Elise "isms"

Elise was talking about getting a new bed. She wanted one with a canopy and I told her that they were to expensive. She paused and then told me we could just get some pretty stuff and some wood and just "needle" it up there. haha

Ally: "Why do they call them fireworks?" Elise: Because they are fire and they work!!

"Hey Mom we talked about that today!" What was that Elise?? "Cinco Tay Mio"

Look at my hermit crabs. You see those long things? That is their "Hannah Montana's"(referring to the antennas) haha "Those things (aliens) on Sponge Bob had Hannah Montana's too!!"

"Last night I cried so tough I couldn't stop"

"Mom, when we drive this close to the water, it scares me the heck out of!!" while driving past Covenant Lakeside on the way to the Dr. haha

A Boy and His Bike!!

This is a little "bike" that we purchased for Ally when she was almost a year old. It has been handed down (and well used) to Elise and now to Chris! He loves to walk behind it and ride on it. He starts at one end of the room and pushes it as far as it will go. When he gets to the end, he walks around to the other end of the bike and pushes accross the room in the other direction! He is so funny to watch!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY BABY CHRIS!!!!

Yesterday was Chris's First Birthday! I can't believe it! I don't know where the last year has gone! It makes me kinda sad that my baby boy is growing up so fast! We had a family birthday BBQ at the house to celebrate. My dad's (aka Papa) birthday was yesterday as well! When they gave me a choice of dates to induce Chris last year, I immediately chose the 7th because I knew there would be no greater honor to my dad than to share his birthday with his grandson! We had chips, potato salad, olive dip (a family favorite) and Dana cooked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. We had my mom, dad, Dana's mom and dad, Dana's brother and his 3 kids, and a good friend of Dana's named Sean and his wife Jody over to help us celebrate. Chris got lots of cool toys and some new clothes and shoes. Of course we had birthday cake and ice cream. Chris had a white "poke-a-dot" birthday cake with sprinkles and my dad had a chocolate cake with white icing and M&M's on top. I made Chris a chocolate cupcake so that he had his very own cake to dig into! He ate about 3/4 of it before he decided he was done. He wasn't sure about the icing. He made a funny face but ate it anyway! haha
Chris now has 10 teeth. He just cut his 2 top molars. He is pulling up and furniture walking and can walk with a walking toy but he can't stand up or walk yet without assistance. However, I know this milestone is just around the corner for us! Batten down the hatches!!! Chris really hasn't said his first official word yet. He can make the sound of a few words. Every now and then he will wave and say "I-I" for Bye Bye and 'O-O" for Oh Oh. He still says MAMAMAMA and DADADADA but no official Mama or Dada yet! My mom swears she has heard him say hello and his teacher at school swears she heard him say "cracker" but so far I haven't heard them yet. I know that pretty soon he will be a chatter box and we will wonder if he has a mute button! haha LOL

Tag I'm It...

Here's how it works:
1. Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on the computer.
2. Select the 4th picture in the folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag 4 people to do the same
5. No cheating. (cropping, editing, etc.)


This was taken at the retirement party that the hospital gave my Mom on her last day of work. She retired in May of 2007 after 25 years of service in Labor and Delivery,Postpartum, various doctor offices, and the Child Care Center. We were on the top floor in their conference room. The view down below and the food was really good. LOL Ally and Elise had the best time! The Child Care Center brought some of the school-aged kiddos over to the party and Ally had a great time sitting and talking with the big kids! haha I got to see some old friends that I worked with in the past. I worked at the Child Care Center as well for a little over 3 years. Ok now I tag Mandi, Lauren, Jana, and Lindsey. Have a great weekend!!

