Elise Serenades Riko

One of the cutest videos we have!

Learning to Walk

At around 9 months Erik began to crawl. He quickly learned to stand on his own after that. I thought by 11 months he would be walking, but I thought all of my kids would be walking much earlier than they actually were. They both started at around 14-15 months.

Elise actually took her first steps after her 1st year party, but I got too excited about it and scared her. She wouldn't even try to take more steps for a couple more months, but when she did again she was off and a walker from that day on. Joel grew more gradually into walking. He started taking steps, but it took him probably a month or two before he was walking full time.

Erik took his first steps last night, though he didn't realize it :). But who knows how long it will be before he is walking. It's funny how babies can be completely capable of walking, yet because of fear they don't do it. It makes me wonder how many things I am completely capable of doing that I don't simply because I am afraid? There's some good food for thought! Anyway, I look forward to him walking because I know how fun it will be for him. He wants to be able to get places faster. I know it frustrates him when Nik gets home and Elise and Joel can quickly run to him while he is grunting and crawling as fast as he can and not making nearly as much headway as he wants. It is so cute and yet I also feel for him. But walking also means that he isn't a little baby anymore, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.

Nicknames

We love coming up with fun nicknames for our kiddos. And there have been many. Although I have forgotten probably more than 75% of them (especially the ones for Joel), here are the ones I can recall right now:

Elise:
CeeCee
Bunky
Bunky boo
Bunkin
Leesee

Joel:
Joely
Joelster
Monkey
Joely rumbalay (this was Elise's - she said rumbalay means ticklish)
Rumbles (developed from the above)


Erik:
Riko
Rikadoo
Bug
Buggy

Snuggler

I thoroughly enjoy snuggling with all of my babies! Out of the three though, Joel really is the official snuggler. All of them love to cuddle a little. As a baby Elise was a bit too busy for much cuddling, though as she has grown older she has also grown cuddlier. Erik is much like she was - too busy to sit still for very long, though he too likes to snuggle for very brief moments of time. Joel on the other hand, has always been able to sit for long periods of time with me. I remember reading to him while he was still in that baby phase, amazed that he could sit through Elise's longer stories so well. Erik at 11 months can only stay for about 30 seconds to listen to a story - then he is bored!

Today while watching a video I was trying to get Erik to sit with me. He did for maybe a minute and then wanted to "do" something. I put him on the floor to play and no sooner was Joel on my lap with his blanket and doggy. I have even had moments where I was watching a mommy show that must really have been quite boring to him, and he will still just sit and be with me through the whole thing. He just loves to cuddle and get that human physical touch time in. It is very precious and I am trying to savor it up knowing that as he gets older those times will fade away :(.

Late Night Potty Trips

When Elise was first starting to wear underwear at night we would wake her up right before we went to bed to go potty one more time – hoping it would help her stay dry until the morning. She is a heavy sleeper, so often she would still be asleep through the process. Often she would wake up half the way and start crying and crying. I still have the image though of her sitting on the potty seat, head slumped down, long hair covering he little face.

Now we are in the same boat again with Joely. Now that he is 3 he has been wearing his big boy undies to bed and we are now waking him around 11pm for one more potty trip. Unlike Elise, he wakes up pretty easily and pees pretty easily. These times have become very precious memories already. Our little man is a cuddle bug and cuddles so tightly when we get him up and as we put him back to bed. When he is especially awake we have some very sweet encounters with him, chatting while he goes potty. Although it will be great when he doesn’t need the late night potty trips, at the same time I think I will miss these tender moments.

Holding Hands

A few months ago the kids and I had a special treat – picnic and movie date at home! We will put out a blanket on the living room floor and eat dinner on it while watching a movie. This is usually a treat when Nik is out of town or away for an evening.

This last time the kids were not in agreement regarding the movie we would watch. Elise wanted to watch one that Joely said was too scary. So she told him that she would hold his hand during the movie and then he agreed. So they held hands while they watched the movie…so precious for a mama to see! And now Joel isn’t scared of that movie anymore.

Modes of Transportation

Yesterday I was with the kids in the kitchen. Joel and Elise were painting with water colors whiles Erik was sitting on the kitchen floor with a toy. He started in one area of the kitchen and then before I knew it, he was about three or four away from where he started, still on his bum though. I scratched my head and realized that somehow, this little bug had on his bum scooted himself down the kitchen.

