Halloween Parties

The girls have had a few chances already to wear their costumes. We had much debating about what to be this year. I had planned for Olivia to be a clown, and Addison to be Sharpay from High School Musical. We had the outfits, and I did not want to buy anything else. Pulled out the clown outfit, Addison wanted to try it on because I told her she had worn it one year for Halloween. It fit great and she decided that was what she wanted to be. It wasn't worth arguing about because Olivia didn't know the difference. So Liv gets to be a cheerleader. Of course Addison still tells me she wants to be Sharpay until I tell her that Liv then gets to wear the clown outfit. She doesn't like that idea and sticks with the clown!

Addison got to go to a Halloween party at the Omaha Childrens Musuem. I think she had fun. She didn't want to be left alone and was terrified of the Haunted House they had that you just walked through in the dark. She was upset that there was no time for her to play in the museum. Oh well kid!! We also took the girls to the Boo at the Zoo in Omaha. The weather was AWFUL!!! Cold and windy. Hardly any of the animals were outside. The zoo is pretty big and I bet we weren't even there 2 hours. But a good excuse to wear the costume. Olivia made little effort to have any fun, as evident by the pictures!!

"Zip it Momma"

I took the girls to Omaha this weekend for some Halloween festivities. After work I picked the girls up at daycare and headed out. I got the report from the sitter that Addison did not take a nap and Olivia had only slept for about 30 minutes on Friday. Oh good, I am thinking to myself. After they eat, both of them will fall asleep. Addison did, Olivia just wanted to talk to me until Ella started crying. (By the way, I was also expecting Ella to sleep the whole way - she didn't). Olivia didn't like Ella crying and started telling her to zip it. "Zip it Ella". Where in the world did she learn this I am thinking to myself. I kindly explain to her amongst Ella crying that we should not say that because it really isn't nice. The more I say it to her, the louder I get, "zip it momma, zip it". I am not having any of this. What is happening to the sweet innocence of my 2 year old? So now I am ignoring it. She is still saying it...but when she realizes I am not responding, she does stop. So to all of you out there...don't say "zip it"!!!

Hurry Home Daddy

Daddy has been out of town for the last couple of days, and we miss him like crazy!

Olivia misses her daddy in the middle of the night when she likes to wake up for no apparent reason. Daddy walks her back to her room and she goes back to sleep, usually! Mommy isn't cuttin it tryingto be daddy and march her back to bed. She wants mommy to sleep with her. Mommy misses him more. Means she needs to get her butt out of bed instead of nudgin him to take care of Olivia in the middle of the night when she is standing beside you staring. (A nursing mom needs her sleep for good milk supply!!)

Addison wants daddy to come home so she has someone to rough house with. Mommy just isn't as much fun as him!

Mommy and Ella need daddy too. Ella needs her daddy for her nightime feeding and mommy needs to sleep some more. Come home fast daddy, we miss you!!!

Scarecrow Patch

Addison had Grandparents Day at Preschool this weekend, and part of the festivities was taking the grandparents to the Pumpkin Patch. Depsite the incredibly dreary, wet and cold weather, we went anyway. We sure had a good time though and found our pumpkins. The girls did not want to leave, even when it was raining steadily on them. We took Grammy and headed out to have some fun and enjoy the company of one another. (We missed Mamo and Bampo though who were in Wichita celebrating Sydney's 1st Birthday! Sorry we missed out on that guys!) The girls were not overly cooperative with pictures, but who can blame them when they are 4 and 2. Ella was smiley at times and had fun out there also (she maily slept!).

Addison enjoyed shooting pumpkins, playing in the water with the rubber duckies, and her most prized moment was being able to do the zip line all by herself. She did probably about a hundred times. She was so happy!!

Olivia rode the pony and loved playing on the slide and falling into the barrel of corn. I did not catch any pictures of that. I will have to steal some off Grammy's camera. I was feeding Ella and trying to stay dry and warm. Did I mention it was freezing out there? We thought it was supposed to be nice weather until late afternoon. Not the case. After Ella was done eating, she was wide awake and very alert. I took the oppurtunity to catch some fun facial expressions and catch her being cute!!

We tried numerous times to get some pictures of the girls in the middle of the pumpkins and a family picture. The family picture was not working as Olivia was done with pictures and did not want to sit on the pumpkins because they were wet. Addison just wanted to pose.

Family Fun Time

I am back at work now and going to try and keep the updates more freuqent. Oh by the way, we have digital cable at home, so I can do this from home now!!! My husband rocks!

