NOT ME! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. "I created Not Me! Monday for the purpose of confessing our shortcomings and imperfections to each other since, after all, we are all only human!" (MckMama's words) Every Monday, you can find more "Not Me! Monday" at her site.

While on my first solo road trip with the kids this week I did not become a pro at feeding by infant daughter a bottle or getting her toys, pacifier, blankie, etc... while driving! That would not be safe and I would never do such things! Not Me!!When almost home I also did not get so excited to be home that I looked down and caught myself going 90mph! That is so dangerous and I am a much better driver than that! (The cruise control was set for the proper speed limit at the point!..) Before leaving for my trip I did not leave a sink full of dishes... that would get gross! And after being so tired from driving all day to get home I certainly did not leave the sink full of dishes (that were still there!) until morning.. I'm not that lazy! Nope, Not me! After waiting weeks to hear about a job that I was hoping for I did not go away for a week right before starting and not bother arranging childcare for my children. I'm way more organized and on top of things that that! I would never wait till the last minute and have to ask a friend to watch the kids for me. Lastly I did not suprise a good friend who I haven't seen in 2 years, in the middle of church, causing her to scream out during service! (cause of course, we were not late getting there!) I would never be disrespectful like that.. at church! Not Me! We had a busy but great week visiting friends in Pa! I wish we could have seen more people and had more time to visit... but it was quick and sweet. Hope you all had a great week as well!

Happy Father's Day!

In honor of Father's Day I wanted to take the time to post about the most special "daddy" in our lives, my hubby (: Married for almost 8 years, together for 12.. I can truly say that I am blessed to have Jake in my life, and in my children's lives. Here are a few of things I appriciate most about him.
Jake LOVES his children. Nothing is more special to watch then the time this daddy spends with his children. After a long day of work, first thing in the morning or for an afternoon sprinkler play.. Jake is always excited to make the kids smile, laugh and has lots of fun with them. Daddy's favorite activity would have to be "tickle time" Nathaniel and him go at it like crazy... giggling and squealing like crazy. Ellie is finally getting old enough to start giggling and really enjoying this time with daddy as well.
Jake Loves to cook for us. This is an attribute that I appriciate so much. Even after a long day, Jake is often willing and eager to cook us some yummy grilled food or make his special breakfast meals. Nathaniel also enjoys helping daddy cook and this becomes a special time they share.
Jake is an incredibly hard worker! As the bread winner, Jake provides for this family. Every morning he is awake and out the door, giving his all to help us have the things we need. He strives to do above and beyond. More than just putting in his time, Jake desires to push himself to do well and excel. In the heat, when exhausted, when not feeling well, and when unmotivated Jake continues to be there and do what needs to be done. Jake also desires to learn and improve his skills whenever possible, attending school, taking tests and earning certifications to better himself.
This is only a few of the things I love and appriciate about my hubby, my children's daddy... and I feel blessed to have him in our lives! Thank you hunny for all you do for us. I love you and thank God for you! Happy Father's Day!!
For Father's Day we woke up and made breakfast and let daddy sleep in and relax. Nathaniel and Landon helped and had a great time! First they both got to crack and prepare the eggs to be scrambled.. adding cheese to make them yummy!

Landon helped his mommy to stir the batter for the pancakes...

and Nathaniel loved helping to flip them and watch for them to finish

We did a good job together! and it was Yummy!!

Later in the day we all packed up and went over to Aunt Lauren and Uncle Brant's house with Nana, Grandpop, lots of cousins and Aunts and Uncles for a delicious cookout meal. We spent lots of time chatting, visiting and hanging out together and then headed home... after making one last pit stop. The day ended with a special suprise that I blogged about HERE.

This day has taken on new meaning over the last 4 years now that we have children of our own but will always be a day with some sadness... Today is a day I especially miss my daddy. It has been 17 years since we spent a Father's Day with him and I hate that he is not here celebrating with us and spending time with his grandkids. This year my daddy is spending a special Father's Day with his grandson, Brayden... and I know that he is getting lots of Father's Day hugs and love! What a celebration it must be! I love you Daddy... and can't wait to see you again! Happy Father's Day!!

South Carolina Aquarium

Yesterday, we packed all the kids up and headed to the Aquarium. Our friends Jessica and her son Landon are visiting from Pennsylvannia and we knew the kids would enjoy it. We started at the "touch tank" where the boys got to be up close and personal with starfish, hermit crabs, sea eneminnies, stingray, horseshoe crabs, and other under water creatures. They loved this!
We saw MANY different fish! This huge blowfish was a favorite as well as all the brightly colored and large fish we saw.

Jellyfish are always an awesome sight to see... such amazing

creatures they are.

Even Ellie enjoyed looking at all the big tanks and checking out the pretty fish from her front row seat!

By the time we headed home the boys were wiped out! Within minutes they were both sound asleep! .. what a day! ...

So glad we were able to go and have such a fun time!

NOT ME! Monday

It's Monday again!... Man, do the weeks fly by...

