Our Christmas Elf

Grandpa W. took this picture of Lizzie during one of her weekly visits to their house.

Lizzie is our perfect little Christmas Elf!

Words to Make a Mom's Heart Melt

Lizzie made my Thanksgiving Day. On the way to church in the morning, Lizzie was securely strapped in her carseat with a pipe in her mouth and her doll in her lap. Out of the blue, Ryan said, "Let's start a family tradition and on the way to church each Thanksgiving morning go around the car and tell eachother what were thankful for." Ryan told Lizzie she could go first (like she understood - besides, she had a pipe in her mouth). So, I proceeded to say, well Lizzie is thankful for her pipe and babydoll. At the mention of "pipe" she took out her pipe and handed it to me so her mouth was free and she could "talk". Ryan once again said, "Lizzie, what are you thankful for?" and without hesitation in her cute little Lizzie voice she said, "Mommy!"....Oh, my goodness, it was like her and Ryan had practiced it. It was so perfect! So, that was my perfect Thanksgiving that made my heart melt. I really don't think I'll ever forget it. I hope that yours was great too!

(Sorry, no new pictures lately, so I'll use a picture taken by Katie DeBoer!)

Style

Grandma W. is teaching Lizzie about style early on in life. Tuesday I went to pick her up from Grandma's house after I was finished working and she was decked out in a fur vest (the one in the picture) along with matching leopard print shoes. In my opinion, she looked very adorable. Well, Lizzie has taken a liking to the vest. The last two mornings she has requested to wear the vest overtop of her PJ's (thus the attached picture). She needs a few more lessons from grandma on style and how to match an outfit - don't you think?!

Enjoying the Fall Weather

Lizzie loves the leaves in our backyard. I'm glad that she does, because I know that her father and I are not too fond of them. Don't get me wrong they are beautiful, but after filling 80+ extra large leave bags full of "beautiful leaves" they no longer look so beautiful. (Yes, that is 80+ bags every year!)

My Little Pumpkin

Happy Halloween! No candy for Lizzie, just a book from Grandma & Grandpa Griffen. We'll put off the candy for another year or so.

Dylan was dressed up as a fireman. He was the only one who was allowed to have candy. Although, he got a book from Grandma & Grandpa too.

Even though she didn't get any candy, she thoroughly enjoyed watching all of the neighborhood kids come to the door all dressed up.

1 Year Photos

We had Katie Deboer take Lizzie's one year photos and a few pictures of our family. Katie does an amazing job. Originally we had planned on taking pictures outdoors but the weather did not coorperate. Lizzie had a few less smiles this time around too; but the pictures still turned out great! You can check out Katie's work at http://www.katiedeboerphotography.com/

Fall Apples

I love fall! Apples are synonomous with fall. I guess that is a good thing because Lizzie loves apples right now. She likes them even better now that I let her eat them whole rather than sliced up into small pieces. (Of course, I keep a watchful eye on her as she takes her big bites :) ).

You might be wondering why I am blogging about Lizzie and apples, so here you go (it may not be the most interesting story...but the Wolthuis family is pretty common folk these days and that is okay with me).

I have a bowl full of fake apples on my table. Every time we would walk past the table she would say, "ball". After a number of times with her saying "ball" as we walked by the table, I finally realized that she thought the apples were balls. I mistakenly gave her one of the fake apples to help her understand that they weren't balls and she tried to take a bite out of it (hence the new teeth marks in my fake apples). Due to her frustration with not being able to eat the fake apples, I decided it was time that she could start eating real apples. She loves it!