What a Pickle?

Matilda Jane Party!!

2012-02-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

Did you know I'm hosting one? Yes I sure am!! What is Matilda Jane -- it's a cutie patootie little clothing line that's mostly sold via trunk shows set up in your home! Well, we are such a mobile family... my "trunk show" is all virtual. You can shop at their website - but I will warn you ahead of time. Brace yourself for sticker shock. This isn't the bargain basement of shopping... think more along the lines of Easter dress and special fun? The clothes are designed and sewn with a lot of whimsy and unusual matchy kind of style. I love it!
So what's special about THIS trunk show? My trunk keeper Heather has offered to donate 10% of her profits to research for Tuberous Sclerosis! How fun? So I up'ed the anti. I will be sewing a brand new dress to be donated for every dress purchased. I'm going to be donating to DressAGirlAroundtheWorld.com - a Christian organization dedicating to providing a brand new dress to needy children all around the world.

Who's excited?
You can shop at www.MatildaJaneClothing.com Click "shop the collection" The newest collection that was JUST released is called Seredipity ( on the left hand column). You can place items on your "wishlist" and then send your wishlist to my email address Kristi.Elston@gmail.com and I'll call you to finish up your order!! Try and send these in today. We are closing out the party tomorrow. I will also re-order next weekend for anybody who stumbles upon this late or needs to wait.
Please - this isn't time to "buy in" because you feel guilty and want to help. This is purely fun and for those of you that would chose to shop here anyway - then there is a little extre incentive for you guys! OK!!

CHEESE

2012-01-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

2011-12-29T17:18:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! Praise Him for coming as a precious, needy, dependant baby... worthy of a throne but thankful for a manger! We are so blessed by His promises. We may 'feel' defeated by some of life's circumstances... but the only truth lies in victory: Jesus.

I do promise to get back to this blog... and post about "normal" life -- but as most of you know, the last 6 months have been more than challenging and I'm just trying to catch my breath and get a stride going here! And I promise to send out REAL Christmas cards next year!!! :) I plan to go update Caleb's Caringbridge site as well. If you don't know what I'm talking about... sorry I didn't keep you in the loop. Visit Caringbridge.com and look up Caleb Elston!!!

2011-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

To our Dear Neighbor Ms Nora aka - stand in Grandma

2011-06-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

WE WILL MISS YOU!!

Ode to Daddy - Happy Father's Day to our very own Incredible!

2011-06-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

You take me cool places

you clean up my messes

You do silly things - as dumb as they sound

and even let me just hang around

You make me laugh and dance all crazy

and carry me when I'm feeling lazy!

You teach me how to do things right... but best of all you hold me tight.
We love you Daddy!!!

Reese is 2!!

2011-06-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Ok Ok - lay off of her. She just turned 2, what did you expect? With that finger, she's at least half way there! Oh and the thumb - she's 3/4s of the way there to having 2 fingers up :)

We had a bash! Fun was had by all.

Daddy and Captain Dargish got to do all the dirty work! Papa and Mozzie gifted a trampoline... for better or worse...

Lily decided to hang around and wait until...

it was time to JUMP JUMP JUMP

then came the REAL party. Cupcakes!!!

The Dargish clan, Ms. Nora, Ms. Ellyce and the Southam's were all there!

Yes, of course Lily got a cupcake too!

Notice the icing was all but gone before she started in on the cake part?

Of course there were presents! Where Grandma and Poppy, Papa and Mozzie and Ms. Nora are involed...... there are always presents!!!

Look! I actually caught a Southam kid on camera :)

"Did I get it right that time Mommy?" No dear... thank goodness you're not 5 yet.

Happy 2nd Birthday Reesie Cup!

You're moving to England?

2011-04-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, it's true. We're heading to the United Kingdom. I think we'll have to get our own double decker bus to tour around in? Seems a family of 5 is big these days :) We were given the opportunity... and had to make a quick decision. After much heming and hawing... praying... seeking advice... flipping coins... playing spin the bottle (what? Ok we didn't do that) -- we decided to go. We felt like itw as the opportunity of a lifetime - so with some sadness, bitterness, worry and maybe even a touch of regret before we even leave - we said yes. While we're nervous and overwhelmed -- more importantly we're excited, thrilled, nervous (in a good way), anticipating so much and just happy to have the chance!
No - we aren't moving closer to "home" which is always kinda our goal... but, well... if you know me well enough you would expect this decision from me :) Sounds like something that Kristi would do is what you're all saying in your heads now! Pack up her family after just buying a house and settling down... moving overseas witha 2 year old... 3.5 year old and newborn for goodness sakes! Subject her family and friends to an even longer flight and more time-changes to think about when calling and visiting. Yep - I did it... and I'm suckering in my dear husband along with me.
"Cheerio mates". Oh wait... that's not right. "Bloody hell" - yes yes, that's right BUT not so appropriate (even though they said it in Harry Potter!). Let's just go with "Long live the Queen" -- that one works? Meh -w hatever. We'll learn.

Happy ...um...39th Birthday Mozzie

2011-04-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Caleb Joshua Elston

2011-04-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

FINALLY entered this world early in the morning on March 25th, 2011. He decided to be different... which may be a good thing, than his sisters! He almost made it to his actual due date!! Even better - he gave me a lovely Harry Potter style stretch mark smack-dab in the middle of my tummy in the extra week that I had to carry him in utero. No lie... he made his mark.
Mom, aka "Mozzie", was here already and that came in super handy since my water broke without notice in the middle of the night - around 1:45am! We made it to the hospital around 3ish... epidural around 5:30 and he was here shortly after weighing 6lbs and 10oz! Welcome to the world sweet baby Caleb!!!

Big sisters came to visit their little brother later that day! Mozzie somehow missed out on the camera pictures... although I got her with the phone camera! They were super excited and more than cute... ready to hold, cuddle and kiss. They've both refused to change diapers though... They were awareded with their "Big-sister-helper-princess-capes" that I made earlier that week. That was cool... for at least a minute... but not as cool as baby Caleb.

Time to go home! We were pleased to leave early on Saturday - before lunch even :) Guess that's what happens when it's your 3rd child (with an uncomplicated delivery). Praise the Lord - we're happy to have you here and in our arms little man!! Also pretty cute and a little nostalgic to see you in the same little carseat that your sisters used.

Quails

2010-12-28T11:46:00.001-08:00

Who wants to come to dinner at my house? These are our friendly quails that live in the neighborhood. They waltz through the backyard several times a day... very fat and very happy. I try and get pictures of these fellas - but they no likey my camera. They flew up in the tree JUST before I got'em this time. We've considered getting a BB-gun... I mean, these suckers would provide lots of freezable meat! I know what Uncle Lane would do!

If you don't like quail.... just find the gaggle of turkeys roaming around. Guess they all feel safe as long as they stay in the neighborhood!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

In spite of the budget... we're not sending out cards this year. Next year? Probably. BUT I picked out the ones I wanted to send... so you'll have to enjoy it here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! (ps - this beautiful design came from TinyPrints.com)

2010-09-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

Ok... I'm behind as usual...

