Livi's video

Usually she will make her hand do the spider motion but she didn't do it in this video. Of course.. they never cooperate when you are filming.

Even crazier!

We got a pup. Yea. Like I don't have enough poop to clean up. We had been thinking it over for sometime and I told Josh I would feel more comfortable up here in the wilderness with a dog to watch out for us. We have coyotes, foxes and other wild life that I wouldn't want to eat my babies and I told him a nice big outside dog would be a great addition to help watch over Eli.

I wanted a Golden Retriever because that's the breed I've grown up with. My Aunt Jane brought my sister and I each a Golden when we were 2 and 3 years old for Christmas. I remember going into our Rec room and there were two puppies with big red bows on their necks. They are such sweet, smart, and child friendly dogs.

Isaac named him Sampson and life was good until we went to bed that night. The poor baby cried, and whimpered and barked.. I suppose he was missing his mama and siblings. Josh got up with him 3 times and I got up 2 times...Olivia was up at 3 am in the midst of that and then at 5:30 am I threw up.  That morning Josh took Isaac to school and headed to work. Well, that was about the time the pup decided to take a crap in the floor. I snatched up Olivia so she wouldn't get in the mess and then took the pup outside to finish his business. Then another wave hit me and I preceded to throw up again off my front porch, with Olivia in one arm hanging upside down and trying to watch the pup to make sure he didn't run off. Did I mention it was blowing snow? I called Josh and told him he was going to have to come back home and help me. It was the stomach flu.. I had a high fever, body aches, chills, and threw up until around 9pm. Not the way you want to lose 5 lbs.

Sampson is starting to settle in but we have a ways to go.  We've been working on potty training and he's starting to whine at the door when he wants to go out.  I tried to mop today and I was semi-successful. Usually mopping is a chore anyway because Eli wants to 'help' me and Olivia wants to be on my hip. Today I added a pup that tried to bite the mop every time I swished it on the floor. Perhaps that chore will now be done during nap time. I don't know how my 'twin' friend mamas do it.

Yup I'm crazy!

I don't like birds but for some earthly reason I've bought 3 baby chicks. Eli is in love with all 3, especially the white one. I'm going to brood them in the garage and then Josh is going to build us a hen house so we will have nice fresh eggs when they get older. Luckily my sis is a chick pro so maybe she will give me pointers. She wants me to name them after the Downton Abby girls: Lady Mary, Edith, and Sybil. Josh isn't all for that since Edith is his grandma's name. I mean who wouldn't like a chick named after them.

I'm not sure how I'm going to be a chicken farmer when I can't get up the nerve to hold them. I mean my newly turned 3 year old can pick them up like a champ and isn't at all scared, but his mama jumps and squeals when they flap their wings. Their feet freak me out too... Eeek! I guess we will see how this goes!

Play yard and picnics here we come

Many thanks to Pawpaw, ( Josh's Dad) who came over to help Josh build a play yard for the littles. Plus Paw built us a picnic table for warm weather fun!

Happy 3rd Birthday Eli

Newborn Eli

Newborn Eli

                                   

1 year old

2 years old

2 years old

March 20th 2010 my biggest baby, at 8 lbs 7 oz entered this world. You can read about his birth here. We named him Eli instead of Seth because he was such a big boy with massive hands and feet. He has turned from my chunky cuddly baby to a wild happy 3 year old.

Eli is super sweet and loves to give compliments. He tells Olivia how much he loves her several times a day and absolutely adores his Papa. Eli's favorite things involve motors... four-wheelers, tractors, and lawnmowers. He wants to play outside all day and enjoys riding his cars and tricycle. Wrestling in the floor with Isaac or 'swording' (nerf swords) with Daddy and Isaac ranks up there as well. To be such a wild and outgoing fella he has a gentle heart and melts mine all the time. When he puts his hand in mine or says " I wuv you Mommy" I can't help but smile.

