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!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
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?!
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?!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
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.)
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.)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
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.
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.
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