Owen & Anson at 9 months

These little monkeys are NINE months old! Three quarters of their first year of life have passed & they are proving to be more entertaining each & every day. Their grins are are no longer toothless & they no longer stay put when you lay them on a blanket. They are full of laughter, shrieking, playfulness & are always up for a good snuggle. They are starting to wave & both boys are melting our hearts with saying mamamama & dadadada all day everyday.

OWEN

Mighty O's Stats:

15 pounds 10 ounces

27 inches long

6-9 month clothing

Growin' Owen impressed his pediatrician by jumping up a bit on his growth curve even if he is still on the small side. He has some chubby little knees when sitting with his legs outstretched but his core remains strong as strong can be. O is like one little muscle & my guess is that he will start crawling while we are in Texas this month. He is constantly leaning over to reach things, getting at least one knee under him before flopping onto his belly & rolling/wiggling to his destination.  Owen is also pulling up onto his knees from a sitting position. He is a determined little fellow who is constantly searching for some excitement in his life. When Daddy is holding him he will squeal loudly until lifted up in the air in a trampoline like bouncing motion off his legs. Owen lands, does his arms out like a gymnast, straightens his legs, squeals & then goes again, and again, and again. He has a lot of energy. He likes to push his toys off the couch if he is sitting next to you then attempts to dive off. He & Elo could be quite the dangerous combination come full mobility ; ) 

He has quite the appetite & new favorites this month include broccoli, mango, yogurt puffs & any sort of cracker. Both boys are devouring crackers like hungry little monsters which means I can get something done in the kitchen but I have to sweep the floor after every twin vs cracker encounter.  I don't sweep the floor every time & have been known to put shoes on while walking around the kitchen so I can ignore the fact that the floor is crumb ridden. Definitely missing Bennett these days since Bella is not quite the same caliber of vacuum. Anyway, hungry O, he likes to eat, he likes to nurse & he likes his bottle which he can now hold HALLELUJAH! In the eating department, he has enjoyed the recent addition of both bottom teeth definitely more than mommy has. I tell you what, nursing two babies with teeth simultaneously is like nursing two little piranhas with no manners!  It is a challenge to have my hands tied up & try to protect myself. We are still going strong though & neither babe is losing interest. Owen got both teeth within 24 hours of each other the week of Thanksgiving. They are now starting to stick up enough to see when he does his precious little grin.

Owee LOVES the bath tub & is happy to play alone, with his bro or with the whole family of kids. It depends on my mood as to how I tackle bath time but more often than not they all go in together & play for a good 30 minutes before anyone cries. If you say "Owen, can you splash?" He gets goin' with his hands making water go everywhere. It's pretty cute & pretty wet. He is usually the first to cry & first to exit the tub. He is my little guy & I love him. 

The boys are interacting more & more every day. They play nice for a bit then start attacking each other usually resulting in tears from whoever gets pinched or bitten harder. On the sweet side, they make sounds back & forth sometimes when they are sitting in their high chairs & I did catch them one morning pulling down the bumpers on their cribs to look at each other across the room. Adorable! They were hilarious in their monkey hats. Owen who is on the left, got a hold on the strings of Anson's hat & pulled him down to where he was bent in half. Once Anson recovered he grabbed Owen's hat & pulled it over his eyes! Sneaky move!

They are pretty much in the same exact routine minus waking/going down for a nap separate but within 20-30 minutes of each other on occasion.  If I let them get off schedule it feels like I have one baby that doesn't nap all day long & it can be a bit challenging to get anything else done.

What their eating & sleeping looks like right now:
7:00- nurse
7:30- breakfast
8:45-10:30- nap
10:30- 6-7oz bottle of formula
11:30- lunch
12:45- nurse
1-3:45- nap
3:45- 6-7oz bottle of formula
5:00- dinner
6:30- nurse
6:45- bed

Some days everything is shifted earlier & they are sooooo tired by 5:45pm that we just put them down for the night & don't hear from them till 6:45am. I wish I could sleep that long every night! They love their beds & rarely fuss when it's time to sleep. We just lowered the mattress down since Muscles (Owen) is attempting to pull himself up.

