A Bit Behind

We had a super busy weekend.  We started with the Chili Cookoff/Bingo night.  Hannah and Jay were big winners!!  The next night we hung out with one of Ben's bestest friends.  It was a great night with friends, and we had a blast.  On Sunday I got to babysit my puppy niece.  We're pretty sure that Hannah's got Fifth's Disease, and Ellie has been having issues with a partially blocked tear duct.  Needless to say, I'm exhausted and need another weekend!  Here is my 365 project for the past 10 days or so....

1/14 Ellie at Sophia's Birthday Party

1/15 She's starting to hold her own bottle...yay!!

1/16 Breakfast for dinner!

1/17 Hannah showing Ellie how to play with "the project"

1/18 Mr. Quackers (Ellie's version of blue bear/lovey)

1/19 Ellie and I always seem to fall asleep together at the end of the night

1/20 My VERY handsome husband

1/21 Daddy playing with his kiddos

1/22 My sweet niece Elle (Hannah and I made a bed for her in the laundry basket)



1/23 Playing with is favorite car



1/24 She head-butted the spoon

Ellie at 7 Months

Ellie turned 7 months old on Saturday!  We had a great day together including attending her friend Sophia's first birthday party.  We left the big kids at home, so it was just Mommy and Ellie.

It has been an interesting month for Ellie.  We went from sleeping through the night 100% of the time to sleeping through the night about 70% of the time.  We're not sure what is causing this not so fun phase, but it's not ears (I had them checked) and we are still toothless.  She loves to snuggle in Mommy and Daddy's bed, and when she falls back to sleep, Daddy moves her back to her crib. 

Although she's not sleeping the best, she's still the happiest baby!  She is sitting up without any help and she has started scooting around on the floor.  We limit her floor time because her big brother loves to lay on top of her when she's scooting around.  She has also started holding her bottle.  I'm sure the next month will bring lots of changes including teeth and crawling, so we are trying to enjoy every last second of this phase!

365 Project - Week 2

It's been a very busy week at our house.  We are SO excited to have a 3-day weekend to finally relax.  Ellie and I are off to a birthday party this afternoon for her sweet friend Sophia.  I'm excited to get some one on one time with my littlest girl.  Here are the pictures from this week...

1/8 My sweet super heroes

1/9 Hannah and Ben dress Ellie up

1/10 Yesterday wasn't enough, so today they gave her hair

1/11 Hannah teaching Ellie how to be a pirate

1/12 The sweet moments before bed when I feed Ellie

1/13 Hannah gets Ben a frisbee from the treasure box and he wears it as a hat!

The 365 Project

I was reading another blog and the person I was reading talked about the 365 project.  I thought it was a really cool idea, and I went to the website for all of about 3 minutes (one of the kids started causing problems at this point).  The main idea is to take a picture everyday for an entire year.  Being a perfectionist, I would have liked to run across this idea on 1/1/2012, but sadly it was 1/3/2012.  I haven't had the chance to read the website and sign up, but I thought I would do the 365 project on my blog because this is usually what we use to look back.  My goal is to post once a week with the week's pictures.  The week's pictures are just going to be the boring things that make our life special to us.  3 kids, working full time, being a wife, daughter, sister, and friend may derail this plan from time to time, but I'm going to at least try.  Here is week 1:

1/3/2012: Building block walls

1/4/2012

1/5/2012: Breakfast at 6:30am

1/6/2012: playing with Lewis' horse

1/7/2012: Sweet sisters

Merry Christmas

It has been a crazy 24 hours, but I've come to expect that with our little family!  Yesterday we headed over to Uncle Mike's to visit his and Auntie Ashton's church for Christmas Eve.  It was a great service with amazing music and a wonderful message.  They even gave away a puppy at the end.  Luckily we did NOT "win" (yes, Jay put our name in the drawing because he is insane!)  We then headed back to Nana's to eat dinner and exchange gifts.  While Nana put the finishing touches on dinner, Uncle Mike and Daddy headed out to Toys R Us to make a last minute purchase.  Baboo had sent each of the kids a gift card for Christmas.  Jay and I decided to put the money towards a large gift that all 3 kids could share.  A Christmas miracle occured, and Jay and Uncle Mike were able to walk out of Toys R Us on Christmas Eve with a brand new Power Wheel.  We know that Hannah and Ben will love this gift, and as Hannah grows too big for it, Ben can take over the driving and Ellie can enjoy riding along.

