Annelise, the First Six Months

*Note: I wrote this blog post about a month ago but waited to post it because I wanted to add some pictures that were on Paul's computer. With Paul in school, it's hard to find a time to use his computer. Since Annelise is about 2.5 months now, I figured I better go ahead and post. I'll update with Annelise new skills at 7 months later and just do a whole post of pics whenever I can get a chance.


A blog post is long over due. Life is crazy busy. Poor Annelise has been neglected blog-wise. With Parker I posted every month. With Ellis, I posted pretty much every month although not always on time. Now, with 3 kids to keep up with, here I am posting on Annelise at 6 months. *face palm*
Well, as the saying goes, better late than never.

Here is Annelise the first six months.
Annelise has grown and progressed just the way she should. She's gone from a little newborn that just barely makes eye contact to an engaging, social little girl. When she first started to smile, we had to work hard for them. Now, she eagerly lights up and gives us a big, tooth-less smile often with some squeals added in for extra cuteness.
She started rolling over back to front the day after she turned 3 months. At first, she didn't like being on her belly even though every time I laid her down she rolled over. She quickly learned to love it and started sleeping on her belly with her cute little baby bottom sticking in the air. At 6 months, she is almost crawling. She can get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth and make a push forward. Occasionally, she gets one hand picked up and one leg, but right now she ends up on her belly. That doesn't stop her. She can army crawl and scoot and turn and get to whatever has caught her eye. I'm hoping that she soon figures it out so she won't have to have practice sessions at 3 AM! She also does her yoga pose with her legs straight and her bottom in the air. It's just too cute.
Annelise is the most content baby. She fusses when she gets tired, but that's about it. She gets passed around to so many different people especially at church, and it doesn't bother her one bit. She's very relaxed, but she likes to keep her eye on Mama to flash me a smile.
She loves when she can crawl around on the floor and explore her toys. Poor thing has to deal with Parker and Ellis getting in her space and shoving toys in her face. She puts up with a lot from her older siblings. Their affection can sometimes be a little rough. She's one tough cookie. She can sit up as long as she can support herself with one arm.
I can't believe that our littlest one is already 6 months old! Time, please slow down! Annelise has brought so much joy to our lives. Her smiley, content nature has made her a very popular baby. She is so loved by us. Her sibling adore her even though Ellis went through a time of transition from the baby of  the family to big sister (it wasn't always pretty).
As the second child with only a few pages of my baby book filled out, I know I need to do better at posting about my little baby girl. Sorry, Annelise, I'm going to do better.

Camp Family Update

 I have been such a terrible blogger lately. I hope to do a better job, but I'm not making any promises. I wanted to give a little update on what is going on in our life.
As of January 2, 2014, we have been in New Orleans for a whole year. This past year has flown by. Sometimes I am just overwhelmed at the fact that we are here. It's amazing to see God working in our lives. It hasn't been easy, but we have sure been blessed through all the hardships and adjustments. God is good.
Paul just began his third semester working on his M.Div. in Counseling.  He is still working as a manager at Chick-fil-a and as the youth pastor at our church, FBC Norco. Yes, he's a very busy man. I am so proud of him. Getting his M.Div. has been something that he has wanted to do since I have known him. Of course, he originally thought he would pursue his master degree right after he graduated from college, but God had different plans. It would have been less stress to not have to worry about providing for a wife and 3 children if he had gone straight from college. He sacrifices so much for us, and we are so grateful for all he does.
The kids and I are enjoying our time at home together. Baby #3 is due February 14 but could come anytime now. We are so excited about adding this precious baby girl to our family.
Parker and Ellis are growing up too fast. They are learning so much. They are best friends and enjoy playing together. Of course, they have their moments where they aggravate each other, but they really enjoy each others company.
I'm going to try to do a better job of blogging. Of course, I can't wait to make the announcement that baby girl has arrived.

Camp Family Update

I've been a terrible blogger lately. Between first trimester yuckiness, taking care of 2 kids, and having to share a computer with Paul, I just didn't get around to blogging. But I'm going to get better.

I haven't announced this on my blog, but I am expecting baby #3 due around February 14.  We hopefully will find out the gender on September 26. The morning all day sickness I had was worse this time around than with the other 2 pregnancies and lasted longer. Most of it was nausea but I did throw up many times too. I'm very thankful to be past that part of the pregnancy.

Since our family is growing, we are moving to a bigger apartment on campus. Since this will be our fourth move in under 3 years and it's such a short move, I have little motivation to pack. However, I'm making myself pack a lot of our stuff because it will make for an easier and quicker move. Paul is very busy with school, so I want to make this move as easy as possible for him. The worst part is we're moving to a 3rd floor apartment so you can imagine that alone makes moving difficult. We will be getting a great work out.

