Wofford's Eggstravaganza 2008

Today we ventured out on our annual trip to Wofford for their Eggstravaganza! Today we had almost the entire family in toe. The weather was absolutely perfect!! ! We enjoyed a picnic lunch. Carson enjoyed decorating Easter cookies, eating ice cream, climbing under trees for an Easter egg hunt, and of course sitting in the Easter Bunny's lap. Ella, on the other hand, enjoyed eating ice cream, crawling all over the lawn, and trying to sneak a few bites of popcorn in her mouth. Daddy was able to leave work for a little while and join in on the fun!!! Next year we have to look forward to having two running all over the place. Maybe, just maybe, we could have TWO in the Easter Bunny's lap too! Thanks Aunt Lizzie for graduating from such an EGGCELENT college!

A Request for a New Tooth Fairy!

Okay, the Tooth Fairy who visits our house must not be very good at her job, but I would like to think that she is just somewhat NEW at her job! Carson ran to me this morning, and said, "I kept checking all night, and all I kept feeling was my tooth!" He then said, "I know what we can do. We can write her a note and maybe she will come sometime today." He started to find a pencil and piece of paper. Carson is getting a little frustrated with the Tooth Fairy. This is NOT the first time this has happened. She was so SLOW with his last missing tooth that it took a special prayer and a couple of days for her to find our house. Let's hope she PAYS a special visit tonight or at least requests help from a little green Leprechaun to leave Carson a special treat!!!!!

Our Toothless Boy and Captain Tooth #2

Carson has enjoyed checking his new look out in the mirror today. He also found the perfect "treat" for losing another tooth today. He has decided that Captain Tooth #1 (which is his tooth superhero Santa brought him) and Captain Tooth #2 (which is his new pirate tooth hero he found today) will "fight" it out tonight to see who will get to hold his tooth safe for the Tooth Fairy.

A Baby With a Life on Friday Night and a BIG BOY With a New Smile!

Ella decided last night that she would play the night away! She must have decided that since her Big Brother was having a sleepover with Aunt Lizzie, she would have a slumber party of her own. She feel asleep at her normal time, but when I tried to move her to bed she was one awake little girl. Her terrific daddy decided to take her and try to get her back to sleep, so her mommy could go to bed herself. He tried everything to get her back to sleep, but soon decided to give in and just let her play. The next thing I knew I was awakened by some little girl shaking my bed and talking away. She had pushed open my bedroom door, crawled into my bedroom, and pulled herself up on my bed. Since I was sweetly awakened, I tried once more to get her back to sleep. There was no hope. We must have given her three bottles within a few hours, hoping that would do the trick. But once again, NO! Finally, I put her in the bed with me and wrapped my arms around her, so she could flip and flop. She feel asleep around 2 o'clock and slept until 7:45!!! I enjoyed sleeping a little later, but if it takes a baby girl having her own slumber party for me to sleep in, I will opt to get up early in the morning!

Our phone rang around eight this morning with Aunt Lizzie calling to say that she had been up since 6:30 with Carson. He woke up asking when it was going to be morning. She told him it would be morning soon, and if he would just close his eyes it would come quickly. A few minutes later, he woke her up to say that his other front tooth came out. He had spent a majority of last night wiggling it, so we knew it was going to be soon. He told Lizzie that he now has 6 teeth missing, which is one more than how old he is! It is so funny to watch him try to eat. I am not sure what he is going to be able to do now!

Our First Ear Infection and Tipping the Scales OVER 16!

For the past several days Ella has developed a nasty nose that just won't quit pouring, a horrible cough that the nebulizer doesn't seem to knock off, and a cranky disposition that is driving her mommy crazy. After two sleepless nights, we decided it was time to let a doctor try to take care of this. Ella has an ear infection in just one of her ears. An earache wasn't even in our minds! Anyway, so glad we decided to have her checked out! She is now on an antibiotic, Bromhist, and nebulizer treatments. Hopefully, all of this will take care of Roo quickly and make her all better.

The exciting news is that Ella now weighs 18 pounds!!! It was beginning to seem that we would be stuck at 16 forever! She's not eating very much at all right now, so we may not see 18 for long!

Time for MILK!