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. "I created Not Me! Monday for the purpose of confessing our shortcomings and imperfections to each other since, after all, we are all only human!" (MckMama's words) Every Monday, you can find more "Not Me! Monday" at her site.This week after taking my son to the playroom at McDonalds to stop driving me insane! release some energy (since it was raining outside), I did not get suckered into having dinner there. We are broke and (suposed to ) NOT be eating out as much! Then when I went to order my husband and I's food I did not completely forget to order my son something! (oops!) Nope! Not Me!After hearing that April's Mom, B, was in labor I did not turn on my twitter updates back on my cell so that I would not miss a thing, and did not visit/refresh her blog about 1000 times to check for updates on sweet April Rose... did not tell my extended family all about them, making them so curious they began asking me for further updates all weekend! Nope! Not me!When I decided to put together a photo album of my son, I realized that I do not really have any printed pictures now that we live in this digital era... So I definately did not spend ALL day at Walgreens and CVS looking through and printing pictures to use.... (I have 2 small children and many other things to do with my time than that!)...and knowing that I do not take a million lot of pictures I certainly did not end up printing 800! Who takes THAT many pictures of someone under 2?! Nope! Not Me!
After a long, draining weekend I woke up feeling like one of those days I did not want to get out from under the covers... I did not convince my son to climb in bed with me watching cartoons so I could continue to snooze....and after a few hours of trying to entertain and settle my extremely hyper son playing, then needing some quiet "me" time I did not put both kids in their rooms to rest so I could check on my blogs and write this post! Nope! Not me! Hope you all had a great week! What have you Not been up to?

Six Months

Elliana is 6 months old today! I can't believe how big my baby girl is getting! I absolutely LOVE this phase.. personalities really start to show and there is so much interaction. Ellie is learning new things every day and brings joy to our lives in so many ways. We love you baby girl!

Here are some of the things you have been up to...

• You LOVE your jumperoo... you have mastered the art of jumping and have such a blast playing in this.


• Anything and everything that comes near you.. is grabbed! You are doing so well holding onto things, playing with toys... and love to grab mommy's hair!


• You have actually started taking a new pacifier! You don;t use it much.. but it helps to soothe you when it's time to sleep.


• You also love your silky taggie blankie. We have started taking this everywhere as it seems to be a constant source of entertainment and comfort.


• Your now rolling all over the place and scooting your way around somehow. You play nicely on the floor with all your toys for tummy time (until you decide to roll to your back)


• Feet and toes are still some of our favorite things to hold onto, play with and even attempt to eat!


• You are almost sitting up on your own! You get excited and wobble over but will hold yourself up with your arms/hands for a few seconds and try to sit up.


• You have descovered how to squeal! (loudly!) and do it often! We also love to hear you babble and coo ( I think you enjoy hearing yourself!)


• Your doing much better sleeping in your crib, even for naps! Mommy has been able to lay you down awake a few times and you have settled yourself down and gone to sleep on your own.


• Were moving into size 2 diapers, beginning some more foods (though your not sure about any of these new flavors yet!)


• You still love your cereal and eat a larger portion twice a day now.


• You absolutely LOVE your big brother! It doesn't matter what he says, or what silly thing he does... you always smile and laugh at him! (more than anyone else!) It's soo cute!

We love you so very much Elliana and thank God every day for you!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. "I created Not Me! Monday for the purpose of confessing our shortcomings and imperfections to each other since, after all, we are all only human!" (MckMama's words) Every Monday, you can find more "Not Me! Monday" at her site.

I did not go into the grocery store, shop for 45 minutes and ring up lots of groceries just to realize I had left my wallet (luckily in the car!) How embarresing to have to leave all that food in the line and run to my car!... Who would want to do something crazy like that? Nope Not me!

While spending an extremely hot day at the sprinkler I did not take my precious little princess daughter into the water.. making her scream.. then laugh about her cute so sad face.. Nope, Not me!
Then when it was time to leave I certainly did not take my screaming and unhappy almost 5 year old by the arm and drag him to the car since he didn't want to leave. Instead of going to the restroom, I did not have him take his wet bathing suit off and change into dry shorts right outside our van! Nope, Not me!

I also did not turn my cell phone devise back on to recieve twitter texts... (since I was feeling out of the loop missing all Mckmama's twitter contests! and funny daily activities)I would never be that wrapped up into stranger's lives that I need to hear real time play by plays of their day! Nope, Not me!
Hope you all have a great week... more things I didn't do next monday!

To self soothe...

The last few weeks have been difficult with Elliana. I am trying to get her to sleep in her crib for naps during the day. Previously her swing was the only way to get her to fall asleep. Things have been slowly getting better.

Feeding her was what typically worked to get her to bed at night. Recently, this has changed. She will finish her bottle but not go to sleep... I will end up making a few more ounces just to try again. She needs that sucking comfort to settle. We have tried pacifiers since she was born. They have never really worked. We found one she would take for a few moments to settle down but the last 3 or so weeks she has stopped taking them all together.

I know that if she would allow herself to take the pacifier, it would give her the comort of sucking that she needs to help calm herself down. To be able to self soothe.

So the other day I dug out a different pacifier, ... one that is shaped more like the nipple of her bottles.

She took it right away! I was so shocked.

.... and it worked.

The pacifier helped her to settle down and she went back to sleep, peacefully.

What a relief!

I have never been so happy about one of my children accepting a pacifier!

But I feel blessed that we have a better solution for her to be able to soothe herself and get the rest she needs.