"No One Needs a Vacation as Much as the Person who just had One!"

Now that we're back from our Lake Tahoe & San Francisco vacation I need to get back into blogging - and what better way than to blog about our trip!! My parents took Greg, Elise, my sister, and I out west for the week. It was a first-time trip to Tahoe and San Fran for all of us so we spent a lot of time planning things to do and places to see. Wouldn't you know, Elise came down with a super high fever the night before we left. Thankfully we had time to go to urgent care before our flight and we got some antibiotics for her ear infection (yes, another one!)! She did pretty well on the flight; I was worried considering the pressure during take-off and landing. By the time we went to bed that night it was around 1:00 AM ET and Elise hadn't had a good nap ALL day! Thankfully, her fever broke at the end of the following day and she was healthy the rest of the trip.


Lake Tahoe was by far the most beautiful lake I've ever seen with the most amazing clear blue water.


We got a really good feel of just how HUGE the lake is when we took a boat ride on the M.S. Dixie! :)



We took a gondola ride up one of the moutains and saw this amazing view of the lake:


Elise zonked out on the way down the mountain - it must've been the mountain air!


After Elise's cat-nap, it was pool time with her daddy!







After a couple days in Lake Tahoe, it was time for the San Fran leg of the trip!

In the lobby of our hotel in San Francisco!


We had to get a pic on the trolley! :)


We visited the Famous Ghiradelli Square for some yummy Chocolate, every girl's favorite!


We drove down Lombard street, America's Crookedest Street!


We had lunch at the World Famous, Boudin Restaurant on Fishermans Wharf!


Elise loved walking in downtown San Fran!



The first night there Greg, my dad, and sister visited Alcatrez while my mom, Elise, and I had a girl's night-in!!





We had to see the famous "painted ladies" - remember these from the show, Full House?!



We walked the Golden Gate Bridge!






And we finally managed to get a quick family pic in the Heavenly Village.



We had a great time and made great memories, but it's good to be back in reality! Well, besides coming home to a sick dog and a popped breaker that shut off our fridge and freezer while we were gone. :( I need a vacation from our vacation!!!

Casts, Pacifiers, and School!

We've been going non-stop since we returned from Vail. The first thing we did was get Elise's cast off!! Surprisingly, she sobbed once it came off - she definitely liked all the extra attention she got with it. We had one more x-ray taken after the cast came off just to make sure the fractures were healed and thankfully her new bone growth looked great! The doctor told us not to be surprised if she walked with a limp for up to 8 weeks after getting the cast off but we're happy to report that she is limp-free!









The next thing we tackled was Elise's pacifier. She took a pacifier the night she was born and has had it ever since. After doing some reading and talking to other mommies, we decided to take it away completely - COLD TURKEY! A couple days prior to 'Operation No-More Pacifier' we explained to her that pacifiers were for babies and she was now a little girl who would be starting school soon and couldn't take a pacifier with her. As much as she seemed to understand what we were saying, the day we took away the paci she was not going along with us and screamed and cried for her pacifier. :( By Thursday she was adjusting to life without her paci really well and we haven't looked back since!


To help take Elise's mind off of her pacifier (or lack thereof!) we had a playdate with a friend and played on inflatable slides and had lunch!








Onto the biggest news yet, Elise started school today! My mom has been watching Elise pretty much since she was born, which we are so thankful for, but we wanted to give Elise the opportunity to be around kids more, as well as give my mom a break! So a couple months ago, Greg, Elise, and I started touring schools to educate ourselves and find a school that Elise would love. We succeeded because Elise had an absolute blast today! I'm so relieved! This morning was rough - for me, not Elise - when I got back into my car after dropping her off the tears just started rolling down my cheeks. She had a great day and only cried for a minute during naptime. When I went to pick her up I asked her if she was ready to go home and she said No. I think it's safe to say she really enjoyed it and is looking forward to going back on Thursday! I am really looking forward to seeing all the new things she'll learn by going to school a couple days a week. :)

Vacation Recap!

We spent the 4th of July in Vail, Colorado this year and had a great time! The weather was beautiful and such a nice break from the hot & humid weather in Atlanta. Elise was so excited to see her grandparents, aunts, and uncles from Florida and to spend an entire week with them! We celebrated the 4th with a parade in Vail Village and fireworks at dusk. It started raining so the grand finale was cut short, but all in all it was a great 4th!! The rest of the trip was spent doing a lot of outdoor activities...fishing, white-water rafting, mountain-biking, and playing at the park. An outdoor concert, a visit with a college friend, a moose-sighting, several card games, and some shopping rounded out the week nicely. It was sad to say goodbye both to the mountains and to our family but we made some great memories that we'll remember forever!

A family picture!



I'm in love with the mountains!



Elise is enjoying her balloon while we wait for the 4th of July parade.



