Have you been wondering where I've been for the last week? Trapped in my own private toddler-tantrum-hell....that's where. :( Blegh! Yes....my sweet angel of a boy must've decided that he wanted to be Oscar the Grouch for Halloween and thought he'd better act the part too...two weeks early! Since even before I posted my newest montage last week (did you like that, by the way?), Luke has been more than a handful for me. Tantrums, whining, fits, screaming...you name it, he's been doing it. Where did my child go?????? Could someone please return him to me? I miss him.
I don't have time to go into the detail right now (its Halloween after all, and let's be honest...if you've talked to me on the phone this week, you already heard my plight!), but lets just say that his behavior lately has been enough to cause me to seriously question my parenting skills. Its crazy how such a young child can make you feel like such a failure! I've shed more than a few tears this week and had several 'breakdown' moments with Ty after the screaming has ceased from atop the stairwell each night at bedtime. :( So.....with all that happening 'round here, I haven't had either the time, nor the energy to sit and blog. His mood seems to have been better the last two days, after Ty and I decided on an improved, super-consistent, no-nonsense discipline plan. Not that we haven't been consistent in disciplining him, but sometimes there would be different consequences for the same offense (i.e. sometimes he would get a time-out for hitting or kicking, while other times, if the same offense was serious enough, he might get a swat on the hand or bum). Now however, the consequence will be the same each time...no matter what. And I'm throwing out my futile attempts to reason with him. I was doing much too much of that; thinking that because he is so bright, he was capable of being reasoned with. The truth of the matter is though, that he is still only 2 and a half. Reasoning typically doesn't work. Don't know why I thought it would. I, of all people, should know that.
So......all that to say I'm sorry to have gone MIA for over a week. I'm sure I'll have some cute Halloween pictures to share in the coming days, so be on a look out for those. As for now, I am off to dress my little Lukey Long Legs in his spider costume and head out the door to Grandma's work, then Meemaw's house and then to our friend Tami's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. Phew! Its a busy afternoon for us! Hope you all have a safe Halloween! I'll be looking for pictures from the rest of you too.....you know who you are! :)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
In my arms...
Some time ago, I heard this song on the radio and I immediately claimed it as my own....for my kids. Each time I heard it, it made me want to hold them closer...tighter...longer. So I thought that I would share it with you, along with some recent pictures...my favorite being from Ellie's two month birthday. Enjoy!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Dustbowls and firestorms....
Sheeh! What a weekend! For those of you who don't live here, we've been having some major Santa Ana winds and very, very low humidity. When we left Sunday morning for our little night away in San Diego, the visibility on the freeway by our house was a mere 100 yards or less with all the blowing dirt. It was insane....(Kelli...almost like those crazy dust storms in AZ!) The winds howled at our place all day and night Sunday I guess. Gloria was here taking care of Luke and she said at some points, she thought the windows would blow out! The winds made our would-be relaxing mini-getaway not so much fun too. :( Two fires had sparked up around the San Diego area while we were on our way down there yesterday, and by the time the wedding began at 4:45pm, even La Jolla was socked in with smoke and ash. The wedding was outdoors, as was the cocktail part of the reception, so we all smelled like we'd been at a bonfire more than a wedding by the time the night was through. The wedding was still beautiful, and our friends still had a wonderful celebration, which in the end, I guess is all that matters! Ellie was a complete angel and hardly made a peep the entire night! She got passed around to all of our friends for the first part of the night and then I wore her in my wrap for dinner and dessert. She is such a good baby! We are so blessed! But I worried for her little lungs breathing all that smokey air all night and her cute little cream outfit now is covered in little black specks of ash. :( The hotel we were staying at was a historic one and while very nice, it was so old that the windows didn't seal shut well at all. We got to enjoy that smoke ALL night long! :( Blegh! We also got to enjoy the loud music and sounds of the street below most of the early morning too. :( We got to bed late and slept fitfully (Ellie did pretty well sleeping....but Ty and I didn't) We awoke this morning to find that the two fires we went to sleep last night with had somehow grown to SIX and nearly all of San Diego county was in one way or another, affected by fire! When we learned that part of the I-15 was closed, we decided we had better leave earlier than we had originally planned, so as to leave ourselves extra time for a detour. Little did we know when we left at 10:30 this morning that our normally hour and 45 minute drive would take us a whopping FOUR AND A HALF hours! With the I-15 closed in one section, we took a detour through the canyon, which was supposed to let us out back on the 15 just above the closure. As luck would have it, minutes before we made it out of the canyon and onto the freeway, another fire had crossed over the freeway further north and closed THAT section of the 15 as well. We had to turn around and backtrack all the back to Oceanside, and then head north along the coast, until we could head inland for home! We stopped once so that I could feed Ellie, but the rest of the day was a crazy blur of heavy smoke, heavy traffic and too many hours behind the wheel. And once we finally made it home, we had a little boy who was not too happy with his mommy and daddy for leaving him overnight! :( He was quite angry with us for the first hour or so that we were home....he wouldn't even let us hug him at first. :( Poor baby! I feel horrible that he was so sad! According to Gloria though, he did great with her...it was just us he was being stinky with. Guess that's how it goes, eh? Boy am I glad today is over!
Needless to say, as I type this, I am feeling just a bit disillusioned and grumpy about what I had hoped to be a relaxing mini-getaway. It turned out to be more of a nightmare than anything. :( But at-least we're not dealing with all that the people of SD are...over a quarter of a million people there have been evacuated from there homes! It was insane down there......it literally looked like Dante's Inferno! Please keep those people in your prayers, as well as all the others around Southern California who are in harms way tonight with the many other fires that burn around us. Today has been eerily reminiscent of the those horrible 2003 fires. I just hope it doesn't get that bad out here again!
