Dinosaurs at The Heard

Eric took Carter to meet his Grandma and the twins at The Heard Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit. The weather was perfect, and they all had a really good time! Here are some pictures of their day.

New Milestones

Ella has hit some new milestones recently that I wanted to document! She has started reaching and grabbing for her toys, and once she gets hold of one, it almost always goes straight to her mouth.

She has also really started to become constantly entertained by watching her big brother. I noticed her first start watching him maybe about a month ago, but now it truly entertains her and keeps her happy for quite a while. She will just lay there while Carter is playing and talking and just stare at him. She literally watches him ALL the time. I wonder what she thinks about all the he does? I'd like to think it's something like "Ohhh, neat, I wish I could do that!" But it's probably more like, "What in the world is that crazy kid doing?"  Poor Carter.... when he was this age, what in the world kept him so entertained all the time? I'm guessing Mommy was just not as fun to watch. Anyway, it's pretty special! :)

And she loves to stand up now! She just thinks it's so much fun to be held her up by her hands.

Birthday Boy

Daddy is the birthday boy today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

January 30, 1981 was a very important day for all of us, even though none of us existed yet. Your birthday.... the day God put you on this earth for each of us. How thankful I am for that day and for you. We love you so very much, and hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,

Elaina, Carter, Ella & Stormie

Carter, the Artist

Carter came to me, showed me this, and said, "Look Mommy, I drew a football."

I thought it was pretty good! He has been "drawing" things for a while, but this was the first real resemblance I saw in one of his masterpieces.  :)

And here he is in action.

Ella.... Sleep Habits and Bedroom!

On Christmas Eve, Ella slept through the night for the first time, 9pm-7:30am, and it was wonderful! She has done it ever since, and sometimes as long as 12 hour stretches. That much sleep makes for one very happy and smiley baby in the morning! We have moved her bed time up to about 8pm in the last few weeks as well. Our little routine right now is that she goes to sleep by snuggling me on my shoulder each evening after she gets a full tummy. She won't take a paci like her brother did. I guess we kicked that habit before we started it.... just like the swaddle! And she lets me lay her down with no problems at all. She has started sucking her thumb a little bit to put herself back to sleep if she ever starts to stir. Self soothing, Yay!! All of these are steps in the right direction, and we are actually looking forward to sleep training Ella at about 4 months of age.  Hopefully all this means that it will be fairly easy, and there will be a minimum amount of letting her "cry it out".... HOPEFULLY!! As I said in a previous post, she usually gives me one REALLY long nap during the day (3-4 hours), and a few that are like 45-60 minutes each. I really can't complain.  =)

Since she has been doing so well in the sleep department, the next step, naturally, seemed to be to move her to her crib in her room. There isn't much of a reason for her to be in our room with us anymore. So, last night was her first night in her big girl room. I couldn't help but think of her as a tiny little thing in a big room all by herself, but she did really great! And so did I! :)

Speaking of Ella's room, I just realized that I never did a blog post with pictures of her completed nursery. So here they are.

Notice her lamp shade and valance..... courtesy of Nana. My mom was nice enough to track down fabric that coordinated with her bedding, and do these for her room!

 Her chest is full of clothes, too. Oh Lord!

The storage cube is a new addition. I literally had no where else to put her toys that she got for Christmas. We are bursting at the seems in this house!

Congrats on a big milestone, baby girl!! You are growing up too fast! New room today, high school graduation tomorrow.

Ella at 3 months!

Ella was three months old yesterday! In some ways it feels like just the other day that we packed up our little family of 3 and drove to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning after my water broke. But in other ways, it feels like Ella has been a part of our family forever! Here is what Ella is up to at 3 months.

