Little Man Update

Well, little man is officially 20-months-old now! Very soon, he will be a big brother, so we've been working hard on some training issues. The biggest thing is potty-training. We've actually been doing this since he was about 2 months, but we really hit it hard the past couple of months. So far, he has done really well. Most days he doesn't have any accidents, but other days, it's another story :) I haven't taken many pics the past month b/c he really does best when he doesn't have any bottoms on. Then he can just go sit on the potty when he knows he needs to go. I will eventually get around to putting underwear on him, but right now it just causes more frustration on my part. One--he can't pull them down by himself; two--he somehow thinks it's free reign to just go in his underwear :)

The other thing has been getting him to sleep in his "big boy" bed. This has been 10 times worse than potty-training b/c it deprives me and Eric both of our sleep :) But, we have made lots of progress. Normally, he'll go down pretty easily now (except for tonight :) ), but he still gets up 3-4 times during the night. The good thing is that now we can usually just put him back in bed and he'll sleep for a couple more hours. The bad thing is that we still get woken up every few hours to go put him back in bed :) I think we're definitely prepared for baby #3 :)

Elijah's vocabulary is growing steadily. He's not real clear on much, but I notice more and more that he really been trying to talk and communicate better! He copies pretty much anything Mikaela does from jumping on the couch to running around the house to cooking. He LOVES a show on PBS called "Word World" and would watch it the entire day if I would let him :) He asks multiple times during the day to watch it :)

He is so funny and cute but is also starting to display some unpleasant characteristics :( Mikaela really doesn't like it when he has to get a spanking and will start crying too. It's good to see she cares :)

I think he's going to make a great big brother. He loves to pull up my shirt, kiss the baby, and then pull my shirt back down :) Before long, you'll get to see pics of him holding his little sibling!

I Do!

Little man is starting to repeat more and more of what we say! Here's one of my favorites right now :)

Another Mikaela Funny

Ok--so I just couldn't put off writing about this. This morning we were eating breakfast, and MJ wanted to be a "princess." So, of course, that means she has to adorn herself with all her bracelets, necklaces, crown, etc. Well, she also had her phone in her purse and had it out. So here's the conversation that followed:

MJ: Mommy, where's your phone?

Me: Right here on the table.

MJ: Wif your toothpaste?

Me: Huh?

MJ: Wif your toothpaste.

Me: What?

MJ: Wif your toothpaste.

Me: I don't understand what you mean. With my toothpaste?

MJ: Yes!

Me: (thinking, thinking, ...lightbulb going off) Oh! You mean my bluetooth?!

MJ: Yes!

My Beautiful Prince & Silly Princess

Elijah adorned himself with with Sissy's gear one night after his bath--I know it'll make his daddy proud :) Mikaela said, "Mommy, he's a beautiful prince!" The other is Mikaela with a doll pillowcase being used as a nightcap :)

A Mikaela Funny/Not So Funny

So if you can't quite make out the pictures above, let me fill you in. Tonight, I was rocking Elijah for a few minutes before putting him down. I'd told Mikaela that I would rock her while we prayed and sang. She disappeared while I was rocking Elijah, and I heard her in the bathroom. I thought, "Good--she's going to the potty--I forgot to make her go--so glad she thought of that." Well, after putting her down, I had to go to the bathroom. I saw the inside of a roll of toilet paper on the counter and thought, "Good--Elijah will have a new one to play with now." I get another roll and am about to sit down, and I see what you see above--a whole, whole lot of tp in the toilet. I start thinking about it, and realize that Eric just gave me that roll last night before we went to bed. We weren't here for a good portion of the day today. So that means my little sweetiecakes pulled an almost entire jumbo roll of toilet paper off the roll and put it in the toilet!! Fortunately for her, she was already asleep b/c she definitely would have ended the night with a spanking. So I braved it and got some tongs and a couple of Walmart bags and dug all the paper out (and yes--I did try to flush it first b/c I thought maybe I'd get lucky and it would go down--I really despise digging things out of the toilet). Needless to say, at the rate my brain is going these days, I'll be lucky to remember tomorrow morning that she did that so that it can be dealt with :)

Washington DC

Well, for Christmas this year, we decided to come visit the Schiel family in Gaithersburg, Maryland! They are friends of ours from our church and are currently in MD going to Pastors' College. They only have 6 more months to be here, so we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity to get to know them better, while also getting to visit DC at the same time :)

We left last Thursday morning at 5am and made it to Atlanta, Georgia (yes--we DROVE with two small children!! BUT, we got to bring another family's 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, with us as a surprise for the 13-year-old Schiel daughter, Danielle. This actually worked out well for all of us b/c Sarah and Danielle get to hang out, but we also have an extra hand to help out some with the kiddos! :) ). Then another family from our church has a sister (sister-in-law, aunt) who lives in Atlanta whose family was very gracious and fed us a meal and provided us with lodging for the night.