2010-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

California, here we... ARE

2010-07-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

I know we're behind. Give us time, ok? First I most post and say... my dear husband's last post has made me cry on MANY occasions. He wrote it the day I flew out with one child on each hip and Mozzie (grandma Pernell) at my side to help. It was a sad, sad day and VERY bitter sweet. We had some rough times in Alaska and never got to enjoy it quite like we had hoped... but we had a VERY tight family of friends that we love dearly. We miss them all SO very much. Lily asks daily for all of her friends. She once told me "Well mom, we need to get on our airplane and go then" after I told her we couldn't go over and see her friends because they were in Alaska. She often times picks up her shovel and asks to go play in the snow as well! Our latest heartbreak was when we were all packed up in the car and heading to visit a new church. Lily was so excited and then... it made sense. "I get to play with Kinley mama? And Peyton?" Um... no sweetie, we're trying a new church...

That being said - the girls are doing pretty well. They've handled all the change... as well as you could expect. NOT that it has been easy. They thoroughly enjoyed their little vacation at Papa and Mozzie's house and all the extra attention, extra sugar, extra lack of rules... you get my point. They missed their Daddy but that was NEVER more evident than after we were finally all back together again as a family! Reesie Piece is a HUGE Daddy's girl. From the moment he walks in the door she wants nothing to do with anyone else and demands his every attention! If she hears a rumble outside - she goes to the door and waits for Daddy to come in! If he bypasses her for a moment - to use the bathroom, unload his arms, or to DARE kiss his wife or Lily first... Reese makes her general disapproval known to everyone within earshot! It's cute and endearing... and frankly, I enjoy it! Lily continues to be a mama's girl. She's still an emotional child... she can be the sweetest child in the world and is VERY in tune to other's feelings! That being said, she's also quite over dramatic with her own! She has potty trained, moved into a big girl bed and learned to ride her tricycle with ease. She's also learned that Reese is now wedging in on her toys, her turf and her quality "me" time! Reese is walking and trying to run, climbing on EVERYTHING, into EVERYTHING and gets VERY excited about doggies and birds! She has some baby talk going on, but no obvious verbal inclination at this point! She's a poor sleeper... but we have faith she'll get it figured out... EVENTUALLY!!

We're all enjoying our new home! It fits us beautifully and we really enjoy it. The kids love playing outside and we're out there several times a day! They've also enjoyed eatting the fresh (and rotten...) fruits that are growing around back including plubs, oranges (well, its' the neighbors tree... but we can read'em!), strawberries and apples -- and are watching the grapes grow and ripen on the vine! There are roses blooming that we hope to get pruned back and under control as well as several other beautiful flowers. They've both learned what "bugs" are. Reese doesn't care and will happily put them in her mouth. Lily flips out... she just wasn't accustomed to bugs where we were! But she's learning... and she likes to use the fly swatter. We've all gotten a little bit more vitamin D in our system and it feels good!!

Just a quick little update to say "Hi from sunny California" and we hope to be back with more! I'll try and get some pictures up eventually!!

Closing thoughts about Alaska

2010-05-10T19:43:00.003-07:00

So many great and terrible things happened to the Elston family while living in AK for the last 2 years and 10 months and 3 days.

With so many life events crowded into the first year of marriage it was bound to be one helluva ride. And, so it was. Marriage, moving, new job for Kristi, pregnancy #1, graduation, new job for Josh, 5 weeks in AL away from Kristi, packing, moving to AK, buying a first home, buying a first crib, painting a baby room and delivering baby #1 all thrown into year number one of marriage we thought we would never catch our breath.

I was busy learning my new job working many, many long hours when Lily came along on a dark, winter day, close to the shortest day of the year. It was -10F when we brought her home that first day. Then Kristi stopped being a nurse to be a full-time mom. Raising Lily for the 1st 9 months, with a tired stressed mama and a tired, stressed dad was probably one of the worst times of my whole life. Lily was miserable so, therefore, mama was. Mama was miserable, so, therefore, I was too. We hung on as best we could to God and to each other. We didn't find a church (and friends) for almost a year and a half. With no outlets for either of us and a sick baby, it all just seemed too much at times. We began to HATE Alaska and resent the beauty of it that we could only ever admire from our home window. With no energy to venture out with Lily, we just survived. Al the while, Kristi and I's relationship grew and grew. All for the better.

After Kristi took the time to figure out Lily's ailments things got better. Kristi found a lousy job, but it gave her time to talk and think like an adult, it gave Lily some time to socialize, and it gave me some peace of mind knowing that both were doing better. I won't tell the terrible stories of how we eventually found our wonderful nanny but I'm sure any parent could fill in the blanks about that, eh-hem, adventure. Peace came again, but only shortly, when pregnancy number #2 was bestowed upon our house. Just 8 months after Lily's birth news of #2 was already thundering down the halls. Suddenly, our house, and my paycheck seemed much smaller than before. Too shocked ourselves, we kept #2 quiet until halfway through the 2nd trimester. Baby two has to be different we thought. Easier to raise, no allergies, please God.

Reese Caroline came in the summer time, close the longest day of the year. She was born around 9pm but the sun was still out. God had been working on mom and dad while Reese was cooking so we both felt slightly more prepared. And, at least, we had a full wardrobe of pink clothes already purchased for her. Maybe my wallet can stretch farther than I thought. Reese is certainly mellower and less dramatic than Lily but also comes with food allergies. So be it. If we can deal with it with one kid, two shouldn't be too much. After all, buying dairy-free, soy-free, and gluten-free in bulk should be cheaper, right? Well, in Alaska it's not.

Today, we are more a family than ever. Kristi is the most wonderful mother. She's so loving, a wonderful teacher, a great discipline-er and still finds time to make a me a hot meal before I come home from work. I admire, respect, and love her with all of my heart. I love her more than when we left for Alaska, more than when Lily came, more than when Reesie Piece came, and more today than yesterday.

The Air Force was and has been very, very good to me. There's something intangible serving in the military offers me that gets me out of bed and off to work everyday. Most days I may even carry a smile on my face into work. God blessed me with the right job, the right boss, the right staff, and the right place all at the same time. Heading to CA, I feel quite prepared for my next position. And, I greatly look forward to the sun and a shorter winter.

Alaska is big. Huge. It's wonderful, majestic, and beautiful. You should come visit. You can't help but worship the Creator of such a place. Sometimes I think He made those mountain outside my front window just for me. Even though I saw the same mountain out my window everyday, I never grew tired of them. I never wished for another view. I was satisfied. What a rare feeling for me on this earth. But, make no mistake. It was never the creation that was amazing, it was only ever the Creator.

God is bigger than Alaska (which, by no small coincidence, is also bigger than TX). He's bigger than unplanned pregnancies and colicky babies. He's bigger than the 18 hour plane ride home to either TX or NC. He's bigger than school loans or home loans. And, best of all He's bigger than the struggles we've endured up here. Halelujiah, we've survived and, dare I say, even grown as a result of living in AK.

Kristi and I have grown closer than ever. Our kids have grown. I have grown a lot as a dad but am amazed at how slow my growth has been. Two kids and I still feel like I'm just figuring out how to be a dad, let alone a good one. I'm so selfish. But, I have learned one thing about being a dad so far- time is what matters most to kids. Their toys get old and they don't care about my money. But, they long for my time. My kids think I'm the coolest when I'm laying down in the middle of the floor with them, just being there with them, as if I were one of them. Jesus does the same thing with me. Cool.

