A Talk With God

Today Ella went with me to the doctor because all of a sudeden my nausea tripled and I was having a lot fo pain in my lower back. The doctor said to come in and check out the baby before we travel for the holidays. So, Ella went with me and I thought I woudl tell her about the baby when she ehard the heartbeat at the appointment. The doctor decided to do an ultrasound and thankfully everything was fine with the baby. I told Ella that a baby was growing in my belly and she would have another brother or a little sister this summer. Ella was so excited and said, "I'm going to have to tell my daddy about this." She proceeded to ask the doctor if it was a girl or a boy, but since I am only at the end of my 11th week the doctor obciously couldn't tell. The doctor and I told her ti was up to God to pick what was right for our family. In her most authoritative 3 year old voice she told the doctor that she would like a sister! When the doctor finished the ultra sound Ella went to the end of the table and tried to look up the gown they made me wear and said, "I can't see it, where is the baby?" The doctor found everything pretty funny and was definitely enjoying her conversation with Ella. WE wrapped things up and as we left the office Ella said, "I am going to have a talk with God." She looked up at the sky and as we walked across the parking lot she was shouting at the top of her lungs, "God......PLEASE make it a sister....PPLLEEAASSEE make it a sister!" On the ride home she explained to me that she already has a little brother and that now she would like a baby sister! For her sake I pray it is a little sister...although Scott and I feel blessed just to have a healthy baby thus far and a little girl and little boy who can't get enough of each other already!

Mama's Boy!

Bradley FINALLY started calling me "mama" this week. Tonight when I went to get him out of the day care at my work he ran to me screamin, "mama, mama" as excitedly (and loudly) as possible. Everyone within a 1/2 mile radius was laughing at him hysterically as we stood seperated by a 2 foot gate when I walked in to get hima nd he couldn't get out! It was so obvious that he was so proud of himself and he had the cutest little grin on his face.

Earlier this week I had a stomach virus, so one night Scott said go take a bath and relax and try to break your fever. Well, any momo's reading this will definitely understand, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to get in there without company. Within 3 minutes of getting in Ella and Bradley were both hanging on the side of the tub. I tried to tell them I was sick and needed to rest. Bradley looked at me, left the room and came back with the brush from their dog grooming toy kit. As I laid in the tub, Bradley brushed my hair so sweetly with that little brush and would take breaks to lay his head on mine! If they could bottle up moments like that and sell them as medicine I would never again complain about the cost of heath care!

Ella of course wanted to hop in and at one pont her dad tricked her out of the room. When she realized she had been tricked she snuck back in the bathroom with me, locked the bedroom door and said, "Please don't let daddy take me away from you." Scott of course came looking for her and when he found his way into our room through a different door, that she had failed to lock, Ella reacted as quickly as possible. She must have thought, "what can I do to not be taken out of the bathroom?...........quick.....think.........!" The next thing I knew she was panicking and trying to jump in the tub with her pajamas on! It wasn't really funny to her because I think she felt pure panic, but witnessing it all was hilarious!

Love and Marriage

The other day we were at a playground and some of the older girls Ella walked by were talking about getting married. Ella looked at them and said, "I'm going to marry my "bruh-der" (Ella's pronunciation of brother) Bradley."One of the gir;'s looked back at Ella and quickly said with a sassy attitude, "you can't marry your brother"! Ella stood there stunned for a second and said, "Yes, I can...I can marry my bruh-der if I want to.........right mom?" She turned and looked to me for reassurance that she was right and had the cutest little "please don't break my heart" look on her face. I told her she could pretend to marry her brother anytime she wanted.

It's funny how well Ella and Bradley get a long (most of the time). Lately Ella really wants Bradley to pretend he is a prince and to dance her around the toy room! Thankfully Ella doesn't realize that Bradley just likes to hold hands, pull each other around and fall down together and that he isn't really dancing with her at a pretend ball!

I can only hope that one day Ella will find a prince that makes her smile and laugh like her brother does!!!

Sam and Ella

For those of you who don't know...a little over a month ago I gat salmonella poisoning. Let me tell you.....it was 15 days of pure hell. In fact, it was bad enough to make me never want to touch anything that is even slightly undercooked. Anyway, when I was in St. Louis last week, my parents were talking to me about it and we must have said the word Salmonella a few times in the conversation. Ella didn't seem to be paying any attention to us, but a few moments later she said, "excuse me mommy.......I don't like Sam and Ella......I really like Sam and Bradley......Can he pleae still be Bradley?"

