Nearly Late, but high tech Birthday Wishes

It's Kurt's brother's birthday today! Happy Birthday, Kevin! Sorry we didn't get wishes out to you earlier. We wish you an exciting year to come!

Another PJ Day

I just put my kiddos down for a nap and Elyse is the only one that is fully dressed and out of her PJ's. I love Monday's around here. It's one of the only days we have the option of staying in Pj's, building forts, reading books, etc. all day. So, that's exactly what we did this morning. We piled up pillows and read lots of books from the library.

The boys are avid fans of the "Jack and Annie Books," as Austin refers to them, or "The Magic Treehouse" series for the rest of us. They're cute, imaginative chapter books. We've discovered over the past several months, that Austin gets overly distracted by illustrations and photos in books, which makes reading such a chore or nearly impossible with him, so chapter books have been a God-send. He sits quietly and waits for the illustration every second to third page. Anyway, on Friday at the library, we picked up a FABULOUS new series - "My Father's Dragon."

It's another chapter book series, but much higher quality of writing and a good mix of adventure, fun, great discription, and good vocabulary. They LOVE it! We read the first book this morning and Isaac and I were so anxious to turn each page. Austin likes it too, but still wants more Jack and Annie. Elyse seemed to be content for most of it as well. All this to say, if you haven't checked them out, they're a great read for little ones!

4 year-old Soccer at its Best & 7 months with Elyse

Today was Isaac's last day of soccer. It was honestly the best introduction to the sport he could have had...only five weeks, one hour each at the gym in our church. They taught them a few "skills" for the game, but primarilly focused on character development and sportsmanship. Overall, he really enjoyed it, especially if he got to play on the same "team" as one of his friends. At the end of the day, they had a little party and received "golden medals," as Isaac keeps referring to his.

As you can see, he was pretty darn excited.


I can hardly believe that our baby is already 7 months old! It amazes me how much time has passed. She's still an extremely happy little girl and just LOVES to be entertained by her big brothers. She is now clicking her tongue - her latest of many talents...

She's also finally eating solids better. For a while I was concerned she thought she could live off breast milk alone - indefinitely. I assured her she couldn't! But, I'm telling you, this girl had a natural gag reflex like none I'd ever seen. It was actually quite funny, until I began to wonder if she'd ever get the hang of it. She's now eating sweet potatoes, peas, yogurt, bananas (her favorite), pumpkin, and a little bit of apple sauce. I think she's had squash, too. I incorporated fruit much earlier with her, in hopes to help her get the hang of it. She's a not a huge fan of the food being completely pureed, so I just mash things up a bit. She's definitely going to be Ms. Independent.

Here are a few recent photos of our little munchkin.

Don't you wish we could all wake up with this much excitement?!

Boys will be Boys

Yesterday Isaac was being a wonderful big brother to Elyse, just playing with her gently on the carpet, helping her discover new things. I was busy cooking dinner in the kitchen, but could hear them down in the family room. At one point I heard Isaac say, "disgusting, disgusting. Elyse, that's disgusting!" He probably said that two or three times before I took a look. I didn't see anything "disgusting," so I asked him what was so disgusting. He said, "I'm telling Elyse that her tooting is disgusting, but it's really me that keeps tooting!" And so the farting humor begins!

I've been away from posting for quite a while because we've been traveling - some for business, and some for pleasure. It takes me so long to get the house/laundry back to normal after these trips, not to mention the kids on their routines, and catching up with work, that blogging just hasn't fit in.

Below are a few photos of our visit with Granddad this last weekend, the kids' great grandfather (Kurt's grandfather), along with the rest of the Eilmes family. We had a great visit and are so glad we got to introduce Elyse to everyone in Washington.





We left for Walla Walla on the 1st of November, so the night before was an exciting night. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Halloween. There is truly no point to this holiday, and if there is a point, it's to sugar up kids (I don't like the idea of that), or to scare kids (oh great, more nightmares), or just another thing to spend money on (need I say more, as to why I hate this holiday?). Anyway, until about 3p.m. on Halloween, I wasn't sure if we were just going to boycott the thing all together, or if the kids would wear dress-ups we already have, or if I was really going to try to pull off "space shuttle" costumes.

With the help of my artistic husband, we made two great space shuttles in about 45 minutes and then went trick or treating at Auntie Megs/Unkie Bunkie's and our good friend Tam and Bob's. The boys looked SUPER cute, if I don't say so myself. There's just something extra special about homemade costumes. They loved them and I know we'll see them out and about all year long.



To continue the theme (yet using a fabulous hand-me-down costume from our friends the Mains), Elyse was the space-germinated seed, growing at "astronomical" speed!