• You are eating 5 times a day, every 3 hours. You are no longer eating at night!
• You are sleeping through the night, and have been for about 3 weeks now! You are usually down between 7:45 and 8pm, and you wake up usually sometime around 7:30am, give or take. And you always wake up sooooo very happy. I love that. (More on your sleep habits to come in a later post).
• You have started to soothe yourself to sleep by sucking your thumb. I have to say, it's pretty nice for you to be able to put yourself back to sleep if you're ever awakened early from a nap, or when you stir in the middle of the night. Hopefully this doesn't become too bad of a habit though. Not sure how we'll ever break it! But it might be the sweetest thing ever to look on the monitor and see you going to town on your little thumb, and then your eyes slam shut!
• As far as naps go, you usually take on very long nap during the day, then a few other shorter naps. If we stay home in the morning, that is usually when your really long nap is.  But it we are out and about, you just snooze a lot, then take a really good nap for me in the afternoon. I have no complaints in the nap department, for now.
• You love to make eye contact with Mommy & Daddy, and Carter too if he will sit still long enough. I have noticed you starting to smile a lot at Carter. For many months (those also spent in the womb) you have been hearing your brother's voice, and there is no question that you recognize that. But I think you are just now starting to recognize his face. And you always seem pretty pleased when you look at him. I have no doubt you love him as much as he loves you!
• You are sitting up really well in your bumbo, still rolling from tummy to back occasionally, and you are now lifting your legs and swinging them from side to side while you're lying on your back. I remember Carter doing this and was rolling all the way over just a month or so later. You'll be doing that soon, I'm sure!
• You have gotten much better at taking a bottle. We switched from Dr. Brown's to Tommee Tippee bottles, and since then, you have taken a bottle with very little problem. You definitely still prefer to nurse though.
• You are starting to show the first signs of giggles! You are very ticklish on your feet, in your ribs, and on your thighs. If I get you just right, you will give me a very tiny giggle. Also, the other night Carter was in your face doing the usual babble. You started to smile, and then before I knew it you were nearly giggling at him. He got the biggest kick out of it, and so did I. Can't wait to hear more of that!
• You weight about 13 pounds, and are wearing 3-6 month clothes. There are still a few 3 month things you can wear, but I'm sure I'll be packing those away in just a few weeks.

You continue to be the cutest, sweetest, most precious little girl we know, and we just love you to pieces. Happy 3 months, Ella!

Carter's First Day of School

Carter had his first day of preschool today! Here he is all ready to go.

He was excited to go to school, but once we got there he seemed a little shy and timid. He didn't seem scared or worried, just a little reserved. Eric came with us because he was leaving today for a 4-day business trip, an won't see Carter until Friday night. He told us all goodbye and walked into the classroom with no hesitation. All day long I was sitting at home wondering how he was doing and hoping he wasn't sad, scared, behaving badly or missing me too much. I was really excited to go pick him up, but really didn't know what to expect when I got there. I poked my head into the classroom once I arrived, and he was having fun blowing bubbles with his classmates, laughing and smiling ear to ear. Once he saw me, he gave me a big grin and said, "Mommyyyyy!" And he was really excited to see Ella.... he even told me he missed her! His teacher said he had a great day. She said he fit right in and it seemed like he had been there forever!! I was happy to hear such a great report! On the way home, he told me all about his day. He did watercolors, sang songs, read a book, ate all his lunch, plus his cookie, and rested. Overall, it sounds like he had a wonderful day. And Ella and I did too! We didn't do much, just hung out at home and got all our laundry done! We'll have to skype with Eric later on so Carter can tell him all about his first day of school. I am looking forward to spending the evening with my boy... I missed him today! But I'm also looking forward to his next school day.  =)

Carter's First Movie!

Since he LOVES watching them at home, and is a little older and more mature now (if you can even call a 2.5 year old mature..... ha!), Eric and I have been thinking Carter might do well at a movie. And lucky for us, Nana and Grandad were willing to watch Ella for a few hours so we could go on a date, just the 3 of us, to see Carter's first movie! He has been obsessed with Alvin and the Chipmunks for a while now, so it was definitely the perfect choice! To describe him as being excited would be an understatement. He sat still through the whole thing, and snacked on popcorn the entire time. He didn't get bored or restless even once. He really did great... I was a very proud Mommy! We all had so much fun, and can't wait to do it again soon!

Just Some Pictures

Carter got bases for Christmas, and he spent a lot of time playing baseball

outside last week since we had some great weather!

 Carter and Ella recently had their first bath together!

 Sweet girl just waking up in the morning.... she's got that thumb in her mouth!

 Enjoying a little tummy time! 

 Smiling at Mommy!

 Love you, pretty girl!

 Carter might have a mild serious obsession with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. 

Here he is proudly posing with them!

 Sibling love...

 Smiley girl!

 Love this one!!

That's it.... just wanted to post a few recent pictures. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Male Bonding

Eric was off the whole week between Christmas and New Years, and he decided he wanted to take Carter to do something fun and different from what we normally do. He decided to take him out for pizza (okay, that's not SO different) and to a UNT basketball game. If you know Eric, you know that he is a well rounded sports fan. He doesn't discriminate between sports.... he loves them all, and he pretty much roots for all local teams, including my alma mater, North Texas. Carter is definitely starting to love sports just like Daddy, so what better way to spend a little father-son time?! Eric said Carter was so well behaved all night long, and that they both had such a great time together! When they got home Carter had so much to tell me about - it was so cute listening to him recap his night with his Daddy. While they were out having guy time, I was spending quality time at home with my baby girl. And by that I mean cleaning out and reorganizing all their toys that they got for Christmas while Ella slept almost the entire time! It was a very nice, quiet and productive evening for Mommy!

Pizza! Mmmmm.

 Handsome little man enjoying the game!

 Daddy and his little buddy.