I really enjoyed my maternity leave and was a little weepy coming back to work. The girls have been really good with Ella. I am handling my emotions much better this time. I feared the postpartum depression throughout my entire pregnancy, but I am really feeling pretty good. The girls can get under my skin at times, and I feel like I loose my patience, but I have worked really hard on patience with the girls and their attitudes and temper tantrums.

The month of September went really fast for me and the girls. We had lots of visitors to keep us busy and to give me some extra help as I recovered from my c-section. Grammy came and stayed the 1st week, and thank goodness she was here because Olivia had the flu for 7 days. It was awful. Thankfully no one else got sick. After that Jenny and Leo flew in fromIdaho for 2 weeks. The girls had so much fun playing with Leo and taking walks. I think Leo got in touch with his feminine side, much to his father's dismay. He enjoyed walking around with princess umbrellas, playing barbies with Addison and playing with the girls princess castle. Jenny and I even got enough time to make Hallooween t-shirts for the kids.

The kids got lots of time at the park, playing and being loud. The decible level with two 2 year olds was loud. We also got a chance to celebrate Leo's 2nd birthday while he was here.

Addison and Olivia have been great helps for mommy. They both love to hold Ella and constantly want to know where she is, what she is doing and if they can give her a kiss. I am not brave enough to take a shower with the girls alone with Ella, but they have been great. Olivia has recently started wanting to try and pick her up. We came in from a walk one evening, and Ella had been siting in her carseat, not buckled, just sitting in there with blankets from the walk. I ran to the bathroom real quick. As I walked out, Ella started crying and I saw Olivia run away from her carseat. I better check out what happened while I was away. Ella was halfway down her carseat...Olivia was trying to pull her out of the carseat. I need to be sure I have my watchful eyes on all the time. Addison has taken a real liking to helping with her bottles. I have even got some helpers for "tummy time" with Ella.

Check back soon for some more pictures of the parade we went to and the Pumpkin Patch!

Hannah Montana Watch Out

Finally got the video to load.

A Pop Star in the Making

It was a Hannah Montana birthday for Addison in more ways than one! Check out the video..our future pop star!!

Check back soon...problems uploading!

A Quick Recap.....

So, a quick recap...had a baby, need sleep, dial-up internet at home. The End!!!!!!!!!!

Our life has been hectic to say the least! Ella arrived via c-section (on August 7th) much to mom's dismay. The little stinker was breech. But she came out screaming, and to think a week earlier they said her lucngs weren't developed enough yet!!! She weighed in at 7lbs 6 oz and was 20 inches. Our smallest baby by far. I knew right away she was smaller than the other girls, she looked so petite.

Since Ella's arrival, we have celebrated many birthdays. Olivia turned 2, Addison turned 4 and Tony turned 32. Addison also started preschool 3 days a week. So Ella just needed to be a go with the flow baby. And so far, so good!!

I will just give you a few pictures to see, since by now most of them are old. When I return to work you can expect more frequent updates!!

Crazy July Happenings

We have been super busy the last few weeks, trying to get lots done before we are home bound with a new baby (who hopefully will be here in less than 2 weeks). We have tried to get the girls outside to play, to visit friends, to the Omaha Childrens Museum, get Olivia her first haircut, and finally to sleep in the same room. We have been successful with most of them. I will let you guess where we are struggling.

