Farewell My Little Red Car...A Tribute

This past Wed. we sold my little red Aveo to make way for a mini van. Here is a pictoral tribute to the life of my good and faithful servant. We had an awesome time together.

We bought it salvaged and fixed it up slowly over the next year.. This was after the body work before the paint.

So much more than a car.

Kryna says I don't post enough so...

This week flew by. My goals were somewhat accomplished. James is almost back to being almost potty trained. He even slept dry during his nap today. As for Ellie's schedule she's doing ok I guess. Last night was a little better, after 11pm she slept almost 3 hours between each feeding. Some people are telling me this is normal and not to expect any more than this. So as long as that is true I can live with it. I can't remember with James really, after the first week or so I think he took forever to go to bed for the night but once he was sleeping he only woke once before 5am. I guess the Lord knew I needed all the sleep I could get so that I could deal with his constant screaming. Poor kid. Ellie is a very contented baby, I have to say I have been enjoying that.

Growing So Big

Here are a few pictures of our adorable children. (I may be partial) Kryna took these photos the day before she left. I have to say they are better than any of the professional pictures I've had taken. I'll definatly be asking her and Bert to take some family portraits of us when we see them in Aug.
Ellie is growing and changing non-stop. This last week she has put on so much chub and gotten quite long. She's a very happy easy going baby yet somewhat dramatic. She's very alert and is starting to respond to her surroundings. Also she loves her paci, papasan, and her swing. I love that she likes her paci, this was not the case with James. The two of them are so different, right down to the whole pregnancy. I kept asking my Dr. if certain things were normal while I was pregnant and then would explain that I hadn't experienced the afore mentioned problem with my first and he kindly told me that if I had wanted everything to be the same as the first time I shouldn't have done this twice. I loved my Dr.
I'm really looking forward to settling in this week. All is calm and I can focus on all of the mundane tasks of being a wife and mother that I hold so dear. Right now James is napping, Ellie is sitting in her Papasan next to me thinking about napping and I am surrounded by three baskets of clean laundry while the washer and dryer are both humming in the background. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Before James got Rotovirus the week before Ellie was born he was almost entirely potty trained. He was down to 0-1 accidents a day and wearing training pants almost exclusively accept for nights and naptime. Then along came the Roto and he lost it all. He wouldn't even try, whenever I tried to get him to go he would cry and have a violent meltdown. Soooo this week it is one of my many goals to have him back to where he was pre-roto by the end of the week. This will take a good deal of energy and discipline on my part but so far so good. After a few lengthy and hysterical sessions last night and this morning he actually went in the toilet twice and acknowledged that he'd had an accident. These are both improvements, now I just pray it continues to improve.
Another of my goals for this week is to get Ellie on somewhat of a schedule. I've been working on this for about a week and a half now with only slight improvements. She's very unusual one night she'll wake up every 2 1/2-3 hrs. and the next night she'll sleep for 1 1/2-2 hrs. and then be awake for 2 hrs. etc. I've been trying to follow the Babywise schedule that I did with James but so far she is immune. The last three nights she did ok, nothing spectacular but no 2-3 hr. mid night playtimes so I won't complain too much. We'll see how a week of quietness affects her.
James has been missing his Auntie Nyna he asks about her and begs to talk to her on the phone. This morning I found pen scribble on the sofa again so Tim took James over to it and showed it to him and asked if he had done this. Tim swears he then said "hmmuh EhhEeehh". I really don't know what to think about this.

My munchkins

Did I mention chub?

Ellie Marie

Last week Monday, June 2 at 7:18 pm, Ellie Marie was born. We went to the hospital around 6 am. At 7 pm my water broke and 18 min and 2 pushes later Ellie was in my arms. This was a much better labor experience than with James. I was instructed to wait for the Dr. and had he been a few min. later he would definitely have missed it all. We contemplated over the name for about a half an hour settled on Avie Marie then changed it to Ellie Marie 15 min later. 26 hrs later we were back home and ready to settle into a new routine. Unfortunately James had Rotovirus and was banished to Grandpa and Grandma's farm until healthy. He was able to meet Ellie for a few hours on Wed. he is very impressed with his new sister and very willing to help even when it is not needed. Thursday James, Ellie and I spent the whole day together settling in. Ever since we had left the hospital I began to become increasingly worried about Ellie. She was becoming lethargic , losing her appetite, having poor urine output, as well as not holding a satisfactory temperature. So on Thursday around 9pm we headed to the ER. They admitted her for elevated bili-rubin levels and dehydration. We spent the next 3 days in the hospital and were finally able to come home yesterday afternoon.
All this said, our little girl is perfect and I can't believe how amazing God is. She looks like her...she has Tim's tongue and if she looks like anyone we believe it is my Grandma Kryna. She also has tiny ears and long feet. Here are a few pics and when thing calm down I will post some more. Kryna was able to fly in on Sat. and is here for a two week visit. For now I plan to settle in and just enjoy all the blessings of family.