Well...my eyes are heavy as I type, so I think I'll sign off to what I hope will be a much better night's sleep.
Needless to say, as I type this, I am feeling just a bit disillusioned and grumpy about what I had hoped to be a relaxing mini-getaway. It turned out to be more of a nightmare than anything. :( But at-least we're not dealing with all that the people of SD are...over a quarter of a million people there have been evacuated from there homes! It was insane down there......it literally looked like Dante's Inferno! Please keep those people in your prayers, as well as all the others around Southern California who are in harms way tonight with the many other fires that burn around us. Today has been eerily reminiscent of the those horrible 2003 fires. I just hope it doesn't get that bad out here again!
Well...my eyes are heavy as I type, so I think I'll sign off to what I hope will be a much better night's sleep.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday
Our Wednesdays are always long days, since Ty doesn't get home from work until late, and we chose to stay home most of the day (after a brief outing to My Gym). So.....to bring a little excitement to a normally ho-hum kind of afternoon (and blog), I decided to log our time in pictures for you. So here it goes....
When Luke woke up, we decided Ellie needed some tummy time (even though she wasn't to keen on that idea). This is our picture from the day before, but it was still part of our day on Wed. too! :)
After a short tummy session, it was time for a fall craft. I had some real fall colored leaves in a box of fall decorations, so we chose a few to make a tree collage with. Luke's favorite part was the glue, of-course.
And while he glued away, Ellie did this...(taking this picture at that angle was quite a feat, I might add!)
And Tess did this:
Isn't she so pathetic looking! Poor pup.
When Luke finished his little tree, I had to coerce him into posing with it for me...
...and then we headed to the playroom to kill some more time before dinner. Ellie was happier to be on her tummy this time around...
and even gave me a few funny faces...
Then she explored Squirt from Finding Nemo. She was SO interested in his big eyes.....she just stared and stared, throwing in an occasional smile for good measure!
With my camera pointed at Ellie, Luke decided he needed some attention too, so he brought me his pinwheel.
And finally, when Ellie was almost tuckered out, I caught this cute shot of her and Luke....
Don't you just love how Luke is laying there with his sis? Almost as if he's offering her moral support. Cute, cute. It was time to make dinner after that, so I put Ellie-Belle in her swing, threw on a video for Luke and headed into the kitchen for a bit. And when Ty got home at 6:45, dinner was on the table, ready for him. Am I a nice wifey, or what?! :) LOL!
And that, my friends, was our Wednesday. Today is another day at home. We took a LONG walk (over an hour) to another neighborhood this morning to feed the ducks, although they wanted nothing to do with the bread we brought them. :( And after our walk, I made several attempts to get some 2-month pictures of Ellie. For the first time ever, she was in a real funk and cried nearly the whole time. :( Bummer. I had to stop several times to calm her down, but eventaully I snagged some good shots of her. I'll share those in a day or two! They are SUPER cute, so stayed tuned. :) The rest of the afternoon will most likely be spent cleaning house and doing chores. Fun, fun. But....there is lots to look forward to in our weekend, so I can't complain too much! :) I'm off for now to tackle that to-do list! Ta-ta! :)
When Luke woke up, we decided Ellie needed some tummy time (even though she wasn't to keen on that idea). This is our picture from the day before, but it was still part of our day on Wed. too! :)
After a short tummy session, it was time for a fall craft. I had some real fall colored leaves in a box of fall decorations, so we chose a few to make a tree collage with. Luke's favorite part was the glue, of-course.
And while he glued away, Ellie did this...(taking this picture at that angle was quite a feat, I might add!)
And Tess did this:
Isn't she so pathetic looking! Poor pup.
When Luke finished his little tree, I had to coerce him into posing with it for me...
...and then we headed to the playroom to kill some more time before dinner. Ellie was happier to be on her tummy this time around...
and even gave me a few funny faces...
Then she explored Squirt from Finding Nemo. She was SO interested in his big eyes.....she just stared and stared, throwing in an occasional smile for good measure!
With my camera pointed at Ellie, Luke decided he needed some attention too, so he brought me his pinwheel.
And finally, when Ellie was almost tuckered out, I caught this cute shot of her and Luke....
Don't you just love how Luke is laying there with his sis? Almost as if he's offering her moral support. Cute, cute. It was time to make dinner after that, so I put Ellie-Belle in her swing, threw on a video for Luke and headed into the kitchen for a bit. And when Ty got home at 6:45, dinner was on the table, ready for him. Am I a nice wifey, or what?! :) LOL!
And that, my friends, was our Wednesday. Today is another day at home. We took a LONG walk (over an hour) to another neighborhood this morning to feed the ducks, although they wanted nothing to do with the bread we brought them. :( And after our walk, I made several attempts to get some 2-month pictures of Ellie. For the first time ever, she was in a real funk and cried nearly the whole time. :( Bummer. I had to stop several times to calm her down, but eventaully I snagged some good shots of her. I'll share those in a day or two! They are SUPER cute, so stayed tuned. :) The rest of the afternoon will most likely be spent cleaning house and doing chores. Fun, fun. But....there is lots to look forward to in our weekend, so I can't complain too much! :) I'm off for now to tackle that to-do list! Ta-ta! :)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Eight???