Nah, I will just jump right in and tell you...sleeping in the same room. Man, whoever said this would be fun...you have no idea what the definition of fun really is. In my opinion and I think Tony would agree with me, this adventure has been less than fun or amusing. It has been a downright struggle for all involved and we are sleepy at our house. It all started about a week ago, I decided we just needed to go for it, the baby would be here soon and if it didn't work right away we still had time to adjust. The girls were super excited to share a room, share a bed and sleep together. The 1st night, Olivia came out of the room a few times, but eventually fell asleep in Addison's bed (their NEW bed together). Addison went to bed shortly afer Olivia was asleep. Addison proceeded to think she needed to read in her bed to her dolls, to Bob, and to Olivia. Yes, she woke Olivia up. They played for a little, Addison brought Olivia out to the living room, claiming, "Liv said she needed a hug and kiss from mommy". Pretty sure Olivia did not put that sentence together. They went back to bed. Played some more. Addison finally fell asleep, Olivia still awake is playing with the dolls, the blankets and Addison's head. Addison wakes up...it is now 11pm. We are ALL still awake. Enough is enough...Liv goes back to the crib. I am sure if you are reading this and you have been through it, you are chuckling...let me remind you...we have found NO humor in any of this!!!!!!!!!!!!! The next night, crying and coming out of the room for quite some time. Olivia finally falls asleep in the bed. Addison's turn to go to bed...oh no, she has other plans. She crys, big tears and loudly that she does NOT want Olivia sleeping in her bed. She wakes her up and it wasn't fun. We try anything we can think of to get her to go to bed, we bribe her with toys, we bribe her with books, we bribe her with anything...it is not going anywhere. We finally in desperation blow up the inflatable sleeping bag and she sleeps on the floor. Olivia wakes up numerous times throughout the night and wonders into the hall, stopping at our door to let us know she is up. Back to the crib she goes. I know you are thinking...why do you keep putting her back in the crib. Simple...I am 9 months pregnant and can't take the sleepless nights. The next solution is to do some research on the internet about siblings sharing rooms, sharing beds, ect. We break down and buy a toddler bed and a new crib mattress. Olivia will get her very OWN big girl bed. She doesn't have to share it with Addison. Tony goes to get it, and gets set right to work putting it together. Finally at 9:15pm, the girls go to bed, Tony is done, and the girls are exhausted. They went to bed great, we start to think..."wow, that was easy". Only to find the pitter patter of tiny little feet up ALL night long. We know we need to stop putting her back in the crib becasue we are not teaching her to sleep in her bed, but this momma needs her sleep. So Tuesday (the 22nd) night was the LAST night she slept in her crib. We are beyond tired, the girls are tired, more so Olivia because she thinks it is a game to see how many times she can be put back into her bed before finally falling asleep, and waking in the middle of the night and coming into our room must be fun! I think NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So there you have it, our saga of sharing a room. We are still working on it, Olivia occassionally wakes Addison up, Addison occasionally wakes Liv up, and Olivia always seems to want to wake up in the middle of te night for NO apparent reason. We can usually guarantee that she will be awake during one of those times for at least an hour. She is up other times during the night, but stays in her room after she is put back to bed. Tony has gone to sleep in their room twice in the middle of the night so we can all try to get some sleep.

Okay, want to hear what we have done that has been fun?!! We have been trying to get the girls out of the house to play as much as possible. A few weekends ago we spent time in Omaha and took the girls to Fun Plex with Grammy and Bubba. Tony and Lou went golfing and the girls went swimming and riding rides. We spent almost 5 1/2 hours there...the girls did gret and crashed the minute they were in the car. Addison got brave enough to go down the big slide with Bubba, not once but twice. She will of course NEVER do it again. The first ride was lots of fun, the 2nd ride, to fast, and Addison hit her head on the sides of the wall a few too many times and came off crying.

This was after the 1st slide, she loved it. She even went under, you can barely see their heads!

Asking to go again.

Bubba holding Addsion up. Notice the girl in front of them, she must have gone down much slower than Cassie and Addison.

Fun Plex also has rides that the girls enjoyed riding on. All in all that was a great time and nobody got badly sunburned for how long we were out there. We also managed to sneak in some play time at the Childrens Museum in Omaha while I was there for a doctor's appointment. The girls always enjoying going there, and it is hard for them to leave.

Olivia got her 1st haircut this past weekend. We had been looking at pictures of Addison when Olivia was born and thought how grown up Addison looked, and the how much Olivia still looks like a baby. They are the same age. So we opted to get her haircut in hopes that would help with making her "look" older. She did great in the chair, sat still and earned herself a sucker when she was all done! she doesn't necessarily look any older, but we at least attempted!

Where has the summer gone?

We have been slightly busy this summer. Sorry for the lack of updates. The girls have enjoyed staying home with a different babysitter a few days a week this summer. Addison got to go to camp, Olivia got some alone time. We have been swimming a few times. It seems we spend our weekends either on the road to York or Omaha or at home getting ready for baby. We are slowly getting there. We have been very hesitant to move Olivia to Addison's room. They will sleep together in Addison's bed. I think we just need to bite the bullet and do it. We fear what happens in the middle of the night when one is awake or when Olivia goes to bed early. Oh well, we will figure it all out...eventually!

We spent the 4th of July at home this year. Addison actually enjoyed the fireworks, and sat outside with mom and Grammy to watch them until after dark. She had told us a few weeks prior to the 4th, that she was not going to be afraid this year! Good, we could finally sleep during that week! The fireworks didn't even seem to phase Olivia.

We are about 3-4 weeks until baby arrives. I am feeling tired, hot and ready to meet this little gymnast in my belly. Addison is so excited to see the baby and to be "mommy's helper". Hope that she still feels like that in 2 months! Olivia is becoming a bit more aware that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. We still do not know the sex of the baby. Addison says girl, Olivia says both, Mamo says boy, Kevin and Jenny say boy...so guess we will soon see!!! We did decide to pull out some of the baby "stuff" to get the girls used to having it out. Olivia thinks it belongs to her!!

Ending with a cutie of the girls posing for daddy!!