Nelson Newsletter

Cousins

2012-01-18T12:21:00.004-07:00

Sophie & Eliza Christmas Pics

2012-01-18T10:34:00.004-07:00

Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T22:20:00.002-07:00

So we didn't take any pictures this Christmas. It makes me sad but it was utter chaos at the Nelson home. Jason and Karen came down the week before Christmas and went on a cruise leaving their adorable children with grandma and grandpa. Since we live with grandma and grandpa we were able to hang out and tried to come up with some fun stuff to do. Amy, being a fabulous aunt with an abundance of vacation days, came down to help out. Eliza loved playing with her cousins. We went to a Christmas party; played Just Dance 2; created sock snowmen, bracelets, lanyards, tie dye shirts, angels from kisses, and Christmas trees with construction paper, sequins, and buttons; went to look at Christmas Lights; went to Rocket Fizz; Met Bryan, Michi, Miya, Ty & Silas at the Santa Barbara Zoo; etc. Needless to say we had fun.When Jason and Karen came back from the cruise Steve, Eliza, and I went to my families house to kick Micaela out of her room until Jason left. It was pretty quiet at my parents house and we were able to relax and visit with my family.

Eliza got soooo many gifts. Santa got her a 6 ft long floor piano. Pretty cool. She also got a rocking horse, books, puzzles, clothes, bath stuff, a huge cardboard castle that you color yourself, a toy cell phone, a Muno doll (yo gabba gabba), a baby doll etc. Too many things to list. She is one lucky little girl. We did Christmas morning with Steve's family and with so many people and gifts Eliza was pretty overwhelmed. We had to open her Christmas presents in waves. It took all day. We then had Christmas dinner with my family. The day was great and it was nice to have Kim at my parents house for Christmas.

Grandma's glasses

2012-01-09T22:16:00.002-07:00

Eliza likes to play with glasses. She doesn't usually like to put them on herself but every once in a while she surprises us by wanted to wear glasses, hats and headbands.

Bath Time

2012-01-09T22:11:00.002-07:00

Eliza loves her baths. She does not love getting water in her face and so getting her hair washed is not her favorite, but with all the cousins that were down for Christmas and staying at my moms with Sophie baths have become even more fun. She and Sophie have a blast together splashing around. She also loved taking baths with Elsa, Lily & Miya. She likes having someone to splash I guess.

Long Beach Aquarium

2012-01-09T22:04:00.002-07:00

A while back Steve, Eliza and I went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It was pretty neat but kind of difficult with Eliza and it was really crowded. After our fun fishy time we went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. Eliza made a friend with the little girl sitting behind us and they enjoyed sharing crayons and talking to each other. It was pretty cute.

New Christmas Toys

2012-01-09T21:23:00.002-07:00

Eliza did very well at Christmas. One of the gifts that she received was a blow up car that is supposed to be full of plastic balls. Eliza likes to get in and out and is kind of protective of her toys. She let Alie and Sophie in but with restrictions. No touching anything.

Random Photos

2012-01-09T21:02:00.003-07:00

She loved hitting these boxes in Old Navy's dressing room. I wanted to leave she wanted to dance.

Playing in the car

Eliza insisted on wearing my headband

2012-01-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Eliza and Alie hugging Joe

2012-01-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

Dinner with Great Grandma Carol

2012-01-09T20:52:00.002-07:00

Eliza and I went over to my grandma Carole Gstettenbauer's house for her birthday dinner. Eliza was having a hard time adjusting to people she doesn't see very often. She was very clingy until she saw my grandma. She was still a little uncertain but said hello and smiled at her. After dinner she finally felt comfortable enough to get out of my lap and she walked right over to my grandma and kind of backed into her. My grandma scratched her back a little and then Eliza ran away and then would go back to see her. It was really cute and we were all glad she did that.

Oxnard Beach Park (Pirate Park)

2012-01-09T20:48:00.003-07:00

This is one of the best parks around. The playground is nice and I feel comfortable letting Eliza play without having to follow right behind her afraid she's going to fall off of something. Also they have nice bathrooms. It was pretty crowded the day we went because it was December 30th and people were still on winter break. What makes this park extra fun is that it's pirate themed. It's a big pirate ship. So much fun.

Channel Islands Museum

2012-01-09T20:45:00.002-07:00

Eliza and I went to the little free museum down at the harbor. She did not I repeat did not want to go inside. She did not want to look at the aquarium but after some wrestling she didn't mind going up the stairs to look at the ocean and the boats. She mostly just wanted to run around and touch the dolphin statue not the sea lion statue though.

Big shoes to fill

2012-01-09T20:42:00.003-07:00

Like many little kids Eliza likes to put on everyone's shoes. Usually they are mine but she doesn't discriminate. She doesn't even have to know you very well. She likes her shoes. Maybe I should be worried about her affinity for shoes.

New Shoes

2012-01-09T20:40:00.002-07:00

Grandma Nelson bought Eliza her new favorite pair of shoes. Yo Gabba Gabba!

Shopping

2012-01-09T20:37:00.003-07:00

My sister Sarah and I went to the Camarillo outlet mall and of course Eliza came along. I wanted to stop at The Children's Place because they have some great deals. Sarah couldn't pass up the boots. Unfortunately Eliza is making a really funny face. Eliza was walking around the store putting hats on. This is unusual since she previously wouldn't wear a hat. Sarah had to buy her one. While shopping Eliza walked around wearing the hat liked she owned the place.

So Cute

2012-01-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

She was feeling the love from her bears.

October Beach Day

2012-01-09T20:34:00.002-07:00

Ok so we're a little out of order but there were a few fantastic days in October and we just had to take advantage of it. So we went to the beach. Loved it.

First Oreo

2012-01-09T20:33:00.002-07:00

She loved it!

Dr. Office

2012-01-09T20:30:00.003-07:00

Each time I take Eliza to the Dr. it's a traumatic experience for everyone involved. She absolutely hates it. For some reason it became a tradition to take a picture of her while we wait. I especially like taking them really close up so she looks chubby.

Halloween

2012-01-09T20:03:00.005-07:00

She didn't know she had this little witch hat in her hair. hehe

Last year after Halloween I bought a gnome costume for Eliza. I'm sure I put it in a great place but I couldn't find it so thanks to Pinterest I found a new costume. Eliza was going to be a scarecrow. The problem was she wont wear hats and likely wouldn't let me paint her face so changing again. Eliza became a flower or something like that. We had a great time trick-or-treating with the Haucks and Rails and saw a lot of great decorations and costumes.

