7 Months!

Hey! Elisa will turn 7 months tomorrow (January 26th)! She is learning to do all kinds of neat stuff. Almost every single day there is something new added to her already full resumé! Here are some pictures of what she is currently learning to do.

Standing and jumping in her excer-saucer, Elisa enjoys strengthening her legs while playing with a variety of toys.

Elisa has mastered standing (with something or someone holding on to her)! Now she is learning how to go in the direction she wants. She can't quite manage to go where she is looking...

She is really cute nevertheless!

She has mastered flight with her "uncle" Andrew! Notice she is praying (hands folded)!

She is learning how to use a sippy cup.

The truth is, sometime she gets a drink and sometimes she doesn't. Either way, the sippy cup makes for a great toy!

She has mastered putting everything within reach in her little mouth. Now, she is learning how to take things that are in our mouths so she can put them in her's (ex: Mommy's lollipop).

Elisa is learning to eat: with or without the help of others!

Elisa is doing great! We are having so much fun being her parents. Everyday is full of sunshine with this little one! We thank you for checking up on us and we hope to see you again soon.

Take care.

The Beach

For the New Year we decided to take Elisa to the beach. We spent 2 and a half days hanging out with our friend (and Portuguese teacher) Dani, her little girl, and her family. We didn't really spend a whole lot of time on the actual beach (to avoid sunburns) but had a lot of fun just the same. It was great for Elisa to experience something new. As you can tell from the pictures, she enjoyed her time at the beach too.

little miss sunshine in her hat, bathing suit and sunglasses!

swimming with daddy...

As you can tell, Elisa wasn't too sure about swimming in the pool at first. She got used to it and took to it like a "duck to water"!

resting in the hammock with daddy...

New Year's Eve with our friends

By the way, we are eating food now...

These pictures all speak for themselves. I will tell you that these pictures were all taken about 3 weeks ago when Elisa first started eating food. Now, she tears it up! She loves everything we throw at her (well, almost everything)!

First Christmas!

Here are some pictures of us taking Elisa to the mall to meet Santa. This was a pretty fun experience. We think Elisa enjoyed it!

Jennifer introduces Elisa to Santa Claus for the first time.

No worries! Elisa and Santa hit off right away!

In Brazil, when a child is "ready" to give up their pacifier, they give it to Santa. This is a picture of a boy (age approx. 4 or 5) handing his pacifier over to Santa.

This is Santa's helper with all the day's pacifiers! I think that Elisa will give her's up long before age 4 or 5!

Jennifer and Elisa are hanging out in front of the giant Christmas tree near Santa.

"Firsts" for Elisa

Well, it has been a while. For all you faithful Elisa followers - sorry! We were in the states for 3 weeks during November and have been back home in Brazil for a week. It has taken a while to get ourselves back on track, but here we are.

This trip to the states was a huge compilation of "firsts" for Elisa. It was a pretty eventful journey for her. Below, you can check out pictures of most of the "firsts" she experienced while in the states. The ones I don't really have pictures for still deserve quite a bit of recognition. They are: Elisa's first international trip/plane ride (the actual flying part), Elisa's first experience eating rice cereal (don't worry, I have it on video), Elisa's first Thanksgiving (she slept through it!) and Elisa's first roll-over (it happened so fast we weren't prepared to take a picture!).

Now on to the "firsts" that were documented!

Elisa's first snow (it wasn't much, but it worked!)

Elisa's first Bible class!

She was a wonderful student!

Elisa's first bite of sweet potato pie!
She wasn't too sure about it!

This is the first meeting between Elisa and her younger cousin Dayton.
It took a couple of days, but they became quite fond of each other.

Elisa's first story time with her Grandmommie!

Elisa's first story time with her Granddaddy!
She loves story time!

Elisa's first Boppy experience!

Elisa's first group prayer time.

Elisa's first horsey ride!

Elisa's first gift opening! She's a natural at this one!

and Elisa's first family picture!

Halloween

I realize that it has been over a week since Halloween, but we just got these pictures. Elisa was dressed as a bunny on her first Halloween outing and Jennifer and I were her bunny farmers. Good times!

Happy Bunny Elisa!

Daddy and Mommy Farmer with Elisa the Bunny sucking on a carrot.

Mommy and the baby bunny.

Halloween was a lot of fun for Elisa. She really enjoyed hanging out with her friends and dressing up so cute. Actually, that is a pretty regular occurance for this sweet girl.

Stay tuned as we will be updating the "little missy's" adventures in the United States! She had her first international traveling experience without a hitch this week. Needless to say, her Papa and Grandmommie are pretty happy to have her in Colorado!

Upcoming Trip (and some pictures for you!)

In two short days we are planning on boarding a plane for the United States of America! This will be Elisa's first airplane trip and her first time to enter the US. We are very excited for her (and us)! We have literally been planning this trip since she was born. We will spend almost all of our 3 weeks in the states in Colorado Springs with Jennifer's parents, eating well and watching football. Elisa will be spending most all of her time being juggled between grandparents! I'm sure she is up to the task, it is all she has been talking about for the last 2 weeks!

Her are a few new pictures, including an enlarged "family picture" from the left side of the screen.

Photo Album

Here is a link to a photo album that Jennifer has created. I think you will all enjoy this!

All Smiles

Small Changes

Elisa is growing so much! Her grabbing skills have really taken off. More and more she is grabbing and bringing objects up to her mouth. This doesn't work with everything, but we are well on our way. She loves to hold her own hands. It is really cute; it looks like she is praying. I will try to "post" a picture of this in the near future. In the meantime, here are a couple of new pictures for you to enjoy!

Jennifer and Elisa are looking in the mirror after bathtime. I love this picture of my girls!

Caught in the act of sucking on the fingers. Elisa just got the hang of making a fist and sucking on her thumb this week. We will let it slide for now, because it is so cute!

Hugs!

Elisa is naturally very cuddly. I thought that you would all like this picture of her holding on to her little bear. What a cutey!

Pictures and our first parade

Here are some recent pictures of Elisa. She is long and thin. She isn't gaining a whole lot of weight, but her pediatrician isn't too concerned since she is growing about a centimeter a week in length (on average). It is getting much warmer with Spring present, so Elisa is able to wear some different clothes now. It is fun to see her wearing these cute outfits!

Elisa is on her way out the door in a stylish onesie and hot pink sandals! This is the first time for her to wear sandals! She's a fan!

This precious smile and that cute dimple are too good to pass up!

Here Elisa is wearing her Springtime hat that her friend Ana Luisa gave her.

Elisa was a bunny in the block party parade last Sunday.

Last Sunday was Criança na Avenida (Kid's Day block party). The street in front of our church closes down the Sunday before Kid's Day for a festive time of food and fun. There is a parade that our church participates in. We have built an Ark and we have Noah and all the little animals (the children from church) walking down the street. It is great! You can read more about Criança na Avenida on our "work" blog at: www.flyinginportoalegre.blogspot.com.