It's so funny how kids hear things. She heard it exactly as it sounded. I guess the whole time she was sitting there wondering why we change Bradley's name to Sam.

Busy As A Bee, But Nothing New To Report!

Well, it's still really hot here, but it's cooling off nice i the evenings and mornings, so we are starting to anticipate the drop in temperature that will slowly occur over the next 3 months for us. This year Ella has really been excited about Halloween. We had to go but a few decorations for our house since we didn't really have any! The kids have been great and I am finally recovered from my 2 week bout of Salmonella......thank goodness! Bradley now has a vocabulary of about 20 words or animals sounds, but doesn't really use them unless we ask him to. Ella talks enough for him and the neighbor kids, so we are in no big rush for Bradley to start talking. The doctor says he truly believes in birth order....the 1st sibling can talk their way through anything and the 2nd sibling can wrestle their way through anything! I have to say that I might agree. It's so funny that Bradley chooses not to use the words he knows and would rather point and grunt until we figure out what he wants. Anyway, I though I would just post a few of the pictures we have taken recently! Enjoy!

Who's Your Daddy?

We try to attend the 8am service on Sundays and instead of Sunday school all the kids go in the same room and they offer some craft and stories but it is not as structured as the sunday school class at 9:30. Obviously, it would be hard to cater to the wide range of ages. The nice part about it is that Ella ad Bradley get to go together which makes them both happier! Anyway, when we picked the kids up today Ella had made a picture in which they cut out people from magazines and glued them on their paper. Ella's pictured consisted of an attractive young woman, a black man who looked a little like Will Smith and a handsome older man with all gray hair. I asked Ella what her picture was and she said, "It's my mommy and daddy.....I made a picture of my family." Instantly I wondered who was supposed to be representing Scott.......the handsome young black man or the handsome grandpa? I giggled to myself and said, "look Scott.......Ella made a picture of her mom and dad." Scott stooped down to her level and looked at the picture and asked, "which one of these men is daddy?" Ella pointed to the Will Smith looking gentleman and said, "that's my daddy".....she then pointed to the attractive young , caucasian woman and said, "that's my mommy." As we headed to the car Scott said, "I always wondered...now I know."

Ella was just so innocent in the moment and had no idea that we found it all funny. It was hysterical to see how taken back Scott was at first by her family picture. Anyway, it was really interesting to see that a child as observant as Ella doesn't notice skin color. Wouldn't it be nice to view life that way again....viewing everyone the same, seeing no difference and only seeing all the good things!!

St. Louis Silliness!

The kids and I headed to STL for a 9 day trip. It was so much fun. Of course, the kids love to play in grandma and grandpa's basement since we don't have one! Mom and dad have more toys now then I think they did when we were little. Anyway, the kids played downstairs a lot and got to spend a few days playing with Kate, Jonah and Will (their cousins) while they were in town too! That's always complete chaos, but I have to say that all 5 of them smile the biggest when they all get to be silly together.

We fit a lot of fun stuff in this time since Bradley is a little older and ther is a lot of fun stuff to do right around our house. We went to a drive through animal forest park, the zoo, a barn, Purina Farms dog show and Ella went up to preschool one morning with grandma. They loved seeing all the animals and the weather was gorgeous! At the animal forest park it was the best trip ever, we saw every animal that you can possibly see there walking through the forest and has dome elk right by our car. At the Purina dog show there was a little barn as well and Ella got to help milk a cow! I didn't think she would do it because she will not touch anything remotely yuckky! But, she did in fact help milk a cow.....twice!!

It was a nice break to get away and the kids had a blast. On the morning we had to leave I told Ella we were getting on a plane that night and she was really sad! At the airport she was shouting (very loudly), "I miss you guys already" as we were weaving through the lines of security! Both kids were good on the plane, so we survived....if you're a mother of a toddler you know the dreaded feeling of hopping on a plane with a busy little one!!

Weekend Fun Time!

