2007

2006

2005

2005

I was looking through old pictures on the computer. Here are some of my favorites from the past Christmases.

2008

2007

2006

2005

Oh Christmas Tree

I love Christmas tree pictures...I don't know what it is about them, but I love looking at them. Eli loves looking at the decorations on the tree. The boys were so cute tonight as Eli was talking to them about the ornaments. He loves the firetruck ornaments the best.

Kindergarten Turkey Hat

This is Evan when he was in Kindergarten.....

And here is Isaac. For some reason, these pictures just make me laugh!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Leaning.....

Tonight we made a trip to Menards, and as a treat, we told the boys that if they were good, we could go to Toys R Us so they could look around. They were getting pretty naughty in Menard's. When we got to the car I said to them "Boys, going to the toy store is a privilege and right now I am leaning towards saying no".

Isaac interrupted me and said, "I just need to know....how far are you leaning, this far (he makes a gesture with his fingers at about a 45 degree angle) or this far (makes another gesture with his finger at about a 90 degree angle)."

Oh Isaac....he always has a way of making you laugh just about the time you don't want to!

Eli funnies

-Yesterday I put a pair of bib overalls on Eli. He hasn't worn a pair in a while and was not happy about it. He kept yanking on the straps and he said "No, there's pants on E-I's shirt!" I couldn't figure out what he meant. Then it dawned on me, he was upset because his overalls were up where his shirt was. He wasn't used to them!

-Last night I put Eli to bed and was in our bedroom. I could hear him on the monitor. He was quiet for a really long time, then he said "E-I not a police car. No, Eli not a police car. E-I a horsey. No, E-I not a horsey. E-I go night-night." And that was the last I heard from him.

-Today after he had been awake for a while, Ben took him in his room to change his diaper and put his clothes on. He said to Ben, "E-I not go night night..noooo, E-I wake"

He narrates his whole life. The other day he was coloring and pretty soon I heard him say "E-I coloring on the table. I color on E-I" Yep, sure enough, he had colored on the table and all over his arm. His vocabulary just amazes us. He is the boss of the house, as he is always yelling at the big boys to "get up" "come on" "eat your food" "let's go"

2nd place

I love this picture. Evan just won his match and I love how he is looking up at Ben and listening to him. It makes my heart skip a beat.

Evan wrestled at Charles City today and got 2nd place. He had two pins and got pinned once. He was pretty proud of his trophy.

L M N O P

Eli is getting pretty good at signing his ABCs.

16 week appointment

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday....holy cow, 16 weeks. The most exciting part is that our ultrasound is scheduled for Dec. 14th. I am getting anxious to see this little peanut.

The nurse found the heartbeat right away. It was loud and strong at 160 beats/minute. It is always a relief to hear! Last time at 12 weeks they had quite a time finding it so it was reassuring to hear it right away and not have to lay there scared something was wrong.

Everything seems to be right on track. The bummer of the appointment was that my blood pressure was up a bit (138/88). Given my history, they are watching this closely. With Eli I ended up on blood pressure medication and the dr. indicated that she "saw that in my future". I am in the middle of a 24 hour urine sample. Now, that is a fun time, let me tell you. The gave me a great big orange jug to collect it in and keep in the fridge. Knowing that it is not very convenient to do while working at the middle school, I made a trip home at lunch to make my first deposit! The whole situation is annoying, but I guess it is better to be safe than have bigger issues. I had the school nurse take my blood pressure today and it was 118/78. I know I was having a pretty hectic day yesterday so hopefully that is why it was elevated.

My instructions were to "take it easy when I can". That statement is kind of comical....I am a middle school counselor, I have three small boys and my husband is a wrestling coach which doesn't allow for him to be home before 7 pm during the week. But, yeah, I'll try.

Birthday celebrations

We celebrated my parents' birthdays this weekend. The boys had fun singing to them!


We had some pretty fierce wii competitions going on. Eli was having fun acting like the big boys.

Eli

Eli has been so incredibly cute lately...he loves to go in his room and play all by himself. He has been acting stuff out lately like the big boys do. Here he was telling me he was a fire truck guy climbing a ladder.

Wrestling

Evan has his first wrestling tournament today. He got third place and had fun! We are not sure how many more meets he will be able to do with Ben coaching....as I refuse to take him alone with the other boys! He was disappointed at first, but he had some pretty tough kids with a lot more experience. This is only Evan's second meet that he has participated in.

Where's our baby?

Here is Eli telling us where our baby is....or dere.

Where oh Where?

When we ask Eli where someone is, he immediate response is "Or dere" (over there) He doesn't point or look anywhere, just responds.

He says this for everything, where is Daddy? Where is Evan? Where is the truck? Where is the baby? Every time, his answer is "or dere"

Eli 2 year old stats.

Eli had his 2 year old well-baby check-up tonight.

We had thought that he had grown in the last couple of months and we were right!

When we were in there two months ago, he was in the 12th% for weight. Today he was in the 44th% weighing in at 27.8 lbs! He is really filling out lately. (Evan weighed 31 lbs at age 1!) He is still tiny, but he has noticeably grown a bit finally.

In the last 6 months he has grown 2 1/2 inches as well. At 19 mths. he was 33 inches and in the 61% and today he was 35.5 inches which put him in the 72%.

He was cracking the doctor up today!

She asked me if he could put two words together. I said "yes" and he said "Eli (E I) put two words together" check

She asked if he could point to body parts when asked. Then she asked if he could point to his nose, which he did. Then he proceeded to touch his ears and say "this Eli ears" and then he touched his cheek and said "this Eli face" check

Then he looked at a picture on the wall of a forest and stream and he said "all Ewoks go bye-bye" referring to Star Wars. That's what most 2 year olds talk about, right?

He had to get a couple of shots which was not too enjoyable. He only cried for a minute and then was excited to see his camouflage band-aids. He did very well and passed his two year old physical!

Wrestling Season

We have two excited boys....make that three. Eli is pretty excited, too, to have his very own wrestling shoes. The other night we were digging through shoes to figure out what pairs fit who and we came across the tiny pair that I bought at Goodwill when Evan was two. Eli was so proud of them! He was running around saying, "see my wrestling shoes".

We thought Isaac would be nervous to start wrestling this year but he went to the first practice and loved it!


Here is Eli's stance....the boys are teaching him all sorts of wrestling stuff! I can't believe it's that time again.

Darth Vader

The mask has been found...just as I figured it would be.