Ella Grace -January 2013

Ella is 3 years and 4 months. She's a doll in every sense of the word, she's stubborn, smarter than a whip, independent, sweet, sassy, clumsy and HILARIOUS. Some of this she totally gets from her dad, some of it from me, no doubt. Every night before we go to bed, Dan and I usually look at each other and laugh from her antics through the day. Here are some examples: Last night we were sitting at the dinner table (Ella, we have to yell at you 2034849 times during dinner to sit down because you are ALWAYS getting up). We were counting marbles while we ate. After counting them a few times, I said, count them in Spanish. Dad looked at me like "yeah right." For the record, I've NEVER asked you to do this before. Without skipping a beat, you counted up to eight (ocho) in Spanish. I had to pick Dad's chin off of the kitchen table. He could.not.believe it. The night before you wouldn't lay down. (Ella, we have to yell at you 240482123 times to lay down and go to bed because you are ALWAYS getting up, sensing a pattern?!). We figured out that if we tap the ceiling below your room with a broomstick, you lay down because you get "scared" of the noise. Here was the conversation we had after I tapped your ceiling: Ella: Mom, what's that bam bam baming Me: It's Jesus telling you to lay down. Ella: That bam bam baming is? Me: Yes, we need to listen and obey Jesus and your Mom. GO LAY DOWN. Ella: OK Fine, but I like the bam baming. A parenting failure, I know. The morning after you said, "Hey Mommy, Jesus is so funny last night he was like 'Hey Ella, go to sleep.'" (you said this in a real high pitched squeaky voice.) Last night, I tapped outside of your room and you peaked your head outside of your room and said, "Mom, that wasn't Jesus, that was the boys next door." (???!!!) After Daddy tapped on the ceiling, you peaked your head out and said, "Mom, that wasn't Jesus, that was Daddy." I said, nope, Daddy's in our room, and you replied, "OK Jesus, I hear you." One New Year's Resolution has been to spend individual time with you "learning" stuff. Sometimes it gets tossed aside with the hustle and bustle of playing with Briggs, etc... So, after Briggsy went to sleep, we got out these place mats that have clocks, presidents, maps, etc... on them. First, we go through the Presidents. You love learning about the Presidents. You know George Washington, President Bush and his son President George W. Bush. You say that Abraham Lincoln was the greatest president- ever! And, when we get to President Obama, you say, we don't like him but we respect him (proud mommy moment). After we were done with the Presidents, I showed you a picture of the US and I asked where we live and you said, "America!" You amaze me everyday. How in the world you know that, I have no idea. When I asked who lived in Washington D.C. you said "We respect him." Again, NO idea how you know that the president lives in Washington D.C. Speaking of the president, last week Grammy & Papa were watching you and President Obama came on. Boppa was over there and when President Obama came on and Papa & Boppa were yelling at the TV, you went over to Boppa finger pointed and said, "Respect him Boppa." Grammy said she was crying from laughing so hard! Another Ella funny: last week I was changing my clothes into my pajamas and you said, MOM! You're bun naked." (You were replacing butt, because we don't say that word, with bun, and it was hilarious!) I've been into a baking phase, baking cupcakes and cookies galore. One day we were starting to bake cookies (you often help me), and you looked up and said, "Mom, we need to get our bras on." I about fell over. I asked you to repeat it, and you said, "I need my bra so I don't get dirty!" That's when I realized you MEANT aprons! How hilarious! Some other notes about you right now: You ALWAYS have a crayon in your hand. you LOVE coloring and are drawing some fabulous pictures right now! You and Daddy color all day long on your "Daddy days" and you couldn't be happier about it. (Mommy on the other hand picks up crayons all day long, but it's okay as long as you're happy)! You are sporting a 'tude lately. We have to remind you all of the time to drop the attitude. You say, "I don't WANNA go to bed" and then you cross your arms and pout. Or NO, I'm NOT going to bed! Sometimes Dad and I have to turn our heads to chuckle because you're so funny, other times, we want to bang our heads against the wall :) Last night out of the blue, you said "You're the greatest Mommy ever." Melt.My.Heart. That makes every tear, every sleepless night, every whine, every worry, every frustration worth it. I love you Ella!! Still can't believe God gave me a gift like you!! Next up is Briggs.....