Scott and I got invited to go to "Taste of the Nation" on Saturday night. The tickets were 100 a piece, but our friends had some for free. All of the money went to charity to fight hunger. The event was held at the convention center and it included 50 of the top chefs in Orlando. We walked around from 7-10 eating samples of all the food and there was a live band and silent auction. It was so much fun. The food was delicious and we one a 2 night stay at the Nickelodeon hotel through the silent auction. It was such a fun date night for us! Ella was so excited that I was getting dressed up. I bought two new dresses that morning to choose between and when I came home with them Ella was so excited. Every 5 minutes she would run up to me with a dress and shoes in hand and say "please put this on mommy". When I tried them on for them to help me pick which one to keep she asked if I would walk around and hold her hand and marry her!!!! I brought home a blue dress and a black one and Ella loved the blue one, she put on her blue, fall church dress all day to look the same. We got a picture taken in the blue dresses together, but unfortunately I chose the black one, which was really upsetting for Ella!

The rest of the weekend consisted of the usual.....swinging, swimming, playing at the house together and church! It's always fun to watch how much fun Ella and Bradley have together. They truly are the best of friends! Some of their favorite things to do together right now are to let the air out of the jumpy house and run and jump onto it together, to catch each other at the bottom of their little slide, playing kitchen and chasing each other! Enjoy some pictures of our weekend!

Bradley's Buddy

When Ella was younger she had a blanket that looked like a dog that we thought would be the "special" blanket, so we bought 2 of them in case it got lost. In the few months following, she became more attached to a different dog blanket named puppy baby that now goes everywhere. She keeps 1 of the original dog blankets in her bed and one in the car, as back ups, but they are definitely not the "it" blankie! Anyway, Bradley has a blanket that is similar to the one Ella has favored and it is a blue puppy dog. I have been putting it in his crib as a comfort, and even named him"Blue" to make him seem special, but Bradley never took to him.

This week in the car Bradley was upset so Ella let him hold her "car puppy blanket". It was so sweet that she was trying to share and help. Anyway, as soon as she gave it to him he smiled and hugged it really tight and just started giggling. I thought it was sweet, but didn't think much of it. A few days later it happened again and Bradley gave the same response. So, I asked Ella if Bradley could have one of the puppy blankets that weren't as speacial to her. I could tell she emotionally was having a hard time contemplating it, but after a few moments she eagerly decided yes. She put it in Bradley's crib and he is so happy about it! I think it is so sweet that he is only attached to the blanket that Ella comforts him with! Here are a few pics of Bradley with his new buddy! He slept for 4 hours with it the other day! I might name this blanket "miracle dog".

A Little Piece Of Heaven

Tonight before I laid Ella down for bed we read through one of her bibles. After we were done she wanted to know if we were going to see God tomorrow and if he was going to come to her house. Then she wanted to know if Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Jonah, etc. would come to her house too? I tried to explain to her that they lived long ago and told her that they all live in heaven with God and Jesus. It was so sweet to listen to her talk and try to figure it all out. "Do they use clouds as beds in heaven? Do they have to listen to all that thunder and lightning up there when they're sleeping? Are they up there with the birds and mosquitoes?" If you know Ella and her motor mouth then you know by 8pm I am mentally worn out solely from her talking all day. However, I could have laid there for hours listening to her innocent little questions! I told her we had to be really good to get into heaven and she wanted to know if they were really good if her and Bradley could go.

On a sillier not, earlier today she pointed out to me that she had a boo boo on her leg. I told her it was a scab. She proceeded to repeat over and over that she was bit by a crab. Since we had seen a huge crab at the beach a few weeks a go I thought she was just being silly. Half way through the day I realized that she thought I told her she had a crab. She thought she was bit by a crab......when really I said...yep, that's a scab!

Bradley is busy as ever. He is exploring ways to try and get his way. He sure can get upset when he doesn't get his way! He is doing great at swimming. They both love the pool. Since Bradley watches Ella swim all over by herself he wants to swim more and more. Tonight he swam underwater about 3-4 feet to the wall about 5 times in a row and loved it! We also turned on our Fisher Price Star Station that allows them to sing into microphones and see themselves dance on tv and that was a real hit with Bradley since he had never really done that before! Ella and Bradley have tons of fun together and make each other laugh like no one else can!! That's a great sound!

Playtime Pals

We took the kids to the park this morning and I actually thought to grab my camera on our way out the door. Just thought I'd share a few photos of Ella and Bradley having a blast!

