Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! Love, Elsa :)

PS: Look at how Mommy did my hair!! It looks ridiculous :) Thanks, Grammie Thorner for the Halloween outfit - it's so cute! xoxo

Elsa Gives Some Love

Elsa's First NH Visit (outside the uterus...)

Well, we got back yesterday from a fabulous week in NH with the families. We spent most of our time just hanging out at either Grammy & Grampa McKernan's house or Grammie & Pop Pop Thorner's. We saw tons of family & Elsa got to be cuddled & loved by everyone. I will let the photos tell the stories...

Here is Uncle Willie giving Elsa a bottle
Here is Grampa hanging out with his baby

Uncle Willie & Elsa

I had to force Lil' Sis to come meet little Elsa, but I won & she came!

Lil' Pea hanging out with Auntie Alexis and giving a big smile

My friend from high school, Bekah, came to visit with her new baby Owen who is 4 days older than Elsa

Elsa getting cuddled by Uncle Andrew & Uncle Stephen

Grandma & Grandpa Oppold came down for brunch at Paul & Monica's on Sunday morning. Here they are with Elsa, Lauren, and Alex.

Here is Auntie Hillary with little miss Elsa in the "sleeper hold"

Elsa getting a bottle from her Great-Grammy Jeanette

Elsa getting love from Great-Grammy Phyllis

Lauren & Elsa - Elsa doesn't look too comfy!

Here is my favorite picture of Aric!

Elsa & Uncle Paul

Elsa & Auntie Monica - sorry for showing all the same pics as you, Monica!!

Elsa getting a smooch from her cousin Alex
Elsa getting love from Sarah (my cousin)

Here is my favorite picture of Grammy, Mom, me & Elsa :)

It was a great week - we had so much fun visiting and having everyone meet Elsa! We also got to see a UNH hockey game, eat some DHOP, have plenty of Dunkin Donuts, and take Elsa to my dad's school and Grammie's library. We miss you already!! xoxo

(early) Voting Day - Elsa Style

Aaron, Elsa, & I went to vote today since we can vote early in Chapel Hill. Elsa was her own little political billboard. I won't tell you if Elsa's political views coincide with ours or not...


Thanks for the onesie, Chrissy - I gave Elsa a kiss on the tummy this afternoon and realized I had just made out with Barack Obama!

Elsa sits up front cause she's a good guy at sports...

We have had a very sports-heavy weekend, which is excellent because that is how we prefer it. We went to Matt & Leigh's to watch the Carolina football game on Saturday, then came home to watch the Sox game. Elsa got to meet Ali and they smiled a lot at each other - it was really sweet!

Last night Aaron & I were ridiculously excited because we got to watch the UNH hockey game on TV!!! They played BU, so we were excited to watch a good Hockey East game. Elsa got to wear her Lil' Wildcat shirt and get excited about her first trip to NH in a few days. She watched a bit of hockey and we made her cheer a little bit! She got to utilize the game day chair nicely. And, UNH won - sucks to BU.

2 Months

Elsa is 2 months old now! She went to the doctor on Friday - she had quite the cheering section with me, Aaron, & Lauren all there! She now weighs 10 lbs, 15 oz. and is 22.5 inches long. She is, according to the doctor, "very symmetrical" in the 50th percentile for head circumference, length, and weight. She is very average at this point...

Happy 2 month birthday Lil' Pea!!

Yay for Fall in North Carolina!! Even though it was well into the 80s when we went to the fair with Lauren, the next day it was back to Fall weather. It hasn't even been out of the 50s the past 2 days. It was so cold in our house that we had to turn on the heat for Lil' Pea. Her hands were like ice! Here she is all snuggled in her sweater and blankie. She has to get prepared for her big trip to NH in a few days!

State Fair

Lauren came to visit (yay!!) and we (Aaron, Lauren, George, & I) took Elsa to the NC State Fair for a bit o'culture and fried fun. It was one of the hottest days we've had in awhile, so Elsa got to wear a nice "summery" outfit.

Lauren was very excited to try all the fried food choices and I was really excited to get a deep-fried cheeseburger. We didn't go to the fair last year, so I've been longing for one for 2 years! Not to mention that this year the new fried selections were going to include fried pecan pie and fried mac & cheese.

This is what Lil' Pea thought of the fair about 10 minutes into it:

Here at the Hogway Speedway we saw a few pig races and the best part: a duck race. Lauren took some pictures of the names of the pigs, but she'll have to tell you what they were because I can't remember...
A healthful snack...

Lauren is really excited about her deep-fried pecan pie. It was really good - insanely sweet! We also had the fried mac & cheese - it was good, but pretty regular, I guess.

Elsa won a prize - or really, I won it for her...I wonder if she'll treasure this pink fish forever? A few reasons I love the south:
I couldn't get this picture to focus for some reason. Aaron seems to think it's because God didn't want me to take a picture of this sticker, but in case you can't read it clearly, it says: "Evolution is a Lie!" I especially like the exclamation point...
This was right next to Whack-a-mole...America & God...so patriotic...

A family photo (I love saying that!!). Please notice Aaron's shirt, by the way...he felt it was his only "fair-appropriate" shirt. He did receive an offer...

Zebras, Piglets, & Granny

Elsa is just starting to learn how to grab things and put them in her mouth. Here she is on her lilypad with her zebra friend. She grabbed his leg and is sucking on his foot!
Here are some cute little piglet socks that don't really stay on her feet, but they are cute!
You can see Elsa's friend George the panda here. He is her poopy butt-buddy. When she is getting her diaper changed, she looks at him and has just recently starting reaching out to pet him. Today she tried to grab him, but there wasn't anything she could fit her hand around, so instead she just knocked him over.
I have had to buy Elsa some sweaters lately because she didn't have any that fit her. Unfortunately, she still doesn't have any that fit her because the 0-3 month sweaters are still too big. We put this one on her this morning and Aaron thought she looked like a granny. He asked her if she was going to hang out at the bingo hall later and watch some Matlock.

Titles are hard to think of...

What's new in Elsa's world? On Friday she went to UNC hospital to participate in a research study and make some money for her parents. All she had to do was breathe and she fell asleep so it was pretty easy. It also seems that she weighs about 11 pounds now. She does for her official dr. appointment next Friday, so we'll find out for sure then - I can tell that she is getting chubbier with her little Buddha belly and her thunder thighs!

Last night she slept all night in her real crib for the first time. I really missed her and she seemed so far away - all the way across the apartment! She slept from 10:00 until 8:00, though...it could have been a one-time thing! I can't believe what a dork I am over her, though - I didn't know it would be so hard to have her sleeping in a different room.

Here are some pictures of Miss Elsa for entertainment. I really liked the way she was hanging out in her swing and showing off her sexy legs. :)
Aaron made some "Red Sox" drinks for the game last night. (I can't figure out why this one keeps going sideways - it isn't sideways on my computer!)

Hanging out with Elsa...

Elsa watching some football with her daddy in her game day chair


Playing on her lily pad & snuggling with a cuddly bunny thing

I love my swing!!