None of my kids were the textbook crawlers. Elise hardly crawled at all until she was probably close to a year. Whenver she wanted to get something she rolled from one place to another. Joel started crawling fairly early, but instead of doing the regular type of crawling he did the army crawl, using only his arms to lug himself around the house. Now it seems like Erik (though he does do some rolling), has developed yet another mode of transportation – bum scooting!

Though they eventually end up in the same place – walking on two feet – it is cool and very fun to see how they get there and how each one takes their own unique journey of transportation !

(Original post Feb. '10)

Reunited

Joel missed Elise so much while she was gone for her sleepover. Today after I woke him up from his nap I told him Elise was home and he should go say hi to her and give her a hug. So once he got downstairs and saw her he started running toward her with arms wide open to give her a hug. Then he gave her a huge bear hug when he reached her. Ah, so absolutely precious!

Elise's First Sleepover

Our sweet girl just had her first sleepover last night. Now 4 1/2 years old she went to her friend Elise’s house to celebrate her birthday. I spoke with her on the phone last night and she sounded so grown up. It amazes me how when you haven’t spoken to your child on the phone in a while, when you finally do they soudn so much older! I hardly recognized this little girl who is not a baby anymore !

So last night Nik and I took the boys to Barnes and Noble and I was so outnumbered! I never really pictured myself with three boys in my life. But I sure do love it. It will be oh so wonderful to have my sweet girl home today though!

Joel's Song

We were in the car last night driving home from the bookstore when Joel said something about wanting to sing a song to Jesus. And then he just started singing. As Nik wrote on facebook, it went something like this, “Jesus, you’re the One. You died on a cross. You really did. You died on a cross, yes you really, really did (6x). You died on a cr-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-oss. Yes you did. Then you rose again. You died on a cross then you rose again. You are the one that saves us. You …are the only one that saves us.” He went on and on for a few minutes, until we pulled into the driveway. It was really quite precious!

It is so sweet to hear him talk about loving God and knowing that God loves him. We continue to pray that He would have a deep understaning with the passing of time of how amazing God is and how much God truly does love him! He has been longing to get baptized and we long for the day when he really understands what that means and can take the plunge! Until then we are just so grateful that he has a tender heart toward God!

(Original post Feb. 2010)

The Little Chef

Elise has been asking for a play kitchen for months. I was hesitant for the longest time to get her one. They can take up so much space, and what if we got her one and then she got bored of it in a month? After her love for cooking endured months I finally gave in though. I found one on craigslist and got it for her for Christmas. It's been sitting in the garage for a couple of months and I have just been craving to take it out and show her. Well her day finally came last week. Now she can cook all she wants and she seems to love it so far!

(original post 12-28-08)

Baby belly

Joel has the cutest baby belly! It's funny b/c a couple of his adjustable 2T pairs of pants barely fit his waist on the largest setting, yet I have to role the bottoms to keep him from tripping on them because they are too long. Elise's mid-section had slimmed down quite a bit more by this age.






Anyway, one day Joel really wanted to wear this pair of green pants that were size 18 month. I had a feeling they were too small, but he was insistent, so I gave in. Oh, what a laugh I had! I could barely get the things over his hips and then they simply wouldn't fit over the belly - so they just squeezed his little body below the waist and his belly hung out on top. So adorable! The pictures don't quite capture it, but you get the basic idea. I think we have to retire those cute green pants!

(original post 12-28-08)

Camo Kids

When Elise was somewhere between 20 and 24 months, we had a particularly amusing experience. Nik had gotten a camo shirt from his family for Christmas. Somewhere along the way we must have told Elise what camo was (she's the kind of kid who only needs to hear something once, and then she has logged it in her brain for life!). Anyway, one day Nik had his new camo shirt on. He picked up Elise and she looked at him, touching his shirt. Then she said, "Ooooh, camo! I like it!" I think to date, it was her longest sentence. I wish we had it on video!






Anyway, since we've had the kiddos we have tried to have little pieces of camo here and there in their wardrobe. Not much, just a small tribute to Papa and his love for the great outdoors. Today I happened to get them both dresses in camo pants (the only camo either of them currently has). Matching camo...time for a picture!!