 

Kids Say the Darndest things...

On our recent road trip and over the past couple of days, Kurt and I have found ourselves saying, "don't forget that one for the blog," after the kids (mostly Isaac) say hilarious or incredible things, so bear with me, as I record things, for our own memory and for the kids to have as memories down the road. (Hopefully some of you readers out there will get a kick from them too...) In all actuality, my hope for this blog is that, since I have been horrible about baby books, this will be a way for my kids to learn about their early childhoods!

Isaac is at a stage right now that just amazes us. His faith in the Lord is simply phenomenal. The things he comes up with never cease to amaze us. To have the faith of a child! A few examples:

As we were packing up the car, ready to head out on our adventure, Isaac showed Kurt and I a picture he had drawn for Lisa and Dan. It was a drawing of a hand with an x on it. He said, "This is for Auntie Lisa and Uncle Dan. I'm going to give it to them, so that they can see the most perfect hand in the world and remember what Jesus did for them." I can't believe how profound a statement this was! Most people would say it's IMperfect, yet Isaac recognized the perfection of the scar on Jesus' hand. WOW! I've actually scanned the drawing in, since he forgot to give it to them...


To continue with the faith stories, after nap time (better known as "quiet time" for Isaac these days), he came down stairs and said, "I read my Bible to Moses during quiet time.(Moses is his favorite monkey - made for him, named, and given to him before he was born by Auntie Jen and Auntie Trina. Moses goes almost everywhere with us.) He wanted to hear more stories of Jesus." I said, "oh, which ones?" He told me Moses wanted to hear the birth story of Jesus. Then he said with great enthusiasm, "Guess what? Moses asked Jesus to be in his heart!" He was so excited about it! It was pretty cute. (Our little evangelist...)

Okay, so more funny stories of Isaac on the trip. As we're driving west from Colorado Springs, the mountains and the colors of the changing leaves were just gorgeous. Our timing couldn't have been any better. The next day, however, the scenery was very different - gorgeous in a different way, but very dry and desert-like. After a bit of driving, Isaac asked when we'd be out of the desert. We both non-chalantly said we'd be in the desert much of our trip. A few hours later, he said, something about the desert again. I turned to Kurt and asked him if he had talked to him about the desert. He said, no, but that he assumed I had. Neither of us had, so I asked Isaac how he knew we were in the desert. He said, "Well, it looks like where Moses was - I saw the sand, and cactus, and just knew we were in the desert - like Moses was." We both just laughed.

Today, on the way home from school, Isaac was telling me about his day, and was so excited that Caroline had told him he was her friend again. (There was a little issue last week, regarding some confusion as to whether or not Isaac was just "rubbing" his nose or possibly being a little more gross...you know how girls can be...I suggested to Isaac that he not "touch" his nose, and maybe he should make friends with some "lower maintenance" boys.) Anyway, after telling me about Caroline, he told me that one of the other girls wasn't being as nice. I said something about how I hope he doesn't ever not be nice to people and that he should be careful to not let other people impact his actions or the way he treats people. He said, "don't worry mom, I won't let my attitude change because of her." Oh, it just makes me laugh.

Tonight at the dinner table, we asked Austin if Ms. Jackie (his sweet teacher) was glad to have him back. He said, yes. Then Isaac said, "My teacher was delighted to have me back!" Obviously we couldn't contain our laughter on that one.

One last note on Isaac's commentary: he has begun to talk very colloquially. It's quite strange, almost pre-teen-esque! He uses the word, "like" all the time! It's scary. I had to call my mom and tell her I felt her pain from when she had three teenage daughters, but I only have a four-year-old!!

So there's a taste for Isaac's personality right now...here's a bit of Austin:

Both Kurt and I regret that we didn't take photos of each of the places Austin lay down in the middle of a path, road, floor to show us his disdain for our decisions. It would have made for a great scrapbook page(s) or blog! Let's just say, he's certainly a typical 2 year old AND he didn't have many naps on the trip and didn't get as much sleep at night. All that said, he still did incredibly well.

Austin is really becoming very polite - without too much prodding now, which is so nice! He's even received compliments for it lately! We're very proud of him. But, sometimes he's so fast that his, "May I please ..." gets so jumbled no one has any idea what he's saying. He always says, "My do it" and My in place of I. So, yesterday I tried to correct him when he said, "My like..." I said, "I like..." He then said, "Me too, mommy!" It was quite funny...(Who's on first...)

I leave you tonight with the stats of our beautiful, growing, little 6 month old! She went for her 6 month check-up today and weighs in at a whopping 18 lbs, which is the 90th percentile and she's in the 95th for height at 27.5 inches!! She's healthy and happy, that's for sure.