Paul started his second semester at school, and right off the bat has been swamped with lots of reading and projects. To add to the busy semester, he has been promoted to manager at Chickfila and started as the Student Pastor at our church.  He is very excited about working at First Baptist Norco. He loves working with youth, and we love our church. Paul is very busy, but he still makes time for us. We enjoyed having all the extra time with him that summer gave, but we came here for Paul to go to school.

I started homeschooling Parker. Since he's four, I'm just making my own curriculum with the help of the vast amounts of internet resources.  Ellis joins us for some of the stuff we do. There is a great homeschool group on campus. I'm really enjoying homeschooling. Although I have to admit that I haven't been the most consistent with it, but once we get moved and settled I plan on making more of a consistent routine.

We really enjoy living in New Orleans. It's such a unique place. There really is no other place like it. Home will always be South Carolina, but we have made our home here in New Orleans for now.

So you know you're not alone

I've been terrible lately about keeping the house clean. The other day I opened the cabinet door and there was one, ONE cup left, and the only reason we had clean plates was because we had been eating off of paper plates. There were piles and piles of dirty dishes that had been waiting for days to be washed. My excuse was I am almost out of dish detergent, but really I just hate to wash dishes. There are times Most of the time I'm stepping on leftover bits of cereal, noodles, or other bits of leftover food from the day. Forget about the floor actually being mopped. Walking through the living room or the kid's rooms is like walking through a field of land mines.  There are only a few places where some kind of toy, blanket, book, clothing, or shoes aren't laying for you to place your foot. I can get clothes washed and dried, but put away is a whole other story.
It's terrible. I know that it makes life more chaotic and takes away from the home being a place of comfort and rest. I struggle with my own self-esteem. As a stay-at-home-mom, shouldn't I have everything perfectly organized and the kids on a perfect schedule so they never get bored and start acting out and destroying things?
Part of the reasoning behind the mess is it's just the season of life. With two little ones, there is bound to be mess. However, I have to take most of the blame here. The fact is I lack self-discipline or to put it bluntly, I'm lazy. I really am an organized person. I know you think I'm kidding you after reading all this, but it's true. I am also a perfectionist. Again, I'm not kidding. However, I have this flaw that keeps me from being perfectly organized. I have this "it's overwhelming, and it can't be perfect so I might as well throw in the towel and just let it all just go" mentality.
I'm bearing my flaws here, so if your in the same boat or a similar one, you can know you are not alone. There is another mama out there struggling. I would surmise that there are a lot of mamas out there that at the end of the day they are just proud that they kept the kids alive even if all the Pinterest boards and pins would suggest otherwise.

Feel free to leave a comment so I know I'm not alone.

Easter Pictures

My family was looking pretty good on Easter Sunday. Although that's far from what Easter is about, I wanted to share our pictures for our friends and family far away. Plus, I had excuse to take boogoodles of pictures of us all dressed up looking cute. Normally, Paul doesn't tolerate such things.

Getting a picture of a 3 year old and a 20 month old together is nearly impossible.

It's nice to have a picture of just me and my love. Thanks Elise!

MiMi and Poppy came to visit.

My precious babies!

Throw me something, Mister!

We got to celebrate our first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and boy, it was exciting and fun. I've never been to Mardi Gras celebrations anywhere else, but I can't imagine that anyone can do it better. If you're like me when you think New Orleans and Mardi Gras, you think indecent exposure, inebriation, and all things not meant for families with young children. However, that's not the case. Sure, if you found yourself in the middle of the French Quarter strolling down Bourbon Street, then Mardi Gras would be rated R. There are soooo many parades that are great for families, and now my children may never enjoy another parade outside of NOLA again.

Mardi Gras is a huge deal in NOLA. The carnival season begins on January 6th, 12th night of Christmas, and from that time until Fat Tuesday the evidence of the celebration is all over. King cakes in stores, aisles at Walmart devoted to all kinds of Mardi Gras decor, and houses decked out in purple, green, and gold. The two and half weeks (although this year it was three weeks because the Super Bowl fell in between) before Mardi Gras day are packed full of parades. Each Krewe has their own parade and there are a lot of Krewes.

I had the chance to go to some parades with some other ladies the Thursday before Fat Tuesday. We went mainly for the Krewe of Muses parade, but enjoyed a couple others that rolled before. The Krewe of Muses is more of a PG-13 parade so that's why I went without the kids plus it was past their bedtime. The Muses have a special throw of sparkly, decked out shoes. You have to work really hard beg a Muse to hand you a shoe and make sure that the throngs of other people around you don't get what was intended for you. I didn't get a shoe, but got some other neat throws and had a lot of fun on my girls night out.