Some of his favorite foods are blueberries, strawberries, bologna, and edemame. He used to eat anything you put in front of him but he's getting a bit more picky as he gets older. His favorite books are "Little Blue Truck", "Good night Moon", "Harold and the Purple Crayon",  and "Two Little Trains". He can completely recite "Little Blue Truck" and it's super cute. I need to try to video it. His absolute favorite thing to watch on TV is Mickey Mouse, though, sometimes he wants to watch a movie and that is usually Walle or Nemo. He likes to play the ipad, our phones, type on the computer and navigates them all with ease. Luckily for my sake he still takes a good afternoon nap.. usually around 2ish for a couple hours. He can dress himself when he wants to, however, frequently fusses and wants me to help him. He brushes his own teeth (I do a follow up though), and uses the potty independently. We recently started soccer and he is very excited about it. Eli has known his colors, shapes and letters for a while. He can count objects without assistance to 11 and can rote count to 20 independently. He can keep going with a little prompting. He can also write his first name with me giving verbal directions. He has done great at pre-school and hasn't been in trouble... yet! I'm a bit surprised because he's very full steam ahead at home. Eli needs to work on listening to Mommy and Daddy. He is doing better but he gets in trouble frequently for this one. The other day he said, "I have to obey Mommy." I said, "Yes you do."

Eli,  you crack me up and bring a smile to my face every single day! The cute little things you say and your sweet little personality make me happy and I'm proud to be your Mom. You are so full of energy and keep me on my toes. I never have to worry about being bored when you are around. Mommy, Daddy, Isaac and Olivia love you so very much!


Eli's interview on his 3rd birthday:



1. What is your favorite color? Blue
2. What is your favorite toy? My tractor
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite tv show? Mickey Mouse
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? bologna
6. What is your favorite outfit? My tractor shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Mickey mouse on the iPad
8. What is your favorite snack? bananas
9. What is your favorite animal? Chicken
10. What is your favorite song? Old McDonald had a Farm
11. What is your favorite book? Little Blue Truck
12. Who is your best friend? You (talking about his mama!)
13. What is your favorite cereal? My cereal (which is Honey Nut Cherrios)
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my blue truck and tractor
15. What is your favorite drink? Coke (which he NEVER ever gets so I don't know where that answer came from!)
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My toys and blue blanket
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Milk
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Poles (Napoles- the Mexican restaurant)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? He wouldn't answer this one.. I think he was finished with my 20 questions :)

39 plants and trees!!!

Josh and I got a wild idea to work on our landscaping. We put in quite a few bushes and plants when we moved in last spring/summer but it's still pretty barren and brown. I don't why we thought that it would be a good idea to buy 39 at one time. After 3 strenuous hours with a power auger and back breaking shovel work the first tree (a weeping cherry!!) was in the ground. We worked all day this past weekend and got 17/39 in the ground. I could hardly move the next day. Isaac was a real trooper.. he worked with us all day without too much complaining.  Eli rode around with his sunglasses upside down and my mom played with the baby.

Eli and his little blue truck

Josh and Isaac -Planting the Magnolia

We worked until dark

Trying to figure out the placement of the plants

Isaac's progress

Today was parent teacher conference so Olivia and I went to hear what all Isaac's teachers had to say. The first teacher I came to said, "I'm going to shut the door because most parents don't hear praise." He then told me that Isaac makes his class and that he has a good day when Isaac is there. He said that not only is Isaac intelligent but that he sees the whole picture and helps keep the class running. He felt that Isaac could run a business well. He gave an example that if a kid goes to the bathroom and leaves the door open then Isaac quietly shuts it and keeps working. He told me that Isaac is very mature and acts like a senior in high school. Talk about me feeling proud of my boy! His other two teachers said he was intelligent, considerate and respectful... and I couldn't be prouder. Josh and I both bragged on him this afternoon.

Not only is he a great student but he stands up for what he believes. He wore a shirt to school that said, "Jesus, God, Wrestling. What else is there?" and when approached about it by his peers said "Well these are my beliefs." He has always been a leader and not easily swayed by what others think.

Way to go Isaac Ryan. Keep up the hard work and I can't wait to watch and see what you achieve.

Little-Big hands

In a few days these little hands will never be two again. Diapers are gone, pacifiers are gone. He no longer lets me rock him to bed and is about to outgrow saying "hold you Mommy".  My two year old is almost three and with that comes so much fun. It is bittersweet watching him grow.

We are snuggling in bed as he puts my wedding ring on his finger and back on mine. My mind can't help but think of how big these hands will be someday. He has had huge hands since birth and even now they are bigger than the other kids' hands in in his class. I think of who will be the lucky girl that that my boy puts a wedding ring on. Even though it is hard to think about him growing into a man, I already pray for his future wife.

So Big!

