First Hair Cut

Hey everyone. Eliska had her first hair cut today. =) Her mullet was driving me crazy. I'm not exaggerating when I say that about 2" across the nape of her neck, she had hair that was about 3.5" long, everyone else, maybe 1.5". It was a little longer on top, and we kept it that way, but the mullet had to go. I did the cut (of course) and Tom helped to occupy her time. He read her books and gave her some Hershey kisses (her favorite candy). She really didn't squirm all that much and wasn't scared at all about what I was doing to her hair, thank God. It took all of 5 mins, and yea, I miss the mullet a little bit, but it's sooooo much better looking without it. All her little curls are still there, if not better looking now that I've evened it all out, but leaving the length on top. We're happy. Enjoy. Also, the two videos are just some fun things we've done over the past couple of days. Both videos have a moment where your suck in your breath really quick because you think she's going to fall, but I assure you, she doesn't. Enjoy everyone.

May 12, 2009

So, a little of this and a little of that has happened since the last report. We got a cat and a Wii Fit. I love them both! I say that kinda nonchalantly huh?? Well, we've been wanting a Wii for a while now and we're both really happy we got it. I love the Wii Fit and the bowling and tennis. Tom loves bowling and baseball and a lot of the balance games on the Fit. I suck at the balance games! As far as the cat goes, his name is Alfred and he is THE MOST AFFECTIONATE cat I've ever known! He's gray with dark gray stripes and is about 10 1/2 months old. We were thinking about declawing him because of ellie, but found these great little nail cover things at softpaws.com or softclaws.com or something like that. They come in all sorts of colors so it looks like you painted their nails, but Tom and I both agree that we would feel stupid with a boy cat running around with "painted" nails, so we're getting the clear ones. They're basically vinyl nail coverings you glue to their nails and they last about 6 weeks. It's a better and more humane option than declawing... Also, he's getting along great with the dogs, although Miss Jealous has started whimpering when I go to pet him, which honestly isn't that often because he likes to sleep in the cabinet in the guest bathroom. He's very much a night time cat. =) He thinks are feet under the blankets are toys (thanks to Tom). He's adjusting quite nicely given he's only been here less than a week and he already climbs into bed with us (but not while we're sleeping).

Ellie is getting HUGE. I love it! She's also becoming EXTREMELY independent and acting very much like a "big girl." We bought training pants for her and are considering starting to potty train her when things are a little more routine in our lives. Tom is going back to work this week and having him home all the time, though great for Ellie and his relationship, was straining to create a routine. We'll get that back this week hopefully, and if not this week, for sure next week. Hmm, what else. I've got a bunch of pictures and a few videos this time around for your enjoyment. San Antonio has a great Children's Museum which she loved of course! We also went to the Japanese Tea Garden which was beautiful. It had a lot of stairs, or "steps" as Ellie calls all stairs, so she was thrilled she got to go up and down so many! We also went out to the pool for the first time of the season and she just thinks its a big ole bathtub! Of course she had a ball! I think that covers all my bases. If I think of more, I'll write again, but for now, enjoy all the videos and pictures! (the videos are at the end)

April Report

Ellie's Boyfriend, Arthur

Feeding a donkey, I think...

Right before bedtime, after her bath

Playing before bedtime with the dogs

BATHTIME!!

"I got my purse and my baby, and you won't let me in!!"

This is how I found her! She had taken the sheet from out of the clean pile of laundry, spread it out, laid down and went to sleep!

Another place I found her! And yes, that's my stove...

Talking on the cell phone

Addyson posing with a cannon at the Alamo

The three of us at the Alamo

Ellie and Addyson Easter 2009

Addyson is always posing!

Ellie was playing with the net from the "Elefun" game

Easter morning

Ellie's Basket

It's not even 8:30 in the morning and Addyson is already eating easter bunny chocolate!

Checkin out the baskets

Wearing daddy's baret

So, it's been an interesting week and this is going to be a rather long post, which is why I put the pictures first! You can come back and read everything later~

The two major events that happened since the last post were my parents and Addyson came for a visit and Tom had his ACL reconstructive surgery.

Getting ready for my family's arrival was nerve racking to say the least. I'm so happy that Tom just sucked it up and dealt with all my crazy moodiness. I always feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders if I don't get EVERYTHING done before visitors come over. I guess I should clarify that they need to be long distance vistors for me to get all wonky. So Tom and I cleaned like mad men and put up all the finishing touches in the house I've been putting off. I finally finished my curtains, and I like them. They make things look a little more cozy! I also made Addyson a dress AND a quilt for her third birthday which she spent here with us. (Sorry Mandi and Steve!) We also put together a little wood table kit and painted/stenciled it for Ellie and Addyson to use while they were both here. Of course they didn't. =) Everything got done and then I went to pick up the family at the airport.

Thank god the airport is only a 5-10 min drive away. No need to rush. I was already on my way when I got the call from them that they were here and waiting to deboard. I saw them as they were heading down the stairs to baggage claim. Good timing I'd like to think. We get their bags and head home. Unfortunately, we had to put Ellie to sleep before they had gotten there. We really did try to keep her up, but it was no use. She was tired and so she slept. My parents really wanted to see her so I let them in her room to see her as long as they promised not to wake her up! They wake her, they put her to bed. That was the deal. My dad was blown away by how much taller she is now. We all head off to bed some time after that and the next day was really nice.

