Dining with Ariel

Elena has done everything but sleep in her Ariel costume since she's gotten it... She loves showing everyone the purple and blue tail. And worries about where her tail is when she's in her car seat. We had a party over the weekend with mozzarella stuffed risotto balls and chocolate mousse. Of course Elena wore her costume for the occasion! She enjoyed her juice out of a wine glass and we were so proud when she noticed and mentioned the mushrooms in the risotto balls.
Monday we went to dim sum and again, she wore her lovely costume. She insisted we take pictures of her eating the little fruit tarts they served. We went to the Jade Garden (someplace we'd never been) and it was really good!Elena and her ladies - Auntie Tracy, Mommy, and Auntie Ria. Daddy was also there for dim sum, and we met Auntie Tracy's crazy friend Nick (who kept stealing E's raisins).

Fire!

Elena spent Friday night at Grandma's house. Grandpa and Auntie live there too, with Maven, Pit, and Rainey, but it's always referred to as "Grandma's house." She didn't want to come home on Saturday because she was having too much fun helping Grandpa. He had a fire and she was allowed to help put sticks on it! She was so excited about it, she took this picture so she could share her fun with MommyDaddy.

Auntie Tracy!!!!

Auntie Tracy is here (so is Uncle Brandon) and she loves all our kitties! Here's Auntie Tracy making Perrin the happiest kitty ever.
Auntie Tracy brought Elena the most amazing Ariel costume a 2 year old could imagine. It even came with ear-bobs (which she's helping Elena put on in the picture).
Here's our pretty mermaid! The costume was a bit itchy, so not long after taking this picture we had to put clothes on underneath. But the costume sure is cute and we're getting a kick out of watching the tail flip around as she walks.

We're very excited to have Auntie Tracy and Uncle Brandon here and hope they'll stay forever...

Tired 'lena

Just wanted to share this picture of Elena asleep on the couch. After a day of bouncing in the big bounce houses with Aubrie, shopping for stickers, visiting Auntie at the library, and playing with Aiden, Elena couldn't keep her eyes open to watch Alice in Wonderland.

Friendly visit

Aiden came to visit us yesterday! And he brought his Mommy and baby sister with him. Elena and Aiden put on aprons and turned into domestic super heroes. They then proceeded to play with all the toys in the house and make bead bracelets for each other. So glad Elena has such a nice buddy who likes to help clean up... Elena brought out her camera and took this picture of Aiden and his "jazz hands." Elena's camera skills are really improving!
Aiden got a turn with the camera too and shot this pic of his mom and sister. We'll see you soon Aiden!

Elena's message

I'm experimenting with audio on E's blog. I really wanted to just upload some audio files recorded on the computer, but I can't figure out how to do it easily. So, I found gabcast which is a free service but you have to call in. As much as Elena likes talking on the phone, it's hard to get her talking when there is no one on the other end. If you know of an easy (and free) way to add audio please share! Or, if you want to conference call Elena and have it posted on her blog, she'd love that!

** Elena's message says, "I'm watching the Alice movie."

WARNING: Post is about poop

An update on Elena's potty training:Elena started using her little potty in December and was doing great at initiating use and not having accidents. But a couple of weekends ago she started having poop anxiety. Due to painful poops, she's been withholding which then causes her poops to be larger and harder thus becoming even more painful. After discussing the issue with her doctor, she's being encouraged to eat high fiber fruit and drink high fiber juice (the prune juice didn't go over well, but she's liking the peach and apricot nectar). Plus, she's being slipped mineral oil in beverages and on sandwiches. She's still a bit nervous about pooping, but they are slipping out much easier. And yesterday she even went poop on the potty! Yay Elena! So, we went to the store and she got Sheriff from Disney's Cars. We're hoping she'll keep up the good work on the potty and we can avoid medication and enemas...

Glue addict

Do you see the huge puddles of glue??? That girl is glue crazy! Despite the 24hr drying period, Elena's artwork turned out very nice. She's got pompoms, googly eyes, and pieces of foam glued on her purple paper. And she had a blast making them!

