Our Sweet Boy...

I feel like I need to post a little spotlight on Jase. He is a little bundle of joy! I remember why this just might be my favorite stage... He is so busy but such a sweet little guy. Here are just a few moments from the last couple days that I don't want to forget...

Jase is crazy about dogs! And contrary to our other kids- is totally not afraid of them!!! He sees one and will start barking until he can get right by it. 

Jase has always been a sweetheart. Yesterday he just snuggled with Aunt Syd! It was pretty cute. 

Today, however, I was doing my hair and then looked over to the bathtub to find Jase just sitting perfectly contented in the  water. Shirt, tie, socks and all. It was hilarious. He had climbed in on his own and was just chilling. 

After a quick change- we were heading out the door when all three of my kids- including Jase- lined up by the door ready for a picture. I guess they are used to it by now. Jase will get one of his many crazy faces and start saying cheese!!!! 

The moment that takes the cake however is most definitely this one. Grandpa Walker sat by us in church today and Cory passed Jase over. He drank his bottle and then sat on his lap and stared up into his great grandpa's face for over 20 minutes. He then quietly fell asleep. It was the sweetest sight ever! He was quiet and perfectly still and even when the sacrament came he just reached out for the bread and water and remained on his lap. We were shocked at how mellow and still he was and completely touched by the tenderness of the exchange. Especially since grandpa is where our little Jase Henry got his middle name. 

This little boy stole my heart all over again!

No-Noggin...

Our kids are a bit sensitive to scary things.  They don't really dig spooky, scary, mean or freaky. Well this year they watched a Halloween Curious George movie (I thought it was innocent enough) and it was about a scare crow named "NoNoggin." Brig loved it. And had lots of nightmares from it.

Well things got even more spooky when we carved pumpkins...

NoNoggin showed up to our house...

The kids loved it. And had nightmares.

 

 

They all wanted to do scary faces on their pumpkins. They loved them. And had nightmares.

 

 

We sure do love these three scaredy-cats!

 

 

Them Apples...

Yep. Apples are delicious no matter what you look like!

 

Into Her Own Hands and Out of Her Eyes...

Growing a girl's hair is tricky business I tell you! It has been our experience that the back grows faster than the front...causing the mullet, and it also has to be done every day...especially when your bangs grow straight down over your eyes.

 

 

I have to admit that most days we are slow to get started...if we even get started at all and it takes me quite a while before I get her hair pulled out of her cute little face...if it gets done at all.

Ellie, being the assertive and proactive little lady that she is,

decided to take matters into her own hands.

 

 

And her own scissors.

Just a little snip, snip and those bangs are no longer drooping over her eyes.

Problem solved.

 

 

Sort of.

Luckily, we can still pull them back into a little ponytail with the rest of her bangs...so we are just going to keep letting those things grow out.

It could have been worse...and honestly, it really did get her bangs out of her face:)

The best part...she was beaming with pride and thought it was the neatest thing ever.

 

 

Thumbs Up Knuckles...

You know when something is just so cool that it's "double awesome" and deserves a little more than just the hum drum knuckles...

like for example, maybe the fact that you get turkey sandwiches with cucumbers, watermelon and chocolate milk for lunch...

that's when Brig and Ellie break out

Thumbs Up Knuckles.

 

That is how awesome we are in this family.

Double Awesome.

Spunk...

I need to just take a moment and pause so we can reflect on this girl's spunk...

 

 

Ok. That was fun.

Potty Training the Little Miss...

Finally!

This girl is potty trained.  I have waited quite a while to post this because it has been such a wild ride!!!! She started about a week before she turned 2. She has always been an incredible communicator so I figured she was ready. Plus, she struggled with MRSA for a year and the infectious disease specialist told us that potty training and getting her out of diapers (her infections were always on her bum) would help.  So we had motivation too!

 

Well, it was not the easy ride that I was expecting! She was not going to give in and be potty trained. Long story short...after about a month of diligent effort on my part and many many accidents on her part...we decided to just deal with diapers.

 

 

Then about 4 months later- she just told me that she was ready to be potty trained on morning.  So, we started again.  This time was way better- I wasn't as stressed and she was the one who usually would tell me she had to go- instead of me nagging.  She understood what was happening this time and I think that really helped!

She got the hang of it but would still have sooo many accidents and it was really frustrating.  Then about 2 weeks ago, Cory had everyone in the family set a goal to help our family be better and Ellie's goal was to not have accidents...and she was good to go! She rarely has accidents...for a while she was averaging 3-4 accidents a day and now she has about 1-2 a week. 

Yay Ellie!!!

