Catching Up.......

Since my last post, lots has happened! For starters, we went to Florida for a 1/2 work - 1/2 relaxation trip. The first 1/2 took place in Orlando where Peter had a conference, so Elise and I hung out at the HUGE hotel & took some ventures "abroad" to an outlet mall or two as well as EPCOT one day! Going to Disney World by myself with a 6 month old, toting a stroller, carseat, two bags, and baby bjorn carrier was quite the adventure! Elise had better darn well remember her 4 hours at EPCOT :) (Thankfully, I took pictures to refresh her memory.....)

After Peter was done in Orlando, we drove to Ft. Pierce for an extended stay at my grandparents' condo. It was C-O-L-D. I guess Florida is going through an odd winter this year.... We were able to go outside for enjoyable daily walks, but not once did we remain stationary out there! I can't say I was too disappointed - how would I have really hung out by the pool with a 6 month old? All in all, it was a nice change from the usual routine, but we are glad to be HOME!

And then came Christmas.....

That was a whirlwind week of visiting lots of family, eating lots of food, and opening lots of presents (mostly for Elise, of course!).... It was also the 2nd year I have not put up Christmas decorations. How sad! Last year we were preparing our condo to be put up for sale, so I didn't even bother - And this year we're in the same boat (STILL on the market........) So I'm praying that next Christmas I will be able to put up my tree!!! Otherwise, Peter may think he's married the perfect woman who doesn't clutter up the house in December (You're wrong, Peter, sooooo very wrong).

New Year's Eve brought one CRANKY little girl in our house. It was the first day (& only day, thus far) that Elise had cried all day long. And I mean ALL DAY LONG. Poor thing. January 2 brought the explanation, as her first tooth appeared!!!! Tooth "O" came in (that's her lower left middle tooth) - It's easily felt, but not yet easily visible. I wonder how long those suckers take to come all the way up. Hmmmmmm....

January 5 marked 7 months that Elise has been with us! She is getting so big, thus I transitioned into a monthly picture of her in the sitting position :)

And then came CRAWLING!

Elise is crawling up a storm - she doesn't take to the "normal" crawling stance, but rather hops forward like a frog. It is so cute! So now we're on major crawl alert & doing our best to prevent her from tearing apart our condo.

Finally, for those of you that don't yet know, Elise is going to be a big sister! We are expecting another baby Aug 1 - which makes me almost 11 weeks along and feeling okay. We look forward to finding out boy or girl sometime in March - yay!

Well, I believe I've caught you up on all the goings-on in the Chapman family for now. Hope you're all staying warm & enjoying winter as much as humanly possible.....