Bubbles

Ella Ann has always enjoyed bubbles, but at the cost of me nearly having an asthma attack having to blow them all for her! Finally, finally she has mastered the art of bubble blowing! We usually hand her the wand to let her try to do it...her idea of how to blow bubbles includes putting her lips ON the wand and have the soap dripping onto her toes....but last week she figured it all out and now is a bubble-blowing professional! She is really good! Yesterday we were sitting on the deck so I captured a few pictures of her doing her new thing. Yes, I remembered Rane this time!

Yes Rane has his clothes unbuttoned.....what can I say, it's hot here!

Her new favorite way to go down the slide......

and fall off of it at the bottom!

Workin' the tummy time! He does much better with it than Ella Ann ever did but that's not to say he actually likes it!

A Mara Kate & Ella Ann Post

Well forget spring it is now summer here in Hotlanta! I do love living far down south, but I tell you I do miss spring. We never really have a spring, we just go from cool to hot in a day! We have spent a lot of our time outside by going to the playground, for a walk, eating meals on our deck and playing on Ella Ann's jungle gym in our backyard. Ella Ann's eczema has been terrible lately so I took her to the doctor (I think that's the third or fourth time I have been this month) on Friday to get her checked out. She will tell me often that her "skin hurts." I got another allergy medication (she already takes 3) to give her and a steroid cream to put on all her spots. The doctor seems to think, and Spencer and I agree, that it is our house that is causing all the problems. Our landlord decided to convert the basement of our house into a livable space (yes, so kind of him) so we are dealing with a lot of dust and possibly mold coming up through our vents. Needless to say, when our lease is up at the end of June we will be moving. I love, love living here in the Highlands but not with the cost of my kid's health (Rane has bad eczema as well) and the constant noise of the workers below me.

Okay enough venting and on to other news. Jana and Mara Kate came over this past Friday for a long overdue visit. We hadn't gotten together in over three weeks because of our crazy schedules and travels so we were so happy to spend some time together. The girls really enjoyed seeing one another and playing. We made up for lost time by visiting a couple of times this week....see below!

Spencer was fortunate and got Saturday off and already had Sunday off so we had the entire weekend together. Yeay! We went and looked at rental property Saturday morning just to get a feel of what is out there and played around the house in the afternoon. We walked over to Taco Mac for dinner and sat outside and enjoyed the evening.

On Sunday afternoon Jana and Mara Kate came over again so that we could walk a block down the street to the fire station for free ice cream and story time. We had the best time! We were the second ones in line to get the ice cream and got to talk with the firemen for a little while before we went for a quick walk and then back to the fire station to listen to the stories. When we got back the station was full of kids and their parents. We threw out a blanket and listened to the firemen read a few books. Mara Kate had brought a book about firemen so she could show the firemen at the station and after meeting the Captain he asked Mara Kate (in the middle of story time) if he could read her book. Everyone clapped and said thanks to Mara Kate for letting them read her book....it was so cute! :) Jana and I said we felt like we were on a field trip....especially when one of the fireman slid down the brass pole for the crowd! ha! We also had an opportunity to tour the fire station but we ended up leaving because Rane was getting fussy.

So our week has been off to a good start with a fun Sunday. Spencer has Monday afternoon off so I think he will be taking Ella Ann to the zoo. As far as the rest of the week goes....just busy! :)

Our sweet girls are growing up so fast!

Playing the fishing game. It's nice they can play a game together and the adults do not have to join in to help!

The girls waiting on their ice cream.

Ella Ann eyeballing those rainbow sprinkles!

Ella Ann has been to the fire station many times with Spencer and I to talk with the firemen and check out the truck if it's parked out front but this was the first time I actually had my camera to take a picture of her "driving"!

Mara Kate checking out the truck.

The Captain reading Mara Kate's book!

Sorry, Bad Mommy forgot to take a single picture of Rane! Woops. He was asleep for all the festivities anyway!

Better Late Than Never

So I meant to do this post on the official start day of baseball season (my Dad expects it) but since I was in Kentucky then I obviously missed it and forgot to do it before I left. Soooo, better late than never with Rane in his Cardinal gear! Ella Ann also has a cute St. Louis Cardinals shirt but she refused to wear it so it's just Rane supporting the Cards in this photo session! We will try again another time with Miss Priss who thinks if it doesn't have pink in it then it's just not wearable!

On a side note, Rane his found his feet this week. He has been eyeballing them for a good two weeks now and I think he's been thinking, "What are THOSE things?? I MUST get my hands on them but I cannot figure out how to do that!" He finally stuck his feet in front of his face the other day and made a grab for them! Now it's his new thing to do at all times.

Do we have the cutest kids or what??!!! ha!