On Friday, we made the rest of the trek to Gaithersburg. Danielle was super surprised to get to see Sarah. It was something she'd been hoping for but had pretty much given up hope that it would actually happen :) On Saturday, we just took it easy and lounged around the house, resting and talking. Little man decided to start having a very loose cough :( On Sunday, we went to church, and later in the afternoon, the older girls, Shari and I went to the mall for a little while. Little man was feeling even worse, now also with a little fever :( Mikaela also started in on the loose coughing, but not with any fever. So on Monday, we decided not to go in to DC. Instead, Monday night, we went to a drive-through "Christmas in the Park," kind of like Santa's Wonderland in C.S. MJ slept through the whole thing; when we got home, I put her in her sleeping bag, and she said, "But we didn't get to go bye-bye yet!" Poor thing--didn't remember ever leaving the house :) Elijah at least woke up for a little bit of it.

On Tuesday, we went to DC and toured the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and to a castle (can't remember the exact name right now). Little man still didn't feel good, but we figured we could carry him around the house all day, or we could carry him around the museum all day--we chose the latter :)

On Wednesday, little man finally broke his fever and is now coughing MUCH less and is on the road to recovery, but unfortunately, he has passed on whatever he had to a few others :( For the most part though, Wednesday was just the beginning of it for everyone else, but there was a pretty high chance of rain, so we decided we didn't all want to be trekking around DC in the rain :) So we had another easy day and went and got some Webkinz, and then Eric and I went to a Christmas Eve production at the church--alone! (everyone else went Tuesday night).

So today, Eric and I decided to go see a lot of the memorials this morning so that we could see them before we leave. We took our kiddos and Sarah, but a couple of the Schiel kids weren't feeling well today. Poor Sarah really wasn't feeling well either, but she came along anyway, not knowing when she might ever get to see these things again :) We saw 7 memorials in all, and my brain is so fried right now that I'm not even going to attempt to name them all. I'll try to put all the names with the pictures later on. Upon returning, Shari had made a wonderful Christmas lunch/dinner. My one regret is not being able to help her cook and see the memorials at the same time :(

Tomorrow, our family, and whoever else feels well enough to go, is going to the natural science museum and to the natural history museum.

And I was going to post pictures tonight, but it's late, and I haven't gotten to label them yet, so you'll just have to wait for another post :)

Introducing...

Introducing (from top to bottom, left to right) Ariel, Obadiah, Pam (or Patricia), Mother, Dollar Jesus (or Amanda), a friend, another friend, Camille, another friend, Grandma, and Maffew. Eric and I were just cracking up! I've tried telling her over and over that Obadiah is a boy's name, but she just tells me, "No, Obadiah is a girl!" :) The best one was Dollar Jesus. I have no idea where she came up with that one. I asked her if she meant "daughter," but she said, "No, Dollar." Then the next day she changed Dollar Jesus' name to Amanda. I told her I wanted Dollar Jesus back and was told no that her name was Amanda. I insisted on Dollar Jesus, so she said, "Well, some days her name can be Dollar Jesus." :)

A convenient way to carry your dolls around if you don't want to use your hands :)

Church Picnic

On Saturday, we had our church picnic. I was a little worried as to what the weather was going to be like, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day! Mikaela enjoyed being around all her friends and jumping in the Moonwalk. And Elijah got to roam quite a bit, which he enjoyed. Needless to say, I was very tired at the end of the day b/c Eric stayed home since he still didn't feel so well. So I didn't get all the pictures I wanted :( But the food and company were good, and once again, the Shys and Mercedes did a wonderful job getting everything organized and set up!

80th Birthday Party

Last Friday was Eric's grandmother's 80th birthday, so her kiddos threw a little surprise party for her :) We had some yummy fish and desserts and had a good time celebrating with her!