I pray for blessings on blessings for the friends we have made up here. To the Wagners, The Rizer's, the Braquet's, the Schlei's, and the Wilson's...thank you. Thank you for going through our struggles with us; for consistently and lovingly offering to help us carry our burdens. Jesus used you to rescue us out of the miry pit (Ps 40). I learned how to love my wife better, be a better dad, and to know Christ and his goodness more because of you all, my friends. Thanks for sharing your love and your state with my family.

2010-04-04T16:09:00.003-07:00

Happy Easter Everyone!!! The Lord has risen!! He has risen indeed!!!

What happens when you ask big sister to kiss little sister...

Reese is crawling... and pulling up on everything!

The girls are starting to play together -- of course in Lily's terms!

The first day of spring has sprung in Alaska... so we went sledding in the front yard!

And Lily's been driving... (me crazy... LOL)

And this post wouldn't be complete without our little dance party. Guess who's the break out star? I think her daddy taught her that little hiney-shake!

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

2010-01-24T12:44:00.000-08:00

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

Santa?!!!!!!!???

2009-12-19T14:13:00.003-08:00

We told Lily we were going to see Santa. She was excited and was ready to put on her "hoHO" hat! As we circled through the mall looking for him - she called out "Santaaaaa where are you." And then we found him. We were all still kicks and giggles until it came time to sit on his lap... She was less than thrilled and quickly pulled out all of her little cute/sad tricks. All I can say is that Santa was.. um... less than jolly himself. He truly summed up what we expected an Alaskan Santa to be. We paid for our pictures and laughed all the way home -- we'll surely be able to tell Lily about her trip to see her Alaskan Santa. At least it wasn't all out bawling this year!

DISNEY WORLD!!!

2009-12-19T14:05:00.004-08:00

We had a blast... what can I say. We had a great time in a magical place, with some great friends, food and fun!! Mozzie and Papa Pernell GRACIOUSLY flew all the way up to Alaska for us to have our fun in the sun. As you can see from the pictures.... we desperately needed the sun.
We had a wonderful time - the kids did great AND Mozzie and Papa survived! Thanks to them... the only way we were willing to go was if we didn't have to fly with the kids!
We were able to see all the parks with the great military discount that we got! We spent day 1 in the Magic Kingdom doing all things Disney. Days 2 - 5 we saw Epcot, toured the countries, Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom! The food was amazing and Disney was SUPER helpful with all of the allergies/food restrictions I had while there. We enjoyed our hotel and even swimming in the pool.... OUTSIDE? Can you believe that? People can swim in water that's outside without freezing. Who would have thought...
I tortured our friend when I made them endure Figment's ride... my favorite as a child. It wasn't my fault that we rode the Jungle Snooze (Cruise) OR this fine ride showcased here.

We were able to ride Space Mountain even though it was closed... thoroughly enjoyed the Hollywood Tower of Terror and the Toy Story Mania rides! Those were some of our very favorites among others. We even enjoyed all of the Christmas decorations! What a GREAT time of year to go to Disney... we hardly waited in lines at all. We even had a great team plan our trip and itenarary at NO charge to us! Let me know if you're planning a trip to Disney and I'll pass you their information!

Lily and her veggies...

2009-12-13T14:27:00.002-08:00

And this video is older... but still so cute. Lily LOVES Nemo and she gets really worried about him - she's constantly telling him what to do! LOL So before he gets taken away Lily tries to warn him several times. Now when she watches it, she repeats several full lines... mimics everyone (Bruce the shark is hilarious) and usually always screams about 2 seconds before anything scarey happens and then reassures me "ok mama, it's ok" HAhaha. Funny girl. I had some of Reese giggling.. but I deleted them by accident. Oops!

Christmas Cookies and Bathroom stories... wait, did I say bathroom?

2009-12-12T22:52:00.007-08:00

Yep - that's right. Bedtime stories sounds more appropriate - but not here :o) Lily is currently taking notice of the potty and occasionally wants to sit there... She's made a little progress and managed to do her thang once or twice - but we don't hold our breath. Today was particularly funny because not only was she tring to do her... um.. #2 thang (again, only partially successful and even funnier to watch Josh clean it up) - she asked for her book and politely sat and read it. What did we do? Grab the camera like good little parents.

We decided to have a little fun... err - make a little mess. Ok, more like A LOT of mess and make some Christmas cookies! I made them all up, allergen free of course -- and prepared the icing during nap time! Then it was time to decorate. Lily had a BLAST and especially loved the sprinkles. She would get so excited when asked for the sprinkles that she'd start saying "skpwinfoisoid" and look at you in a hurry for you to pass them her way!! Despite her sprinkling MUCH more than her cookies - it was a good time AND the cookies? YUMMMMY.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

2009-11-26T17:27:00.005-08:00

We miss our families for sure... but we decided to do Thanksgiving our way. Complete with a chicken (no turkey here!) and a full menu of dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free food! Believe it or not, it was all GREAT!
Reese even enjoyed her first solid foods - some yummy sweet potatoes!

Lily appreciated our efforts and ate her WHOLE PLATE! She even had some seconds! (Josh had thirds but shhh, don't tell that I told you that)

2009-11-26T17:24:00.001-08:00

2009-11-26T17:23:00.001-08:00

Bath time is SO much fun

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2009-10-31T22:52:00.002-07:00

We are alive and well... I just haven't caught up on here lately! WHEW - forgive me... my hands are fuller than you can imagine!
Lily's tests did come back. It basically just shows allergic responses are going on in her GI tract. So for now, she is to remain dairy, soy and gluten free. In December we'll trial her on gluten and reintroduce it into her diet to see how it goes! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.
Reese continues to be a sweet, cute and absolutely adorable little girl! She's smiling and giggling a ton - she loves being on her belly and playing with ANYONE who will give her attention! She has a temper for sure and will let you know immediately if you're not doing what she wants you to do! She does suck/chew on her hands but is primarily a paci girl! We've had some ups and downs with possible allergies with her lately but we *think* we're in the clear. She hasn't started solids yet because of this! She's starting to be able to sit up for small moments on her own - mostly on a soft surface because she'll face plant at any moment in time! She loves to be scared and just laughs with her whole body when you startle her! She also thinks Lily is the funniest thing around.
Lily has proven to be one smart cookie. She cracks us up (and drives us crazy...) every single day. She's learning a ton and I couldn't even begin to count the words in her vocabulary. She's very... charming. We think she has a future in the arts considering how dramatic and expressive she can be! She is the life of the party everywhere we go and people just adore her. That same spunk can drive mom and daddy to the edge some days as well!! We're just so thankful to have a healthy, happy girl. She's a different child since going on her diet and we've thankfully had solid stools for over 3 weeks now! Never thought a turd would be so exciting...
We celebrated Halloween by carving our Elmo pumpkin and then heading to church for our Harvest Party. Reese was a doll and just happy to be in her stroller and Lily had a blast! She didn't know what to do with herself with all the cool things to do! She hardly even noticed all the candies and treats that she couldn't eat! She enjoyed her bottle caps, sweettarts and nerds though! Thanks to "Mozzie" for sending the adorable ladybug costumes. They both were SO stinking cute I could just eat'em up. You can see a bit of Lily's personality in the picture below... including her climbing into the basket on the stroller and demanding to go out to the car this way. Ahhh, that's my child. Miss Independent.

