The Many Faces of Sweet 16

Elianna got her first haircut after bath time a couple nights ago. It was not easy, but a couple snips to the back longest layer and I called it good. She's started to look at books by herself more now, but still doesn't want to sit with me and read for more than half a minute. Joel grabs her hands and get her to walk with him around the house now. She crawls normally, "walks" on her knees or bear crawls. Joel always wants to be around her, playing with her...fun to see the bond growing. She and Joel enjoy growling (I think they're pretending they're bears or tigers) and baby talking to each other. She still doesn't like veggies. Loves fruit and anything sweet..or whatever somebody else is eating! She's doing great feeding herself with a spoon, but it can still be quite a mess to clean up depending on the food! She has been doing pretty good taking 2 naps a day and going to sleep at about 7:30pm. Today she climbed up the big bouncy horse outside on the deck by herself and was having a grand ol time jumping up and down on it...almost gave me a heart attack! She dismounted by herself (with me there just in case) perfectly. It surprises me how good she is at climbing, but still so unsure of walking on her own. She loves to dance with me, and claps to the songs on the radio that she recognizes. She still loves to sit in my lap to cuddle or just crawl all over me and laugh. She adores Daddy for sure. You can just tell he is her hero. Just in the last week she's gotten this funny inquizical look on her face about things she doesn't know about or maybe she's just trying to mimic Joel or me. Fun to see the new expressions on her face! Sometimes, I see a little of me in her looks. She does great when I leave her in the church nursery...she plays quietly and doesn't demand so much attention usually. I think she's just so happy to be around new faces and toys. I've started letting her play with crayons and play dough on occasion...but she's still in the tasting phase, so those times of learning are short lived. She likes to play with almost everything but dolls lol. I noticed she is calling any 4 legged animal a dog a couple weeks ago when she was pointing to a donkey in a book and saying "doag!". She's a pro at pushing the off/end call button whenever I try and let her talk to family on the phone.

I Survived Booty Camp

Day 6: Joel receives the booty camp award!

Isn't he cute!

Showing off his new "I Survived Booty Camp" tat.

Yep, he's happy and so proud (0:

Well, the boy finally got it! At least, today (Day 5 of potty training) went really well! I was surprised because I thought maybe it would have taken another few days. After trying for more than a year to get him to listen to his body, I jumped at the suggestion of my mother-in-law to check out the "Booty Camp" potty training method! Maybe it's pathetic, but I really needed to learn the key phrases to be saying & some step-by-step plans. If anybody ever wants to borrow the DVD and cue cards...let me know! I am so relieved I know how to potty train Eli and don't have to waste a year stressing out and spending mega bucks on diapers/pull-ups like I did with Joel. I can actually focus on loving life...imagine that!?

Every Boy's Dream Come True

Last Saturday, in Everett, we went to a free community event called "Touch-A-Truck". It had a firetruck, zamboni, forklift, giant tow truck, and 2 monster trucks to see and get into. Joel loved exploring them all..but esp liked honking the horn in the forklift! Eli, as usual, liked looking and longing for the dogs that others had tagging along with them.

The B-I-B-"Eli"

Joel saw my Bible sitting on the couch this morning and decided he wanted to "read" it by himself. He brought it over to me and I asked him what he was reading about. His response: "I can read all those words..it says, 'Glory to God in the highest!' " Think he's ready for a Christmas play or something!? Then later on in the morning, I caught Joel singing his heart out to Eli with the B-I-B-"Eli" song!!!

Hard Work'in

Burning branches and leaves...for hours and hours.

Clearing the backyard.

Look at ALL those trees they took down!

Team work! John, his bro Ryan and co-worker Derek.

Go Ryan!! You da man!

So all John's (+ Ryan & Derek one afternoon) hard work has provided me with more light in my kitchen window mainly, so far...and has left me wondering what in the world are we going to do with this backyard that is partly cleared?! If I had a million dollars...fensed in, wrap around deck with jacuzzi...playground and clubhouse for the kids...oh and professionally landscaped! Honestly, though, it's so steep, bumpy, and rocky that I can't picture us ever getting any use out of it. Maybe that's too negative! We could hope that we've increased the value of our home slightly.

