Elle Belle turns 3.

My dearest Elsie.....

Happy 3rd Birthday sweetheart. I can't even remember what life was like before you joined us. You have so many sweet, fun qualities that I adore. You always put a smile on our faces with your wit! You are full of "IT!" You keep us all laughing and there is always an "Elsie" story to tell the family. You are such a smart girl and it scares mommy sometimes because you want to grow up faster than I want.  You have your little birthday party planned out to the minute .... pretty good for a 3 year old!  All you want for your birthday is an iPod touch. I feel terrible that you aren't getting it but you will love spending the week in Cali with our little family and going to see Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Mom called Minnie the other day when you weren't being very good and she told you to be on your best behavior and you have. You are so excited to see her! I'm excited to see your eyes light up when you go to Mickey's Toontown. 

You have such a sweet relationship with Ava. Sometimes you think your the BIG sister! You desire for her approval and love to follow her and her friends around. They love you and accept you as part of their group because you are so fun and mature. Even when Ava isn't home, they still desire to play with you!

 You aren't quit sure about Ivan yet. I think he might have rained on your little parade but you seem to still run the household. We still fetch and tote for you. There is something special about you that we all love. You get asked about your RED hair everywhere we go and you LOVE it!!! I love you so much and are so grateful for you. You have helped mommy so much in the past 7 months. Whenever you see me sad or crying you ask me if it's Emmie? I reply, "yes." You always wrap your arms around me and tell me you love me as you wipe my tears. I couldn't ask for a better buddy to be by my side during these trying times. You make me smile daily. I love you my little RED head:)

Love, Mommy

Elle can't wait to celebrate her birthday next monday. This is her invitation Aunt Tracey made her to send out to her friends and family! 

Elsie is obsessed with having a "cherry" birthday party. I have tried to talk her out of this and to do something else with the farm animal theme because she is having a petting zoo at her party. She was insistent on the cherry theme. It dawned on me as I was driving the other day that she wants cherries because Em was obsessed with Strawberry and she wants her own thing! She was a hoot as I watched her design her little cake the other day and told the lady exactly what she wanted!!! She even picked out the flavors as she sampled them all! 

The little things

I have been trying to get back to doing some little things that I love

Baking...

(Don't be jealous of my pregnant body! Pretty soon we might have to get some extensions on those ties.)

with my sweet Elsie

Anybody want a cookie from the Check home?!

J claims she runs the show at our house lately.. I think he is right. She does what she wants and gets away with whatever!

I really don't let her do this until the very end. Isn't she cute?!

Did I mention I have some great friends and a fun sister who always keep me going with baking? It makes it so much more fun when there are fun people to hang out with and talk to! If it weren't for my sister, I wouldn't have any pictures of my children! Thanks Trace... your the best!

Tender Mercy

(Thanks for the photo Trac.. your the best!)

This little girl has been such a sweetheart. She seems to always keep us laughing and on our toes! She goes by a different name daily. It's either Annie, Fred or Strawberry. Sometimes it's Elsie but most of the time it's Annie. She has an imagination like no other but is so sweet and kind. Every time she sees me crying, she holds my face and says, "Emmie?" I say, "yes" she replies "it's ok mom... I miss Emmie too." What a sweet little girl to always be so concerned about her mom. She is so nurturing and will one day become a great mom!

We (my girls and I) were in the shower tonight and she out of the blue says, "hi Em!" I asked her where Emmie is and she says, "she's right there mom" as she was pointing up. I'm not sure what she saw but it was a tender mercy again for me. The Lord knows when I am in need of a "special moment" and he has certainly delivered some this past week that are too personal to share on my blog. I have felt his love... it's amazing!

Potty training

Is it just me or is she the cutest thing you have ever seen? Ok... maybe I am a little biased but this girl does it to me lately. She has been so fun, to the point we don't want her to nap. Imagine that! I am sure it's just a phase because I know 2 yr olds can be pains but lately... she has been hilarious and fun! 2 weeks ago she decided she "might" want to be potty trained. It only lasted a couple days but I had to snap a picture. She tells us every time when she goes potty in her diaper but I don't think she is ready, just interested. She hasn't officially pottied yet but she sure likes to sit there and try.

I love my little Annie. She sure does a good job at keeping us all laughing!

and a fake wipe just to emulate us.

I love her!

Stubborn kid?

Times have been tough over the past 3 years and I had to let some of my "help" go. Well 6 or 7 months ago, I got some of it back and I now have my friend Kim (my sanity) back 1 day a week! It has been my heaven on earth to say the least. Elsie is now 22 months old. She hasn't had the opportunity to have been left with many people bedsides her grandma Bella and aunt Sommer here and there. (Just a little back ground.)