(original post 11-5-08)

Animal Noises

I wrote a blog a few weeks ago about our kids calling their animals by the sounds they make. Here is a video of Joel making his animal noises. His binkie is in his mouth unfortunately, but I think you can still make most of it out! (original post 10-29-08)

The Flower Girl

Elise has had the privelege of being a flower girl in 3 different weddings over the past year. She takes the duty of flower girl very seriously. And I think she is perfect for the job! We had the joy of watching her walk down the isle at my brother's wedding this past August. And then just two weekends ago she was the flower girl in our dear friends wedding. It was so fun to watch her go down the isle. And I wish I had it on video, but halfway down she recognized someone who she had just met the night before at the rehearsal dinner. She looked at him and almost paused as she waved and said, "Hi!". It was really cute! One of the coolest parts was at the end of the ceremony though (coolest of course aside from the bride and groom being pronounced husband and wife!). The groom had one more groomsmen than their were bridesmaids. Nik was the best man so he came in with Brandon (the groom) at the beginning of the ceremony as opposed to walking a bridesmaid down. That left him without a bridesmaid to walk down the isle with after the ceremony. So, he got the honor of escorting the flower girl, and his precious daughter Elise, back down the isle. It was really precious! I will try to get a picture of it!

Laundry Baskets

I have two really fun memories of Elise and laundry baskets. One night, when she was just a couple of months old, I was doing laundry. I had a bunch of clean clothes in the laundry basket and a sleeping baby in my arms. It was time to go to bed and I needed to bring both Elise and the laundry basket down the hall. Obviously I couldn't both carry Elise and the basket so a moment of brilliance (brilliance by my standards!) came. I could put Elise in the basket and then carry the basket down the hall. The basket was a little heavy, but it worked quite well. And Elise was so tired she didn't even notice.




When she was maybe 16 months or so, she had another laundry basket encounter. I had our dirty clothes laundry basket downstairs for laundry. I had just emptied it and Elise wanted in. So we put her in the basket, and she really thought it was the coolest things ever. I think that the picture we got of her is one of our favorites of her!

(original post 10-16-08)

Happy!

Yesterday, I think it was after dinner or something, Joel looked at me and he just said it..."Happy!". He had a huge smile on his face. I couldn't believe it. This little boy, completely on his own, was telling us that at the very moment he was happy. I don't think we use that word a ton, and I don't think we even ask him if he's happy too often. But somewhere he picked up what it means. Today he threw himself at me and gave me the hugest hug - he gives amazing bear hugs by the way! Right before he dove at me though, he said, "Happy!". So while I didn't get the spontaneous "happy" on video, I got a version of him saying it. If you listen carefully, you can actually here him say, "I'm happy." Enjoy!

Wakey Time

As I mentioned in another blog, my newborns, like most, were sleepyheads! Those first several days, we really treasured the awake time with our babies because they were few and far between. I could have just stared at them forever, looking into those beautiful newborn blue eyes.

Cranky!

Cranky, cranky, cranky! Elise was rarely cranky as a baby. She was a sweet little doll baby who rarely got upset. This photo we got of her is just about the only one we have like it. Joel on the other had frequently got, and still gets, quite upset. As a newborn it was partly due to the pain caused by the acid reflux he had. But as we quickly learned, it is also just part of how he is wired. As I mentioned in another blog, Joel is extreme. Life is awesome or life just stinks! And when he gets upset he gets really upset! This picture of him well desribes one side of our dear Joely. I love this boy!!

)original post 10-14-08)

Snuggling with my babies

As a mom of a new baby I was very big on getting my kids on a schedule. And I had my kids sleeping in their own beds from day one. But I also loved holding them while they slept, and I often couldn't resist holding onto them during their nap time instead of putting them in their beds. I love how you can just hold a newborn, and they just sleep. I just love it!!


I swaddled both Elise and Joel. For Elise the swaddling only lasted a few weeks. She was a kicker. She kicked me in the womb and actually caused me so much pain in my abdomen that it took a couple of months after her birth for the pain to completely go away. As soon as she was born I got to see what she was doing in my tummy. She would stretch out her legs as far as they would go and then kick both legs together up and down. It was so funny - I would often hear her kicking on her mattress from the next room. So with all her kicking she would usually break out of her swaddle within minutes. It quickly became a lost cause.
Joel on the other hand was not a kicker. He loved to be swaddled, and we actually swaddled him for a long time. He suffered from acid reflux as a baby and so he actually really struggled with sleeping at naptime. 45 minutes was usually the longest amount of time he would sleep for during a nap (thankfully he slept great at night!). Anyway, I tried just about everything in attempts to help him sleep better, in addition to medication. We tried elevating his crib, putting on a noise maker, and of course, swaddling. I had to work with him for several months, but by about his third or fourth month he finally got consistent with his naps. By this time he was pretty hooked on being swaddled, so I was nervous to stop. But summer came and it got too hot for it. We stopped swaddling and he adjusted well!

