Welcome to the Spring Edition of our blog. We have been keeping busy with our 2 foot wonder and have frankly become a little lazy about updating the blog.

We've had the final derby bout for NRG's regular season, Easter, Grandma/Grandpa visit, transition to rice cereal and her 4-month doctor visit.

Elise donned her "bout-fit" for the NRG bout vs Ohio Roller Girls. She had a red onesie supplied by "Joanie Gouge", socks donated by "Valerie Hurtinelli" and the knitted pivot panty and skull bandana dress provided by "Racer Xtasy". It was good luck because NRG triumphed over OHRG.

Cuteness provided by Elise, photo courtesy of Marc Lebryk

Easter took us to Ft. Wayne to visit Jeana's immediate family. It consisted of a bit of driving and Elise was quite a trooper (as per usual during car rides) and an easter-egg hunt for Elise's cousins. However, she got to dress up a little and she wasn't in much of a bad mood at all.

Cheeeeeeese!

The Starlets

Grandpa Dressler and a content granddaughter

Yay, it's Easter...I guess...whatever that means. It has something to do with bunnies I take it.

My mother flew in from Nevada in early May to get some time with her granddaughter. She has grown an allergy to cold weather and snow so May seemed about right for her.

She didn't mind sleeping on my old sectional couch that was on it's last leg. She wanted to maximize her time with Elise. It also provided Jeana with another set of hands when Elise was fussing or just needed to be entertained.....not to mention the opportunity to talk to someone during the day that wasn't all baby-talk while I was gone at work.

It was good to see her as it had been a spell since I had spent time with my parents as well. So for Mother's Day, my mother was here and it was Jeana's first time to celebrate Mother's Day as a mother. Quite a special occasion. Both ladies got a card from Elise and myself...and Jeana received a UK mug I had tucked away for awhile.

As previously mentioned, the sectional/couch was where my mother was sleeping and I had ordered another and was awaiting it's arrival. It hit a snag somehow as the model/color combo was discontinued by the manufacturer. However, it'd been 4 weeks and I hadn't been notified. Apparently the store who placed the order wasn't notified either. It was a jumbled mess. As soon as I found out, I started the search all over again. When I went to the store, it turns out they had the family room outfit I was looking at to replace the other evasive set. It was a "scratch and dent" set but they were very minor and the price was halved. Best part was that it was very much along the lines of what I had originally ordered but just not in the exact configuration or color but it was a good compromise.

My father was spending some time with his mother near Elkhart, IN but came down for a day/night to spend some time with Elise as well. It also gave Jeana and myself a rare opportunity to go out for a night out as adults. No diaper bags in tow. So we had some cheese and chocolate fondue at The Melting Pot at Jeana's request. We then proceeded to see Clash of the Titans 3D. The movie was pretty well done and it'd been awhile since I've seen anything in 3D (still wanting to see Alice In Wonderland 3D). My only real disappointment was the lack of Bubo in the new version.

"Grandma....can I suck on your fingers?...I can suck on mine any time."

After my parents left, it was time for Elise's 4-month check-up. She currently measures 25 1/4" tall and 14.5 lbs. She's in the 90th percentile of height and 51st percentile of weight and 49th percentile of her head circumference. So all in all she's shooting average except in her height...but we knew she'd be leggy.

The good news was that we can start transitioning Elise to food other than breast milk. It's a gradual process. She's currently starting with rice cereal mixed with breast milk. It's primarily to get her to get her off the bottle/boob eventually and accept food from the spoon. Of course, it's a messy process.

"I got a soft spoon cuz I like to nibble my noms"

"You, with the camera, I'm TRYING to eat"

"Here Mama, let me help"

All in all, a pretty good spring so far. Papa Lightnin' is trying to sell assorted stuff on eBay to fund his everlasting motorcycle transformation and Mama Beatin' is continually working on trying to help NRG.

Family Portrait (sans moustaches)