Lowes: Build and Grow, Baseball Game

Today we took Elliot to Lowes to participate in their Build and Grow program. I wasn't sure if she was old enough, but she had a fantastic time! They built a little baseball game, and she did surprisingly well at hammering! They give the kids goggles and aprons. After they complete the project, they get a patch to sew on and a certificate. She was really excited about the whole thing. Some videos are below and pictures are HERE.

MI Ball

Last night Wes and I attended the MI Ball. Wes had the lovely task of planning the entire event so we had to attend. It was my first Ball since he graduated flight school, so it was kinda nice to get all fancy pants for a night. He did a nice job planning everything (from the band to table decorations). I think he would be satisfied never doing party planning again in his life, but at least he's got some experience if he ever needs it. haha. Here's a few pic's.

Naked Theory

Wes made an observation the other day that I think has some validity--our child is much nicer without clothes! :-)

Yah, I know it sounds crazy, but I have 2 examples. The other day she was hanging out at her friend Viv's house while I went to get a manicure & pedicure. They were in the pool and then when she got out she refused to put her clothes on (no surprise there). When I went to pick her up, I get this report that she was really good, the girls got along and had fun, etc. That was great to hear since the 2 of them had a less than great experience the first time they played together. Is it because El lost her clothes?!

Then, Elliot's friend Lola came over. Those 2 girls are way too much alike; very stubborn and independent, and are constantly fighting. They were pushing, hitting in the face, pulling hair, stealing toys, etc. etc. A little later Elliot went to the bathroom and lost the panties on the way out. A while after that she was in the kitchen and stripped off her t-shirt. You would not believe the attitude change! The girls were then giggling and having a merry old time! I know this just sounds crazy, but maybe clothes really hold her back. haha.

She is at a very difficult stage right now. She thinks she has to control EVERYTHING! If it is not her way (which is always the opposite way that we suggest) she will scream at the top of her lungs. It's not much fun! In fact, she just had a royal fit because Wes closed the door. You would think she got her hand chopped off she was screaming so rediculously. So---if any of you out there have ANY suggestions on how to deal with this type of behavior we are very open to hearing them! THANKS in advance!

Kids are SO Confusing

So, as you know I was/am quite excited about those cloth diapers I ordered the other night. Well, Elliot woke up the next day and is now insistent that diapers are for babies. Yes, they are--but I'm a little lazy and do NOT want to wash the bed sheets everyday.

At 4 AM I hear this awful screaming coming from her room. She is yelling, "WET!!!" at the top of her lungs. I go to her room thinking she's going to be soaked with pee. Instead, she has her pajamas half way off, the diaper half way off, and the diaper is just a little wet. UGH! I had to wake up for this?!? Then, we fought for like 10 minutes that she was going to put another diaper back on. She wasn't very happy.

Tonight at bed time, it was another battle for the diaper. I told her I ordered her some new "speical, big girl one's" so we'll see if she buys it when they arrive. More on the diaper sage in a few days......

Cloth Diapering/Environmentally Friendly Diapers

So....now that my daughter is 2.5 and has been potty-trained during the day for 11 months now....I've decided to go eco-friendly on our night-time diapering. Yah, I should have done this 2.5 years ago, but I'm still excited about the endeavour! We've been using gdiapers, which you can totally flush the whole inside of it after it's used. But, those are pretty stinkin' pricey. Convenient, eco-friendly, but with a price tag. Today, I ordered my first set of cloth diapers and I can't wait to get them! They are the bum genius pocket diapers. The most fantastic things is, they are a one-size diaper. When we have a newborn, they'll also be able to use them. I'll update once the diapers arrive and let you know how we like them. I can only hope they are as great as I'm thinking they'll be!! YAY!!

Sick Baby

Poor Elliot has a bad little virus. She started throwing up about 6:30 last night and was still throwing up at 10:30 this morning. It continued all night. She's so lethargic. She's a tough little one--she has not cried once, and has thrown up at least 12 times! She would puke, say "done", and lay back down and go to sleep. Poor thing. She's sleeping on the couch now (which she would normally never do!)

Little Monkey

Elliot was having fun on her swingset today so I took some pic's of her and a few videos. Hope you enjoy.