Today, we officially began giving Roo moo milk! I am beginning her slowly to make sure she tolerates it well. We are doing half formula/half milk. When I changed Ella over to formula, I chose to go with soy because for no other reason, that is what Carson had. He did well with it, so why not try will Ella!? She too, did very well thankfully. I was a little apprehensive about cow's milk since she had been on soy formula, but things are looking good so far. I have decided to try organic milk. I am beginning to add the safety of our food products to my long list of obsessions!

Just Because...I LOVE THEM SO!

Absence Definitely Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

I have had the very fortunate experience of being in Washington, D.C. since Sunday. I have been the VFW's National Citizenship Teacher of the Year's biggest fan and tag-a-long. I have never been to Washington, so this has been an amazing experience. On Sunday, we ventured out to Georgetown which I have to admit was a little disappointing. The shopping downtown was way out of our league. We also learned a valuable lesson- - - NEVER eat at a restaurant where you can't read the menu! My salad tasted fishy, but of course it was caesar. When our pizza came out, it also tasted quite FISHY! We opted to send it back to the kitchen and try something a little safer. On Monday, Carolyn had her big presentation, and we spent the evening with a family member of hers eating at a French bistro. We played it very safe with steak and french fries. I would have to say today was probably the best! We began our day with a fantastic breakfast at a small restaurant around the corner from our hotel. We then had back-to-back appointments and photo shoots with our senators. We concluded our visit with a tour of the Capitol building in which Ted Kennedy entered an elevator that we exited- - - very exciting. My favorite part of this tour was being able to sit in on a few minutes of the Senate. Jim Demint was actually proposing an admendment to a bill that centered around consumer safety of products, especially products for children. This definitely is something that I feel very strongly about. I vowed NOT to purchase toys made in China for Ella. But sadly, after much research there were virtually NO products made in the USA available! Anyway, I hope that our senators can work together, so that we can begin to see changes in the safety of products being placed in the hands and MOUTHS of our children very soon. Speaking of safety, the security in Washington is fierce. Police are everywhere, on every set of steps, behind bushes, on top of buildings, on every street corner, virtually everywhere. We actually were standing on a street corner waiting to cross when a motorcade came zooming right in front of us. We're not sure who was traveling in the motorcade, but we just tell ourselves it was probably the President or Vice-President. Several vehicles in the motorcade had their windows down and men were pointing guns (large guns) out the window. Wow!! On a much lighter note, our night concluded with a FABULOUS banquet dinner. Carolyn stood in front of literally thousands of veterans and delivered a fabulous acceptance speech. I sat back very relaxed and proud and enjoyed grand conversation with some pretty amazing veterans myself! Tomorrow, we begin our day with a tour of the White House. We hope to fit in much more tomorrow before we journey back to the "real world", or at least "our world"!

I can't wait to hug, kiss, and snuggle with my family!!!

Jamboread! 2008

Yesterday Carson, Aunt Lizzie, and I ventured to Jamobread! to see Junie B. Jones and the Little Monkey Business. Carson loves Junie B. Jones, so he has been super-excited about the upcoming performance. We sat right on the front row, so it was perfect! I think at the beginning he was a little confused to see adults instead of children. He was too cute when the actors came right up to him. I think he was a little embarrassed because he would take out his Jamboread! brochure and look down at it anytime he felt they were looking at him! It was too cute! After Jamboread! we ventured over to The Sandwich Factory to have somewhat of a "healthy" lunch.

Thursday Thirteen...Birthday Style

Thirteen People Who Helped Us Celebrate Ella's 1st Year of Life
1. Grammy
2. Papa
3. Aunt Lizzie
4. Grandma Bobbie
5. G.G.
6. Amy/Clara
7. Kristy/Brianna
8. Kelli/Savannah
9. Rose Marie
10. Sara
11. Carson
12. Jennifer/Mallorie
13. Mommy/Daddy

Thirteen Gifts Ella Received
1. Fisher Price Learn and Laugh House
2. Cute Polka Dot Stroller
3. Personalized Tin with Gymboree Gift Certificate
4. Bath Toys
5. Sippy Cups
6. Books
7. Two Adorable Bathing Suits
8. Little People Circus
9. Money for a Big Girl Car Seat (if she ever makes it to 20 pounds)
10. Baby Einstein DVD
11. Belle Baby Doll
12. Pink Push Car (loves!)
13. LOTS of FABULOUS clothes

Thirteen Food/Beverage Items Served at Her Birthday Party
1. Cake
2. Chips
3. Celery
4. Carrots
5. Cucumbers
6. Ritz Crackers
7. Chicken Salad Sandwiches
8. Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
9. Easy Cheese
10. Yogos
11. Spinach Dip
12. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite
13. Apple/Fruit Punch Juice Boxes

I FORGOT ALL ABOUT ICE CREAM! UGH!

