Christmas Day

A trying out the buckles of her and E's new wagon.....


E thought this wagon was the greatest.....I still hope he thinks that when he can finally walk.


My hope is this will be a way I can convince both kids to stay in this so we can go on walks because A absolutely will not stay in the stroller anymore and although I have no problem with her walking.....it just isn't much of a workout walking at her pace.



I decided Christmas day that even though both kids were feeling quite "blue" - I was putting them in their Christmas clothes - even if it was for an hour or less.


I think this was maybe the one gift E opened.....and he was just as content with the paper.


And no Christmas would be complete without your very own "WWF" belt. Aunt S got this in the white elephant gift exchange we had.

Christmas Eve

This is how little E spent most of his Christmas Eve....we brought his car seat in from the car to give him somewhere to "sit" other than in our arms.


A had double duty - her presents and E's presents...that is probably why she thought every toy was "hers"


A and her new back-pack.


E did perk up for about 10 minutes....he looks happy and well but don't be fooled it was short lived.


A is infatuated with lipstick, "lip stuff", lip gloss, chapstick - you name it she wants it. She got her own fake tube for christmas and it was a good thing it was fake or I think she might have had one red face when she was done.


A - showing off our new "ebleskiver pan" from Grandpa R and Grandma M.


And back to sleep it was for little E.

Christmas 2007

That was easy!

okay so maybe not really.....
- 2 trips to the emergency room
- 2 very very sick kids
- 2 sick grandparents
- 6 nights of sleeping in a recliner - holding child
- 2 very tired parents!!
- 1 day delay in coming home
and yet we are happy to report our kids are starting to do better.....
little by little we are seeing some improvements,
I am afraid though A has hit the terrible two's
a few days shy of being two and is testing the limits of E & I at a
whole new level.

How we spent our time before Christmas.....

On Sunday Uncle B & Aunt S came over to spend some time with us....well for Uncle B it was really just about spending time with A I think. Here A was getting some lessons in catching and throwing a ball.



The ball went up...but I am not sure if it ever came down.


Aunt S testing her immune system and holding little E.


After A so graciously offered to make Uncle B some coffee - she then shared her thoughts with us on what she thought of the coffee she made - or wait - was she just copying Uncle B on his thoughts on coffee.


"I think it fits - Uncle B - do you think you could loan it to me for awhile?"


And who do you think was behind teaching A to make this face???


A & E both got to open one gift the day before Christmas Eve. They were blessed with 3 noise makers - 1 Drum & 2 maracas - I am not sure who was more blessed - them - or their parents. A got a shopping cart - but every toy that E opened was "hers" too! - go figure.

On the 9th Day of Christmas.......

The Doctor shared with me.....



One ear infection


And a case of RSV(eeeeee)

So I guess Christmas 2007 will go down as 2 sick kids. A has a terrible cough and an ear infection (but you would never know it - especially the ear infection) I took her in yesterday only because of her cough sounding sooooo bad. And E - well he just sounds plain terrible - wheezing, coughing, fever but still happy and smiling when we are not trying to give him his inhaler.

Frosting Cookies....

OR was it frosting eating???

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

3 Trouble Makers in a TUB!!

My Cousin and Aunt were in town this week from TX visiting along with her little girl. So at my parents this week we had an almost 3 year old, an almost 2 year old and an almost 1 year old. You can probably imagine - this provided for some very entertaining & fun, yet chaotic moments in the house and every where else we ventured. We came to the conclusion by the end of the week it was just easier to stay home and not go anywhere!!!

Cheesy Grin!!!

This has been E's latest and greatest face for us!!!

An Early Christmas Present Surprise....

We decided to give A one of her Christmas presents last weekend since we are going to MT for Christmas and it was much too large to transport there and back. So we told A after her nap we had a surprise for her. When she first came down the stairs - I don't think she knew what to think?


But as soon as we told her it was HERS...she thought it was the greatest!


I bought this kitchen this Fall for her used from the classifieds and after some much needed TLC and replacing a few parts....it is like brand new and A will never know the difference.


She has really enjoyed making us "coffee" and microwaving us "oranges". But her greatest love with the kitchen - funny thing - is the phone that came with it.

Christmas Tree Discoveries....

E has finally discovered the Christmas Tree....


It's a good thing all ornaments on the bottom are soft.


You would think from this picture he was enjoying himself but he was actually on the verge of tears...he got stuck under the tree since he only rolls one way and couldn't roll any further.

9 Months Old - well almost

E had his 9 month check-up today - a week early since we (myself and the kids) are leaving for MT this weekend.
This was the report - Weight: 19 lbs. 12 oz - which sounds heavy but really he was only in the 50% (doesn't change the fact that he still feels heavy to me). Height: 29 1/2 inches - long YES. (85%) and well head - still just big...not off the charts big...but big AND overall just a good healthy boy that didn't cry at all until the shots came. I took A along with us today because she has been so scared going to the Dr. lately I was hoping she would come to realize it's not such a bad place. She enjoyed her time as long as I kept reminding her that we were there for E and not her. She left telling me "I like Dr." - I guess we'll see about that when we go back in few weeks for her 2 year appointment.

500th Post......