Maybe the number of the day today is EIGHT, because that's how many hours Ellie slept last night! :) Technically, according to Babywise, eight hours is considered sleeping through the night! Now, I'm not going to move ahead and say she is officially sleeping through the night just yet....I need to see a few more repeats of last night first, but I think we're close! She wasn't in her bed all those eight hours either, so that's another thing that keeps me from being too excited (although I am pretty darn happy!). She had fallen asleep in her swing after I fed her at 6:15 and she snoozed through our dinner and Luke's bath. She never really woke again. I tried to feed her before officially putting her to bed around 8:15, but she was too drowsy to take more than a sip or two. So off to bed it was, and I didn't hear from her again until 3am. Ironically, I woke up around 1:40, knowing that I hadn't heard from her in awhile and went to check on her...just to be sure she was still breathing.....she did have all those shots yesterday ya know, and was out of sort all day yesterday, so I was a little worried. She was fine...sleeping like a log. When she stirred at 3, she ate just on one side and then it was off to sleep again and then her wake time wasn't until 6:50 this morning. Amazing. I actually got a FULL night's sleep last night and feel so well rested this morning. Loving that!! Ty had to be up at his normal Wednesday time of 3:45 (isn't that horrible!!!) , so we were in bed by 9:15....meaning that I was technically in bed (and asleep most of that time) for almost 10 hours! How awesome is that! I certainly needed the sleep...I think I've been trying to fight off a tiny cold. But this morning, I am refreshed and energized.....and hopeful of another good night of sleep tonight! :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The number of the day....
....today is TWO.
Its been two months already since my sweet Ellie came into this world. I can't believe that its already been that long! I know I say it over and over, but the time is passing us by much too quickly. I love to just sit and stare at her (when there isn't a two-year-old at my feet asking for a new activity every two minutes!) and it seems that every time I look down, she is bigger, smiling more and way cuter! :) She's starting to bat at objects when they are near to her face and she's begun to coo, if even just a little. She is still such a quiet, mellow child. I hardly hear a peep out of her unless she is hungry or really cold. And even then, her cries are momentary. She is just as sweet as sweet can be! I have fallen head over heals in love with her!! I would move Heaven and earth for this child!
Isn't she just the cutest thing?!? That picture was taken just before we went to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday....more on that in just a minute.
Being that it is her two-month birthday, Ellie had her well-baby checkup today. She weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz. (she was 9lbs even last month!) and she gained another inch and a half in length, putting her at 22 3/4 inches long. All her measurements placed her in the 50th percentile....average, average, average! Love that! :) The rest of the visit went well, aside from the poor thing having to get a couple of pokes. She wasn't too happy about that, but who would be. Luke even got a poke too....his flu shot to protect his little sister from that nasty bug. I prepared him before we left the house this morning, and he braved the poke like a champ! While we were sitting in the room waiting for the nurse to come in, he kept telling me, "Mommy, I don't want to have a pote." But despite feeling nervous about it, he did his job of holding still, and got a sucker afterwards for doing such an awesome job! What a big boy! He got teary-eyed right afterwards and clung to me for a bit, but soon it was as if it had never happened. I'll tell ya....he's a brave boy!
In keeping with my number of the day theme....its been two days since we visited the Pumpkin Patch. We headed out mid-morning on Sunday, hoping that maybe we'd beat some of the crowds. Boy, were we wrong! The place was packed! And pretty warm for our long-sleeved and jean clad bodies! (It was cold and foggy when we all got dressed that morning.) But we still had fun! The kids loved to take turns riding and pushing the little wagon while we hunted our pumpkins, and I had fun snapping photos of them all! After we made our way through the pumpkin patch, the kids got to enjoy some rides and the petting zoo before heading home. Luke got a kick out of the goats in the petting zoo when they tried to take a nibble out of his shirt. He thought that was super silly! And he LOVED the quad ride he got to take with Daddy. Even Ty said it was a lot of fun...lots of 'whoops' as Taryn calls them. But Luke said his favorite part was riding Cinnamon, the brown horse on the pony ride. For a kid who was so afraid of the ponies the first time we tried to get him to ride them, he sure has taken a liking to them now! It was all he would talk about afterwards. "Mommy, I rode on the pony....we went round and round and round." (imagine him saying this with a look of sheer joy on his face while making circles with his arms in the air. Cute kiddo!) Here is a quick montage I put together....there were just too many pictures to share them individually.
Let's see...what else can I make fit into my theme today????? Hmmm. Yesterday I got to enjoy two hours of mommy-free-time! My aunt and uncle were here visiting and my aunt Nancy graciously offered to watch both kids while I shopped Ross for an outfit to wear to our friend's wedding this weekend. I pumped a bottle for Ellie just in case, and apparently they both did great. It was nice to get away for a bit, although I still found myself worrying about the time and hoping that all was okay with them. Mommy-brain. Sometimes we long to get away and then when we do, we spend our time thinking of our kids! :) My Ross trip was pretty unsuccessful for me (although I found Luke a new pair of shoes and a new blanket for his bed!), so when Ty got home from work, we decided to divide and conquer. I took Ellie with me to Kohl's and Luke got to stay with Daddy and help in the yard. Ellie is MUCH easier to shop with than Luke ever was. She just sat in her seat and smiled at me as I roamed the isle of Kohl's. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally found a nice pair of black slacks and a cute-ish top for the wedding. Nothing I'm too thrilled about, since I still look like a pumpkin myself, but oh well. It'll get me by for one night. The best part.....it was a two-fer deal! Buy one, get one free! :) We actually have two fun things coming up over the weekend. On Friday night, Ty and I will get to enjoy our first solo outing/date since Ellie was born. A friend of his from work is throwing a 40th birthday bash and we were invited. My mom will watch the kids (or at-least put them both to bed and be here until we get home...thanks mom!) and we'll hopefully get to indulge in some adult-only time! :) Looking forward to that! And on Sunday, we'll head down to San Diego for the wedding. Ty's good friend Jeremy from high school is getting married. The wedding is at sunset, at a park near the beach in La Jolla with a reception to follow at the hotel where we'll be staying the night. Its bound to be a little chilly...hence the choice of pants instead of a cute dress. Ellie will be coming with us and Luke will get to have a sleep-over with Meemaw here at home. It will be so nice just to have a change of scenery for a night! I'm looking forward to that! Even with Ellie coming along, I know it will be refreshing....she's so mellow anyway and is only waking once in the night these days. Not to shabby! We'll get to see some good friends and they'll get to meet Ellie too. It will be fun, I'm sure.
