Summer Time

We've been quite busy lately. I know, I've been terrible at keeping up with the blog! I'm going to blame part of it on the boys deciding that 5:30pm is no longer bed time! Yup, that lasted until they were 16 months old and they decided to change. BOO HOO! Now they are up till around 7pm and that extra 1.5 hrs is a BIG change for me.

Instead of a huge update, I'm just going to post a few (well, a FEW is my intention) pic's of what we've been doing:

Ez and Elliot riding in the Jeep at Mimi and Papa's house:Dress up fun! The boys LOVE when Elliot lets them in her room. They go crazy climbing on the bed and getting into her things.
Skyping with Daddy (unfortunately, we don't get to do this as much as we'd like but we sure are thankful when we do get to!)
We've also gone to this place called Fun Town. It's a skating rink, but it also has a toddler play area & bounce house that you can use for FREE. And, since it's insanely hot that has been a nice option some days. (no good pic's of that!)

We've had a couple play dates with some of my high school friends who have boys right around the same age as mine and Cheree's little girl and Elliot have the same birthday (American date)
One day they came and played at our house and yard and another we met at a Splash Pad in Cocoa Village. Both were LOTS of fun!Of course we've had some time at the beach and the Sebastian Inlet Tidepools (my new favorite place) ...and for a few more great photo's my mom snapped while we were at the Inlet the other day, check THIS OUT

Elliot has enjoyed her 1st (and 2nd) Vacation Bible Schools and had a blast. In fact, we still have the privilege of listening to the CD's everyday. (That's honestly not a complaint. VBS music has come a LONG way!) The 1st was a Saddle Ridge Ranch theme:
the 2nd was Galactic Blast. Elliot seemed to enjoy it a bit more and I think the whole theme was way cooler (Sorry, not really into the "ranch"). Plus, they incorporatde science into each lessons. It was great! (no pic)

Well...I think that kinda sums our our summer so far. I can't believe Elliot starts VPK in just 1 week (OH, that's FREE Voluntary Pre-Kindegarten for those not in FL. Kinda crazy we use our tax dollars to pay for it, but whateva.). She is still going 3 hours /day but for 5 days/week at our church preschool. I'm sure she'll love it!

Letter to Daddy

*I've been waiting over a week to post this. Had to wait for W to get his mail over in Afghanistan so I wouldn't spoil the surprise!
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I went in Elliot's room tonight and she was drawing pictures of our family. It was so precious to watch her create everyone. She even labeled everyone (and spells names without asking how)! She wanted to send them all to Daddy, so I wrote a quick note on a separate sheet of paper. I asked if she wanted to tell Daddy anything and she said "YES!" Usually, it's something very quick, but tonight it was a book! It was so sweet, I couldn't help but post it here! Everything is completely UNPROMPTED! She barely took a breath telling me what to write :-)

Part 1:
"Elliot loves you Wes. And, thanks for being my Daddy, Dad. Thanks for being my dad Wes. You're a nice dad Wes and you're pretty cool dad, Wes. I love you Daddy Wessy"
Part 2:
"Elliot. I love you Daddy! You're a nice dad, Wes. You're the best dad, Wessy Wessy Pezzy. And, I got a great Mom too, Wes. And Wes, you're a pretty cool dad, and I got a pretty cool Mom. I got a lot of great Nannies and I love my Mimi too. And, I like all the stuff you send me. And, I love my brothers and I won't be mean to them when you're gone. I'm happy all the time, Wes. And, I'll be happy all the time that you're gone. Nothing else."
*Maybe it's cause I'm her Mommy, but I just think that is precious!

Here's a few of the drawings (I just snapped the pic's with my cell, so of course they are not the greatest)

The 3 Boys:
The 5 of us:

Levi...Climbing!

