Why? Why? Why?

I am a walking encyclopedia. Yes I am. According to Ella Ann I have the answer to everything, as does Spencer, so it is always, always, always why, why, why. Believe me when I tell you that I get a "Why?" question about every 5 seconds and that "Why?" is always followed by another "Why?" and another, and another, etc. Here is just a sample conversation with Ella Ann:

EA: "Why are you feeding Rane?"
Me: "Because he's hungry."
EA: "Why is he hungry?"
Me: "Because it's time for him to eat."
EA: "Why is it time for him to eat?"
Me: "Because he eats every 3 hours or so."
EA: "Why does he eat every 3 hours?"
Me: "Okay Ella Ann, no more why questions for now. Please do not ask me "why" for a little while."
You can guess the next word out of her mouth....
EA: "Why can I not ask why?"
Me: This is what is repeating in my head: BECAUSE I AM GOING TO PULL OUT ALL MY HAIR AND GO SCREAMING THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD IF YOU DO!! THAT'S WHY! But being the nice, calm, very sweet mommy that I am I ever so gently tell her, "Because Ella Ann, I don't know why. :)

Bless her heart. I know she thinks that Spencer and I know everything and it is cute. She trusts us to know everything and be able to answer all of her questions. Now I will just pray that when she is a teenager we will have lots of deep, meaningful "Why?" conversations.

In other news Ella Ann is still testing her boundaries. I mean seriously testing them. She is in a spitting phase at the moment which is just adorable. Kidding. Yesterday Spencer walked in the living room to find Ella Ann hovering over Rane and spitting on his face. Sigh. Poor Baby Rane is all I can say about that and I'm sure you all are saying the same thing after reading that! Then just about 30 minutes after that he vomited profusely all over the rug, himself and me. He never threw up except for a little bit after that and has been fine all day so I don't know what was up with that. Scared me half to death.

Today we attended our church's spring picnic. It was a grand time and Ella Ann wore herself out. She was in bed by 6:30 p.m. Ahhhhh. I love early bed times!

Sweating to death at the picnic this afternoon!

Some fruit and a cupcake was all she would eat. She just wanted to play with all of her buddies!

Daddy giving her a big push!

Rane, Jana and I relaxed on the blanket!

Okay so I have the same picture of Ella Ann in pajamas just like the ones Rane has on in the pictures below but I cannot, for the life of me, find the picture of Ella Ann in my files so I will keep looking tomorrow and post them side by side. I love comparison pics!

Ella Ann wrestling with Rane!

Off We Go

Last Saturday Spencer, the kids and I drove to Tennessee to drop off Ella Ann and Rane with Gary and Gayla while Spencer and I went to Las Vegas. We have both been many times and wanted a nice, relaxing vacation so that's why we chose a place where we didn't feel like we had to go and see and do the entire time we were there.

We stayed at Zach and Mandy's, minus Zach and Mandy since they were at the hospital while we were there, on Saturday night and with Craig on Sunday night because he drove us to the airport bright and early Monday morning. Ella Ann couldn't have been happier to go to Kentucky with her Nana and Papa AND Carter and Seth! I knew she would be just fine, especially with her cousins. Rane, I was told, was as good as gold and didn't cause any problems. Unlike the 4-year-old, 3-year-old and 2-year old who were constantly on the move...but I know they were good too, just a lot more work! :)

Spencer and I had a blast all ALONE in Vegas! That's all we wanted...to be alone for a few days and not have to worry with feedings, bottles, naps, tantrums, etc. so we thoroughly soaked all that relaxation and peace and quiet in for three full days! We stayed at the Bellagio, which was dead center on the strip so we walked to several different hotels to shop, gamble, eat and meander about. We enjoyed our hotel as well and would sit by one of the pools each afternoon and eat gelato...I should say I would eat gelato. Spencer would last about an hour at the pool and then he would find something else to do! We had some fantastic meals, drank an obscene amount of coffee because we were still on Eastern time so the latest we slept in was around 6 a.m.! That was probably our biggest treat to ourselves was drinking lots of coffee at various coffee shops. Speaking of, why hasn't anyone ever introduced me to a frappuccino at Starbucks? I honestly wish that concoction had never touched my lips because now it is all I think about and want, want, want! In case you are in the dark as I was, it is an ice-blended coffee that foams up and is like a coffee milkshake in a sense and it is f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s! I'm going into detox now because my wallet didn't like them as much as my taste buds! :)

