BABY #3!!!!!

NOVEMBER 2013
After 2 or 3 Negative pregnancy tests (b/c I took them too early), I found out that we are pregnant, AGAIN! I knew instantly that I was pregnant. I woke up with acid reflux and the last and only time I had that is when I was pregnant with Tyler. I thought, maybe I am pregnant, and I am certain it's a boy. A week later, I had a glass of wine and it didn't hit me right. That morning I took a test and it said negative, but I was still wondering why it felt different. 8 Days later I took another test and it said positive! It was a Sunday morning before my friend, Addie's 'Sprinkle'. (a second baby shower).

I wanted to tell Nate in a creative way so I bought Ella a Big Sister shirt. That night, I made Stryker a necklace out of yarn and construction paper and I wrote, "Daddy, will you clean my cat litter?" Love Stryker and Chloe.

I had Ella wear her shirt and Tyler wear his Big Brother shirt, we put the necklace on Stryker and walked down the stairs (where Nate was laying carpet). Tyler handed Stryker to Nate. Nate read the necklace and put Stryker down on the floor by saying, "No I won't do your litter." - and then he went back to work without notice of the kids shirts. Sooo, in true form I had my pregnancy test handy and handed it to him. He was shocked, excited and teared up. Then he mentioned that he couldn't believe he didn't get it when he read Stryker's necklace! OH WELL :)

We told Nate's family first at Thanksgiving by letting Ella walk around Aunt Kathy and Mark's Barn. Cousin Katie and Nicole were the first and ONLY ones to notice Ella's shirt! Hours passed without notice from anyone else. During a musical chairs 'type' game, Nate purposely said something like, "if you have 3 kids"….then everyone with 3 kids would have to switch chairs. I got up and switched chairs and everyone laughed but didn't get it. So Nate stood up and made the announcement to his family and everyone looked shocked! Aunt Kathy thought I got up and moved chairs because I was counting Nate as my third child. LOL.

Earlier that night I let Ella run around

Since my last post...

Well what can I say? After leaving Quest to stay home with the kiddos - blogging became MUCH harder! :) I LOVE BEING HOME WITH MY BABIES but wish I could keep up on our journey as a family.

TYLER AND ELLA
January 2013 - Tyler started swim lessons at the Y.
June 2013 - First family vacation (South Beach, Hilton Head Island)
August 2013 - You both took 8 weeks of Locker Soccer and loved it.
November 2013 - You both took 6 weeks of Gymnastics and love it.

TYLER UPDATE -
Aug- 2013 - You started Pre-School!

ELLA UPDATE-
2013- 1 year of speach therapy through Help Me Grow, Delaware County. First teacher was Miss Lisa, then Mrs Vikki (Vee Vee). You loved Mrs. Vee Vee and enjoyed your playtime with her.  In the Fall you passed your Speech Evaluation with Heritage Elementary. Mommy was SOOO excited to know that you would go to the same preschool as Ty next year and that I would have you home all to myself for another 6 months :)

Tyler and Ella,

The last two months you have really kept mommy busy! Ella you have figured out how to climb on and off anything! (couch, your highchair, the bay window, the coffee table, etc). You are in the stage that you are enjoying your mobility but also a danger to yourself. Ella you are so sweet and give out more hugs and kisses which I have been waiting 16 months for! You are also very sensative. If you want something, you want it at that very second or you break down crying or scream out in frusteration. You love to do anything that Tyler does. You two are buddies. You will play with trucks and make 'roaring' noises which melts my heart. Tyler is always watching out for you or at least trying to....sometimes he will tackle you or pull on your shirt or hug you too hard. Silly boys! Ella he just doesn't know better :)

Tyler you have amazed me this last month. You learned our home address, your birth date and memorized your Loader and Crane books. These are books from Clay and have several sentences per page. You have a GREAT memory!!You love loaders, bulldozers, dump trucks and are all boy!

Ella's 14th month and Tyler's 31rst month

Ella you are really starting to take off. You can follow simple instrutions: Ella go get your sippy cup, Ella go get your shoes. etc. You babble a lot and try to say words when we ask. Your favorite question that we ask you is: Ella can you say, Ty Ty? Your eyes light up and you look at Tyler and laugh. Sometimes you try to mumble something too. Your words are still limited to Momma, Dadda. You sleep with about 5+ binkies and a sippy cup full of water. 99% of the time you sleep through the night which is soo nice! You love books but insist we read them super fast. I think you are more of a page turner now than absorbing most of the content. You are getting a lot of teeth right now and LOVE your toothbrush; only if it has toothpaste on it. You HATE when we try to brush your teeth for you. It's always a battle. Oh and I almost forgot...you are a CRAZY climber!!! You will climb anything or try to free fall or step off anything. Very scarey. Luckily I catch you and tell you sit down but just think that's funny when I say that and it makes you want to do more. You are always smiling, except when you are whining. lol I love you soo much and you are always making me smile and laugh! AND you are always wearing just one shoe! It seems to make you happy :)