ANSON

Chubby Bubby's Stats:

17 pounds 10 ounces

27 3/4 inches

6-9 month clothing

This kiddo really wowed us with his quick weight gain in the past couple months. He jumped up a good 30% on the growth curve chart. I can't say I was surprised since he has been known to nurse, get topped off with a bottle & try to steal his big brothers bottle from him too.  Talk about chubby knees, Anson has the yummiest knees much like his big sisters did at this age.  Due to the chub factor or possibly the lazy factor (in the nicest way to say that), he is happy as can be sitting upright & rarely leans far to get something out of reach. I have caught him on his knees once or twice looking ready to crawl but that big belly hangs so low to the ground it is easy to collapse & rest. He may surprise us & crawl in Texas too, only time will tell! He does not seek out adventure in the same way his brother does but is quite entertained by bouncing on knees or playing airplane.

We just rewatched Lambert the Sheepish Lion the other day & laughed so hard because Lambert says "mama" much like Anson. It is sweet. Anson also has a sheepish grin sometimes just like Lambert. Anson acts like he hasn't eaten in weeks EVERY time we feed him hollering between each bite. He has truly enjoyed making huge messes of crackers both graham & ritz while I watch with a grin on my face. He eats whatever is offered & lots of it! He loves nursing even more than his brother & will snuggle there for much longer than necessary to receive adequate milk intake. It is precious though & I love it.  His hair is wild, stands straight up & hangs over his ears. We are thinking he might need a little trim in the next couple weeks.

Anson is a big fan of the bath tub too & probably prefers bathing with his sisters & even lets them wash his hair. As long as he isn't super tired & grumpy, he will withstand torture in the bath tub for a long time. He splashes with his bro & helps make the floor outside the tub really wet. He is my chubby bubby & I love him too.

We have twins! I was still saying that to myself when I took these pictures the other day....TWO cute little tushies!

Eloise at two & a half

Eloise Hope hit the halfway mark between two & three at the end of November. I look at her & I just smile knowing the sweetness of who she is coupled with the shenanigans she is capable of. She looks so calm in the picture above holding the flowers ever so gently....she can be calm but not for long.  Elo is on the go all the time!  We love this girl & are thankful to have her sandwiched in the middle of our "whole family of kids." I use that phrase frequently. It was taken from an Ellis home video of me at age 7, Scott at age 3 & newborn baby Kyle all snuggled on the couch together. look at my mom & say in a nerdy way "look, it's a whole family of kids!" I look around my house sometimes & think "who lives here... a whole family of kids?" I load the dishwasher with an entire upper rack of kids silverware, bowls & sippy cups & think "yep, a whole family of kids has taken over this dishwasher!" 

Anyway, Eloise is right smack in the middle of a big sis, baby boas & she couldn't be any cuter...

She is just under 30 pounds & fits most comfortably into 3T clothing although we still have some 2T items in circulation. She wears a size 8.5 or 9 shoe.  She has officially "caught" her sister in shoe size since Charlotte's feet have not grown in two years! I never had a sister to share clothing/shoes with but so far, not so good, Elo always wants to wear Char's shoes & someone is not excited about that.  

Eloise has recently received a new nickname....or five. We love nicknames around here : ) Our friends, those in the Ziel family have always called her Lolo so we started saying it too, we then added Lo, Loli & Lolita. Rob even made up a whole song about Lolita & how she is chiquita & bonita. It's great. 

