Can you say Kentucky?!

Because we can!!!! That's right, two Saturdays ago at Regionals Spencer made it to Nationals in Kentucky!! He placed 9th and got a 15 second personal record, in the snow. When questioned about the PR in those weather conditions, Spencer just said, "I figured out quickly you can't fight the snow." Which later was explained to me as meaning you have to run slower to conserve energy. Worked for him I guess. Luckily, we spent the last couple of weeks prior to the race getting our family snow ready since this is supposed to be a pretty bad winter. Even though there was snow it was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining and hardly a cloud in sight.

Isabell LOVES to watch her Daddy run. She's always saying, "I run fast like Daddy!" She even said to him after the race, "Daddy, you good runner," and game him a pat on the back.

We're pretty excited about it, except for the length of the trip. He leaves Tuesday at 7am and doesn't return til about 9pm Sunday night. The race is on Saturday, but since it's Nationals there's banquets and such to go to. In preparation Spencer has been trying to cram as much homework time into his days as possible since he'll be missing so much school and it's so close to the end. So we will be happy after these next 3 weeks are over with and Spencer will FINALLY be homework free, at least for a little bit.

Oh, and since Spencer made the Top 15 at regionals he now has made All Conference and All Regionals. His next goal is All American at Nationals. To do this he needs to make the Top 40.

To Remember or To Forget...

What would you rather have your little kid do? Well, for the most part Isabell remembers.Sometimes it seems we "adults" will tell little white lies to get children to do something we want/need them to do hoping and usually knowing they won't remember it later. But oh no, not Isabell. You mention you're going to take her to the park, then you had better do it. And actually, sometimes it's nice that she reminds you of things you happen to mention you need to do. Other times, not so much. She is still just two so even if you mention something like chocolate milk, cookies, watching a movie, she thinks she's going to get it and  won't let YOU forget it.

Well, today I did. With her potty training she usually gets a little something small for going in the potty. Today right before a put her down for a nap and had her sit on the potty and she asked me what her treat would be. I told her a couple chocolate chips. She went, I cleaned it up, got her milk, and put her in bed; completely forgetting about the chocolate chips. She did not. About 5 minutes later I hear her chattering away, which she does sometimes before she falls asleep, but finally my Mom stepped in there to see if she pooped. Nope, she was upset that she didn't get her chocolate chips. So I got her a couple and off to bed she went. That little girl is full of attitude and spunk.

A Much Needed Update (With Plenty of Pics!)

Seeing how I haven't really blogged about Ellie yet, I think it's about time, now that she is 2 1/2 months old.

She is an excellent baby. Started out by waking up only a couple times a night, then for about the last three weeks she has been sleeping from 9:30p.m. to 8:00a.m. (as long as Isabell dosen't wake her up first). Lucky right? Well, apparently I jinxed my luck by talking about it too much and with too much smugness because she is starting to wake up in the middle of the night. However, it is only once so I'm still pretty lucky. And she only fills the britches once a day too :-) Now, moving on to more exciting things, Ellie LOVES to talk, especially to her Daddy. I don't see her smile, laugh or talk to anyone like she does to her Daddy, and he loves it. She has been smiling since she was about 4 weeks old and talking since about 7 weeks. She is also really good at holding her head up and has been for quite some time.

Isabell has started potty training. We're going on her third week. I know, I just need to buckle down and be more serious about it and she would probably be out of diapers completely, but slowly we're getting there. When we were at the store to pick our her underwear she had the choice to pick Tinker Bell or Superhero and of course she choose ... SUPERHERO! She is her Papa's granddaughter. Although unless you bring it up she always asks to have her diaper back on after going potty on the toliet. She's started a gymnastics class with Maddison but that will be a blog of it's own. Besides that she loves going down to Onalaska whenever she can to see both sets of grandparents. Isabell espeically loves all the lights at Dad's house. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Christmas lights!" That is usually her expression as soon as I turn on the lights at our house so she will just be dazzled when all of Dad's are up.

Now the two of them together is so adorable. Isabell loves Ellie so much. She still gets really excited whenever Ellie is awake and wants her to be set someplace that Isabell can go look at her. Isabell loves to pet Ellie, and read to her and play with her when she's on the groung or in her swing. Sometimes she even sings to Ellie. And she is the best helper, she'll throw away diapers, bring Ellie's blanket or get me diapers or Ellie's pacifier. I'm really lucky and thankful to have her, and Ellie for daughters. Even though sometimes I lose me cool with 'em I love them so much and they always make me smile.

As for Spencer and I, well I just stay at home with the girls (and have been decorating for Christmas!), and Spencer can't wait to be done with this semester of school since it is one of his hardest. And this weekend he runs at Lake Padden (WWU) for regionals and he has a really good shot at going to Nationals, he just has to beat his teammate unfortunately, so the girls and I are going up to cheer him on. Now I'm not very good about putting pictures in the blog so they will just follow after it. Enjoy!



Here we have Isabell reading to Ellie when she is 1 week.




Some more reading when Ellie is 1 1/2 months




Isabell and Madison




Isabell feeding Madison some popcorn.




Ellie was asleep first and Isabell came in and decided to "go to sleep" by her sister. She was just pretending. It only lasted a few minutes then she started to read to her.



Isabell in her superhero underwear for the first time!

Eating a popsicle while on the potty.



Helping Mommy clean up leaves.




Then she decided to sit in the middle of my pile.





Later she did "jump" in them and mess them all up. It was cute so I let it slide ;)



Taken just a couple of days ago. Smiling!