There was a lull in the parade so people just filled the street and started dancing. I learned the wobble (I know I may be a little late on that).

 



My throws from the Muses, not including a few magnetic dry erase message boards and some doubloons.

 

 

 

 

The Saturday before Fat Tuesday the whole family went to some parades. Our original intentions was to go to the Krewe of Iris and stay for the parade that followed, the Krewe of Tucks. We ended up skipping out on the Krewe of Tucks as it was delayed for a while and made our way to the Krewe of Endymion. Endymion is a very popular parade. It has a lot of riders that send out a lot of throws. Having some cute kids and getting the attention of the riders is key to getting some good throws.

People get to the parade route and set up there spots early hours before it is scheduled to roll. Many people have retrofitted ladders with seats on top for the kids to sit in for ultimate parade watching and throw catching.

Motorized Cooler-cycle. You never know what you are going to see.

We are so going to have to get one of these for Parker and Ellis.

Ellis and I worked together to get some great throws.

Paul and Parker made a great team. Paul is such a good dad. He had some very sore shoulders at the end of the day.

This one is just for Uncle Michael.

Isn't she cute with her beads?

People were everywhere.

Budweiser Clydesdales



The parades are not just floats, but there are sooo many marching bands and other groups mixed in.

In the parades that roll at night or into the night, they have the city's homeless carry flambeauxs as a way to pay tribute to how the parades used to be lit. The homeless take tips from the revelers as they pass.

 

This guy just stopped at this man and took the spoon from him and helped himself to a bite of jambalaya. I would have thrown it away after that, but he kept on eating his supper.

Endymion has such pretty floats.

Our beads- approximately 60 lbs of them! Yes, there are some unopened bags of them that they would just chunck at you. And yes, you have to watch out because they are chuncked at you and do hurt if you get hit with them.

The toys we got- plush animals, balls, frisbees, cups. Some toys didn't make it in this picture. That's what happens when you have little ones.

More of the throws. Notice the light saber, Parker's favorite. Sadly, it has already broken. We also got a t-shirt that's not pictured. You never know what you're gonna get.

Not all the beads are the generic kind. There are some special beads and these are what we got.

 

 We were planning on taking in some parades on Fat Tuesday, but since both cars were broken down and Ellis was sick we watched some of the parades on tv. We had so much fun. We look forward to many more years of celebrating the carnival season in New Orleans.

Where Food Goes

Parker: My food goes in my throat.
Me: Yes then it goes into your belly.
Parker: Then in my leg.
Me: No, it stays in you stomach and your body gets the good stuff it needs and the rest goes out in your pee or poop.

We've had conversations about where food goes in our bodies when we eat at least one meal a day. He just very interested in the whole digestion process. Usually it's accompanied with a lot of whys.

A couple of days ago we had this conversation over Sunday lunch.

Parker: My food goes in my throat (He puts in a bite and shows me how he swallows.)
Me: Yes, it does.
Parker: It goes in my belly
Me: Uh huh
Parker: It goes in my penis and my bottom.

At that point, Paul and I lost it. The boy is right.

Family Update

I just wanted to give a little update for our family and friends far away. We are pretty much settled in. Boxes, with the exception of a few, are unpacked. Things are put in a place, and our home is livable. I still need to go through and really get things organized, but that will come with time.
  After the first couple of weeks of rainy days, we finally were blessed with some sunshine. The weather has been amazing, 70s and sunny. Therefore, we have spent a lot of time outside playing. I figured the home organing can wait until it's raining or during the hot and humid summer days, so for now will soak up all the lovely weather.
   Paul started classes last week. He's taking 3 classes, all psychology classes. He has a lot reading to do and memorizing. If he's not in class, he's working. If he's not working, he's studying. The psychology stuff is new to him since he was a Youth Ministry major in college, so he's working really hard. Things are going well for him at Chickfila. At some point in time, he will be able to move up into a management position and will be able to use the skills he learned as a manager before we moved. He is learning how this store works and getting to know the people he works with. He's even seen some of the NO Saints players come through.
   Parker also started "classes" last week too. There is a home school group on campus, and they offer classess like P.E., art, storytime, and science for the young ones. They also go on field trips once a month. Parker has been really enjoying them as well as Ellis who gets to tag along (they have something for younger ones to do, too).
   I have started working for First Baptist New Orleans for their Wednesday night's child care. I will also have the opportunity to provide childcare for their women's Bible studies and other special occasions. I'm so excited about this because it provides us with a little extra income, and I get to bring the kids along with me.
   We have enjoyed getting to know the families around us. We have all made friends and enjoy the great community here on the seminary campus.
   The city of New Orleans has a lot going on with Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl. We are so excited about being part of our first Mardi Gras. Paul actually has Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday) off from both work and school. It's so crazy that the whole city shuts down. Everyone is off. The schools are closed for the whole week. There have already been parades going on, but we haven't been to any yet. I finally ventured out and drove on my own. I didn't go anywhere I hadn't been to already, but I'm just so proud that I did it.
  We are so thankful for all the prayers that have been made on our behalf. Keep them coming. It's hard being away from family and what is familiar. But that being said, it is exciting to be here, living on faith as the Lord makes our way. It has quickly began to feel like home.
 

