Almost 7 months old!

Elise is so funny! She is learning to sit up by herself. She can sit up, for a while, on the couch or in her high chair, but sitting on the floor has not been mastered. We will continue to work on that.



Elise likes to be on the go! This particular day when I was talking on the phone, Elise would not stop crying. I needed to talk to this person, so I decided that I would put her in the "kangaroo suit" to keep her happy. I walked around the house as I talked and we were both happy!



Elise can hold her bottle now! What a big girl! It sure helps me to be able to get some things done while she is eating. I never knew what a blessing it could be for the baby to be able to hold their own bottle!



Elise always loves to be with Daddy. We have become addicted to the show "Biggest Loser" so on Tuesday evenings we watch the show. Last Tuesday was the finale which Nic and I were so excited about...evidently we were the only ones excited! Elise soon was caught with her eyes closed sleeping away!



Besides eating, Elise's next favorite thing is to "kick it" with Daddy! Eight out of ten pictures are of Elise and Daddy hanging out! It is so adorable! She is definately a "Daddy's girl!"

Nic has been working diligently for the past two semesters on his Publishable Paper and presentation- it was an alternative to a Thesis Project. We are hoping that his paper will be published in a Journal...we'll keep you posted. Elise loved to sit with Daddy and "help" him put his presentation together.



Here Nic is with his Committee on the day of his Defense. He had a full room of Professors, students and family members. We were all very excited to be there, except Nic. He was glad to get it over with! He did a great job, though! We are proud of his success.



For the past year, Nic has become friends with Mohamed. He is a graduate student from Libya. We have enjoyed getting to know him and learn about his culture. He will graduate in May and hopefully be able to get a job so that he can stay in the states.



Nic worked all Thanksgiving break on his presentation. This is one of the rare instances where he was just lounging around. Of course he wanted to "kick it" with his favorite little girl...ELISE!

We are so excited for Nic to be done with Graduate School. He has worked very hard these past two years. He has earned excellent grades to show it. We are in the process of getting a job...a task that has proven a bit more difficult than expected. Yet, the Lord is mindful of us and we will have a job in no time!

May the Lord bless each of you. We hope you have a wonderful Holiday Season.

My Thanksgiving Trip to McCall, Idaho

Grandpa and Aunt Liesel took such great care of me...they even changed my diaper! Thank you!!



Grandma made a beautiful pie...Mom said that I couldn't have any! I did eat some sweet potatoes, though! I loved them. Since then I have eaten peas and green beans. I loved all of them!



Uncle Ben is an excellent piano player. I could have sat on his lap all day long and listened to him play. I love music. I can't wait until Mom lets me play her piano!



This is Riley. She and I had a great time together. Riley would hold me. When I started to get upset, Riley would rub my belly. It calmed me down and even tickled a little bit!



This picture shows just a few of the people that were at Grandpa and Grandma Holland's house for Thanksgiving...it was quite a day! Aunt Candice, Riley, TJ, Great-Grandma Holland, Me, Mom, Dad, Uncle Ben, Great-Aunt Josephine, and Aunt Holly. I love them all so much!



Cousin T.J. and I had fun together, too. He liked to hold me as well. I cried a bit, but he really was a nice boy. When I get bigger I want T.J. to teach me all about how to fix things!



Some of these kids are my cousins on the Holland side. My Aunt Bonnie got married to Uncle Brian on the 25 of November where I finally was able to meet my cousins. I had a great time looking at all their faces and playing with them. I can't wait to play with them again.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I love you all! Have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Love, Elise

Our October

Elise started to eat Rice cereal this month! She did not know if she liked it at first, but now she can't get enough! She does not have the coordination of opening her mouth to get the cereal from the spoon, but she sticks her tongue out like a frog to lick it off the spoon. It is adorable!



Look at her sit up! Yah, she needs to be propped up, but she is doing great! She does not really like to sit up, but tries to pull herself up when she is on our laps.



Elise got this cute outfit from her GreatAunt and Uncle. It says, "Mommy is under my spell"....so true!! She was dressed up as a pumpkin for the Halloween party, but I seem to not have any pictures...we'll have to dress her up again!