They really love each other

Mornings on Mommy and Daddy's bed

Lil' Miss is 10 months

Olivia Jane is 10 months old. What can Olivia do now?

She is crawling, cruising on furniture and can squat to pick up toys and pop back up again. She will walk steps if you hold her hands. She loves paper and can destroy it very quickly. Everything goes in her mouth. As hard as I work to keep our floors clean she still finds things.. the most common is our rug fuzz. I did pull a bug out of her mouth the other day... Josh didn't think it was but I definitely saw a torso and wings.

She loves to eat table food. She eats spaghetti, chicken, bread, pancakes, green beans.. really anything that I can tear into small pieces. She will eat fruit baby food and the little squeezie pouches as well. She's perfected her pincher grasp but if it's something especially yummy, like Tupulo Honey's biscuits, the girl will double fist. She nurses about 4 x day and usually has 1 bottle of formula. I haven't even felt guilty at all about the bottle of formula. Two scoops, 4 oz of water and ta-da. The ole pump hasn't been used since the newborn days. No stockpile of milk here.

Sleep? YES! My lovely daughter is sleeping around 12 hours at night without waking up. I have no idea what switch flipped.. maybe the good Lord knew I was going to hit my breaking point. She's been in her room for several weeks and has been sleeping great. We didn't do any sleep training.. no cry it out... anything. I. have. no. clue. All I know is that I am thankful because I seriously dreaded going to bed.

Olivia is still wearing her 'hearing computers' during the day. She still wants to pull them out and I put them in LOTS. I can do it blindfolded with one hand. I've tried toupee tape (the store looked at me funny when I bought this), Halo hearing headband, and pilot cap and there is not really a great solution. The toupee tape may work on bald men but it's no match for Olivia. She can still pull those hearing aids right off. The halo headband scratches her neck with the velcro (she was squalling in the car and I didn't realize what was wrong until we stopped and I saw her neck was red)... talk about horrible parent guilt. The pilot cap works okay.. it just makes her head hot. I'm hoping she will just decide to stop messing with them.

We love you sweet girl!

Olivia Jane wearing her Matilda Jane dress

She can crawl up stairs!

Sticker pictures are very hard to do now

Staring out the window

She loves books!

Here is a link to Eli's 10 month post. He was already walking.. that boy has been a fire ball since early on. 

A Day in the life

I haven't done one of these in forever so here goes....

4:45 am- Olivia wakes up. I'm too tired to get her to go back to sleep in her bed so I march her to my room, give her some milk and we snooze.

6:45- Josh is getting ready and we have a call for a 2 hour delay even though there is no snow or ice. Josh goes upstairs to tell Isaac he can go back to bed.

7:05- Eli wakes up.. he's ready to eat. He wakes Olivia up because his quiet voice is at 60 dB. I hold him off a while by letting them play on the bed. I love my morning cuddles.

7:30- Josh leaves for work. I change Olivia and then start making Eli breakfast. He wants to color on his workbook and then eats his cereal and oatmeal. Olivia eats her baby cereal. We add to the the pile of crumbs in the floor. I make a mental note that I HAVE to vacuum the floors today.

Aunt Jane spent the night with us last night and she is starting to stir. She has an appointment with my hair dresser this morning. After she comes downstairs, Eli is ready to play and we make our Keurig coffee. I only get half mine finished because I get distracted. I make another mental note not to leave the coffee sitting there when Josh comes home. He says that stuff is too expensive to waste and I can't argue because he's right.

I dress Olivia and put her hearing aids in. I always do a self check before I put her hearing computers on and sure enough the left one wasn't working. I check the batteries and they were both getting low so I change them out. I make sure the old ones go straight in the trash because they warned us that if swallowed the outcome wouldn't be good. I sing to her the 'morning ear song' and  Eli starts singing with me. It's super cute to hear him sing and I remind my self to video it later.

Hearing aids and pilot cap on. The coffee cup is on the counter.

I decide to take the couch cushions off and vacuum the couch. I have ulterior motives... I'm looking for my MacBook that's been missing since Sunday. I find several socks, a pink hair bow, and trash. Eli likes to help me vacuum. Then we pile the cushions up and climb the 'mountain'. Even Olivia likes climbing pillows. We practice our power word 'up'!

