At this time (1:33p.m)...

two years ago, this little girl took her first breath and let the world know she was going to be a feisty little thing.


 Happy 2nd Birthday, our sweet and beautiful baby A...Ella Rae.

Ovredue-Grant, 21 (ish) months

At 21 months (22.5) you:

*Love to sleep on your tummy and HAVE to have your teddy, lovie and now your giraffe.

*Can still wear size 12 clothes though you've grown taller so you are now in 18 month pants:)

*Weigh a whopping 20.7 lbs

*love to be LOUD, you also have the reputation for being the whiner and the screamer.  Today you were screaming and it was so loud you were covering your own ears:)

*can say lots, most of it intelligible, that which we do understand is very crisp in it's pronunciation.

*bite and scratch if your siblings take stuff you have/want.  You get the maddest: red face, screaming and you stiffen up like a board

*have an awesome laugh, it makes everyone else smile and laugh with joy

*give the sweetest hugs, always curling your arm around our necks.  My favorite is that you play with my hair and rest your sweet cheek against mine

*are the earliest riser (usually before 6:30) and the shortest napper

*love to be helper, though you "march to your own drum."  Sometimes you are so very independent.  You have the least amount of meltdowns because you are happy to play on your own.  You love cuddles but also can be set down right away in the morning.  You are less likely to fight over mommy's lap.

*are so little that watching you walk is a delight, you sometimes seem too little to be doing that yet.

*love being outside, you run around in pure and simple joy

*can be a huge flirt with your sweet waves and smiles.  We stopped at McDonalds for ice cream you were more interested in smiling at several ladies around us and every time they smiled and waved back you'd come running back to us to laugh.

*make some of the best and most outrageous faces.  There's the serious face, the "stern" face, goofy smile face, the O face.

*say "O tootles" from Mickey Mouse Club House and it's adorable and daddy tries to get you to say it all day long.

Overdue...Henry, 21 months

At 21 (22) Months you:

...love picking on teasing your siblings.  You love to take their stuff and throw it onto a tall counter top or middle of the table so they can't reach it.  You also love to pull their clothes.  Despite your obvious humor at your tricks, your siblings are less then amused.

...are the first person, on the other hand, to offer comfort when someone is hurt or upset and crying.  I've witnessed your sweetness trying to give Ella kisses and the giant bear hugs you gave to Evie.   You sure can be a sweet boy.

...weigh approximately 26.7 lbs.

...love to put things in bins/bags/containers.  A game you could play for hours.

...breakfast, it's your favorite meal hand's down.  Your favorite consists of cereal bars, blueberries, and milk!

...love your teddy.  I love that when you are half asleep and I hand it to you, the first thing you always do is rub you face on him.

...love being chased.  Especially when we are in the middle of getting you dressed.

...wearing size 18 month pants and 24 month shirts.

...still look JUST like your daddy but are a mama's boy through and through.

...talk A LOT.  It's mostly intelligble and you love to repeat "certain" syllables.  Your favorite right now sounds like this: "diddle liddle diddle."  You even start the day whispering it to me.

...helping out my unloading the dishwasher and load the dryer.  You are the first to help out.  You make the silliest grunting noises with each  item you pick up.

...are not a very courageous boy.  You were ok with you first foray into the swimming pool.  You hate being tossed in the air.  However, you love the game where I set you on my shoulder and "drop" you.  Lot's of giggles and you say "ready" when you want to go again.  You also love slides.  One day at church when we went to pick you up you told daddy, "wee!" which was really confusing.  Then you ran to the little slide, climbed to the stop and started saying "wee!" as you slid down...adorable.

...like your neck being tickled, by daddy.

...are the first to sit down for a snack.  In fact, my hand is barely in the cracker box and you've found a spot on the floor and are wiggling with anticipation.  You love most carbs, just like daddy.  You hate trying new things, and prefer your food separate.  Daddy hates this about you but you prefer your meatballs somewhere other then on top of the noodles or rice.  You always finish your fruit.  Throw meat to the floor.  Veggies fall somewhere in between.  You are almost always happiest with a sippy cup tucked under one arm.

...have a great arm.  Maybe baseball will be in your future.

...LOVE to spin in circles.  Sometimes you put a box on your head, other times you and Grant join up, and sometimes you just solo it.  But you are always giggling and "wee-ing" your way around and around.  It's hilarious how dizzy you get as we watch you walk into walls or stumble.

...take the longest to fall asleep.  First you have to toss the bedding out of the bed and jump up and down.  Sometimes we hear you and Grant talking.  There is often a lot of laughing.

