No More Monkey's Jumping on the Bed!

Last Monday I couldn't get the girls to take their naps. I kept going in & saying "stop giggling!" "Stop talking!" "Stop jumping on the bed!" After an hour of going crazy, I went in really upset and found the girls both in Erin's crib with a million blankets. It was so cute! I was laughing so hard and had to take a picture. Elaina had dumped ALL of the baby blankets that are stored under the changing table, plus a random booster seat into the crib and then jumped in herself. They were both giggling and bouncing in the crib and having the funnest time with each other. It was too cute. They really are absolutely the best of friends and I love it!

The next day when they were supposed to be napping again, I walked in (after hearing lots of giggling and talking between the girls) to find a very familiar scene: Elaina (who I know had just been jumping on her bed) scrambling into her bed and pretending to be asleep while Erin was just sitting up in her crib, wide awake and with a huge smile on her face. And of all things, she had a huge empty diaper box in the crib with her. I wonder how that got there? I had been in the middle of filling that box with too-small baby clothes to go out into storage, and everything that had been in the box was now scattered all over the floor. And look at the cute grin on Erin's face! :)


And of course this is the other thing scattered all over the floor. Elaina LOVES to read, and at nap time, rather than sleeping, she often pulls the books off her shelf and reads to Erin, or to herself if Erin falls asleep first. I'm so tired of cleaning up this pile of books every day (or even worse, being patient enough to get Elaina to do it herself when I know I can do it a million-times faster!)!!!


As of Tuesday the girls now take naps in separate bedrooms. :)

The other bedtime drama is that Elaina is now scared of monsters under the bed. She's been scared of the dark for several months now, so when it's dark we always leave the door open (night lights don't work for us!). But I am now routinely checking under the bed for monsters - both my bed and Elaina's bed, and sometimes under Erin's crib. I don't know if this is a stall tactic or a genuine fear, but I'm falling into the trap either way!

Take Me Out To the Ball Game!

The company Mike is working for this summer has season passes for the local baseball team, so we got to attend a home game last Tuesday night. It was so much fun to go as a family. How can you help but just feel good at a baseball game? And, our team won :)
GO BRAZOS VALLEY BOMBERS!!!

Elaina was more interested in doing other things besides watching the game, but that's ok, I usually am too :) We still have fun. She spent a lot of time flipping the seats up and down and walking down the row of seats.

Of course Elaina was mostly intrigued by the mascot: a life-size baseball. When he came to talk to her though, she ran away. Then we spent the rest of the game getting a little more comfortable approaching him. Near the end of the game, she was running across the bleachers to share her cracker jacks with him and was even bringing him cups of water to drink. She's so thoughtful :) Then at the very end of the night, she was even dancing for the crowd with him.

In this video Elaina is blowing kisses to the baseball - but she can't get too close :)

Erin loved the popcorn!!

Wedding Pics

I haven't blogged in a really long time, so I know these are like a month old, but I wanted to post some pictures I got at Jen and Jared's wedding. Enjoy! :)

Beautiful Bride

I wanted to get a really good family picture for our family room, so we took a whole bunch! Unfortunately it's tough to get one where all four of us (and especially the kids) look good. This is the best I got and I don't love it...so we'll have to keep trying for a great family picture. But it's good enough to post on the blog :)

My new family, with Jared included

Aunt Jen and the girls

Lunchtime!

Me and my (little?) brother, Dave

Jared's family made a swing for the reception in Las Vegas. Of course it was a huge hit for the kids at the reception and allowed for some really nice pictures on it. After 3 weeks of family around, Elaina was tired of smiling & posing for pictures by the time of the wedding, so we couldn't get a smile on her face. She was having a good time though....until we told her to smile for the camera!

Me and my brother and sisters

I love this picture of my Mom with Erin!

My Sisters

More Pictures from our Day-Out-With-Thomas at Heritage Park

Just some other fun pictures from our day:

Jen & Erin

They had a huge tent set up with lots of tracks and toys set out as well as face painting, Thomas tattoos and singing. Elaina & Erin both got a tattoo of one of the trains - Elaina got the James train and Erin got Thomas. After a few days when the tattoo started to wear off, Elaina said "oh no! My James is broken!"

Um, hoarding the Thomas toys?!?

Riding the carousel

We were so happy that my cousins and Aunt & Uncle came with us too. Aunt Joan is recovering from knee-replacement surgery, and lucky for her, had the best seat all day...Elaina thought so too!

I think this is so picturesque!
At the end of the day, we rode the hayride

Erin & my Dad, waiting in the long line for ice cream!

How do you eat your ice cream cone?

Elaina with her Nana and Nanny M

Thank you to my Nana for planning such a wonderful day!

Riding the Train

All aboard!

We had the best seats on the train - we were at the very back, in the outside cabin of the train, and on the inside of the track, so when we went around the corner, we could see Thomas at the front, pulling us around the track.

My parents & Elaina.
It was hard to get many pictures of anything but the back of her head! She was too distracted with all the fun things to see that day, and by this point, she was already pictured-out from the wedding reception the night before.

Me & My sisters, and Erin (we really didn't plan to all wear pink that day!)

Thomas The Train

We had the most incredible day while I was in Calgary last month. We had heard months ago that Thomas the Train was going to be in Calgary this spring, and the days happened to correspond perfectly with the days we'd be up there anyway for the wedding! There's this historical village I used to go to a lot as a kid, and it has a railroad track that circles the park, so Thomas was there to pull the train around the park for the weekend. So of course we got tickets so that we could ride Thomas the Train! The whole park was decked out in Thomas games and activities. In fact, my whole family didn't want to miss out on seeing Elaina visit Thomas, so 13 adults accompanied Elaina and Erin to the park for the day. It was one of the best things I've ever done with my kids, it was such a wonderful day!

I have to also explain Elaina's love for Thomas. Last fall she was introduced to Thomas when she played at her friend Aaron's house one afternoon. She came home talking and talking about Thomas, but she didn't have any toys yet. Her Grandma (Mike's Mom) came to visit and bought her a DVD of Thomas sing along songs, and since she still didn't have any toys, this became her toy. I'd find Thomas the DVD case having tea parties with Elaina, and we'd kiss Thomas the DVD case before we went down for naps or bedtime. Thomas the DVD would come for car rides with us. And I even found Thomas the DVD sitting on time out once. At Christmas, Aunt Heather bought her some trains, which she adores as well. So this day was a HUGE hit for her, and for the rest of us who got to experience this day with her!

Hmmm, where's Thomas?!?

Here he comes!!!


My sister Heather & Erin watching Thomas come around the corner

Nanny M and Elaina watching Thomas

Hi Thomas! (Elaina & my cousin Andrea)

Bye Thomas!

Mommy & Elaina posing for a picture with our friend

Elaina & Erin with Nana & Grandpa Ducky

Sir Topham Hatt