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!