So anyway, we flew home early Thursday morning and arrived in Tennessee at 3 p.m. and picked up the kids and off we drove to Atlanta. It was a loooooong day. We got home around 10 p.m. and I unpacked and we were all in bed by 11 p.m. and everyone slept in this morning. Nice!


I took way too many pictures to post on the blog so they are, again, on Facebook. Click HERE to view them. Dad, the ones below I posted for you.

The Conservatory at the Bellagio.

A nighttime view. The picture obviously doesn't do it justice.

By the pool.

One of the pools. Most had fountains in them like this one. It was all so pretty!

Our room.

Fat Elvis! Sorry I couldn't get a better picture, Dad, but he kept moving!

Off to dinner!

Dinner at The Mirage.

Our Week

On Monday we celebrated Spencer's birthday, Tuesday I kept Mara Kate all day while Jana went to Rome, Georgia to find a place to call home (which she did) and the rest of the week is filled with packing for our trip to Las Vegas and packing up some of our house. Spencer and I's good friend, Barry, that we met at college is in town this week with work so he is coming over for dinner on Friday night and Spencer is driving him to the airport after we eat. We will drive to Tennessee to stay at Zach and Mandy's house until we leave super early Monday morning. The kids are staying at their Nana and Papa's house and Ella Ann is very excited about that! We also have a brand new nephew that was born 8 weeks early this morning that we are very excited to see! Congrats Zach and Mandy!

This is a short post because I am busy at the moment but wanted to post some cute pictures to hold my faithful readers off until we return from our trip!

I made one of Spencer's favorite cakes which is a devil's food cake with a white icing his mom makes. Gayla graciously handed over the recipe to me the year I married Spencer so I am able to make his favorite! I put "30" on the cake.....if you can't tell! It was so cute, Ella Ann kept asking him all day, "Daddy!!! Are you soooooo excited about your birthday??!!!" This was followed by a squeal and then, "I am SOOOO excited to eat your cake! Can I have some of your cake Daddy?" All day. :)

Spencer is soooooooooooooo old! ha!

Rane won't get any of Daddy's cake until next year! Bummer.

The girls playing princess dress up.

Mara Kate was equally excited to get a slice of Spencer's cake as well after lunch on Tuesday!

Where's Mara Kate you ask? That's her little back sticking out! She napped on Ella Ann's cot in Rane's room and this was how I found her 2 hours later! She had taken the cover of the cot and put it over her head and when Spencer reached down to pull it off of her we found she had wrapped her arms around the strap! She's a nut!

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Today Spencer turns the BIG 3-0! Yikes! :) I won't harp on him much since I am just a few months behind him and will most likely go into mourning weeks before my birthday! I think he's handling turning 30 well, though. Spencer isn't the type of person to make a big deal out of his age, maybe because most people think he's in his early 20s!

Hopefully Spencer will get off work early today and we can spend his special day together as a family. I made monkey bread for him this morning...kudos to me for getting up at 5:50 a.m. to get it in the oven before he left! hehe! We aren't going to do too much today since the two of us are leaving for Las Vegas in one week. We will do our celebrating out there!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCER!!! We love you!

Love, Katie, Ella Ann and Rane

The Week is Over?