You know we all have those moments when we come to realization that we are now adults and our parents are not invincible!!. I mean really adults, not like being 18 or 21 but real life adults like our parents are! I have a plastic tote full of blankets that were mine when I was a baby. One of the blankets in there has patches of material and a backing that almost feels like foam. It was not my favorite blanket because the foam backing always felt kinda funny to me. My mom later explained that when I was a baby there was no such thing as fleece. This foam like material was the closest thing there was to the warm snugly fleece of today. I always knew that this was a blanket that my mom had made for me with her own 2 hands so I kept it even though it was not one of my favorites. There is a tag on the end that says made with love for our baby. That is what has always made this particular blanket special to me. Well I needed this plastic tote that the blankets were packed in for something, so I started pulling out the blankets and the foam on this blanket started crumbling off. As many many of you know foam will deteriorate after time into a weird powder like substance. Well after 30 years the foam had had it! I took the blanket to my mom and asked if she could put a new backing on it. I told her to please save the tag and sew it back onto the blanket. Well a week later I have the blanket back with a new yellow cotton backing. And yes the tag is still there!
When my mom brought the blanket to me she explained that the pieces of material she used to make the patches were from her old maternity clothes that she had while she was pregnant with me. There are also some patches that were from a gown that she had made for me. It took me few minutes of looking at it and it hit me like a freight train that I have now worn the maternity clothes just like my mom did. I am in the place that she was after she had made the blanket! I am done with my maternity clothes just like she was and it is my turn to be the mommy just like she is! WOW! So now I am on a mission to make a blanket with some of my maternity clothes and baby clothes just like she made for me! With my mom's 70th birthday just around the corner I have realized that she is not going to be here forever. She always tells me not to be sad when she is gone because that is just the way life goes. Now it's my turn to be the Mommy and eventually the Grandma and Great Grandma that she is! I only hope I can be 1/2 of the person she is and has been! Thanks Mommy for giving me the courage to be the woman I struggle to be everyday! I Love You!!

Goodbye 2008

Where in the world has this year gone! I mean seriously it feels like it flew by sooo incredibly fast! It has been a big year with lots of joy, hugs, and laughter! I enjoy everyday to the fullest (or at least I try my hardest to) and I thank God for each day and all of the blessings they bring!! I thought I would wrap up the end of the year and catch everyone up on our little family! Chris is now pulling up to standing while holding on to an object. He just started doing this within the last 2 weeks. He had mastered the pulling up to his knees about 2 weeks prior. One day I walked into his room and WOW he was on those little feet just smiling at me! He has 8 teeth, 4 on the bottom and 4 on top. He is a great sleeper. All I have to do is put him in his bed with his blanket and paci and her usually goes to sleep without much fuss. With the exception of a snooze in his rocker from time to time, he really like sleeping in his own bed! (what a change from the girls!!)


Allyson is loving school and turning into such a grown up little lady! She is in an advanced reading group and can read just about any word out there now! VERY SCARY!! She had been having lots of luck not getting strep throat this school year until November. She came down with it a week and a half before Thanksgiving! It looks like those tonsils are coming out more sooner than later, possibly Spring Break or Summer of 2009! Allyson is a great artist and loves to draw these immaculate pictures that tells stories about how she is feeling and events that are happening in her life. She is such a sweet and loving little girl and I am so lucky to have her in my life!! She has lots of friends at school that she tells me about. About half of them are boys! She always talks about this boy named Christopher who is in another 1st grade class. UHH OHH It begins!! Daddy better get the baseball bat! haha She has now lost 6 teeth and the 2 next to her front teeth are really loose. The next pic I post they will be gone!
Elise is still my sweet little spit fire! She is full of bounding energy and can argue any subject with any person until she gets her way! We say she is going to be a great lawyer or politician one of these days!! haha She has been very lucky and has not be sick much at all this year! She has had colds, runny noses, and coughs but noting much else! Some how she has dodged the dreaded strep throat that Ally can't seem to get rid of!! She is my picky eater and eats like a bird! Some days she eats really well but most days she only snacks. Elise loves to climb and jump off of things which gives her mama grey hairs!! She can't wait until she starts Kindergarten and knows that she is every bit as big as Ally! She gives Ally such a hard time! She is the typical little sister that just bugs and torments any time she can! At the end of the day she stills loves to climb into my lap so that I can rock her and sing 'Hush Little Baby" to her until she falls asleep! It's moments like these that you will never forget!!
Elise loves to paint with water colors and has started to draw potato people. You know the little potatoes with stick arms and legs and 2 tiny dots for eyes and a half smile. She can also write an H, an E, and an A. She is sooo proud of herself!!