Handprints

Last night was a rough night for Ellis and therefore me as well. Ellis woke up just as I was getting ready for bed (I admit that it was really late like 1:30. I was waiting on Paul to go to bed.) She would not go back to sleep. She screamed and screamed when I put her back in her crib. I finally gave up and put her in the bed with me which meant I "slept" with Ellis on top of me practically all up on my head. At 3 am, I had enough of the uncomfortable sleeping condition and I put her back in her crib. Again, she screamed. I angrily told Paul, who had gotten some sleep during all this, "it's 3 o'clock and I haven't gotten any sleep if you don't want to hear her scream then you can go get her because I'm done." He groggily goes to get her and claims that she has a poopy diaper and angrily asks where all the diaper changing stuff is. So I angrily get up, get Ellis from him, get the diaper changing stuff, and change what turned out to be just a pee pee diaper. I hand her screaming back to him. Two minutes later he brings her into the room to try to get her to sleep in the bed with us. As he walks into the room, I angrily think to myself, "I know how this will go. I guess I will be sleeping with a baby on my face." Sure enough. Ellis ended up on me all nuzzled up on my face. At 4 o'clock, she was finally restful enough to lay her beside me in the bed to sleep. So, I got about 3 hours of sleep, but the kind of sleep where you feel like you are sitting on pins and needles because your nervous about the child in the bed with you.

You may be thinking, "what does this story have to do with handprints as the title suggests?" I said all that to understand the fatigued state this mama and her husband were in this morning. After feeding the kids, because you have to keep your children alive no matter how tired you are, I crawled back in bed. Paul got up and was taking care of the children. I don't know what happened the next couple hours, but at some point in time Paul came and crawled back in bed with me for a few minutes. Just a few minutes. That's when it happened because a few minutes later we had two precious children come in our room proudly showing off their colorful hands. Parker's hands looked like he had smacked a smurf and Ellis hands were black (although after further exploration, they were actually a deep purple). That's enough to spring a fatigued mama into action. I jumped up looked down the hall the finger paints looked untouched. I was just thinking, "did he get ahold of a marker and break it?" Then, it hit me. I let out a gasp and ran into the kitchen and found it. There lay a puddle of food coloring where four bottles of color had been emptied and mixed. Paul got to work on that clean up, and I put the kids in the bath tub really just to contain them to a single spot. After getting them in the bath, I noticed that Parker must have tried cleaning his hands off because my pretty hand towel had blue stains all over it. I got to work using the trusty rubbing alcohol to get the hand print marks off the walls. It really could have been worse. The hand prints were mostly contained to the bathroom and the sheets of our bed. For the most part the evidence has been wiped away, although a few marks still remain. I guess we are going to have to do a handprint art project so I can show the children the proper way to leave their mark.

Ellis's handprints on my bed. I was in panick mode so I didn't think to take pictures until I got to this.

What I've Learned So Far

Life is a learning experience. We are constantly learning. However, when we face big changes, it seems that our learning experience is brought to a whole new level. Because of that, I've been learning a lot of new things and I decided to share some with you.

1. Moving 600 miles is a lot of work and it is very helpful to have wonderful in-laws coming alongside to help. (Thanks Arden and Elise! We couldn't have done it without you.)
2. Even though you get rid of a lot of stuff before you move, you still have too much stuff.
3. Pocket shoe organizers are wonderful little organizers and space saving solutions.
4. Seminary families are wonderful. It is such a great community. When we pulled up with the moving truck, people just came out and started helping unload the moving truck.
5. I'm going to have to learn to love washing dishes. With no dishwasher and little counter space, washing dishes after every meal is a must.
6. Changing timezones even just with one hour difference is not easy especially for little bits.
7. New Orleans may just be the new Seattle. It has rained or been a misty, cloudy day almost every day since we have been here.
8. Waiting in line a while to check out at any store is the norm.
9. I really kind of like living in an apartment. I like being able to hear children playing outside and seeing people walk by.
10. I've never been so excited about getting plastic beads. I'm excited about going to the Mardi Gras parades. I never thought that I would be a part of Mardi Gras in NO, but I've learned that it's not all like what you see on tv.
11. I'm going to have to learn how to drive in city traffic. I still have not braved driving on my own, but since Paul is starting classes in a week, that will soon change.
12. I've learned that when classes start it will be like kissing my husband goodbye until the end of the semester. Please pray for Paul and for us as Paul works, goes to school, and studies and for us as we adjust to having only small amounts of time with him.

