Nothing Exciting Here

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while but there hasn't been much excitement here until yesterday when Luke got another tooth. He's been working on quite a few for the last month or so. It looks like he's got about three more on the way in so there may be more teeth to report soon. He's been a little cranky the last couple nights because of the teeth. I feel bad for the poor little guy because he's usually such a happy go lucky kind of fellow.

He's started eating more solid food. And eating. And eating. And eating. He's really started to pack away some serious chow. He eats 1/3 cup of oatmeal plus 1/2 cup of applesauce for breakfast alone. Aron remarked last night that it looks like he's really chunking up.

Better almost late than never

A BIG FAT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIEND, JAMIE. WOOOOOOOOOOOO!

No, I'm not kidding but I wish I was

Kevin, Ella, Annie, and Luke. Ella and Annie are showing off their tatoos they put on together.

On Sunday, we went out with Kevin and Annie one last time at a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch. After lunch, it was time for us to head out. Ella and Luke both fell asleep in the car basically the instant they were strapped in the car and didn't wake up again until we hit Ohio nearly 3 hours later. Woo! Score! They were soon hungry and it was time for us to make a pit stop for some chow. Aron decided that it was his turn to pick what we ate--I saw a devilish look come upon his face as he told me that we were "going to the House." I quickly glanced around and saw that there was a Waffle House within his sight. Darn! I hate Waffle House. Anyhoos, we ate/let the kids run around at the Waffle House. We got back in the car and Ella told Aron that her belly didn't feel good. I was driving so he took care of her. He got her some juice and then he decided it would be a good idea if he used the graham cracker box as a makeshift throw up holder just in case she decided to throw up. He then proceeded to demonstrate for her that if she needed to throw up, to use the box. I had to listen to 10 minutes of fake heaving in the box from him then another 10 minutes from Ella. They both thought they were hilarious each time they pretended to chuck in the box. Yeah, they're a real riot alright.

Sleepover--Mommy and Daddy Edition

Ella couldn't quite get settled in sleeping at Aunt Annie's on Saturday night so I went and picked her up around 10:30 or so. I took her back to our hotel and tossed her between Aron and I. At some point in the night, Luke woke up and was fussy so Aron tossed him in with us, too. Both of the kids are uber squirmy and like to sleep at an angle so this is what we ended up with. Luke at the top, Ella flopped on me, and me hanging off the side of the bed. I thought I was supposed to be on vacation, darn it!

Bow Down Before Me

At the museum, there was also a merry-go-round. Ella loved riding it and when she came around to where Annie and Kevin were standing she would blow them both a kiss. Here's a pic of her blowing them a kiss.

A Weekend of Firsts for Luke

I think Luke's been saving some things for this weekend with Aunt Annie. First of all, he has a new tooth! This is the first tooth in quite a while and he's been working on getting it FOREVER!

Second of all, he had his first kiss!! At the museum, there was a maze for babies to crawl around in. He had a great time with all the other babies crawling around and giggling. It happened while he was crawling around with the other babies. A little girl (probably a couple months younger than Luke) crawled up to him and they laughed at each other for a minute then she leaned over and kissed him. Just like that! He sat there kind of stunned for a minute then started to laugh and crawled away. She crawled after him but couldn't quite catch up to him again. I told her not to waste her time because he'd just break her heart. My kid--the pint sized Romeo. Who knew?

Third of all, he learned how to crawl up steps. Aunt Annie has 3 steps leading down into her kitchen. Aron was SUPPOSED to be watching him (aka he wasn't really watching him that close but kept telling me that he was watching him but whatever) when all the sudden he was at the top of the stairs. I kept hoping that he was going to learn how to walk while he was there but he just wasn't quite ready. Maybe the next time he sees Aunt Annie...

Rain, Rain Go Away! Come Again Some Other Day!

It rained all day Saturday so we decided to go to a local children's museum. It was great. They had tons of things to look at and do. First off was a HUGE aquarium. It had many Nemo looking fish (clown fish) in there. Ella thought that was pretty cool because she loves Nemo but especially because she had on a Nemo tank top and Nemo shoes that day.

There was also an area with quite a few tea sets and dollhouses set up for the kids to play with. Ella had a great time doing both of these things and Aron thinks it might be a good idea to get her a dollhouse of her own. Maybe a Christmas gift or something.

We stayed in this museum for around 3 hours or so then it was time to get lunch so it was back to Aunt Annie's house for some yummy food.

The Sleepover

We got to A and K's apartment about 7:30 or so Friday night. The kids were more than ready to get out of the car and have some running around/play time. We were barely in the door when Ella turned to us and told us that it was time for us to go home now because she was ready to spend the night at Annie's without us. She's such a big girl. She told Kevin he could sleep on the couch because she wanted to cuddle with Aunt Annie and she didn't need him competing for her attention. We all hung out for a little while but soon it was time for Luke, Aron, and I to check in/crash at the hotel. As we were leaving, Ella decided it was time for her to take a bath so she started to strip off all her clothes in the middle of the living room at Annie's...she's so shy and humble : ) We told A and K "Good Luck" and went off to the hotel. We came back in the morning and heard wonderful stories about how Ella is squirmy when she's sleeping (nothing new to anyone who's ever tried to sleep with her). I even hear she slept most of the night with her feet on Kevin's head--nothing says love like a foot to the face I always say. She woke up in the morning and at Aunt A's encouragement, she poked Uncle K in the chest while telling him to "get up"until he woke up. Poor Uncle K--no rest for the weary.

Going to New 'Ork!

The visit to Aunt Annie will require several posts. This is just the first.