Sarah and I were at Costco and decided Sophie would make a very cute and chubby ladybug and we couldn't pass up the costume.Also we went to the pumpkin patch and thought Eliza would love picking out her own pumpkin and seeing all the animals and hay rides etc. Well it turns out Eliza was afraid of the pumpkins. She tried to pick one up and then wouldn't touch another one. We picked one for her and she came around. We didn't carve it though. We'll save that for next year.

Shelli & Lee Wedding

2011-11-11T17:28:00.007-07:00

Lunch

Frozen Yogurt with Daddy

Having fun at the beach

Nephew Liam

Eliza looking for mommy

Going to the store with daddy. Steve doesn't believe in snapping onesies.

This weekend was great and kind of sad for me. Shelli and Lee got married on Oct 22 so my family flew up to Utah for the big day. To save money and to not go crazy with Eliza on the plane Steve stayed home and had a daddy daughter weekend. It was the longest I spent away from Eliza so it was a little tough. We didn't have a lot of time to hang out in Utah. We got there Friday night. The wedding was Saturday then we left Sunday morning. So we did wedding stuff with my sisters. It was great to see everyone and the wedding was really nice. I wish I had more pictures. Shelli looked beautiful and I'm sure we'll get pictures of her out soon.

When we got back into Long Beach Steve decided to surprise me by picking me up from the airport. It was so great to see him and Eliza. Steve had been sending me pictures while I was gone of all the things they were doing. I have to say that it's a good thing I am here to take care of her or else she may never be properly dressed and she might eat frozen yogurt and junk. I'm sure they had a blast and I loved seeing my little Lu after being away for so long. Welcome Home from Eliza.

Touchdown

2011-11-11T17:23:00.004-07:00

We like to watch BYU football in this house and so we had to teach Eliza how to do the sign for touchdown. She caught on pretty quick. It was pretty cute!

Rain Rain go away little lu wants to play

2011-11-11T17:11:00.006-07:00

Eliza was fascinated with this rain we got in October. So I thought hey lets go play in it. Turns out her "raincoat" is not as waterproof as I had originally thought. She got a kick out 0f feeling the raindrops and I enjoyed watching her. I was trying for so long to get her to look at me so I could take a picture but no luck. She didn't want to waste time looking at me to take a picture.

Drawing

2011-11-11T16:55:00.005-07:00

Eliza loves to color. If she sees a pen she wants it. She is not picky it doesn't have to be a pretty color or even work very well. She still wants to color with it. She has managed to color on just about every piece of clothing she owns and not all of the pens and markers are washable. Over general conference weekend Eliza learned that she could color on the refrigerator with a dry erase marker and it was ok with mom and dad. She was very excited. She also goes to a little preschool type class every Tuesday morning and of course she loves when they get to color and paint. She picked up how the roller and dot paints work pretty quick. Oh my little artist. She even likes to color on Daddy's face.

Eggs & Yogurt

2011-11-11T16:43:00.006-07:00

Ok so I know it has been a couple months since my last post and I am just an all out slacker in updating this blog. I will try to keep things as updated as possible. So about the eggs. Eliza lOVES eggs. Just about every morning she wants grandpa to make her eggs. It's nice for me because I get out of having to cook. I might need to be concerned about her cholesterol if she keeps this up. It's cute she has even made up her own sign for it. Basicall she points her index finger down a couple times and that means I want eggs. Another favorite is yogurt. She would gladly eat yogurt for each meal. In fact each morning when I get her out of bed she wants yogurt. After that she'll eat the eggs. Only problem is she will not sit in her high chair. Insists on sitting in my lap and feeding herself so we are both a mess after. For some reason she likes the high chair at my moms house so i can usually get her to sit in that. Maybe because it's the kind you strap on a chair.

Hold Still!

2011-08-29T14:14:00.003-06:00

As I've mentioned Eliza likes Yo Gabba Gabba. She especially likes the songs Don't Bite Your Friends where when you say bite bite bite she says no, no, no like in the song. Her absolute favorite, however, is Hold Still. She wiggles and then when they say hold still she puts her arms to the side and stands relatively still. Love it.

Puddle jumper

2011-08-29T13:46:00.003-06:00

A few hours after it had rained and the sun came out Eliza and I went for a short walk so we could see daddy when he got home from work. On the way Eliza found a puddle. I was not prepared for her to playing in puddles. In fact I had completely forgotten that it had rained. Eliza being 1 of course wanted to play in the puddle. Everytime I called her name to try to get her to follow me she would ignore me. Once I was able to get her attention and she actually did walk away from the puddle and as soon as my back was turned BAM she turns around and books it for the puddle. When I turned around to see if she was still following me she looked at me at smiled like haha I tricked you. I decided to give up and just let her play and get totally dirty. I had to take a short video. As soon as I stopped the video she sat down in the puddle and got completely messy. You might be thinking well at least it's not a bunch of mud. This is a driveway. Not sure which is worse.

San Fransisco

2011-08-26T14:51:00.009-06:00

Steve has never been to San Fransisco and has been wanting to go for some time now. We kept meaning to especially because my sister Hillary is so close. We never actually got around to it until Kim was moved to a hospital up there. So we went up to visit everyone and see San Fransisco. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39 and Fishermans Wharf. We saw plenty of street performers and had a great time visiting family. On the way back we decided to bite the bullet and drive back on the PCH. It took a lot longer but so glad we did it. It was beautiful and at times scary driving along the cliffs.

Also Lyra and Eliza took a bath together and of course we had to take pictures. They had such a fun time talking to each other and stuff until Lyra made quick work of her dinner and we had to cut the bath short. Hillary got a super cute video of them during bath time

Old Friends

2011-08-26T14:48:00.003-06:00

So when I was in middle school my friend Lucy Ayer moved to Texas then later moved to Alaska. Lucy's sister was also friends with Kim and our parents were good friends too. Well I haven't seen Lucy in a really long time but they happened to be in town this month so we were able to meet up and go to the beach. When we were kids our parents would take all of us to the beach usually at Solimar so naturally that's where we went. It was neat to see everyone again and it was fun because we were the moms this time.