I could sit here all night and think of more things that I've learned, but I'm not going to bore you. Thanks everyone for your prayers! I can't put in to words how much it means to us for people to take the time to lift us up in prayer.

Life Lately

Things have been pretty crazy for our family lately. Our time home is filled with preparing for our move to New Orleans which will happen 11 days from now. That coupled with sorry internet service has resulted in my lack of blogging lately. Nonetheless, I wanted to give a quick update on what's going around here.

Paul worked his last day at the Sumter Chick-fil-a today. Although he will still be working for Chick-fil-a in NOLA, he was very glad to be done. I am glad that he won't have an hour commute one way to and from work each day although city traffic will now be an issue in his commute.

We are living amongst towers of boxes. Packing, getting the house clean, doing laundry, and keeping the kids alive is how I spend my days. The house is becoming less of a home as more and more of our stuff is packed up in boxes. There are so many feelings flooding my mind...excitement, fear, saddness, happiness. I can't wait to see what are apartment looks like. All I have seen of it is the outside and some floor plans.

We have talked with Parker a lot about our move. I'm not to sure how he is going to handle this, but he already has staked his claim that this is his house. He doesn't like the idea that someone else could be living here and we will be living in a new house. He is excited about the playground that will be outside of his new home. We have caught him peeing in places like the trash cans and the bath tub instead of the toilet. We think it could be related to anxiety about moving. My sister said he is just marking his territory. Haha!

Ellis is thrilled about all the boxes she can climb on. I thought Parker was bad about climbing, but Ellis is worse. Since she is still so young, she doesn't really have any clue as to what is going on.

We have been getting ready for Christmas. The presents are bought and wrapped. We've talked about the first Christmas over and over again while looking at our Nativity scene. We've celebrated with our family and friends at church celebration and have discussed our family Christmas plans. In our family, we decided to not do the whole Santa Claus thing, and we also only give our children only 3 gifts. It makes Christmas so much simpler and helps keep the focus on Jesus. Parker has asked me so many times, "Is it Jesus birfday yet?"

It's getting late some I'm going to end our little update. I'm hoping to get a chance to blog some more. Merry Christmas, y'all!

Pancakes

We have a tradition in our house to make pancakes for breakfast with a candle for the birthday person. This year we will be at our house on Christmas morning for the first time, so we decided to make pancakes for Jesus's birthday and Parker will get to blow out the candle for Jesus. This morning I was making pancakes for breakfast and we had the following conversation.

Parker: (running into the kitchen) It's Christmas! We eat pancakes for Jesus birthday.
Me: No, buddy, it's not Christmas quite yet. We are just having pancakes for breakfast just because.
Parker: I like pancakes.
Me: I know you do. They are your favorite breakfast food.
Parker: Jesus like pancakes too
Me: I'm sure he does.

Parker is so excited about celebrating Jesus's birthday. He keeps asking me if it is Jesus' birthday yet and telling me that Jesus likes pancakes on his birthday. Although he is looking forward to opening presents on Christmas, it just makes me so proud that he is just as excited about Jesus's birthday.

Ellis at 13 Months

Ok...so I'm late again on posting the monthly update. So much so that I confused myself about which age, 13 or 14 months, I was supposed to be posting on. You may have noticed that I haven't done a lot of blogging lately. I'm gonna get better. I had been focusing on Paul's mission trip to Peru and then while he was gone, we distracted ourselves from missing him by spending some time in the upstate and then doing some fun activitives around home. Alrighty then, let's get to the subject at hand.

• Ellis may have struggled with weight before, but she is making up for it now. She is eating like crazy! She will eat and eat until her belly is swole.
• She finally got her confidence and started walking.
• Along with this new found confidence, she decided that she should be able to climb Mt. Everest. I thought Parker was bad about climbing when he was little, but Ellis wants to climb everything.
• Ellis is quite the talker. Me ma (pick me up), cup, ball, I eat are just some. She says all kinds of stuff that you have to listen to catch what she's saying.
• She loves to play Pat-a-Cake. Before I get to the "throw it in the pan" part, she will throw her hands up and say "throw it."
• She also loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She does the motions to it and will sing "how I." So cute!
• She has moved up to 18 months clothing. She is finally in the clothing size she should be in! Yay!
• She wants to explore her world. She wants to be down and walking around.
• She already has a little rebellious streak in her. When we tell her to stop doing something that she shouldn't, she just smiles and keeps on doing whatever it is. Oh my!
• She is such a sweet little hugger and kisser. She can just melt your heart unless you a little person. Then she will attack you with hugs as she lays on top of you on the floor. (Poor Perry he experienced this many times when we were in the upstate visiting.)
• She has a little lovey that she calls baby. She sleeps with it and will carry it around with her.
• She's so fun to be with. She loves to interact and try to copy what you do.
• She thinks she's a big kid now. It's like she thinks now that she can walk she can do anything that all the big kids do.
• Have I mentioned before that she's the most adorable little girl in the whole wide world and I love her so much more than I could ever describe?