Proof in the Pool

So I mentioned last week that miraculously Isaac went from "playing in the water" to beginning swimming! It was SO incredible. Such a wonderful parenting moment! Here's my first attempt at video on the blog...

Now you all (all 4 of you that read this) can share in my pride!

Here's another quick video of both boys jumping in. (I might get a bit carried away, now that I figured out the video download! Kurt literally blew up a hard drive, attempting to upload video of Isaac when he was four days old...all the exciting things a four-day old does! :-) Needless to say, we've been a bit gunshy since then.)

The Sweetness of Boys

So for some reason, everyone thinks that girls are the sweet ones and boys are the rough and tumble ones. Boys may be rough and tumbly, but they're also so sweet. I can imagine girls are too, and thankfully, I now have the chance to find out on my own!

This week I've been so blessed by these little, random "words/acts of kindness" shared with me by both boys. Austin has just gotten into this stage of coming up to me, completely out of the blue, grabbing my leg and saying, "I love you mommy!" No hidden motivation behind it, simply what he's feeling right then. (Since he's a bit of a Daddy's boy, this such a treat for me!) Also, I'll be helping him with something ALL mothers do, such as helping him adjust his underwear after going potty, so his shirt isn't tucked into them (what mom is going to let her son make a fashion statement like that?!), and he looks up at me with his oh-so-cute, often messy face, and says, "Your the best Mommy!" Oh my word, how'd I deserve that?! I didn't, but I got it!

As I was nursing Elyse this evening and singing to her, Isaac was in his room getting himself dressed for bed. I saw his shadow close to the door. He peeked in, and in a very sweet voice said, "I wuuuuvvv your singing, Mommy." Oh, enough to make all the challenging moments more than worth it for a whole week! They really are so sweet. Elyse is precious, too. As Kurt says, she's at the perfect stage, where all you need to do is look at her and she smiles! That'll do it everytime! Kurt and I are so blessed with these little one's the Lord has gifted us with.
















Here's a cute photo of the three of them last Saturday morning - waiting for "Pancake Day" to officially begin!

Since Isaac goes to a coop preschool, we need to raise funds to support the school. This month's fundraiser was a family photo shoot for $50 if you like the photos. We went tonight. The boys weren't exactly perfectly cooperative, but I'm sure she got some good ones. I can't wait to see, since our house still seriously looks like we only have two kids! I'll post some once we get them.

A moment of pride

No, this is not a post about mommy pride, rather all about ME! I don't often boast about my abilities, because let's face it, they're far and few between (other than landing myself the most incredible husband out there, and birthing three beautiful kids). BUT, I had two "maybe there's hope for me yet" moments in the past two weeks. First, I hosted a baby shower for my friend, Michelle, a week ago and made my first diaper cake. I was quite proud of the final product.


Then this evening, with two crazy kids running around (literally circles around me), my hubby on the phone with relatives (me adding my two cents), and Elyse needing some lovin', I managed to make what I would term a "date-night" dinner for the four of us. My folks had several pounds of fresh Ahi and Yellow Tail sent overnight to them by a friend today. They shared the wealth with us. Seriously, my favorite indulgence is Ahi! I love it! AND, having been pregnant a lot over the past four years, I've missed out. Anyway, amidst the chaos, the Ahi turned out to be fantabulous, if I don't say so myself! It was TASTY and completely free. (I had all the ingredients! Don't you just love it when that happens?!) Since the fish came from my folks, I figured I should thank them by bringing them our left-overs. I'm not so sure it went over as well with them, but I sure enjoyed it and Kurt and the boys liked it too!

Okay, there actually is a proud mommy moment to share, too. The boys are taking swimming lessons Monday and Wednesday afternoons. They are in the same class (just the two of them) and loving it. Monday, Isaac literally started swimming!!!! Head underwater and floating on his own with arms and legs kicking/stroking (i.e. flaling)! Granted, there's a lot of finess still needed, but he's really doing it! On his own! I was SO proud of him! (He was too!) What an incredible thing to witness your child going from "trying" to actually "succeeding!" When he was born, the 2004 Summer Olympics were in the works. The nurses were all SHOCKED at the size of his feet, so we were saying he'd be the next Michael Phelps...maybe we're on our way!

SUPER SUDS, SUPER FUN

Well, we did it again! Yesterday I was the "fun mom" I always want to be, but rarely am, because it's just too plain messy! A couple of years ago my aunt JoAnn gave Isaac three bottles of Curious George "Foam Soap." (Basically colored shaving cream for kids.) We didn't use it in the tub, because at that time, Austin had such bad skin, I had to be very careful with soaps. So we had a little "fun" in the kitchen.