This little guy, along with his sister, went to visit Aunt Annie this weekend! All week, Ella was running around the house singing her Aunt Annie song ("Aunt Annie, Aunt Annie, I love Aunt Annie, Aunt Annie"). This is not to be confused with the Uncle Kevin song ("Uncle Kevin, Uncle Kevin, I love Uncle Kevin"). We took off right at nap time on Friday so the kiddies would sleep at good portion of the first leg of the trip (It takes about 5 1/2 hours to get to her place in New York). Ella enjoyed chanting "We're going to New 'Ork! We're going to New 'Ork" but eventually, she settled down and fell asleep in the car. We made it about 1/2 way there before they both woke up and needed a little time running around so we stopped at a Burger King and let them play in the play place. I know, I know...but germs be darned! The kids needed some play time! Before we knew it, we were there!

No way

Luke is learning more and more every day. Today while with Grammie, he learned how to shake his head no. It's so cute. If you shake your head no, he'll respond with the same. I'm trying to teach him how to nod yes. He can't do it yet. Does that mean he'll always be that "glass half empty" guy vs the "glass half full" guy? Or does it mean that we tell him no too much?

He's also learned to wave. I think he probably could've learned this earlier in his young life but, quite frankly, I wasn't on the ball enough to teach him until this week. Ah, the pitfalls of being the 2nd child. His wave is a little stiff, though, and looks a little Hitler-esque because he ends up kind of pointing the tips of his fingers toward your head and holds his thumb up close to his palm. I guess he's got the basics down--what more could I ask for?

One Tough Kid

I told Ella to look tough while I took her picture and this is what she came up with. She's pretty fierce looking...maybe she thinks I'm going to try to take her applesauce away.

Playdoh Playin' Fools

Ella and Myles are two playdoh fanatics. Myles came over last week and they decided to fine tune their fine motor skills with a little play doh action complete with press thingies that put an imprint of Elmo, Big Bird, etc on it. Ella even has a Nemo tatoo on her arm. Aunt Robin is positive that Myles and Ella will both grow up to want tatoos because when they're at my house, they get tatoos. Myles has been known to sport a tatoo ring around his belly button when he leaves my house. I'm such a bad influence!

The Weekend in a Nutshell

I went away this weekend with my parents and Robin so Aron was with the kids all by himself Friday and Saturday. He did a good job and seemed like he had a great time. They visited Steve/Lindy and Aron's Granny/Grandpa on Saturday during the day and rented a movie on Saturday night. Ella missed me and didn't really want to talk to me on the phone when I was gone because she was mad I wasn't home. She needed a little extra snuggle when I got home which I was more than happy to provide. I don't think Luke even really noticed I was gone so that was good.

Ella is getting excited about our upcoming weekend at Aunt Annie's. She wants to sleep at her apartment and make cookies there, too. She's been talking about her non-stop and about all the things they are going to do together. She doesn't really mention Uncle Kevin and doing things with him--I think he's just an extra perk that comes along with Aunt Annie.

Get in my belly!

Ella has begun to question where her food goes when she eats it. This began when Aron ate something that she wanted to eat--I think it may have been the last bite of pie or something. She asked him if she could have the bite after Aron had already swallowed it. He told her that she couldn't have it because he had swallowed it and it was in his belly. Ella then proceeded to try to look in his belly button so she could see it in there. Now when she eats something, she tries to look in her own belly button to see if she can see it. What a riot!

Oh the sickness!

Ella's really sick now. Last week she had a cough/cold thing but starting on Saturday, she's had a fever and felt yucky. It started after she rode the pony with Steve and Lindy. After she was done riding, she told Lindy she wanted to go home which is really unlike her. We gave her a little bit of tylenol and she seemed to be better. Yesterday morning, we were at my grandparents and all the sudden she got quiet and said she wanted to go home. I felt her forehead and she was burning up. When we got home, I checked her temp and it was 103. Poor baby. So since then its been medicine every 6 hours and bunches of video watching on the couch. She didn't feel good again this morning so I didn't go to work but by 10 she was bouncing around playing with Luke like nothing ever happened. Hopefully, this means that she's on the mend but it may have just been the medicine covering up her sickness. Poor, poor baby.

Lukie has a little cough/cold today, though. I hope that's all he'll get but I guess we'll see...

Sick Kids Means Reduced Amounts of Blogging Fun

Well, the kiddies have been sick this week. Poor little cuties. Ella has had some kind of cough/cold thingy. She's felt so yucky that when Aunt Annie called earlier this week she didn't talk all that much. Now that's pretty bad. I'm sure she'll talk Aunt Annie's ear off when we go to visit her in a couple weeks. She's very excited about spending the night at Aunt Annie apartment. She even picked out a recipe for cookies that she wants Aunt Annie to help her make (I think she's mostly excited because the cookies are in the shape of a bear and they have m and m eyes and hershey kisses for noses).

Luke has had a different kind of sickness. It's the "I have teeth coming in and it really hurts" blues. Poor little guy. He keeps trying to chew on everything and everyone in sight. He even tried to gnaw on my friend's niece at the library. There's even a little bite mark on my leg from his overzealous need to chew. It's not easy cutting teeth.

Ella is feeling a little better today, though. Granny Lindy and Grandpa Steve are taking her to their bank where they are having a little carnival type thing today. I understand that there will be hotdogs (a long time favorite of Ella's), games (always a good time), and pony rides. That's right, folks. REAL ponies. We've long been able to bribe Ella when we go to Meijer's with a pony ride at the end if she's a good girl. I'm afraid once she rides a real pony, the novelty of the penny pony at Meijer's will be gone. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm kind of hoping the bank gives out free money. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?