Fall Pics

A few weeks ago we had fall pictures taken by my friend Mitzi Penick- she has taken pictures for us several times and they always turn out great! Ellie was in a bad mood the day/afternoon of the pics, but we did manage to get her to smile in a few!











I love these girls! They are so much fun!

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Eight months old!

Ellie is eight months old now! We have had several new firsts this month- she has started cruising on the furniture and has even let go a couple of times! I think she will be walking in a month or two- Katie walked at 9 months and I bet little sister will too! She will hold onto her little walker and it is so cute!






Ellie also had her first tooth pop up, which is great except that she has started biting me- not fun for me at all! I'm hoping she will stop soon!


She has also started waving "hi", clapping, and saying "DaDa". She loves her big sister, even though Katie is a little rough with her- Ellie will be a tough one! She will have to be to survive Katie!



The girls had fun at Halloween- Katie was a princess (of course) and Ellie was an "Ellie"phant!






Jason's parents are in town for about a month, so it has been fun to see them and for them to see the girls! They last saw Ellie when she was 3 weeks old! We are glad they will be here for Thanksgiving too!

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Happy Half Birthday Ellie!

Today is Ellie’s half  Birthday! I can’t believe this baby girl is six months old! Ellie is learning how to sit up on her own, but even though she is not very good at sitting yet, she can already crawl! She will crawl a little, then roll a couple of times, and somehow end up on the other side of the room! I think she is moving so early to keep with big sister-or maybe to get away from her!

We started eating cereal this past week and she is getting the hang of it-it is a very messy process, with more ending up on her bib and the high chair than in her mouth, but I’m sure in no time she will be eating a ton!

We have our six month appointment later this month, so I will have to post some stats then!

        

Big sister Katie is LOVING school! She loves her teacher and I think she would like to go every day, but we are sticking with three days/week for now. She cracks us up with funny things she says and does like:

* She said her Bible verse of the week from school was: “Children, obey your parents and if you remember this you will get a sticker.” 

* “Mom, I’m exhausted…I need a nap!”

* She insists that she is going to marry Byron Binns!

* She loves “bacation” and staying hotels and was so upset when we had to come home last week!

* She eats pancakes EVERYDAY for breakfast…but every morning she pauses like she is really thinking about what she wants to eat and then says “I’ll have……pancakes!”

April 2011

We are adjusting to life with two kids- well, trying to at least! Ellie is doing great- she wants to eat all of the time! She has gained weight and is growing like a weed! Katie loves her baby sister...sometimes a little too much! We have to tell her to "be gentle" about 100 times a day, but at least she likes her! We stay home a lot- it is a lot harder to get two kids ready to go somewhere than one! It took me about two hours to get us all ready and just go to the post office last week! I am sure it will get easier, but right now it is a big challenge. It may still be awhile before I attempt to take them both to Walmart!

Ellie's Birthday!

Ellie is finally here! Now that she is almost 5 weeks old I am getting to blog about her birth!
We were scheduled to be induced at 39 weeks because she was measuring a little on the small side (just like Katie did). I had not really been dilating before then anyway, and she was not acting like she wanted to come out! I went to see my doctor on March 9th and was still only 1cm, so we were on for our induction on the 10th! I was kind of excited about being induced because everything would be calm and we wouldn't have to rush to the hospital and everyone could plan on coming! The night before, Katie went to spend the night with my parents since we had to be at the hospital at 7. Aunt Ra was going to take her to school that morning and then that afternoon bring her up to see the baby because I was pretty sure we would have a baby by then!
Around 3:30 that morning I was cramping a little but was able to go back to sleep, and then I woke up at 5 to get ready to go, but I started hurting more while I was getting ready so we left a little earlier than planned and got to the hospital around 6. L&D was sooo busy, so I went to a room and put myself on the monitor! I was hurting a little more, but it just felt like cramping, not regular contractions. The anesthesiologist was making rounds, and while he was talking to me my water broke! I had not even been admitted yet, so I sent Jason out to get someone! I really started hurting right after my water broke, so a couple of my friends came in and started my IV and checked me- and I was already 4cm! I was a little nervous because I was hurting soo much and my fluid had meconium in it. The anesthesiologist came and did my epidural, and he did a great job putting it in, but I was going so fast it didn't really work- my contractions felt better but I felt the whole delivery-not fun! After my epidural was in they checked me again and I was 7, and they were trying to get my doctor. I was 10cm a few minutes later and I was feeling so much pressure-but we were trying to wait on my doctor to get there before I pushed so he could suction the meconium out before Ellie cried! We waited about 15 minutes on the doctor and when he got there I pushed about 3 times and we had sweet baby Ellie! She was so beautiful and perfect! She weighed 5 lb 12 oz (Katie was 5 lb 11oz) and was 18 inches long (Katie was 19 inches). Katie loves her little sister! We were so excited to take Ellie home and start new adventures as a party of four!

Katie's 3rd Birthday!

We had such a great time at Katie's third birthday! She of course wanted a princess party, so she dressed up as Cinderella and we decorated with lots of princess balloons, streamers, and dangling princesses! My mom made an amazing castle for Katie's cake- we were very impressed! Katie loved it of course! She got so many presents, and we finally had her swing set/playhouse up! She actually got it for Christmas from all of the grandparents, but it didn't exactly get put up in time...I think it was a little harder project than we all thought! I hired two guys to put it up one Saturday before her party, and it only took them about 5 hours to do the whole thing! She loves it and wants to play on it every day!

January 2011

Katie is getting so big! She amazes us with the cute/funny things she says like:
"Tell me a whisper" (a whisper is a secret)
"I want to cubble with you!" (to cuddle)
Talking to the baby through my belly button
Feeding Emmi while I'm in the shower...sometimes 3 or 4 scoops!
Singing songs-she knows so many!

We decided not to paint the baby's room since the ceilings are so high and we just moved into this house. I had new bedding made that I love! A lady that I met at one of the craft fairs in NWA made it-I picked out several fabrics and I was so happy with how it turned out! I can't wait for Ellie to sleep in her bed!

Christmas 2010

Ok.... So I am finally blogging about Thanksgiving and Christmas...in April! Oh well-we have had a few things going on, like having a baby, but more on that later!
We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house with my family. We had a great time- Katie ate so much ham!

This Christmas we had Jason's whole family in town at our house! It has been a long time since everyone has been able to be in the same place for the holidays! It was a lot of fun to have Katie and Thomas together for Christmas morning-they both got so much stuff! I think everyone had a good time! Mark, Wendy and Thomas were only here for a couple of days, but it was great to see them!
Jason, Katie and I went over to my parents house after we opened presents at our house. The kids had a great time- it was a little louder over at their house with Mason, Katie and McKinley all opening presents and playing with their new toys! We drew names between my siblings and spouses this year which was great- we just bought more stuff for the kids instead! Next Christmas will be even more crazy since we will have two more babies- Ellie and the next baby O'Neal! I'm hoping they have another girl so we will have four girls in a row...poor Mason!