Charlie (yes again!)

He is so dang cute!  Ellie is completely smitten.  She thinks she's ready to have him by herself for a few hours.He looks just like Biz!

Welcome Charlie!

My sister and her husband had their baby today!!! Charles "Charlie" Jackson  is healthy and everyone is doing well.  He is so sweet!  I can't wait to get my hands on him tomorrow!
Biz allowed me and my mom to be in the room when she delivered.  Words cannot describe how amazing that was!  Really.  I am speechless!  Here's another picture!

{The Kids}

***Ok I pretty much hate autosave on this stupid blog because I had an entire post typed and was editing it and it somehow deleted the entire first half!!!  GGRRRR!!! And now the fonts are all screwy!!!


ELLIE

She wanted her picture taken while she was blowing bubbles.

Ellie is starting to read.  She lacks some confidence and she doesn't always want to put forth the effort to sound things out, but she is doing really well.

One of her favorite ways to entertain herself while we are spending our hour and a half in the car every day is to text.

It started out with me spelling out every single word for her: "Hi Nana.  What are you doing?  I love you."  "Hi Biz.  Where is Lola?"  "Hi Daddy.  What are you doing?"

Then she transitioned to garble: "eoihwetineiedfihwerbiubelliemasonnanabiz"

Over the past couple of weeks she has transitioned into sending her own messages with the only phrase she can come up with: "I love you."  So she sends "I love you Nana Ellie"  "I love Biz and Tim and Lola"  (and she added that she wished she had remembered to say she loves the baby too).

But my favorite text thus far was sent to Mason via Brandon's phone this afternoon: "I love Lola the cow and Mason."

And oh how she loves Lola the cow.  Lola is Ellie's pet.  It surprises even Brandon.  Lola will come up to Ellie in the middle of the field and let Ellie pet her and sometimes lick Ellie's hand.  Ellie also goes to the gate and calls Lola and Lola will come running to eat whatever weed Ellie picks and feeds her through the gate.  Here is a picture from my phone:

The cow whisperer

And I will add: This surprises Brandon, but I had pet cows at my Aunt Lois' who would come to the fence and lick mine and my cousin's hands.  I feel pretty certain that while we were outside getting our hands licked, my mom was inside being revived with smelling salts.

Ellie is also learning to snap.  In the car this afternoon, she started snap snap snapping for me.  I asked if she could snap with the other hand.  She said "Well, no, the other hand is still trying to learn."
***


MASON
I know I have said it before, but Mason cracks me up.  He is funny without even trying.  I love to watch him putter around in the yard.  This afternoon he found two sticks and started "playing the drums" on the sidewalk.  


He really likes to play the drums.  While we were watching the ACM's tonight, he told me "I'm a drum player too!"  


I didn't have the heart to tell him that beating up your sister with drumsticks doesn't qualify you and a "drum player".

We are growing grass.

We  (and by we I mean Brandon and Tim) laid sod all around the house and my cousin, who owns a lawn service, seeded the remainder.  The sod is doing well and the seeded grass is starting to come up.  This is far more yard work than Brandon ever would have wanted in his entire life.  

 The dogs were really helpful.

***If there are typos in this post, sorry!  I don't have it in me to go back over it again!

{Just the Girls}

Mason has been (once again) puny since last Wednesday.  He woke up with RAGING allergies that day and it has been pretty much downhill ever since.  I decided yesterday to take him to the doctor.

The dr treated him for a sinus infection and gave me some useful information:  He said that getting the allergy testing done early was good, BUT it is not conclusive at this age.  He said it's still possible (probable) that he IS allergic to pollen but it just didn't show up yet.  Something about his immune system not being completely mature to which I replied "You can SAY THAT AGAIN!"  He didn't laugh.  But I still love him.  


So it was once again, NANA TO THE RESCUE.  After Mason's appointment, I met my mom halfway and she took him home with her until he is feeling better.  (This is one of the many times I HATE WORKING!)


*******
Ellie went for her first official Dentist visit yesterday morning (yes, BEFORE I took Mason to the dr!) and she did great until they broke out the spit sucker thing at which time she FREAKED.  We got her calmed down and the hygienist was able to  brush and floss her teeth.  She told Ellie she should be brushing twice a day. Ellie  reminded me on the way back to school that she does not do this.  I have a feeling she's planning to start.


Mason's trip south meant "Girls Night" for Ellie and I.  (Brandon was out of town)  I told her it was just the girls and she said it wasn't because Jack was still home.

From HOUSE

 She was very excited when I shared the news with her.  (Even more excited when I told her she could sleep with me.  This was a mistake, in case you are wondering.)


Ellie and I made a stop at the mall on the way home to exchange the sunglasses my parents and Biz got me for my birthday.  We went home and planted some flower seeds and then we cuddled up in my bed and hung out.  We had a very nice evening.