2009-09-04T17:40:00.002-07:00

It's here!! Send me an email or a note if you'd like a new catalog! I've got new jewelry on the way if you want to come over and see it OR if you'd like to host a party! If you're not here in Alaska (as most of you aren't... darn it...) you can host a catalog party and earn discounted and even free jewelry! Wonderful company to work for... because YOU are much more important than what you wear... it's Just Jewelry (get it? just jewelry? nothing more... because you're MUCH more than that!)

And... just a little favorite here :)

I have pictures to post - but alas, I have no time it seems. Imagine that with 2 under 2?? For those of you that haven't heard - Lily has had a time lately with her tummy. She's been intolerant to dairy (more specifically the milk protein) since she was tiny, but we kinda thought we had outgrown that! She doesn't eat any primary dairy (cow's milk, yogurt, cheese...etc) but we had been giving her bites of foods prepared with dairy here and there. Well... what we thought was going well, quickly went astray! Lily just had a lovely 6 weeks worth of diarrhea (sorry for the gross information here. Would you like me to include pictures??) All of this resulted in many loads of laundry, a nasty rash, and a cranky child (wait... she was already a... "spirited" child). We got to see the GI doc this week as she was visiting from Hawaii and she proposed she think Lily now has a soy allergy. Ohhhhhhhhhh bother.... that's quite a diet this kiddo will be on! If you've ever read labels - you know right about now that soy and/or dairy is in EVERYTHING! So, we prepped Lily (read 1.5 days of no eating, only clear liquids and 8 doses of Miralax to clean her out) and all went in Thursday morning for her to have a scope! She had an endoscopy all the way down into her small intestines and then a colonoscopy. The dr said afterwards that Lily had a lot of mucus in her stomach which could be normal... other than that, her small intestines looked very "worn out" she said - not like they were suppose to look... very bumpy where they were suppose to be smooth and so forth. Her colon had some irritation and lymph nodes present that would come with an allergy response... but this area was not as bad as she was expecting.
Sooooooo all in all - we just have to wait for the biopsies to give us results! She didn't seem alarmed and said she was still expecting the same results as before the procedure... possible allergies -- as well as she wanted to test for celiac disease. So we're just in a holding pattern for now until we hear! It'll be a few weeks... so we're just sticking tight.
We appreciate your thoughts and prayers - but we truly feel blessed. We'll be glad to have an answer and get this little girl on her way to feeling 100%!

2009-08-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to get a cute "matching" picture of the girls again. This was before church... and you can see how happy these two were. LOL - so we just decided to go with the one shot and try again another day. HA Reese now weighs 10lbs and is just over 11 weeks old! Lily is 24lbs and almost 20 months old! CRAZY!

2009-07-14T16:40:00.002-07:00

This moment was slightly sweeter... required no bribes and ended without tears OR tantrums!

2009-07-14T16:40:00.001-07:00

2009-07-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

The Loves of my life... starting with the big guy in the middle!
Thanks to Aunt Nina and Uncle Scott for the girls' outfits!

2009-07-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Awww - this was sweet Lily somewhere around 8-10 weeks!

2009-07-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Peek-a-boo

2009-07-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

This picture really wasn't as sweet as it looks... the unedited version probably shows my hands bribing Lily with jelly bean (our latest, unapproved parenting tactic)

2009-07-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

Gig'em Aggies (Josh interpreted this picture for me...)

Grandma and Poppy to the rescue!

2009-06-25T14:02:00.003-07:00

That's right - Grandma and Poppy Elston came to rescue us from exhaustion! It was a quick trip for Grandma - but she sure was a favorite around here! Lily seems to occupy anyone that will give her attention :) We failed to take ANY pictures it seems? I sure hope Grandma and Poppy got some!! Lily hasn't mastered any of the grandma's names... but she sure now how to act goofy like Papa and call for Poppy (and she still does! daily!) Guess it goes hand in hand with her being a daddy's girl!

Love the orange shirt by the way!

Poppy and Josh helped give me a new closet!! I didn't get before pictures... but here it is after! All the shelves and drawers are new and I now have 2 hanging racks where I had 1 before! Reese's things are now loaded into the shelving unit and it's GREAT! Thanks for all the hard work guys!!!

I'm still doing clippies at www.hyenacart.com/KKsClippies -- just a little slower than before :) Here is a set from this week! It's a "custom" set... meaning not what I had in stock but specifically what the customer asked for! A monkey, shamrock and a cupcake!

Here's Reese in some of our VERY favorite PJs of Lily's!

And in a clippie of her own!

Finally - Lily decided to wear a little something else on her head...

And her infamous "tripod" -- she started doing this and we eventually named it! Now she does it on command - LOL This one is even a no hands version!

We miss you Papa!!!

2009-06-08T23:24:00.005-07:00

And we'll be missing Mozzie too as she flies out tonight... CRY!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Our first family outing! We took Lily to the zoo to see the "Moo" (moose) and "Raaaar" (bears, tigers and all animals that roar) Everything else barks like a dog :) Ohh but the birds... they do tweet!

Shhh... we're sleeping

2009-06-06T23:39:00.002-07:00

Just Jewelry

2009-06-06T20:54:00.003-07:00

Check it out! Let me know if you'd like to order anything -- totally cute, totally affordable - only $10-$32 for EVERYTHING in the CATALOG!

This is not the official Just Jewelry Site. I am an independent sales consultant for Just Jewelry. Please visit their official site at www.itsjustjewelry.com

2009-06-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

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Reese Caroline is here!

2009-05-23T22:36:00.015-07:00

Born May 22nd at 2:25pm (Alaska time) weighing 7lbs and 0.5oz, 20.5 inches long!

AND for comparison... baby Lily

37 weeks and ready to GOOO!

2009-05-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

Ok - I'm over this pregnancy thing for sure! We hit 37 weeks sometime this week - and Lily was born riiight at 38 weeks on the dot! So next Thursday would be the 15th and the day we had Lily (time wise...) So we'd be pleased with that again! In fact - I'm praying to have her either this weekend or next weekend. That fits our schedules very nicely as far as logistics go! So if you'd all like to pray that I go into labor next Friday? That would be GREAT! That's my plan :) I was thinking this weekend at first... but now I'm thinking next weekend is best! As far as being ready - yep... I am. Am I packed and such? NO way. I haven't bothered doing anything of the necessary nesting. LOL - I'll try and get that done though.
Please - pay no attention to the chunky thighs... it's the girls fault (not the incredible amount of sweets I've eaten during pregnancy)

It's Just Jewelry

2009-04-27T10:11:00.004-07:00

If you've never heard of it... it's a Christian owed jewelry company that's run through at-home sales/parties! I'm now able to sell and offer it to YOU! That's right! Paroose the catalog and email me if there is anything you want! I'll be making a large order within the next 2-3 weeks! Then I can always order as time goes by. There are other items I can order not in the catalog - such as older inventory, sunglasses and pashminas in all colors!
Shop away - I'll offer you a deal for your first order - just email to ask :)
Prices are: Necklaces $20, Earrings $10, Bracelets $15, Watches $26, Keychains $10, Sterling Silvers: Rings $32, Anklets $26, Toe Rings $12
Tax will be applied according to where you live and a small shipping fee from me to you (as in a few bucks total).
If you'd like to offer a catalog party to your friends/family - I can offer you AND them incentives! Just shoot me an email.