We had a fantastic dinner with Nana, Pops, Auntie Ashton, and Uncle Mike.  The kids loved opening presents from everyone.  They got lots of goodies including 2 remote control cars that they have been racing today. 

It was a late night and, by the time we got home, both kids were exhausted.  We had told them that they could exhange gifts with each other on Christmas Eve, but Ben was so tired he told us that he would "open pwesents later!".  Hannah was disappointed because she wanted to give him the gift she bought him at the Winter Wonderland shop at school, but he loved it just as much this morning when he wasn't a grump.

The kids all slept really late this morning which was great because Jay and I were up until 2am putting together Baboo's surprise gift!  The kids did an awesome job of each taking a turn opening a gift so we could all see what Santa brought each person.

We have had a wonderful first Christmas in our new home.  We feel so blessed to have a beautiful house with 3 amazing children to fill it up.  Merry Christmas!

 

6 Months and Stitches

Ellie turned 6 months old last week!  Oh my goodness....I want to freeze time and keep her this size forever.  She has started sitting up on her own in the past 2 weeks.  She loves to be on the floor playing with toys.  She has even started getting into big brother and big sister's things.  Ben was very upset the other day when Ellie drooled on his puzzle piece.  We had Ellie's 6 month check up this afternoon.  She is back on the growth chart!  20 pounds 4 ounces puts her at 98th percentile for her weight.  27 1/2 inches puts her at 96th percentile for height.  She had to get 4 shots and a toe prick.  She was so good!

Hannah was my little helper at the doctor.  She was very nervous about hearing Ellie cry when she got her shots.  Luckily it lasted less than 10 seconds. 

Jay is not hurting Ben in the above picture.  Ben is just being super dramatic!  Yesterday our little man slipped while trying to climb into his chair.  He hit the edge of the table with his chin before falling on the floor hitting his head on the tile.  He cried so hard his lips turned purple and I was afraid he was going to pass out.  I held him until he calmed down, and then put him in his chair to finish his juice.  I went to grab Ellie to change her, and my mom commented that I had something on my sweater.  I looked down and dismissed it as snot from Ben crying on my.  I wiped it with my finger and realized it was blood.  I thought Ben might have bit his lip when he fell, so I went back to look at him.  I then saw a small but deep cut under his chin.  I called down to Jay and told him I thought Ben might need stitches.  He came up and his assessment was that Ben was fine and he just needed a band-aid.  Mom and I decided to try to butterfly the cut.  After 30 minutes it was still bleeding.  I called our doctor and they said we should give it 30 more minutes, and if it didn't stop we would need to go to urgent care to be evaluated for stitches.  We went and grabbed lunch, and we decided to change the band-aid in the car and no surprise it was still bleeding.  I called Jay to let him know we were heading over to Children's Urgent Care.

Mom stayed in the car with the girls, so they wouldn't catch the plague while waiting in the waiting room.  Lucky for us, Ben was the only one in the waiting room.  The triage nurse took a look and said we definitely needed stitches.  She put on some "magic" medicine to numb the area.  We waited for that to kick in and then it was go time.  The nurse called him back and she let him explore the room for a few minutes before we started which helped him get comfortable.  She explained to me that most kids his age needed to be sedated in order to do the procedure.  I was very nervous about that.  She said we would try it without sedation first, but they would have to do it if he freaked out.  They wrapped him up in a sheet and velcroed it shut to restrain him.  He started yelling, "Get me out of here!  I stuck!  I just want to play in my playroom!"  I pulled up Mickey Mouse on YouTube (thank the Lord for YouTube!) and we watched Mickey and Donald while the doctor sewed my baby's chin back together.  He was SO brave.  He got 2 stitches and a Popsicle and, once the restraint was off, he was a happy boy!  They told me to make sure that he doesn't do anything that could re-injure the area....HAHAHAHA!!!  They obviously don't know my 2 year old boy!  I type this as he runs around the house yelling "FIRE!" at the top of his lungs.  I LOVE my kiddos!!