"It's My Party...I Can CRY If I Want To!"

I think this was definitely Ella's motto for her birthday party! Ella finally decided to take a nap forty-five minutes before her party was set to begin. I let Ella sleep for awhile after her guests began arriving, but finally decided I should wake her up because I didn't think we should continue the celebration without her! I soon discovered I didn't make the very best choice. Ella was cranky, very cranky! Ella is notorious for stranger, crowd, and noise anxiety! Well when you combine a little of all three, the result is one upset baby girl with her head down crying her eyes out. Ella spent a majority of her party crying! We tried everything to soothe her. Finally, a bottle did trick. The crying ceased somewhat, or at least until someone laughed. During the crying spells her amazing Big Brother stepped in to open her gifts.


This post will end on a happy note...

This is my 200th post I have shared into the lives of my two precious children!!!!

It's All About the Dots...

Picture Perfect!

Ella's 1st birthday pictures captured the very essence of her little dainty, timid, and precious personality. With a cake right in front of her, she only very carefully picked the dots off the top! She acted as if she were afraid to move if fear that she might actually get dirty! With Mommy's assistance, she did have a few bites of icing and cake. I would have the say that the cake pictures were definitely my favorite. The last one seems to sum it all up as if she is asking, "What is all of this about?"

Like Mommy...Like Daughter

I believe the desire to sanitize everything must be inherited rather than a learned behavior! But then again, maybe my little Roo is one quick learner!!!!!! Her daddy caught her sanitizing the door handles of her new playhouse the other day, and had to snap a quick picture with the phone's camera. The quality if not great, but at least the moment was captured!!!!

Roo at One

Still has the flu
Only eating about two or three ounces at a time
Not eating baby food very well
Crawling everywhere
Pulling up on everything
Has a runny nose
Coughs a lot
Enjoys playing in her new house
Loves when Carson picks her up
Still not walking
Claps to Pat-a-Cake
Says mama, dada, maaa maaa maaa, and something that resembles brother
Loves for someone to sing to her
Sticks her tongue out all the time
Can't be tricked with something other than formula in her bottle
Beginning to kick when frustrated
Prefers her brother's toys over her own
Takes two short naps a day or one really long nap
Bumps her head at least once a day
Still enjoys swinging in her swing
Only weighs 16 pounds
Only has two teeth
Is growing long, beautiful eyelashes just like her brother's
Loves to take a bath
Is almost used to her mommy's photo obsessions
Imitates kissing sounds
Tries to snap her fingers
Doesn't like to be covered up by a blanket
Holds her hands together while sleeping
Will not keep socks on her feet
Loves for her daddy to tickle her
Does not enjoy diaper changes anymore
Loves to have her teeth and hair brushed
Has learned how to take her shoes off
Is afraid of strangers (must be mistaking any unknown person for a doctor)
Hates for her nose to be suctioned out
LOVES her pacifier
Enjoys strolling outside
Loves to cuddle with her mommy
Enjoys her biter cookies
Loves to look at books and magazines
Plays by herself quite well
Loves to hear Carson read to her
Doesn't mind her temperature being taken (wonder why?)
Has the same amount of hair as Carson did at this age
Is ready to get well
Continues to melt her mommy and daddy's heart each day!!!!!

It's That Time of Year Again!

Baseball season is right around the corner, so Carson and his daddy are already practicing. Saturday was such a beautiful day, so Ella and I enjoyed watching the boys play baseball. Our little baseball player looks quite different this year with so many teeth missing!

Home Sweet Home!

Ella, Carson, and I spent Monday at home! Ella still had a slight fever all day on Sunday and this morning. Carson and Ella both spent a majority of their day playing in Ella's new house she received for her birthday! Thank you Grammy and Papa for the great gift!