"No more night night"

Ellie has been not so easy as she was about taking her nap after we took the paci away. She still will crash almost every day. It just takes a lot longer for her to fall asleep. It seems like I never know how I will find her at the end of nap time. She is really into taking off some of her clothes and has even taught Anna how to do it. Anna always takes off her pajama bottoms in the morning. She loves to leave us a "wet" surprise which is not so fun!

Pretty Funny Clip from Student MInistries...

You'll want to watch this video we made; we took American Idol footage and put one of our students in it. There's a post on our youtube page by someone who actually thinks it's real...

Good Morning!

It has been a good morning so far. The girls slept until 8 and so did I. Mike left really early this morning (6:00) and it was so quiet in our house. It is raining outside and we have Hillsong United playing on Itunes. You must listen to their new song "Saviour King". It is so good and I actually love any of their songs. Ellie even likes singing a few in the car now granted they are normally the ones that have the words "fire fall down" in them or "take it all"! We have Building Blocks this morning which is kind of like MOPS at our church. It is only once a month and it should be great! I hope you have a blessed morning and can slow down some to enjoy it.

Dress Up!

I'm not so little anymore. Check out my tummy?
Ellie loves to wear her costume and big girl flip flops (Thanks cousin Lauren)!

Ellie picked a bikini top and snow hat for Anna

The girls love to play dress up these days. We have a drawer full of swimsuits, hats, big shoes, etc... It is the one "girly" thing that Ellie loves to do and Anna loves to watch her. It has provided lots of entertainment these days. I think I am lucky that Ellie never "insists" on wearing her costume outside of the house!

Ellie and Anna on Vday!

We tried for a "sister picture" again and they are so hard to get a good one. However, I love their expressions in these pictures. We had a good Valentine's day even though the girls had no clue. Ellie picked out a Spiderman valentine chocolate that she thoroughly enjoyed. We had a great day.
* I just got back from the gym and I normally just do the treadmill. However, I am noticing that I need to tone up some. I went to a class called Core Central. OUCH! It was really good though and I think I might go again on Friday. I am so clueless on the step moves. I look like so uncoordinated, but oh well. We're off to the library this afternoon. Have a great day!

Blog-Slackers...

Mike and I just were talking about how we haven't blogged much this week. We have been busy and exhausted by the end of each day.  We had something almost every night of the week until Thursday. However, we've had a nice relaxing weekend. I thought I'd randomly post what we've been up to this week.....

* Our VW died. It got towed to the VW dealership in Richardson. It has been there since last Friday. It is now going on 8 days. We are not looking forward to this bill. We've loved our Passat, but it may be on its last days?

* My mom is in town and we have worked a ton on our house. She has painted the girls room (pink) and a wall of our "formal"living area. It looks so much better. We also organized all the closets, hung pictures, etc...I will post pictures of the girls room soon.

* Ellie went to the ped. dentist to get her tooth pulled. Read a previous post for details. She was so brave and I was so proud of her. She was given a baby valium pill to make her loopy. It really didn't do much. She screamed the most during the shot they gave her to numb the area. It only took about 5 minutes for them to do the extraction. She now has no front tooth and I can't get an artificial one until her 2 year molars come out. I was also informed on this day that she couldn't suck anything for three days. The dentist said no sippy cup, straw, or PACI! It really was the worst day in Ellie's life. She was traumatized by the extraction and now she couldn't have her paci. It was probably a good thing caused it forced us to get rid of the paci. Ellie was quite an addict. She had one in her mouth and one in her hand while she slept. She loved her paci from birth. She has done really well with giving it up and has taken her nap the past 2 days!

* Anna is teething like no other child I have ever been around. I basically cannot put her down all day except to sleep without her crying. She is becoming a mama's girl to the extreme. We think she is cutting all four molars. Oh my goodness I can't believe how bad it is for her. Last night I was up with her for 2 hours. She never wakes up in the middle of the night. We are giving her motrin and teething tablets. I don't know if it is helping, but I am really ready for my normal Anna! Any advice from my blogging friends?

*Mike and I got to go to a really fun restaurant with our friends the Liggit's. It was called Asian Mint. It is right by Watermark for all of our Dallas readers. We are not sushi fans, but we loved the Lo Mein and Cashew Chicken. Yummy! We had a great time with them. They are about to move into our neighborhood and we are so excited to be in a community group with them.

* My senior girls small group celebrated Valentine's Day together at a fun restaurant. I have really enjoyed getting to know these girls and wish they weren't Seniors. 

* I went to the gym 4 times this week! Mike has also been working out this week!

*We are really into American Idol and Survivor this season. I really like a lot of the contestants on AI. I like the 16 yr. old boy a lot. I think his name is David. He's awesome and I know all the girls are going to like him.

I'm sorry to write so many random things, but I haven't uploaded any pictures to post. Have a blessed Sunday!

Unbelievable Video...

Thanks Wes :)

Ellie's trip to the dentist....