Here are some things this spunky little Lolita is up to at two & a half:

• runs full speed, jumps up & down, crashes regularly
• has really gotten the hang of kicking the soccer ball & loves to run down the sidewalk kicking it over & over as it bounces off the grass on either side
• still rubs her belly button & holds the back of her hand over her mouth when sleepy or unsure
• can stack lots of block into a tall tower, can destroy tall towers rather quickly 
• can count to ten but only when she wants to
• knows the letters O, A, C, E which are the first initials of the kiddos around here
• has not had an accident in a LONG time....knock on wood ; ) 
• loves to eat blueberries which she pronounces "boo-bies" she also loves pancakes, turkey & cheese chunks, Cheetos, raisins, almonds & any sweet treat
• sings many of her own songs
• tells stories that don't make a lot of sense but are very long & usually include a monster and or Jesus shooting people with the "shooo" sound effect...not sure where that came from
• she likes to sit on Bella's back
• yells at the babies to not bite mommy while nursing
• calls Anson "chubby bubby" & thinks of him often. She lays in our bed when the sun is coming up & says "Mommy, I want to go get that chubby bubby."
• cannot for the life of her, no matter how many times we show her, get her panties on without being inside out & backwards...its hilarious
• colors rather crazily with markers on paper, tables & herself
• requests multiple times a day to be held & spun around or dance to music
• sleeps in random places & positions ie in an infant bathtub or on her belly hanging off the side of the bed with both feet on the ground
• still loves to have her bottom patted & many times convinces her sister to do it
• knows a few more colors & shapes
• loves to prepare "food" for us from her kitchen & says that most every item is a pancake when served

Mamasita: One thing I adore about Eloise is that she is a mini mama. She cares for Owen & Anson the best way she knows how which proves to cause a lot of crying on their part but they are getting tougher as they become accustomed to her affection. She is precious with her baby dolls & stuffed animals making sure they are fed & have clean diapers on. We all know Eloise rarely wears clothing although we are not sure why that is......we (me & Rob) agree that we love seeing her little body streaking through the house so we let her stay "cool" in her birthday suit plus some undies. Here she is feeding her baby owl.

I love that she wears shoes with undies only & then wants a baby or two strapped on....

Sissy talks a lot: A sissy talks a lot is definitely not on the Christmas list this year since we already have one ; ) This little lady has lots to say & happens to have the cutest little voice & expressions to accompany her fast growing vocabulary. Here are some frequent phrases we hear day to day:

• When doing something she is not supposed to do such as jumping off the back of the couch or climbing onto the counter she says "Mommy, I be brave." I tell her I am not looking for her to be brave, just obedient ; ) 
• If she doesn't want to eat her dinner she says "My tummy ache hurts." She also tells us "I wah yayipop, make my tummy ache feel better."
• If she has two of anything she says "I have two ones!"
• When it is time for a nap or bed & she is trying to stall she says "I need tell you something." We say, "yes, Eloise" & her response is always quiet jibberish with lots of "leelalula" in it.
• When the girls are playing together & I overhear their conversation as Char asks Elo if she can use something Eloise usually responds with "just 40 minutes." Charlotte always asks "is that a long time?" Char asks that about every length of time we say so it makes me laugh that she asks Elo who has no idea how long that really is & she says "no, it's not a long time."
• Today at the doctors office she got our pediatricians attention & said "You know what?" she leaned closer & whispered "49." ??
• She knows a crazy number of her catechism questions. We were only working with her on maybe #1-12 but she knows most of the answers up to #30 just from listening in on when we review with Char. She mostly gets them right but cracks us up when we say "Eloise, how many Gods are there?" The answer is of course "one God" but she ALWAYS says "two sons" which is from something else we learned that talks about how many sons Isaac had. 
• This girl says "I sorry" a lot which sounds like "I saw-ee." She is definitely a quick apologizer & is saying "I sorry I sorry I sorry I sorry" immediately after whatever just occurred that was her fault. We got to laughing last night when Robby was doing an impression of her saying "I sorry I kicked you in the face mommy, I sorry I bit your finger Charlotte, I sorry I body slammed you Owen!" I am glad she wants to say sorry but I think sometimes she thinks she can do whatever she wants as long as she apologizes right away & over & over ; ) 

"There were never more devoted sisters": One other sweet gift I enjoy is watching a special relationship develop between these two...

They really love each other & can get to giggling so hard we cannot even get their attention.  Right now they are ridiculously silly when someone burps or toots. They just dissolve into a fit of laughter. I thought only boys thought that was funny ; ) I'm in for it though considering boys may find that even funnier than girls!