SO thankful....

Throughout last week I could not stop thinking about how thankful I am for my family.  Last year during Thanksgiving I was very sick with morning sickness and couldn't wrap my mind around the idea of having 3 kids and working full time.  This year I feel so thankful for all the wonderful blessings God has given our family this year.  We have 3 beautiful healthy children that make our family whole.  I can't imagine what our life would be like without Ellie in it, and I truly feel like she has made our family complete.  I know I say it all the time, but she is the happiest baby in the whole world and her adorable smile just lights up a room.  I'm so thankful for Ben who keeps us on our toes and gets us laughing every single day.  Before bed each night, he thanks God for everyone in his life.  His list is seriously 30 people long.  Lately before bed, he tells me, "I have so much fun today Mommy!"

We are so thankful for our sweet Hannah.  I don't think I could make it through a lot of days without her.  She is always helping us by getting bibs, burp cloths, wipes, etc...  She has such a kind heart and goes out of her way to make her brother and sister feel loved.  I'm thankful for the sweet notes she leaves on my night stand reminding me that she loves me. 

I can't be thankful for my family without being thankful for the glue that holds us together and that is my amazing husband.  He is not only my best friend, but a true partner in this parenting adventure.  He spends countless hours with the kids and would do just about anything for each of them.  They adore their daddy and love the special time that he gives each of them individually. 

Jay and I are both so thankful for our families in town and out of town that continue to support us.  We are so lucky to have so many people in our life that love and adore our children. 

Although our life is beyond busy and at times chaotic, we wouldn't trade it for anything.  I cannot put into words how thankful I am for everything I have.   

Ellie at 5 Months

I keep thinking that my math is off because there is no way it has been 5 months with this sweet girl!  Ellie is such an amazing baby.  Jay and I are often overwhelmed by how much we love this little girl.  She hardly ever cries.  Gloria told me last week that is was the first time she ever heard her cry.  She is so easy going.  She is starting to attempt sitting up by herself.  She has been spending more time in the playroom with the big kids.  She likes to grab their toys and explore.

She rolled over for the first time on Friday night.  She went from front to back.  She's a little late with the rolling, but, let's face it, she has a lot to roll over!  It won't be long until she is chasing after her brother and sister.

Only 3 more days until she meets her Nanny that shares her name!  We are SO excited!

House Picture Part 2 and other tidbits...

I have finally taken some pictures of the kids rooms.  I had Tuesday off so we spent the entire day organizing and cleaning bedrooms.

This is the landing at the top of our stairs.  We have two built in bookcases and a great window bench.  Hannah can often be found reading or playing video games on the bench seat.  Ben usually pulls out lots of books and reads them on the floor.

We finally hung up the shelves in Ellie's room.  Jay and I are pretty certain that her room is the biggest of the 3 rooms.

Ben's room is decorated with cars, trucks, and trains.  He LOVES the cars driving on his wall.  We have found him several times in his room with the door closed just looking at his cars.  We plan on buying him a dresser this weekend, so his room will be complete!

Hannah's room is the star room.  She loves to hang her art work on her wall and play in her dollhouse.  Ben is not allowed in her bedroom, so she can keep her dollhouse safe.

Our baby girl is SO happy.  She has really started "talking" to us lately! 

I remember another older sibling that used to love to crawl in the crib with her baby brother...

Here is a nice example of Ben in the "library"...

And finally....what could be more fun than making Ellie play baby doll?