Last night my sister called and asked if I wanted to go to the temple. I happily agreed because I was overdue and Kim was coming. So I thought, "perfect I will drop my carpool off and hopefully Elsie won't be awake so I can sneak out early." These past months since Kim has been coming, Elsie has NOT been a fan! She goes with me everywhere and won't stay in the same room as Kim without me there. I thought, "this will be interesting." I called Kim when I got out of the temple around 1 pm to see how Elle was doing. She informed me of the situation that I thought was hilarious and I wanted to share...... She said she went in her room when she heard her and said, "good morning!" Elsie said, "NO." She went to pick her up out of her crib and Elsie kept repeating "NO" but wasn't crying. She kept asking her questions like, if she was hungry etc to try to get her out of the crib. Elsie wasn't interested. Kim went and got her breakfast and let her eat it in her bed! She said she sat in her crib for a couple hours watching Kim walk back and forth but did NOT want to come out. Finally Kim got her out and Elsie went and sat on her rocking chair for another hour and wouldn't move. We are going on 3 1/2 hours that she would not leave her room or move. Finally she started talking to Kim and started warming up!!! What a little pill. We have one stubborn kiddo on our hands!!! I felt so bad for Kim that she had to deal with that today but I am hoping it gets better and that Elsie starts liking her new friend Kim on wednesdays so mom can go and have some alone time!

Here are some more pictures of Elsie that my friend Kristyn took when she was 15 months old. I had to share.....

Love these girls

Don't you love her Dave Letterman teeth?!?

She can be such a pill!

This girl just does it for me lately. She is so fun! We are all in love. She is talking so good lately. I can't believe she is almost 2!!

Love her profile

My baby turned 1 ....

a few months ago and I am so sad. She is growing up before my eyes. My sister came by today with her camera and got some cute shots of my little princess. We were having fun in photoshop with these photos. Elle has such a sweet personality and we are having so much fun with her. She absolutely ADORES her sisters as they do her. We had her bday party a couple months ago and I will be posting those soon.....

just love her beautiful eyes.

My all time favorite...

i could just squeeze her!

Elsie's Jumperoo!

I was cleaning up the other day and put Elle in her new little bouncer and walked in and saw this......

Poor thing. I was debating whether or not to try and transfer her into bed and decided to leave her like this because she was so tired and it was so quiet.


Ahhh... I just LOVE this little girl. Life to me doesn't get any better than this. I could have more babies if they were all like her!


I know. Jumparoos slow you babies progress down and isn't good developmentally but hey, she loves it and so do I. Don't be mad at me Marcia!!! (Emmie's therapist)

Then these girlies walked in from dance and what do you know... they woke her up and scared her with their LOUD voices and she was not a happy camper!

5 months

Our little Elsie is 5 months and growing like a weed. I would love to freeze time. She has started baby food and is beginning to L-O-V-E it. 2 of her bottom teeth came through a couple weeks ago and she is testing them out on mom when she eats. Not so fun for mom! We are still able to take her to restaurants and somewhat enjoy ourselves but I am guessing she will be left with her sisters and Grandma pretty soon. She WON'T take a bottle and loves to be with mom 24/7. She is sitting up ALL BY HERSELF and loves her toys. We are loving her belly laughs and enjoying every minute with her. I, on the other hand am still working on getting her in to her crib soon. Still have some work to do there. We love our Elle Belle and are having so much fun with her! Here are a few pictures of her first foods....


Loving sweet potatoes

I had to get a picture of her admiring her hands. She loves them and plays with them all day long! I love this Bumbo. She sits on the counter and gets to watch me cook, do dishes etc. They never had this when I had my first 2 girls.

"YUM, those taffy look way better than my baby food"

Elsie's Blessing Slideshow

Kristyn did such a good job the other day with Elsie's little photo shoot I had done in her blessing dress. Just click on the link below......
http://bigshow.bigfolio.com/?s=000010307&t=4b40e7c99fda8c16359a12620cef99e5

Elsie's Special Blessing Day

Last Sunday we blessed our little princess and Jason gave her such a beautiful blessing! I am so grateful to have a husband who honors his priesthood and is able to bless our children. All of our family from both sides came to support us and we are so grateful for them. We each took the opportunity to share our testimonies and express our gratitude for Elsie's safe arrival. I am so blessed to have this gospel in my life and I don't know where my life would be without it. I am so happy that she has joined our family and has brought such a sweet spirit into our home. She is such a good baby and I am so glad that Emmie and Ava have fallen in love with her too! She has the cutest personality and I have a feeling that she is going to be a little spit fire, which will go right along with her RED hair! I don't know how we ended up with 3 girls that look NOTHING like one another. I feel so honored to be the mother of my children and that my Heavenly Father has entrusted me to teach my children about his gospel here on this earth.

 

Dad and Elsie (she must have been hungry!)

Dad and Ava

My 3 little angels!

Waiting to dig in!

Yes! This cake is real and it was yummy! A lady in Queen Creek makes them and she did an awesome job. designercakesbyapril.blogspot.com check her out!

Elsie (aka Big Red!) that is what her dad calls her every time he walks in the room! We are all so in LOVE with her!

 

Grandpa McCleve and Elsie

All her Grandparents, we aren't lacking in the Grandma department!
Elsie with Grandma Eileen

Elsie and Grandma Bella

Elsie and Grandma McCleve

Elsie and Grandma Cindy

Elsie, she is getting so big!

Dad and Elsie

Mom and Elsie

Ahhhh.... I just LOVE her!