Bracelets

When we were at my parents' house after Ike, Mikaela found my mom's stash of sparkly bracelets. So there were quite a few mornings when she would come downstairs all decked out :) So before we left, Grandma and Granddaddy gave her some money to buy some bracelets of her own. We actually were able to get quite a bit of stuff: lots of pretty bracelets, some necklaces and a pink ladybug watch (thought I might as well start teaching her how to tell time :) ). Here are a few of the items on her wrists--and yes, she likes to wear everything at one time. The main thing missing is the Cinderella locket that she's managed to take off her blue necklace and the cute little sunglasses that she LOVES that she took from Grandma and Granddaddy's house (she usually puts them on upside-down, which cracks me up, and she even pushes them up on top of her head :) )

Blogging Hiatus

Well, I've taken a little break. It wasn't meant to be this long, but it all started with Ike and just hasn't picked up! So what's been going on? Well, for Ike, Eric boarded up, and we headed to Dallas. It only took us 9.5 hours this hurricane compared to almost 21 hours during Rita :) Fortunately, we didn't have any damage to our house or to Eric's car! It did look as if a tornado hit our property, but it's finally coming along. Our pump house was completely uprooted, which caused some damage to the pump, but Eric and his dad seemed to fix it fairly easily. A couple of the old barns that haven't been taken down yet were demolished, but hopefully we'll be compensated for that.

So Eric, the kids and I stayed at Kelli and David's from Thursday night until Sunday morning. Then Eric was anxious to get home to get started with cleaning up, so we met his parents in College Station. He went back with them, and the kids and I stayed with my parents for a week and got to visit a few more friends. Below are some pictures of our house and of the kids. I actually didn't take many pictures while we were gone this time--guess I was a little distracted :)

Warm Milk: To Be Guzzled (and turned away if given cold)

From the Elijah Dictionary

Yes--little man is trying so hard to talk. Here are a few of the things he says:

**bop (cup)

**Dac! Dac! (short for Daddycakes--every now and then he'll actually get out Daddycakes, but usually he opts for the short version :) )

**baw! (ball)

Our House Projects

Currently we've been having a lot of work done on the outside of our house. It started this past Friday when Eric started digging ditches (mostly done with a ditchwitch :) ) for new pipes to be put in. He's been one tired puppy the past few days--not so used to the manual labor now that he has a desk job :) Then on Saturday, a plumber-friend of ours started re-doing ALL of the piping to our house. There was just a lot of stuff that didn't need to be there, and the pipes were really old (galvanized)!

Once that was done, it paved the way to start getting the front 2 acres level. So much of our yard is not really going to be a yard for awhile because it's being covered with dirt in order to level it. Maybe the pictures will do a better job describing it for you :)

New Fun

Any time we lose a block or letter or whatever, I lift up the couch cushions to see if I can find what I'm looking for. Well, Mikaela has started doing the same thing, except she has gone a step further and just takes all the cushions completely off the couches. And you can't just take couch cushions off and then not play and jump on them! So now she does it even when she's not looking for anything. Elijah thinks it's great fun too :)

Getting Dirty

Little man LOVES to go outside! Unfortunately for him, Mommy does not always want to go out when he wants to :) So here I am being a good mommy and letting him get all dirty like a little boy. He was playing in the dirt from the pipes being re-done, and he was also eating the dirt :) He enjoyed it :)

Cutting Grass

Put me on a tractor for a few minutes, and this is what'll happen--especially if I haven't had my nap yet :)


MJ is NOT a fan of the love bugs :)

14 Months

Oh, this little man is so precious, and today marks 14 months for him. Everything he does--well, except for the occasional tantrum, and pooping in the diaper--is sooo cute! And, he went all week without nursing :( He really liked his morning nursing, and I really liked getting to lay down for a few more minutes, but on MJ's birthday, Daddy broke that routine for us. Kind of sad--kind of happy. Since he's not getting the morning feeding, he really hasn't even asked for any other feedings. He's growing up--a little less dependent on Mama, and a lot interested in where Daddy is and what he's doing. That's good--he needs to be a little Daddy's helper, but I do still get to spend almost all day every day with him. He needs his Daddy-time, and he's already very anxious to get on the lawnmower with him :)

Sunday Morning Pics (a week late)

I Don't Care What the Sticker Looks Like--I Just Like it Because it Sticks!

Mikaela is 3!!

