Trick or Treat?

Halloween was a blast like it is every year! We had a bunch of trick or treaters and Nick was the guy in the scary mask. We set up a haunted house blow-up right in front of our door, so the kids had to walk thru it. It isn't too scary when it's light out, but in the dark it is real spooky. It has spiders and plays scary music inside too. It's so cool! Nick scared so many kids.
We had our carved pumkins lit up too. My dad carved some pretty cool ones this year!
I love Halloween!

my owl

Here's Nick with the mask and Ellie (strawberry, again) with Hello Kitty. She wasn't scared of the mask, but I kinda was. It's creepy.

Apple picking and eating

Last weekend we headed out to the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. It was such a nice day out and perfect for apple picking. Ellie loves apples, actually she loves any kind of fruit. It was such a fun day!

The greatest husband

I'm pretty sure I won the lottery with Nick. He really is a perfect husband and father. Saturday was our 6th anniversary and we've been together for about 13 years. It's been the greatest. The morning started out like a normal Saturday. We were headed to the mall with the kids, then to his parents house to do some trick or treating and then to a friends house for a Halloween get together. Nick had been talking about getting pizza and renting Paranormal Activity (both one and two). I'm not a scary movie girl - at all. I get really irritated and annoyed by these movies... mostly because they are pyscho but also because I feel like they are a waste of time. I LOVE movies, but I was not excited about this. So, Ellie was in bed, Jack was on the couch with Nick and they were waiting for me to start the movie. Of course I started to stall... I was washing dishes, started the laundry, took a shower and then finally I HAD to upload photos and do some stuff on the computer. Nick finally called me over to tell me he was starting the movie and wanted me to sit on the couch, so I did. Then, the movie started. It wasn't the scary movie though, it was our wedding dvd! I was so surprised and excited to reminence.  It was a great, although we we did watch the scary movie.

Below are pictures of our wedding day.

Here we go again with the names!

I've been asked why we chose Jack as a name. It's pretty simple: We just liked the name. I looked up the meaning today and it means "God is Gracious". For us there isn't any meaning behind it really. Nick thinks it's a strong name. I like it because it's simple and traditional. To be honest, I'm just getting use to the name and he's over 2 months old. In the beginning I would call him baby or Ellie or Meeko, by accident most of the time, but it was so weird to say his name. Of course we now have the random nicknames like we did with Ellie. I call Jack, Jackaroo about 90% of the time. It just comes out that way. I blame it on Nick, because he said it first (actually he was signing it: Jack, Jack, Jack-A-ROO!) So, now that we are somewhat use to the name Jack, we are starting the weird, random names. Some of the ones lately have been:

Jackaroo
Roo Roo
Roos
Jack-chan (my mom calls him this, it is a way of being affectionate in Japanese - kind of means friend)
Jack - san (it is also Japanese and pronounced like son)

Jack's surgery

Last week Thursday we went to Children's to meet with Jack's cosmetic surgeon. We both really liked him and he answered all of our questions.  I think we've decided to go with the cosmetic surgeon instead of the pediatric dermatologist. We think that either one would be great, but the cosmetic surgeon seems to have more experience and since Jack is growing at a high rate speed (he's 13 lbs already and only 2 months old)  his birthmark is also getting bigger. The doctor recommends that we do the surgery soon because his birthmark will just continue to get bigger and at 3 months he will be old enough. We know that he will have a scar, but there are things we can do to manage it. The more research I do and the more people I talk to, I'm worried about the mole changing, so I'm glad we are taking care of it soon. We scheduled his surgery before Christmas and are just waiting to hear if insurance will cover it.

Here is Jack trying to talk to me. I love night times with Jack. He's fussy, but as soon as I snuggle with him, he calms down and is just too cute.

Ellie makes me so happy

1. She is very adventurous, especially when she's finished eating and she launches her self off of her high chair and screams.
2. Ellie is opinionated, bossy and knows exactly what she wants. I'm not sure where she got that ;) but I love it. I think she's going to be a natural leader.
3. She loves to help, whether it's getting Jack's bottle or cleaning the floor with a wipe.
4. Ellie lives in the moment and doesn't hold grudges. I wish I could be more like this. She savors every second, whether it's playing with her legos or eating her cheerios.
5. Ellie loves everyone around her. She is so nurturing and kind-hearted.

p.s. Ellie is going to talk soon! She is so shy, but is trying. She has been saying mama, dadda, ba-ba, and baby, but now is attempting to say 'hi' and 'more' (when she wants more food, which is all the time).  I know talking is going to start happening more and am so excited for her to tell me things! I think the bi-lingual thing has been challenging for her, but I think her shyness has a lot to do with it too. I'm going to try to video her doing it and you'll see what I mean. Her expression is so innocent and sweet.