 

This was her most recent chart. It is a little...abused. But she loved it. Her rewards were...fingernail polish, a visit to Grandma's, watch Cinderella, some pink bubblegum, a Happy Meal from McD's, and a four wheeler ride with daddy. 

 

 

This chart below is from the first time we tried potty training her... even with these awesome incentives...she could have cared less! She would earn a reward and then have an accident the next time. It was rough.

 

 

Again...this picture below is from her first attempt... she always would do great when we were out and about. She especially loved the little potty at Kohls.  She just didn't really care to stop playing while we were home and run potty. It was pretty much the same difference to her if I changed her panties or her diaper.

 

 

And my favorite potty training picture...this should have been a good insight as to what our experience was going to be like with this sweet, yet very stubborn girl of ours!

 

My Girl...

Brig was at preschool the other day and Jase was asleep...so Ellie and I took a few pictures.  This is about 1/8 of the ones I have but I just melt when I see this cute little, happy girl! She is such a blessing to our family. 

 I love how she is so quick to tell us she loves us.

 

 

I love how she is already a little mother...to her baby dolls and anyone else who is anywhere close to her in age or younger. And sometimes age has no bearing on her mothering:)

 

Despite the parenting challenges it sometimes presents, I love this girl's attitude and sass.

 

 

I love her sweet, sweet smile.

 

 

I love how she already has opinions on how she wears her hair and what she wears.

 

 

I love how she is all girl through and through but thanks to her big brother...she can get dirty, go hunting, climb rocks and is getting better and better at keeping up with the boys.

 

 

I love how when it's "just the girls" at home, she asks if we can paint our fingernails.

 

 

I love how well she communicates and how adorable she is when she tells a story...actually I pretty much just love hearing her talk. I love how friendly she is and how she makes friends with people all the time.

 

 

Basically, I just love this girl to pieces!

Date Night...

Brig and I had been planning a "date night" for a while now and we finally made it happen.  We were pretty excited and while we were making the plans during the day, Ellie decided that she wanted to go on a date too. She told Cory that she wanted to go on a "big one date." She then asked if she could take off her clothes on the date (she loves taking off her clothes lately!) We promptly told her "No, Never." :)  

So Cory and Ellie took one car and went on a little date for a slushie and Brig and I got in the other car and went and got some ice cream and French fries.  It was really fun to spend some one on one time with them!

 

 

 

Our pictures aren't the best but it was certainly an awesome experience!!

We kinda love this whole being parents thing.

 

When Life Sends Rain...

Jump in the puddles!!!!

It is way more fun that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have had a lot of rain this month.  It even flooded our garage one time. The kids have enjoyed every minute of it!!!

Kinda Dirty Car...

A couple weeks ago we went and watched my little cousin participate in the Pinewood Derby.  I was just put into Cub Scouts and I knew that Brig would really like to watch. Win Win.

 

Then the next week Cory came home from work with a little suprise for Brig...

a car kit of his own. 

Brig was so proud of what he calls his "Kinda Dirty Car."

(Say it really fast and it does sound similar to Pinewood Derby Car)

We thought that was pretty funny.

 

 

I love this picture below because Ellie is really starting to just LOVE her daddy.  She loves to cuddle with him and has recently decided that she is now big enough to go on Daddy excursions just like Brig does. 

 

 

What a good Dad!

 

Sticky Sweet...

Ellie is all girl. 

She is so sweet that sometimes we just melt with her cuteness.

She is so precocious that sometimes we just shake our heads at her "maturity."

And she is so dramatic that we don't really know what to do.

 

On this particular day, she sat, happily eating her pancake. I jumped up to sit on the counter by her. AND BAM!

Wrong move. For some reason- she did not want me to do that and let us know.

She proceeded to scream and cry for a solid 5 minutes while laying right in her sticky breakfast.

We are in for a treat!

Presh...

You know those moments that are just to sweet to forget...

these were a couple of those.

Scrunchy Face and Elle's Bag of Tricks...

Our pretty little girl has a few new tricks up her sleeves!  Ellie is heading into my favorite stage so far... 12 months to 2 years.  Their personalities really start to shine through- I love it! They are also starting to communicate and do more things...

So what has Elle been up to lately...

 

 

Our very favorite is the scrunchy face.  It is her signature move.  Whenever she wants something she scrunches up that cute little face and starts snorting and pointing at what she wants. 

 

 

It is hilarious and gets us everytime!  She is also saying "more" with her hands, hot (and putting her hand out), sometimes she will say "baaaa baaaa baaa" when you ask her what a sheep says (and sometimes she has to be prompted), she blows the sweetest kisses, and is filled to the brim with personality!

 

 

She is such a sweetie and really knows when she is doing something funny.  She is a bit of a ham. We sure do love this happy {silly} girl!