Shopping

2011-08-26T14:39:00.003-06:00

So of course I take Eliza with me when I go shopping. Steve, Eliza and I went to the Ventura Surf Shop and she was checking out the men's rashguards. She kept looking through all of them over and over again. She could have stayed there all day.

Gull Wings Museum

2011-08-26T14:30:00.004-06:00

This is a small little childrens museum in Oxnard. Pretty cheap and its a good thing because I was incredibly hot! No air conditioning or ventilation of any kind. We were all a little drained so after we all had to go get water and ice cream at Dairy Queen. It only made sense. Eliza had a good time. She wanted to go see everything and had a hard time deciding on what to play with but in true baby fashion she was content playing with some benches and pointing at the lighting.

Santa Barbara Zoo

2011-08-26T14:15:00.005-06:00

My cousins Kate and Johanna came down to enjoy the nice Ventura weather and visit family. We were able to meet them at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Eliza has never been to the zoo. I wasn't sure if she'd really care about the animals and want out of her stroller the entire time or if she'd just enjoy herself. Well it was a little bit of both. Plus the four fun friends that were there helped too.

Walking

2011-08-26T14:01:00.004-06:00

Ok so I've been a slacker. When Steve's family came out for the 4th of July I posted lots of fun pictures but I didn't post videos of Eliza walking. Eliza started walking June 29th and everyone was so excited I just wish I could have been here. That's right Steve, Amy, Ricky, Grandma and Grandpa Nelson all here and loving it. Where was I...I was at the hospital with my mom and sisters giving Kim a little spa night. Not fair! Oh well. The videos are cute though.

If you'd like to see them there are 12 no need to watch all but you may want to for fun. I did.

Here ya go

Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens

2011-07-17T20:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Steve, Eliza, and I went to the botanical gardens in Santa Barbara. It was difficult because we thought we'd just go down an unpaved trail to look at the redwoods with our stroller. Things were going fine until we decided to try to find another way back instead of just going back the way we came. We got pretty dirty and we had to carry the stroller across a stream but it was fun in the end and Eliza liked the turtles.

Visit to Kentfield

2011-07-17T20:25:00.003-06:00

Allen, Alie, Eliza, Sophie and I drove up to Concord to stay with Hillary and visit Kim at her new facility. Her new place is in a very nice area by San Fransisco. We had a really fun time visiting with Hillary, Bryan, and Lyra. My mom and Micaela were already up there. We had a good visit and it seems like Kim is in the right place. We went up to Muir Woods and walked around the redwoods. It was really neat. The drive up was a little crazy with two babies but the ride back home was less chaotic because we only had one baby and Micaela instead of Sophie.

Cousins & Spaghetti

2011-07-17T20:15:00.004-06:00

Steve's family all came down and stayed at the house during the 4th of July. It was one chaotic house. Eliza loved her cousins though. She warmed up to the kids a lot faster than the aunts and uncles.
We went to the beach a few times and Eliza of course loved it!
She loves the beach and spaghetti. Steve and I don't really like spaghetti but Eliza LOVES it.

Also I think this is a sign that we drink too much soda.

Yo Gabba Gabba with cousins

Underwood Farms

2011-07-17T20:04:00.003-06:00

Pick Your Own Fruits & Veggies

Some friends and I went to Underwood Farms where they have animals and pick your fruits and veggies. Eliza was in horrid mood. She cried almost the entire time and I had to carry her all over. Then I was getting super tired so I put her in the wagon and she continued to throw a tantrum and proceeded to hit her chin on the wagon and bite her lip managing to make things worse. Luckily we were on our way to the strawberries because she loves her strawberries. Then we ate lunch and left. So she wasn't happy until the very end. Oh well. In the end we had a good time and we'll definitely be going back.

Alie's 8th grade promotion & my 1st birthday dress

2011-07-17T19:56:00.003-06:00

June 14th was Eliza's first birthday so I put her in the dress that I wore on my first birthday. I know tender. It was also the same day that Alie was promoted to high school and that Eliza got a huge goose egg on her head from falling at the promotion. We got worried that night because she started throwing up so we took her to the doctor. Everything ended up being ok but it was a rough night. She also has this new thing where she puts playing cards in her mouth. Not sure where this came from.

Eliza's 1st Birthday Party

2011-07-17T19:43:00.004-06:00

With all the uncertainty that was going on with Kim we were reluctant to have Eliza's birthday party on the 11th. We went ahead with it in hopes that it would be a good distraction for everyone. Unfortunately it was overcast and windy and we had her birthday at Marina Park. The kids didn't seem to care that it was cold but the wind really made things difficult. We had a BBQ and cupcakes and I tried to make it flower themed. Luckily I had some friends to help with the preparations because I was running out of time. Thank you Tori! Things turned out pretty good and Eliza got a ton of gifts. She seemed to lose interest in opening presents because she wanted to play with the toys so we did a few each day until her birthday on the 14th. We made a giant cupcake for Eliza's smash cake and she enjoyed it. It was way too much cake so luckily we had some other kids who didn't mind being helpers. I had also planned on making Eliza a cute birthday outfit but Sarah bought a super cute one a Target. Good thing too because I don't think I would have gotten around to it.

Sleepy Girl

2011-07-17T19:40:00.001-06:00

When I was younger and I'd get tired I guess I used to stick my tongue out and I think Eliza has picked up this habit.

Sophie Angelica

2011-07-17T19:29:00.004-06:00

As most people are aware by now my sister Kim had an Amniotic Fluid Embolism and she has been in the hospital since June 1. Sophie is an amazing baby. She is very healthy and she is always happy when we lay her on Kimberly.Sophie and Micaela share the same birthday. Sophie has lots of helpers or as her daddy calls them servants so he calls her Princess Sophie. At this tough time in our lives Sophie is a bright light. For more pictures and updates see sophiesmommy.com.

Rock On!

2011-07-17T19:22:00.002-06:00

Eliza had some cradle cap ( I thought we were over this) so I put some baby oil in her hair and brushed it all out and she's all good but it didn't wash out very well so we created an amazing baby mohawk. What can I say she's pretty tough.

sophiesmommy.com

2011-06-09T13:10:00.002-06:00

As many of you know my sister, Kim, has been in the hospital this past week because of complications during labor. We have created a website to keep everyone updated. There is a tab on the website for donations for her family and anything is appreciated. Please share this website with others, and if you have something you would like Kim to hear please post on the site rather than Facebook etc. and we'll read the letters to her. Please continue to pray for Kim we love her so much!!