Yes, we did it again! We pulled out the two remaining bottles. Needless to say, there are no more bottles of George soap! Boy, did we have fun! The best part, was that with two complete rinses, the kitchen floor is SPOTLESS! Fun times and cleaning, all at once!!! I think I'm onto something!

 

 

 

 

Check out how BLUE Austin's legs are!

We'll have to buy some more when Elyse gets old enough, because she, once again, was on the sidelines for this fun...watching from her Jumperoo!

Imagination gone too far?

About three months ago we hit the REAL imagination stage with Austin! I absolutely love the imagination. Their little personalities come out so much more when they are free to utilize their imaginations and there are so many more opportunities for entertainment!

Well, Austin's infatuation/fascination/obsession right now consists of two things and really only two things. One - meetings! Just like daddy, he is always going to meetings (mostly about his other obsession). We'll talk about having to go to MOPS or run some errands or a playdate and he will tell me, "Mommy, I can't, I have a meeting." So then, in attempt to further conversation and to make our outings joyous ones :-), I say, "oh, well I think your meeting is at church or the grocery store. I'll drive you." He's completely agreeable to where his meetings are, but the transportation part is a different story...
His second obsession - his space shuttle (and sometimes a plane, too). So, mommy's car never cuts it! He has to go in his space shuttle. Most of the time, however, his space shuttle is conveniently (for me, not him) broken or stuck in space, so he succumbs to the boring transportation mode of the minivan! It's amazing how his space shuttle can be brought into literally any conversation and seems to fit just fine!

Today, I picked him up from MOPS Ministry Team and he had a nice, fresh knot on his forehead. I asked the teachers what happedned and they didn't even know it was there. (I think they were concerned I would be upset, but honestly, they provide GREAT childcare, and with Austin, it could have happened anwhere at anytime and he generally doesn't whine about it, especially if I'm not there to hear it. What's that saying, "if mom's not in the room and a child gets hurt, upset, or saddened, does the child still whine?!" Something like that, right?) Anyway, all this to say, when we got to the car and everyone was strapped in and I had a second to chat with the kids, I asked him what happened to his head. He told me he fell off his space shuttle! Of course he did! I went along with it and figured I'd get the real story later. I tried two other times in the car and only heard the same thing. Isaac kept saying, "No, for REEEAAAL!" At home, with food in his tummy, I tried to focus him on MOPS and ask, but still only one answer - his space shuttle! Oh well. I guess there's no need to know the details!

Five Months Old

 

Elyse is five months today! I really can't believe how fast she is growing. Maybe it's because I know she's my last, or the fact that she's so much bigger than the boys were at this stage. I'm not even really a "baby crazy" person, but I'm already realizing the "last" milestones. She's such a joy! I love just talking, singing, and playing with her. (So do the boys.) She seems to completely comprehend everything that goes on in our crazy lives!

She's been teething for the last month, so she drools more than a puppy. She also shoves her entire hand or at least two fingers in her mouth at all times! Strangely, I think she'll get her upper "fang" teeth first. Every day I look to see if they're in yet, and she is so cute and helpful by saying, "AHHHH" each time! They are SO close. You can see them fully, there's just a very thin layer of gum covering them. All in all, the teething hasn't taken too big of a toll on our happy little girl. She's also about to sit on her own. She rolls constantly and loves to jump in her jumperoo! She goes CRAZY in it! Tummy time isn't a "chore" anymore, but she still would prefer to stand or be on her back. (Like her oldest brother, she may not crawl much and go to the walking sooner...) She truly is an extremely happy little girl.
For her 5th Month Birthday (ha), MiMi and PopPop took us all to Santa's Workshop at the North Pole! It was a complete surprise for the boys. They thought we were going hiking, which they were excited about, too, but as we drove up the mountain, we kept seeing signs with elves on them, then signs with Santa and his reindeer, and finally a huge sign that said, "Welcome to the North Pole!"
What a great day it was! Isaac and Austin, but especially Isaac, blew us away with their courage. These are my kida, who until a few months ago, were scared to swing more than a few inches back and forth! Isaac has always been fairly timid, and fearless Austin, follows whatever his brother says and does (if he says it's scary, it must be...). Well, Isaac rode EVERY possible ride there was to ride and loved each of them. The funny part was, that we finished on the huge slide at the end of the day (which we began with, as well) and that, is what he said was the one he had to be most brave for!
Austin didn't like the fast, spinning ones. (Either did Mommy!) I'm hoping that it's not because I'm getting old, but just a hormone thing with a nursing baby...I got so dizzy, on rides I used to love!
Elyse rode the train with us, but other than that, she was a great spectator. She slept
maybe 20 minutes all day! She just couldn't bear to miss the action! Even with so little sleep, she was happy the entire time! It was a grand time, had by all. It was fun stirring up memories I had from my childhood visit!