8 Months Old

Another month gone by, another month older, so hard to believe my sweet Briggs! We love you so much BUT we are SO ready for you to sleep through the night. You are getting up at 1 and 4 every single night. I'm either nursing you back to sleep (only for you to wake up and nurse again) or giving you a bottle. The problem is that you can't get yourself to sleep. You'll close your eyes, and allow us to rock you, but then, as soon as its time for us to lay you down, you wake up and scream. We've even let you try crying it out L you just cry and cry and cry some more and it's horrible for all of us. Mommy is tired sweet Briggs! The good news is that you're still sweet during the day and you still have a sweet temperament! This month, on Father's Day (no joke!) you woke up saying Dada. What a great present to Daddy. You also say Ella VERY regularly (your first word by the way was Ella! way back when you were probably 5 or 6 months old). Your very favorite word to say, however, is Uh Oh. And you say it with EVERYTHING. One day we walked through the grocery store and you waved to everyone and said Uh Oh to everyone, it was so cute! You have also taken your first steps this month!!! Hard to believe, but you did. You are very cautious though (unlike your sister Ella). You think about what you're going to do before you do it. It's funny to watch you do this and think things through in your mind. We're hopeful that you are more cautious than Ella in general, as she's a little spitfire! You still laugh and laugh and laugh at Ella and every time she's around. She announced this month that you're her bestest friend in the whole world. And, I believe it. She loves being with you, making you laugh, aggravating you, stealing your binkies, dressing you up with your hats and shoes, and trying to make you walk to her. She just loves you and you love her. Your favorite food is still blueberries (just cracks us up!). The biggest change this month is a change in our family. Daddy, after 8 years with Master Packing, is no longer working for them. SO, instead of hurrying things up right now looking for a job, he's taking his time, being selective and spending the summer with you and Ella! How awesome!! You're loving it. It's been no secret that you've been a mommy's boy since the time you were born, BUT, you're really starting to come around with Daddy. You're getting easier and more laid back for him, and he's loving the extra time he gets to spend with you two. I'm a little jealous that he gets to spend all summer with you, but that's OK, how many kiddos can say they get to spend the summer with their Daddy?! You're a lucky one Briggsy! I love you very much, we all do, and we are so thankful for YOU. You make us laugh, smile, and not sleep J We'll get there, it's just been a frustrating month, but we don't love you any less, that's for sure. I sometimes like the extra snuggles in the middle of the night! Love you Briggsy boy!

7 Months Old

Well Briggs, not only are you 7 months old, but, you are the sweetest baby in the whole world. You really are. Your demeanor is calm, sweet and joyful. You love to laugh and smile, and you really don't cry or fuss at much. You definitely love your mommy, there's no doubt about that, and you also LOVE blueberries. They are FOR SURE your favorite food. You pile them in your mouth faster than you do anything else, and you cannot get enough of them. It's hilarious. You make a HUGE mess with them, but you love them so much we can't deny you J You also love to be outside. The weather's been great, and you just enjoy taking it all in. You are also pulling yourself up on EVERY.THING. How is this possible at 7 months old?! People are AMAZED by your strength. We get comments all of the time, people cannot believe that you hold your own while standing and navigate so quickly everywhere through crawling and pulling yourself up. You pretty much take no bottle, and, the doctor says that's OK. He's amazed at your skills with the sippy cup. You do things WAY earlier than you are supposed to! It makes mommy sad that her baby is growing up! This month you went to your first circus. It was kind of cheesy (as your dad would say), but you loved the music and the lights. You especially love your sister Ella. You love rolling around on the floor with her, pulling her hair, smiling and laughing with her. You light up when you see her in the morning, and you squeal like no one's business when you go in her room (your MOST FAVORITE spot in the house!). You love sitting in her room exploring. Briggsy, we are amazed by you. The joy you bring to our lives, how stinkin' cute & smart you are, and the way that you fit right into our family. We thank God for you every day! We love you Briggs!