Cakes for Nana

With some help from Mommy, Elena made chocolate cupcakes for Nana's birthday. She was very proud of how she laid out the silicone cupcake liners and was pleased with the colors. As we filled them with batter, she said who they were for... pink for Nana, blue for Auntie Tracy and Uncle Brandon, purple for Mommy, pink for Aubrie, purple for Daddy, purple and blue for Elena! Happy birthday Nana! We love you and wish you were here to share the cakes with us!

Blog overload...

I really need to spread out the posts... Elena wanted to share this picture of her and her good friend Rai. Quick bio: Auntie's Rainey is a black dog and doesn't photograph too well. Elena likes to throw Rainey's ball and watch her swim. And since Elena got her vet/grooming kit for Christmas (from Aunt Amy!), she also cuts Rai's hair. Rainey gives lots of kisses. She is a poodle mix.

Baby Maddie

We went to visit Aiden yesterday and met his baby sister, Maddie. Elena could not get enough of that little girl! If she could have, she'd have spent the whole visit holding her...
Baby Maddie has really soft hair.
Baby Maddie has cute little hands.
Elena and Aiden look so grown up here - like they're having a real conversation!

Aubrie's Bounce Party

Happy 2nd birthday Aubrie!Man, we can not get enough of KidzBounce! Aubrie had her birthday party there last Sunday and it was a blast! We were all impressed with what a nice job they do on parties - there was a person overseeing the party the entire time who carried gifts in and even wrote out a list of who gave what gift. Aubrie loved her pony gifts the most. She and Elena have so much in common... no wonder they're such good buddies.
Best of all, all the adults got into the party spirit too. Especially the grandparents. Here's Elena catching Grandpa as he comes down the slide!
The most popular bounce house was the giant round one. We had some great ball fights in there! Elena's favorite ball was the Disney Princess ball. She wasn't throwing that one - even if it was an easy shot at Daddy's bum!
And what's a party without juice, party favors with balloons, and blue cake? Thank you Aubrie for inviting us to your birthday party!

Like MommyDaddy

That's the way Elena says it - there is no and when talking about Mommy and Daddy. We become one, and it's a a catchy thing to say. Go ahead, say it fast three times. MommyDaddy, MommyDaddy, MommyDaddy. And while she looks like MommyDaddy, she can only act like one of us at a time.

So here's our little girl being like Daddy - playing with his old Lego's. She'd also be eating potato chips if we'd let her...

And here she is being like Mommy - wearing Kristina's glasses and making a list of things to do.

Snow Day (current)

Ok, you can't tell this is a different day since Elena is wearing the same snow clothes, but it is. We tried making a snowman, but the snow just doesn't want to pack. Instead, we made a little mound of snow and put some branches in it. We weren't as fortunate as our friend Aiden who lives in Issaquah and got 8 inches of snow yesterday.
Cody (the dog) was having lots of fun as we threw snow at him at let him chase us. He showed Elena how tasty snow can be! They both were licking it up - don't worry, I made sure Elena only ate the clean stuff. I think later we'll bring some fresh snow into the house and flavor it. I've heard snow cream is really tasty, or maybe Elena would like snow mixed with maraschino cherry juice.

Snow Day

By the time we got outside yesterday, half our snow had melted! Elena couldn't make a snowman, and she got awful muddy, but she still enjoyed kicking her big ball around.

We spent the rest of our chilly day inside doing art projects. She was really proud of her finger painting.

We got more snow yesterday afternoon and last night - maybe we'll be able to make a snowman today. Poor Jim had a 5 hour commute home last night... hopefully his commute today won't be as lengthy.

Wii-lena!