Happy Shopping! Click here

I also never posted about my other little craft projects! I've been busy making hair clippies and trading them/selling them amongst my cloth diapering friends/boards! Feel free to check out that website as well!
KK's Clippies

Lions, tigers and bears - OH MY

2009-04-25T18:18:00.002-07:00

Well, more like... porcupine, moose, muskoxen, grizzly bear, eagle, bison.... We decided last minute to drive down to Girdwood and check out the Alaskan Wildlife Reservations. It's wild game that have been wounded at some point and don't survive the wild - but they stay in this outdoor park behind these tiny little chicken wire fences! Pretty fun! Lily enjoyed it - never mind her snot factory face and drooly julie chin! I didn't look so hot myself though so... :o)
The doll sheep were on the way down. They live here in Alaska and they literally just climb around on the very edges of the mountains!! Totally cool - this was my first time seeing them!

2009-04-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful lilies we received for Easter from Grandma and Poppie! They're so giant and beautiful?! I don't know how they took such great care of them and shipped them -- and this is how they turned out?! Beautiful?!

For those of you asking...

2009-04-17T15:01:00.003-07:00

Here's the beached whale. Sorry - these are a bit outta focus - but I did it by myself - so forgive me, k?

note how off center my belly button is? Apparently the right side of my uterus is more comfortable than the left because both girls have preferred to ALWAYS be on that side!

2009-04-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you Easter Bunny!
(just to prove that my child is smart... see her beverage of choice? Ok - before you turn me into CPS, this was clearly an empty bottle... but mom and dad enjoyed the Southern Goodness!)

2009-04-12T14:51:00.002-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! We had a wonderful weekend after a LONG week of Josh being in an "exercise" and working nights all week! WHEW - the weather has been nice and warm - I think we even hit 40 degrees! But 35 and sunny really makes us giddy around here :o) Closest thing we have to spring! So Lily got to "play" outside for over an hour! She thought it was grand :) She wanted to play in the "wawer" (water) and we eventually had to go in for dry clothes. Daddy enjoyed washing and waxing his car... boys, they enjoy strange things :) Mom just enjoyed being outside and watching her sweet Lily walk around (instead of hauling her everywhere!) We dyed our eggs - mostly mom and dad... Lily dyed her fingers and even her lips :) Then we had a wonderful get together with our friends here in town! We even put Lily down over at their house and stayed up late playing games... it was fun not to be parents for the night!
Church was amazing, I hear... I enjoyed trying to explain Jesus death on the cross and miraculous rising from the dead to the 3 year olds! SWEET. I also enjoyed taking a sweet little 3 year old boy who is potty training to the bathroom... let me just tell ya, I was perplexed when I got in there whether to actually put him on the potty or let him stand there. I have no little boy training.... forgive me and enjoy the laugh!
We came home to play in Lily's Easter basket (95% funded by grandma) and watch her twirl around in her cute little Easter dress. She was a trip! She's napping now as mom and dad enjoy the Masters (and you people think golf isn't exciting.....) and we're going out to a nice family dinner at 4pm (we're old aren't we??) to top off our day! Rejoice in the Lord for He has risen indeed!

2009-03-22T16:33:00.000-07:00

2009-03-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

Check out my new shoes? Aren't I cool??

2009-03-22T16:31:00.001-07:00

Mommy made my hair clip... if I only had hair...

As promised... what is Lily up to these days?

2009-01-24T22:59:00.003-08:00

Lily's favorite things...

hmmm... think she's got a little of her mama in her? Also not pictured... pitching lots of fits and playing in the toilet (when Daddy forgets to put down BOTH lids)

Merry Christmas 2008

2009-01-24T22:57:00.003-08:00

So I finally downloaded these pictures today?! YIKES -- I'm just going to put a linky to the whole album. I haven't put catchy subtitles in or anything... nor did I look them over very well to delete any of me picking my nose or anything. So just forgive me :) Christmas day we spent sharing with family via webcam and opening our gifts to one another, Santa and the Elston gifts! Then Mom and Dad came up to celebrate with us a few days later!!

Merry Christmas 2008

PPS - Lily's getting a....

2009-01-23T11:44:00.002-08:00

LITTLE SISTER
coming this May, 2009?! Not only will she gain a cousin, she'll gain a sister?! Craziness?? But what else are we suppose to do stuck up here in Alaska?!

ACK -- more to come

2009-01-23T11:40:00.002-08:00

Soooo keeping up with this while working (just 2 days a week... but still) AND chasing a crazy busy little toddler (is she REALLY a toddler already??) -- WHEW. Forgive me! I have many Christmas photos and videos to post... someday. Including a few of Lily's favorite new things to do -- or shall I say get into?!
But for now - her 1 year pictures are up?! She was a grump on picture day... and pretty clingy. But we did alright. Many of you will be introduced to Lily's crazy faces in these pictures! She LOVES to make silly faces and giggle at herself?! So don't expect the usual sweet - smiling kid pictures... just be ready. http://web.sendtoprint.net/proofbook/galleries.asp?CouponID=FamilyArt
Elston_lily1 is the password?!

And we'll be home soon?! We're coming into town on February 16th -- we will probably try and have a cook-out over at Mom and Dad's on that Saturday afternoon/evening so we can see you all?! Plan on it k? I'll tell mom she's hosting later HAHAHA

Merry Christmas (since we didn't send out cards..... here you go)

2008-12-23T17:50:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Lily's Birthday Dress!

2008-12-21T12:14:00.002-08:00

Natalie gave this to Lily last year when she was making Syndey's first birthday dress! We didn't brave her wearing it with her cake (especially since it would have just been for me and Josh) however - we did let her wear it to church today?! What a cutie :) Thanks Nat!!

Lily wants to eat some Daddy!

2008-12-20T16:26:00.001-08:00

So this is something Lily has started doing lately. It comes without warning - whenever you're eating something and she can see you eating or smell it (ie GUM is a big one...) and she decides she wants some! It's usually quite the surprise but we tried to catch it on video (sorry I did it sideways...) So this one took a little prompting because the camera caught her eye. ANYWAY - we are usually laughing so hard as we try and dodge her. It's pretty gross - but hilarious ALL the same.
Our little bird...

Birthday videos

2008-12-15T22:27:00.003-08:00

Happy Birthday Lily!!!!

2008-12-15T21:17:00.013-08:00

A few of our favorites... from 12/15/2008 almost exactly from her birth time! It was -10 on the day she was born and it's only 2 degrees today... so we consider that close enough!! Lily had a "normal" day going to daycare as mom and dad worked - but she came home to balloons, gifts (which most of you supplied) and cake! Enjoy!!

Her first birthday celebration with Grandma and Poppy Elston over Thanksgiving vacation (thanks for coming!!!! and cooking!!!)

And a mother/son Thanksgiving dance for good measure :)

Lily is coming up on the 1 year mark!!

2008-11-20T17:04:00.009-08:00

(thanks to the Blackwell's for this outfit!)

That's right - she's 11 months and counting :) What do we have planned? Nothing... lol - seriously, what are you suppose to do for a 1 year old without family close by? We'll bake her a cake for sure and celebrate - but we have nothing planned. We'll wait and expect Grandmas and Grandpas to throw her lavish birthday parties with petting zoos, private ponies and blow-up jump-around bouncey things!

