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.