Eloise does not like to go into her class at church or Thursday at school without Charlotte walking her to the door & making a big show of hugs & kisses to send her on her way. It is pretty adorable. These two spend lots of time together day & night sharing a room. Elo prefers to sleep in Charlotte's bed for nap time every day & does well climbing up and down the ladder. She snoozes for a couple hours & every now & then for three hours when she is totally wiped out. She goes down when the boys do around 1. Many times when she wakes up, she pops her head out of her room & says "Peek a boo!"

Mischievous behavior: There is a lot of mischievous behavior from this cutie patootie. I really feel like I can't take my eyes off her for very long although I do & I can't say I always regret it because I usually end up laughing hard. Here are two recent stories:

1. I was in the kitchen & turned off the water in the sink when I heard water still running coming from the kids bathroom. I grabbed my phone & started recording. I came around the corner to find her up on the counter with sopping wet washcloths & water pouring down the mirror as she got it "all keen mommy!" She is such a helpful girl isn't she?
2. We got home from school one Thursday & it is always a marathon to get everyone fed & down when they are that tired. I was feeding babies in their room with the door shut to keep the chaos out. I was gone for about 10 minutes when I heard Eloise yelling "help help!" I came out to find that she had climbed up on my craft table & found some pink embroidery thread that she unwound & ran ALL over the living rooms & playroom with. It was wrapped tightly around her foot (that could have been bad) wrapped around furniture, toys & the best part was that she had tied up Bella to where she was lying still in the middle of the floor! Haha! I had to cut the thread off of Bella & Eloise to free them & then we collected the rest. Here is the pile when we were done...

This girl is keeping us on our toes in thus far, the busiest season of life! I love her & her cuddles...

Happy two & a half years Lolo! You are sweeter than sweet!

Celebrating Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week was quite enjoyable for a multitude of reasons. One at the top of the list was that Rob was not too busy at work early in the week & then was off starting Wednesday. It is amazing to have a full timer to tag team home/child management with! We did a whole lot of relaxing around the house & it was lovely. 

We woke up Thanksgiving morning with two little ladies snuggled between us. It was one of those nights where we just wanted to sleep & we didn't care who was sleeping with us. As a result of that decision, we were in bed till after 7 which rarely happens when they are in their own beds so it was a good start to a great day! We stayed in our jammies till lunch moving from the bed to the couch for some Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade watching. Even Bella girl participated!

Rob & I cooked up some of the best sausage balls we have had in a long time & my Grandmother Alene's delicious angel biscuits.  I had the chocolate pie recipe staring me in the face to remind me to make it too : )

I got cozy with the girls once the little guys were back down for a nap. Robby served up the sausage balls in the shape of a heart, perfectly suited for the Valentine chickadees.

Eloise has this habit where she takes a bite out of each one & puts it back on the plate.....

She also has the habit of performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on her brothers at least once every day.....

We were tired of being cooped up by lunch time so we put on our "winter gear" to go for a walk in the 60 degree weather. It felt amazing!

Owen on the left, Anson on the right

We made it over to the field next to our house in enough time for the girls to do some exploring with their big strong daddy. This made me excited for our upcoming squirrel hunt! 

After a walk & light lunch, we got the kids (minus Char) down for naps. I then put myself down for my pre- work nap which is ALWAYS amazing. I slept for a few hours & awoke to the smell of some delicious homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  I kissed everyone goodnight & left for work by 6. It was an enjoyable night, not too wild but busy enough to stay awake ; ) I did deliver one little turkey just before midnight to a sweet couple I enjoyed taking care of. 

I was home by 8, scarfed down a breakfast sandwich, whipped up some chocolate pie for our Thanksgiving Friday dinner & hit the sack by 9:30. The weekly routine is for Rob & the kids to pick up Chick-a-LAY (as the girls say) for lunch. I felt rested & excited to get ready for our evening. 