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, sorry that once again, it's taken me so long to get up some posts, but here we go :) For Thanksgiving, we went to Dallas to visit Aunt Kelli and Uncle David. I think Mikaela had more fun than anyone! She made many more "best" friends and now includes them daily every time lists off all her friends :)

We actually spent Thanksgiving day at David's parents' house. It was a beautiful day outside, the food was awesome, and we all just really were able to relax and have a good time.

Then on Friday, Eric and I actually got up really early and got a tiny bit of shopping done--for ourselves :) And a little later on, Kelli's cousin Valerie and her two kids Savannah and Burke came in. Mikaela was loving every minute of it! And once Elijah warmed up to everyone, there was no shutting him up either :) He gets pretty funny and silly when he warms up, but before that, he's all business--no smiling--very serious :)

Here are some pictures to fill you in on what I missed. And somehow I managed to let Valerie and the kids leave without ever getting a picture of them!

Mommy, Take a Pee-chur

The past few day, every time Mikaela and Elijah are doing something together that she thinks is cute, she says, "Mommy, take a pee-chur of us." So here's what she's been getting little brother to do :)

Sunday Pics

About 3 Sundays ago, I took some pictures of the munchkins at before we left the house and at church. They didn't really want to cooperate :( Elijah wanted one of MJ's puppies, and she didn't want to share, so it was a little hard getting them to actually smile :) And it didn't take long before Elijah figured out how to rock himself on the rocking chair :) So much for still photos! :)

San Antonio

So, I've been a really bad blogger as of late :( There are just things that keep getting in the way of me blogging--like my C: drive being too full from all the math videos I did this summer so that I couldn't put any more pictures on my computer! I think I've finally fixed that problem :)

Anyway, two weeks ago, Eric and I were able to escape to San Antonio alone for my birthday. Some friends from church kept the kiddos for us. It was the first time we've done that, but they did great. And lots of thanks to Amanda for liking to play mommy! :) We had a very relaxing weekend, and it was nice to have some uninterrupted sleep for a couple of nights :) But we were definitely ready to get back to our sweet little munchkins!

Below are some pictures at the Riverwalk and at the Tower of the Americas (where we ate dinner one night). The top of the tower spins, so you get to see the whole view of San Antonio while you're eating. Enjoy :)

All Boy!

Birthday Party

On Monday, our friend Kendall had a first birthday party at Old MacDonald's Farm. Kendall had a cute little party with lots of yummy food--too bad all the bees are drawn to food :) I'd never even heard of the place, but it was the best thing for young children! There were a handful of animals to pet and feed, ponies to ride, a train to ride, lots of sand!, and lots of slides and fun little jungle-gym-type things to climb on. There were also plenty of picnic tables and a little concession stand. For summertime, there's even a swimming pool, and in October, there's a pumpkin patch. If you have young kids, it was really the perfect size. Mikaela and Elijah both wore themselves out :) We also asked our friends Melissa and Nathan to join us, so in all, Mikaela, Elijah and I ended up being there for 4 hours! We were the very last people to leave for the day! Elijah crashed pretty much as soon as we pulled out, and Mikaela followed soon after. Thanks Becca! We had so much fun!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

(The "bracelets"--in case you didn't get the title :) )

My Funny Girl

A Tidbit

Well, for those of you who I haven't gotten to tell yet--baby Axelson #3 is on his or her way!!

Yesterday, we had our first ultrasound at 18 weeks and 5 days. The lady did a really good job, and we got some really clear pictures. Because, honestly, with Mikaela and Elijah I haven't been able to tell much of anything. She also burned some images to a CD for us, which we haven't had in the past, so I can share them! And, of course, I didn't find out the sex again--even Eric didn't find out this time! The surprise is fun :) Baby is due some time in March, so we're about halfway there. Mikaela and Elijah both like to pat my tummy and give the baby kisses :) Well, Elijah just copies whatever Mikaela does :) It's sweet though. Enjoy the pictures--hope you can see them as clearly as I can!

Still Likes to Get Cozy With Daddy For a Nap :)

Bracelet Addendum

I forgot, but half the time, Mikaela has her bracelets on her ankles. And did you know that links are bracelets too? :) Actually, anything that will fit around her wrist can be a bracelet :)

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!