Stopping for a picture while shopping in the Village.



Grammy and Aunt Jodie took Elise to the park while the rest of us went white-water rafting!



The moose we saw while driving up a mountain!



Elise and daddy relaxing in the lawn at the outdoor concert.



This was the best we could do for our family picture.



My favorite picture...thanks for being such a great photographer, Aunt Jill!



Thanks so much Geep and Grammy for a fun-filled vacation!



Loving life!!!

Update on Elise's Leg

We took Elise back to the doctor this morning because she was still walking with a limp and still seemed uncomfortable. We also wanted to get a second opinion since the first pediatric orthopedist didn't even try to examine her both times we were there! The orthopedist we saw today actually examined Elise and then ordered another round of x-rays. At this point the fracture would show up on the x-ray so I was looking forward to either getting some peace of mind (if the x-ray appeared normal), or getting treatment for Elise. Sure enough the x-ray showed two small fractures. The doctor wasn't suprised; he could tell right away during the examination that it was fractured. He said that over time it would heal itself but that a cast would help Elise be more comfortable and give her more support while walking. So Elise has a hot pink cast (with silver glitter no less!) on the bottom of her right leg. They gave us a little portable boot to put on her foot which is really helpful when she tries to walk. She's been a really good sport and is handling it the best she can. She's moving around pretty well at this point so hopefully she keeps it up and in two weeks when we go back to the doctor we can get it removed! The thing I was most worried about was giving her a bath because you can't get casts wet of course! Elise LOVES her nightly baths and would play for hours in the tub if we let her. We actually pulled out her infant tub and it worked like a charm. Thank goodness!


A close-up of Elise's pink cast with silver glitter!



Trying to get the hang of walking.



Being silly as usual!



We'll keep you posted on progress...hopefully we're really on the road to recovery now!

On the Road to Recovery!

We've had a crazy week here as I'm sure some of you saw on Facebook. Last Wednesday, Elise slipped on a blanket that was laying on our floor. Since Greg and I were busy cleaning up after dinner neither of us saw her actually fall. It must've been bad because she couldn't pick herself up or walk afterwards. That night I was a little freaked out because I wasn't sure what to do. The next morning we took her into the doctor and she recommended an x-ray. The x-ray appeared normal but the doctor mentioned that kids at this age have a propensity to fracture a growth plate which is really hard to see on an x-ray. So she recommended we visit a pediatric orthopedist because by Friday Elise was still not walking. :( At that point, Elise was so sick of people poking and prodding her that she wouldn't let the doctor get near her to examine her. You would think the PEDIATRIC orthopedist would have some tricks up his sleeve in order to distract a child for an examination...not the case. The doctor told us that the fracture was stable so there was no harm in waiting till Monday to come back when he would try to examine her again. I knew right away that Elise's reaction wouldn't be any different when we came back Monday but I was holding out hope that she'd start walking over the weekend and we could cancel our appointment. In the meantime, the doctor said to gently press her lower leg (below the knee) to see if she was still in pain. So that's what we did. By Sunday she was still not walking but she let us get closer to her leg and everytime we tried to "examine" her she wouldn't cry. Finally some progress! On Monday, we took her back to the orthopedist and he thought the best treatment was to wait on it. He wasn't convinced that it was anything more than a bruise even though she was still not walking. I was happy about that because I know Elise would not do well with a cast or splint on her lower leg for 4 weeks! That night we noticed her standing more. She would occasionally pull herself up to a standing position when she was next to furniture or her toy box. The next day she took a couple steps, albeit with a little limp but it was still more progress! Now she's walking more and more each day, still with a little limp, but hopefully she's back to 100% very soon!

Elise in her baby pool; we tried to keep her spirits up even though she couldn't walk! I think it worked!!! :)

Memorial Day Weekend!

We had a great long weekend, celebrating Memorial Day. On Saturday Greg, Elise, my sister, and I took a trip to the Atlanta zoo; it was Elise's fist time so we were excited because we knew she was going to love it! She had a blast looking at all of the different animals - zebras, giraffes, monkeys, gorillas, panda bears, kangaroos, etc.

Greg and I being silly and entertaining Elise!



Visiting the Kiddy Zoo!



Inside the petting zoo; Elise was NOT interested in petting the animals!



Looking at the animals!!!



Our favorite animal, the giraffe!



Here are more pictures of Elise from the weekend!

My (almost) 19 month old, going on 25!







Sitting outside, celebrating Memorial Day...she's actually trying to get my camera so she can look at pictures of herself!



Although Elise will be 19 months old this Wednesday, I'm just getting around to posting her 18 month stats. She is 25 lbs, 15 oz - 50-75th percentile and 34.5 inches long - 97th percentile. This is the first time she made it on the chart for height. :)