Princess Ella

We celebrated Ella's birthday on Friday night at our house and then had her birthday party on Saturday at the park with her friends. It worked out perfectly...Ella ended up celebrating for about 3 days, which is perfect for a 3rd birthday! She has probably sung happy birthday to herself 20 times in the past few days. She had tons of fun at her party and loved all of her gifts. She got a lot of princess stuff and can't decide when to play with what. She has been in dress up clothes and shoes since her birthday and is playing a lot of imagination princess games. All Ella really wanted for her birthday was a princess cake, so I made her a princess cake. When we got to the playground for her party she sat at the table in front of her cake and repeatedly said, "I would just like to eat my cake now." Ella wasn't the only one who loved the cake. Bradley could have eaten his fair share as well if we would of let him have a go at it! Here are a few pics from her birthday!

Dance Baby Dance!

Bradley is quite the dancer as well, so I can't leave him out either. He is more of a headbanging dancer, but he's quite talented! Enjoy!

A Little "Aloha" To Our Friends and Family

The other night Ella cam out of her room with her hula skirt and wanted to know what it was. This was a little bit of a surprise because she is never interested in anything but princess or ballerina dress up. I turned on a video clip of some hula dancers on the internet and Ella loved it. Now she wants to put it on everyday and do the hula. So, enjoy a little hula entertainment from the tropical paradise of Ella's family room.

Reasons Why I Smile!

My Special Boogar Present

Your receive many gifts as a mother. However, last night's gift topped them all. Ella approached me saying, "mommy, I have a special present for you!". She was holding out her hand and there was nothing in it, so I thought we were playing pretend because she is so into pretend play. As I knelt down she pointed to a boogar on her finger and said, "it's a special boogar present". For some reason, Ella always likes me to take the boogars off her finger and put them in trash. I ask her to put them in the trash herself, but for some reason she always wants me to take it off her finger and do it. Anyway, I started walking to the trash can with my special boogar present and Ella said, "mommy, don't throw it away.....it's special.....I picked it from my nose." So until Ella was distracted and left the room I kindly pretended to admire my "special boogar present" resting on my finger.

The BIG "one"

We had two families that we are good friends with over tonight for a birthday celebration. His birthday theme was dinosaurs. I'm not sure how much Bradley was really into it (not that I expected him to be), but he was into the cake! I hope you enjoy the pictures! Thanks for all the cards and birthday wishes. Bradley has a lot of new toys to play with and Ella is very excited about that!!!!!! She is just wondering when it is her turn to have a birthday!!!!

Popcorn Poop

This was too funny! Today Ella had to poop which already started out great because she locked herself in the bathroom and told me that she would let me in when she was done. However, then she proceeded to talk about what a mess it would be if she pooped on the floor. So, we got the key and went in. She was just sitting there on the toilet. When she finished she stood up and looked at it like always so she could name her family of poops and say goodbye before flushing. However, today she looked at the 2 little pieces and said, "look mom, popcorn poop". I asked Scott if he had said that to her before and he said no. I hadn't either, so she came up with it on her own. The 2 pieces did really resemble 2 large pieces of popcorn, so it was funny that she came up with the on her own.

Bradley, is walking everywhere and now he carries his cup with him. He has decided that it is hilarious to try to put his pacifier in my mouth instead of his and at night when I am rocking him if he is still a little playful, he will take it out of his mouth and throw it on the floor so I'll pick it up. It's funny the differences between girls and boys. Bradley will sit and hit his head against a wall or bop himself on the head with a toys and laugh at himself. He finds it so funny and never seems to feel any pain!

Hope you all have a great Mother's Day. We started ours off with church and then I got to try out my Mother's day/Birthday gift.....a bike trailer for the kids that is also a double stroller. It's fabulous....we all really like it for both uses!

Mealtime Madness

Bradley has now decided that it is hilarious to drop one piece of food of his tray at a time. Although it's funny to see him laugh so hard at himself, it is a very annoying behavior. I now have to sit and feed him 1 piece of food at a time. Then, there's Ella. If you have ever eaten a meal at a table with Ella, you have probably noticed that she has a very difficult time holding onto her cup and flatware. I've never seen a kid drop their stuff as much as Ella. I don't even think she does it on purpose half the time, she just constantly knocks her cup on the floor. By the time I get the table set, everyone ready to eat, gotten everyone everything they need and sit down to eat myself..........the food is cold and everyone is ready to be out of their seats before I'm even half way done!

