Fun & games

This is just a quick post and a few pictures highlighting the fun we've been having at home lately.
Elle is getting bigger all the time and learning new things. She & Will have been interacting a lot more, which is really fun (though Will might disagree).


By Will's choice, we've had family band night lately. I joined them on the guitar. We're pretty awesome.


Will also loves to play hide and seek. We're working with him to be a better hider. Too often he just sits on the couch and curls up, while remaining in plain view. At least this time I put a blanket over him. Elle wanted to play, too, though, and that made it a little easier for Daddy to figure out where Will was.


Last weekend Eleanor learned to climb the stairs. This is her new favorite adventure. She loves to see how far up she can get without one of us noticing (usually only one stair) and then she squeals with delight when we get there. She climbs all the way to the top and does a pretty good job. She just gets distracted occasionally and doesn't realize she'll fall backwards down a flight of stairs. So, we stay close behind.

Blowouts, bags, and bunnies

Fair warning - this will be a very random post. This is just a compilation of some of the funny things that have been happening in our house recently.

The other night Will picked up his sister's toy purse and carried it around forever - taking breaks to put on pretend chapstick. He announced to me, "I'm Tarla. I'm a boy. This is my purse." Whatever floats your boat, kiddo! He's been very into role playing lately. We've played "house" several times. I've gotten to be the brother, the mommy, the cat, and the dog. Oh what an imagination!

We apparently have some wild rabbits living near us. We've seen them in the yard from time to time. The other night, Will had so much fun watching one of them out the window. He squealed with delight every time the bunny moved and he could hardly contain himself when the bunny was nibbling on the grass. Will thought it was fantastic. Later when he was out eating on the patio, I hear Will shouting and pounding on the door, "Mommy, mommy, I see the Easter bunny!" I tried to explain that these were probably just friends of the Easter bunny, but not the actual Easter bunny. Will was amazed at how fast Botchie could run after the bunny. Poor old Botch doesn't move that fast very often anymore! Now Will wants to leave carrots for the bunnies...I'm not sure that will be happening. I don't know how much we want to encourage these return visitors.

Warning that this may be too much information for some of you, but it's a reality of life, so I'm posting it. CRO - stop reading :)
Poor Elle has been struggling with all the meds she's been on. It's wreaking havoc on her tummy. She has not been interested in eating much the last few days, so we just get her to take whatever she can. Last night's dinner was yogurt and a few crackers. She went through 3 outfits on two different days at day care this week. After seeing them, I couldn't believe she even had a diaper on! Gross! Last night as we were finishing dinner she made quite a mess. Thankfully, she was on the hardwoods and not the new carpet. I ended up just having to put her straight into the bath. Hopefully we'll be done with all of this soon!

And one last funny from Will: as Justin was complaining about getting the wrong order from dinner the other night, Will appropriately chimed in "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" One of my favorite sayings :)

Spring fun and pictures

It has been a bit of an emotional week and I've been doing a lot of reflecting. We are so very blessed to have these two amazing children. What a gift!

As the weather is warming up, I thought I'd take some pictures of us just having fun. As you can see, Will thinks it is time for the swimming pool. Notice the tennis shoes - he originally had sandals on, but the grass was touching his feet - it's gonna be a long summer if that keeps up! I know our neighbors thought we were loony, but Will insisted on wearing this and playing outside. And really, who can blame him? It was really nice!



She's going to hate me for it some day, but I had to take this picture of Eleanor's chubby baby thighs - they're just too cute!


Eleanor was very interested in what I was doing outside.


And this series of pictures gives you an idea of how mobility has enhanced her exploration. She's into everything!



She's not exactly graceful, but she sure is cute!

Easter 2010

I'm a little slow getting around to posting these, but we had a wonderful Easter weekend! The weather was nice and kids were in good moods had lots of fun hunting for eggs. Saturday we went to a really fun Easter egg hunt at a friend's house. There were lots of kids and Will had a blast finding eggs!

It was a little muddy, so the fireman boots were a necessity.


On Sunday morning, the Easter bunny came while we were at church. He left the kids' baskets outside their doors and hid eggs in the playroom. Needless to say, Will was a bit more interested than Eleanor. Just wait til next year!

Then we had a great lunch and afternoon at Mom's celebrating Easter and Grandma joining the church.

I love this picture of Elle. She made a beeline for Will's basket when he was off getting another egg.

And finally, we ended the day with a quick hunt at Grammy & Grandpa's. What a fun-filled day! Here is Ellie loving her baby that Grammy & Grandpa gave her.

Will noting similarities and differences

At dinner last night Will says the following:

"Daddy, you are awesome!
I am awesome, too!
Mommy, you are...different."

I feel so loved! Happy Easter! Will post Easter pics and stories soon - still unpacking and getting sick kids settled down for bed right now.

Fashion police

Let me recount the conversation when Justin walked downstairs after changing his clothes this evening.

Will: "Daddy, why do you have those big boy underwear on?"
Justin: "These aren't big boy underwear, Will. They're shorts."
W: "Daddy, why do you have those short pants on?"
J: "Because it's hot outside, Will."
W: "You need different shorts on, Daddy."

So, in addition to his attention to detail we can now add fashion sense to Will's repertoire.

One year stats

Eleanor had her 12 month checkup yesterday. 3 shots, 2 ear infections, 2 new antibiotics and a nasal spray later, here are her stats...surely this girl will get healthy soon!

Weight: 21 lbs, 5.45 oz (53%)
Length: 28.75 in. (36%)
6 teeth
pulling up to standing, lots of crawling
mostly using sippy cups, drinking whole milk and water and getting more adventurous with "real" food
saying dada, mama, and various other things at times (this = dis; that = dat; dog = doe!, done = du") and lots of other unintelligible babble
signing "more" and "all done" and her very own made up sign for "pick me up, please!"

Doing great, if only we can kick these ear infections!