Tyler, you are becoming very imaginative and funny. You love your books, but also insist on silly stories or silly songs before you fall asleep. This week we are babysitting our neighbors lizard and you wanted me to sing you a song about how we fed the lizard Nutrigrain bars. lol. You also love to pray and will thank God for everything you can think of including: (mommy's coffee, Octonaughts (your new fav. show), your milk, our windows, our roof, the trees, your toys, etc.) Yesterday you said out of nowhere, "when God makes me die, I go to heaven". I spoke to you what you said and told you that you need to have Jesus in your heart and you will go to heaven one day and it will be amazing. But for right now we are healthy and here on earth so hopefully that is a long ways away! You seemed to be happy with that answer and just went on your way to play with your cars.

Funny things:
"Ella put that back, I am a big boy, I do not need a tampon" (as Ella is handing him a tampon)
Why is Tyler always talking about sugar? Today he woke up and said, "Mommy is chocolate milk healthy?" I said no, he said "is cake healthy?" I said no. He said " are goldfish healthy?" I said no, those are treats. Then he runs to the freezeer and said, "I want a popsicle for going pee pee", not for breakfast little Tyler :)
Tyler was playing with a water marker and Tyler decides to start drawing on the walls and I said Tyler don't do that. He said, I have to. I said why? He said "because it's dangerous. I think that's a good example, Mommy."

Some more cuteness....

2.23.12 - recently you have been saying a lot of random, cute things. you are showing me that you have a great memory and that you could really be thinking about anything at any given moment. Here are some random things you have said in no particular order that have made me laugh, put a smile on my face and/or made me think how much you really are learning...

Poppa Rob calls me Tybo and Grandmommy calls me Honey Bun.
Daddy's throat isn't sick anymore because we prayed.
A long long time ago there was a giant named Goliath and he....
Thank you God for the windows, the other windows, these windows, their windows, thank you for Nathan's job, Ella, my books, my milk, the windows and the other windows, they're all put! (no idea that the last part means)
I wanna talk to God......SOMEBODY PUKED IN THE SPLASH POOL! (lol!)
A skylight is a window on the ceiling and it goes way up to heaven!
(while on the toilet you grabbed a play phone and I heard you say..) Hi, I am going Poo Poo!!!!

31 month update - You had your first dentist appointment and you did awesome! you are still talking abou the chocolate toothpast they gave you there! the dentist said no more binkies at night so we had you throw them away in the garage trash and then the garbage truck picked them up and took them away. You miss them, but are getting along without them! so proud of you! i was more nervous about this than anyone! :)

Yesterday we found out that Poppa (my Dad, 73 yrs old) has prostate cancer. We don't know what the future holds but will keep praying for MANY more years with him.

Also I had a physical (just a check up) and found out that my white blood cell count was 2.97 (good range: 4.5-11)...getting re-checked in a few weeks. Here is to praying that the number goes up and it was just this darn cold bringing me down.

Ella is now 14 motnhs and super cute! Ella you are obsessed with going to the front door and getting your shoes and coat and hat and brining them to me. You are always on the go and are very sad when we do not leave the house. Winter blues are bringing you down but soon enough we'll be outside. You LOVE Mickey Mouse and will stop crying immediately if you see him on TV. You LOVE to laugh and play chase! You are getting about 5 teeth at the moment and all considering are doing great! when i am having a bad day or feeling exhausted just letting you crawl on me and having you giggle makes my day complete! Tyler loves helping take care of you too but making sure you don't try to climb downstairs or by sining twinkle twinkle when you cry; of course, he also is good at making you cry by taking any toy that you want to play with :( You on the other hand, are great at sharing :) Love you so much Ella Marie!!!

MILESTONE!