Silly Things Joel's Said That I've Actually Remembered to Write Down

"My monster gives me horsey rides." 2-20-09

Joel has a bunch of cars falling out of the barn silo and he says, "Some are falling on their sides, some are falling on their ears, and some are falling on their wheels." 5-20-09

"My cries are not all out yet!" (while having a tantrum) He's been saying this lots over the last couple of weeks. 6-2-09

"My sucker tastes like bunny!" 6-9-09

"Jesus doesn't roll my blues away, he LOVES!" 6-14-09

Sunny Funny

The warm, sunny afternoons here have included some pool time on our deck lately. I know we'll have many more fun days ahead of us since summer is just beginning. Walks to "fish" at the dock, digging in the dirt, and praying over the few little pea and onion plants in our garden have been highlights for Joel. I on the other hand have been praying AND pulling weeds...hoping to at least have a nice little strawberry harvest in a month or so. I have yet to get my fense put up to keep the bunnies out. UG!

John's been a steamroller, clearing out the vines and bushes from the backyard over the last few days...and burning it, much to my delight (and the neighbors dismay). I got to roast strawberry marshmellows last night! He has plans to get the huge tree that is close to our house cut down later on this year...and try to make our backyard useful in some way. Things just don't move fast with him being out to sea for months at a time. I was also very thankful he tackled the scary job of getting up on the roof to clean the gutters. He jokingly said he was risking his life for me (cause I'd been badgering him for a long time to do it!), but really he said he felt secure up there. He even got the bird nest dislodged out of our heating vent, (which will hopefully fix our propane heating unit!) and covered it with mesh to prevent birds and bats from entering our house. Once the nest was removed we found out we needed to do this--the swallow returned to find his home gone and flew down into our house to pay us a surprise visit!!!

Elianna is starting to talk more, which is fun. I seem to hear a new word everyday..although I forget to write them down most of the time. As she nears 16 months, I keep wondering when the day will come that she will finally be walking! She sure is taking her sweet time...but I imagine when she does, I will officially have to call her a toddler and say goodbye to my baby. Waaaa Waa, sad Mama. She loves laughing at her big brother all the time (except when she's cutting teeth). Even when I do the same thing Joel does, she only looks at him and laughs...like I'm not even there! I hope they keep that sweet sibling bond over the years. She still isn't into dolls, but does like to squeeze a stuffed animal now and then. The blankie sucker is really all about whatever Joel likes; and that is, still, CARS! Not into reading much, but I just read around her and hope for the best. She likes the fridge letters, dancing to music, eating, taking all the books off the shelf, watching the neighbor and his dog, and watching BOZ movies. She loves to crawl into my lap and cuddle, esp when in pain. It's been a long stretch of teething and late night crying...the end must be near, for awhile at least. I'm dreading the upper eye teeth that will likely be next. She has had some fevers and upset tummy from this teething spell...and a few nights of waking up multiple times. Yuk!

Joel loves stories and we are plowing thru one new story after another...using Sonlight for 3-4 year olds. "Harold and the Purple Crayon", "The Bee Tree", and almost all of the fairy tales are his favorites at the moment...along with his "Cars" board book which is falling apart from all the daydreaming and playing with it daily. He likes Mighty Mind, puzzles, and doing artwork...but the majority of the time if asked what he wants to do, it's play with cars. Lining them up and making them talk to each other. He's pretty much outgrown his need for a nap and only "accidently" takes one if in the car for longer rides or if exhausted from a late night out. I'm enforcing a 1 hour quiet time though to preserve my sanity (0: His little imagination is growing by leaps and bounds now...it started out with alot of talk about monsters, but now includes many more tall tales. I'll share cute sayings in another post down the line. For now, he is still being a stinker about potty training. I'm dreaming of that blessed day... I will likely go from potty training one to the next in a matter of months! Oh the joys of motherhood (0:

Good-bye to Good Friends

We had a good-bye meal for the Portillos last night and boy was it yummy! In our sadness we filled our bellies with enchiladas, guacamole, salsa, homemade tortillas, salad, and ice cream cake! As you can see the boys went right to work eating and protecting their treat from curious little babies like Eli who came a drooling, ready to grab a fist full. She did score later on somebody's melting leftovers! We sure will miss Sandra & Walter and Jose Miguel. Love you guys!!!