As I've said before, Levi is quite a talented climber. Tonight we were at my parents and told the boys that dinner was ready. Ezra ran to his seat then Levi went to his and decided to climb in it ALL by himself! I could not believe it (well, maybe I can). He was flawless. We tried to get him to do it again after bath by bribing him with an ice cream cone. He did pretty good! Check it out:

Daddy Daughter Dance

Elliot got to go to her first dance the other week. We went out that morning to find a "fluffy dress." Thankfully Macy's was having a sale, and we were all set! She was so excited! Here's some pictures from before the dance. She was enjoying posing with her daddy, practicing her spins, and chasing a frog!




I went outside to meet them when they got home (just like any Mommy does after their daughters date, right) The very first thing she says to me is, "Another girl had on the same dress as me. And the same necklace" HAHAHA....such a girl already!! I just laughed. She really had a great time and so did her daddy. He has some great videos of her doing the Robot, but they aren't on my 'puter yet. Apparently this girl really likes to dance!

I think one of the most precious things is that she puts the dress on almost everyday. She is always dressing up in Princess dresses and listening to her music. Well, now she wears her Daddy Daughter Dance dress. She even wore it to our neighbor boys birthday the other day...and out to dinner! She keeps talking about next years dance. PRECIOUS!

Maryland

We went to Maryland to visit Wes' family at the end of May. The worst part was the plane ride up there: when before the flight even takes off I spill an entire sippy cup all over me and Ezra! GROSS! I ALWAYS have an extra outfit when we travel...except this time. What was I thinking? Overall, the kids were great. The first few nights the boys had a hard time getting to sleep in the pack-n-plays, but I guess that's part of traveling with 15 month olds. (We both forgot our cameras, so once again...these are all cell phone shots. One day I'll remember the real deal. You can click on the collages to enlarge)

We met up with The Welte's one day and swam in their front lake. (Okay, Wes and Elliot swam, I did not.) Elliot had fun playing with their little man, Sam and it was great to meet their one week old little guy, Will.We also went to The Morehouse's house (hehe) one day. (We met them the 1st time we were out in AZ...and they were still there the 2nd time we moved there). Anyways, it was great to catch up and let all the kids play. For some reasons, we neglected getting a picture of all of us big people...ugh! I also count this as the day Levi started walking! I guess he didn't want to crawl on the deck, so he started walking! It was so fantastic. Now, he's all over the place.
There's a great playground at Sandy Cove (where Wes' mom works). OH, and the kids were in their pajamas in the pic's because it was a chilly day and I neglected to pack ANY warm clothes besides their PJ's. oops
Elliot got to stay up late one night and go over to Wes' bro's house for a bonfire. It was super fun. She got to ride on the 4-wheeler and drink her very FIRST can of soda (Gingerale) She was so excited :-)
We got to have a girls day out and go to Olive Garden (El's fav) and IKEA! Elliot even went into the childcare/play area at IKEA. Kinda scary leaving her, but she had a blast! It was lots of fun walking around that enormous store :-) Elliot enjoyed playing in a bin of sheepskins. I kinda feel bad 'cause both the boys have sheepskins that they sleep on in their cribs (they even came on the trip with us), but she doesn't have one on her big bed. Maybe I need to do something about that (but big one's are quite pricey)
We also went to Jersey one day to see Wes' grandparents. His Pop is in a nursing home, so we didn't get to stay too long. All the boys wanted to do was run around and make noise, but it was good to see him. We then tried to visit with his Nana some. She is going through radiation for cancer but is such a trooper. The boys found her walker and were all over that! haha. (sorry some pic's our fuzzy!)
One more visit to Taylor and Kate's house for a family pic and some more 4-wheelin' for all the kids.
....then our 1st Class Ride home! FUN!

