Outdoor School with Nana

Today Martha's school had their annual outdoor school at Lake Atlanta.  She invited us out to play and help out with the crossing guard duties.  As you can well assume, the kids were way more into playing than having any sort of duties!  The weather was gorgeous and Keaton wanted to be right out there with all the big kids.  

Our little outdoorsman KG found his own mini rock climbing wall.  Of course he would not get down until he had touched the top and I am proud to say made it up and all the way back down all by himself.  He is so fearless! 

 We also found a little caterpillar friend.  KG wanted to hold it and let is crawl all over him...E not so much.  She wanted to look at it but she DID NOT want it crawling on her, which is funny since she is usually my animal lover.  

We are heading back outside after naps (which it doesn't sound like Miss E is wanting to take)!  It is perfect here today and I could do this sunny and mid 70's every single day!  On to more grass stains & popsicles!

GO HOGS GO!!!

Spring is in the air and that means FOOTBALL BABY! Well, the Red/White game at least. Since our kiddos are now a little older, able to venture out at the end of flu/RSV season and now go to bed past 6:30, we were able to take them to their 1st Razorback scrimmage. The Red/White game is the best option for families with small children because it is in the cool of the spring, there is a family friendly atmosphere (none of those irrate, drunk Hog fans from L.A. that we have all been forced to sit by at one time or another (How do they get good tickets anyway? Would people quit selling off their tickets to just anybody?)) and best of all...IT IS FREE!!!

After starting the weekend with a touch of stomach virus for Keaton, in true Hog Fan fashion he remarkably improved by Saturday afternoon and we headed down to Fayetteville for the game. We skipped a lot of the pre game festivities since that is geared toward kids who are a little bit older (and I am sure after a touch of the stomach bug, hot dogs & a big bounce house wouldn't have been the best combo for KG!) and we headed straight for the stadium. This year they made it more like a real game so it added to the excitement of a new team, new coach and new era for Razorback football...Plus the fact that D-Mac had just gone as the 4th pick in the NFL draft!

*Elliot LOVES her sunglasses right now. She wore them almost the entire game!

I will just say this...THE KIDS LOVED IT! They had a ball and we could not keep them in their seats! They weren't sure at first what was going on but once the band started to march into the stadium and the cheerleaders and mascots came out, the were into it hard core! Elliot wanted to imitate everything the cheerleaders were doing. Both kids called the Hogs and made us so proud and were having the time of their lives...that was until our newfound friends that sat in front of us shared their popcorn that my children had been salivating over. Once the corn was out, the game was an afterthought.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

PIG

SOOIEE!!!

Obviously too much going on to want to stop and take a picture!

I am happy to say we made it through one quarter before knowing it was time to leave so we did not experience any public meltdowns. The kids did great and Keaton jabbered about it the entire way home! Bless his heart he was so excited he could not keep it in!

On the hike back to the car we stopped for a photo op at the Hogs statue outside the Broyles center. As you can see the kids were more into their Dum-Dums than the Hogs. Oh well, can't ask for too much at 18 months!




All in all this was a great day for our little family! Also, its hard to tell from these pics but E's shirt said "ARKANSAS" and KG's said "RAZORBACKS". They were way too cute!

What Happened to the Warm Weather???

Tulips from the front yard.  Hope the warm weather comes back soon!

Stayed tuned for an update tomorrow from the kids very 1st Razorback game!!!

18 Months Already

Well, I have concluded that time is not going to stand still and that my babies are going to continue to grow whether I like it or not. I can now see where people start to get the baby itch around this time, especially when I see friends that have just had babies and those precious, tiny angels just lay there sleeping peacefully. At our current stage of development that is depriving us from a solid night of sleep, we are starting to see that we may have actually gotten more sleep with two newborns than with two toddlers!

This week we went for our 18 month checkup. After a normal routine check, it was concluded that my kids are healthy, just some slight allergy issues, and all this lack of sleep is a "developmental phase" that most kids go through. Unfortunately when you have multiples, it is magnified and sometimes results in only a couple of hours of sleep in one night.

We are beyond blessed however to have healthy, perfectly developed kids. They are still small of course but we are assuming we will not have college bound starting centers on our hands.

One thing that blew my mind this week is I asked the kids if they knew their memory verse from church. I figured we would practice it in the bathtub each night and go to church next week hopefully able to perform with little coaching for our teachers. To my surprise, before the question had even fully left my mouth, the kids both started signing Jesus. Elliot was also saying the word "Jesus" and Keaton was trying his best to repeat after his big sister. They now can sign their entire memory verse of "Jesus Loves Me". It is the sweetest thing and to think that their love for the Lord is already beginning to take shape at 18 months old thrills my soul. God is so good!

Here are our current stats for those of you keeping up:

Miss Elliot:

• Temper of a red head! This little one can already pitch fits with the best of them!
• Now has 8 teeth with all four molars still trying to come in after 6 weeks of cutting them.
• Weight=19.8lbs (below 5th%)
• Height=30 in. (10th%)
• Head still at 50th%
• Can say just about anything she wants. Loves to say Momma, Bubo(for Bubba), Keaton, No, Dada, PawPaw.
• Constantly trying to sing songs with whatever is playing.
• Loves Mickey Mouse, Curious George, Nemo, the neighbors Plasma Cars, playing in the dirt & sand and filling up cups and dumping the water out. She is going to have a blast at the beach!