Lily was dedicated at church this day! She was adorable. We really enjoy our church here (despite the long efforts to find it) and have fit into a wonderful Bible study and group that we love!!! We chose and really believe in infant dedication -- that we as parents are dedicated to bringing her up in a Christian home (read deep into that and all that this entails) and admit that we cannot do it alone. We need and ask for our church family (friends and family too... but we're just too far away to have people here for this) to take part in this adventure and HUGE responsibility as well! Lily was pretty good up on stage but it was bottle time... She waved to the crowd a few times and rammed her finger up her nose. It's like she just realized "Hey - this fits here" so the repeatedly puts her finger up her nose and then pulls it out... what can you do?

The Boy Scouts say...

2008-11-11T12:58:00.003-08:00

The most dangerous knife is a dull one. I bed to differ - I much prefer my dull knives pre-marriage to the fancy ones we have now! LOL - I need to rephrase that - the dull KNIFE I had prior to marriage. When I met Josh I learned you were supposed to sharpen knives! Know I know - with sharp knives.. you can't cut an object while it's in your hand!! Lesson learned.
Thursday night - I was simply slicing an English muffin with our big ole bread knife. Well - I opened up more than the bread! I saw the cut - knew it was deep and knew it needed stitches... but both Josh and I dreaded that with Lily at 8pm at night and an ER that was already backed up (we called...) So I went against all nursing knowledge and stayed home! I did inspect the wound (on the floor mind you - it made me woozy of all things?) and I saw no tendon or muscle damage - no bone -- just lots of fatty tissue and a gaping wound!
I went in Friday - and they were stuck with what to do... the proper way to treat a cut is having is stitched within 12 hours and I was there like 14 hours later. So they finally decided to stitch it loosely with just a few stitches... leaving it open so that if there was an infection - it would ooze out instead of go deeper. Fine. Lucky me - I got to be the guinea pig if you will for a learning airman on stitches too! I figured - after I was numb... might as well let someone learn! My cut was just over an inch long and about 1cm deep. Good one. They had to cut off some of the fatty, jagged edges so it would stitch well. Then he tried... removed the stitches and tried again. LOL (but not really laughing) I was a good patient though. They finally stopped with just 3 loose stitches intead of the 6 the dr asked for. HA - it looked fine to me.
So now my task has been taking care of Lily and such while keeping it dry and watching for infection. No signs of infection at this point! I cleaned it up as best as I could for a picture for you guys! It looks marvelous now compared to before - I'll spare you the lovely gaping hole with lots of tissue hanging out :)

The deepest parts were in the fatpad - which is good~ kept me from cutting anything important!

Happy Birthday Analiese!!!

2008-11-06T18:24:00.002-08:00

Lily wants to wish you a VERY happy 2nd birthday!! Uncle J-Osh and aunt Kristi do as well!!!

Happy Halloweeeeeeen!

2008-11-01T11:22:00.006-07:00

So we're bad parents... we didn't have Lily a costume. Nope - not at all. We did have her a little Halloween shirt (in the pumpkin pictures...) and we figured that was enough. WRONG -- we were told by many a people that we were just flat out wrong to assume such a thing! Soooo - to the rescue came Grandma Pernell and one of Josh's workmates! Lily ended up being Miss Halloween instead! She wore her shirt all day (complete with a wash and dry during naptime due to messy lunch...) She paraded around Mommy's work as the Itsy Bitsy Spider thanks to Grandma (she especially loved chewing on the legs!) We went to a little Halloween party with some other parents and kids -- she came in as a reindeer, enjoyed playing on the floor in her Halloween clothes (Dad dressed up as a graduate and mom was a nurse), changed part-way through to be the Itsy Bitsy Spider,
and ended up in her Halloween pjs before we left! Now THAT is the spirit, right? So don't worry folks - we won't mess up next year!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

2008-10-25T15:21:00.020-07:00

Lily and I had a nice time in Florida and NC! It sure was a hassle to travel though... Lily managed to get sick before we left - remained sick the entire trip (including her first ear infection) and is STILL fighting off this cold (as are mom and dad) NO fun!
We got to meet up with several other Christian Mommies that I "meet" on babycenter.com! They link you up by your due date -- so we all formed our little group and chatted throughout pregnancy! Imagine getting together 10, 10 month olds at once. LOL Due to naps, different schedules and some of us on borrowed time zones... I'm not sure we ever got them all together?! We did have a wonderful time with them all.

Lily still wasn't a big fan of the beach - but she totally enjoyed the pool!

After our fun in the sun - we hit up gooood ole NC for some TLC (and help!) Lily was kinda cranky... but she still showed off for Grandma and Grandpa - learning how to crawl and pull up on things (and mastered her whine to get what she wants!)
She got to hang out with Melissa and her mom (thanks so much for coming!!!) Enjoy her first piece of celery AND she met her first bald(ing?) head (Uncle Poopsie was sick and unable to provide this service)
She gave out lovely open mouth kisses and rubbed noses

and she found herself in the Great Pumpkin Patch (Charlie Brown)

She had lots of fun with Grandma and Papa -- and she was on a nap strike for much of the time as well! Guess that's what grandparents are for huh? Spoiling you and therefore RUINING you for when you go back home to mom and dad. THANKS... sortta. She also got to see MiMi. We were unable to go meet new baby cousin Sawyer due to Lily's fever and cold :( And Uncle Richard and Aunt Reber I MEAN Reba were kind, as always, to make the effort and come visit us! I believe Grandma has pictures of those that I don't!! (Scott and Nina were going to meet up with us until Uncle Poopsie got a barf-bug... we appreciate them NOT sharing that with us before our long plane ride home!)
We safely (after a looooooooooooooong day) returned home to Daddy and a very cold Anchorage with snow on the ground! It's a lovely 20 degrees today and nippy to say the least! Just a few days ago...
and TODAY

Wow this is harder to keep up with than it use to be...

2008-10-01T17:22:00.006-07:00

Richard and Reba - I got the book! That was SO sweet... you will get a formal thank you card - but I just remembered and I wanted to write it down now! It came when mom was here :) Those are some of the only pictures of Lily we have printed!!

Let's see.. a quick update - Lily's getting all sorts of teeth. She's got her 2 on the bottom, her two fangs on the top and the top middle two are coming in. She's also getting ready to cut two more on the bottom. She's not "crawling" Let's just say she takes her time and does things when SHE's ready. She's already stubborn :) She is really close - she gets up on all fours, she rocks back and forth and she army crawls! She says Mama and Daddy or DaDa now. She's constantly gurgling her spit or milk or anything in the back of her throat and giggling. She naps with her blankets - anything soft and cuddly... and as SOON as she touches it - no matter where she is, she puts her thumb in her mouth :) She loves to eat - especially anything she can feed herself. She usually her left hand mostly... And we just went to the Dr yesterday. She's got pink eye :*( That's what we get for going to church daycare!

I started work and it's been nothing short of Alaska-tastic as we now refer to it. We've had a bazillion things go wrong and come up with childcare and such. We really do things here by going 1 step forward and 7 back. We're still on the hunt for the perfect childcare... or I'll just quit? I'm only working 2 days a week - but the income is a nice bonus that allows us some more "fun" shall we say... and it's kinda nice to get out (even though it breaks my heart...)

Josh is still waiting to hear on his residency. WE're trying not to be hopeful because it's really not at all probable that he would get it this year -- he's applying a year early... and you know how quick the military moves - can you imagine them doing something early? But... all things considered, we still really hope we get it. We're tired of Alaska to say the least. It's just too far away - that's all!