Water!!!!!

2011-05-19T16:26:00.002-06:00

Did I ever mention Eliza loved to play in the water. Seriously we go to the beach and a lot of babies/kids/teenagers are afraid of the water. Eliza is not. She likes to walk (holding our hands) everywhere and she will pull you to where she wants to go and if you take her somewhere else she basically throws a tantrum. Anyway we take her to the beach and where does she was to go into the water. Even though the water is freezing cold. We go in my parents backyard and she wants to play in their birdbath. Whatever.

Livin it up in LA

2011-05-19T16:19:00.004-06:00

My mom, Allen, Shelli, Lee, Eliza, and I drove Sarah and Ryan down to LAX Wednesday to leave for Paris, Rome, and Cinque Terre on their honeymoon. I'm super jealous as always of their fun trips. Anyway since we were there we decided to visit a couple fun places. We went to The Getty Museum. Eliza loved it because it was all kinds of new places to walk. We then went to the Griffith Observatory. Both places were very cool and Eliza did surprisingly well considering her naps were pretty short. Too much to do and see. She was tired as soon as we got in the car but there were too many fun things happening for her to fall asleep.

Channel Islands Harbor

2011-05-19T16:16:00.003-06:00

My step sister Shelli and her fiance Lee are still in town from my sisters wedding. We decided to take the boat out to the harbor and see what we could find. We found lots of pelicans and seagulls of course but happened on some seals as well. Bentley (my parents dachsund) also came and had a great old time barking at all animals and eventually the seals barked back. Eliza loved it! She even got to drive the boat. She absolutely did not like the life jacket. She likes to live on the edge.

Eliza and Brandon sittin in a car....

2011-05-19T16:13:00.002-06:00

Ok so at Nursery on Sunday Brandon invited Eliza to sit next to him in the car during nursery. Eliza kept opening the door and Brandon ever concerned for her safetly I'm sure kept leaning over and closing it. They were just so cute. Brandon better not be getting any ideas.

Sorry Grandpa

2011-05-19T16:09:00.003-06:00

My sister Sarah just got married last Saturday and she had me make the slideshow of her fiance and her as they were growing up and then the amazing places that they have been. As I was working on it in my parent's office Eliza decided to reorganize this bookshelf. At least she didn't rip up anything important.

Food

2011-05-19T15:58:00.003-06:00

Eliza has become extremely picky about eating. She will rarely let anyone feed her. She likes to feed herself which means finger food only. In addition to finger food only she will not always eat what we give her. She used to eat anything with the exception of applesauce and baby food pears. This has been a pretty rough transition she loved baby food bananas but will not eat pieces of banana anymore same with sweet potatoes. Anyway I did happen to find a way to get her to eat the rest of the baby food. Make it into a popsicle. I just wish that we could take the popsicles with us. She also likes very cold/frozen corn on the cob. Don't worry the corn has been cut off so she can't get any big kernels. This girl is going to be one tricky eater. Plus she

loves to chew on washrags in the bath. I don't think I've mentioned but Eliza doesn't have any teeth. Slow poke. She has finally started to get one and I believe this madness is a result of that.

Yo Gabba Gabba Video Round 2

2011-05-19T15:51:00.002-06:00

A little while ago I promised to post a new video of Eliza watching Yo Gabba Gabba because the first one was pretty lame. I wish I would have thought to video when she first started getting excited about the show because she just doesn't get as excited but I did get one that shows some excitement.

Spring/ Easter Pics

2011-04-23T18:39:00.008-06:00

So I never considered taking Easter pictures but a few friends of mine told me that they were taking their kids to take Easter pictures with ducklings so I thought I'd copy that and I'm so glad I did. Eliza was pretty uncertain of the ducklings and hadn't had a nap yet so she wasn't too smiley but I like the pictures anyway. Thanks Christal for taking these awesome photos.

Random Eliza Pics

2011-03-27T21:48:00.003-06:00

Lyra & Eliza time

2011-03-27T21:37:00.003-06:00

Last week Hillary and Lyra came down to visit for the week. They had lots of fun together and they were so funny "playing" together. Lyra crawls all over the place while Eliza is still just sitting around and walking along the couches. They spent a lot of time playing with toys at Grandma's house we also went to the beach and to the harbor.

Yo Gabba Gabba!!!

2011-03-27T21:33:00.003-06:00

Unfortunately the video missed the beginning when she screams but she's still very excited. Eliza loves this show. Actually I should say that she loves DJ Lance Rock. When she sees him she gets so excited. If she's crying in the car I just have to play one of the songs from this show and she's happy.

Some of my Favs

2011-03-27T18:47:00.006-06:00

Her new friend. Each morning she likes to play with her friend in the mirror.

She also likes to stand in the laundry basket.

So Eliza is showing more of her personality. She's so cute and she definitly has her preferences.

Aunt Alie makes me laugh so much! She's my funniest aunt.

Grandma Nelson makes the funniest noises. Don't worry Grandma Linda is super funny too.

Beach

2011-03-27T18:33:00.004-06:00

So Steve and I went for a walk at the beach a couple weeks ago and Eliza loved the swing but is very sensitive about her feet. She doesn't like grass, sand, shoes, people by her feet. In fact cousin Lyra was visiting last week (pictures to be posted later) and she was kicking her feet trying to get Lyra to stay away. It was a great little obstacle course for her. I'm surprised she lets me put socks on her and she does love to stand. What can I say she's a monster.

Play time

2011-02-25T11:15:00.002-07:00

These are some of Eliza'a favorite toys. She likes to hold these little cups and talk into them. That's also her favorite book. "That's not my puppy". What can I say I love her.

Pull ups

2011-02-25T11:04:00.002-07:00

So I just assumed that Eliza wasn't interested in pulling herself up because she doesn't seem to be interested in crawling. I don't know where that idea came from because they are not related and Eliza does like to jump. Anyway I was excited so I took a video.