 

Isabell in her new Christmas robe after a bath.



 The last two are just for comparison to see how Ellie has changed.



Ellie three days old.



Taken today, 2 1/2 months old.



Ellie Wants to Watch Too!

So last night we had a family movie night watching How to Train Your Dragon. As we were getting ready to watch the movie Isabell hops into the rocking chair (which is pretty much "her" chair now) and says, "Ellie wants to watch too! Ellie sit right here by me." So there I sat Ellie. It was so cute though. Isabell was all excited and said her new favorite phrase when she's excited, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, mommy, the dragon movie. I'm so excited!!" Isabell kept her arm around Ellie until Ellie got fussy and started crying. Then Isabell said, "Ellie's done. She crying." Good to know Isabell will stick by her sister through the good and the bad. We all really enjoyed the movie. Isabell kept asking where the dragon went if he wasn't on screen. Something she does will all movies and one of the main characters.

I not super cute

This was a conversation Isabell and I had today in her room while she was playing. And for some background information, Isabell is going to be Superman for Halloween.

Isabell - "Mommy, I cute."

Me - "Yes, Isabell you're cute. You're super cute."

Isabell - "No, I not super cute."

Me - "You're not?"

Isabell - "No, I be Superman, not super cute."

A Difference

I know I have gotten behind on the blogging on all the exciting events happening in my life, but unfortunately this blog really isn't about that either.

The other day I saw this quote that really made me stop and think. Then it helped to remind me what motherhood is all about and what's really important in this life. It helped me regain some perspective that in my tired state I had set on the back burner of my mind.

I wanted to remember this quote and a little bit of how it made me feel and share it with others because I really liked it.

"One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, how big my house was, or what kind of car I drove. But the world may be a little better, because I was important in the life of MY child."–Forest E. Witcraft

Playing Doctor

Yesterday we had a small gathering over at my parents house since it was so hot. They had the pools all filled up and ready to go. While playing at the playground Isabell found a play stethoscope (yeah we were a little iffy about it since we didn't know where it had been but she was having so much fun with it, so we just let it go) and started listening to everyone's heart. Mom said Isabell listened to her heart, said it wasn't good, threw some rocks on it and said, "All better." If only it were that easy to fix actual heart problems. So here are some pics to remember it by.

Isabell listening to Peyton's "heart", from the back apparently.

And now she's listening to his hand. Peyton's getting a full check-up.

Peyton actually listening to Isabell's heart. He was the only one to listen to the heart.

 Isabell just liked using it for other body parts.

More of listening to Peyton's hand.

And now she's listening to Peyton's eye.

Listening to Peyton's ear.

Anonymous

Just letting the "Anonymous" lookers out there who have tried to leave comments and couldn't know that now you can. I didn't know that it was set to only allow registered people to leave comments. So comment on!

"Mama, no bars on bed!!!"

Mama singing Isabell a song in her new bed with no bars.

The couple of weeks leading up to 7/20/10 this is what I heard almost every morning and after every nap. I would go to take Isabell out of her crib and she would be crying about the bars on her bed, saying she didn't like them and that they scared her (she's also going through a stage where EVERYTHING scares her, or at least that's what she says.) So on the 20 before her nap Spencer decided to take the front bars off of her crib turning her crib into a "big girl bed", kind of. With her cup of milk she went down pretty ok.

Now it must be said that I have been very hesitant to change her bed. I was afriad of how she might deal with it, and I also wasn't ready for her to grow up that much more.

Well she woke up a couple hours later, got out of bed, and knocked on her door. I went and opened it and the first thing she said to me was, "Mama, no bars on my bed. Mama, put bars in garage sale." I asked her if she wanted the bars back on her bed and she said no, so it appeared to have been successful, that is until the evening. When it came time for bed she wanted the bars back on, Spencer however wouldn't budge (and I do say Spencer because I was all for giving that sad crying girl what she wanted).

The end result? Weeks later and the bars have not returned. It only took her a couple of nights to get used to not having the bars there. Now she really likes being able to get in and out of her bed on her own (and I must say, so do I).

When They're Quite, Think Trouble

Ok, I know I am just going to be freaked out everytime I see these pictures, but it's just one of those things you have to remember and the pictures make the story.

One thing I have learned with Isabell is if you're preoccupied with something, anything, and at first she's running around and you can constantly hear her, then after a while you noitce you don't really hear her which makes you think she is playing nicely, so you just leave her be; Big Mistake!!! A few times she had gotten a hold of my toothpaste and put it on the door, her doll, and then her dog.

Well, this time I was talking to my friend Kathleen at the kitchen table, and I could still hear Isabell, she was right behind my seat. I thought, "Oh how nice that Isabell is playing so well." and "Oh how cute, Isabell is talking to herself." Finally I decided to turn around and see what she was doing, and at first I was horrified. It looked like her baby doll had been brutely killed and blood was rubbed all over her face. After a few moments I realized Isabell had part of a strawberry in her hand and that was what the red was, not blood. I felt relief until I saw she got it on the carpet too. Luckily I had just bought Shout and it worked like a charm. No red in the carpet and almost no red on the baby's outfit, just a little on the collar. Well hopefully I have learned my lesson about Isabell being quite.

Why the Blog?

Well I've decided to join the band wagon and start a blog to share with my family and friends. I'm awful with communication, phone calls, e-mails, letters, etc. so I'm hoping this will be a better way to at least keep people informed about what's going on in our lives. I can't promise I'll post often, (just based on past experiences) but I will do my best. I hope you enjoy getting a small insight to what's going on with our family.