Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

As the Grizzly Bear creeps up on her one-year birthday, she is starting to mimic more things that Kendra and I do. Apparently Elizabeth has been watching me eat closely.

Last night we went to Sam's Club for some pizza after a long day of errands. Elizabeth has been very selective about which grown up foods she will eat and pizza crust is one of the few non-baby foods she eats. Instead of eating in bites, Elizabeth will just hold the crust in her mouth and just sort of chew and suck it endlessly. Occasionally she will pull out a big, long, soaked-in-drool crust and use it as a pointer. Incredibly disgusting, but hey, she is just a baby.

When I gave Elizabeth my crust, she began her standard feeding ritual. A few minutes later, Grizz started violently gagging. It didn't occur to her to pull the pizza crust out of her mouth, she just kept it in there. When we pulled the crust out, the soaked portion that was in her mouth was as long as my pinkie, which is pretty long to be in a baby's mouth.

Once we got the crust cleared out and gave Elizabeth a fresh crust she was happy again. The best part was after the incident when Kendra said to me, "great, she has been watching YOU eat."

Here is a photo I took with my phone moments before Grizz's little scare.

California Luvin

Beautiful Pismo sunset

My Sister and two nieces

Liz playing in the sand, trying to not get it in her eyes. 
Elizabeth and I have been enjoying the nice weather in California. We decided to head over to the beach one day for some fun. I was anxious to see what Elizabeth was going to do, since she's older now. She LOVED squishing the sand between her fingers. She would also grab handfuls of sand and throw it on her head. We had a lot of fun and we even got to watch Ariane Surf on her pink long board. We're very lucky to be here, since WA is cold, rainy and snowy. I hope when we get back the snow will be melted away and the weather will be much nicer than when I left. We will see.....

A Cali Christmas

Lance, Grizz and I were able to escape to California for Christmas. Elizabeth really enjoyed herself as she opened gifts. She mostly liked playing with the boxes and wrapping paper. We decided to do it a little different this year and have a Mexican fiesta dinner. My sister in law made homemade tamales and my Mom made her famous meat sauce. After Dinner our niece Ariane played some songs on her Saxaphone. It was really nice to be around family this year, since last year we stayed in Tennessee for Chritsmas. Elizabeth and I are so sad Lance was only able to stay for a few days. He was nice enough to let us stay for a few weeks though. :) 

Phil and Linda's

Elizabeth had a great time visiting with her extended family. Both Rachel and Andrea were really good with her and Elizabeth was content to sit on Rachel's lap for about 45 minutes while we all ate. This is great because Elizabeth has been a little clingy in the past.
Andrea and Forrest.



Rachel is such a natural ;)

Snowed In

Well, a lot has happened since the last time we have blogged. I will slowly try to post updates about what's been going on. For starters here are a few pics (just to give you an idea) of our first snow storm. At first we were excited to see some snow, it has been a while....Then after a few days of a continuous down pour of snow, we started going insane. Lance and I were snowed in for almost 4 days. Phil and Levi had to come rescue us from our insanity. It was quite an adventure I must say. The boys had to push my car up two steep hills backwards. Good thing they are really strong and muscular, or else we may have spent Christmas in our cozy condo. Thanks again for all your help guys!