Sleepy Heads

I am amazed at how quickly my memory of my babies fades! The main reason I started this blog was as an attempt to better remember what they were like throughout the different ages. So I plan to start going back and chronicle memories of them.


Going back to Elise as a baby, one of the first things I remember is how sleepy she was. This is just typical of all babies, I know. But I really wasn't prepared for such a snoozer. Feeding Elise was just about always a battle for about the first month and a half because of this. She just didn't want to wake up to eat. She would begin her meal, and without fail, in a minute or two she would be out like a light. We tried everything - tickling her feet, getting her naked, changing her diaper - you name it. But to no avail. It often took close to an hour to get her to finish a meal because it took that much effort to keep her awake.


Joel on the other hand, while a sleepy head as well, was a great eater as a newborn. He loved to eat and ate very quickly. Meal times usually took no longer than 20 or 30 minutes. I have to say that with Joel, nightime feedings were a lot less dreaded!


Even now I can see the difference in their sleepiness play out. Joel is a great sleeper and sleeps great at night and pretty well during naps (although that did take some work). But Elise really needs her sleep. Though she is almost 2 years older, she still usually sleeps more than Joel. And when she doesn't get enough sleep, it quickly shows. It's interesting how much you can see individual traits and personalities play out so early on.
One thing I remember about both of them as sleeping newborns was that they both smiled a lot while they slept. Again, I know this is often typical for babies, but it doesn't make it any less precious to see. Both of my kids took a while before they smiled while awake, but we got lots of views of them smiling in their sleep. We figured they must have been dreaming of milk!

(Original post 11-14-08)

Moochies, nuggets & pine needles

Moochies, nuggets and pine needles...let me tell you what these words mean in the Harrang household!

For a long time Nik has called Joel nugget. Where did that name come from? I don't really know. One day Elise started calling Joely a nugget as well though. It was really cute. She would scrunch up her face, tickle Joel and say, "hello you little nugget!". Then the word began to transition in her mind. During bath time she went through a phase where she got very curious about his unique boy parts. As she started to talk about his private area, she referred to it as his "nugget". So now, nuggets, in her mind, are boy private parts. So she has noticed that Papa and Joely have nuggets, while she and mama do not.

Now on to moochies. One day Elise and I were out in the backyard. She put her hand on my chest and began to talk about my moochies. That word was completely authored by Elise. But from that day on that's what shes called them! So now she talks about how mamas have moochies, but papas do not.

Now for pine needles. The other day Elise was sitting at the table with me and Joel. We were all eating lunch together. She pulled up her shirt and pointed to one side of her chest and said, "these are my pine needles.". So now, I guess moochies are the developed version of pine needles! It is fascinating to see Elise make sense of her body and the world around her - and quite amusing too!

(original post 11-13-08)

Joel's Words

Joel is incredibly verbal. Let me clarify. He loves to use his vocal chords - but he has preferred loud nasally grunts and noises to actual words. The funny thing is that he is fully capable of saying words in a clear way (clear for a 1 1/2 year old that is). For example, a couple of months ago I tried to get him to say See-See, which is what we call Elise (how that nickname came is another blog in itself). We haven't really figured out a good spelling for that name yet. Anyway, he said it beautifully, kind of like "shee-chee". Several times I got him to say it perfectly. But within a day he was back to the grunts. I would say, "Joel, can you say See-See?". And he would just say, quite loudly by the way, something like "hrrr-hrrr", spoken through his nose though, not his mouth.

With time I have learned what his grunts mean. For example, he says, "anna, anna" all the time. We came to learn this was his way of saying, "I want." Lately we have been working on the word please. He knows the sign for please, but he also knows how to say it. Instead of actually saying it though, he prefers to say, "hee", again, spoken through his nose. We decided it was time for him to actually start saying it all the time though. So for the last few days I have not been meeting his requests until he clearly articulates, to the best of his ability, the word please. And now, we finally have a little boy who can clearly say please! It is so exciting! Every day he is starting to speak more and more clearly, and he can even make some full sentences. I have to say though, I think when he has fully outgrown his nasally grunts and noises, I will miss them!