So I was thinking - what do I blog about for our 500th post??? Nothing has really come to mind other than the endless pictures of the kids that we always post....so how about some winter pictures!!!


We got a bit of snow on Thursday and then we got quite a bit more on Saturday....still nothing in comparison to what some of the bordering states around us got...but a good amount for RC and enough that E fired up the snowblower and plowed the driveway and sidewalks.

Cookies.......

So A and I started making sugar cookies on Friday......so far the dough is still sitting in the fridge. It was supposed to sit over night....and we just have not had a good chunk of time now to roll out the dough and/or maybe I just haven't really felt like doing it when we do have the time. But the dough was sure tasty!!

23 months old and ready to dress herself!

I was busy trying to get something done this morning - so I told A to take off her pajamas so that we could get her dressed soon. She has become very good at taking her PJ's off and next thing I knew she came out of her room with her swimsuit as her choice of clothing for the day. At a mere 17 degrees this morning, I thought it was a very appropriate choice of clothing for the day.

Toddler Bed = Long Night(s)

Well after our first night of convincing A to go to bed in the Toddler Bed - we thought we were doing pretty good. She really hadn't put a fight about going to bed since and she has been staying in her bed at night (for the most part) until last night!!! Earlier this week she figured out how to open all doors in our house and although we don't shut her door at night (because her room is sooooo cold already) we do shut her door for naps.....so after about an hour of napping now she walks out and tells me "I awake" - great!!! So our lovely night last night....went something like this
7:30 - A to bed. (Ahh we can finally relax)
7:50 - A walks out and says "I sit with Daddy little while" - who can resist that sweet innocent voice - definitely not E.
7:58 - A back into her bed (told not to get up again until the moon goes down)
8:04 - phone rings - thanks uncle B!!!
8:08 - A up - this time she needs a drink - So she sits with E - I get her a drink - with the promise that right after her drink she is going back to bed!!
Sidenote - E has a huge deadline at work today - so he brought his computer home from work and worked last night until 12:45am - trying to get more work done on his document due today.
1:37am - A is calling for her nuk/huggie/daddy - this usually means she will be coming to our bed for a few minutes - so E went in and checked on her - and yup - to our bed she came. We told her that she could only stay for 5 minutes and then it's back to her bed.
1:45 - A back in her own bed.
2:23 - A is mysteriously back in our bed - (how on earth she got in bed with us is yet to be determined) E thinks he might have lifted her back into our bed - she often walks into our room and stands next to his side of the bed and because we were both so tired at this point - it is entirely possible.
2:35 - A is now back in her bed - AGAIN. (with the threat of a spanking if she gets up again) - I am up now taking aspirin for a migrane I feel coming on.
2:50 - Little E wakes up - (on schedule) to be fed. - yes he is still up in the night. So E & I get up - he gets little E and I make a bottle and get a diaper. E feeds little E and changes his diaper - I check on A because she is talking and remind her to stay in bed.
3:04 - E puts little E back to bed and in the process sees A get up and shut her door. So E opens A's door to find that she has done duty in her diaper - so he changes his second diaper for the middle of the night.
3:07 - A back to bed - Little E in bed but now talking to us through the monitor.
3:50 - A back in our room AGAIN - we put her in our bed and I say to E (can you sleep with her in here - cause I can and I'm ready to give up - to just get some sleep). A sits up and insists on getting some water - Ok - I go get her cup - we tell her - once she is done she MUST go back to her bed and stay there.
3:53 - A back in bed - it's now 2 hours and 37 minutes until E's alarm goes off.
6:30 - Yes we made it 2 hours and 37 minutes - E decides to reset his alarm until 7 - that is just fine with me.
6:37 - Litte E - starting to stir and fuss. I suggest just waiting until he really starts crying to get him.
6:44 - Little E is now definiely awake. E decides to get up and shower and brings Little E into bed with me.
6:54 - In walks A - "I AWAKE" - (did you ever go to sleep??)

Needless to say we will be going to bed at 7 tonight!!! So no calls after 7 (Uncle B!!!)

Sing Us A Song.....

Your the Piano Man

"I'll sing and play you a song tonight"

"If I could ever stop smiling and concentrate"


" So you would like to hear the Itsy Bitsy Spider, I think I can play that"


"Well maybe not, that song just makes me laugh too much"


E was being such a ham yesterday with this piano....he knew he was being funny and loved it.

Snow time Fun!

We promised A after her nap yesterday that she could go out and play in the snow. She isn't quick to forget any promise - she woke up from her nap and began taking her pants off to put her snow pants on. This was only the second time in her life wearing snow pants so we had to remind her that she keeps her pants on under her snow pants.


All bundled up and deciding whether she can really move with all this gear on.


And of course no matter what time of year it is....surely you can always swing....if only my hands worked a little better to hold on.


E built up snow at the bottom of the slide and A loved being able to slide down into a pile of snow. We really didn't get all that much snow...but it sure looks like we did. Maybe a 1/2 inch.



All smiles - not sure we were going to be able to convince her to come back inside.


E was trying to convince A to tackle him...she would just have rather thrown snow on him....she just isn't the rough tackling type. I guess he'll just have to wait for little E.