So I think that's about it for today. Really quickly though, I wanted to thank you guys who left me a comment on the last post....Kelli, Jenny and Roni. You had impeccable timing...I was starting to wonder if anyone was really out there reading...the comment page has been unusually quiet these days. Thanks for letting me know you're there! :)
Okay....Just one more picture to share before I go finish cleaning house....one of my hubby loving on Ellie. I just love watching him with her...or either of them for that matter. Makes my heart swell! :)
Its been two months already since my sweet Ellie came into this world. I can't believe that its already been that long! I know I say it over and over, but the time is passing us by much too quickly. I love to just sit and stare at her (when there isn't a two-year-old at my feet asking for a new activity every two minutes!) and it seems that every time I look down, she is bigger, smiling more and way cuter! :) She's starting to bat at objects when they are near to her face and she's begun to coo, if even just a little. She is still such a quiet, mellow child. I hardly hear a peep out of her unless she is hungry or really cold. And even then, her cries are momentary. She is just as sweet as sweet can be! I have fallen head over heals in love with her!! I would move Heaven and earth for this child!
Isn't she just the cutest thing?!? That picture was taken just before we went to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday....more on that in just a minute.
Being that it is her two-month birthday, Ellie had her well-baby checkup today. She weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz. (she was 9lbs even last month!) and she gained another inch and a half in length, putting her at 22 3/4 inches long. All her measurements placed her in the 50th percentile....average, average, average! Love that! :) The rest of the visit went well, aside from the poor thing having to get a couple of pokes. She wasn't too happy about that, but who would be. Luke even got a poke too....his flu shot to protect his little sister from that nasty bug. I prepared him before we left the house this morning, and he braved the poke like a champ! While we were sitting in the room waiting for the nurse to come in, he kept telling me, "Mommy, I don't want to have a pote." But despite feeling nervous about it, he did his job of holding still, and got a sucker afterwards for doing such an awesome job! What a big boy! He got teary-eyed right afterwards and clung to me for a bit, but soon it was as if it had never happened. I'll tell ya....he's a brave boy!
In keeping with my number of the day theme....its been two days since we visited the Pumpkin Patch. We headed out mid-morning on Sunday, hoping that maybe we'd beat some of the crowds. Boy, were we wrong! The place was packed! And pretty warm for our long-sleeved and jean clad bodies! (It was cold and foggy when we all got dressed that morning.) But we still had fun! The kids loved to take turns riding and pushing the little wagon while we hunted our pumpkins, and I had fun snapping photos of them all! After we made our way through the pumpkin patch, the kids got to enjoy some rides and the petting zoo before heading home. Luke got a kick out of the goats in the petting zoo when they tried to take a nibble out of his shirt. He thought that was super silly! And he LOVED the quad ride he got to take with Daddy. Even Ty said it was a lot of fun...lots of 'whoops' as Taryn calls them. But Luke said his favorite part was riding Cinnamon, the brown horse on the pony ride. For a kid who was so afraid of the ponies the first time we tried to get him to ride them, he sure has taken a liking to them now! It was all he would talk about afterwards. "Mommy, I rode on the pony....we went round and round and round." (imagine him saying this with a look of sheer joy on his face while making circles with his arms in the air. Cute kiddo!) Here is a quick montage I put together....there were just too many pictures to share them individually.
Let's see...what else can I make fit into my theme today????? Hmmm. Yesterday I got to enjoy two hours of mommy-free-time! My aunt and uncle were here visiting and my aunt Nancy graciously offered to watch both kids while I shopped Ross for an outfit to wear to our friend's wedding this weekend. I pumped a bottle for Ellie just in case, and apparently they both did great. It was nice to get away for a bit, although I still found myself worrying about the time and hoping that all was okay with them. Mommy-brain. Sometimes we long to get away and then when we do, we spend our time thinking of our kids! :) My Ross trip was pretty unsuccessful for me (although I found Luke a new pair of shoes and a new blanket for his bed!), so when Ty got home from work, we decided to divide and conquer. I took Ellie with me to Kohl's and Luke got to stay with Daddy and help in the yard. Ellie is MUCH easier to shop with than Luke ever was. She just sat in her seat and smiled at me as I roamed the isle of Kohl's. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally found a nice pair of black slacks and a cute-ish top for the wedding. Nothing I'm too thrilled about, since I still look like a pumpkin myself, but oh well. It'll get me by for one night. The best part.....it was a two-fer deal! Buy one, get one free! :) We actually have two fun things coming up over the weekend. On Friday night, Ty and I will get to enjoy our first solo outing/date since Ellie was born. A friend of his from work is throwing a 40th birthday bash and we were invited. My mom will watch the kids (or at-least put them both to bed and be here until we get home...thanks mom!) and we'll hopefully get to indulge in some adult-only time! :) Looking forward to that! And on Sunday, we'll head down to San Diego for the wedding. Ty's good friend Jeremy from high school is getting married. The wedding is at sunset, at a park near the beach in La Jolla with a reception to follow at the hotel where we'll be staying the night. Its bound to be a little chilly...hence the choice of pants instead of a cute dress. Ellie will be coming with us and Luke will get to have a sleep-over with Meemaw here at home. It will be so nice just to have a change of scenery for a night! I'm looking forward to that! Even with Ellie coming along, I know it will be refreshing....she's so mellow anyway and is only waking once in the night these days. Not to shabby! We'll get to see some good friends and they'll get to meet Ellie too. It will be fun, I'm sure.