Bradley completed his second swim lesson yesterday and is doing great. However, I am starting to notice that he cries anytime I come near him in the pool. In our lesson I have to scoop him under the water slowly and have him grab the wall when he comes up. I think he wonders why all of a sudden I chose to drown him. The water is a little cool, but feels good. However, I think Bradley prefers it a little warmer, so we'll see if he likes it better as it gets warmer and warmer. I never thought I would have the nerve to slowly dunk my own kid under water. I know it's best for him to learn to survive in the water, so I do it, but my heart always aches a little when I have to practice with him and put him under.

Ella has such a fun loving personality, but is starting to have a little attitude. We'll call it Toddler-tude. I was trying to talk to my boss today at the Y and Ella kept sternly saying, "stop talking mommy and talk to me." Gotta love that huh? It's just that age when they want all of your attention and will say or do anything to get it. The other day when the babysitter was over I came home and Ella had locked herself, Bradley, the babysitter and Chloe in her bedroom. Unfortunately, the key was not on the door sill that day, so they were stuck in their till I got home! I thought it was funny, but I think I was the only one who found that funny! Today after work I wasn't feeling that well, so I let Ella watch a movie during Bradley's morning nap. I laid with her on the couch thinking I would be able to take a nap. However, every time I fell asleep, Ella would pry one of my eyes open with her 2 gingers and yell, "WAKE UP". Needless to say, it was not a very good nap. I tried for 45 minutes and was probably woken up 100 times.

Hope you all have a great weekend and Mother's Day!

Princess Annalise and Baby Prince

A lot has happened since our last post. Ella is potty trained and Bradley is a full time walker. This has given the word "busy" a whole new meaning. Bradley is busy as ever copying everything that his sister does...safe or not safe (unfortunately) and I feel like I never get a second of peace. Bradley likes to come into the bathroom with Ella when she uses the potty and he becomes a major safety hazrd as he tries to reach through and put his hands in the toilet water, reach over the edge of the tub to pull out toys, yank on the shower curtain, etc. I have to sit him in the kitchen so I have time to get Ella on and off the toilet before he come walking in. Plus, all of this has Ella fascinated with male and female anatomy, so you never know when in public she will decide to announce who has what anatomy. This is usually entertaining for everyone around!

I think Scott is waking Ella every morning before he leaves for work and is giving her an energy drink! The kid can seriously go all day long. Not just physically but, vocally as well! Sometimes I think I should cut her nap down, so she doesn't recharge as fully in the afternoon, but who am I kidding. I am dreading the day that nap time no longer exists. That is my only time to rest so I can prepare for the second round of the day and I need that time. Bradley is busy exploring everything and testing out his new independence, which fully exhausts him. I have to wake him up from the majority of his naps and he always looks so dazed and confused when I pull him out of his crib. Some days he will nap up to 4.5 hours total...yeah!!!

Ella is really into these princesses and was introduced to some barbie princess movies when we visited my sister's family. Anyway, since the visit, Ella has become more and more infactuated with Princesses. Every minute that we are home she wears a princess dress and princess shoes. It take a long time to convince her to wear anything else to leave the house. She calls me Mommy Princess Annalise and Bradley is Baby Prince. When she goes to daycare at the Y and they say "Hi Ella and Bradley" Ella corrects them and says, "I'm princess Annalise and this is baby prince". It's funny how it can be so cute and frustrating at the same time. Cute when we are at home and she is walking baby prince around the house....frustrating when I need to get out the door for work and she doesn't understand why she can't wear her princess dress up outfits. We have to say things like "a princess would never be late for an appointment, we must hurry!" Whenever we get Ella's haircut, we tell her that we are just cutting off the crazy ones, so tonight when Ella and Bradley were playing before bedtime Ella wanted to cut Bradley's hair. Shepulled out a pair of pretend scissors and said, "I'm cutting off your crazy curls, baby prince". Most of you probably haven't seen it, but Bradley's hair is curly in the back.

