Brain Dump

I have a bunch of random things I want to post about...here they are:

1.  Last night when I put Jack to bed I said, "I love you sweetie" and he said, "I love you sweetie."  He is just too cute.  And on a good note, he is staying in his bed without us having to lock the door...three days in a row.  We just remind him that he needs to stay in his bed and if he gets up then we will lock the door.  And he is sleeping until about 4:30 or 5am and then we do let him in our bed then...but it is much better than before!

2.  We went home for Easter weekend and it was so great to see all the family.  I really think Jack and Ella were in family heaven.  I captured some really cute video footage...but this might be one of my favorites.  It was when Ella was napping and we were waiting to have our Easter meal.

3.  I have been wanting to do this project for a while now and finally got to it!  We made an art wall for the kids...and I am in love!

 

4.  Ella is out of control...she is into everything.  She moves everywhere and wants to be a part of everything.  I really feel like she has more energy than Jack did at this age.  I am probably just not remembering correctly, but she is so active.  She has already learned to climb onto the dining room table.  So when she does it, then Jack does it.  Sometimes it feels like they are controlling me!

 

5.  However, she is learning lots of new words and that is so cute too.  She can officially say...mama, dada, papa, ball, dog, wow. 

 

And here are some pictures and video from Easter weekend!  Enjoy

 

Cutest Kids In The World

Not a day goes by that I don't appreciate that I am able to stay home with my children.  I know the day will come that I head back to work....sooner than I want to admit, but I really appreciate being able to have the little moments of play time.  And of course, I can't complain about having nap time too, since I am able to get projects done then!  We had fun playing in their bedroom today.  Jack wanted to wear a hair clip, just like Ella.  He wanted pigtails too, but we had to settle with what we could manage!  And do you see that cute pink sweater on Ella?  Well, that was mine when I was a sprouting little 2 year old.  I love it on her. 

 She is pointing to the camera...basically she wants her turn too!

 She finally let me put pigtails in the back of her hair.  It is kind of a big deal around here....that is why I grabbed the camera.

Lazy 5 Ranch

Last weekend Joe and I decided that we needed to get away from the cold weather.  So we found an inexpensive hotel (that had an indoor swimming pool) and headed to Charlotte, NC.  We were hoping to make it a fun trip for all.  We planned to hit up some parks for the kids, go shopping for me, and allow Joe a chance to climb at a climbing gym and hopefully also get a bike ride.  It was a little colder that we expected there.  It was actually snowing there when we were driving on Saturday morning, but the sun soon came out. 

 

After dealing with one car sick child and making a stop at a Target for a new jacket, we headed to one attraction that we thought would be fun for the littles.  We went to Lazy 5 Ranch, which is just about thirty minutes outside of Charlotte.  We took both kids out of their carseats as we slowly drove through the ranch.  You can feed the animals from your car, but you are not allowed to get out of the car.  I think they had a blast, but they both got upset after I freaked out when a buffalo clipped the tip of my finger with his mouth.  I lost one of the feed buckets in the process.  Then I upset Jack later on when I lost the second feed bucket to a very aggressive zebra.  He was mostly just sad that we couldn't feed anymore animals.  Sorry Jack!  Below are just a few pictures.  It really was fun and I wish that we lived closer, because I would like to take the kids back there again!

 This was the buffalo that tried to eat my hand.  It really did hurt and scare me so I just dropped the bucket.  It probably didn't help that I was already scared because he was basically sticking his head into our car.  I felt like I was holding Ella right in his face for lunch!

I think the rest of our trip was pretty uneventful. We managed to swim in the hotel pool, go shopping, Joe went climbing, and we visited two parks on a cold Sunday morning.  It was a short trip, but I'm still glad we had a family outting.  I can't wait for more traveling in our future!

Parenting Ups And Downs

I took a bit of a sabbatical from the blog.  I guess my crafting projects have gotten the better of me.  I would like to make a challenge for myself to blog at least once a day.  It would be a good habit to start and a great way to remember some of the silly conversations I have with Jack and Ella.  Maybe I can make that my goal for April....  In the meantime, here is a little update with my struggles and triumphs as a mother.