So I think that's about it for today. Really quickly though, I wanted to thank you guys who left me a comment on the last post....Kelli, Jenny and Roni. You had impeccable timing...I was starting to wonder if anyone was really out there reading...the comment page has been unusually quiet these days. Thanks for letting me know you're there! :)
Okay....Just one more picture to share before I go finish cleaning house....one of my hubby loving on Ellie. I just love watching him with her...or either of them for that matter. Makes my heart swell! :)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Sleepy head....
Its 9pm on Saturday night...I'm flying solo tonight (Ty is out hunting with his brother....he just called...they actually caught (aka killed) that pig they've been after tonight....more on that later.) I am exhausted from a crazy week AND having to wrestle two to bed tonight, so this will be a short post. In fact, I think all I'm going to do is share a quick video we took of Luke
singing for us at the dinner table on Wednesday night. He was in a silly mood and was actually willing to let me video his rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song....something he's always been too shy to allow me to do in the past. He's actually being a quite a goofball...
singing for us at the dinner table on Wednesday night. He was in a silly mood and was actually willing to let me video his rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song....something he's always been too shy to allow me to do in the past. He's actually being a quite a goofball...
OneTrueMedia is being weird on me....for some reason its showing that first picture as one of Luke and Ellie taking their first bath together, and then in jumps to the singing video. Weird. And kinda annoying. Oh well....
Here is a little snapshot of Ellie just after her bath that same day.....I think she looks adorable, so I had to share it....
That's gonna be it for me tonight. Too sleepy to do much more. Tomorrow is Pumpkin Patch Day for our little family (my sister, neices and our neighbors will be joining us) so hopefully I'll have some cute pictures to share in the next few days. Nighty-night, my friends. Hopefully there is some good sleep ahead of me! :)
Monday, October 8, 2007
Mama will kiss it all better....
We were sitting at the dinner table last night and Ty was talking to Luke about his hands being sore from doing this all weekend....
...and Luke looked at Ty with all seriousness (and cuteness, I might add) and responded, "It's otay, Daddy. Mama will kiss it all better." Ahhhhh...my heart swelled. What a sweet, and oh-so-cute thing to say! I guess my kisses ARE magic to him...they really DO make things 'all better'. Isn't is great to me a mom?!!
Yes....most of our weekend was spent working out in the yard, seemingly destroying all the grading work we did two weeks ago. Ty rented a trencher on Saturday and dug out all the trenches for the sprinkler lines. It was tough work and he was mighty sore from it! Luke LOVED being outside, watching Daddy. He even sported his very own earplugs and crooked hat :) while he dug alongside his hero. He was in awe of his daddy!
On Sunday, my friend Tami came over so that I could photograph her youngest, who is turning two, so I was in camera mode. I caught another couple of cute shots of Luke being silly at lunch...
and then when I looked back at them, I saw that one shot in particular shared quite a bit of resemblance with another picture I took of him almost exactly two years ago. Wanna see? (the collage itself is pretty lame, but I was in a hurry!) :)
And of-course, my blog wouldn't be complete without a few pics of Miss Ellie being her sweet, adorable self!
She grows cuter by the day, I think! Speaking of Ellie, I hear her beginning to fuss through the monitor, so I best be going. Guess naptime is over. :( At-least I got a quick post in! :)
...and Luke looked at Ty with all seriousness (and cuteness, I might add) and responded, "It's otay, Daddy. Mama will kiss it all better." Ahhhhh...my heart swelled. What a sweet, and oh-so-cute thing to say! I guess my kisses ARE magic to him...they really DO make things 'all better'. Isn't is great to me a mom?!!
Yes....most of our weekend was spent working out in the yard, seemingly destroying all the grading work we did two weeks ago. Ty rented a trencher on Saturday and dug out all the trenches for the sprinkler lines. It was tough work and he was mighty sore from it! Luke LOVED being outside, watching Daddy. He even sported his very own earplugs and crooked hat :) while he dug alongside his hero. He was in awe of his daddy!
On Sunday, my friend Tami came over so that I could photograph her youngest, who is turning two, so I was in camera mode. I caught another couple of cute shots of Luke being silly at lunch...
and then when I looked back at them, I saw that one shot in particular shared quite a bit of resemblance with another picture I took of him almost exactly two years ago. Wanna see? (the collage itself is pretty lame, but I was in a hurry!) :)
And of-course, my blog wouldn't be complete without a few pics of Miss Ellie being her sweet, adorable self!
She grows cuter by the day, I think! Speaking of Ellie, I hear her beginning to fuss through the monitor, so I best be going. Guess naptime is over. :( At-least I got a quick post in! :)
Friday, October 5, 2007
Middle of the night epiphany...
So there I was...2am feeding Ellie and I had this thought....
You know you're a mom to a toddler when you are humming The Wiggles to yourself as you nurse your youngest in the middle of the night! Ha! It could be the Wiggles, the Doddlebops or Sesame Street, but for the last week, I've had SOME kind of silly song rolling through my head at 2am when I'm feeding Ellie! Man! Why is it always the worst songs that get 'stuck'?????
Annnyway..........
We DID end up heading out of the house yesterday afternoon for a trip to Joanns with my neighbor Tabitha. It was nice to get out for a bit. She even treated us to Gourmet Pizza for dinner! How nice was that?! She's new to the area, so I was showing her around and we ended up on State Street at dinnertime. Yummy! Too bad Luke wasn't in the mood for eating and being well-behaved! He literally had 2 bites of food and then decided it would be fun to drive mama crazy the rest of the meal by being stinky. It made for a not-so-relaxing meal. He was certainly in a mood yesterday! Even once we got home, he threw the tantrum to end all tantrums when I was trying to get him bathed and in bed. I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors heard his screaming.....even with the windows closed!! Yikes! And sweet, little Ellie just sat there in her seat, quiet as a mouse through it all....probably wondering what the heck all the comotion was about. But it didn't seem to phase her at all! Needless to say, it was a LONG day for me. I sat down for the first time just moments before Ty walked in the door at 8:50pm!! Phew! I was glad when my head hit the pillow not long after that! And I'm glad that Ty's week of hell at work is over. His boss is out of the country, so he's been doing her hours AND his own all week. A LONG week for him! Poor guy! He's exhausted! Me too, from trying to keep the stress level low here at home for when he gets here in the evenings. TGIF!!