Parker at 3 years

There is just know way I should be writing about my 3 year old boy. He just can't be 3 already! He has done so much growing up over the past year.

• Stats: 35.6 lbs  40 inches tall. Yep, he's a biggun. I'm going to be looking up to him one of these days.
• His interests: trains, cars, planes, generally just things that move, riding bikes, puzzles, books, hide and seek, jumping, tumbling, water, music
• Favorite shows/movies: Word World, Caillou, Curious George, Wild Krats, Cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, Toy Story
• Favorite color: green
• Favorite foods: spaghetti, broccoli, cheese, raisans, rice, salsa, tacos, black beans, corn, bananas, pretty much any fruit
• Foods he doesn't like: mashed potatoes, any potato unless its french fries or sliced thin and crispy, tomatoes (unless it's salsa)
• He loves the water! He took some swimming lessons this summer and was quite the water bug. He would jump in without holding anyone's hands. He wouldn't hesitate to put his head under water. He would have been content to stay in the pool all day.
• His speech has improved greatly especially in the past few months although people who aren't around him much might disagree. He's talking a lot more and it is becoming easier to understand what he is saying.
• He's very social. He will make friends with other children when we are out and about in places where there are other children.
• He loves music and dancing. He has some interesting dance moves. Sometimes he will even "break dance." He just roll all around on the floor and hold one leg in the air while he's in the bear crawl stance.
• He's still a daddy's boy. He tries to be just like Paul.
• That being said. I'm his comforter. I'm the one he goes to when he's upset or hurt.
• He's such a loving, snuggly little boy. He loves to snuggle up with us on the couch and wrap up in a blanket. He gives some good hugs and kisses. He makes sure you get kisses right on the lips. He doesn't settle for a cheek.
• He likes to be a helper. He does a good job helping me around the house and taking care of Ellis.
• He is such a good big brother. He looks after Ellis and plays with her. Of course like every brother and sister, they have their squabbles, but for the most part they are great companions.
• He has yet to have his first hair cut, but soon it's gonna have to happen. He doesn't have a lot of hair, but it just needs some trimming and shaping in some places.
• He's convinced that he is a six year old boy.
• Most days his attire consist of only underware. Some days I can manage to convince him to put on some clothes.
• He has a pair of green crocs that he wears a lot. I don't know what we are going to do when he grows out of them.
• He can dress himself. I just love to see what outfit he's going to put together.
• He thinks band-aids and kisses make any boo boo better. However, lately he also thinks any boo boo should warrant a trip to the doctor. His reasoning is that "doctor's fix."
• Doctors may fix boo boos. But Parker thinks Paul can fix anything that's broken. I mean anything.
• I love his little toddler sense of humor. He will just laugh and laugh at some of the silliest things. Sometimes I'm not even sure what makes him laugh.
• He loves to put together puzzles. A new puzzle can keep his attention for a loooong time. Even an old puzzle can keep him busy for a while. At church on Sundays, he will spend most of the worship hour time in the nursery putting together every single puzzle in there.
• He has pretty much given up his nap. Every once in a while he will take a nap in the afternoon, but if he does, I limit the amount of time he sleeps or he would be up waaaay late at night.
• He loves to color and is very good at it. He actually colors objects on the coloring page. He doesn't just scribble all over everything.
• He is potty trained except for at night. It may be a while before he's in underware at night.
• He just absolutely melts my heart. I could just bunch him up and squeeze him and kiss him all day long.

Ellis at 12 Months

Well, since Ellis is actually 13 months now. I figure I better post about her 12th month of life. We've been dealing with reaaaallllly slow internet lately so that has put my blogging on the back burner. It's just too frustrating to deal with. However, today it's faster so I've got some catching up to to. Without further ado...