Parenting Downs:
1.  I used to think I was a patient person, but I feel like I am yelling at Jack a lot lately.  I think I take frustrations out on him or maybe I am just frustrated that he cannot play nicely with his sister.  It seems like we do a lot of time outs lately (especially when we are cooped up in the house for these winter days) and I admit to spanking him.  I hate that I do it, and it definitely comes out of anger or frustration.  I find it hard to keep my cool when he is doing something really bad, like biting his sister.  It really makes me feel like an awful mother.  My goal this week has been to take a deep breath before disciplining him.  Just a second to think about the best action will help me tremendously.  I really just want to be a good mother and I want him to listen and grow up to be a respectful young man and I can't do that by leading with anger.

2.  Jack and Ella share a bedroom and it has meant a lot of adjusting with the sleeping routines.  Fortunately, Ella is a great sleeper.  She still has some nights when she wakes up looking for comfort, but mostly she sleeps from 8pm until 6am.  However, Jack has always woken up at night and recently we started putting him in his bed for the entire night.  After doing that, he was waking up for 4 to 5 times a night.  We would have to go into his room, lay him back down in bed, and then lay on the floor next to his bed until he fell back asleep.  Usually, but not always, this responsibility was my job.  I was just tired of it.  So we decided it was enough and began locking the door shut with a bungee cord.  Surprisingly he has done really well.  After doing good for a week, Ella decided she needed to wake up.  This then caused Jack to wake up and we had a whole night time debacle to deal with.  Both crying while I shut the door is the worst feeling.  However, they both went to bed again.  I would like to think our sleepless nights would be coming to an end, but I don't feel so positive anymore.  Seriously if they wake up and cry despite us shutting the door and using tough love, what else is there to do?

3.  Being a parent is a messy job.  On the last two car trips that we have taken, Jack has thrown up.  It gets all over his clothes and car seat.  And it smells.  You just learn to deal with it.  However, I never thought that dealing with poop, vomit, snot, drool, and food messes would be a daily part of my life. I guess you don't think about that part as much when you are planning to be a parent.  And can someone please give me a suggestion on how to stop Ella from putting her dirty hands in her hair when we are sitting down for a meal? 

Parenting Ups:
1.  As hard as it has been to put Jack in his bed and shut the door each night, it has been especially nice to hear him say, "lobe you mommy!" when I am shutting the door.  It is a special thing to hear your child tell you they love you, especially when you feel like you can do so much better.

2.  We bought a tunnel for Jack and Ella to play with and everyday they have the best time crawling in and out of it.  I just love to watch them play together and laugh together.  It really brings such great joy to watch them enjoying each other. 

3.  Jack clearly loves his sister.  If he is awake when she wakes from a nap, he wants to be the first to walk into the room and get her.  When we are going somewhere he always make sure that she gets to go too.  And despite the fact that he can be really aggressive and mean, he has the most wonderful moments of sharing with her.  It is especially cute watching him try to feed her.

4.  Ella adores her older brother.  Sometimes I wonder why, when he takes toys away from her or pushes her away, but I think I understand why.  He is her constant companion.  They get to do everything together.  We go almost everywhere together and she likes his company and finds him to be funny. 

5.  I try to make it to the gym a few times a week and I love that the kids both run to me when I go to the play area to get them.  I don't know what it feels like to be at work and then return home, but I imagine it would be similar. 

The parenting ups might be short and brief, but really it is the little things that make parenting so special.  I love my kids and I want to be better for them. 

Oh, and just as an update...Ella is trying to say the word dog.  Her favorite books are the Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? books. Jack really likes to read a book about a puppy called MuddyPaws.  He is learning his colors right now and seems to adore Spiderman.  His vocabulary is really improving.  He can say lots of words and repeat almost everything we say, however he needs to work on his pronunciation. 

Ella's Birthday Party

I know it is already been a month and a half since she had her birthday party, but I never did get around to posting pictures for everyone.  Of course I forgot to take any during the party, but did remember to get some of the decorations and food!  It was a great party too.  We have a bunch of good friends over with all their little ones running around and the sweets were all just as yummy as I had hoped for.  We kept the decorations fairly simple, but used the rainbow/sprinkles theme throughout.

I went to Lowes and picked up a bunch of the paint swatches, which I then turned in to streamers.  I happened to have a few tissue puffs too, which are like clouds!  I had this in two different rooms.