Swing Set Accident

Well, Elliot had a little swing set accident today! We were outside at about 8:30 this a.m. and she was playing around on her swings. I was getting ready to go help her get on it, when I hear screaming. She is laying on the ground holding her mouth! AHH! She was swinging on her belly and fell off forward right onto her face. I pick her up and there's blood all over (out the mouth & nose-so she must have hit hard!) It looks pretty nasty. I get her cleaned up (the whole time she's crying and begging to go back to on the swing set--so tough!) I ended up making her a dentist appt. right away (her 2nd "emergency" visit in a year for falling! :-) because I could not tell where the blood was coming from near her top teeth. During the x-ray she sat there and said, "I"m so big!" It was hilarious. She let the doctor examine her mouth without the tiniest whimper. Her top two teeth are a little loose--but should be fine! Thank God. I'm glad we ended up putting an indoor/outdoor piece of carpet under the swingset-otherwise she would have landed straight on the rocks! Not too soft. I think she now has rug burn on her chin and the left side of her nose (which is also a little purple).

Swimming Lessons

Elliot started swimming lessons again this past Monday. The first day she whined for about an hour that she wasn't going to swimming lessons. She kept saying "I wanna take a nap in my bed!" (It was 8AM!) Then today, she begged for about an hour to GO to swimming lessons. It was kinda annoying--but I guess she realized that it really is fun, so that's cool. It's nice to see her following directions so well (since that's not always the case at home). Her teacher is an older lady and she seems to do a lot with the kids. Once again, Elliot is the youngest in the class (probably by at least a year), so I'm glad she can kinda keep up with them. Anyways, click HERE for a few pictures. Videos are below.

Father's Day & Tea Party

We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday since Wes had to work on Sunday. We had a nice little day just hanging out. Wes opened up his present (an air compressor), and the we headed off to breakfast at a little restaurant we like. The rest of the day we just hung out, then had a nice dinner at Outback (yumm!) Sunday Elliot and I went to church. She was a good girl in the nursery (She finally didn't hit anyone!) so she got a little tea party set. She was so excited. Unfortunately, it got taken away from her because she was so terrible at nap time! :-) Kids! I'm thinking taking away things that are special to her is about the only form of discipline that will work with this stubborn little one.

VIDEO'S:

Tucson Children's Museum

Today we visited the Children's Museum in Tucson for the first time. Elliot had so much fun! I wish we had more time than we did. We're definitely going to have to go back, especially since it was 110 DEGREES outside!! (I'm not exaggerating--it was HOT!) Definitely in need of indoor or water activities when it's that scorching. Here's some PIC'S of our fun day.

VIDEO OF ELLIOT DANCING:


Playing in NASA Gear! :-)





Playing Pediatrician




Making sure everyone paid for their food

Army Wives

I just have to put this on: you guys gotta watch "Army Wives" every Sunday on Lifetime. It's seriously my favorite show. Yah, there's always some drama, but so much of it is true--just the community aspect of the show. Way better than any reality show you can find on T.V. Check it out if you can!

New Dress

Here's Elliot in her little hippy dress from Mimi & Papa. She loved it! :-) There's also a little video of her before church....

Elliot's 2nd Birthday Celebration

Today we celebrated Elliot's 2nd year of life. It was nice to have old & new friends with us to celebrate this special day in honor of such a special little girl. We are so blessed!

The kids had fun playing the the water fountains and the playground. Another party set up a bouncy house and let all of us come play in it! How fun! Elliot asked for a "flower cake" so that's exactly what she got--lots of cupcakes with a flower each (I tried my best :-) We missed all of our family that couldn't be here today! We hope to see you all soon.

I have a bunch of pictures HERE and a video of some water fun below. We hope you enjoy them!

Friends & Dress Up

Elliot's been having fun spending time with her friend Caiden before he moves away! I don't know what she'll do without him. They went and played in Wes' airplane the other day and had a blast! They even set off some emergency signal that alerted the people inside to come out and see what was going on! OOPS!

Today Elliot found an outfit that Papa bought her in China and had to put it on. It was too cute. Enjoy the pic's
.

Weekend Retreat

We just got back from a fabulous weekend away in Tucson. The Chapel on Ft. Huachuca offered a FREE marriage conference. We went to "class" from 9-12, there was free childcare provided, and even free breakfast and lunch everyday. You can't beat that! It was also our 6th anniversary today--so this was a nice anniversary get-away too.

It was only an hour away, but seemed SO different. The resort was up in the mountains, surrounding a beautiful golf course. It was so green and beautiful. There was even a mini-water park at the hotel (lazy river, slide, pool, spas, fountains, etc.) Elliot had a blast in the water. I would try to hold her and get her to take a break, and she'd put her face right back in the water and try to swim somewhere. She thinks she can do way more than she actually can so it's a little scary. She'll just go and jump off the side! She even likes to dive to the bottom and pick stuff up.


If you want to see more pic's, click here: TUCSON RETREAT