Bed Time

Our bed time routine generally involves going and playing in the boys room for a bit. Levi goes over to his crib and can climb up and and just hangs from it. The kid is SOO STRONG! Tonight, I put the rail down a bit and he climbed right in. Ezra tried to lift his leg and would just walk away. HAHA. He is not going to be a gymnast. :-)

15 Month Check Up

Took the boys to the doc. for their check up today. The boys got bored after about 2 minutes (and I forgot to bring any toys) so they started getting into everything. Ezra was opening the drawers and throwing the rolls of paper on the floor. Levi kept pulling the stirrup things out and then slamming them back in..until we decided to pull the step out and just encourage climbing. Seemed like a better option than listening to metal slam 100 times!
Then, Levi went over and climbed in the stroller and started eating some pretzels. Ezzy joined him for a quick snack. Actually, all he wanted to do was throw pretzels all over the floor. FUN!
They took all their measurements and got Levi a referral to a pediatric orthopedic doc to get his foot checked out. It just does some funny turning in thing and I want to make sure it is not affecting him walking. I think it doesn't walk much just because he can't run (and he can crawl super speed). When he is tired, I will catch him walking all over the place. He just stops thinking about it, slows down, and walks.

So, their stats are:

LEVI
Weight- 21 lbs (8th %ile)
Height- 30.75 in (40th %ile)
Head- 18.75 in (64th %ile)

EZRA
Weight- 24 lbs (41st %ile)
Height- 31.75 (71st %ile)
Head- 19.5 in (96th %ile)

NICE AND HEALTHY!

Ez's 1st Haircut

Ezra has his first hair cut today. Nothing sentimental and I didn't even take advantage of the photo op. I just stood him up in the front yard and snipped off his mullet!

El's 4th Birthday Party

We celebrated Elliot's 4th birthday party today. (Remember, we pick a random day since her real birthday is 3 days after Christmas). Anyways, it was a lot of fun and most importantly, exactly what she asked for (minus the absence of a few friends who had things come up last minute-hope you all feel better!)

We had a table set up so the kids could decorate bookmarks (they said "Elliot D.'s 4th birthday Party") with stickers and markers. They seemed to have fun doing it.....I tried to keep the food simple, so the menu was yummy...hotdogs. Okay, I know-that's gross. But really, they were grilled so they weren't so bad. Made some baked beans, and had chips, fruit, and potato salad. As requested, everyone decorated their own cupcakes. I like this idea because all I had to do was make plain cupcakes. That's fairly simple. It's always the decorating that bogs me down. Oh, and everyone gets what they want this way. Worked out well...good idea El! Everyone was very generous and gave her some very sweet presents. It was fun to watch her open them. I love how kids always hover around the "birthday girl" and watch/help them unwrap everything. Something annoyingly sweet about the whole thing :-)
...and what party isn't complete without a water balloon fight with your cousins?? I can't believe you guys are moving in a few days. We love you and will miss you SOO MUCH!! *For those of you who really like pic's and want proof that we and her brothers were actually at the party, feel free to browse the pic's I have HERE!

Mother's Day Tea

Elliot's class had a Mother's Day tea the other day. It was so sweet. The moms had to wait in the lobby, then the kids walked out from their room to escort us to a special room. Elliot was the 1st to walk me down. We had to stop and get our photo taken at a little area set up for Mommy/child pictures. Then we walked into a room with cute little tables all decorated. There was nice music playing, a food table set up, etc. I gotta admit, I am not really an emotion person but this got me. No, I didn't start crying or anything, but it was really special! Touched me I guess.

Each child had a special placemat they made for their Mommy. They also had a card for us. Here is Elliot with mine:
Wrapped up in a bag, they had made us a treasure/jewelry box. On the inside of it is a picture of our most precious treasure-them!
Elliot took this lovely photo of me and my loot:
This was my favorite thing...each kid made a picture of their Mommy. They were all displayed on a wall together. I started looking at them and was able to pick the one she made-first try! Looks just like something she would do. The circles around the eyes, the buttons all in a row, the smaller shirt (some kids had huge pieces of fabric for the shirt), the girly fabric, the squiggled necklace. Everything-it was all very Elliot (me too, apparently)! It is my favorite thing from that day! Love it!
On the back of my "portrait" was this list of questions. The teachers wrote exactly what she said....
Really?!?! If she could buy me anything it would be MILK?!?! I wonder if this means she wants me to wean her brothers and just give them milk? I'm still trying to figure this one out. Still adorable. Man, I love this girl.