Elena has discovered the joy of video gaming! We got a Nintendo Wii in December and we all have our favorite things about it. Elena likes the Mii channel - a place where we create caricatures of ourselves and others. She likes watching them walk around and pointing out everyone. She's even begun to design her own Miis. Note to Nintendo: Please offer more blue items - hair, faces, mouths, etc. Elena holds the wireless remote while watching the Miis move around.
We created this one in her likeness. Yes, that's a kitty on the left.
This is the one Elena designed and named. We aren't sure where she discovered the name Reba... she's also given a pony that name.

Elena takes a stroll

Elena is really enjoying all the recent videos we’ve been taking. Last night, Jim was able to locate some of the early videos he took (and edited) of her. She enjoyed this one so much! And then we played that song over and over and danced to it. The song is Whispering Bells performed by Del Vikings, from the Stand By Me soundtrack.

Elena the director - take 2

Here's the video that was supposed to be in the other post. Somehow, when editing the link for the long video, this video became corrupt. Hope you enjoy our cute little girl! Love, Jim and Kristina

Elena the director

***Having trouble getting the other video posted, will have it up here soon...***

Elena likes to give orders. And she's very cute and expressive when she does it! There's a long video of her reading the Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5068562720039048203 You probably can't tell from her narration, but the story is just like the Gingerbread Man with repetition of "Can't catch me!". Although at the end of the Gingerbread Girl story, the girl outsmarts the fox, doesn't get eaten, and makes gingerbread for all her chasers. Hooray!

Elena on the phone

Elena is talking to Grandpa on the phone. I think she's talking about the snow... (Hopefully Grandpa was still on the line.) She just wanted to talk to people today - unfortunately lots of people work... What she really wanted was to video conference on the computer. So, Grandma, when you get home, ring us on MSNger!

Subscribe E's blog

A subscription box was added to the right of the page. And I really hope it works! You're supposed to be able to add your email address and get notified when Elena's blog is updated. This shouldn't add spam to your inbox and you can unsubscribe anytime. Please let me know if you have any trouble with it - or if it works!

Baby Tape

Welcome to the world Tate Gregory!

Elena's newest cousin was born Wednesday, January 3rd. She calls him Baby Tape.

Isn't he a handsome little guy? He's got a nice head of hair too, just like his sisters Ruby and Nattie.

Lots of new toys

Elena wanted to show everyone the toys she got for Christmas, so she's taken pictures of some for me to post. Grandma and Grandpa got her this fancy talking easel.
Nana and PopPop got her the dolly care station. The dollies take naps, bathe, and eat here, but at this moment they are shopping. The Kinde family gave her a cute hop scotch rug. We think it's perfect to take from room to room and do beads on!
Maria ("Ria") and Amanda gave her some princess Playmobil to mingle with her Fisher Price peoples.
Uncle Greg, Aunt Sarah, Ruby, and Nattie gave her this personalized toy chest. Right now it's full of farm animals she got from Rainey.

Boing Boing!

One of Elena's favorite places to go is Kidz Bounce. It's located off I-90 in Preston, WA and is so much fun! It's full of giant bounce houses and inflatable slides. Plus, there are lots of balls and balloons to play with. (These pictures were taken Dec. 14th.)The best part is adults can bounce too! It's great exercise and everyone is ready for a nap when the session is over.
Here's a nice action shot of Aiden - watch out for flying kids!
Coming or going? We head through the bounce house obstacle course.
Elena climbs the ladder for one of the smaller slides. We're looking forward to our first party at Kidz Bounce on Jan. 14th for Aubrie's 2nd birthday - Elena will be able to show her daddy and grandma how much fun bouncing is! And there's rumor of a pony cake...

Happy New Year! A week of parties!

Last week after Christmas, Elena went to a party for Mommy's friend Erin. Erin lives in Honduras, but is home visiting her family (and us) for the holidays. Ria was there and did beads with Elena and Auntie.

Last week Elena also spent lots of time with Aubrie (who had her birthday and turned 2!). Can you believe no pictures were taken by Mommy??? Yesterday Elena went to Aubrie's house for a New Year's Eve party and Mommy didn't even take the camera.

Elena thinks Mommy needs to set a New Year's resolution about taking pictures...