Time goes by...

Life seems to be moving in quadruple speed as I try to catch my breath. It's crazy to think that Jack is 8 weeks old already and that Ellie is 2 years and 3 months. Wow. I love all the new things that my babies do, but I want time to stand still.

Daily struggles

We've had some struggles lately with Ellie... very typical since we've had some major changes at home - Baby Jack and going to daycare. She does not want to wear shoes anymore. She tries to take them off in the car and trying to get them on is not easy. Yesterday I stopped at the outlet mall and got her a new pair. She cried in the store and didn't want to have anything to do with shoes or socks. The other big struggle we are having with Ellie is wearing her glasses. We had an appointment with her ophthalmalogist at the end of the month, but I was able to move it up since she hasn't really worn her glasses in 2 weeks. We use to be able to put them on when we went outside or to the store, but now she doesn't want to ever wear them. The eye doctor's visit today was a success despite Ellie's cold. She has a runny nose and has been feeling yucky (I'm sure the trip to Ikea yesterday didn't help either!)   Ellie was so great today! She didn't cry at all and the doctor was able to examine her eyes and she just cooperated. She even put her glasses on and Ellie didn't take them off until now. Yup... she has them off. Ugh. The plan is to not even bother with the patch, but just try to get her to wear the glasses. The Dr. said eventually she'll wear them. Although her eye isn't that bad, she still needs them and can see better with them. It also sounded like that since the glasses do help, that we probably won't have to do surgery if we can continue correcting her focus with the glasses. Here's a picture of Nick and Ellie (and cinderella) in the chair.

Jack's baby announcements

I finally got Jack's baby announcements out. They sat on the kitchen table for a few weeks addressed and ready to go, but I kept forgetting to buy stamps. I like the look of stamps and all, but I think having an ink stamp that is personalized with your name address,etc that can be billed to you would be awesome. So, when the mail is sorted, it scans a bar code or a QR code. I know that was totally off topic and random, but if I had my own 'stamp', then these announcements would have gone out earlier :)  What do you think of Jack's annoucements? I know there are a lot of pictures, but I wanted people to see them because he is so cute!

Ellie wants to be a mommy

Ellie has been playing 'mommy' lately. It's super cute, but sometimes scary;
1. because she likes to try to dress Jack (see below) or cover him up with a blanket. (not safe)
2. she totally watches what we do. She will put her Miffy bunny in the swing, get a blanket, cover him up and then go and get Jack's pacifier, which is in his little paci-pod on his carseat and try to give it to Miffy.
Ellie: Jack, I found your pants. Let me put them on you.
Jack: Oh no, here comes that girl again! I'm kinda busy here trying to exercise my neck, so I can get strong and hopefully roll over soon and get away from you!

Ellie: Not sure how to do this, but I'll figure it out.
Jack: MOM! Help me!

Miffy: Great, the girl put me in the sun again and forgot to put my sunglasses on, so much for a nap.

Ellie loves her playset!

Happy Birthday Nick

This post is dedicated to my best friend and husband Nick! He turns 32 today!

I love fall........

Last Thursday would have been Ellie's third time to daycare, but we decided to take a day trip hiking instead. The Fall colors were beautiful and the weather was perfect. We went to Parfrey's Glen near Devil's Lake. Ellie loves being outside and was pretty good hiking, but of course got tired and we had to take turns carrying her. Ellie was not a fan of the sand at Devil's Lake, in fact she hated the sand - almost as much as I did. I didn't like it because of the bugs and sand and who knows what else is in it. We also hit up an apple orchard and the drive was so nice. I love FALL.

Taking the boat across the Wisconsin River.

Getting a drink before the hike.

Ellie, me and my Dad

Ellie, Me, my Dad and Wendi

Ellie wanted to be carried... alot. Wendi is taking her turn here.

Devil's Lake

Ellie and Wendi

Mama and Ellie



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