Very Proud Daddy

She actually loves her paci

James meets Ellie for the first time

He's very helpful and inquisitive

Just after her first bath at home.

Under the Bili-light back at the hospital.

James' Prayer

Before every meal we say a short prayer asking the Lord to bless our day and our food. We mention anything that is special for that day and after Tim says this prayer we both say "amen". In preparation for the prayer James is asked to fold his hands and bow his head because "Daddy is going to pray now". After we finish James is asked to pray also saying "Lord bless this food for Jesus sake amen". Recently he has developed his own prayer. He closes his eyes, lowers his head and says in a somewhat subdued voice "Hem, Hem, Hem, E-eem!" I'm not sure what he is praying for but it is fairly consistent. He also listens for when Daddy or Grandpa are about to finish praying and Amens loudly just before they have a chance to. Hmmm...

Our Vacation

I know this is a really long time in coming. I've been so busy and worn out since we got back. Today I've had a small burst of energy though. This past week Mom and I organized my attic and got every thing together for a garage sale which we then had on Fri and Sat. It went really well and with the money we made from it we are getting a double stroller along with some other baby things that will come in handy now that we will have two.

I don't think we could have fit a flea in our car.

As for our vacation... All in all we had a great time even though it was not at all how I had envisioned our first family vacation. The time we were able to spend together just as a family was great, something we don't do a lot at home between Tim's three jobs and hanging out with our friends and family. The weather did not cooperate with our plans at all. It started raining before we left Harrison and continued to rain for the majority of the trip. We set up camp in the rain and ended up six days later taking it down in the rain and hail. We never were able to start a camp fire. One evening we were awakened by the sound of growling and scratching on the side of our tent. Tim yelled at the creature and only to anger it, he shined a light at it and poked at the side of the tent with a hotdog stick. By this time we figured out it was a raccoon, but we were too late the monster had already torn a hole into the side of our tent. Saturday and Sunday there was talk of tornadoes so we headed to find a hotel. All this sounds like we had a terrible time but we really didn't . We were able to visit the zoo, the City Museum, the Childrens Magic House Museum, as well as Grant's Farm. It was great, but I have to say I am still quite a homebody. Here are a few of the promised pictures.

James was not pleased that I made him stay in the car while we set up camp.

The hotel was sooo nice and dry.

Ishies!

If you look closely you will see a penguin in the background. I thought Tim was capturing them with us in the side line, um I guess not. :)

Yes, I was horrified as he smeared paint through his hair.

Playing in the water area at the magic museum. I love the smock!

Outside of the City museum.

Lack of Posting Causes Public Outcry...

Alright...I suppose it has been way too long since I posted and unfortunately I'm not sure I have any pictures to post at the moment so I will give you an update on life.

The day after tomorrow we leave for our first family vacation. While originally we planned on driving out to Savannah, GA we changed our minds and are heading up to St. Louis for about a week instead. A lot less time traveling, a lot less gas, etc. etc. We are planning if we have time to visit the Zoo, Grants Farm, the Art Museum, the History Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the City Museum and Aquarium, the Science Center and the Magic House Children's Museum. We aren't planning any shopping and a few of these won't be all day experiences so we'll probably get it all done. There is a nice state park about 40 mi. away from downtown and also a county park we may be able to stay at for a few nights right in town. I'm so excited about taking James camping. I love being a Mommy. Today I went out and bought all of our groceries for the trip as well as the last few camping supplies needed. Can you believe I'm so excited about camping? We found a nice big two room tent on a garage sale and have borrowed an air mattress from Mom and Dad. What more could we want? I've been making lists and checking them twice, I'm telling you its true, you really do eventually turn into your mother. :) Tomorrow I must do laundry one last time before we leave, pack all of our clothes, groceries, camping gear etc., clean the car (Tim already rid it of debris today) and get the house ready to sit empty for 7 days (i.e. clean it to some degree: remove trash, clean fridge, do all dishes, sweep floors). This said I think I will skip my Bible study tomorrow. I'm so excited you'd think I'd never left town before. When I get back I promise to post lots of pictures.