Well, little Ellie survived her trip to the pediatric dentist. I would highly recommend you all to take your children to a ped. one! We got there and Nemo was playing on their t.v. which was a big hit with Ellie. They actually had an indoor play area there as well. We did not have to wait to long and they called Ellie back to see the dentist. I had to wait in the waiting area... I was expecting this cause my friend Sarah who is a dentist said when parents come back it ruins everything for the dentist. I heard Ellie scream a couple of times. Actually, it was more of a terror scream for mommy. However, I told them to do whatever they needed to get an x-ray cause I was concerned about her front tooth. It has a little chip and a line going through it with one side of it kind of a gray tint. They had "cars" playing for Ellie above her dental chair. They hygenist held her for her xray picture. I don't know if they were being honest, but they said she did really well. She wouldn't let them brush her teeth, but she did enjoy brushing her teeth for them. She also got a flouride treatment. The bad news is that Ellie's tooth is fractured. We were at chick fil a about 5 months ago and she got hurt there. Her lip was bleeding and I guess she actually fractured her tooth. It is hard to explain, but she also damaged the nerves. They now have to REMOVE her tooth. I like the word REMOVE much better than EXTRACT. The dentist said if we don't have it removed she could get an infection and the tooth is also moving around. I can't believe it has not fallen out as many suckers as she has eaten. I know all of my mom friends are wondering how they will get it out without her going crazy. They prescribed her a pill of "valium" which I have to give her one hour before the procedure. It will make her sleepy and out of it. When they do the procedure they will give her nitrous oxcide etc.. and it should not be to big of a deal. I immediately thought so she isn't going to have a front tooth. It is the one on top as well. They do make an artificial one they can glue in place of her missing one. However, she still doesn't have her 4 molars and the dentist said we might have to wait awhile. She said many people never get an artificial one cause of cost. However, cause Ellie has been so slow on getting many of her teeth. She said that she could be really slow on losing her teeth. I think I am going to have to get her the artificial tooth. I would feel so bad for her if in every picture she is missing her front tooth. Please, pray it all goes well. Also, if anyone has any experience in this stuff let me know. The good thing is when we left Ellie said " Go again". She loved her stickers and toy they gave her. It is never to early to go to the dentist! I was going to let Steph and Jenn know that Ellie now has a treatment plan!

Fun Blog Header!

I know many of you have commented that you like our new blog header! We love it and are so thankful for our friends for making it for us. The Penuel's have started a logo/blog header business. David can design anything and is so talented at anything creative. He is the middle school director at our church. He would love to make any of you a blog header and they are only $10! Check out their website for all the details (loudmouthlogos.com). I just added them as a link as well!

Routine!

Well, life is back to normal this week and I can say that it does make it so much easier with the kids. We are back to Bible Study this morning which is great for me! We are studying Galatians and 1/2 Thessalonians. I am really excited cause Mike told me he is going to the men's study at 6:30 in the morning which will be great cause we will be studying the same thing. Our church all studies the same thing and we also have a website that sends you daily Bible readings, questions etc... to go along with our weekly large group study. Anyone can sign up for it so if you are looking for something to study daily check out www.jointhejourney.org . The girls love getting to play with their friends at church and I love the time with other ladies! Anna went to the doctor yesterday for her 1 yr. appointment. It is such an experience to take both kids to the doctor. It would go so much better if the Dr. was in a hurry! We survived with 3 suckers and a few stickers. Anna got 4 shots and I found out she is cutting 4 molars which explains the fussiness. She weighed a whopping 15 lb. 15 oz. She is smaller than Ellie was at 1 by a few ounces. However, she is on the growth chart for height! She is at a really fun stage and is just about to walk. The girls are now sharing a room together every night. It works out really well. Anna goes to bed first, but Ellie knows that she can't cry anymore when we put her to bed! She loves having Anna in the room with her. I can picture them in a few years in bunk beds or a trundle. I am really glad that they are close in age for the reason that they will always have a playmate etc....It is neat to think that they will probably share a room for the next 17 years! Tomorrow, I am taking Ellie to the dentist for the first time. I wouldn't take her so early , but I think she has a chipped tooth. Has anyone taken their 2 yr. old to the dentist? It is a pediatric clinic so that should help. I hope you are all doing well and walking in the grace of Christ. It has been so evident to me lately and I am so thankful for my Savior. This is a recent picture of Anna from her 1st birthday. She was not very smiley cause she was not feeling well.

Costa Rica Slideshow

Here's a quick slideshow summing up the AMAZING trip we went on to Costa Rica!

Happy Birthday Anna!

Anna's First Days...
Anna looking cute!
Anna's 1st Birthday!

Wow! How time flies and Anna is 1! It seems like just yesterday that we were driving to the hospital in Raleigh. She was born at 8 A.M. and it was a relatively easy labor (as easy as it can be...)! She is such a sweet little girl who has brought so much joy to our lives. She has been our easy sleeper and has yet to ever fight us on it. She loves to play with toys and be outside. She is much more of a "dare-devil" than Ellie and is not afraid of much. We celebrated her birthday tonight as a family. We are having a little party for her next week when my parents are in town. We took the girls to Maggiano's and to Build a Bear. We've never been there, but it was really fun. Ellie made Anna a little bear. We had a great night in spite of them both not feeling that great. I am so thankful for our girls and their daddy who loves us so much!