Preschool Finale

 

Remember this little girl. She might look familiar but she is almost a year older now.  This picture was taken on her first day of her second year of preschool.  Here she is, September 6th, heading out the door:

A full school year later and she has matured so much.  She talks better, is more social, her play is like a kindergartner vs. preschooler, and she expresses herself in a lot of different ways.  Here she is May 24th, walking out the door on the last day.

I am so thankful that we sent her to 5C's as  evident by the verses she says, the encouragement she gives others and by her simple faith.  This morning she was singing, "Jesus is your Savior everyday..."   Awesome!!!

Here she is the night before, with the gifts we made for her teacher.  The flash took out the words but it says: "thank you for quenching my thirst for knowledge."  I got the idea from Pinterest from this blog.

Overdue...Ella

I meant to write this post when Ella turned 18 months and again last month but alas life and time got away from me.  So without further ado, this is Ella as she is right now....

...is approximately 24 lbs according to our bathroom scale.

...LOVES to move.  She climbs, skips, bounces, jumps, runs, dances, slides and spins.  I call her my little firecracker!

...acts out her frustration in a way I would love to.  Throwing the item that is messing up her little life onto the floor and throwing her self down after it, bouncing on her bottom a few time to show her displeasure and smacking the floor with her little fist.

...runs to the shoe closet whenever I ask if she wants to go outside. 

...wears size 18-24 month clothes, depending on the manufacturer.

...sometimes gets so crazy (ie throws herself on the floor rolls around like a dog scratching her back and then flips onto her knees with her head on the floor and crawls forward) we wonder "where did that come from?"

...is the best but sometimes the messiest eater.  Often stuffs her mouth full.

...loves cereal bars, fruit (especially frozen blueberries and grapes), veggies (especially carrots, corn and beans), popcorn, fruit snacks, animal crackers, hot dogs

...calls everyone "gampa" unless corrected.

...says a lot, some most I can't understand.  Common words: diaper, mama, dada, no, up, Grant, Henry, Ella.

...sleeps the most.  She sleeps in most days to 7:30 and takes 2.5-3 hour naps.

...prefers that I dress her immediately after getting jammies off, during first diaper change.  Will in fact follow me around crying and tapping her belly if I don't.

...has started to be aware and have a strong dislike for poopy in her diaper!!  One of the first steps towards potty training.  Yikes! Yeah!

...loves playing in water...but not showers.

...loves to cook in the play kitchen.

...hates when her brothers (mostly Henry) pulls on her clothes during lunch (and who could blame her).

...still has gorgeous baby blues and long eyelashes.

...is all muscle.  WARNING: Stay out of the path of those legs, she's a strong kicker.

...she loves to be a big helper.  Always the quickest to pick up toys and runs to put things in the trash.

...gets along the best with everyone.  Not that she doesn't stand her ground our try to get what she wants from whoever has it, but typically she has the most moments of cooperation and fun with her siblings.  Ella and Evie especially can play well together.  One night they spent several minutes of hilarity running from Evie's bed to the door and back again.  They were laughing and giggling, it warmed my heart!

...gives the best cuddles/hugs first thing in the morning.

...keeps us on our toes and laughing.

A Week in the Life 2012-FINISHED!

A to Z

Been seeing this A thru Z hopping around the blogosphere and thought I would play along to reveal some more things you probably didn't know about me.

A. Age: 32
B. Bed size: Full, and we love it....we are that strange;)
C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the bathroom
D. Dogs: Toby, an almost 3 year old Chorkie (chihuahua/Yorkie mix)
E. Essential start to your day: coffee with caramel white chocolate cappuccino mix.
F. Favorite color: Bright purple
G. Gold or Silver: I like both.
H. Height: 5’7.5"
I. Instruments you play: none, I tried a year of piano lessons before kids...I can't believe how dumb it made me feel
J. Job title: chiropractor, President of my business, SAHM and wife
K. Kids: 4,  Evelyn, Ella, Henry and Grant
L. Live: in MN
M. Mother’s name: Peggy, my dad is Jeff
N. Nicknames: Rae
O. Overnight hospital stays:Childbirth and with the "babies" until their transfer to M. .
P. Pet peeves: whining!!!!!
Q. Quote from a movie: "The veil is not attacking you!"  from the Runaway Bride
R. Right or left handed: Right handed.
S. Siblings: 2 sisters, I am very lucky.
U. Underwear: Yes.
V. Vegetable you hate: I don't really hate it, but I don't prefer cooked carrots or peas without the pods.
W. What makes you run late: trying to get in one more thing before I leave or not getting up on time
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Dental, full spine, tailbone, chest
Y. Yummy food that you make: pancakes, I'm hoping that my kids and grandkids will always prefer mine and tell others that nothing compares to moms...
Z. Zoo animal: Elephants