I haven't even gotten to write about my sweet girl turning 3(!!) on Monday, August 25. I can't believe it's been three years! She can be so sweet one second and so mean the next :) But she does keep us laughing. She is such a big helper to me and is a little sponge when it comes to learning things. We started "school" last week--no real set schedule besides what's in my head, but we have been doing reading, math and beginning writing (mainly practicing how to even hold a pencil :) ), Bible, and languages. She has been doing so well with the reading--I really think she'll be reading fairly fluently in a year! (So if you have any suggestions on good, simple readers--especially if they have large print, let me know!) I have many high hopes for and expectations of her. It's sometimes hard not to get frustrated when she doesn't want to "play" along with me :) She loves to do puzzles (the 24-piece ones for now), and she still has a very vivid imagination. She definitely didn't get that from me. I don't like to imagine things--never have--just want the real thing :) So it's fun just to sit back and watch her play sometimes.

For her birthday, this year, we went to BJ's one day, so we could get her free birthday pizookie, of course :) Then on Monday, we got up around 6:30, and I made a pancake and sausage breakfast for her--ok--seeing as how she's not really all that interested in eating these days, it was more for the rest of us :) She even told me she didn't like pancakes! Who doesn't like pancakes?! Maybe I would have been better off with donut holes :) Well, also, what she really wanted was to get to open her present. She has loved playing with other kids' dolls and changing their clothes and all, so I found some Polly Pocket dolls on Ebay. They came with over 150 pieces! So guess what I've been doing this week? That's right--changing doll clothes :)

My Graduate

Well, I just haven't been able to blog lately! So now, Saturday will make two weeks since Eric graduated from HBU! He actually finished quite a while back but finally decided it was time to actually get his diploma :) We are so proud of him and his accomplishment of keeping on until he was done. Having a degree from HBU in Houston is kind of like having a degree from A&M in College Station. They are great at networking with the local businesses and do a really good job of helping their students find a job when they graduate. Eric has really enjoyed his job at Deloitte and Touche for 2 years now and is starting his 3rd year there. Now we just need to hurry up and get his diploma frame ordered!

Finally!

Little man is starting to do this more and more! Today is the first time I've been able to get him to perform for the camera :)

Sunday Funnies

So yesterday, this little cutie gave me a big scare. We got to church and just when we were about to walk in for service Elijah started crying and then wailing. I was walking around with him, nursing him, taking him outside trying to see if he would calm down. This continued for about 20 minutes, at least. Finally, Eric came out, and I told him we needed to leave. At this point, I was kind of scared b/c he just never does this (not the crying part--the crying after he's been picked up part :) )--and this was pretty much continuous crying (and it wasn't a temper tantrum either :) ). Anyway, something was hurting him bad, and I was trying to figure out what we were going to do. We got in the car, and I knew there was no way he was getting into his carseat. So I thought I'd try to nurse him to calm him down first--didn't work. I'd already been looking under his shirt to see if he had a rash or maybe something had bitten him--his cheeks were bright red. His shoes were getting in my way, so I took them off, and voila--he stopped crying almost immediately! Poor baby had had his foot shoved into his shoe in such a way that it was causing him immense pain :( (I won't say who shoved his foot into the shoe that way :) ) Needless to say, I think he'll be getting some shoes in the next size so his poor little toes aren't all crunched up!

Later on in the day, I told Mikaela we'd go get a surprise. So when Eric got home, we hopped in the car to go get snowcones. We were sitting at the table eating happily. Elijah was walking arout the benches and playing with the rocks, so, of course, Mikaela had to follow suit. So they're both walking around, Mikaela coming back every couple of minutes for another bite. Well, I hear, "Mommy, I need to go potty!" When I look at her, Mikaela has already pulled down her shorts, and has a bare bottom as she's already starting to pull down her underwear. Yes--she had a crowd to watch her too :) So I hurriedly tell her to wait, pull up her pants and take her to the potty in the car. Daddy was pretty horrified--I was trying not to laugh. Ah, innocence :)

Copy Cat

Little man copies much of what his big sister does--sometimes that's good and funny, and other times it's not good for him :)

Go Elijah, Go!

Climbing and Independence

This little one is so cute and precious. He is starting to climb on more and more things--and he can even get down by himself! He even knows how to get off the couch and our big bed all by himself! I think he's going to remain in his crib for a while still! He is starting to take more and more steps and is standing quite often now w/o holding on. He can even stand and drink his milk now :) He's not consistent enough with the walking though for me to get a video :(

Something about turning 1 brings about this independence that wasn't there before. Elijah spoiled his mommy for about 3 months or so with really never pooping in his diaper. He'd just go when I put him on the potty. Well, I've cleaned out what feels like so many poopy diapers in the last month! Little man has decided that he doesn't usually want to sit on the potty when Mommy wants him to! I kind of remember Mikaela going through this phase--this is a phase that I hope passes quickly :) What happened to my little compliant boy?!

Help!