*****
I had a WONDERFUL birthday weekend.  My mom spent the night with me and the kids last Thursday (BOTH kids were puny and She stayed home with them.)  She asked me as I was leaving on Friday if I would "mind if she cleaned up a bit and Jacki-fied my house" (you remember Jackie, RIGHT?)....How do you respond to such a request?  


I said "Well, if you insist...."  HA!


So I arrived home Friday afternoon to a straight and clean house and we maintained it all weekend!  


Saturday my parents, grandmother, Biz and Tim came for dinner that was catered in by Meals on Wheels of Gallatin AKA Nana and Poppop.  


*****
This week is Kindergarten registration.  Oh. My. Word!  I have to get the mental images of Ellie with a backpack that is bigger than her out of my mind!  It's making me tear up.


*****
In final FINAL news:  Mom and I are gearing up with Initial Reaction once again.  We want to make a serious go of it.  We bith love sewing and applique!  I am working on our blog and a Facebook page.  If you are in the market for some cute cute cute kids stuff, keep us in mind!


*****
Ok, I have one more thing...Biz is still pregnant.  We are all on call, but we pretty much figure she will go into labor on April 24.  April 24, you see, is Ellie's dance recital.  It would make sense that we would be pulled in 90 different directions, right?


Oh and here is the outfit:

 

I am not really sure how I feel about it.  It seems a little bit Cabaret for four year olds, no?  Of course I am in the m-i-n-o-r-i-t-y because the other moms think it's grand.  I just figure these kids will have plenty of time to dress like grown ups but you don't see very many 30 year old women in smocked dresses and bows.  NOT that I think smocked dresses and bows are good for dance recitals.  Ok I will stop.

The End.

{Never a Dull Moment}

From march_april10

Isn't he a sweetie?

He is.  He is the sweetest boy I know.  He gives the best, sloppy kisses and he is just the sweetest little guy.  I am blessed beyond measure.
And funny...my goodness is he funny.  He doesn't even realize how funny he is.  But his whole demeanor is just hilarious.

But he DOES keep me on my toes.  He actually ASKS for dangerous things "Can I have dee scissors???"  He really is fearless.  And often just looking for something to do.

The other day he and I were in the kitchen.  I had my back turned doing something.  I was not more than 10 feet from him and while my back was turned, this happened:

From march_april10

This is where the chair is supposed to be.  (Notice the criminal's look of guilt...and don't mind the bag of trash!):

From march_april10

I think he just wants to be sure things around our house don't get boring.

{Happy Easter 2010}

From march_april10

We had a great Easter.  We went to church and then headed to Gallatin.  My Nan, Uncle Bobby, Skyler, Shelby, Cody and Brittany joined us for lunch and an Easter Egg Hunt.  Ellie and Mason came in First and Second in the egg hunt.  :)

It was HARD to get a good shot of the kids in their Easter Best.  Whenever I tell Mason to smile, this is what I get:

The Easter Bunny was very good to both kiddos.

From march_april10

Why, YES, Ellie DOES have on Christmas footie jammies.  That's what you get when a 4 year old picks out her jammies.

From march_april10

And Brandon and I had to have a little fun too...

From march_april10

(It was just Whopper eggs!)

From 2010-04-04

And we got a good family pic!

{We Should Get Out More}

Mason continues on the potty training trek.  He is really doing so well!  One day this week, I needed to stop at the store on the way home.  This is NEVER my preference.  I do most of my shopping on my lunch hour because the combination of tired kids and busy grocery stores just doesn't mix well.  But Brandon needed Mt. Dew and we all know he should never be without that.  Oh and I needed Diet Coke and we all know I should NEVER EVER be without that.

There is a small window after picking Mason up from his class that we can go without a trip to the potty and I knew we would miss the window with our stop so I knew we needed a pit stop once we hit the store.  We headed straight to the restroom and I corralled both kids into the very small stall.  Ellie announced she needed to go BAD so I proceeded to assist her.

Now remember:  SMALL stall.  Three people.  Mason was behind me.  I assisted Ellie and turned around to find Mason GONE.  "MASON!  Where are you???"  Ellie says, "Oh he crawled under the door."  She watched him leave!  I open the door hoping that all of Kroger won't see my 4 year old's business, grab the 2 year old and close the door.  So I am holding Mason and he grabs the top of the stall wall and tries to CLIMB OVER.

Have you ever tried to put a cat in a box?  Ok, you get the picture.  Obviously, Mason has not visited enough public restrooms.  Or maybe I need more practice.

*****
Ellie is getting so. grown. up!  Since Mason is potty trained she feels like she can take care of him pretty well by herself.  I sent her downstairs this morning to get dressed.  A few minutes later I asked Brandon to go check on her and get Mason dressed.

Brandon returned to report that Ellie had taken Mason's pajamas off and gotten him all dressed except his shirt.  She couldn't find his undies so she put a pull up on him.  She's my little problem solver!

We have Kindergarten registration week after next.  I am looking into homeschooling materials.