During Tyler's 30th month we hit a major developmental milestone....he is potty trained!! I am so proud of my little man!! Not to mention, he was the one who wanted to do it. After a good 2 weeks of wearing underpants over this diaper, staying dry and reading his favorite potty books; I decided to make the switch to underpants only. It was a bit scary for me but I had to brave it knowing there would be accidents. Keep in mind, you are still wearing a diaper at nap time and at night time, one step at a time. This past weekend, Daddy and I volunteered to work the church nursey. You and Ella enjoyed us being in there but I made a big mistake when you told you had to pee at the same time I was taking a 3 year old girl to the rest room. Opps. When it was your turn and I brought you in, he told me you pee peed in your underpants, and you did. Your jeans, shoes and everything, including the floor was soaked! Poor Ty Ty :( I felt terrible, but luckily you didn't seem to care. Then another mommy mistake. After speaking with friends whose kiddos are in daycare, they said their kids dont' wear diapers at nap time so I thought I would do the same for you. After all, you have stayed dry 50% of the time, why not give it a whirl? Well....because you peed all over yourself and the crib and we had an afternoon bath; which you really enjoyed. Again, glad you were not upset, but I was with myself. Lesson learned: one step at a time. Horray you are potty trained- while awake! For the next month I want to build you confidence more and try to avoid most accidents and I will have you wear a diaper at nap time. Then we will try to take it off again next month :)
A few month, super cute and notable things you have done this month....
- A few weeks back we went to the Delaware YMCA to play in the Splash Pool, only to get there and realize they just closed it because a kiddo got sick. Bummer! We had to swim in the lap pool without the zero entry and water slides. After leaving the Y, you proceeded to tell everyone that someone puked in the splash pool and the lifegaurds had to clean it up with chlorine. A week later, we were praying and reading your Baby Bible. I was telling you that God and Jesus are way up in heaven, you can't see them but they can see you and hear you. You can talk to them and tell them whatever you want to! You looked at me and said, I want to talk to them. And then you looked up at the ceiling and in a very loud voice you exclaimed, "Someone puked in the Splash Pool!". I started cracking up, it was so endearing and funny! I told you God and Jesus probably had a good laugh too! Fast forward another week and we come to last night. We were praying and you started chiming in stating things that you are thankful for...."thank you for Strykie, thank you for Daddy, thank you for our house, thank you for Grandmommy, cookies, chocolate milk, thank you for our table, thank you for books..etc" Too cute Ty!
Oh and another thing, last week you were on one side of the gate and Ella was on the other and without you knowing I was listening you said to Ella..."Hi, my name is Ty Ty." Omg, it was so cute! He must have learned to introduce himself to other kids and the YMCA.
We are still working on not saying..I want, but May I and please.
This month, Ella's 13th month she got her 6th tooth and showed me that she can follow instructions! "Let's go kids, get your coat and shoes." Ella is the first to start walking to the entryway bench and points at her coat and has her shoes in hand! When I get her up from her crib I say, Ella throw your binkies in your crib. She takes them out of her hands and mouth and throws them in her crib :) And, yesterday at the Y I was paged to change her poopy diaper. When she saw me, I said Ella let's change your diaper, and she walked straight over to the bathroom door and looked at me, like come on Mom, get a dry diaper on me! :) You continue to LOVE food and your sippy cups of milk or water. You are also a good climber and that could really scare me in just a few more months when you are a bit stronger.

Tyler is 30 months and Ella is almost 13 months!

I have been terrible about keeping up with my blog. December was a stressful month with the whole family getting sick. Ella had her 12 month Dr appt and she was 20 lbs (35% perc), height was 80% perc. and head 96% perc.

Ella you are now walking more often, 50/50. All i want is to cuddle you and snuggle and spend time getting to know you better but you are on the move. I mean non stop. You are possibly the busiest baby I've ever met. You don't want to miss out on anything! You still nap twice a day and LOVE to climb up the stairs, play in the frig, in the dishwasher, go up the stairs, climb on top of the picnic table and play in the ball pit. Although you don't want to snuggle you cry when I am out of sight.

Tyler, you are such a big boys these days and I am so proud of you. You sleep wonderfully in your crib (yeah!) and are really pushing ME to potty train YOU :) Who would have thought? :) Well we are 3 weeks in and you have stayed dry 97% of the time, and you LOVE choosing which big boy undies you want to wear..thomas the train, buzz lightyear, mickey mouse or lighting mcqeen. Yesterday you went 1 and 2 at a public restroom at Babies R Us. The automatic flusher scared you at first and then you started liking it and didn't want to get off the potty. Uh, it was so gross and poor Ella cried all 20 minutes we were in there! You love going poop :) You probably do it close to 6 times a day; so days are more! You are getting so smart and are starting to say really funny things. I will make a different entry with all the cute things you are talking about now.

And Ella, you just turned 13 months a few days ago and are walking / trying to run about 70% of the time. I'm so proud of you!!! You still aren't the best sleeper at night and wake up wanting to be reassured or more water in your sippy, but it's always a short stint.

Love you both!