Well...that's it for me this morning. Have to get ready for the day. We're meeting Krystal, the twins and another mommy friend of ours at the park for some playtime. Hopefully we won't get rained out! Its lookin' a little questionable outside. Oh....by the way...did you happen to notice my new color scheme?? (How could you not, right?!!) I was in the mood for some fall colors. :) The pumpkin orange background really 'grabs' you, eh?? heheh.....it IS a little bright. Oh well.
Ta-ta for now.
You know you're a mom to a toddler when you are humming The Wiggles to yourself as you nurse your youngest in the middle of the night! Ha! It could be the Wiggles, the Doddlebops or Sesame Street, but for the last week, I've had SOME kind of silly song rolling through my head at 2am when I'm feeding Ellie! Man! Why is it always the worst songs that get 'stuck'?????
Annnyway..........
We DID end up heading out of the house yesterday afternoon for a trip to Joanns with my neighbor Tabitha. It was nice to get out for a bit. She even treated us to Gourmet Pizza for dinner! How nice was that?! She's new to the area, so I was showing her around and we ended up on State Street at dinnertime. Yummy! Too bad Luke wasn't in the mood for eating and being well-behaved! He literally had 2 bites of food and then decided it would be fun to drive mama crazy the rest of the meal by being stinky. It made for a not-so-relaxing meal. He was certainly in a mood yesterday! Even once we got home, he threw the tantrum to end all tantrums when I was trying to get him bathed and in bed. I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors heard his screaming.....even with the windows closed!! Yikes! And sweet, little Ellie just sat there in her seat, quiet as a mouse through it all....probably wondering what the heck all the comotion was about. But it didn't seem to phase her at all! Needless to say, it was a LONG day for me. I sat down for the first time just moments before Ty walked in the door at 8:50pm!! Phew! I was glad when my head hit the pillow not long after that! And I'm glad that Ty's week of hell at work is over. His boss is out of the country, so he's been doing her hours AND his own all week. A LONG week for him! Poor guy! He's exhausted! Me too, from trying to keep the stress level low here at home for when he gets here in the evenings. TGIF!!
Well...that's it for me this morning. Have to get ready for the day. We're meeting Krystal, the twins and another mommy friend of ours at the park for some playtime. Hopefully we won't get rained out! Its lookin' a little questionable outside. Oh....by the way...did you happen to notice my new color scheme?? (How could you not, right?!!) I was in the mood for some fall colors. :) The pumpkin orange background really 'grabs' you, eh?? heheh.....it IS a little bright. Oh well.
Ta-ta for now.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Must be cozy....
...the new rug in our entry way, I mean. Because this is how I found Luke just a few minutes after I put him in a time-out just before lunch...
And he wasn't there that long, either. I put him in timeout for throwing (roughly pushing is probably more accurate) his book at Baby Ellie, which actually hit her on the head while I was nursing her and left a big red mark! She actually cried from it. :( I'm pretty sure the offense was more of an accident than intentional, but when I asked him to say he was sorry for hurting her ("I know that you probably didn't mean to hurt Ellie..it was an accident, right? But you still need to say you are sorry for scratching her." ) Even after giving him several chances to apologize and helping him with the words to say, he refused and just stared blankly at me. Grrr. So a time-out was in order. I placed him in the time out spot, set Tick-Toc Bear (its actually a stuffed puppy with an egg timer built in it that Meemaw gave us) for 2 minutes and went to finish nursing Ellie on the couch. Once the timer beeped, he refused to come to me, but instead stayed in his spot. What a grumpy bumkin he was being! When I was finished milkin' probably no more than 5 minutes later, I found him fast asleep. Guess he was tired! Sheesh! I just had to laugh and snap a picture of him.
I whipped up some PB&J sandwiches while he took his quick catnap there on the rug and woke him to eat lunch. He was surprisingly much more cheerful after his little siesta. He scarfed down his lunch and is now tucked in for a nice, hopefully LONG nap! :) So's Ellie. But before I laid her down, I couldn't resist taking a couple quick shots of her cuteness.
Sometimes when she smiles, she looks like a Cabbage Patch kid, with her cheeks all squished together at her mouth. I just LOVE it!
I realized last night as I sat browsing through old baby albums of Luke, that I am taking WAY less pictures of Ellie than I did of Luke. Why does that always seem to happen with second and subsequent children??? Everyone always says that happens, and its seems to be coming true for me lately. It must just be that I'm more busy and don't have as much time to just sit and snap photos like I used to. That, and the fact that Luke would be all over my lap and in my face if he saw the camera out, pointed at his sister. So today, I decided that I need to take more pictures of the everyday stuff....just to have 'em. I'm so thankful that I took so many pictures of Luke when he was little. You don't realize just how quickly the days pass and how fast they grow until you look back at old photos. It made me sad. I miss his little-ness. :( But at-least I can remember through the eye of my camera. I gotta be sure to take more pics!! Here's the last one I took for the day...at-least so far.