Spring

Spring has fully sprung here in Atlanta and with that comes the Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park, which is now within walking distance of our house. Yeay! Spencer and I love going to the festival so this time we loaded down the stroller with snacks, diapers, a bottle, water, etc. yesterday afternoon and walked to the park. It was the perfect day for the festival, which meant a ton of people were also going to be there. Once we got into the park and saw the sea of people we quickly navigated our way to a nice grassy spot and laid out our blanket and set up camp. It was way too hard to push the stroller through all the people so we were not able to walk around and check out all the yummy food, art, wares, activities etc. but we did have a great time people watching and enjoying the beautiful weather. Ella Ann had a good time watching all the dogs (and petting them), kids, kites and bubbles all around us (there was a couple beside us blowing bubbles and with the crazy wind yesterday they were showering us, which delighted Ella Ann who ran through them like a madwoman....they were kind enough to give her an extra bottle and wand they had as well!). Rane enjoyed his nap in the stroller, as usual!

In other news, I took Rane to the pediatrician (again) on Friday because he was up SEVEN, yes I said seven, times on Thursday night so I thought something was probably wrong with him since it was so out of character for him to do that. Sure enough he has a mild ear infection. I had also decided to start sleep training him that night so my pediatrician said that was most likely why he was up so much because he was not swaddled for the first time ever and was not used to it. She pumped me full of confidence and told me to try it again the next few nights and see if he does better. I was instructed to NOT feed him at what has become his usual 4 a.m. feeding, which lasts about 10 minutes so I know he's not hungry, and let him cry himself back to sleep. I also put him in his bed drowsy, not swaddled and with NO pacifier. Yes, I was nervous! Well that night he was up twice, the first time he cried for about 30 minutes which seemed like about 30 hours at 4 a.m. and woke again and cried for about 2 minutes. He was awake to eat at 6:30 a.m. and then went back to bed until 8:30 a.m. He also went down for his naps with minimal fussing before he was asleep! Good boy! Last night I can proudly say he went to sleep on his own after about 3 minutes of fussing and slept until 6!! Wahooooooo! Before he got sick he would sleep until 5/5:30 a.m. but that went out the window after his cold so I can now say this is the most sleep I have gotten since before he was born! Sweet! :) Rane has also developed eczma in the last couple of weeks that is just as bad as Ella Ann's was when she was his age. Thankfully, though, it is not on his face like hers was. Despite his aliments he is being so sweet. He loves to laugh now and his new favorite trick is to keep his legs as stiff as a board so standing is fun for him! He refuses to bend sometimes when we try to sit him up! I think that since he has spent his entire life crumpled up in a ball he has realized it is time to finally stretch out!

When Spencer got up this morning he told me that he heard a fight going on in the parking lot of Taco Mac (a restaurant/sports bar) that is a house and two stores down from us so he got out of bed to look out the window and saw some men beating up a guy until he ran off. Yeah that was enough to get me scared but after I saw the story on the local news I got a little more frightened!!!! Here is the link to read about what happened. We looked out our front window this morning and watched the news being broadcast across the street from Taco Mac that we were watching on television as well! Craziness!

Just a glimpse of the amount of people at the park yesterday. This was nothing compared to the swarms behind us walking around!

Running through the bubbles!

Sharing a moment with Daddy (she was happy, just not smiling for me of course!).

Spencer showed her the right way to eat an Oreo!

Ella Ann wanted to pet every single dog at the park!

Of course I couldn't leave out Baby Rane!

Happy Easter

"When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!"

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

I took these pictures before church this morning. Not too good, I know, but I was in a hurry! We are missing Spencer this morning and we wish he was here to celebrate this day with us!

You cannot see them, but Rane is wearing his super cute shoes Chad, Danielle, Thatcher and Hadley gave him!

Rane wore an outfit that belongs to Carter and Seth. Thanks Mandy! He looked adorable in it!

I wanted a family picture for Easter but our boys are missing...Rane is in his carseat below me and Spencer is in Toccoa. :(

On a side note...a funny one...the other day Ella Ann was pretending to come home so she would stand at the front door with her purse and walk into our living room where Spencer and I were sitting. She walked up to Spencer and said, "I'm home!!" Spencer asked her, "Where did you come from?" Ella Ann replied, "From heaven. God sent me to you!" Awwww!

On The Road Again

After just coming back from my parent's last month the four of us hit the road again and headed to Kentucky for round two of visits. Unfortunately Rane caught the cold the three of us have been trying to get over and he developed conjunctivitis along with it the day before we left. Poor baby. He was still his sweet little self, though, just with a goopy eye and congestion.

We made our first stop at Nana and Papa's house for two nights. Zach, Mandy, Carter, Seth and Craig also drove in from Tennessee so the whole family, minus Kasey, was together. We had a blast! Gary and Gayla were very happy to take us all to church with them on Sunday morning, especially to show off all their grandchildren and to introduce Rane to their friends! We ate wonderful food while we were there and Spencer and I were excited to go to Cheddar's restaurant, a favorite we frequented while we lived in Lexington. The kids had the most fun going through all of Spencer and Craig's old toys, records, cars, etc. I swear we listened to "Hear Comes Santa Clause" a hundred times over the record player! Ella Ann loves that song! They chased each other around and squealed for two days straight! Ella Ann has come to the realization that Seth is younger than her and she can boss him around! She doesn't mess with Carter! She was Seth's little mommy for sure...holding his hand while crossing a parking lot, leading him out of church, making sure he had his lovey and paci, etc.! We had a grand Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon and the kids got Easter baskets as well full of all kinds of goodies! Carter, Ella Ann and Seth each got a magnifying glass so they had fun exploring around the house.