Thanks Dawn, Mike, & Claire

2011-02-23T17:12:00.002-07:00

So at Christmas time Steve's cousin gave us their old bouncer. Eliza LOVES!!! it. She loves jumping and so this is the greatest thing. She also has a johnny jump up that we keep at my mom's house because it only works on one door at ours and that's the Steve's parent's bathroom. So anyway she loved it in December and still loves it in February.

Valentines Day

2011-02-23T17:05:00.002-07:00

I made cute little Valentines from Eliza this year. They consisted of the front of a box of sweethearts with Eliza's picture in it. Trying to get Eliza to look at the camera and smile was somewhat of a challenge but she took some cute pictures anyway.

Nothing like a good Hike to start off the new year

2011-02-23T16:12:00.003-07:00

Tangerine Falls

Alie trying to get the view of the ocean in the background.

Micaela & Allen relaxing at the falls

Ricky posing for the camera as usual

Eliza looking super cute!

So I know I haven't posted in awhile and I'm a little behind so I'm trying to get caught up. On New Years Day my family (including Steve's brother and sister and their spouses) went for a hike up in Santa Barbara to Tangerine Falls. It was very pretty and Steve was such a great sport for taking Eliza and dealing with the stress of crossing the stream and stuff with her on his back. Luckily we all made it safe and sound.

I miss my Aunt Amy and Uncle Ricky (the bee)

2011-01-11T15:10:00.002-07:00

Random Eliza Pics

2011-01-07T18:30:00.011-07:00

So I was looking through some photos and I realized I never posted some pictures so here are some random pics of Eliza in her first 6 months.

Stopping to Smell the Roses

The Cross

Secor Family Reunion

Gramma's 50th Birthday Party at the beach

Watching Daddy teach Micaela to surf

Ventura Harbor Photos

Grumpy Face

The Sneaky Photo

These were from the end of July when we were just visiting. She has always liked her baths.

This is the Aloha Beach Festival. It was beautiful and there were lots of booths and unfortunately we missed the surf contest.

Eliza was a little sad and was comforted by Raggedy Andy.

Cousins!

We Love Grandpa but not the flash!

Bentley always steals Eliza's Pacifiers

Ahh Gramma....

Eliza's 1st Christmas

2011-01-07T18:14:00.003-07:00

We opened gifts at the Nelson's first because you can't keep a 4-year-old (Miya) and a 2-year-old (Ty) waiting. Eliza had a lot of fun with the wrapping paper of course. Around 10 am we went over to my mom's for the annual Christmas breakfast with her homemade cinnamon rolls. YUM! Everyone was sooo generous to Eliza. Not that I blame them it's a lot more fun to buy things for babies. So a special Thank You to the Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles for all the great gifts! Eliza is set of course if you feel the need to buy her something she will gladly accept it. Especially if it makes any kind of noise and she can grab it.

Eliza also loved the story Llama Llama Holiday Drama and this picture reminds me of that story. Its a cute picture book. So if you have kids you should get it if not and you just like picture books that's cool too.

Family Dinner

2011-01-07T18:07:00.002-07:00

The week before Christmas Steve's parents decided to invite my family over for dinner and a visit. It was nice to do this before everyone came into town. The best part of the evening was Eliza's outfit. It's been passed down through my sisters and I'm glad that my mom still had it around. She also wore this on Christmas Eve because Steve thought it looked extra cute.

Christmas Lights in the Harbor

2011-01-07T17:45:00.003-07:00

Wish we would have got more pictures. My parents were given a little electric boat so a group of us decided to look at the Christmas lights in the Oxnard harbor. The boat was very slow but it was fun for a little while anyway. We were lucky enough to have Bryan, Michi and the kids with us too. Eliza went on her first boat trip.

Reagan Library

2010-12-19T22:21:00.004-07:00

My sister Alie was able to go the Reagan Presidential Library for extra credit at school. So we took a little family outing to see what old Ronnie had to offer. The library was under construction so we couldn't see everything but I'd been there when I was in high school so I didn't mind. We were able to see part of the Berlin Wall, a replica of the Oval Office, a miniature of the White House, Air Force One, the Reagan Pub, and the Christmas Trees. The trees were neat because each tree represented a different decade. They also had Santa there and Eliza was able to get a picture with Santa and Mrs. Clause with a presidential seal. It was very official. I'll have to scan the photo. We did get a picture with the Air Force One Christmas Tree. We had a nice time and it was great weather.

My First Tat!

2010-12-19T22:11:00.002-07:00

So I turned 6 months on December 14th and Mom and Dad have decided that I'm old enough to blog about myself once in a while and that I can get my first tattoo. I thought long and hard about what I want on my arm for the next week and I picked out a star with these wings. My dad was trying to talk me into a sun on my back but I was so over that. Here's some pics of my sweet tat and my aunt Micaela reading one of my favorite books That's Not My Puppy.

Sweet Potatoes!

2010-12-19T22:07:00.002-07:00

Eliza has tried rice cereal a few times but has never really loved it. I thought maybe I'd see if she liked other foods instead. Up to this point besides milk she really likes cantaloupe and honeydew melon. Now we can add sweet potatoes to the list. Tonight we're trying green beans I'll let you know how it goes.

Wyckoff Christmas

2010-12-19T21:57:00.004-07:00

Steve and I have been married for over 4 years now and I have never met any of his aunts or uncles until a couple weeks ago. We went down to Corona for a Christmas party with his mom's sisters and their families. It was great to meet all the people that I've heard about but never actually met. Eliza wore her pretty Christmas dress and I think because 1) she was super cute and 2) Steve's cousin Mike wanted to get rid of some baby stuff we inherited a bouncer. Eliza is very happy about it.She jumped all night. She wore herself out.

They also had a gigantic Rudolph that we made Eliza take pictures with. Don't know if she liked it much but I thought it was pretty cool anyway.

Fancy Christmas Photos

2010-12-19T21:45:00.002-07:00

A couple weeks ago my mom and I took Eliza to get Christmas pictures taken in her fancy Christmas dress. We got to JcPenney's and Eliza was in the best mood but then we had to wait like an hour even though we had an appointment and her mood started to fizzle. Luckily she had enough happy in her to get some really cute pictures but after a bit she was DONE! She took some really cute pictures and so of course I have to share them.

