Catch Up!

Wow, things have been so busy around here lately!  I have meant to blog several times and never got around to it!  In between rain we've still managed to get to a couple of BBQs with friends so that's been fun.

Noah's been sick for a couple of weeks now, so that has kept us pretty tied to home.  Thankfully Randy has been home some of the mornings so Ella and I have been able to get out and about..Noah finally seems to be on the mend though, thank goodness!  He has had really high fevers off and on.  Every time we think he is all better they come out of no where again!  He went to the Doctor last week and they thought he had a virus.  Then I had to take him back Monday morning after he woke up with a 105.2 fever!!  I took him straight up to the Doctor when they opened.  They said he was wheezing again from the congestion and also that the top of his air pipe was really inflamed...They tested him for strep and that was negative..gave him a breathing treatment, then came back and pricked his little finger.  Tested that for pneumonia and checked his white blood count.  They were able to determine that it was definitely something viral which made us all feel better (not that he had a virus, but that the fever that wasn't going away was not something way worse).  So they decided to put him back on the albuterol inhaler he has been on before.  He hates it, but it is working great and his breathing is getting better every day.  He has been fever free now for almost 48 hours!  Woo Hoo!  He is getting back to his happy self, too which makes me feel so much better!  Hate seeing my babies sick :(

Here is Ella and some of her Silly Bandz!  She LOVES them! LOL

As for Ella and the rest of us?? We are having fun and doing the same ol stuff!  Ella finished her last day of Pre-School last week so she is officially on Summer vacation!  Everything else is just going on like normal..life is good :)

This is kinda a crappy pic, but here is a pic of the garden so far!  We are growing sweet corn, squash, zuccini, okra, watermelon, corn, potatoes, green beans, cucumbers, onions, and peppers.  We're having a problem with the Mexican Bean Beetle eating our green beans so I have been fighting them, but everything else is looking great and growing fast!  If anyone has any tips for getting rid of bugs naturally, I would love to hear them!  I'm trying to keep it organic at this point, but hand picking beetles several times a day is getting kinda old!  I'm about to try a recipe for a red pepper spray that is supposed to help and I've already been using "Organicide"...

Ella and I have been having alot of fun lately with her hair!  It's really starting to grow!  It's curly so it gets kind of poofy if we just leave it down.  I'm kind of at a loss with it sometimes, but we've had some fun trying to do pig tails and braids and things.  Soooo cute!

Ella's first braids :)

Also, here's a little video we took a couple weeks ago of Noah doing some of his signs..



There! You're all caught up!!!!

Smile!

Saying things like..

"Ella, don't smile!" "I said NO smiling" "No matter what..do not SMILE!!!"

......works every time!

Art??

This is what can happen if you leave a 2 year old alone with a corndog and ketchup.

"I painted my face!"  

Mother's Day 2009

Last year at church, they had little booths set up so that people could record messages for Mothers.  Randy and Ella recorded this little video for me at one of the stations.  The church saved all of the videos and then handed them out this year. I just put mine in and watched it!  It is the sweetest thing.  I can't believe how much Ella has grown in one little year.  She has completely lost the little baby voice she has in this video.  What a special gift!! I just had to share it!

Mother's Day

It's amazing to me how much Mother's Day has changed for me since becoming a mom.  There's the obvious, that since I'm actually a Mother now,  I get to enjoy the holiday myself.  But there's a bigger transformation that has been so amazing to experience.  See, I have never doubted my whole life how much my mom loves me.  I grew up always extremely close to her.  We've aways been a very affectionate family and my mom has always told me over and over again how much she loves me or how proud she is of me.  I've never doubted that for one second.  BUT, it wasn't until I had my own baby, that I actually understood that love.  Like why she tells me so much.  When I held my own babies for the first time, it finally clicked why Mother's do everything they do.  It's that overwhelmingly intense love.  I could cry just thinking about it right now.  To love a person so much and feel so connected to them.  It's just really incredible.  

To my Momma:  I love you so much.  You have been the best Mom.  I find myself acting just like you and telling Ella things you used to tell me.  It makes me laugh.

  You're my best friend.  The person I talk to daily..sometimes with nothing really to talk about!  Thanks for always being there and always knowing the right thing to say.  I love you so much.  I miss you every day. And thanks for being the best "Dolly" around and giving my babies everything they could ever want..and then some!  

Yipeee for Noey!

Noah has been somewhat of a late bloomer with his gross motor skills. Thankfully, Ella was the exact same way (she didn't even crawl until she was almost 11 months old, but she walked 2 months later) so I felt alot more relaxed about it with Noah. I knew that he would accomplish things in his own time. He has been such a social bug since he was born and is way more into learning to talk and doing tricks than physical stuff.

Well, we were so surprised to find him standing in his crib Saturday morning as proud as could be! It took some practicing and determination, but by Monday he had it down and was having a blast. He loves this new level of exploration he has found. He is crawling and pulling up on everything. He gives the biggest smiles when he finally makes it up! We are so proud of him!!

"NINE TWENTY ONE"

On Monday, we took a field trip to the Fire Station in Washington, NC. It was great! They talked with the kids about fire safety, taught them to "stop, drop, and roll", and talked with them about what to do in the event of an emergency. Ella came home and proudly told Randy that if you get hurt, you should call "nine-twenty-one" Nice. Guess we'll keep working on that one! ;)

They got to see a real fireman. He showed them how his voice would sound if he used his mask in a fire. They talked with the kids about crawling down under the smoke and not being afraid if a fireman came to save them and his voice sounded funny.

Can you tell we had FUN?!?!

Lovey

Dear Bunny and Mister Bear,

Thank you for being a part of our family. What would we do without your ear/tag to rub each night? Thank you for giving us the best cuddles when we get hurt and keeping us company during our long, boring, naps. We have loved you our whole lives.

Your friends,

Ella and Noah

Saturday Night

Saturday night we decided to take the kiddos to the park for a little bit. We had a great time! We were looking kinda rough because Randy and the kids had spent most of the day playing outside and I had been working all day, but we just went with it. We had a great time playing and decided to stop by Dippin Dots on the way home for ice cream. The best was hearing Ella say on the way home that night, "That was so fun!". Makes me want to take her again right now!