After lunch on Monday we drove an hour west to my parent's house. It was much quieter to say the least! Ella Ann enjoyed all the attention, as did Rane! We had several more rounds of Easter egg hunts while we were there and they both received another Easter basket! I swear it was like Christmas all over again for them! :) We had a great steak dinner on Monday night that my parent's had prepared and we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner on Tuesday night. Ella Ann was adamant about eating beans and rice, as usual! Ella Ann was stuck to her Grandpa like glue when he was home from work and was entertained the rest of her waking hours by Mimi! I got to get my hair highlighted while I was home.....yeay for the post-baby pick me up!

Sara and Lucy also came by for a visit on Tuesday, as did Ashley on Wednesday. We enjoyed getting to see them and spend a little time chatting. Lucy and Rane slept the entire time so we'll have to make sure they get a conversation in next time! :) Sara and I both forgot to snap a few pictures while they were over. Woops.

On Wednesday we drove east to Spencer's Nanny's house to spend the night before we headed home to Atlanta. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Connie, Wayne, Mike, Jill and Daniel(Spencer's aunt, uncles and cousin). It was so nice to see everyone and I think they all enjoyed Ella Ann's antics and cuddling with Rane!

We headed to our home sweet home after breakfast on Thursday morning. I was surprised Spencer was able to pack our car so well so we could actually see out of the back window! I don't know how we managed to accumulate so much baggage along the way but we did. We had a great time seeing everyone and I wanted to thank our families again for taking such good care of us!

Spencer and I went ahead and let Ella Ann search for her Easter present this morning that the Bunny left for her a couple of days early since Spencer is working in Toccoa this weekend. You can check out her present in the pictures! :) It suits her to a tee!

Again I took over 50 pictures so click HERE to view them. My Mom and Dad are unable to access Facebook so I am posting a few pictures below of our visit with them so they can see them.

Ella Ann and Dottie with all her toys lined up.

Grandpa and his little ones.

Out at dinner Tuesday night.

This shirt is not true at all! He's mommy's little angel! :)

Any resemblance???!! hahahaa!

Ella Ann's gift from the Easter bunny.

Ella Ann

My little drama queen! This girl--she is so funny! Have I mentioned that before?? :) Yesterday I was trying to get her excited to go to school today (it's still hit or miss as to whether or not she's going to meltdown when I drop her off) so I told her she was going to have an Easter party. Her eyes get as big as saucers and she says, "Ooooooooooohhh! What am I going to wear???!!!" Seriously? She's three! Ella Ann followed that statement up with, "Can I wear a dress???" She's already my little fashionista....I know, you can blame me! So I sent her off to school today in a skirt and Babylegs. Nice compromise I thought.

Most of the time these days I just don't know what to do with her. I know she's at the defiant 3-year-old stage but I think a lot of it is just the stubbornness in Spencer and I wound up into our offspring! At least I know if any parent could handle it it would be the two of us! She is Miss Opinionated, Independent and Priss all in one all at once! Usually I just have to take a deep breath and try to laugh because when you take a step back it is pretty funny! For instance Ella Ann has a sock obsession, meaning she has a complete conniption if they are not perfect...like a- cannot-breathe-flailing-on-the-floor-type of tantrum. The top of the sock has to be perfectly in place and they must be pulled so tight that it is border line cutting off her circulation. Needless to say we have thrown away several pairs because she poked holes through them with her toes. Then there is the issue of attire. First thing she asks me every morning is, "What am I going to wear today?" If a dress isn't an option then she hits the floor kicking and screaming. Surely this did not come from my side of the family! Never! This is just a little snip it of how my day begins each morning...drama over clothes and socks! This is one of the reasons why I've upped my coffee intake to 4 cups instead of just 2! I have to have some extra energy for that!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we've been talking about Easter with her lately which has led to a few questions about heaven. The other day Spencer and I were talking with her and she asked, "Can I take my clothes to heaven?" Again, clothing obsession. I told her no, we won't need clothes in heaven. So she replied, "Yeah, God will have some clothes for me." Today on our way home from school we talked about her Easter party and I asked her if she had learned anything about Easter. This led to her asking me, "Can I take my toys to heaven?" I think it's wonderful that she is pondering what heaven is going to be like already! It's so cute to see how her little mind is trying to process such a huge concept!

On the way home from school on Monday she informed me that Hyoun and Mary Francis did not put on their jackets like Miss Jennifer had asked them to do. I told her that I hope she obeyed Miss Jennifer when asked to put on her coat. "Yes Mommy," was what she said. Ummm...yeah right, Ella Ann hates wearing coats. So she tells me, "I will tell them [Hyoun and Mary Francis] to put on their coats next time." I responded, "Ella Ann, you need to let Miss Jennifer tell them because she is the teacher and they need to obey her, not you." Of course you know what she says, "But Mommy, IIIIIII want to be the teacher!!!" My little boss. :) I love this little girl. I do have to say, though, God DID know what He was doing when He gave me Rane. He knows I couldn't handle any more drama!!!