I can hardly believe that January is already over. 2010 has started off with a bang for us. We sold our house in Florida and Greg started a new job! It has been a little chaotic around here but we wouldn't have it any other way. ;) Hopefully our luck continues through the year!! Elise has also been doing great. She has been talking so much lately; she now says ball, bubble, dog, hi, more, wow, uh-oh, and a few more words that sound like a foreign language! It's the absolute cutest thing to hear my baby talk, but when I stop to think about it, I realize that she is no longer a baby...she's growing up to be a little lady! She has really started to enjoy her books, insisting that we read them to her again and again. And just recently we noticed her looking at them and talking to herself like she is trying to read all by herself! ;) She is now a pro at walking and getting SO fast that I know she will be running very soon (maybe chasing after her will count towards my 1/2 marathon training?!?!). She has also started to stomp her feet and jump! As each day passes, Greg and I are amazed at how awesome it is to watch Elise grow up and change from day to day! It is such a neat experience!

Here are new pictures of Elise from this past weekend when we celebrated my sister's birthday.


Elise has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!



Elise with GiGi and the new toy rhinoceros...thanks, Aunt Natalie...we love it!



Pretty baby, tired mommy!



Elise with the birthday girl!



One of our many attempts at a good family picture! :)

New Pictures!

Here are some new pictures of our almost 15-month-old!

















I promise to actually write something within the next few days!
Love,
Kim

Holiday Recap!

I have to say that this year's Christmas was like none other! We left for Florida on Christmas Eve morning to spend the holiday with Greg's family. Unfortunately the day before, I came down with the stomach flu and was unsure as to whether or not we'd even be able to make it. I was determined to do whatever I could to get down to Florida though so the morning of our flight, I kept popping Pepto Bismol. Once we landed safely in Florida, I thought I was feeling better and was getting SO excited for Christmas. Elise was not doing well - crabby, irritable, constantly crying, etc. - so Greg and I decided to take her to Urgent Care in case it was something serious. Sure enough, she had a double ear infection and the doctor prescribed some antibiotics. That night, we had the traditional Pattee three-course fondue dinner. At that point, I was feeling better and even had an appetite so I decided to indulge a little. Later that night though, I woke up feeling awful, and apparently so did Greg. :( I'll spare you the details, but just say that both Greg and I spent the rest of that night and the entire day of Christmas in bed sick as dogs! (NOTE, if you ever get the stomach flu, NEVER take Pepto because it will just delay the inevitable and make you feel worse!) We knew that whatever type of flu we had was very contagious because I found out that my mom and my sister were also sick with the same thing and eventually my dad came down with it too. So anyway, back to the story...Christmas evening, people started dropping like flies. First, Greg's grandma, then within minutes Greg's younger sister. In the end, 11 out of the 12 people that were celebrating Christmas together, got sick all within hours of each other! IT WAS AWFUL! As horrible as it was, it made me appreciate the fact that we are all healthy people, besides the occasional cold & flu!

We ended up staying in Florida for an extra day because Elise's ears were SO bad and the doctor advised us to wait another day before flying home. So we ended up flying back to Atlanta on my birthday and we were welcomed home to a festively decorated house, thanks to my mom and sister. :) We had a low-key dinner that evening at my parent's house (none of us were really in the mood to eat!) with birthday cake and gifts!

Thankfully we are all feeling much better now. And although it won't go down in the history books as the most enjoyable Christmas, it'll be one that we will never forget! :)


Outside the Atlanta Botanical Garden. We visited the weekend before Christmas to ride the train around the gardens!



On the train, getting ready for the ride!



Little Miss Nosey - checking things out!



This picture does a great job of capturing Elise's personality!



The best gift ever!!



Celebrating my birthday!



Getting ready for a new year!!!



Happy 2010!!
Love,
Kim

Santa Claus!

We've been getting in the holiday cheer with Christmas shopping, holiday parties, and visits with Santa. This is our favorite time of year and having Elise enjoy the excitement of the season makes it even better! Yesterday we attempted to visit Santa and take a horse & carriage ride but the frigid temps put a damper on that. Thankfully we were still able to visit Santa but instead of taking a picture with him outside by the beautiful Christmas tree, he was indoors, sitting on a bench in front of a stark white wall. We were anxious to see how Elise would react to Santa and she did pretty well at first, but then when she turned her head to see who was holding her, she got really scared.


Doing pretty well at this point!



The beginning of the end...



Get me outta here!



Here was the original spot where the pics with Santa were supposed to take place:



Don't let our lack of jackets fool you - it was in the 30s! BRRRRR!



Getting ready for a Christmas party!!



Happy Family!



We hope you're all enjoying the holiday season as much as we are!
Love,
The Pattees

Update!

There has been so much going on with us that I have neglected the blog for a couple of weeks! Elise is as active as ever and has even started to walk!!! She has still not perfected it and is much faster when she crawls, but she's getting the hang of it and is doing SO great!! She has also gotten her two incisors, most commonly known as the "canine teeth", giving her a total of 10. She's been drooling SO much still that we think she's most likely getting her molars soon too!

In other news, we had a great Thanksgiving with so much to be thankful for! Greg, my dad, and I ran the Thanksgiving day half-marathon and while it was the hardest thing I've ever done physically, it was such a great accomplishment and so much fun to do with both Greg and my dad! We're already planning our next race! My mom made the BEST Thanksgiving dinner and we had a great evening eating, laughing, giving thanks, and being with each other!

As if that's not enough, Greg just had his 29th birthday! Since it fell on a Monday this year we decided to have a party on Saturday to celebrate the special day! We hope you enjoy pictures from the last week.


Our little walker!!!



Greg and I with our marathon medals - did I mention I beat him by about a minute?!



Greg, me, and my dad with our marathon medals next to our Christmas tree!



Elise LOVED our medals!!!



Celebrating Greg's big 2-9 with birthday brownies!



Adorable pic of daddy and daughter!



We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and you're enjoying the start of the holiday season!

Love,
The Pattees

1-Year Stats and Party Pics!

Elise had her 12 month well-visit last Friday and everything went great, besides those 4 vaccines she had to get - ouch! She weighed in at 22 pounds (50-75% percentile) and measured 32 inches long (off the charts!). The doctor told us to start on whole milk, which Elise has taken a liking to. I'm sure it tastes SO much better than that formula!

We had Elise's 1st Birthday party last Saturday which was so much fun. Both sets of grandparents were there, Aunt Natalie, and our good friends, Katie and Jeff with their two kiddos. It was a little get-together but just perfect - we missed Aunt Jodie, Uncle Bob, Aunt Jill and Brad though! (Wish you all could've been here to celebrate!) Here are some pics of the celebration:

Not sure why she's being so sassy in this one:



No matter how many times I look at this picture, it still cracks me up! :)



This is when we were singing, Happy Birthday to you...



Eyeing her home-made smash (cup)cake!



Enough with the song, can I puhlease eat some cake?!



So excited!



Not exactly sure where to start!



Yum - this tastes pretty good.



She's got the hang of it now.



That's all I get?



Do I have anything on my face?



Time to clean up!



Can't wait to sing in this real microphone! :)



Elise loves her new baby - she takes her everywhere with her!



I could get used to this!



Daddy and Mommy with the Birthday Girl! :)



Can't wait till next year!



Such a good one of both grandmas with Elise!



Celebrating the best year yet!

The Big 1!!

Happy 1st Birthday to our little cupcake, Elise!


























We're celebrating this fabulous day on Saturday so until then, Happy Birthday to our sweet baby girl (who I guess isn't really a baby anymore!). We hope you enjoy her one-year pictures!

Love,
Kim