Energy

This little munchkin wears us out! She is just a bundle of energy from the time she wakes up until she finally falls asleep. And, if you're on the floor, she's going to climb on you :)

She can be so sweet and helpful one minute and then so mean the next. Today is the first day in two weeks that she has been allowed to watch a long movie. For two weeks now, she has watched anywhere from 0-1 hour of television! It has been so hard--for ME. I didn't realize how much I depended on the television to capture her attention or give in to her whining. The reason for the loss of tv time was b/c she was throwing fits when her movie ended and wanted to watch it again. She has told me multiple times, "Mommy, I won't cry." But today is the first day that we're trying it out again. Now that we're out of the habit of so much television watching, I want to stay out. She has so many other things to learn! :)

Short Hair

Little man did great for his second haircut. I put him in front of a short movie, and it only took me 15 minutes or so. I got him all cleaned up, and then, just when he thought he was going to get down, Mommy decided to cut a little more in the back. Then Daddy comes along and is laughing at the straight line I cut in the back, so I HAD to go round it out. Well, the additional cuts didn't go so well. Elijah decided to move a lot b/c Mommy pretty much told him she was finished--what was she thinking??! He moved once right when I was cutting--just in time to make me snip the skin between two of my fingers. But don't worry--it's been over a week now, and I can't even tell where I cut myself :)

Man--that haircut tuckered me out!

See--I can stand all by myself!

Build-A-Bear

Ok--I told you about Mikaela going to a Build-A-Bear birthday party a couple of weeks ago. So I kept telling her, "Oh, Mikaela, what a cute teddy bear!" to which she would reply, "No--not teddy bear, puppy dog," to which I would reply, "No, it's a teddy bear." She would then just say under her breath, "Not teddy bear, puppy dog." After examining the bear, I thought, "I see why she thinks it's a puppy--it has really long ears and a long tail--oh well--kind of an odd-looking bear."
Well, last week we went to a friend's house where I saw a picture of all the kids with their "bears" except that some of them had kittens and other various animals. So I asked the lady who took Mikaela, "Did Mikaela make a bear?" to which she responded, "No, she wanted to make a dog." :)

From the Mikaela Dictionary

**Mikaela has started calling her feet her left foot and her "wrong" foot lately :)

**"Mommy, Daddy forgot his munch." Me: "No, Mikaela, l-l-l-unch."

MJ: "l-l-l-munch." :)

**"Me turn!"

**After finishing on the potty--"Mommy, I AM done." :(

**"Mommy, we goin for church," or sometimes "Mommy, we going at church."

**"May I have some salsa (salt) in my egg pease?" as she points to the cabinet with the salt.

Some of her baby language is disappearing fast. It's a little sad, but the teacher in me can't help but correct her grammar 80% of the time :)

Photoshoot

Well, I just couldn't help myself. Eric and Mikaela were napping on Sunday, so I took Elijah outside to practice on some pics with him :) Then we were planning on going to Walmart, and Mikaela was throwing a fit about something, so she lost her privilege of getting a sticker and cookie. It ended up being a while before we went, so I told Mikaela she could earn her cookie back if she would smile for me for a few pictures--it's amazing what you can get for a cookie :)

Play Date

On Wednesday, we were able to go play one more time with our friends before they headed back to India on Friday. Unfortunately, I missed lots of other pics of all the friends we started out with. Here's what I was able to get.

Only Color On Paper, only color on paper, on..ly....col...or.......on.........pa........per

P.S. This has been MJ's outfit almost every day for the past couple of weeks (except for if we go somewhere). I guess it makes it easier on the washing for me :)

Caught--I'm Supposed to Be ASLEEP! No--Mommy & Daddy did not put me to bed with shoes :)

Matching Munchkins

Even their teeth are growing in the same!

Standing!

Little man is getting sooo close to walking! In just the past 2 days, he's gotten braver and more willing to let go! Today is the first day I've noticed him actually standing for seconds at a time rather than sitting down immediately. He's even starting to take a few very balanced steps w/o just falling into your arms! I imagine in the next couple of days he'll be taking more and more steps!!

Mommy Shoes, Daddy Shoes

Mikaela came up to me while I was making my bed this morning and said, "Look Mom (her newest way of referring to me)! Mommy shoes, Daddy shoes." And this is what she had done :) I really don't know where she comes up with this stuff :)

6 Years!

So yesterday, Eric and I celebrated 6 years of marriage! We kind of had an on-going celebration this year in that we've actually had 2 dates in a matter of 4 days! Thursday night we headed to an IMAX theater to watch "The Dark Knight." Yes--it was a 12:01 am (Friday morning) showing! Yes--we're crazy b/c it was 4 am by the time we were in bed, and my little alarm clock kindly woke me around 6:15 am. The kids and I then proceeded to meet friends at 8 am to go to the beach! I was running on fumes on Friday and didn't even get a nap! But when you get free tickets, you can't just pass them up :) Besides, it was well worth it!