(original post 11-08)

Say "cheese!"

For the most part, Elise was a very smiley and fun baby/toddler. But when it came to pictures she seemed to always be so straight-faced. Right before Christmas, in 2006, we made the mistake of trying to teach her to smile when taking pictures. One of us, probably me, put our hand to our face one time while trying to demonstrate a photo smile. Not only did that catch, but a cheesey forced grin caught as well. For months after the fact, whenever Elise would smile for a picture she would put her hand on her cheek and give us this fake forced smile. It took a long time for her to outgrow it. If we had only known...

(original post 11-08-08)

Tied to the Bink

When we first had kids, I was determined not to have babies who were tied to their Binkies. Elise rarely used one her first year of life. I think it was due to a rough teething season, but somewhere along the way, she became addicted. I was glancing through some pictures of her between the age of one and two, and it was almost rare to find a picture without the Binky in her mouth! She just loved that thing! As she neared two, we made a "Binky stays in the bed" rule. She could have it for naptime and nighttime only.

She adjusted very quickly to not having a Binky in the daytime. But her nighttime attachment only grew. For several months Elise would often wake up twice a night crying because her Binky fell out and she couldn't find it. Eventually Nik got a little pouch that we tied onto the crib that held extra Binkies so, should she lose one, she knew where to get another one. It worked fairly well, but wake up calls due to a lost Binky were still not uncommon. We got pretty tired of it, so when she turned two, she said goodbye to her dear Binky. It was a sad parting, but within a couple of days she had recovered.

Joely too turned into a Binky-lover. And now he also has a nigh time and naptime only Binky rule. And often he will wake up crying because he lost his Binky (although not as often as Elise did). And so he too, when he turns two, will have to say goodbye to his dear bedtime friend.

(original post 11-08-08)

Moo, Baa, La la la

My kids love the book "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa". It really is a cute one - and fitting for my kiddos. I was reminded of a fun memory of Elise this week. Joely was pointing to his lion, asking me to get it for him. His way of asking was making the sound of a lion, "Roar!". It was so cute - and then it struck me - this is exactly what Elise used to do when she was younger. She was very verbal early on. And one of the things she first learned to say was the sounds that animals make. (I still remember calling my parents one day and Elise leaving a message of animal sounds on their voicemail). As a result, her first stuffed animals received names that matched their sounds. So, her lambie's name was "Baa." Her lions name was "Roahr". Even when she learned to say "Lambie" and "Lion", she still for a long time preferred to use their sounds for names instead. It is so fun to see Joely follow in her footsteps now.

Teething

Ugh! I do not like teething at all! I think it is safe to say that if Joel could speak more, he would agree wholeheartedly, and even more so! Our buddy doesn't seem to have the highest threshold for pain. And unfortunately, when he teethes, he tends to get several teeth in in a short amount of time. The past several days he has been CRANKY! It didn't take me longer than a few hours to figure out he was teething. He currently has four or five teeth coming through, many of them being eye teeth which are very painful.

Typically when Joel teethes he gets sick. I realize many doctors say teething doesn't cause colds, fevers, etc. From personal experience I beg to differ! The teething itself may not cause the illness, but I think it throws Joel's system so out of whack, because he gets so upset, that he just picks up bugs as a result. This time I was determined not to let that happen. He has been doused with vitamin C, and Tylenol to keep him calm and lots of prayers!. And thanks to God this time he is not sick! But man, is he ever crabby. Still sweet, but when he doesn't get his way, look out! I cannot wait until these teeth come through. It will be a blessed day in the Harrang household when Joel's final tooth comes through. That day cannot come soon enough!

