Fall 2011

Not gonna give any excuses. Since the last post, we've had a lot going on. Both kids had a ton of ear infections, so we put tubes in both of them last week. Hopefully this will be the end of the weekly to every other week visit to the pediatricians office. And hopefully Robert and I will start feeling better as well. We took a vacation back in September to Hilton Head Island. Grammy and Pops were able to join us for a few days at the beginning of the week and then the 4 of us stayed the rest of the week. The weather was not perfect, but to be honest, I think I liked it better that way. No one got burned and the chillier than summer weather made it nice to relax (if you can call it that with 2 little ones!) on the beach. Our place also had an indoor pool, so it was nice while it was raining outside to have a place to still enjoy water. Eli HATED the sand the first time we put him down, but by the end of the week the childs swimsuit was covered with the stuff. Makenna LOVES the water and has no fear. Thankfully the listening ears seemed to behave and we did not have any near misses! This past Friday evening their daycare had a fall festival. Makenna had fun playing all the games and Eli played a couple, but I'm not sure he really understood what was going on - he just wanted to run and play! Robert had the weekend off and even though I am not feeling 100%, we took the kids to Corn.Dawgs Saturday morning. It's a local corn maze and other fun kid activities. The kids had a blast. It is nice spending time all together on weekends. And I was even able to get a nap while the kids were napping - the little things that make you happy! I chose a couple of pictures from the above activities - yes there were a ton more, but I don't have time for the computer to upload all of them! Hope you enjoy a couple of our faves from the past couple of months.

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Ei 1st Birthday

Here's Eli's first birthday party. We had a great time - thanks for coming everyone!

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1 Year Pictures

Here are a couple of our favorite pictures from Eli's one year "photo shoot!" (We decided to keep Makenna in her routine and she stayed at "school" while we took Eli for his pictures.) I decided to show one cupcake picture, but the rest will have to wait! We're looking forward to celebrating Eli's first birthday this Saturday - on his actual birthday. I can't believe the first year is almost over. It is amazing the things they learn that first year. He has been taking steps for a couple of weeks now and is getting braver by the day. He went from his knees to his feet and took a couple of steps tonight. Not much longer before he is a true toddler!

He FINALLY said "mama" and now won't stop! But, it took so long to hear it, I can't complain. He LOVES balls. And knows how to say ball, Bailey, daddy, mama, and bye. Maybe a couple of other things I can't think of at the moment. He LOVES to eat. Most of the time he has to feed himself and has not been eating baby food since a little after 9 months. His daily report card indicates he eats "ALL" of his meals. He is such a momma's boy. I'm trying to enjoy because I know it won't last forever!

Those are some of the things that Eli is up to these days.

Enjoy the pics!

Yikes!

I know...empty promises from a busy mom. It has been too long. Lot's of things have changed, and of course they would with two small kids! Eli will be one in less than a month. I cannot believe where the time has gone. Unfortunately, I am not one that has exact dates for milestones, but Eli has 8 teeth and I am wondering if he isn't working on some more because he has been chewing on his fingers today. He refuses to eat baby food and is also at the point where you have to put something on his tray to feed himself or there will be lots of fussing. So, he's turned into Mr. Independent at meal time. He will eat ANYTHING. I seriously cannot think of anything that we've given him that has been spit out or thrown on the floor at once. He will be my eater. Makenna continues to pick. We have good food days and bad food days.

We are about to transition Makenna to a big girl bed. We've decided to use the crib as her headboard and not have a foot board and to go straight to a full size bed with side rails. We are going to go mattress shopping tonight. She seems excited when we talk about it. She is still doing well with the potty. We went through a period where it didn't go so well. It was weird - she really digressed, but it got back under control. The next step is during naps and night. But we'll get there!

She says the darndest things. Last night we went shopping for sheets and were on our way home. The conversation goes like this:
Mak: Can I have fruit snacks?
Robert: If you are a good girl on the ride home.
Me (few seconds later): We need to get baths when we get home.
Mak: I don't want a back, I want fruit snacks. I don't want a bath. I'm not smelly!

Oh my goodness, what am I going to do with her?

Mom and Dad went to the beach for a week, so Robert and I (with the help of Aunt Alli on Memorial Day) took turns and spent some time with the kids. Robert's mom had also just come down for a visit. I also had to spend a week in Greenville for work, so Robert and the kids came up in the middle of the week. It was nice to have them there. Makes going away a little easier.

On Tuesday (June 14) the kids and I spent the night with Grammy and Pops (and Alli) because we were having our windows tinted the next day. As we were playing Eli took his first steps. He has taken many since then, but still hasn't had the guts to just go for it. But it is coming and soon I will not have a baby anymore!

We, thankfully, have not had to do formula again this time and I'm afraid the bonding time with Eli is coming to a close. I'm not sure if he really wants to give it up, but it is time.