So sad. My Mom came down on Tuesday and stayed with us until Saturday morning.....now she's gone...booo hooo. Boy it's so nice to have here here to help me and do fun things. She got here right when both kids got up from their naps so it was time to start playing....immediately! Mom had brought down our exersaucer and the jump-a-roo (too small for that right now) so we put Rane in it and he really likes it! He's at the age where he will only be happy for a few minutes at a time in one spot so we rotate: bouncy, floor, exersaucer, hold, repeat. That means I get nada done while he's awake! Dinner is really fun to try and prepare these days that's why I'm loving this new website I came across, http://www.crockpot365.com/. You must check it out! This woman cooked in her crock for 365 days and blogged about it so I've been utilizing her amazing recipes and we've enjoyed some really great (super easy) meals, snacks and desserts! Okay, back to my Mom's visit.....

Spencer worked on Tuesday and Thursday nights and went out with some friends on Friday night so it was wonderful to have some helping hands those evenings. Ella Ann had school on Wednesday morning and that day was her spring program. She did fantastic!! I couldn't believe she sat in her seat up front, sang and did all the hand motions! Wow, what a difference from her Christmas program where she saw me and immediately burst into tears and proceeded to cry the entire time she was up front and then ended in my lap! Mom and I waved to her up front and then after it was over she asked, "Why were you and Mimi waving to me?" I responded, "We thought you would like it." Her response: "I didn't want you too." Well, isn't she Miss Independent??

We headed to the mall for some quick shopping on Wednesday afternoon and had some buffalo chicken lasagna for dinner.....from the crock pot mind you! Man it was tasty! Dad, I will have to make it for you because you would love it!

On Thursday morning we went to the zoo and had a blast! Mom enjoyed seeing the animals and Ella Ann had even more fun when she ran into (literally) two of her friends from school, Mary Francis and Hannah! We walked around with them until it was time to leave and the girls were so cute...they held hands the entire time and laughed and laughed!! Once Spencer got home we had dinner outside at Fontane's, which is right down the street from our house and is one of our favorite hot spots. We had half-price peel-n-eat shrimp and crab legs and we were in heaven! It was soooo good! Spencer and I agreed that that was our last time eating out for a while because Rane just was not fun to have around at the restaurant. Mom, Spencer and I rotated holding him most of the time, mainly because he was ready for bed so going out to eat after 5:00 p.m. just isn't in the cards for us for a while. Sniff, sniff. :(

Friday we got up bright and early and walked down to get breakfast at Belly General Store because I knew Mom would love it and she did. After that it was time to play with Mimi (again!!!) and out for some more errands that afternoon. That evening we went to Anna-Kate's birthday party (her mom is my friend, Janelle). It was a pool party and Ella Ann couldn't have been more excited to FINALLY put on that new swimsuit that has been hanging in her closet for a month and hit the pool!! "Mommy I'm SO excited! I cannot wait until Anna-Kate's pool party!" This was what we heard all day Friday. Of course on the way she tells us, "Mommy, I'm going to get ALL the way in the pool and go underwater! I need some, ummmm, what are dose tangs called?? Mommy? Dose tangs on your face???" "Goggles Ella Ann," I replied. "Yeah, I need dose." We don't have any of "dose" I told her, knowing she wouldn't go underwater if her life depended on it even if she did have goggles! She took quite a while to warm up to even getting on the steps, not like Ella Ann at all, even when she saw Mara Kate bobbing around the pool with her water wings on. She finally got in all the way when I got in with her but she was right back on those steps with Mimi as soon as I let her go with the wings on. We're going to have to work on that! :)

We were so, so sad to see Mimi pull out of the driveway this morning. The days always pass to fast when she's here and we will all miss her. Thanks again, Mom, for ALL your help and all the fun times!!

I took a ton of pictures and again posted them to my Facebook account. Click HERE to view them. My Dad cannot view them at work so I posted a few below for his viewing pleasure. :)

Singing at her spring program on Wednesday.

Sporting the too-cute onsie that Emily, Katie, Laura and Andrea gave him! Thanks girls!

Mom helping Ella Ann and Mary Francis (her friend from school) look at the otters.

Hannah, EA and Mary Francis. They walked like this the whole time!

Playing on the deck.

Cuddling with the grandkids one morning!

