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 :)

Happy Birthday Elijah!!!

Our sweet little man turned 1 today! It's happy and sad at the same time. He is such a cutie! In the past week, he has discovered where his milk hides! So any chance he gets, he's pulling at my shirt and latching himself on :) It's pretty cute, but the poor little thing doesn't realize he's about to be cut off :( He also thinks playing with the toilet paper and flushing the toilet are pretty fun things to do. Fortunately, he can already drink from his sippy cup. So he gulped down 2 whole cups of milk today (along with a few nursings :) ) He seemed to like it and didn't even have a night feeding before going to bed!! He's also starting to clap his hands, and he thinks it's funny when he burps :) I tried to get him to take a few steps today. He succeeded in getting 2-3 running steps to me as he lunged toward me :) It won't be long before he's walking all over the place!