Nanny took a little fall the other night, and as we are uncertain to what her needs are going to be, we signed the kids up for daycare (or school) today. Next week shall be interesting! They are not used to getting up so early and their schedules are going to be "off" - especially Makenna's! But, there will be interaction with kids for both of them, so that is not a bad thing.

Speaking of interaction - Makenna and I have been doing a mommy and me gymnastics class once a week. Really we've only been 2 weeks, but we've had fun. There is a little structure at the beginning and then really the kids are free to do what they want. It is kind of nice.

For some of our recent family photos and some catch up from the fall visit the shutterfly site:
http://garhart.shutterfly.com/

By golly, I think she's got it!

Last weekend Robert was off. So I decided to attempt to potty train Makenna since I would have help. Turns out Robert was sick and was in bed most of Saturday, but I had a goal, so I went for it. A friend had turned me on to an ebook that some of her friends and family had used. It was a 3 day thing. Unfortunately I only had 2 days with her and Robert had Monday morning. After Saturday I wasn't quite sure she was going to get it in 3 days. And this book tells you to do night training at the same time. I opted not to do this as Makenna is never dry in the morning. I'm not sure we made it to the potty in time at all on Saturday and maybe a couple of times during the day Sunday. We still decided to venture out and amazingly Makenna told us when we got to the store she had to go - and actually went! She stayed dry for the entire trip out, which included picking up some more big girl panties. As I had been putting a diaper on her at night, I decided on Monday to get some pull-ups and tell her they were her big girl panties for night time. This has seemed to work as she doesn't call them diapers and she doesn't ask to wear them during the day. Again, I was not thinking this was going to work, but she gets it! She is now asking to go potty and while someone is tending to Eli (either putting down for naps or at nighttime) she will go by herself - even #2! Amazing.

Makenna has had this thing about shaking her right leg for a while. I mentioned it to the pediatrician at her 2 year appointment. She checked her reflexes and found that the right side was more sensitive than the left. We were referred to a neurologist which took forever to get an appointment for. We went yesterday. Thankfully all is well and it must be some kind of nervous tic. So afterwards (since we both took the day off) we took Makenna to the aquarium. She loves that place! There were a lot of school kids there yesterday, but a little less crowded than the weekends. It was still a nice time.

Eli has started crawling. He's getting pretty fast. And now he is starting to pull up and try to stand. Man - how time flies. As we were outside enjoying the weather and the time change last night, I told him he was going to be chasing Makenna around by the end of the summer. Probably sooner, but at least by then!

I have some time...it's off to get some chores done. That way we can enjoy the weather again tomorrow.

Wow

Yes, I am a bad blogger. Man - what a month. I can't believe it is already March. And today is Eli's 8 month "birthday." It has been really busy around here. And fun. Makenna says the darnedest things and there are just so many you can't remember them all. Some of her new ones are: "Mommy, come get me" (when getting up in the am) and then when you get there, "Mommy, I'm not tired." Which 7:30 on a Sunday morning when her brother has slept HORRIBLY...is not a good time to "not be tired." She also has some major spouts of "I can do it myself" times and quite the attitude. We decided that I would take Makenna off b herself this past Sunday. She said she wanted to go to the aquarium, so off we went. We didn't spend a ton of time there, but I think she enjoyed it being just the two of us. Hopefully we can keep up special times alone with each of the kids. The weekend before she went to the circus with Robert and Pops.

I love watching the two kids interact. Eli thinks Makenna is great and laughs at her all the time. And she is so sweet to Eli - most of the time - she loves on him and likes to try to feed him. Eli has started crawling. It started off where he would do "tee-pee" and peek his head through his legs. Then he would get down on all fours and propel himself forward. It was funny to watch. And then last weekend he figured it out - he learned how to crawl on his knees. He has gotten much faster over the week. If only we could get him to consistently sleep at night...

Speaking of sleep...both kids are in bed...and for some silly reason I am still up...not that it's late...but I am missing good sleep opportunity...and since I never know when I'll be up...I'm going to head that way myself.

During Feb. we had some pictures done - supposed to be Eli's 6 months, but he was 7 months. And Mak's 2 years. Plus us. I'll post some later, but again, I'm going to take advantage of the quiet!

Good night!

January 10/11, 2011 Snow

The snow storm. I wish we would have been able to play in it, but by the time Makenna and I got outside, it was hard. She still enjoyed being outside for a few minutes. When Robert got home, we had to get a couple of pics of Eli. I believe this is the third snow here, but the first one we were able to get him in pics! Hope everyone is staying warm! Enjoy!

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Makenna 2nd Birthday

We had Makenna's 2nd birthday party this weekend. Just family this year. It was nice to see everyone again. The pizza was late (by one hour) but other than that - it was great. She had a great time opening her gifts and did a good job at giving everyone hugs, kisses and thank yous! We then decided to head to the aquarium on Sunday. The kids are free and Robert and I got annual passes this summer. It was pretty slow, so we got to see almost everything. I think there may have been one section we didn't go in. Makenna actually touched the sea animals that could be touched this time. All in all a good weekend!

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