Enjoy the pictures - including some from Josh's pie in the fact that he was awarded at work! Lily is currently crawling (imagine low crawling... army style) all over the place as I type! LOL

Elston Look-alike Meter

2008-10-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Cheese

2008-09-05T17:21:00.001-07:00

So cute...

This one deserved a second post... this is her new trick. She raises her eyebrows - lowers her head and looks at you out of the top of her eyes... it's hilarious. She giggles at me when I raise my eyebrows up and down - and so now, she's following suit!

Here are a few.. (duck and hide) - I need to upload more...

2008-09-05T13:59:00.001-07:00

I know... still not pictures... but here :) Enjoy...

2008-08-18T11:28:00.002-07:00

So behind...

2008-08-08T10:46:00.004-07:00

I know I know, I'm behind. And, I've had SEVERAL of you fine people remind me how behind I am. Just a question - how come everybody wants to see Lily? I got ZERO request for Josh and I? HAhahaha... Ok - here's a taste, but I'll catch up this weekend, I promise...

Back from vacation....

2008-07-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

and we're catching up! Stay tuned for pictures :)

We really DO have friends!

2008-06-28T18:49:00.011-07:00

(*hint - click on the pictures to see them bigger! Hard to see in the tiny slideshow!*)
That's right! Josh and Sarah came up to vacation with us here in Alaska! It's been SOOO great to have them here with us and enjoy this time with them! They were able to head up to Denali national park for a few days on the Alaskan railroad and enjoy some hiking and even white water rafting (depsite Sarah being pregnant!!) My Josh was stuck working as usual... but because he did so fantastic on his physical fitness test last week - he got to take an extra day off work! So, he graciously kept Lily for the day on Friday so I could go play with our friends! We headed down to Whittier and out on a glacier tour! Here's a link to our pictures (too many to post!

View Album

Get your own

The big Artic Thunder air show was also this weekend! Josh got to go to Whittier tody on a Halibut and Salmon fishing trip with our church -- so the rest of us packed up, had pizza at the Mooses Tooth (best pizza in Alaska...) then took off to base for the show! We got to see abunch of "our" (as in Elmendorf's) plane flying around and then the Thunderbirds!!! Most people are more familiar with the Blue Angels - the Navy stunt crew. This is the Air Force equivelant. It was great! I got a few pictures of that too!

View Album

Get your own

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!

2008-06-15T10:08:00.004-07:00

He works VERY hard for me....

He takes me out to do fun things!

He reads to me at night!

He lets me do things I'm not suppose to when Mamma's not looking... like
lick the cookie dough beater!

He changes my cloth diapers and doesn't complain about it "WEEeeeeee"

He gives me baths (which are lots of fun...)

AND He loves me dearly...... Ode to MY Daddy

We're home....

2008-06-03T13:49:00.001-07:00

Post and pictures to follow sometime in the new few days - but for now... Lily is tired ;)

Homeward bound...

2008-05-21T16:41:00.003-07:00

That's right - Lily and I (Kristi) fly out this evening -- 6:40 Alaska time... 10:40 EST only to arrive in Charlotte, NC at 8am on Thursday morning! Try and come by the house on Sunday afternoon if you wanna see us :) We'll be in town for a week before we come back home to Josh - whom I'm sure will be very tired of his bachelor week (ie video games, golf tournament, no responsibilities, fun outside, no babysitting, no bottle cleaning, poopie diapers, crying midnight baby-alarms...etc...) you KNOW he'll be sooo ready to welcome all of the aforementioned with opened arms. HA We are going to miss Daddy VERY much... (insert 1 tear rolling down cheek here...) Prayers for a safe HAPPY BABY flight would be coveted! See you all soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T15:17:00.006-07:00

Lily enjoys the Nintendo Wii with Daddy! "What out Daddy, they're gonna get you"

"Told ya they were going to get you... silly Daddy"

"Now mama, why in the world would I wanna go take a nap? Pa-leeeease"

Happy 4.5 months Lily!

2008-04-30T13:36:00.004-07:00

ahhh yes.... spring sprung a leak around here. We got about 16 inches of snow last Friday!! Thank goodness most of it has melted away... but we've got flurries on the horizon. Sheesh!
Lilly Belle is now 4 and a half months old!! She had her appt today and is currently snoozing away her immunization blues... (mom had Wendy's to make herself feel better about it.. sniff sniff - it was not fun but easier as the nurse, I promise!)
She sporting some good ole Pernell AND Elston traits...
Height - around 20th percentile - mom's short, but we think this came from Daddy ;)
Weight - 13lbs and 6 oz - 25th percentile (about where she's been) As much as mom would like to claim this one, we think this probably came from Daddy too!
Head circumference - here comes the good ole Pernell side with a whopping 80th percentile! Taking after mama and uncle Poopsie with a whopper of a noggin' And as Bill Pittman would say - and I would agree... it's gotta be all of her extra brains!!!

All in all - she's a skinny little squirmy wormy! She's right on track for her growth curve and that's allll we can hope for!

Spring has sprung... did Alaska get the memo??

2008-04-25T18:02:00.004-07:00

Sheesh... so it was in the 50s earlier this week and we were seriously in short sleeves and shorts (for a bit) outside! Today? Friday? Just in time for the weekend? This is what we get........ GROOOSSSSS

There's probably 6 inches of snow out there already... uuggghhhhh....

And now to a brighter note :o)

This is what we think about Gradma leaving us...

2008-04-18T13:21:00.005-07:00

:o) Knew that would make you "crack" a smile....

We love you Granda-ma-ma!!!

And to show you guys my new fashion statement... the cane is SOOOO the new black

(

PS note that I RARELY ever take the time to get this "dressed" - so I'm really doing ya'll a favor in this picture...)

Happy 4 months birthday Lily!

2008-04-15T22:17:00.004-07:00

Grandma has been SUCH a huge blessing and help to us all!!! We're super duper sad (and nervous) that she's leaving on Thursday night... but we think it's time she gets back home to her life and a REAL springtime (ugghh... it snows as I type...) Sooo for grandma's pleasure and Lily's 4 month birthday - we indulged her in a little rice cereal. We all had a good laugh watching her... We probably won't stick with starting her solids just yet, but it was fun tonight! Grandma was an old pro as catching and re-shoving in the same bite over and over and over again! All in all, she ate it and wore it well :o)
Another funny note that many of you will get a kick out of... is Lily's cloth diapers! Yep, we're CHOOSING to cloth diaper... funny, I know. Blame cousin Analiese and aunt Kristy for this new addiction! So far so good - there is a big learning curve to this whole deal! It's far more popular and trendy these days than most of you probably realize... but our attempt at this is all in the plans of saving money (and helping out with diaper trash is a good alternative) She modeled a few of them for you all to see :o) How cute?!

People always ask...
"Is Lily sleeping through the night?" -- yes and no... She started sleeping about 6-8 hours somewhere around 8 weeks! Lucky us... I know. I always remind people that she slept good all night and screamed all day :o) So it's not all cake a candy... These days she goes to bed around 8ish and usually wakes at 6ish to eat a little then snuggle in bed with mommmy (aka - mommy makes me stay in bed until she decides to get up) She definitely has nights that she still wakes at 4 or 5 though - and while that's not bad AT ALL, it sure throws mom and dad for a loop!
"Is Lily teething?" - Nope, but she sure drools a lot
"Is she giggling?" - Not really, but she sure talks and coos and chatters a lot!
"What color are her eyes?" - you can see in some photos...but they are still bright blue right now! Her hair is light colored with a tiny hint of red... mostly blonde - but it shows up darker in pictures?
"Has she found her feet?" - Nope... but she sucks ALL OVER her hands all day long! She also looooves to talk to herself in the mirror!