6 Months Old

Briggsy boy, you, my dear son are 6 months old. Boy oh boy do we love you. You light up our lives and bring us sooo much joy!! I am so excited to be your mom and sooo excited to see what life has in store for you and what you have in store for life! This month you are a crawling, rolling, drooling, falling, head bumping, smiley, joyous mess. You. Are. Everywhere. 'Nuf said. You are pulling yourself up on things, you are falling and bumping your head. You smile with your mouth open and cry with your mouth open, give kisses with your mouth open. Basically, you do everything with your mouth open. There have only been a few times we've seen your mouth closed. Daddy keeps asking, "Are you sure that there's not something wrong with his mouth?" It's always open. And, its just so cute. I'm convinced you are showing off those beautiful lips that God gave you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't mean that your mouth will "always be open" once you start talking. Not sure I can take two of those J hehehe This month you started saying Mama. It's hard for well, because you always have your mouth open (catch the drift?). It's so fun to hear you say. You also give kisses and you have started taking a sippy cup like no ones business. In fact, you prefer it to the bottle. You still nurse great (especially at night, note this really means all night long) and you still take baby food awesome. We've been giving you a whole slew of stuff to try. I haven't found anything you don't like. You made a few faces with bananas, but who doesn't. I still hate bananas. You love being a part of the action. You have to know where Ella is at all times and you smile the biggest and laugh the loudest when she's around. You also cry the most when she hurts you takes a toy from you or hurts your feelings. She's had a couple of instances this month where she's pushed you down. You cried so hard with real big alligator tears. I'm convinced it was because your feelings were hurt more than anything else. Every morning the two of you love on each other and play so well together. I keep pinching myself because I can't believe how much you like each other. I know that this is too good to be true to stay this way for too long, so I'm just enjoying it while I can. By the way, Ella calls you Briggsy for everything. It's so cute. When people ask her what your name is she looks at them, and then at you and says, "Briggsy." You're starting to reach out for people when you want them to hold you. This month you had your first real "sickness." We took you in and you had an ear infection (well, they said, your ear was red and you had a fever, so they gave you amoxicillian). Right after you started taking the amoxicillin, you had a couple horrible nights in a row. You would. not. sleep. for. nothing. I even spent one night on our hard wood floor under your swing. It was horrible. Probably some of the worst nights I've had in 2.5 years of parenting. As we were getting ready for night #3, I undressed you and noticed a horrible red, raised rash everywhere, all over your body. You were allergic to the amoxicillin. Pharmacist said you probably had been itching everywhere and just broke out into the rash a few days delayed. I felt horrible that you felt horrible and so much relief that we were both going to get sleep. Ever since we stopped the medicine, you've been a dream. Sleeping, eating, everything. You even took a 4.5 hour nap for daddy yesterday. I made him wake you up! The hardest thing about you is having you fall asleep, you don't fall asleep easy. We're working on it, but some nights it can be difficult. Other than that, you are the easiest, most laid back, happy baby I know! Right now you are LOVING your jumparoo. Jump jump jumping everywhere. I love you Briggs. You are the apple of my eye and you make my heart so very happy. SO glad you are a wonderful, necessary part of our family. Love you baby boy!

Ella 31 Months!

Ella Grace- you are 31 months old. I thought I would share a bit about what you are up to these days. You are hilarious! So, so funny. You make us laugh all day long with your knock knock jokes and some of the other stuff you come up with! You are BIG helper, especially with Briggs- always giving him the binky and giving me a play by play of what's happening. You are so loving, always giving kisses and telling us, "Love you too." You are so smart- you know all your letters, shapes, colors and over 30 sight words. You love learning! You are so polite. After I took you to the doctor this weekend, the doctor took your pulse and you turned to her and said, "why thank you." You are always going around saying, "Nice to meet you" while shaking hands. It's so cute. Tonight you yelled to the guy at Menards, "Have a good night." Some of the stuff you come up with, boy, you amaze us! Right now we are potty training. You are doing a great job. You have known what you were doing from the start. You love running to tell us you went. Seriously, you've had no quelms about it, we've only been doing it about 10 days and you've got the hang of it and it's really no big deal for you. Right now your struggles are going to bed (ugh!) and eating. You are too busy to eat, too busy to sit. I should have known, you were this way from the beginning! And you are too busy for bed! Always have something to do, something to see, something to say. You're so funny. Every night when we say it's bedtime you yell out Back Mommy Back. You want me to pat your back. Which I will gladly do, but you won't sit still long enough for me to. You are having bad dreams too which is sad for us. You woke up the other day yelling Daddy Fell, Daddy Fell. Today you woke up from nap screaming Mommy and all you wanted was me! Tonight, Daddy was watching a movie. You said, "Mommy, where's Daddy. " I replied, "Watching a movie." You say, "Oh." You walked into Daddy and said, "Hi Dad, what movie?" Daddy replies and you said, "Oh, is it good, you like it?" You're always concerned about us! AND, you are the life of the party! This week, all of the neighborhood kids started playing outside and thanks to Daddy's playset, everyone (9 kids sometimes!) are in our yard playing with YOU and your things and YOU love it! When I say its time to come in you say, "my girls, my girls" which is so funny because all you do is play with the boys! Ella Grace, we love you more than we can say or show. You are the light of our lives. We are so proud of who you're becoming and the sweet sweet girl that you are to Briggs. You LOVE playing with him and talking to him and showing him things. It makes our hearts so happy. Thanks for filling our lives with joy and chaos- we wouldn't have it any other way!