Mr. Keaton:

• Our little daredevil. This child is now afraid of nothing and can climb like a monkey!
• Has 12 teeth and is just waiting on those eye teeth to come in.
• Weight=20.12lbs (5th%)
• Height=31 1/4in (25th%!!!)
• Head=50th% too.
• Loves to say "Ready, Set, Go!" and "One, Two, Go!". Can also say Momma, Ball, Dada, Je (Jesus), cracker (they both say & sign cracker now for their snack!).
• Also loves Mickey Mouse, Curious George, Nemo, any toy that is over at the neighbors but also loves the Plasma Cars (he can actually ride it down the driveway into the street and down to the end of the cul-de-sac...daredevil I tell ya!), loves bible class and still loves to play by himself more than anything.
• We also caught him this past week climbing up the big slide at the park all by himself and sliding down forward, backward, head first, belly down...just about anyway he could think of.

_________________________

So it is a good 7 hours since I wrote the above. What happened you asked? Well, the kids awoke from their nap and I went to change their diapers. I noticed something in Keaton's ear and when I turned his head I saw that his ear was bleeding and had a large clot in the ear canal. So it was back to the Dr. to check it out. Good news is ear drum in intact, tubes are still in and there was just a small laceration deep in the ear canal. They think he may have scratched it with something but after coming home and doing some CSIesque investigating I discovered that the little booger scratched it with his own finger. He has been scratching at it but during nap today he took it to a "Whole Nuttha Level" as Ed Young would say! So nothing much we can do but watch it and put drops in for the next few days to prevent infection. I swear I am a good mother! I don't just let my kids eat off the nasty carts at Wal-Mart or take them to the 9th Street Drop Off (One Fine Day reference for all you girly movie fans).

So goes our new family motto: This Too Shall Pass!

PS...all pics are from last Saturday when I couldn't find Keaton and discovered him out back playing in the puddles that collected from the rain in the curves of the still not put together slide. Of course Miss El had to get in on the actions too. (Had I not had to take photos at church I might just have joined them!)

One of my favorite things...

Since I was a child, I loved observing people's hands.  I feel that our hands say so much about a person, and if you have never noticed...hands do not hide your real age or hard work!  I can probably describe in detail what people's hands look like long before I could remember what they were wearing at a past event.  I just love how they are so unique to each person and the strength and tenderness behind someone's hands speaks volumes to me. 

Just recently I realized that I need to combine this passion for photography with my love of hands.  I really wanted to capture my Grandmurna's hands on my last trip home and I love how this picture captured that moment in time.  Her hands have always been embedded in my memory from a young age.  I can always remember her rolling her thumbs as she sat and watched us play (by the way...this is what she is doing in the picture above except she is now watching my children play!)  I remember how she always rubbed her fingers together in between dialing numbers on the old rotary phone in her kitchen.  I love to watch her hands as she cooks. Those magical materpieces have been the blessings from heaven that have provided our family with some of the best culinary experiences of our lives.  I love her hands.

So this is just a start for me in taking pictures of people's hands.  Strange hobby I know, but it is mine and I love it.  Now, don't everyone start wearing gloves around me!  I guarantee when I get you, you won't even know it (just like Grandmurna had no idea I took this one of her)!

Flashback

I stumbled upon this pictures yesterday.  What a blast from the past.  I use to always say that I wanted little chubby babies because I thought my kids were so little and tiny but check out those cheeks and Keaton's big 'ol belly!  

Even after going almost a month without a solid night of sleep, they still kill me with their cuteness!  I have to remind myself of this from time to time when I am so sleep deprived I can't feel myself think.  

It Works...It Works...It Works

Thank the Lord above for friends who are also dentist. My friend Jill was over last night to borrow some baby items for her new little one that is on the way and she observed Elliot in one of her teething meltdowns. Luckily for us, Jill is a dentist and was prepared with a new treatment I had not tried yet. As you know as a faithful blog reader of mine...we have tried EVERYTHING. So what harm would one more thing cause? The best it could do is help right?

Well, help it did! She told me to rub liquid Benadryl on her gums. It taste better that Orajel, so she would be more willing to let me do it, and it numbs the gums on contact. Literally with in a split second Elliot stopped crying and started smiling at us. WHERE HAS THIS REMEDY BEEN ALL MY LIFE???

So for all you mom's out there, give it a try. If anything, you all might get a little extra sleep out of the deal!

Finally....SLEEP!

Wonder why I haven't blogged....try not one single night of sleep in three weeks until last night!  

Yes, our children are having some bouts of insomnia where they are enjoying waking up every hour and screaming as if they were losing a limb.  Keaton does have an ear infection and I guess Elliot's is either sympathising screaming or her molars are still trying to come in.  Poor kids both have diaper rash from the antibiotics and teething so that is not helping them sleep soundly either.  

Sad to say, Ryan & I had hit that point like when you have newborns where you are so tired, you don't realize you are tired anymore.  So to have an actual full night of sleep again last night was a shock to the system. 

So we are back home and trying to get back to normal.  Being away down south for so long through the kids off their schedule and coming home has taken some adjusting on our part. Fortunately today was beautiful so we walked to the city park and played for a couple of hours at their toddler playground.  The kids LOVED it and of course, loved the sand.  I think I am still feeling the grit in between my toes.  That coupled with the smell of sunscreen made me more than ready for the beach in a few short months!

Here are some more pics from Easter.  Lots going on but hope to be back with my faithful blog followers now.  Sorry for disappointing these past few weeks.  Keep hangin' with me!

Waiting for the egg hunt...

All fun & games until the kids realized some of the eggs had chocolate in them!

Look at those dirty mouths!

See...I told you...one of the most beautiful nieces in the world!  This was just capturing her being casual too...unbelieveable!