Since being in Florida, we have hosted a Thanksgiving meal every year & were planning to again with some friends from our small group.  One of the ladies LouSena called about a week prior & offered to host....I answered "yes" before she finished the question ; ) It was such a gift to take a side dish & dessert instead of cleaning before & after along with making the turkey! 

We headed over around 4 with our crew + two pack n' plays, a fan, two high chairs & plenty of baby food to keep the littlest of the bunch happy. We don't travel light these days! 

Dean & LouSena's home backs up to a golf course which made for an easy place to take a quick family photo. Boy is it hard to get everyone to look at the same time! Little O was looking at that wet ground hoping we weren't going to set him back down again. 

The girls got comfy (& silly) in the swinging chair out on the patio....

The boys were happy as they could be eating some sweet potatoes, peas & cheerios.  A typical Thanksgiving meal for an almost 9 month old right?

Anson...I could just eat him up. 

Owen getting some tickles from his sis.

The lovely couples that joined us in celebrating Thanksgiving one day late....

Josh & Lindsay

Don & Cathy

LouSena & Dean

Us 

and 5 out of the 7 precious children. The baby boys went to bed at six when we sat down to eat. These five snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie & within the hour the big girls came out to report that Charlotte was sound asleep.  Poor girl can't stay awake for a night time movie to save her life...I think she got that from me ; )

Clara, Eloise, Charlotte, Anna & Alex

Our meal was delicious with all the classic side dishes. What was better than the food was the laughter among friends. We miss our family dearly but are thankful for the many friends we have shared holidays with over the years.

3, 2, 1 Blast off!

I can't believe that we are already done with our first half of Pre-K with Classical Conversations! We are still doing a bit at home to keep up our memory work & practice writing but for the most part, December is going to be about relaxing, spending time with our family & helping the girls grasp what it is we are celebrating at the end of the month. 

To end the semester with a blast, we got to participate in a rocket launch day following six weeks of studying outer space. It truly was a blast even for the littlest of the kids out there. Eloise was so very excited that I picked her up from class thirty minutes early so she too could watch. Poor Elo, it took her the entire twelve weeks to get comfortable with going & now we have a long break & will start all over!

Anyway, Charlotte was PRECIOUS with Eloise when she ran up to her. She was again a "mini-mama" holding onto Eloise & telling her all about what was happening although I am not really sure she even knew what was going on ; ) At one point Char was standing right behind the little sis stroking her arms up & down keeping her calm. My goodness, I almost melted. 

All the kids got a balloon full of air to release all together. There was a lot of squealing from the kids & the balloons. Look at Lolo's face in the first one & then she assumed self soothing position when it got really noisy & she was quite unsure.

Hannah, sweet Hannah is Charlotte's best buddy at school.  She is absolutely precious. Her love language is 110% physical touch & Charlotte's just isn't ; ) After nearly a year of friendship between these two, Charlotte is more accustomed to hugs & hand holding while Hannah is beginning to ask Charlotte if she can express her love & affection for her friend. Whatever their interaction is, it always brings a smile to my face & to Hannah's mom Annie.  Annie & I have had SO much fun starting this CC journey together especially when we are in class observing & helping. We laugh a LOT. Here are the two chickadees at the rocket launch...

Annie & sweet Lilah Leigh a snuggled in the Ergo.....

and we can't leave out Lawson....handsome as handsome can be with all those curls! He likes class (ie nursery) almost as much as Eloise ; )

I mentioned Mrs. Liz in the Thankful Tree post.  She is a gift to Charlotte for her first year of school as she is just the perfect personality to not overwhelm her as she gets used to the classroom setting.

We watched lots of foot launched rockets fly & then they topped off the show with two battery operated ones. One of those had a parachute that deployed & sent it floating far far away. One kid next to us said she thought it might go to Texas to which Elo replied "Texas is where my Gaga lives." Haha!

Here they are watching the rockets fly....

