Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! More pictures to come...

Here's to 50 more!

Happy Anniversary to my Nick!! Can't believe it's been 7 years! Love YOU.

 

Happy 14 month Birthday Jack!

My little, baby boy is 14 months today! I think I can still count his birthday in months until he is 36 months old. I know that is 3 years old, but 36 months still sounds like a baby. I know I've seen things written until 36 months old. I'm not sure where, but I've seen it, so I say I can do it. Isn't he cute!?

Weekend recap

These kids get sillier and sillier. The things they do are just hilarious, from cheesy smiles at lunch, helping out around the house, being a crazy sloppy eater to wearing undies on their heads. Kids really do make the world a brighter, happier place! Below are some pictures from over the weekend.

An update on my dad: Wendi was at the hospital with him all day Friday and was able to bring him home Friday night. He's doing better, but still has PT to set up and needs to make sure he's getting good sleep, eating right and taking his meds. The additional tests did show a stroke, but no other issues with his heart.

Out to lunch with Ellie and Jack. Jack is just so silly sometimes.

I watched baby Silas (with the help of Ellie) on Friday afternoon.

Wendi and Ellie sweeping at my parents house.

Ellie and I being goofy.

It might not look like it from this picture, but Jack is getting better with the spoon.

Ellie likes to wash her hands after going "pee-pee".

She decided that putting her "undies" on her head would be very stylish! At least her Hello Kitty's match!

Update

These two make everything better, even when someone is sick. So, my dad did have a stroke. The good news is there is no paralysis, the bad news is his left side is weak and he still isn't feeling well. He's home now, which is good, but he needs to do things to not get sick again. Stop smoking is a big one and an addiction that I do not understand firsthand. I know it's hard, but I believe he can do it. I won't go into any more details, but the bottom line is, is a stroke is a warning, a warning that there could be more. He needs to change his lifestyle or he won't be around to see these little monkeys grow. Who wants to miss out on that? 

Ellie likes to sing in the bathtub.

Jack likes to eat, even if it's a bath water-soaked towel. Gross.

Updates

Being in the hospital is tiring. That's where I've been since 7:15 this morning. My dad was here last Tuesday for his heart and heartburn, stayed the night and did a stress test the next morning. Everything came back ok. Today and for the last 3 days he has been dizzy, extremely tired, confused, slurred speech and not coordinated. We did not know about this because he kept it a secret. Lame. So they are testing for a possible stroke. We are waiting for an MRI yet today. The people at the Veteran's hospital are super nice and helpful, but everything takes sooo much time. Hopefully we will get some answers soon. In the meantime, this weekend was nice. We babysat Silas on Friday night and it went smoothly. Saturday night Nick and I went to our subdivision progressive party. It was nice to go out. Ellie is still doing so awesome with her potty training and we are proud of her. Jack is becoming so mobile. Walking and moving fast. I can't wait until Friday. I'm exhausted already. I need to buy a lottery ticket so I can win ;)

Happy Birthday to Nick!

Happy Birthday to my favorite person, my husband, my best friend, my love, Nick!

My little monkey

Jack is definitely a boy. He is in and on everything. From going into the dryer, to launching himself off chairs, to pulling the screws out of the door frame. Now that Jack is walking, it's been a little crazy. I didn't have to 'baby' proof a lot with Ellie, but Jack is a whole different species. Luckily, the other day when I was cleaning up, I saw him throw his ball into the dryer and then dive right in. If he got in, I don't think he could get out. That very next day, I went and bought a baby proof dryer lock. He also loves to go into our bathroom and play around in the toilet. Gross! We now lock our door to our bedroom and the bathroom. He was not happy about that. Last night tipped it off. When I got home from work, my mom handed me a couple of screws and said the door was loose. The door from our house into our mudroom was falling off the frame. It's not a cheap door and it's super heavy, I can barely move it. Jack hangs and pulls on the door knob. He's been doing it for a couple of weeks now and I've tightened the screws, but yesterday he must have hung on it too long. We had to get longer, stronger screws and redo all of them. While Nick and I were doing this, Jack was taking items, like the remote, his shoes and anything else and throwing them through the gate downstairs. AAAAAAAAH! He's so cute about it though. He just looks at you and smiles and thinks it's so funny, which it is.