Ella started swim lessons on Saturday at the YMCA and Bradley starts his at SwimKids USA on Tuesday. Ella did good for her first class, especially being the youngest one in it! By the end of June, Bradley should be able to turn around and swim a few feet back to the wall if he should ever fall in a pool. He loves to swim, so I think he will love his lessons!

Hard to believe that both of the kids birthdays are right around the corner. It's funny that time can pass so quickly, but when you are a stay at home mom, the individual days can seem so long. Bradley will be having a dinosaur cake and Ella of course wants Princess.

This is a long blog, so I'll wrap it up. However, here's my long day ended. I love reading books to Bradley at the end of the night because he will usually sit so contently in my lap and he loves touch and feel books. So when he finds the furry part of the animal to touch he will laugh and laugh! When saying prayers with Ella tonight she thought we should pray for...elmo, zoe, dora, dora's mommy and daddy, boots, boots' mommy and daddy and babies. On most nights Ella list out her family and friends.

Well, this Mommy Princess Annalise signing off so I can go and clean my castle before another busy day begins!

For Peep's Sake....there's more pictures!!

Bunny Love

Today is Easter, so of course we have had our camera out this weekend! We started the weekend with an easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday morning. Ella's age group was first for the egg hunt, so it worked out perfectly. When she was done getting eggs (which I'm sure was a very similar situation to the running of the bulls) we were able to go see the easter bunny and do the bounce houses while the older kids were doing there egg hunts! Ella had a great time! She loves the Easter bunny and constantly tells Scott and I that it is a mommy bunny and that she is very nice. I'm sure there is no meaning behind that what so ever. She is really into mommies and babies, but I would like to think that there is some kind of underlying connection between myself and her mental image of the bunny! Being a mom is hard and sometimes there is so much guilt involved. You almost have to look for signs to assure yourself that your kid doesn't view as Cruella Deville! Even on a great day you feel a little bit like bad cop just by enforcing things and behaviors to keep them safe! Anyway, as you can tell by the pictures....Bradley is not very fond of the bunny...at all.

We dyed easter eggs , read easter books, left our baskets out for the bunny (and a few carrots) and sang Easter songs these past few days. Of course we talked al lot about the real reason for Easter which is a hard thing to explain to a kid. I mean at Christmas 4 months ago Jesus was just a baby....now he is a grown man who is living in Heaven with his Father. Ella only realtes to baby Jesus, she doesn' grasp that he at one point grew up. She also associates Joseph and Mary as his parents. So who is this God person? Are Joseph and Mary living in the clouds too??? I'm just glad she is grasping the concepts and pray that she and Bradley always will!

Anyway, the kids were excited today for their baskets and egg hunts. Ella got a sprinkler and has been playing in it a lot today! Bradley got a little helicopter that does all kinds of stuff! Bradley waving bye bye, talking a lot, eating a lot, sleeping great, getting a lot of teeth and taking his first steps! All he wants to do is walk, but he hasn't done more than 2 steps! I'm sure it won't be long before he is running! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures and I hope you all have a blessed Easter......We can know Him with our hearts, until we see Him with our eyes.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. John 20:29.

Big Sister Ella

Ella has really gotten into this role of being the big sister. She loves to help Bradley by telling him what he is big enought to do and what he can't do until he is older or has more teeth. She is always hugging, tickling, and sharing things with Bradley. She often will go up to him and say, "Awwwww, I love you too Bradley".....as if he had just said " I love you Ella". They are too funny together! Bradley finds her to be extrememly funny on most days! He is saying dada, mama and something that really sounds like Ella. I wouldn't be surprised if he say Ella as one of his first words because it is probably the most you word in our house. Of course it is said with the following varying pronunciations:

please don't do that.....ELLA

she did it anyway....Ella Jane Reuter

where are you.....eeeeelllllllllaaaaa?

she's silly.....OhEllla

She did something new.....Ellaaaaaaaaa

etc..

This list could go on and on!

Anyway, Ella is now in a phase where she like to call people her very best friends in the whole wide world! Not sure where she got that, but it's pretty sweet! I especially like it when I am her best friend in the whole wide world. I have realized that I refer to Ella and Bradley as "honey" rather frequently because now Ella will every once in a while talk to me like a mother and end the sentence with calling me honey!

I've attached a few pictures of my best friends in the whole wide world, so enjoy them!!!