Two Trees with Amy & Ricky

2010-12-14T00:44:00.004-07:00

In Ventura Two Trees is a very well known landmark. It's pretty common for people to hike up to the trees and look out at the beautiful view. Unfortunately it is illegal to do the hike, but fortunately everyone does anyway. So over the Thanksgiving holiday Amy and Ricky came down and we decided that Ricky, who has never done the hike, needed to see what it was all about.

So the five of us embarked on our hike. That's right Eliza came too. She even fell asleep. Wish I would have gotten a picture of that or anything for that matter. I was still missing my camera at this point so thank you Amy for all your amazing photos. The hike was a lot steeper than I remember but glad we all made it and it was an excellent view!I love this fuzzy little head!

Holiday Cards and Gifts

2010-12-03T15:17:00.003-07:00

So my friend told me about this great deal that Shutterfly is doing. Post about the holiday cards and products available on my blog and get 50 cards for free. I thought FANTASTIC! I already have a Shutterfly account and created a super cute webpage to share my photos of Eliza. I love how my family also has albums on Shutterfly that you can share and have access to. I can print off any of those pictures as well. It's great! For my mother-in-law's birthday I created a calendar for her and she loves it. It has family photos of everyone and I was able to put pictures on special dates and choose different styles of background and make it really personal.
I have always loved the Shutterfly card designs. They are really cute and creative. Now tat I have Eliza in my life I feel like photo Christmas cards are a must because she is always changing and she is so darn cute if I do say so myself. So when I was looking at some fo their card designs I couldn't help but picture Eliza's cute little face.

I'm still undecided about whether I should have a family picture or just Lu. Shutterfly has a lot of different styles of cards. Some are scrapbook style and others allow you just one photo. Anyway not sure what we're going to do. I guess you'll have to just wait and see. Thank You Shutterfly!

Central Coast

2010-12-02T10:24:00.003-07:00

So Steve recently got a job which is fantastic news, but we were going to miss being able to spend time together. That is when he wasn't surfing. So we decided to take a little overnight vacation before he started work. We went up to Cayucos, which is a small town right by Morro Bay. We spent a couple hours walking around the main street looking at the many antique shops, a couple surf shops, and a cute little bakery where we tried yummy cookies. We then went for dinner and by that time it was dark and cold so we went back to our hotel room which was right on the beach. Steve thought he might go surfing in the morning and loved that to check the surf he just had to open his eyes. He didn't go though. Anyway we had a nice evening and enjoyed our stay in Cayucos. The next day we drove to Morro and looked at the surf by Morro Rock. Steve wanted to go but didn't because then he'd be ditching us and that would have been pretty lame We then drove to Montana de Oro State Park because I kept telling him how beautiful it was. He of course didn't believe me until he saw it. We went for a little walk around the cliffs and saw this couple who looked to be in their 40's totally making out on a small sketchy looking section of rock. Steve decided that he needed to take a video of course ( I have a strange husband). Anyway after we left Montana de Oro we went to Pismo ate some lunch and then made our way home. It was a great trip and I am so grateful that we were able to do it.

HALLOWEEN

2010-11-09T12:39:00.003-07:00

So we didn't do much for Halloween this year. We went to a party on Saturday unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her 80's aerobics outfit, but I didn't get pictures of her cute Halloween outfit that Grandma Nelson got her and her pig costume. She was not in the mood for a photo shoot on Halloween so the piggy pictures are limited to random shots from Steve's phone. She is super cute regardless of her lack of interest in photojournalism.

California

2010-10-29T17:11:00.003-06:00

So we've been in California for almost two months now and we've had some fun times. Steve has enjoyed surfing and I have enjoyed being with family. It's been nice having family around to play with Lu (Eliza) and get to know her. She's a blast. She is so happy and fun. Just thought I'd throw in some random pics for an update. Eliza is now 14 pounds and smiles and laughs a lot. She is quiet the talker. We're still waiting for her to consistently roll over. It's really hard to get her to do because she hates being on her stomach and instead of rolling over she get frustrated puts her face in the blanket and cries. It's quite sad.

New Suit

2010-10-15T16:58:00.002-06:00

My mom and I went to Babys r us not to long ago and bought a swim suit for this coming spring. It looked a little small so I tried it on and it fits now. So she has been wearing it to the pool and what can I say she looks dang cute.

Cousins

2010-09-28T16:27:00.000-06:00

Hillary and Brian came down to visit and to attend Sarah's engagement/house warming party so we were able to take some super cute pics of Lyra and Eliza. These two are less than 24 hours apart and used to be really close in size but it seems that Lyra is taking the lead. We decided to get them all matchy matchy for the pictures and a special thanks to Gramma Linda for the cute pink dresses. Both girls liked sucking on the pink dresses.

So hot and I don't want to touch anyones hiney!

2010-09-28T11:23:00.005-06:00

So for the last few days Ventura has been uncharacteristically hot. In the 90's and yesterday it was even hot with little relief at the beach, unless you went in the water that is, and as it turns out Eliza didn't want to go into the water. Plus there's a lot of seaweed and yuckiness. Anyway we did go to the pool last night and Eliza had a ton of fun unfortunately I didn't get pictures of that because the battery on our camera is dead and the charger is somewhere in storage. I hope to find it soon. I did get pictures of Eliza at the beach wearing her favorite sunglasses though.

First Swim

2010-09-25T21:21:00.003-06:00

Today was pretty warm so Eliza and I went over to my parents house and washed the car, gave Rincon a bath, and went for a quick dip in the jacuzzi. Eliza loves her baths so I was looking forward to seeing how she did with a swim. She enjoyed herself very much and I wish that I would have been a little more prepared with swimming diapers luckily we didn't need them.

First laughs

2010-09-19T22:41:00.005-06:00

The Culprit

Another post out of order. When we were packing up all our stuff I was feeling a tad overwhelmed and Eliza knew just what to do to pick me up. She's sitting on Steve's lap while I was pulling the handle to make it shake. Unfortunately the video is poor quality.

Eliza's Blessing

2010-09-16T20:34:00.003-06:00

So this is a little out of order but I need to write about it anyway. August 1 was Eliza's blessing in Ventura. We did it in the Ventura 4th Ward and I felt very lucky to have so many family members there. After the blessing we went back to the Nelsons house for brunch. It was so great to have everyone around. Unfortunately I didn't get any of my own pictures so I'm posting the ones that have been sent to me.