Ellie took to both Mee-Maw and "PopPop" pretty quickly. I had a calorie point test that morning so it was all on Tom. When I came home, it seemed like she was pretty adjusted to having all those people in the house and was happily playing with Addyson. The day went pretty smoothly. My dad got to call turkeys in with a hunter at Camp Bullis, but didn't actually see any. Afterwards we all went down to the riverwalk and had dinner and did a touring cruise. Everyone seemed to like it and I was thrilled at how well Ellie was doing, despite it was more than 2 hours past her bedtime! The next day was Easter and I cooked and we had some friends over with their two boys, ages 9 and 18 months. We had an Easter Egg hunt for them which they all seemed to really like and get into. It was really nice seeing all the kids play like that.

On Monday, Mom, Dad, Addyson, Ellie and I went back downtown to visit the Alamo. It was the first time I had spent that kind of time there and I really enjoyed it moreso this time than any other time I've been. The grounds were beautiful too. Tom was at a pre-op appt which is why he wasn't there. Afterwards, we got the girls home and had them take a nap. "PopPop" watched them while Mom and I went out to JoAnn's to get some fabric so I can make her some kitchen curtains and placemats and whatever else I can get out of that fabric. It's really pretty and I think it'll look great in her YELLOW kitchen! We went back and the girls were just waking up. The 5 of us headed back out to the zoo. It was the first time I had been to our zoo here, and to be completely honest, I was impressed. The monkeys were playing, there were lots and lots of exhibits. The bears and the elephants had already gone in, but we still saw A LOT considering it was closing time. I told Tom I think I'd like to get a membership there so I can take Ellie more often. She loved the monkeys and the flamingos!

The next day, Tuesday, my parents left around 12:30, or at least that was when I dropped them off at the airport. It got a little emotional... Tom, Ellie and I went out for dinner that night as kinda a last night out before his surgery. Wednesday, yesterday, Tom and I were up at 4:30 AM getting everything ready because he needed to be admitted by 5:45 AM. Once he got all marked up for the surgery, Ellie and I said our goodbyes and we all went our separate ways. From what I understand, his surgery started between 7:45 and 8 AM. I took Ellie home to wait there because I thought it would easier for her. A friend of mine took Ellie around 9 AM so I could go back and wait for Tom at the hospital. The surgeon finally came out around 11:30 and told me that the surgery went well and that Tom was in recovery. I waited until almost 1 PM before someone came and got me to let me see him. The let him come home yesterday which was nice, but now I've got another "hat" to where. I'm now "nurse-maid." It comes with the terroritory. It's something that I'm just going to work with and not get frustrated about. By the end of the day though, I was wiped! All I wanted to do was sleep.

Tom seems to be doing pretty well today. He's up a lot more today than he was yesterday which I'm assuming is a good sign. We've got this hydratheraphy box thing that keeps icy cold water circulating around Tom's knee above the bandages. He says it feels nice so we keep it going for as long as we're able. The suckiest part about the box is our ice maker doesn't make ice fast enough to I have to keep buying more ice... Oh well, it's only for a week right? Tom is still getting the feeling for the crutches. Right now it's a lot easier for him to use me on the bad side and a crutch on the good side. He's supposed to return to work on Monday, but that's a whole 'nother story! There's going to be a whole lot of bitching if I start talking about that so we'll skip it for now. =)

I told you it would be a long one! I'm going to stop there and if I think of some new stuff, I'll just write up another post!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the update!

Lis

Mid March Report

Hey everyone. So I'm a little better this time around about getting into here and updating everyone, far and near. This one is going to be pretty quick though. For my birthday, it started out with me finishing my first 5K ever! I was third in my age group with a time of 34:56. That's awesome for me because I was aiming for 36! We went out for a hearty breakfast after that then I slept all day while Ellie was taking her nap. I got some really great gifts. In the pictures, the flowers are from my mother and the chocolates are from a couple of my friends. In the evening, we dropped Ellie off at the babysitter's and headed out to Dave and Busters with 3 other couples. It was nice not having any little ones around.

Ellie's vocabulary is astounding to Tom and me. She has learned how to say "hawk," which is basically every bird she sees except pigeons, which are still "birds." She's running around all over the place and absolutely loves going to the gym with me because she gets to expend a lot of that energy there. She's also learning how to throw some major temper tantrums. But as soon as she hits the floor like you always see toddlers doing, she doesn't seem to know what's the next step. So she whines for about 2 secs and gets back up, and the tantrum is over. She's a pushy little girl now. Tom and she have gotten considerably closer in the past couple of weeks. It's great to see them play together! He's doing such an amazing job with her. He seems to be finding his niche with her, thank god!

Okay. That's it for me this time around. Enjoy the pictures!


Koda is soooo spoiled.

And that would be Little Debbie's Strawberry Shortcake all over her face!

Mom's birthday flowers to me!

Yummy chocolates from Edible Arrangements.

Coming across at the finish line of my first 5K!