Nic contiues to work on his Theis. It is going slower than we like, but he set a date to defend; December 5 at 1:00. We are so excited that it will be done and over with at that time!...hopefully! His other classes are going well. He finished a paper that turned out to be 25 pages yesterday. He will be doing a presentation on that paper in the near future. That is one class. The other class is a bit more stressful full of papers, projects and tests. He is holding together well with an expected "A" in the class.



Kari is doing well. She has enjoyed watching Elise go through various stages already in her little life. She has been able to find some time to get back to baking and trying out some new dinners.

We are very excited to get out of Butte for Thanksgiving and Bonnie and Brian's wedding! Once we get back, it will be time to pack up the house and leave Butte for good...it will be sad, but it is very exciting! Where are we moving to? We'll let you know as soon as we know! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We love you all!

S M I L E

Isn't she just quite the Doll!!! We thought we might share a little piece of our joy!!! We love you all!!!

Love,
Nic

Elise's baby blessing

Elizabeth Carol Holland was blessed on August 24, 2008 in the Rutland Branch, VT. She was blessed by her father with her Grandpa Moser and six of her Uncles in the circle: Uncles Tyler, Kurt, Kiel, Randal, Ken, and Mack. It was a very special day for all of us to witness this very special little girl be blessed. A beautiful blessing was pronouned upon her; she truly is one of the Lord's special daughters.

Vermont Trip

Nic and Elise in the Salt Lake City airport on our way to Vermont.

Kari taking a break. It is a long trip from Montana to Vermont!

Grandpa Moser meets Elise for the first time! What a special moment it was to see Dad holding our baby. With tears in his eyes, he talking softly in her ear and kissed her little face. It was a precious moment that will always be imprinted in my mind.

The Bride and Groom...Connie and Mack at the Washington, D.C. Temple. All the Moser children through Bud were able to be there. What a reunion!

Uncle Patrick and Uncle Drew met Elise. They had such a great time! Elise sure does miss her little Uncles. We can't believe how fast they are growing up!

Holland Family visits

Hi Everyone! Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Holly and Aunt Liesel came to visit us in Butte. We had a great time site seeing and spending time together. We sure love it when family comes to see us. Thank you for coming...come again soon!






We are headed to Vermont on the 21st of August...we are very excited to spend time with the Moser Grandparents and family. Look for pictures soon of our visit back east!

Summer coming to a close

I had been telling Nic that I wanted to get my hair cut. The last time I got it cut was before Nic and I were married. He likes my curls, but I could not stand having long hair anymore. I wanted a change; short hair was it. I told Nic that I would wait until the baby was born thus giving him time to get used to the idea. Well, Elise was born, my hair got cut.

Nic has been working very hard as a Safety Intern at Jordan Contracting this summer. He started out working in Anaconda and Butte, but was given leave of Anaconda and finished off the summer over the job sites in Butte. Having Nic work only in Butte not only saved huge amounts of gas, but also saved him from having to get up at 3:30 am. He now can "sleep in" until 5:00am! It has been nice to be able to ride in to work with him a few times a week so that I could have the truck to run errands. Elise is up at the time anyway, so she enjoys a nice ride to start out her day. Usually she falls asleep in her carseat, but is quick to wake up once we arrive back at home. Nic will be starting school, his last semester (!), on Wednesday, August
27th. We are very excited for him to get his Thesis done. He will do wonderfully! Then it will be time to go into the big world and start work for the rest of his life! We are not sure where we are headed next, but we sure are very excited to find out!



We went to Big Sky, MT to visit Mack, Bud and Kiel. Kiel took us on a hike. Elise rode in the stroller and did a great job on the sometimes bumpy terrain. Elise wanted a picture with her Uncle Kiel.





Elise is doing great! At her last weight check, which was a couple weeks ago, she weighed in at 8lbs 1oz. She is quite the chubby little girl! She has started to interact with us more. He eyes wander to various things, but will focus in on our faces at times. She has the cutest little smile that is shown daily. We love to see her little personality come out through her little noises and facial expressions. We have quite the little lady. We could not be any more blessed with how well she is growing. We are having so much fun with her.