Mommy Fail #408,284 and Daddy Fail #4

Well this has been a challenging week. First off, the kiddos have the cruds. Ick. Briggsy has his first ear infection, his first anti-botics, we've had many a late nights and early mornings trying to soothe the kid. Poor boy. Ella has also had the cruds, AND, we're potty training. Seriously, potty training is for the birds. I can honestly say, I have never complained about having to change a diaper. It really just isn't that bad for me. Even with 2 in diapers. I'm lucky, Dan helps change diapers (I've heard the horror stories of the dads that won't even look at diapers), but I really don't mind doing it. Weird, I know. The only reason we're even on the potty training band wagon is because I do feel it's time, AND, because those #2's are kiddo #2's anymore, so before I start to complain about diaper duty, I thought we should at least try. And it's going well (more on that later), until Monday. I had to stay home with sicky kids. All of our attitudes could have been a bit peachier, when "it" happened. Mommy Fail #408,284. All weekend Ella had been doing great potty training, seriously, like a total of 4 accidents. But going poopy? Another story. The kid likes to poop her pants. I've heard it's common. We're working on it. On this particular Monday, she poooped everywhere and I had to clean it up (like usual), and since we were spending day 487 (ok really only day 4, remember the "peachier" part?) at home during our "potty training bootcamp" I reached for another pair of pajamas. There was a chill in the air, so I reached for the footed PJ's. Always a household favorite. WAS a household favorite. About 30 minutes after I changed Ella's clothes and under garmets, I was tending to Briggs when Ella gave me a sideways look- not unusual from a 2 year old I might add. I turned, sniffed and said, "No you didn't".... yep, she pooped again. As she started running from me I could hear the splat splat splat in the pants. Where does poop go when you wear footed pajamas? That's right folks. Mommy Fail #408,284. After scrubbing down the whole house, all of Ella and just basically being besides myself, I took a picture and shot it to Dan who (luckily) was at work. The caption read, "Hi Hon, Hope you're having a good day. Look what you're missing out on here. Love ya" I knew, just knew that after taking a glance a little bit of throw up would enter his mouth. It did. Gratitute for all of my diaper days also ensued.

Today was "Daddy day" for the kids. I got home and realized quickly that Daddy had Daddy Fail #4. Dan stated very matter of factly that Ella somehow cut her foot (these details are still blurry) and in her "excitement" of cutting her foot, she ran all over the couch (ALL OVER THE COUCH) and got blood everywhere. I love my husband TO DEATH, but sometimes he can exaggerate a bit (he probably gets it from me), so I asked Ella how her foot was (I think) and hem hawed my way to the couch to find blood ALL OVER THE COUCH. Seriously, I think Ella must have walked every inch of that couch. Luckily for us, we have microfiber (thank you Dan for talking me into that purchase!) and we took the cushions off and washed them. The day has been saved!

Ella funny

Tonight you went to bed late but laid right down like a good girl. When daddy and I came up to bed, I checked on you and then we were chatting in our room when all of the sudden your door shut. Daddy turned to me and said ...she's not asleep. I went in your room again and you looked at me rubbed your eyes like I had woke you up. I told you it was time for bed laid you down (again) and you started talking to me. I replied and then you turned to me and said, shush mom go to sleep, okay? ? Daddy and I are cracking up!!!!