, especially me! Pretty soon she should be sleeping through the night if we are lucky.

Last week was Elise's 6 week checkup. She weighed a whopping 10.14lbs and was 23 inches long. The doctor said she was growing and eating just fine! It's funny, our neighbors had a little boy 5 hours after Elise was born and he is a lot smaller than her. Even the checkout lady at the grocery store said yesterday that she thought Elise was at least three months old! I guess Jay and I just make big babies!!

Last Wednesday was my birthday and the three of us went to El Paso to go to the mall and look for something for me to wear to my 10 year reunion (it's on the 27th). Jay bought me a plane ticket to fly back for it for my birthday. He is going to keep Elise for the weekend and just give me a chance to hang out and catch up with friends.

This weekend is the White Sands Balloon Festival. We were already planning on going to the balloon festival in Albuquerque on the 4th of Oct, but we might head over to White Sands this weekend and check this one out too. The hot air balloons are so beautiful over the desert sky!

Well, that's about all I know here. The weather is changing a bit, and Fall is coming...a nice change from the hot hot sun!!

Here are a few pics of Elise's finished room for those of you who asked!

Love,
Lauren, Jay and Elise

Daddy and Elise

Daddy is quickly feeling at ease with Elise. He helped a lot during his 4 day Labor Day weekend by getting up at night for feedings, watching her while I went to dinner with a friend, and even giving her a bath! We just hope he will be here all year for more fun times with Elise.

Elise finding her fingers

As you know at this age, every little milestone matters, and recently Elise has been doing a good job of finding her fingers to suck on and soothe her. Let's just hope she doesn't turn out to be an 8 year thumb sucker like her mama!

Happy One Month Birthday Elise!

Elise turned one month old on Tuesday, August 26th. What they say is true, time really does fly by. Her first month was filled with lots of ups and downs. We got off to a little rocky start with a hospital stay for jaundice on day three. Luckily Jay was still in IL with us, but it was no way to spend his last few days with us. Grandma and Grandpa Tomten came to visit during that time and luckily Elise was released and sent home with us so they could really visit with her. A few days later, Jay headed back to NM and we went to the dr for a clean bill of health for the jaundice but found out she was losing a lot of weight and so we put her on formula. Poor baby was starving! The rest of the next few weeks was a lot of trial and error with formula feeding. Elise was throwing up and fussy and even ended up in the ER but again, everything was fine. Once she got the formula feeding down she became a completely different baby! Through it all though, she was such a trooper, never crying much--even when they took blood! She's Mommy's strong girl!

Last Saturday our stay in IL at Grandma and Grandpa Raymond's came to an end. It was very sad to leave since that was Elise's first home for 3 weeks and Grandma and Grandpa were such a big help. We headed to STL Saturday morning and embarked on our first plane ride. Elise did so well. She only woke up to eat. It was probably the easiest flight I have taken in a long time! Daddy met us in El Paso and he was so happy to see us. We headed back home and just hung out as a family, finally!

Being a stay at home mom is taking some adjustment...even though I am not working, which I have been accostomed to in the past...I am super busy. We go to the gym, went to school to visit everyone, eat, go to the store, do laundry, play, eat again, change diapers, do more laundry, change another diaper, take a nap... the list goes on! I am so enjoying my time with her though and wouldn't change it for the world.

This weekend is a 4 day weekend for Jay so I am looking forward to him taking over some night time feedings so I can get some rest. He has been such a big help and I am so thankful and love him so much for it!

Take care, and goodnight, from The Land of Enchantment!

Check out this youtube video of highlights from Elise's first month
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIACBc_43Gk