Our Beautiful Girl!

I am over a month old now! Time sure is flying by!!!

I am having a great time being able to move around freely. I like to kick my legs and wave my arms around. Mom says that I have been doing this for a long time. Now I can make bigger movements since her ribs and bladder are not in my way.

I have taken quite a few baths. I really enjoy the warm water running on my belly. Daddy spoils me by heating up my towel so I am toasty warm after getting out of the tub. I really like being wrapped up and snuggled after my bath.

My voice is getting louder and stronger. I used to make little noises, but now I am pretty good at getting my Mom and Dad's attention. I don't cry a lot, but I like to make sounds...just wait until I start to talk. I have many stories to tell.

Mom and Dad say that my cheeks are getting chunky...actually, my legs, arms and neck are also. Dr. Kautzman is very happy that I have gained almost 2 pounds since I was born...My parents joke about being so happy when I gain weight. They say that they want me to gain weight now. Then in twenty years I will want to lose weight! Funny!

Well, I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of me and my family. We sure are having a good time together.

XOXOXOXO

I am getting bigger!

Hi Everyone!
Here are so more pictures of me!
Love, Elise

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Hi Everyone!
It has been too long since we have updated out blogspot. Many of you have been wondering if we would ever get to it. I am finally just sitting down and getting some words and pictures posted.

Monday, May 26, 2008 was a big day in our home. I awoke around 4:45am when my water broke. Talk about unexpected! I had been saying that my gut feeling was that our baby would be born early, but I had no idea that it would be almost 6 weeks early. Nic called the on-call doctor (it was Memorial Day and our doctor was out of town) who told us to meet her at the hospital. We gathered our things and off we went. Still not totally convinced that it was actually my water that broke, I was made ready to be admitted into the Labor and Delivery Unit. Once certain tests were done, the nurse told me that the doctor wanted me to wait to have the baby for 48 hours. They gave me some steroids to help the baby's lungs mature faster as time went on. The medication they gave me, Magnesium Sulfate, was hard to take, but I managed to make it a little over 24 hours. By Tuesday morning, May 27th, Dr. Sironi was back in town and ordered that I be able to "just have the baby." I don't know who was more relieved, Nic or myself!
I was 3 centimeters dialated about 8:30am. I thought it was going to be a long day. As it turned out, our little Elizabeth Carol, whom we are going to call Elise, made her appearance at 1:29pm. She was 3 lbs 13 oz and 17 1/4 inches. Because she was a premature baby, the NICU was set up for her to be stablized if needed. She was breathing a bit shallow, but after just a little bit, she was taken off the oxygen and was breathing on her own. She had an IV put in her to give her liquids and at some points she was put on a "cozy bed" to help with her jaundice. She was soon known in the nursery and on the floor among the nurses as "Peanut". When you see the pictures you will know why!
I was only able to stay at the hospital for the allotted 3 days which meant that since Elise had to stay longer, I had to make trips to the hospital each time I wanted to feed her. Carol, Nic's mom, and I made numerous trips daily. Elise did really well with feeding most days, and her happy smiling face made it easier to come and go. She is definately quite the girl!
We were able to bring her home after 13 days in the hospital. She weighed 4 pounds half an ounce. It was a very exciting, yet emotional, day for us all. We had prayed for the day we could take her home, and finally it was upon us.
Elise has been home for about 4 weeks now. She is 5 pounds 11 ounces as of last Wednesday. She has been gaining consistantly. It has been nothing short of many miracles that Elise was so healthy from the beginning, that she came home so soon, and that she is doing so well still. It has not been easy for Nic and I, but the blessings have been wonderful as we have tried to remember each day to take it as it comes and enjoy each little thing about our little darling.
Elise is so precious...we know you will think the same when you see her pictures.
We have been blessed to have both Elise' grandmas here to visit and help us out. Elise sure is very blessed to have such wonderful Grandmas. She has fallen in love with them. I know that the Grandmas have done the same.
Elise looks forward to meeting all of you sometime. But for now, she'll just have to hear all the stories that Nic and I tell about you!
Thank you for all your prayers. We truly have been blessed.