• Stats: 19 lbs 1.5 oz  27 3/4 inches long. She has overcome her failure to thrive and is holding steady between the 10th and 25th percentile. I found Parker's measurements at this age and he was little over 6 pounds heavier and 6 inches taller than her. I guess I'll have a big child and a small child.
• She can now say mama, dada, poppop (my daddy), meemaw (Keri's mother-in law), mimi (Paul's mom), hey, kitty, ball, baby, night night, peek-a-boo, and she meows like a cat.
• She can't walk yet, but I think it's more of lack of confidence than lack of skill. She has taken some steps and can stay upright, but most of the time will sit down when we stand her up to walk.
• Her favorite toy is a push walker. She can manuever it all around and go back and forth almost running down the hall while pushing her walker. She does this all day long.
• Her favorite tv show is Super Why. (Don't worry. I'm not plopping my one year old in front of the tv.) When it happens to be on that show and she hears the music, she crawls over to the tv and is glued. She dances to the hip hip hurray song.
• She loves to dance. Whenever music comes on, she starts dancing away. She really gets into it.
• She still only has two teeth. I thought for sure she was going to get her top two teeth for her birthday, but it didn't happen. They are so close. Her gums have had that swollen look all month long. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to bother her, but she does chew on a lot of things.
• She gave up the paci this month. I had planned on getting rid of it at 12 months, but the actual doing it happened more by accident. I was laying her down for a nap one day and was about to get her paci out from under the crib when my phone started to ring. I took the chance and decided to leave her without her paci, and she did fine. So that was the end of that.
• She likes to climb. Yikes! I often see her hike her little leg up onto something that's close to her size. She likes to climb up onto Parker's bed. She is so proud of herself sitting up on it, but she just hasn't figured out how to get down on her own yet. It's a good thing she is around the 10th percentile for height.
• I think she is going to be our little sensitive child. It doesn't take much for her to break out into tears wails. Oh my, the teenage years are going to be rough.
• She likes to point. She will point her chubby little finger in all directions wanting you to look or go in that way.
• She has been working on feeding herself with her spoon. She wants to be so independent. I'll put the food on her spoon, and she will get it to her mouth. She is growing up too quickly.
• She's so busy learning and exploring her world that she doesn't want to go to bed at night. A lot of nights, even though she's tired, she will fight going to sleep. She will scream when I put her down. When I go in there to console her, she will arch her back to try to get me to set her free to roam. I hope this passes quickly because I miss the no fuss bedtime.
• She will hold up her finger when you tell her that she's one. She's such a smart girl.
• She likes for you to touch your finger with her finger, and then she giggles. I don't seem what's so funny about fingers touching, but I think her reaction is adorable so we laugh together.
• She gives some really cute looks, and she has some beautiful blue eyes to back them up. She's going to be a heart breaker.
• She is such a joy to be around. She's so loving and bubbly. Just absolutely precious.

Dear Parker (a special 3rd birthday letter)

Birthday pancake tradition continues

My Darling First Born Son,

You simply cannot be 3 years old! Time has flown by since you were a snuggly rather large little newborn baby boy. I was looking at pictures of you the other day from a year ago and could not get over how much you have changed. You have definately lost all of your baby look and have taken on the full fledged little boy look. Even though you are now a big three year old boy, I still want to hold you and snuggle with you like were still the little 9 lb 8 oz baby, and most of the time you are willing to appease this desire. You have the ability to melt my heart with one look. You take care of me and kiss my boo boos. You make me so proud as I watch you come along side me and help. You have been such a great big brother to Ellis. She is such a blessed girl to have you watching out for her and playing with her. Daddy is one of your best buds. You bring such a sense of joy to his heart as you mimick his every move. Watching you learn and grow has been so special. You soak up the world around you like a dry sponge submerged in a bowl of water. It is thrilling to know that the same desire and curiosity you have for life now can catapulte you onto greatness as you continue to grow. You are also learning about our awesome God. We pray that all that you are learning right now about God and His creation develops into a deep trusting that His great love is the only way for salvation. You are so special. I just can't put into words what all you mean to me. I love you with 100% of my heart! What a blessing you are to our family.

Love,

Mama

Dear Ellis (a special first birthday letter)

My Precious Baby Girl,

What a joy it has been to have you in our lives this past year! I can't believe you a one. You should still be this tiny, cooing baby fresh and new in a brand new world. You have been a brand new challenge in parenthood. Not because you were a difficult baby because you weren't, but because I am now a mother of two. This brings all new fears. Will I love you just as much as I love Parker? How can my I have such a great love for both my children? Will there be room in my heart? I found out the answer is yes, and it wasn't hard to do. The day you were born my heart swelled with love for you, and it has only grown deeper and more expansive over this past year. I don't know how it happens; it just does. It has been incredible to watch you grow and mature into such a precious and full of personality little girl. I just melt as you play with my hair as you hug me and hold me tight. You love me so dearly. I love to snuggle with you although most of the time you are too busy exploring your world. You are curious and smart. I can foresee a life full of continuous learning in your future. You are so proud of yourself when you accomplish a new milestone. And you should be! You are a very determined little girl. I pray that as you continue to grow that you would develope a great love for our Savior. I pray that the meaning of your name "The Lord is God reigns" will be true in your life. I don't know what your future holds, but I do know that we have committed your life to the Lord. When the time comes that you understand what Jesus Christ has done for you, our prayer is for you commit yourself to Him and grow into a deep and intimate relationship with Him. As much and your Dad and I love, Jesus Christ loves you even more. We are so proud of you! Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter.

