Elise is 2!

 We are very blessed to be Elise's parents.  It's unbelievable to me that she's already two.  I think all parents say that.  She is a funny little gal with her own little sense of humor always trying to make us laugh (sometimes when we shouldn't be).  She is quite independent too.  I told her she was independent the other day and she thought I was talking about her pinna (the outer part of her ear...I was teaching her random body parts a few weeks ago).  She loves books with a passion.  She's sleeping in her "big girl" bed now and doing great after a rough patch of about 3 days.  We're working on potty training and I really have no idea what I'm doing, but I think she's catching on.  Soon we'll get to see her in her role as "big sister".  - Mommy Michelle

When Elise was born, a co-worker told me she would be my greatest teacher. His prophetic words certainly ring true after her first two years. As her pupil, I have learned some things enthusiastically, and some things because I didn't have the option not to. But I'm thankful for every lesson. I have learned of courage I never knew I had - courage to provide for her and protect her. I have learned the love I have for my wife is deeper than I can comprehend. I have learned to respect my parents more. I have learned of new ways to laugh, new ways to cry, and new ways to get angry. I have learned more about the patience and long-suffering of my God. I have learned more about the depth of my own selfishness. I have learned how fun it is to dance and be silly. I have learned how much I still don't know about life. I have learned I can be somebody's hero. Thank you, Elise, for your lessons. I look forward to many more. - Daddy Dane

Elise in the laundry basket with her newest cousin Eli!

This Season

It's been a lovely season.  I feel like there are aspects of the Christmas Season that are fresh again to me because they have been fresh and new and exciting for Elise.  I've wondered about new things now that I have a child.  What was Jesus like as a baby and a child?  What was it like to be Jesus' mother?

We went to see the lights at Opryland Hotel this year.  They are really beautiful.  They also have a huge Nativity Scene outside that is quite impressive.  We realized that Elise has been comprehending the Christmas Story when she looked around with a confused look and asked "Where's cousin Elizabeth?"  Not typically portrayed in a Nativity Scene, but there were a couple of Mary's, so we just decided that one of them could be Elizabeth to ease Elise's confusion.

We've spent good times with family and friends.  Now Dane will be heading back to work on Monday.  We'll return to the normal (which never is quite normal) and continue on into this new year.  Hoping and praying that it holds things in store that will help us to grow to be more like Jesus.

Thankful

I guess I'd better mention Thanksgiving before Christmas gets here.  We went to NC on entirely too short of a visit.  Next time we go we've decided we've got to stay at least a week if Mom and Dad can put up with us for that long.

We jumped right in to things by helping Dad process a couple of deer, which he gave to us , which are in our freezer right now, which will provide us with meat through the winter.  It's a gift and we're very thankful for our annual deer meat that Dad gets for us.

James, Stephanie, and cousins Tyler, Ryan, Dylan, and Emmy came on Thanksgiving day and we had a lovely feast.  The grandkids all got in the hot tub with Grampy that afternoon and then Tyler and Dad went hunting and brought back a Thanksgiving deer.  I took Elise out to watch them work on it after they got back.  I'd like her to be familiar with where our food comes from, but she wasn't all that interested.  The day ended with Dane not feeling well.  He got some sort of virus, which passed from him to Elise to me.  Thankfully I was feeling well while they were sick and they were feeling well when I was sick, so we all got to help take care of each other.

We stopped by Grandpa and Grandma Haas's house on the way home.  Elise and I got a ride on the lawnmower sled (no snow required) and we enjoyed some of the best hospitality in the world.  I love to eat a meal at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Now we're home and celebrating the Advent season as we try to establish some traditions of our own.  It's been especially fun to celebrate since Elise is starting to understand more of the world around her.  She was a bit upset that we were giving Christmas goodies away to the neighbors.  She wanted to keep them for herself.  Anything sugary is a "special treat" and she kept asking for a special treat yesterday.

Elise is a funny kid.  Some of the things she says and some of her antics are so funny.  I try to only laugh at the appropriate ones.  This past week we were talking about the new baby in my belly and how we don't know if it's going to be a boy or a girl.  That it is a surprise.  She started pulling at my belly saying "open it!"  When I was washing her hands after lunch one day I asked her "How's that?"  She replied "not bad!"  Then she got a little sassy with me this week when I wasn't giving her my full attention.  "Mommy, I'm talking to you!"  I'm trying to remember these things she says.

Enjoy this Advent Season!  I'm so thankful that Jesus came.

Dane with his Thanksgiving facial hair

Quick Picture Update

A couple of weeks ago we took off to Memphis to celebrate with some of our good friends.  Their daughter turned one!  We love spending time with these folks that meant a lot to us during our time living in Memphis and still mean a lot to us.  The picture below was taken a few months ago.  Andy and Susan to the left of the picture are the one with the 1 year old, unfortunately when this picture was taken she was napping and when we were in Memphis for the birthday party I didn't take any pictures with our camera. 

We camped for one night on our way to Memphis and had a fun but rather sleepless night in the tent.  It was only Elise's second time camping, but it was her first time to eat a s'more.  She loved it all.  The picture above is one we took after our sleepless night.

This was Elise coming out of her room the other day, dressed up in her hat, carrying her bunny, and singing Jesus Loves Me ("Jesus, Jesus, I know" is her version)

We had us a little turtle for Halloween.  She had fun trick-or-treating at the Farmer's Market with Gran and then with our neighbors' girls on our street.  She was loving the candy she did get to eat, but we hid it from her afterwards and honestly I've been the one eating most of it with an occasional "special treat" for Elise.

A Sweet Mess!

She was a little muddy after "helping" Daddy work on the compost bin.

What Elise Is Up To

Elise is entering this stage of talking out more of her own thoughts instead of just repeating what we say.  But there is still a lot of repeating.  This week she started saying "Oh my goo-ness" and "Oh man!"  When we were in the truck yesterday she started talking to the cars in front of us.  "Go! Go! Cars! Go!"  Hmmmm...she's heard one of her parents say that.  She'll tell us stories in detail with facial expressions to boot.  We try to understand and nod and laugh at appropriate times:)

She also has a one-eyed stick horse that is perfectly fine to play with, but she prefers getting the toilet plunger from the bathroom and riding it instead saying "Giddyup, giddyup!"  Honestly the toilet plunger is probably more her size and a bit more manageable for her to ride.

She still loves giving hugs and kisses, sometimes a bit aggressively to kids her size.  She tackled her little friend over the other day with one of her hugs.  If she gets hurt or notices any sort of injury on her body she holds out the body part and say "kiss it".  Gladly!

She's getting pretty bossy too, which means she'll fit into the role of big sister well.  Which will be a new role for her in February if all goes well with the new little one coming along.

She got her first haircut last week.  The mullet was getting a bit out of hand, although I did miss it after we trimmed it off.  We had been talking about haircuts for a few weeks from one of her favorite books.  So she knew what a haircut was and welcomed it when we pulled out the scissors.

I had a broken leg scare this past week after she tripped while running in the house.  After she fell she couldn't bear weight on her right leg without crying and it wasn't much better the next morning.  I asked several people to pray and thankfully the next day when we went for x-rays there were no signs of broken bones.  She limped for a couple of days after that, but is back to her normal full-throttle self.

Haircut  in Pictures