(original post 11-04-09)

The Storyteller

For the past several months Elise has been very into being told stories. While she has been a book worm since she was a baby, now she would most often prefer to have you tell her a story. We've had all sorts of sagas and series, such as the the many tales of Princess Sally and her horse Neigh (these are Harrang originals), or of the Princesses Ariel, Cinderella and friends, or of Curious George. Let me tell you, our creativity is often running quite dry after making up literally dozens and dozens of stories to entertain her! Fortunately, Elise has a lot of creativity and often adds her own ideas to the stories, easing the pressure for us a little. For weeks we would encourage her to tell the story, since often she would be the one to tell us all of the details of the story before we even began. She always resisted, saying she didn't know how. Well in the past week or two that has changed, and a new storyteller has emerged in the form of our Elise. She loves telling us stories, and although I am slightly biased, I think she is quite good at it! A few days ago she started to tell me a story about several Annas. There was Anna-two-ya, Anna three-ya, Anna-four-ya...and then she paused. I think adding on the "ya" to the numbers was getting her a bit confused. So she started over - there was OneAnna, TwoAnna, ThreeAnna, FourAnna, and FiveAnna. I don't remember the rest of the story, but that part was so cute! Her new thing is telling stories with a mean king and a mean queen. I don't know quite where this came from, but now she has been asking me when she sees a person, "Mama, is that a mean person or a nice person?" (Oh, I just remembered where this all has come from! It is Halloween season and in all of the stores we go to the deocrations are everywhere. I personally think that some of the stuff is too scary! And so Elise has aksed me when she sees big witches or monsters growling and making scary noises, "Mama, are they mean?". I suppose it has translated over to her wondering that question about everyone! Blogging is so helpful for remembering stuff!). So we have a new storyteller in the house. Next time you see her, be sure to ask her if she can tell you a story! (oringinal post 11-18-08)

He's Got Character

Elise is so social - and has always been that way. So I assumed when we had Joel that he would be a little more shy. Well...I was definitley wrong on that one. Early in Joel's life we learned that he has a very vibrant personality. There is rarely any middle ground with Joel. He is either loving life, or life has just ended as we know it. When he is upset, boy is he upset. But for a better part of the time he simply has a zest for life.

He has the most amazing laugh - the kind that literally could be recorded and sold - like the tickle me Elmo laugh. And as social as our little girl is - really, I hardly know anyone as up for meeting and chatting with new people - Joel is the one who fills the role of the life of the party. Isn't life just one big party after all?

One of the things that floats Joely's boat more than anything else is a good balloon. And thanks to Gammie, in Southern California last month Joel recieved the balloon of all balloons - a gigantic Mickey Mouse. We had a full schedule in So Cal with my brother Scott's wedding. So the balloon came just about everywhere for a couple of days because it was sure to make Joel happy. The night before we left Joel had one last enjoyable time with his special Mickey balloon before we had to say goodbye and toss it. He had a nice bath, got to be naked, had on his favorite sunglasses, his best friend doggy (named "gaga"), and his Mickey balloon. Does life really get any better for an 18 month old? I doubt it! Oh, the simpicities of childhood. We can learn so much from these little ones!

(original post: 10-17-08)

My 80's girl

One of the things I love about my girl Elise is that she is incredibly creative. She is always coming up with new ideas for art, new ways to use objects around the house, and new ways to accessorize. She is truly an accessory girl - much unlike myself! The more, the better in her mind. And no matter what she wears, she often comes up with a look that is one of a kind.

Take today for example. We were going to the park with some friends and she decided she wanted to dress up in a cute little summer outfit - a yellow skirt and matching halter top given to her by her great-grandpa and grandma. She asked for two braids in her hair, and then added a little headband - which by the way is a headband intended for newborns. She found several about a year ago and decided that they fit her just fine, so she likes to wear one or more of them often.

Then her creativity began to really flow. She brought me a pink ribbon and asked me to tie it around her waste, like a belt. It seemed a little odd to me, but I love to encourage her creativity so I agreed. Minutes later she came to me with a super long blue ribbon and made the same request again. So I again agreed, having to wrap it around her waste twice because of the length. Then she decided she wanted to wear her tennis shoes with the outfit and picked out pink socks to match. She doesn't like her socks folded - she actually prefers them hiked all the way up. I have tried to explain to her that it looks a little silly. She doesn't agree, but she met me half way and let me scrunch them down a little bit. Her look today was completed with an oregon sweatshirt that her grandma bought her because it was a little too cool this morning to go out in a halter top alone.

As I looked at my cutie bug I saw, for Elise, a pretty normal sight - a very unique attire that illustrated who she is to a tee - and would fit quite well into the 80s scene as well! Every once in a while there is a part of me that wants to tame down her expressive looks (and there are times I might step in just a little), but I want to encourage her to be the way God has created her to be. I love my kiddo!!

(Original post 10-17-08)