Love,

Mama

Literal

Me: What did you eat at VBS last night?
Parker: nandy (candy)
Me: What did you eat for supper?
Parker: chicken
Me:What did you eat with your chicken?
Parker: with my hands   *as he holds his hands up to his face like he's chomping on a chicken leg.



Not quite the answer I was gong for. I just love how children are so literal.

The Fly Hunter

If they had a show about a little boy who hunted flys, Parker could be the star. He reminds me of a cat when he spots a fly. He will follow it all around watching it and waiting for the right moment to attack.  He actually has pretty good reflexes and has killed some flies with his bare hands (yes, it is gross). One time he had injured the fly to where it couldn't fly but it was still alive and he carried it around in his hand. I didn't know whether to be proud or just grossed out. I was a little of both. I don't know where his interest in flys comes from. He actually is interested in all kinds of bugs. I'm so excited that he likes to pick up bugs and bring them to me to check out (please note the sarcasm). I guess the classic poem is true. What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.

Ellis at 11 Months

Since my baby girl will be turning one in 2 days, I thought I better write her 11 month post. But before I do that, allow me to freak out a bit that my baby girl is turning one in 2 DAYS! 2 DAYS! and my baby girl will be TURNING ONE! Ok, I got that off my chest.

Ellis is growing and developing by leaps and bounds. I can't even blink or I'll miss something.

• Stats: 17 lbs 1.5 oz! She packed on 28 ounces in 21 days at the beginning of the month which put her back on the growth curve. Yay for the 5th percentile. She has been packing on the weight since then so I'm curious to see what she will be at her 12 month check up.
• She can now pull up like at pro. At first, she could get her self up, but she was scared to drop back down. She would fuss and I would come save her. She finally got the hang of it and can pull up and sit down without problems.
• She has been crusing around the furniture. She will also walk behind her push walker thingy. I'm sure it won't be long and she'll be walking. I have to admit that makes me kinda sad. She's growing up.
• She has stood up, completely on her own, out in the middle of the floor for a few seconds one time. I freaked out when I saw her do it. She often will stop in the middle of crawling and push her butt in the air like she wants to stand up.
• She now says mama, dada, baby, kitty (she says it in a very high pitched voice and the t sounds aren't completely distinct, but you know that's what she's saying), nigh nigh (night night). I have heard her say no copying Parker. Her brother is already causing trouble! Haha!
• She likes to copy sounds we make. I would write them out but it's kinda hard to translate silly sounds into words.
• She will occasionally blow kisses. She will hold her hand on her mouth and blow out to where it makes a kinda pooting sound. I know that doesn't sound cute but like I said it's hard to put sounds into words.
• She will play Peek-a-boo and she will cover up her eyes and go "peee" in a squealy voice.
• She still only has her bottom 2 teeth, but her top gums are so swollen. Maybe soon those top teeth will finally make their appearance.
• She spooks really easily. For instance, at Chick-fil-a one day, the cow came around and she freaked out.  Another time, she was around a cat that was the "I'm friendly, but I could bite you without a moment's notice" type. After rubbing around her stroller, it stretched up to get closer to her and she freaked out. I can foresee Halloween being terrifying for her.
• She likes to put things inside of things while playing like she likes to put balls inside cups.
• She really enjoys eating table food. I have to watch her to make sure she doesn't put too much in at one time. Although when she's full, she'll start tossing food overboard.
• She likes to nod her head but when she does she also lifts her eyebrows. It's too cute.
• She can get a little attitude with you if you take something from her that she really wants!
• When she's waiting on her food, she will squeal to let you know to hurry up.
• She sleeps with her butt up in the air. Again, so cute!
• She is making the transition to one nap much to my dismay. There are days where she will still take 2 naps, but most day now she only takes one.
• She loves to play in Parker's room. Sometimes this means arguments between her and Parker when she gets into something that he's playing with.
• She is so smiley and laughs very easily. She gives good hugs and kisses and is just oh so lovable!

Of course I may be a little biased when I saw this but she is just the most precious little girl ever! She continues to bring so much joy into our lives. I don't know how it is possible but I love her more every day.