Goodbye Utah

2010-09-05T22:36:00.002-06:00

Just got to California this evening. Can't believe that we are no longer Utah residents. It's bittersweet. I'm excited to be in California close to my family and in such a great climate but I kind of miss our little house. This is going to be quite an adventure!

2 California Photo Shoots

2010-08-02T20:39:00.005-06:00

Photo shoot number 1: so we're in California and it's been great! One of the first days Eliza and I were here my family and I went to In n Out for lunch and took it to the beach. Sarah was holding Eliza and she was being pretty darn cute so we had to take pictures. Photo shoot number 2: I was with my sisters and mom looking at reception sites for my sister Sarah's wedding and we did a little photo shoot with Eliza even though we don't know much about taking photos.

Dr. Joseph F. Gstettenbauer

2010-07-30T17:49:00.003-06:00

Last week Eliza and I flew down to California to visit family and to visit my Grandpa who was in the hospital and not doing well. I am so glad that I was able to see him before he passed. Unfortunately he wasn't very alert and he didn't get to actually meet Eliza but it was good that we were able to see him. My grandpa was a pretty amazing guy and I copied most of the obituary below.

Dr. Joseph F. Gstettenbauer, 89, passed away July 23, 2010 at the Californian in Ventura after a long illness.
Dr. Joe was born Jan. 19, 1921 in Rock Island, Ill., to Joseph and Cecilia Gstettenbauer. He attended St. Ambrose University where he played football for their un-scored upon and undefeated team while completing his pre-med courses. Upon graduating from medical school at Loyola University in Chicago, he traveled west for his internship at St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles. After his internship Joseph spent the next year stationed in Kyoto, Japan as a captain in the U.S. Army. He then returned to Ventura to finish a residency in family practice medicine.
During his time in Los Angeles Joseph met his lovely wife, Carol, a nurse at St. Vincent's. They were married in Los Angeles in 1946 prior to moving to Ventura. Dr. Joe practiced medicine in Ventura for the next 50 years. He was a past Chief of Staff at Community Memorial Hospital. He was a delegate member of the California Medical Association for many years. Joseph also participated on the Physician Peer Review board for Ventura County for a number of years. He was passionate about the practice of medicine and also was a board member of Blue Shield for several years prior to his retirement.
When not practicing medicine, Joe loved to play golf. He now joins his golf partners, the Dawn Patrol of Soule Golf Course, at the 19th hole in heaven. In addition to golf, Joe enjoyed traveling the back roads of California with Carol and their children. In doing this he instilled an appreciation of the local nature in all of his children. In his later years he and Carol made an annual pilgrimage to Hollister, Calif., to retrieve fresh cherries which they distributed to many friends and neighbors. Joe was proud of his six children and enjoyed hearing about their exploits at frequent family gatherings.
In addition to his wife of 64 years, Carol, Dr. Joe is survived by sisters, Mildred Coulter and Barbara Zerull and brother-in-law, Bill Porter. Joseph is also survived by his six children: Joseph, Greg (Jonni), Kathryn (Steve) Thompson, Carolyn, Jim (Linda Yen), and Bob. He is also survived by his eight grandchildren: Julia (Ramone) Durr, April (Steve) Nelson, Kimberly (Matt) Alvarez, Sarah Gstettenbauer, Kipp Gstettenbauer, Sydney Gstettenbauer, Claire and Diana Thompson; great-grandchildren are: Dominic and Savana Durr, and Eliza Marie Nelson. Joe is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews throughout the United States.
He was preceded in death by sister, Dorothy Colgan; brothers-in-law, Thad Colgan, Phil Zerull, Bill Coulter, Patrick Doran, Leonard Brownell and Charles Chase; and sisters-in-law, Catherine Porter and Peggy Doran.

Eliza at home

2010-06-27T18:51:00.004-06:00

Well Eliza is doing well. She was a little jaundice when she came home but nothing scary. Eliza is a great baby she sleeps really well and that's a huge relief. She is changing so much. Her hair has gotten lighter and a little red which is not a surprise. Both Steve and I had red hair when we were babies.
Last week Eliza had her two week appointment and she is healthy. She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and measured 20 1/2 inches. We found out that she so far has not been cursed with the big Nelson head.

Eliza Marie

2010-06-15T19:41:00.004-06:00

She's finally here ... Eliza was born last night June 14 at 11:34 pm. Happy Flag Day! She was 7 lbs 5 ounces and 19.5 inches long. She has some cute chubby cheeks and a large Nelson head. She has moments when she's super alert and others when she is totally out.

HAPPY SUMMER!!

2010-06-02T12:27:00.001-06:00

So even though my due date is Tuesday little baby Nelson doesn't seem to be making too much progress so we'll see how long this takes. On a happier note tomorrow is the last day of school for the year and it's a half day!

Ventura Baby Shower

2010-04-05T19:21:00.004-06:00

My family certainly outdid themselves again. I had a great baby shower with Hillary and it was fun to see some of my friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time. For some it has been years. We played a couple games and I felt like my brain was not working at all. I probably did the worst. We were very lucky because of the generosity of everyone who came and even those who couldn't make it. We had a nice lunch, played a few games, opened lots of gifts and chatted for a while. Kim made us some cute diaper cakes and I feel a bit dumb because I had never heard of these before. I guess I haven't been to enough baby showers or something. They turned out really cute though! It was also neat because all four of the cousins who are due in June were there and we took pictures of course. I wish Johanna could have been there, but we wouldn't want you getting in trouble for flying and giving birth on an airplane sounds horrible.

Bumper Pads

2010-03-29T08:39:00.002-06:00

This weekend I also decided to make the bumper pads for our cradle. There not that great, but she wont care.

Pond Skimming

2010-03-29T08:14:00.003-06:00

Saturday Steve decided to participate in this years Spring Gruv at the Canyons Ski Resort in Park City by dressing up as an Oompa-Loompa and attempting to skim a pond. Unfortunately he didn't win any prizes, but he came very close to making it across the pond. Our friends Jake and Gage came to watch as well. Gage was pretty bummed that he didn't hit Steve with a snowball as he was going down the mountain.