Here's a video of Jack walking and Ellie and I watching:

Milestone weekend

This little girl is the best. I think we finally broke through the potty thing. (knock on wood). On Friday, I decided "this is it, let's do it!" Everyone kept saying, don't push it if she isn't ready, so I haven't. This weekend I decided to push it. I know she's smart enough and capable. Parents are suppose to push their kids a little, right? I mean, I'm not as bad as Nick. He always says "Ellie's going to be a Thoracic Surgeon". Now, I think that's a lot of pressure if you ask me. LOL. So, I decided that Ellie was going to wear her Hello Kitty undies all weekend (except at night). She did so well, even going to BuyBuy Baby, grocery store, Costco she wore her "undies". I had back up clothes just in case, but didn't need to use them. She is even good at #2. I mean she went twice yesterday! Sorry if that is TMI, but I was so proud of her. She did have 2 accidents at home, but one was my fault because I couldn't get to her on time. She was locked out by the gate in the basement and I was changing Jack's poopy diaper. 

Going in public will be really interesting. Last week, I braved it and went to Target by myself with Ellie and Jack. I had to use the bathroom and brought the whole cart in the handicap stall with me. Ellie was very loud and says "Mama, poo-poo!?" I could have died. 

After her successful day yesterday, Wendi and I took her to Target and Kohl's. She got a Hello Kitty coloring book and some cute socks. I hope she continues this. Last night as I was getting Jack dressed after their bath, Ellie stands up in the tub and says "Mama, pee-pee!" I took her out set her on the toilet and she went! I couldn't believe she held it and told me she had to go. I mean, most adults pee in the shower, let's be real. I can't tell you how proud of her I am. So, so proud!!

It's official

I think I can officially say that Jack is walking. He's been taking 6-7 steps at a time, but now is doing it more consistently and he'll stand up from sitting on his butt. I tried to capture it on video, but it's hard because both of these kids are monkeys. This is a video of our nightly routine after bath time. You'll notice Jack has his green toothbrush. He LOVES to chew on it. If he sees me get it out he immediately starts whining because he wants it. Ellie is being a busy bee like usual. She's 'organizing' her books.

Weekend recap part 2

I forgot to mention that I went with Wendi and Nick to Powder Hill over the weekend. We each had a kid and climbed the hill and then the tower. Ellie was being a baby and wanted to be carried most of the time, probably because Jack and Silas were getting rides and we past a few dogs on the way up and she didn't like them. I'm not sure why she is scared of dogs. We have a dog and she always points at dogs when we are in the car or if she sees one on tv. It was such a nice day out and the leaves were awesome. I think the brightest and reddest I've ever seen. Ahhh, how I love Fall.

Nick has Jack on his back and Wendi has Silas on the front.

Me and Ellie with her crazy Hello Kitty hat.

Weekend recap

I love the weekends and Fall is officially here now that we went to the pumpkin farm. We headed to Basse's  on HWY Q on Friday with Wendi and Silas and Kim and Avery. They didn't have the whole place open, just the pumpkin area, raspberry picking and the playset in the front. I got 4 little orange pumpkins and 2 white pumpkins for our front door area. I'll have to post some pictures of those soon. We will definitely be heading to more pumpkin farms to get more pumpkins to carve. October is my favorite, favorite month!! The leaves are so pretty, the air is crisp and the smell of apples and fall harvest is yummy.

Me and baby Jack

Ellie!

Kim and Avery going up the stairs

Kim and Wendi with their babies.

Jack trying to go up the slide

Ellie and We-we on our swingset

Jack grabbed a bun to munch on.

Jack loves food!

Jack

1. Crawls. Fast and hard.
2. Stands. All the time.
3. Walks about 15-20 steps. He especially likes to do it when no one is watching - he's sneaky that way.
4. We don't put him in the walker much, except if we are outside on the driveway.
5. He's been eating table food now too. (bananas, strawberries, mashed potatoes, toast)
6. Drinks whole milk from both a sippy and bottle. Prefers the bottle :(
7. Still goes to bed around 8:30-9 pm and sleeps until about 7-8 am.
8. Really, really likes his nukie.
9. Likes to take his shoes off when we are in the mall and throw them out of the stroller when no one is looking.
10. Definitely has 'stranger danger' if someone he doesn't know very well try to hold him.

And his latest nickname is baby-ana; which is a mix of Elliana and Baby. He still thinks his name is baby though.