King of the mountain

I get Olivia dressed and forgo Eli... mainly because his clothes are upstairs and I don't feel like heading up there. He's got warm fleecy pj's on anyway. I don my clothing of choice... yoga pants and my ASU sweatshirt, pull my hair in a ponytail and brush my teeth. Eli sees me brushing his teeth and wants to brush and 'flip' (aka..floss) his teeth. I can't argue with good hygiene so we precede with the teeth brushing.

Isaac comes downstairs and he's ready for school. Usually on Wednesdays, Olivia has therapy. However this morning Ms. Kristin called and was sick so we re-scheduled. It worked out for the best because I needed to leave early to take Isaac to school this morning because of the 2 hour delay. I load up the babies and Isaac rides up front. We chat on the way to school and he reminds me that he has Battle of the Books this afternoon at 4. Lovely.. right in the middle of nap time. He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before we get in the car line... he's such a sweetie. Eli and I say a little prayer for him as he enters the scary world of Jr. high.

Since the Princess is not crying (she usually cries when we ride) I head to the bank and then we decide to go see Nana. Audra's boys are coming over so we stay and play with Carter and Camden. Around lunch time we all decide to go grab lunch, so as we get ready to walk out the door, I realize that Eli is still in his pajamas. Mom finds a pair of sweatpants for him to wear instead. He looks like a ragamuffin. Olivia is past ready for her morning nap and falls asleep in the car in point 2 seconds. Lunch is a success.

Nana, Carter, Olivia, and Camden at Nana's house

1:30 pm- Eli loves the grocery store and I need something to cook for supper so we decide to make a quick trip. The grocery store with a 2 year old and baby is never quick. Olivia gets Bjorned and Eli drives the car buggy. I realized today that Eli is actually really good in the grocery store. He just drives the buggy and we chat and talk about what kind of food we are going to get. Strawberries and bananas are staples on his grocery list.  After we get home we put away groceries and play. Aunt Jane is back and her hair looks cute.

Aunt Jane and the new 'do'

I put Eli down for a nap around 3:00 and luckily Aunt Jane said she would pick Isaac up for me. Wheew. I wasn't looking forward to my choices of no nap or waking the kids up early. Aunt Jane and I play with Olivia. Livi starts getting sleepy so I feed her and then put her down. Nap time makes me sleepy. I decide I would rather nap than surf facebook or clean the kitchen.

Isaac is home around 4:20 and works on his homework and then plays Xbox with his buddies. Eli and Olivia wake up around 5:30. Eli had an accident during his nap.  Luckily, I've been putting those Goodnite pads under his sheets so at least I don't have to change the mattress pad. He wants a bath so Olivia and I play in the bathroom and supervise Eli's bath.

Josh gets home early today (around 6:15ish) and everyone is excited. Pawpaw comes over to help Josh work on the play-yard they are building for Eli and Olivia. I start cooking supper. We are having meatloaf, broccoli and mashed potatoes tonight. Isaac helps me peel potatoes and Eli helps with the meatloaf. Eli spills raw meat on the floor. Nice. Olivia is entertained with puffs in her highchair. After dinner I put Olivia to bed and then we go out and watch Josh and Pawpaw build the play-yard. Eli and I climb up on the top, he hands Josh screws and I hold a few boards. Eli says he is ready to come inside and go to bed so I put him to bed. Our routine is bathroom, teeth, 3 books and then he turns his fan off, turns the light off and I cover him up with his 3 blankets. We also say our prayers and then he gets a short 'tickle scratch' on his back. I also realize today that bedtime has become pretty easy. Josh and Pawpaw finish up for the night.

Josh and Pawpaw

My MacBook is still missing and I don't want to type all this on my phone. I bribe Isaac with $10.00 to find it. He looks and finally gives up and heads to bed at 10:00. I bribe Josh with "anything you want". He finds it.  That's all I will say about that subject.

We watch a bit of TV and I read a few blogs. I finally go to sleep at 12:30 am.

Too much love

Eli's poor little plant has bit the dust. He loved planting and watering it; however, he wanted to 'watch it grow' way too much. He even sang it a song from Little Einsteins. Guess it was just too traumatized.

Isaac the fisherman

Isaac, Josh and Papa went fishing this morning. Isaac caught 3 out of 4 of the fish and then gutted and cleaned them. He asked my mom how to cook them ( I guess he knew I had no clue) and then grilled the fish by himself when we got home. He looked a wee bit sad when I said I didn't want to eat any so I did eat bite for him.