Then last night our friend Melissa kindly came and put our kids to bed for us so we could go eat at Vic & Anthony's--it was so yummy, and dessert was on the house :)

Anyway, the Lord has truly blessed me with the most wonderful husband. He is above and beyond what I ever could have come up with in my own mind's eye. I pray the Lord gives us many, many more years together, growing in Him and together.

Friends

On Saturday, we went to Katy to visit some friends that I went to grad school with. Most of us are all married and/or have kids now, so it was fun to get to see everyone. There were 4 babies (5-12 mos), and they were all just too cute. And of course the three bigger kids, Jacob (19 mos), Mikaela (almost 3) and Andrew (3.5), were really cute too :) They actually all did really well playing together and seemed to have a good time. Again, it took Mikaela a little while to warm up, but boy--once she warms up, you're in trouble :)

Nighttime Fun

The other night, I thought Mikaela and Elijah were close to being asleep, but then I heard talking. I thought they were just talking themselves to sleep. But then I hear them talking to each other and laughing and just having a ball :) Needless to say, mean ole mom broke up all the fun :)

The Beach

This past Friday, some friends from church, MJ, EM and I all went to the beach in Galveston. I like the beach all right, but I'm not a real fan of the sand being EVERYWHERE once you leave, so usually I'm not real disappointed when Eric refuses to go to the beach. But it is nice to get to play around in the water and sand. I just wish I could completely get rid of the sand BEFORE I get into my car on the way out! Oh well--we had a lot of fun. Mikaela and Elijah both really liked it. It was Mikaela's second time (she doesn't remember the 1st time) to go to the beach and Elijah's first visit. He actually liked the water and LOVED the sand. AND I was so excited--he didn't even try to put the sand in his mouth!!! Mikaela totally grossed me out the first time I took her--she was eating sand almost the entire time! And no, I didn't take my good camera to the beach, so you get the point-&-shoot version here. And good thing--my poor little Cybershot has sand in the turning mechanism :(

On the Tummy

This was taken a little over a week ago. She finally told me she was ready to go on her tummy :)

Parties & Sickness

Well, poor little man had his first bout of sickness a week ago. He started out with a low-grade fever on Thursday. I figured he's just teething--no big deal. Well, on Friday, he started out ok, but then his fever gradually got higher and higher. I finally decided I should check his temperature--103.5!! Needless to say, he was even more clingy than normal and just wanted to be held :) On Saturday, he had a low-grade fever which dissipated by the end of the day. Sunday he appeared fine. Then on Monday morning I noticed this rash all over his tummy, back and neck and a tiny bit on his forehead! So I went to good ole Google which took me to good ole Dr. Sears :) He helped me to diagnose my little man as having had roseola, the only child virus where the rash appears after the fever has gone away. Fortunately, the Lord healed his little body quickly, and he's back to normal now :)

With Elijah being sick, I wasn't able to go to the build-a-bear party Mikaela had for a friend at church. So she went with some other friends and had a great time. In the picture to the left, she was all proud of herself for hanging all the babies and animals from her necklace so she didn't have to hold on to them :)

Independence Day

Our Fourth of July was semi-uneventful :) Grandma and Pops came over, and Eric grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for us for lunch (yes--again :) ). It was raining for a good portion of the day, so Eric had to pull the grill under the front porch. Mikaela was just itching to run out in the rain, so finally I told her to go (with her stickers from the previous day still on her forehead :) ). She had a blast just running up and down the front sidewalk splashing in the puddles and getting wet in her clothes :) Elijah had fun watching her--it won't be long before he'll be right there with her :)

More From the Mikaela Dictionary

Oh my goodness--this little girl keeps me on my toes! She is such a hoot and so frustrating at the same time!! She has this fetish with Walmart stickers right now :) When we get in the car she always puts them on her forehead :) The other day the lady gave her 2 stickers--she was super excited about that! Today we went again and thought we could get away w/not getting a sticker--oh no--this little sweetness doesn't forget about a thing--we had to turn around and go ask for one :) She and Elijah got to ride in one of the carts that has the 2 bucket seats in the front. I was going to take a pic but didn't have the point & shoot in my purse :( Oh well--maybe next time :) So here are some of the latest phrases from Mikaela:

**Don't say me dat!! (Usually to her babies or herself when she's carrying on a conversation with them or her reflection :) --but sometimes to me, which gets to the point of disrespectful'ness' and, therefore, correction :) )

**I wan bwush my comb. (I want to brush--or comb--my hair.)

**I write piture for you!! (I drew you a picture.)

She's getting clearer and clearer all the time, but she still says lots that we just can't quite make out :)

Caught

Sissy helping clean up brother's mess :)

The Cake

Sorry, but this video was refusing to process the other night when I did little man's b-day post. So here it is now :)