BEES!

Two weeks ago today we got our first bee colony!  We've been attempting to get these bees for a couple of months now, but circumstances kept pushing our time back.  But now we are the proud owners of our first hive full of bees.  If you don't know much about bees (which we don't, but are slowly learning), they are truly amazing creatures.  Honestly we really don't have to do much to take care of them.  They are quite self-sufficient.  We go into the hive more out of curiosity than necessity, just to see how much comb they've built, how many eggs the queen is laying, how much honey there is, etc.  We're not sure if we're going to get any honey this year since we got the bees after the heavy nectar flow was over, but we'll see how hard they work and maybe we'll get some.  We have to leave enough honey for the bees to eat over the winter, but anything over that we're going to steal from them and enjoy ourselves.  I just finished reading a book called "Robbing the Bees" by Holley Bishop.  It was a good read about bees, if you're interested.  So many things about bees are amazingly fascinating!  

We have the hive very close to the house and we can see it from the window above our kitchen sink.  We haven't had any stings yet.  There is a bush behind the hive, so when they fly out of the hive they are flying away from our house.  There were about 10 kids in the back yard last week chasing our chickens around and acting crazy and the bees didn't pay any attention to them.  You don't mess with them, then they won't mess with you.  Actually even when we mess with them (go into the hive) we use smoke (which calms them) and do things very gently and they don't seem to mind a bit.  Okay, enough about bees.  But, come over to visit them and we'll tell you more! 

Opening up the hive and smoking the bees

Holding up a frame and looking at the new comb the bees have built

4 months!

Elise went in for her 4 month appointment today.  Healthy as a horse!  Weight: 17 pounds 12 ounces (she did have her cloth diaper on when they weighed her, so I'm guessing that she's closer to the 17 pound mark)  Length: 25 inches (she really hasn't gotten much longer since last month)

Our camera is out of commission, so I took some pictures with our computer.  The quality is horrible, but at least we have the 4 month red chair pictures on record.

One of our few family photos (pretty pitiful, huh?)

Elise is so alert and interactive now.  She wants to be carrying on a conversation, in baby talk of course, most of the time.  She loves her bouncy seat that we have hung from the door frame.  Although I've started limiting her time in it because she now wants to jump when we stand her on her feet anywhere else.  She did turn over once this month!  It was an accident, but it was still VERY exciting.  She rewards anyone who talks to her with a big smile.  Actually she will smile at people even if they aren't even paying her any attention.  When she lays on her belly she can easily push up onto her arms and look around.  She loves anything and everything to be in her mouth.  She drools  profusely.  She will grab anything within reach, so I've had quite a few hairs pulled out of my head.  She loves playing with Dane's facial hair.  I think because of the rough texture.  When we're outside the trees and leaves always captivate her attention.  She wakes up once a night to eat.  She usually takes 2 naps a day.

We are blessed with a very sweet  and happy baby.  It's fun to see her personality being revealed more everyday. 

My First Mother's Day

My precious daughter

Thanks Aunt Bek for the pictures of Elise today

My first mother's Day card from Elise (with Daddy's help)

NC in pictures

Here are a few more pictures from our time in North Carolina

Dad has milk goats that provide Mom and Dad with delicious milk and cheese.  This is part of the cheese making process.  After the cheese and whey have separated he's draining the rest of the whey out of the cheese.

Dad, Mom and Elise at the waterfront park in NewBern

Enjoying the water

First time in a high chair!

Dad has become a French baker in the past several weeks.  This is my favorite,  Petit Pain au Chocolat!

First time to meet Great Grandpa and Grandma Haas

Watching the birds

Surprise visit to North Carolina

Elise and I were given a very special gift from Dane's parents.  They flew us out to visit my parents so they could spend some time with Elise.  My Dad saw her for less than 24 hours when she was a few days old and my Mom hasn't seen her since she was 2 1/2 weeks old. 

When Dane's parents told me what they wanted to do I began scheming.  We decided to make it a surprise for my Mom and although she suspected that something was up, we pulled it off and she was completely surprised when we were waiting for her when she got home from work on Thursday.  She came in the door and walked into the living room to say hello to my Dad and ask about his day.  Elise was sitting in the recliner in the corner the whole time just waiting to be noticed.  Finally she caught Elise out of the corner of her eye!  Elise was just grinning at her and Mom was soooo happy. Of course was immediately picked up and really hasn't been put down much since then.

Here are some pictures from our time here so far.  More to come after a visit to to see Elise's Great Grandpa and Grandma Haas tomorrow.

Elise and Bambi

What a sweet girl!

Grammy introducing Elise to the goats

She's not sure what to think

They seem fascinated with one another

So much to see

Trying to get a better look

Casper thinks Elise tastes good

Elise thinks her fingers taste good

All the cousins together for the first time

Dad teaching me to milk the goat

I finally got the hang of it, but I'm still awkward at it

We're missing Daddy Dane, but also enjoying every minute here. 

5 Year Anniversary

Dane and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on April 21st.  We went to Chattanooga that weekend to celebrate.  We took Elise with us since we're not quite ready to leave her with someone for 2 nights in a row.

A run down of events: Aquarium, IMAX, walk in the north shore area with ice cream at Clumpy's, hang out time at Coolidge Park, Lupi's Pizza, downtown market, and Crabtree Farms.

It was a fun celebration.  I am so thankful for Dane.  He is a wonderful husband to me.  It has been 5 very good years.  He is my best friend.  He encourages and challenges me and loves me.  I can't say enough about how much I love him.

Getting ready to go to the Aquarium

Elise loved all of the lights and colors and action

A little smile

Daddy and his girl at Coolidge Park