Ella Ann is so serious with her new baby, Emma! The best part about the baby is she came with a paci!! Now maybe Ella Ann will leave Rane alone with his!

At Anna-Kate's pool party.

A Wonderful Weekend

We had a fantastic weekend!! Spencer had both days off and his parents came down for a visit so it was great! I will begin by updating you all on Rane. I took him to his 4-month check up on Friday morning and he is a growing healthy little man! He weighs 14 pounds 5 ounces and is 26 inches long. He's in the 90th percentile for length, 50th for weight and 25th for head. He had a few shots but handled them very well. The pediatrician said I could drop his 9:30 p.m. feeding, which I knew was right and Spencer has been encouraging me to stop waking him up to eat because he doesn't need it but there was a huge fear in me that screamed, "What if he wakes up at 2 a.m.???" So I crossed my fingers that night, said a prayer that he wouldn't wake up and took some Benadryl (I have a sinus infection) and went to sleep. Ohhhh I didn't wake up until 6:50 a.m.! Wahooo he did it! What a good little boy! He's been going to bed at 6-6:30 p.m. and now will sleep until the next morning. It's so nice! Unfortunately my sinus infection has been keeping me up instead so it's not like I actually feel rested yet but at least I know I will when I feel better.

We also got the green light to start Rane on rice cereal so we tried that on Saturday morning. Well as you can see from the pictures and video below he wasn't too keen on it but I know it will take some practice! It's fun to do something new with him! Ella Ann kept telling me, "Stop it Mommy! He doesn't like it!"

The four of us walked down to Belly's General Store (a bakery) and had coffee and breakfast after we woke up on Saturday. It was so nice to get up and mosey down to the restaurant and enjoy time together. Everyone was happy and we had a good time. We came home and Ella Ann and Spencer planted her sunflower in a pot that she has been growing at school and then they left me along with Rane (who was napping) to run some errands. Glorious peace!! The Jensens arrived around 11:30 and we went to lunch next door at Taco Mac. After that Spencer and I hit the mall ALONE (again glorious!) while Nana and Papa kept the kids. We sat outside on the deck that afternoon and chatted while Ella Ann played on her playground and blew bubbles. We had dinner at Harry & Sons down the street. It's a great Thai restaurant that a friend of mine told me about and we really liked it...especially me! Thanks Megan!

My Mother's Day started off with a yummy cappuccino from the coffee shop next door and Spencer made me my favorite breakfast...an omelet! We all went to church and then said goodbye to Gary and Gayla. Kane and Jana invited us to eat barbecue with them for lunch so I threw caution to the wind and said yes! If you know me you know I am NOT spontaneous if I have kids in tow so I was proud of myself, as was Spencer, Kane and Jana! We had a wonderful lunch complete with lots of Happy Mother's Day wishes from people at the restaurant and a flower (I got one from church too!), great food and even better company! Thanks Kane and Jana for thinking of us! We had such a good time and look forward to doing that again before ya'll leave!

I plan on letting Spencer rub my feet tonight as part of my Mother's Day as well and running some errands by myself while the kids are awake! Such treats! :) My Mom will be here on Tuesday and is staying until the weekend so we will have a super fun week!!!!

Rane getting ready to chow!

Not too sure about it......

Playing I Spy with the grandparents.

Blowing bubbles with Papa.

Cuddling with Nana.

This is what Ella Ann looks like when she is telling a story....arms are always gesturing!

Yesssss....my amazing RAW plate! :) Tuna, red snapper, clams and salmon sashimi and some tuna rolls. It was sooooo good and so pretty that I had to take a picture! Gayla was sitting beside me and when she saw the bowl of sashimi she asked, "Is that fruit??" hehehehee!

Before church on Sunday morning.

The mommys at the restaurant!

I think Rane's starting to develop the same hairline as his Daddy!

Arent't they too cute!!???

Can you tell a really short person took the picture?? :) We will miss our little family in Atlanta when they move to Rome, Georgia this summer. I will shed many, many tears when they go but at least it's not TOO far and Jana and I will still see each other!!