AND - what a praise... Lily has finally grown out of her colicky, fussy, screaming phase! She still fusses, by all means... but nothing like it was!!! She does have reflux and she does have a milk protein allergy... so all of that makes her a little less comfortable from time to time... but she had a tendancy to scream at the top of her lungs much of the day! The last 3 weeks, however, she has improved DRASTICALLY! Yea for a maturing digestive system and a NOW very playful little girl!!!

Picture proofs online

2008-04-03T11:22:00.004-07:00

Find Lily's proof spot and her password is elson_lily

They're super cute :o) They'll only be available for a little while and then they'll be gone - so hurry up and look!!

Also... I've now learned that not only did mommy suck her thumb, bug DADDY also sucked his thumb!!! So at least Lily got it honest...

Like mother like daughter :o)

2008-04-02T21:12:00.002-07:00

Sooooooo, for those of you that knew me when I was a baby... (and on up into the 2nd grade) knows that I was quiiiiiiite the thumb sucker. So here's my little mini-me while Grandma Pernell catches her on video

Weak at heart need not apply...

2008-03-27T22:09:00.003-07:00

I unveiled my knee today :o) Of course, I wasn't supposed to... but you know me! I have a brace that I have to wear from the tip-top of my thigh down to my ankle with some fancy hinges at the knee that are locked out for now to keep me from bending it. But, when I took that all off and unwrapped all the bandages and gauze... this is what I found.
Dumm... dummmm.. duuummmmmmmmm

So there's the handy work! Severl "poke holes" to peak in there an fix the meniscus, and then the incisions were to "harvest" my hamstring and then re-attach it into my femur and tibia! How do they attach it? By drilling into the bone! Sweet, eh??
Ok - so now that you feel sorry for poor pitiful me, you are welcome to send all checks, giftcards and baked goodies directly to the house :o) I'll send James and Geeves (aka Josh and Mom) to the mailbox to retrieve them. HA
In all seriousness, I am doing pretty good -- but I am absolutely blessed beyond words with a wonderful husband and mother that have been so willing to take GREAT care of me and Lily (and Graci) without batting an eye! It's not much fun to tend to other people all day long and they're both doing it without complaining. Thanks sooo much to them!!!

Scratch those plans...

2008-03-26T11:14:00.002-07:00

Josh WAS coming home in June, but now... thanks to Uncle Sam, he will not be. We're really having to get use to this re-working of our schedules EVERY SINGLE WEEK! We try to plan and something always seems to spoil'em! So now, I shall come home the last week of May for Cheryl's birthday with Lily alone... and come back home, alone. LOTS of flying time with baby alone :o( Then we both may come home in July - but I'm reluctant to say we WILL considering how things seems to be going anyway but ours these days!
We'll see...

Surgery is over... now the fun beings

2008-03-25T19:08:00.002-07:00

Sooooo, surgery was today -- NO FUN... hurts like, um... I don't know what - but it hurts A LOT! I did have my ACL reconstructed with my hamstring... (all from the same leg) and had a big meniscus tear as well that was repaired. The repair was close to the red zone, so it may not heal and I may have another surgery to take it out... :o) Prayer that it heals please? So the way it works, only part of your meniscus has a blood supply... so when you tear it - if it's in the right spot, you can take it back together and it'll heal. Otherwise, once torn you just have to clean it up and take out the torn piece to keep it from getting in the way of the joint. Why not take it out to begin with? Because you can't replace that piecd and it's the cushion you have between your femur and tibia. TAking it out means more problems done the road - IE arthritis. Just having to have knee surgery at all means increased chance of arthritis --- SOOOOO, all of this to say it's worth triying to fix it and see if it'll heal. The DR scraped the area and it bled, so he felt positive that it might heal! Bla bla bla, medical talk.
The post-op nurses and such weren't stellar shall we say... they insisted I get up before they gave me pain meds? WHAT? I refused, so they thought I was a real pain in the patootie... but I didn't care. I was ill, in pain, and waking up from anesthesia. I kinda got my way - I got my medicine and they gave me about 15 whole minutes for it to work before they had me get up. I told them I needed to sit in the chair before I walked... they refused. Sooooooooo, as I was expecting - I yarfed about 10 times, got hot and dizzy and they had to catch me and put me in the chair. Stupids.. that's how I felt at least because I told them I wasn't ready --- but they were ready. Yea for them.
I sat for about 15 minutes and then was ready to walk on my own - I did, and we got to go home. I'm still mad at them for being so rude? I would never ever treat a patient that way... but whatever. They're probably used to alot of crotchety old men that won't listen to anything around there. (No offense if you are a crotchety old man reading this - ha)
Grandma Pernell flew in yesterday and had her first run with Lily the fussy baby today. She took her bottles relatively OK, shall we say. She'll learn. Mom now understands that sometimes when she screams and cries, there is nothing in the world you can do to make it better... feed her, bounch her, walk her, change her, rock her, medicate her (sillies - she has reflux... so THAT kinda medicine - nothing to knowck her out) and sometimes that's just not enough. BUT - in between those screams, she's super duper sweet and cute and cuddly and smiley. I love her :o)
Ok - enough writing. I'm a little wordy now... we'll blame it on the medication. Many of my friends remember me taking this medication last knee surgery (which by the way was a DREAM compared to this one...) and found me quite hilarious. I'm a little less funny this time... it hurts too much :o)
Each time I get up, it seems a little better though. So we're glad it's over and we're going on to pray hard and work hard to get things as good as new as quick as we can!
Stay tuned - but I'll be coming home around May 23rd and Josh will join me around June 1st/2nd!!! I'll be home for about 2 and a half weeks to see you all before we head back up here. I"m looking forward to it... but flying home with Lily, alone - scares me!!! We'll see!
Much love - enjoy this slideshow of Lily. These are all pictures of her since she turned 3 months old! There is a theme too... we always have a few pictures of her screaming. Daddy wants to keep them as colateral to show her someday and remind her of her temper!
Thanks for prayers and concerns! We love and miss you all.

Happy Easter

2008-03-24T15:54:00.006-07:00

Lily Belle and her very first Easter :o) She was a trooper through church... or should I say pooper? All dressed up in her pretty little pink dress that Grandma Elston gave her for Christmas... sparkley tights and all - and what does she do? POOPS right through it all! We managed to get a few pictures... screaming baby and all :o) Who knows, you might can see the poo in the pictures?! I'm not sure when we recognized the "seepage"

Lily is 3 months old!!!

2008-03-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

Look what I can do!!!

Go TARHEELS

2008-03-15T13:33:00.003-07:00

Uncle Larry, Dad, Nina and Scott watching the game this close... worth a few hundered bucks

Scott's quick moment on TV... worth the money spent on tickets.

Dee, Bob, and Alan's disbelief on national television... even in Alaska :o) PRICELESS

Hi Everybody

2008-02-27T14:11:00.005-08:00

Lily wanted to say Hi... especially to cousin Analiese for lending out this outfit that she managed to slobber all over! Ahhh the life of a baby... PS - I've figured out how to fix the pictures that go sideways -but not the video? At least it has sound :o)