I made a happy birthday sign to go above her high chair.  I just grabbed a bunch of different colored paper that I already had on hand.

I made her a personal smash cake with a one on top made with sprinkles.  We also had rainbow cookies and skittles to much on.

Here is a few of the spread and in the background I set up a painting station for the little ones with crayons, colored pencils, markers, and finger paint.  I even remembered the smocks too!

A rainbow fruit tray, so that the kiddos weren't just earting dessert.

Rainbow cupcakes with sprinkles on top and oreo balls, and chocolate covered pretzels with sprinkles.

One very happy and full birthday girl!  We love her to pieces!

My Daily Entertainment

I think it is impossible to not be proud of your little ones.  You also can't help but laugh at some of the things that they do.  I have included three recent videos that we made that show their personality and make us laugh!  I hope you enjoy too!

 

Ella is finally a 1 year old.  I can't believe that a whole year has passed.  Seriously, it is almost hard to remember what I was thinking and feeling while in labor.  It seems so long ago and really such a small blip compared to all the fun she has been.  Honestly, she is working really hard to be my favorite child and she is only one! I love how outgoing and giggly she is.  Almost everything makes her laugh, especially when we are all eating at the dinner table. I was able to get pictures to upload again, yeah.  So this post will be picture heavy and also include the usual stats.  Sadly this will be her last monthly update, but I'm going to work my best to include more posts about the two of them.  It is good for the family anyways!

Nicknames:  Little Bear, Ella Bella, Wiggle Worm

Weight/Height:  20.8 lbs. and 30 inches

Foods:  Ella has always been a really good eater.  Joe told me that I need to look back on the posts about Jack, because I don't remember him being as good of an eater.  She will try just about everything.  She continues to have a sweet tooth and had no trouble digging into her birthday cake.  Ella also wants to eat whatever we are eating and whenever we are eating.  It makes it difficult to get a snack in, especially when it is something she can't chew yet.  I guess I can only snack on nuts when she is napping!

Temperament:  Ella continues to bring out more and more personality each day.  She is quite talkative (even though it is just baby babble) and loves to follow her brother around.  In fact, she has almost learned how to run.  Sometimes Jack and I will chase her around the house and tell her we are going to tickle her.  Usually this involves her trying to walk as fast as possible, while giggling, with Jack right behind her and his arms outstretched like a zombie.  I am usually behind him and saying, "tickle, tickle."  It probably looks funny, but we are having fun.

I also think Ella is pretty set on a schedule.  She likes to take her naps at the same time everyday, eat at the same time everyday, and go to bed at night at the same time.  She gets cranky whenever that schedule is off. I have to admit, I love the routine and consistency.

Items/Toys We Love:  About two weeks ago I was able to go grocery shopping with just Ella.  I decided to look at some of the sippy cups in the children's section at Walmart and thought it might be time to pick up one for her that was just a bit better for her age, instead of all the ones that we use for Jack.  Basically something a little more spill proof.  As I was looking I narrowed it down to two and finally then just one.  I began to put that one in the cart, when she started to cry, because I had picked the wrong one.  I switched them out and she was a very happy little girl.  Since we brought that home, she has loved using her new sippy cup every chance she gets.  She also really loves to climb into or on top of anything.  That seems to be a favorite game or play activity at the moment.

First Experiences:  We had our first stomach bug run through the house this past month.  Ella and I both got it, then we so kindly shared it with a few friends (I'm so sorry to everyone that go sick...I seriously thought it would have been clear after a week).  Ella was throwing up and had diarrhea for a few days.  I was constantly doing laundry and felt so bad for her.  Then she got a cold right after that.  It was not a fun time in our house.  However, what it did do, was stop Ella from drinking formula or milk.  She would get sick anytime she had a bottle and now refuses to use a bottle.  That works just great for me, but I am hoping some how we can reintroduce the milk to her.

So that is a quick and simple monthly update of our little girl.  I will write up another post this week about her birthday party.  It was so much fun and turned out great.  I love a good first birthday.  Actually I think I am looking forward to each year that I get to have fun (small) parties for my kiddos.  Well, it will be fun until the first sleep over!