After naps today, I think we'll head out to Joann's (the craft store) to look for a wreath hanger for the front door and maybe treat ourselves to a little frozen yogurt from my favorite yogurt shop. Ty won't be home until 9pm or so (its Bible study night for him) so I'm on my own for dinner, bath and bedtime. Days like this make for LONG afternoons if I don't get out and about. A little errand is most certainly a must. For now, I'm off to finish up some laundry....it likes to multiply like bunnies if I let it sit too long! :)
And he wasn't there that long, either. I put him in timeout for throwing (roughly pushing is probably more accurate) his book at Baby Ellie, which actually hit her on the head while I was nursing her and left a big red mark! She actually cried from it. :( I'm pretty sure the offense was more of an accident than intentional, but when I asked him to say he was sorry for hurting her ("I know that you probably didn't mean to hurt Ellie..it was an accident, right? But you still need to say you are sorry for scratching her." ) Even after giving him several chances to apologize and helping him with the words to say, he refused and just stared blankly at me. Grrr. So a time-out was in order. I placed him in the time out spot, set Tick-Toc Bear (its actually a stuffed puppy with an egg timer built in it that Meemaw gave us) for 2 minutes and went to finish nursing Ellie on the couch. Once the timer beeped, he refused to come to me, but instead stayed in his spot. What a grumpy bumkin he was being! When I was finished milkin' probably no more than 5 minutes later, I found him fast asleep. Guess he was tired! Sheesh! I just had to laugh and snap a picture of him.
I whipped up some PB&J sandwiches while he took his quick catnap there on the rug and woke him to eat lunch. He was surprisingly much more cheerful after his little siesta. He scarfed down his lunch and is now tucked in for a nice, hopefully LONG nap! :) So's Ellie. But before I laid her down, I couldn't resist taking a couple quick shots of her cuteness.
Sometimes when she smiles, she looks like a Cabbage Patch kid, with her cheeks all squished together at her mouth. I just LOVE it!
I realized last night as I sat browsing through old baby albums of Luke, that I am taking WAY less pictures of Ellie than I did of Luke. Why does that always seem to happen with second and subsequent children??? Everyone always says that happens, and its seems to be coming true for me lately. It must just be that I'm more busy and don't have as much time to just sit and snap photos like I used to. That, and the fact that Luke would be all over my lap and in my face if he saw the camera out, pointed at his sister. So today, I decided that I need to take more pictures of the everyday stuff....just to have 'em. I'm so thankful that I took so many pictures of Luke when he was little. You don't realize just how quickly the days pass and how fast they grow until you look back at old photos. It made me sad. I miss his little-ness. :( But at-least I can remember through the eye of my camera. I gotta be sure to take more pics!! Here's the last one I took for the day...at-least so far.
After naps today, I think we'll head out to Joann's (the craft store) to look for a wreath hanger for the front door and maybe treat ourselves to a little frozen yogurt from my favorite yogurt shop. Ty won't be home until 9pm or so (its Bible study night for him) so I'm on my own for dinner, bath and bedtime. Days like this make for LONG afternoons if I don't get out and about. A little errand is most certainly a must. For now, I'm off to finish up some laundry....it likes to multiply like bunnies if I let it sit too long! :)
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rise-n-shine...
Wake up time for me was a bit earlier than normal this morning....5:15. :( Oh well. Ellie has taken a liking to that particular time of the morning and its now a typical fussy/"I want to eat" time for her. Usually, I'm able to pacify her hunger with the mobile or the binkie for awhile to try to stretch her to our normal wake time of 6:15/6:30, but not today. She was a hungry pumpkin. So I opted to feed her and attempted to lay back down with her, but there was no going back to sleep for me. Too much running through my 'mommy brain'. So here I am at the computer instead...with her fed and swaddled in her swing and Luke (hopefully) snoozing awhile longer.
Actually, sleeping for Ellie has been going quite swimmingly lately! In fact, on Sunday night I was only up with her once at 2:15!!! I put her down at 8, she was up for a feeding at 2 and then down for the rest of the night until our normal wake time of 6:15! Not too shabby, eh?! I was quite pleased with her! It seems that our routine and my efforts to organize her sleep patterns is paying off finally! SUCH a good feeling! She hasn't quite repeated the feat yet this week, but now that I know she is capable of it, I'm sure that more of the same isn't far off! I foresee more than 3 or 4 consecutive hours of sleep in my near future! Hallelujah! :)
No...seriously....it hasn't been all that bad, actually. (Except for the nightmarish week of her growth spurt a short time ago...that WAS bad!) Everything about this second child has been so much easier than it was with Luke. Must just be that I know what to expect and I've been through it before. I'm so thankful that its easier. And I'm so, so, so thankful that she is SUCH a good baby!! Boy! Did I luck out on that one! At-least so far! She still hardly cries, unless she's starving or really uncomfortable, and even then, its usually just momentary. She's just an easy baby. Thank you, Lord for blessing me with an easy baby!!!
Now that she is 6 1/2 weeks old, we decided to introduce her to the bottle over the weekend. Pumped breast milk, of-course.
Now I'll at-least have the option to be away from her for more than 2 hours at a time, if the opportunity presents itself. She did fairly well with the new experience, but I think more milk ended up down the front of her than it did in her tummy! :) She took about 2 ounces, which I'm guessing is about normal for her. I did a little experiment and pumped while Ty was feeding her to see how much I typically produce at each feeding. I pumped 5 oz. When I pump after she's eaten, I usually get about 3 ounces, so I'm figuring that the difference (2 oz) if pretty normal for her. Doesn't seem like much, does it? But I guess its enough to grow on, 'cause she's becoming a little chunker! :)
Lets see...what else happened over our weekend???? It was cool and cloudy for a few days, which put us in the mood for soup, so I made Minestrone on Friday for dinner. Now before you go and think I'm so amazing for making soup from scratch, just know that it was one of those mixes from a bag that you just add water to and simmer! :) But Luke LOVED it! Especially playing with the noodles....see!