Picketing

2010-03-22T13:24:00.002-06:00

Last week some teachers and I got together to picket outside of an elementary school during their parent-teacher conferences. We were on the corner and would hand out information to parents as they were leaving. It was a lot of fun even though it was freezing! When we first got out there it was raining, but eventually cleared up. It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't so windy. Luckily all the parents we stopped were very supportive and friendly.

L12 weekend

2010-03-19T15:31:00.005-06:00

March 13 one of my former roommates got married so I was able to fly down to California and be there with all the girls. We had a blast. I was busy the entire time driving back and forth between LA, San Diego, and Ventura. I really enjoyed seeing all the girls again it's been 3 1/2 years since we were all able to get together. I should be embarrassed by the pictures, but we had a blast so I thought I'd share. I'll have to add the picture of the bride later. She was gorgeous!

Park City Condo

2010-03-02T15:40:00.007-07:00

So while Steve was driving for the Sundance Film Festival he met a lot of interesting people. Some famous others not. It turns out that Steve made a friend in one of the women who was staying in Park City star gazing. Steve would tell her where she could see certain stars and in return she let us stay in her 3 bedroom 4 bathroom condo when it wasn't being rented out. It's right next to the Park City ski resort and while we invited up our family and friends it ended up being a very relaxing weekend. I had Friday off of school because parent-teacher conferences were last week and so they give us Friday off to compensate. So Thursday night Steve and I stayed in the condo and went out to this nice Thai food restaurant. I wish I could say that I fit in but we really didn't. The food was delicious though. Friday Steve had to work so we came back home to Draper and I cleaned the house and did the grocery shopping for the weekend. Friday night we went to our nephew Ethan's 11th birthday party. It was at an ice skating rink and I think the boys had more fun playing with his Nerf flag football game that he got for his birthday.

Kitchen & Dining Room
2nd Master Bedroom and Bunk Room
Master Bedroom & Bath

We went back to the condo Friday night and our friends Jake and Jenny stayed with us. Saturday Steve went snowboarding at the Canyons and I went to the outlets. They had some good sales and it's really hard not to buy cute little baby girl clothes. Jason and Karen and the kids came up to check out our awesome condo and ate junk food with us. Amy, Jenny, Jake and his son Gage, Steve and I went out to this pizza place in park city and it was also great and more our scene and price range. We all went back to the condo and hung out watching TV. Steve and I went in the jacuzzi every night because we could and enjoyed our king size sleep number bed. This condo was amazing! So a big huge thanks to our new friends for letting us stay in the condo for the weekend!

Yummy Pizza Place

Cute Kids at the Condo

Bryce Canyon

2010-02-22T15:08:00.007-07:00

For the three day weekend some of the Nelson clan decided to drive down to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was beautiful and great to get away.We left Sunday and drove down with Amy and Ricky. We got to our hotel in the afternoon and decided to go explore. So we all squeezed into Jason and Karen's Tahoe (because we didn't want to pay to park fee for two cars, and drove to different lookouts.
After our adventures Ricky decided he needed to have some more fun so he got all the guys to jump head first into the snow. That is after he turned into the abominable snowman by walking down the side of a mountain without a shirt on. All the guys decided it was stupid but fun.

We then ate dinner, played poker, watched TV, and even snuggled to prepare for the next day's festivities.
Monday morning Jason, Ethan, Amy, Ricky, Steve, and I (April) went for a short hike. It was about a mile and we were lucky enough to go early so we got to see the sun coming up. It was beautiful! We finished around 9 am and the girls were back at the hotel waiting to go swimming in the indoor pool. So naturally we all got ready to go. Steve decided he wanted to try cross country skiing because it was pretty cheap to rent the skis. When he was finished he met us at the pool. He said it was a lot harder than he thought it would be but he was glad he did it. We then showered and started our drive home. It was a great little trip and I've decided we need to go on more like them.

It's a Girl!

2010-01-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2009

2010-01-03T19:01:00.011-07:00

As is our custom we went to Ventura for Christmas. We as usual had a great time in the warm weather and Steve of course loved the surf. We were both able to spend time with our families and it was hard to say goodbye. Some highlights of our trip were...

Christmas. I don't have any pics but it was fun to eat breakfast with my family and dinner with Steve's. Not to mention we got presents and so did baby Nelson.
Sunday we went to the beach to look at the waves because they were big! We also tried to fly Ricky's kite but it did not work. It was pretty tricky. Miya and Ty came too and played at the park. They are so cute!
Huge waves at the Marina. It's hard to tell from the pictures but I swear the waves were very big. Also as I'm sure you can tell from our attire Sunday was quite chilly. I believe there were two cold days while we were there. I'll take two out of ten cold days at the end of December.
After the Marina we went to the Pier and saw some pretty amazing views plus some pretty good surfing. Steve and Ricky were really excited about the view so they decided to make things a little more intimate. I wish I could say I was surprised.
Sunday evening we celebrated Steve's 26 birthday. We had the usual Hungry Howies Pizza and chocolate cake. We opened a few gifts and then I went home to go to sleep while Steve and his siblings stayed up and played poker.
The last day that Steve and I were in Ventura was a fun one for all of us. Steve went surfing, of course, and he was lucky enough to see Tom Curren. He's pretty giddy about it. In the evening my family went bowling. It was a lot of fun. I talked trash to Steve because I was winning most of the time, but in the end I choked. He beat me both games we played. He also had a little friendly competition with Brandon, Micaela's boyfriend, and Steve lost but it was fun to watch. Oh and my mom has the best bowling form ever and when she gets a strike or a spare a great dance. At the end of the night we were all pretty tired including Elsie.

This is crazy!

2009-11-15T19:09:00.003-07:00

Well many of you know that Steve and I are expecting a baby this June and we have our first baby picture so I wanted to share. The baby is only an inch long and I am a little over 10 weeks along. So far things are going well and I have felt great today, well tired, but at least not sick. The baby was moving around a lot and we saw the babies heart beating. It was all pretty cool. Well all except for the flu shot they gave me that made me sick.

Sorry!

2009-11-01T14:46:00.002-07:00

So it was brought to my attention that my school posts have been emailed to people. I couldn't figure out why that would happen until I looked at my family blog and realized that instead of posting what I did in class last week on the 7th grade blog it was on my family blog. I hope this doesn't happen again and sorry for the random emails about what I was doing in my class last week.