What a fun day it was & the girls are still talking about it. They were quite disappointed to find out that we don't get to do that every week.  One thing it prompted was practicing counting down from 10. I'm sure we can perfect that while we drive from here to Texas in a couple weeks ; )

Thankful Tree 2013

Well I am pretty sure I hit my all time lowest number of posts in a month in November! That is the result of a few things including minor illnesses, ordinary busy days with our brood, evenings on the couch relaxing with father bird & just plain enjoying the holiday season leaving little time to blog.  A goal (among many) in the next week is to catch up so first things first.....

Thankful Tree 2013

Does it look a little bare? Like maybe a wind blew threw & sent leaves flying off the tree? Well, if you consider the two year old in our home & the hurricane force winds from the way she runs around this nest coupled with our inability to actually write on a leaf every day of November, it makes for a bare tree.  This in turn does not mean that we are not thankful : )

I looked back at our previous Thankful Tree posts & laughed at how pretty the table looked. It really doesn't look all that bad compared to many mornings but there is a smattering of additional items tabletop including some purple pants which means someone (ie Eloise) was running around pant-less again. There are a couple paper airplanes & the box of cheerios that has made it's permanent home about two feet away from the boys' assigned spots. In the background there are two high chairs with butternut squash & broccoli puree smeared & hardened on the trays from the night before....I really try to clean after each meal but it doesn't always happen.

As for the amount of leaves written on, I am struggling to stay in a routine so we wrote on a few leaves maybe even up to five at a time & quit on day 16 ha! We did talk often of what we were thankful for, it just never made it to the tree.

Here are the things that did....

1.  the Ziel family
2. God's provision for helpful people
3. "God makes us strong & fights for us" - Charlotte
4. day four was MIA- Probably blown away by those hurricane force winds
5. Fall weather in Florida
6. God's character
7. "lizards"- Eloise
8. Hearts that are learning to trust God
9. Ryan, Leah & their commitment to serve Christ
10. Tickle fights
11. Aunt Jenny helping our family
12. pink eye stye medicine
13. "For the food God makes in Florida" - Charlotte
14. the kindness & patience of Mrs. Liz, Charlotte's teacher
15. Books
16. Grandparents that love & care for our family

Just to elaborate on a few....

Following six weeks of illness among the kids. We were all well for two days until I woke up Monday morning with a painful stye, itchy & gooey eyes.  Rockstar Aunt Jenny took care of my four & her two while I went to a neighborhood clinic to be diagnosed & treated for pink eye in BOTH eyes!! I was SO thankful for those eyedrops to help me feel better & look less zombie like & prevent the spreading of it among the rest of the family.

We have loved participating in Classical Conversations this year & have been thankful for Mrs. Liz, Charlotte's teacher. She is kind & patient providing just the right balance of challenge & encouragement for a timid (in groups) first born child.  We are on break until January & Charlotte can hardly wait to go back!

I did not take a picture of the one that said "lizards" by Eloise but seriously, she really is thankful for lizards. She loves them & squats down to take a look at each & every one we pass on the sidewalk. She tells me "look at the lizard God made, he is so boo-tiful mommy!"

We were riding in the car one afternoon & Charlotte said "I love God & I love Jesus Eloise." Eloise said "me too." Charlotte said "I trust him." It really surprised me because it seems like there has been a lot of input on our part to help the girls understand who God is, how He loves & cares for us & what our response should be. With all the input, it has felt like there was not a whole lot of output on their part to let us know anything was sinking in. To hear her say those words & provide another opportunity to explore her thoughts & pray for her was a delight to my soul. 

Oh how thankful we are for others kindness extended to our family over the past year!  A couple weeks ago, we passed the year mark from when we had the first ultrasound that revealed the boys were growing at different rates & the seemingly endless amounts of appointments & emotional ups & downs began. God was so good to provide countless family & friends to serve in a variety of ways. Once the boys arrived we continued to be blessed by others coming alongside us to help care for our busy nest by providing meals, letting me rest while they cared for the children, offering encouraging words & praying without ceasing. We give thanks to God for meeting our needs & we thank those of you who have loved our family well through a challenging year.