Hi, my name's Joanna...

and I am addicted to craft blogs. I thought it was time to come clean. There must be a 12-step program out there for people like me. Anyway, incase you were wondering why I haven't been updating the blog much lately, you can see why. Here's what I've been working on.

Portable DVD player bag - based kinda off Ashley's

Jill's Cozy Car Caddy (made especially for the plane ride to Florida)

Baby Legs (made using Auntie JuJu's old Sweater) - Ashley's idea again

Crayon tote - for a special 3 year old friend of Ellie - Pattern

Little Quilted basket - I actually made three of these (for my mom's group christmas white elephant and both of Ellie's teachers...unfortunately, due to the snow her teachers will have to wait until after new year's to enjoy.

I only wish I could come up with this stuff on my own!

Snowed In

Almost two feet of snow. And here we thought we had moved to the south. HA! Too deep for the kids to play in. I think we would have lost Ethan. That and he doesn't have snow boots. The aligator rain boots are super cute, but didn't work so well. So, we've been hanging out inside...letting our library books get more overdue, waiting for the plows to clean the streets, and working on creating some holiday cheer.

Oh, and yes...Ethan is eating the playdough...yum.

Ethan @ 16 months.

Just a little update on our not so little man.

Some new words...

"KA" - car...I put in caps, cause he doesn't say it, he shouts it whenever he sees one. Since our neighborhood is pretty packed with houses and our front yard is a parking lot, we hear this often

"All Fall Down" - yep, Ellie taught him how to play "ring around the rosie"

"Peas" - please..only once or twice now, but we are working on it. It's much better to hear than "AHHHH" when he wants something.

"Tap" - or somethimes "Top" - Thomas, i.e. Thomas the Tank engine. As well loved as santa in our home.

"Kuku" - cookie. Mama's been making a lot of these lately.

"Door"- yep, he's got that one just about perfect. It's lots of fun when we walk around our block (with about 25 houses) and he stops at each one, points and yells "door"

"Boo" - let's just say this one is Tim's favorite and we hear it whenever I am holding Ethan and his hands are trying to find their way down my shirt...I'll let you use your imagination.

His favorites are still Dada, Mama, Maa (more), and ah do (all done)

He is climbing everywhere (thankfully not out of his crib yet), loves to hug and wrestle with his big sister, says good night to the front door everynight, and loves to pull the ornaments and garland off the christmas tree. The lower branches are just that, branches...not many needles left.

Chaos!

Sorry for the messiness of the last post. Not sure why blogger isn't letting me comment below pictures or align the pictures up nicely. Oh well. Don't have time to figure it out now. I have some christmas presents to finish making and need to start packing to head to NJ tomorrow for the family christmas gathering. December sure snuck up on us and it is flying by!

Christmas has arrived!

Ellie is enjoying my favorite Christmas Decoration. I am pretty sure this came from Mom Mom and I am so excited that it's mine!

We picked up our tree from the boyscouts last Saturday morning - in the freezing rain and ice - it took me almost a week to decorate. I can't wait until they are older and can help more.

Watching the first snow of the year. Too bad it turned to an icy slushy mess before we could play.

Timmy is pretty excited about the tree too. Glad he doesn't read this...he'd kill me!

Kids seeing the tree decorated. Ethan didn't last long...he's getting up to attack the ornaments!

Late Fall Picnic

Just enjoying this warm weather before winter sets in. Although last year we were at the playground in January, so hopefully "winter" will repeat itself.

Sticky Fingers

Ethan is giving this saying a whole new meaning...and it's not just fingers, but hair, face, ear...he decided that his plate of pancakes and syrup would be better on his head than on his high chair. Sweet dreams all.

Pizza and Hot Chocolate

I am a single parent this week. Going from a weekend with no children to having them all to myself 24 hours a day has been exhausting. Therefore, we are eating easy this week. We made our own pizzas. The kiddos were pretty hungry after a morning of playgroup and an afternoon of running errands that they wanted to eat the pizza before we baked it...yum.

We decided to have a little hot chocolate before bed since it has been a cold, rainy day today.

Enjoy the pictures!

Sorry no pictures today...

boo hoo...I know. I will take some tonight...promise. Now, when I will post them, who knows, but trust that they will be safe on my camera until another moment like this when both my kiddos are asleep!!

I just wanted to take advantage of this brief moment of silence and record some of Ethan's recent accomplishments:

He can now say the following words:
Mama - yes, he no longer looks at me and says, "DA!!"
Dada - he's had that one forever
Apple - he pointed to them at the store today and said it clear as day
Bananna - well, it's more like BA but he points to them when he says it, so it counts in my book
All done - sometimes sounds more like "ah do" but we know what he means
More - which is always spoken in a loud groan so it sounds more like "MAHH", but again, we know exactly what he means
That's about it for now, but I think now that he has mastered walking, the words are going to start multiplying like crazy!

He is also waving bye and understands almost everything we say. Ask him to go get something (his juice, paci, etc.) and he will bring it back everytime. We aren't training him like a dog, really, I promise.

Fall Fun!

Playing catch-up...Since I missed most of fall during our blog hiatus, I will fill in now. We had a great Halloween day. We spent the day with Uncle James and Auntie Barb (and Wynn too, of course). Ellie actually knew what was going on and was asking all day if it was time for trick-or-treat and if she could put on her costume. I didn't get any good pictures of them together in their costumes and Ethan didn't want to wear his hat at all and that was the main part of his costume! Oh well. We are really enjoying our loot now. Ethan had developed a fondness for lollipops and Ellie has been enjoying twizzlers. They shared the reese's peanut butter cups with daddy since he had to miss all the fun to volunteer at the firehouse. Such good kids.