Running Behind...

Thursday was our first official day of MOPS! We've had so many meetings and training this year, that I was really ready for MOPS, itself. The boys were excited too. I was bringing an egg dish, so I got that in at the "perfect" time, so it would be done in time, yet, hopefully still hot when MOPS started. I felt like everything was going smoothly and that the kids and I would even be early! I was quite proud of us! Well, with a few hiccups, our preparedness and timeliness quickly turned to running behind.

Austin decided to help out by doing his own hair that morning. He came downstairs, so proud of himself, and this is what I saw. I think he must have used a quarter bottle of Kurt's gel.
 
Although the photo doesn't show it very well, there is a huge "glob" of gel directly in the center of his "nest." He didn't even attempt to rub it in, I don't think! There was so much excess gell, that there was no way I could get away with just adding water and hoping it would look okay. So, after an unexpected shower for Austin, a casserole that took nearly double the time the recipe called for, and the typical mayhem of trying to get everybody in the car, we ended up arriving about 5 minutes late. Thankfully, there's a lot of grace with the women in MOPS...we've all been there! It was a great first week. I think there are some great new moms.

Little Girls

Today I had to go shopping for little tights, due the cooler weather! I'm not a shopper, by any means, but I have to admitt, it's pretty fun dressing my little girl!

A week of "Firsts"

We've had an exciting week and a half in the Eilmes household. Last weekend we brought home the "Big Boy Bed" for Austin and took down the crib. He is SO proud of his bed and makes sure to tell EVERYONE! Plus, as hard as this is to believe, the transition has been without hiccup - not a single attempt to get out of his bed! HOORAY!
There's more to the bed story, however. Austin is sleeping in his Great Grandfather's childhood bed and the bureaus in the boys' room were his as well. It's pretty neat! Every night as Austin reminds himself he can't jump on the bed, he says, "Don't jump on the bed - Pops will get mad, but not Gram."
 

The boys also started school this week. Austin is back at his one morning a week at "Love Club" and Isaac started at Broadmoor Community Preschool this week, as well. He goes twice a week. They both had a fabulous first week and Isaac is already seemingly smitten with one little girl - Caroline - who he hasn't stopped talking about!




Last weekend was the Balloon Classic in Colorado Springs, so that was a first for Elyse!
Now, granted, after having been to the Balloon Fiesta in Alb. last year, this was not overly exciting, but it was still a fun outing.

The best part, however, was watching the balloons try to find landing spots as we were driving home. (The wind wasn't quite right, so many of the pilots chose not to launch the morning we went.) As we were getting closer to home, Isaac pointed out one that looked like it was near our house. Sure enough, as we drove up the street, we saw that one of the balloons had landed two houses from our driveway! That was exciting!

We had never seen so many neighbors out at once!

COULD THERE EVER BE TOO MUCH CHOCOLATE?

There's been a lot of chocolate in our house lately.

Problem? I don't think so.

Messy? YES!

We've had a lot of fun. First, my fabulous mentor mom from MOPS last year stopped by with a bunch of goodies for us. She brought me a yummy starbucks drink, a cute decorative piece about "The Home," and a journal to start a great tradition with Elyse. (I love using other people's ideas to create traditions for my family!) She also brought the boys buckets with shovels, ice cream, and worms to make MUD! We mixed it all up, added oreos and surprised them with a super fun dessert. As you can see, they loved it! I'm so glad she brought the "fixin's" over because it reminded me to be a "fun mom" in the midst of all the "to do's."

I had to remind Austin several times that it wasn't REAL mud, as he tends to be our "sensory" kid, smelling, tasting, touching, etc EVERYTHING that he comes in contact with. So far, I haven't caught him trying to eat REAL dirt/mud...yet!

Shortly after our "mud" experience, we had some friends over for dinner. In true Erin-not-the-greatest-hostess fashion, rather than making chocolate covered strawberries, as planned, due to a lack of time, we simply melted chocolate and served globs of it on everyone's plate with several strawberries! In my opinion, it was much more fun that way, but once again, pretty darn messy. The kids loved it.

Needless to say, I don't think Isaac and Austin could ever think we've had too much chocolate! Poor Elyse...no chocolate for her yet! She just has to watch and look pretty!