Goofball!
Ty and Luke decided the cool weather called for a boys-only nap in our bed one afternoon too.
They were so adorable all bundled up and snoozing together. I love my boys! :)
And Ty caught me with the kiddos later that day snuggling on the couch.
One of a very few pictures of me with both of them! I'm usually the one behind the camera. I hate that part! I'd love to have some cute shots of us together. Maybe a date with the kids and the self-timer on my camera is in order sometime soon? We'll see. I have a feeling that taking self-portraits won't be quite as simple as it was with just Luke and I. Ellie might make it a bit more complicated. I guess we'll just have to try it out and see.
Did you see that I changed the "This time last year" photo? Hasn't Luke changed?! I was shocked to see how he's grown over the year! You forget how quickly they change until you start scrolling back through old photos! Crazy to think that we were just moving out of the Highland house and in with my parents at this time last year! It doesn't seem that long ago....the time is going so quickly!!
Well...I guess that's about it for now. Luke should be up soon. We have My Gym this morning and then we have to run by Goodwill to drop off all the clothes I weeded out of my closet last night. I still am far off from fitting into my pre-Ellie clothes, but I had to go through them to see what was there. After not seeing them for so long, I had forgotten what I had, and it was a great opportunity to sift through and get rid of stuff I will no longer wear. I got rid of 2 huge sacks worth!! After I get all this extra weight off, maybe I can work on building up a cuter wardrobe. Slowly, of-course, since money is tight! :)
Oh....I nearly forgot...I had an appt. with the dermatologist yesterday to get the stitches out of my foot.....good news! No cancer! :) Just some abnormal cells, but they've all been removed now. Nothing to worry about. :) I was happy to hear that and even happier to know that I don't have to go through that again. Blegh!
Alrighty....I'm off. Bye.
Actually, sleeping for Ellie has been going quite swimmingly lately! In fact, on Sunday night I was only up with her once at 2:15!!! I put her down at 8, she was up for a feeding at 2 and then down for the rest of the night until our normal wake time of 6:15! Not too shabby, eh?! I was quite pleased with her! It seems that our routine and my efforts to organize her sleep patterns is paying off finally! SUCH a good feeling! She hasn't quite repeated the feat yet this week, but now that I know she is capable of it, I'm sure that more of the same isn't far off! I foresee more than 3 or 4 consecutive hours of sleep in my near future! Hallelujah! :)
No...seriously....it hasn't been all that bad, actually. (Except for the nightmarish week of her growth spurt a short time ago...that WAS bad!) Everything about this second child has been so much easier than it was with Luke. Must just be that I know what to expect and I've been through it before. I'm so thankful that its easier. And I'm so, so, so thankful that she is SUCH a good baby!! Boy! Did I luck out on that one! At-least so far! She still hardly cries, unless she's starving or really uncomfortable, and even then, its usually just momentary. She's just an easy baby. Thank you, Lord for blessing me with an easy baby!!!
Now that she is 6 1/2 weeks old, we decided to introduce her to the bottle over the weekend. Pumped breast milk, of-course.
Now I'll at-least have the option to be away from her for more than 2 hours at a time, if the opportunity presents itself. She did fairly well with the new experience, but I think more milk ended up down the front of her than it did in her tummy! :) She took about 2 ounces, which I'm guessing is about normal for her. I did a little experiment and pumped while Ty was feeding her to see how much I typically produce at each feeding. I pumped 5 oz. When I pump after she's eaten, I usually get about 3 ounces, so I'm figuring that the difference (2 oz) if pretty normal for her. Doesn't seem like much, does it? But I guess its enough to grow on, 'cause she's becoming a little chunker! :)
Lets see...what else happened over our weekend???? It was cool and cloudy for a few days, which put us in the mood for soup, so I made Minestrone on Friday for dinner. Now before you go and think I'm so amazing for making soup from scratch, just know that it was one of those mixes from a bag that you just add water to and simmer! :) But Luke LOVED it! Especially playing with the noodles....see!
Goofball!
Ty and Luke decided the cool weather called for a boys-only nap in our bed one afternoon too.
They were so adorable all bundled up and snoozing together. I love my boys! :)
And Ty caught me with the kiddos later that day snuggling on the couch.
One of a very few pictures of me with both of them! I'm usually the one behind the camera. I hate that part! I'd love to have some cute shots of us together. Maybe a date with the kids and the self-timer on my camera is in order sometime soon? We'll see. I have a feeling that taking self-portraits won't be quite as simple as it was with just Luke and I. Ellie might make it a bit more complicated. I guess we'll just have to try it out and see.
Did you see that I changed the "This time last year" photo? Hasn't Luke changed?! I was shocked to see how he's grown over the year! You forget how quickly they change until you start scrolling back through old photos! Crazy to think that we were just moving out of the Highland house and in with my parents at this time last year! It doesn't seem that long ago....the time is going so quickly!!
Well...I guess that's about it for now. Luke should be up soon. We have My Gym this morning and then we have to run by Goodwill to drop off all the clothes I weeded out of my closet last night. I still am far off from fitting into my pre-Ellie clothes, but I had to go through them to see what was there. After not seeing them for so long, I had forgotten what I had, and it was a great opportunity to sift through and get rid of stuff I will no longer wear. I got rid of 2 huge sacks worth!! After I get all this extra weight off, maybe I can work on building up a cuter wardrobe. Slowly, of-course, since money is tight! :)
Oh....I nearly forgot...I had an appt. with the dermatologist yesterday to get the stitches out of my foot.....good news! No cancer! :) Just some abnormal cells, but they've all been removed now. Nothing to worry about. :) I was happy to hear that and even happier to know that I don't have to go through that again. Blegh!
Alrighty....I'm off. Bye.
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