We are still in Kansas Toto...

On Sunday morning before we flew out of Kansas City, we were also able to spend a few hours with my aunt, Deb, cousin, Amy and her three kids. Even though it was brief, we had a lovely brunch and good conversation! And of course, the kids all seemed to enjoy each other. Griffin was very interested in Elsa and wanted to hold her...so cute! Madeline and Caitlin had fun playing with her and all three + Deb were amazing singers of "The wheels on the bus" to entertain Elsa as we drove to the airport.

However, I will point out that getting a good photo of all four kids was nearly impossible (ok...truly impossible as you can see). It wasn't for lack of trying!

We tried to get a good one of all the great-grandkids...

We are in Kansas Toto...



Elsa and I traveled to Kansas in early January to see family. Elsa got to meet her Great Grandma (GG) and her aunt Megan and visit with her Grandpa and Grandma Pam. We were also able to visit with my uncle and aunt, Larry and Diane....and stopped in for a visit with Charley. It was an oz-mazing weekend (sorry...couldn't resist!)

Elsa decided to start crawling forward the night we got there so Gonzalo missed it by a few hours!



She figures out how to go forward...

  

 






  
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Side note: Elsa was teething and very uncomfortable over New Year's weekend and while we were in Kansas...so she was not an extremely happy camper...thus there were not many great pictures to choose from from either weekend. And please excuse my bad attempt at formatting the pages of this blog...I still haven't really figured out how to get the pictures where I want them to go so after 30 minutes I just give up and click "Publish Post"...any suggestions from other bloggers out there will be greatly appreciated! (Or maybe I need to let go of some of my perfectionism...hmmmm...)



Ringing in 2011!

We had a great New Year's weekend with friends and family. We had an open house on New Year's Eve and were able to catch up with lots of family friends - and everyone was able to meet Elsa. We also enjoyed the weekend with our Colorado family members - my aunts, Joanne and Linda, my uncle, Jim and my cousin, Nicole and her daughter, Asha. Asha and Elsa became fast friends. Here are a few pics...



Christmas in February!

Here are some pictures of Elsa's first Christmas! We had a great time and were able to hang out and spend time with my mom, Colin and Bryan. Bryan flew in on Christmas day and stayed through New Year's so we had lots of family time! 
Elsa loved all her gifts and she especially loved the bows and wrapping paper....and of course, all the ornaments on the tree!

I'm getting good at posing...

Look at all these presents!

Happy Valentine's Day!

And we're back!

We're a bit jet-lagged and trying to adjust to the new schedule. But, we made it back safely to Granada after a little overnight detour in Dallas after our flight from Dallas to Madrid was canceled. Elsa was a trooper during the 2-day trip and had made friends with everyone from our canceled flight by the time we all actually made it to Madrid (via Miami) a day later. We are excited to be home and to see Gonzalo! 

I apologize for the long 2 months without updates - I was busy being a working mom (I don't know how anyone gets anything done except for at work?) and we all got sick a few times (no fun!).

We had a great time over the holidays and during our stay! We were able to spend lots of time with family and friends and I went back to work - which meant that Elsa got to hang out with Gonzalo for the first few weeks and then with her Grandma and Grandpa Colin. She had a great time....and I can't thank all my wonderful babysitters enough! We even took a trip to Kansas to see the Eckart side of the family and got to see the Hoobler side in NM over New Year's weekend.
 
I will post pictures of everything in the coming weeks. Elsa has changed so much in these last two months! She's crawling, pulling herself up on everything and standing for a few seconds at a time. She babbles away, makes lots of fun sounds and has discovered how to stick out her tongue. She has 2 teeth (or 1 1/2) and is trying lots of new foods - she loves sweet potatoes, carrots and lots of different fruits. She's a busy little girl and keeps us smiling!

Elsa + the Pear

We haven't started giving Elsa solid foods yet...but we've let her "taste" a few things...I would say this is her favorite by far! We'd better stop with the yummy fruit or she won't want anything to do with rice cereal in a few weeks!

Supernatural