We are having a rough time adjusting to daylight savings. Both kids were up before 6am today - Ethan at 4:45! I am hoping that they adjust in a few days or they might just kill me! Enjoy the new (and old) pictures.

Happy Halloween!

Pictures

Sorry...I know you all are just dying to read my thoughtful comments...but the pictures will have to do for now. More soon. Enjoy.

Long Time No Blog

First day of school...sorry for the squint, it's pretty sunny on our front porch in the am. Yes, she chose her own outfit.

Ethan's first haircut. He has since had a second.

I know, saying it has been a long time since I last posted is an extreme understatement. I just didn't realize it till now and I see that the last pictures I posted are of a long-haired Ethan. I promise that I will post more often...really, believe me.

We have been busy at least, not just lazy. In the last two months we have:

Made 2 trips to Pittsburgh...2 trips to NJ...attended on Grandmother's Wedding...one Pap Pap's Funeral...had 2 first birthday parties......1st haircut...started preschool...made 2 Halloween costumes...and had countless other routine days of playground visits, shopping trips, and playdates.

Needless to say we've had some ups and downs (literally and emotionally). I promise to add some pictures and post more soon (since I know the three of you who actually read this are really here for the pictures anyway). I am also working on getting the pictures up on Walmart's photo site. If you want the password, send me an email.

Hope all is well. Talk to you soon (promise!)

Eating pizza on the boardwalk.

Don't think I'll be able to hold them both at the same time for much longer!

Ethan swimming in the lake.

One more trick...he picks up the phone, holds it over his shoulder and says, "HI".

Babies playing in the ocean with Nana and Pop!

Busy Days!

We are really enjoying our summer...lots of travels, time at the pool, and playing outside. Doesn't leave much time for updating the blog. Ellie spent a week with Nana and Pop...all by herself! She was so well-behaved and had a great time walking around the neighborhood, riding in the wagon, and eating lots of treats. Ethan and I went up last week to pick her up and stayed a week. We visited the shore, went swimming a few times and experienced some crazy NJ storms (complete with power outages and downed trees) quite exciting. Had to spend one night at MomMoms and take the kids over another night for baths when the electricity went out. It was a great trip!

Ellie finally had her first dentist appointment this week. I tried to prepare her...we've been talking about it for months and I borrowed lots of the books from the library. She really enjoyed reading the books...did not enjoy actually visiting the dentist though. She sat on my lap, but that didn't seem to help much...she just screamed the entire time. Hopefully the next visit in six months will be better. She did, however, enjoy getting a new toothbrush and bracelet. We should have a break in visits for a while now. As long as she stays healthy, she doesn't need a checkup until her next brithday and won't need to see the neurologist until January. She has had 10 appointments total since her stroke! I think she deserves a break.

Ethan sure is keeping us on our toes. He cut his first tooth last night. Not that he needs them (I swear the boy could gum a steak!), but I am glad that he got one before his first birthday. He is trying to take some steps alone and is flying around holding onto the furniture. He is also enjoying climbing. We have to watch where we keep Ellie's stepstool or he might end up on top of something - like the coffee table! His hair is growing insanely fast and he really needs a haircut, but I am trying to wait till his birthday. His new tricks include...making a "vroom" sound when he pushes a car/truck around the room, laying on his belly while swimming and kicking his legs (it really looks like he is trying to swim!), and sucking on a pacifier - ok, so this isn't really a trick, but is hysterical that he decided at 11 months old that he wanted one...not sure how I feel about it.

Don't worry, I'll put up another post with just pictures. Enjoy!

Ellie's Amazing!

Today was dress like a cow and eat free day at Chick-fil-A, so I painted some spots on some old onesies and took the kids. We met up with Ellie's buddy Ryan and had a great time!

Ellie was so excited to see the "big cow" she probably would have talked to it all day...Mommy thought it was a bit creepy though.

Just a few short weeks ago he wouldn't crawl...now he won't stay seated. He is trying to climb stairs already too...we are in big trouble!

Sporting the matching monkey jammies from Grandmoo.

Ellie has been enjoying the cherry tomatoes from the little plant we put in a pot on our front steps...we get one or two everyday and Ellie has eaten them all!

Those were the exact words her Neurologist used during Wednesday's follow-up appointment. She is just astonished at how quickly she has rebounded from the stroke and thinks she is doing wonderfully. In fact, we don't need to have another follow-up until next January! Except for another round of blood tests in a few weeks (we had to have some done this week as well), she shouldn't have any additional tests or appointments! It will be so nice to get to have some normalcy without having to run her around to doctors and evaluations. We are so thankful and are equally amazed by our strong little girl! She was so brave throughout the appointment and is getting better at expressing her emotions. The morning of the appointment I told her we had to go to the city and talk to the doctor. She immediately asked if the doctor was going to "poke her". I told her we were just going to talk to the doctor and that the doctor wanted to see how her brain was doing. I had told her last week that she needed the MRI cause the doctor wanted to take some pictures of her brain - so I was hoping she could make some sort of connection. Well, when the appointment was over, she was so excited she exclaimed, "You didn't poke me!" - she is too funny! We did have to have some blood tests done, which were a bit more traumatic. The lab was very busy so I had some time to try and explain to Ellie what was going to happen. She had a lot of blood drawn during her stay at the hospital, but I wasn't sure how much of it she actually remembered. This is about how our conversation went:

Ellie: Is it going to hurt?

Me: It might. It will be a little pinch.

Ellie: I think I will cry.

Me: It's ok to cry.

Then she didn't say anything else and went back to playing. When they finally called us in for the test, she had a meltdown. She started crying hysterically and was shouting, "I'm scared of the blood!". She cried the entire time, but the tech. was very good with her and patient. At the end of the test when we told her it was all done she said (through some pretty good sobs), "I did good, and I didn't even cry!" That's our girl!