My BFF

Th other day this sweet little girl informed me that I was her best friend. She also said that "mommies are kids best friends". I am going to enjoy this stage cause I know in a few short years she won't want anyone to think that I am her best friend - ah, the teen years...I am already stressing. I think I'll send her to live with Auntie Janelle then...they'll have fun.

I know I have been neglecting our blog updates lately, but I really feel like I have been neglecting Ellie updates. So here we go, a few things about my best friend...

1. She is obsessed with twins...she constantly wants to match someone in the house...the other night she wouldn't go to sleep until she put her brown sweatshirt over her jammies cause I had my brown sweatshirt on.

2. She is starting to enjoy movies and videos...she still likes her sing-a-long ones best.

3. She is becoming interested in letters..."what does (fill in word of choice here) sound like" - in other words, everytime she thinks of a word, she wants to know what it sounds like. I have never been very good at phonics, so I hope I am not confusing her with my interpretations of the sounds letters make.

4. She is starting to write her name! This is one of the skills that we have been anxiously awaiting since the stroke. I think she is definately going to be a lefty...18 valentines for her classmates...18 letter "e"s written with her left hand.

5. She has been exercising her independence, especially during mealtimes - once a great eater, now she regularly informs us that she "doesn't like that". Ahh...this too shall pass.

6. I visited her class today (which I love to do, wish I could do more, and really enjoy seeing her interacting with her classmates) and when we got home I asked if she liked having mommy in her class today. She told me she was "very happy and proud". She sure knows how to get me! After that one, I would have given her all the cookies and juju snacks she wanted!

Ethan @ 17 Months...

I promise that this will be the last "words" list. All because he learns new ones everyday and I can't keep up.

Dump - as in drop, throw
Sis - as in Ellie
Read
Book
Truck
Trash
Crack - as in cracker, really
Remote - he is a man afterall
Fish
Catch
Pane - Airplane
Cop - Helicopter
Sock
Shoes
Foot
Pass - as in Paci, or pacifier -his favorite "toy"
Dipe - Diaper
Juice
Cup
Milk
Cut - he really likes to cut the play food in the playroom
Up - he screams this when he wants me to pick him up...I usually just look at him till he says "peas". Its really funny...he'll scream up three times then look at me and calmly say "peas"

I am sure there are more, he can repeat almost anything you say at this point.

And he even has some phrases... most begin with "I"
as in "I dump" (pass, truck, etc - as he is throwing thing out of his crib or down the stairs!)
"I sweep"
"I poop" - Tim's favorite by far

He is loving reading lately.
I promise pictures next time (forgot to recharge the camera battery...oops) and I will give an update on Ellie...I think she is being neglected.

Catching Up

Between houseguests, travels, and general holiday craziness, you blog friends have been neglected. I apologize to the eight of you. I know you have been dying for an update - pictures, at least - so here you go...and Happy New Year.

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!