Fun Weekend!

Kind of an exciting weekend for us here in Austin. Saturday we spent the majority of the day getting some housework done. Daniel mowed the lawn and we cleaned up and also got the garage all cleaned. We were able to pack even more stuff into our attic (we would be lost without an attic for storage).

Saturday night we did something special! We dropped the kids off at some friends of ours and went out on a date! First time since Owen was born. It was needed. We just went out and ate dinner and ran a few errands. Owen needs to be fed every couple hours still so we couldn't go to a movie or do anything more elaborate. It was a really good time though. I think my friend, Jennifer, could tell we needed a date so offered to watch the kids. They are good people to trade off with since their kids are the same ages as ours.

Here is Ellie and Owen... bonding.
This was just such a cute picture that I HAD to include it. Sorry, one more picture than Ellie in the blog. Don't mean to play favorites! Do you think Ellie will mind?
Here is Mom holding Ellie and Ellie holding Owen (or is it Owen holding Ellie?).
Grandpa and Grandma Weber came for a visit yesterday!! We were really happy to have them. As you can tell from the picture of Owen and grandpa... they got along pretty well.
Ellie enjoyed having Grandma around to play with as well. She still is unsure about Grandpa, but she warmed up a little more towards the end of their visit.

Busy Week and Busy Babies

It has been a busy, busy week for us, but it wouldn't be a normal week if I didn't send out a slew of pictures for everyone to see. I warn you, they are pretty cute.

Ellie is doing well. She has definitely mastered the whining part of being two. It is pretty incessant. She is a ball of energy, always ready to do something new.

This week we got her leotards, tights, ballet shoes and tap shoes for dance class! It is a little early, but I am just so eager for it to start! We got a few moms in our ward to sign up as well so she will have friends she knows there. I have almost gotten her all dressed up a couple times just to take a picture but Daniel says I need to calm down and wait until the class begins.

Here is our little sweetheart playing in his highchair. The "pod" is still in circulation, but he pulls his legs up out of it and so it makes us really nervous to set him in it at the table when we aren't right there watching him. Owen is becoming a little boy in front of our eyes. He seems to change a little more everyday. I know he is only 5 months, but hold him and say that.
Ellie loves to play with her toys, but never by herself. She has a whole playroom with a ridiculous number of toys for her to play with, but won't play with them by herself or will drag them into the family room so she can be by mom and dad. Never has been an independent child! Lately, her favorite thing to do is to play with the water in the kitchen sink. I read that this is a good thing for toddlers to do because if you give them some containers, it will help them be creative. Problem is, she always wants to do it!
Here is Ellie undressing Owen. She likes to unbutton the snaps. She is blowing on his belly. Afterwards, she started taking off his diaper saying he needed a diaper change. -- Just yesterday she lifted his shirt and said, "chubby!". It was cute.--- Owen tolerates her.
Here is our big boy. I tried to get a picture of the two of them laying side by side so everyone could see the small difference in their size (both height and weight!), but Ellie was not cooperating. As you can see, he isn't a real fat baby. He has a little chubba in the thighs (and who doesn't...), but he is just big all over and very long. He must get his height from me :).

Here is daddy playing kitchen with Ellie. What you don't see is Daniel's apron that he ripped off when he saw me running in with the camera. Poor sport. (All the JUNK in the background is our Goodwill pile. I have high hopes it will be brought to the Goodwill this weekend--- it is right up the block so really no reason for it to continue being part of our home decor).
Here are our crawlers! "Anything Owen can do, Ellie can do better!" That has been kind of the motto around here lately. Owen tries to crawl and Ellie shows him that she already knows how. Owen cries in his crib and Ellie climbs in and shows that she can cry in the crib as well. Owen bounces in the jumperoo, Ellie climbs in and shows him that she can bounce higher. I don't think it is really competition as much as they are really desperate to play together. Elise is Owen's favorite person in the whole world. You know when Ellie is around because Owen is smiling from ear to ear.

The Webers Go Green!

It was a rather inspirational Earth Day for us. Actually, everything we did was discussed awhile ago, but being Earth Day this Sunday, we decided to actually make some changes. Daniel and I have been watching Planet Earth, which is a really great series, and has made us realize a little more how important our planet is. While Daniel thinks we are going to be twinkled before we destroy our planet completely, we still want to preserve it for our children.

The biggest change for us (mostly because it was the most costly) was changing out all of our light bulbs. Our 60 watt lights now use only 9 watts. Each light bulb should last 7 years. So hopefully we will not only be helping the environment but also saving a little on our electric bill.
Here is Ellie posing with one of the compact fluorescent light bulbs. She really wanted to help dad replace all the lights.
Mom and Owen mostly followed the team of daddy and Ellie around with spare light bulbs.
We have decided to do a few more things to do our part. We are going to start doing some recycling. Our trash people don't do recycling so we will have to bring it to the place ourselves. I was saying to Daniel a couple of weeks ago how amazed I am at the amount of trash that just the four of us have, so hopefully this will reduce the amount of garbage we have. Sometime this week Ellie and I will run go get some trash bins and label them-- ALUMINUM, PAPER and PLASTIC. I think I am also going to look into seeing about recycling our yard clippings. We'll see.
We have also decided that after we use up our current cleaning products (can't be wasteful now!), we will start using some more environmentally friendly cleaners. We have already gotten some all purpose cleaner, hand soap and toilet bowl cleaner that are all eco friendly. While they are a little more expensive, not as much as what I thought they would be! I will have to let you know how they work when I use them.

Ellie and I have started doing crafts more often. We have done them sporadically here and there, but I have a whole craft basket of things that she can do put together now. I went to Hobby Lobby and Garden Ridge and both places have a lot of little things that kids can put together, paint, or create. Since Ellie is at that age where she needs to constantly be doing something with her hands, we are trying to get her to do more where she can use her imagination and create things on her own.

Owen and Elise have both been sleeping REALLY horribly lately. We are thinking that Owen is just his teething, but I am not so sure. He does have more bottom teeth coming in. (Looks like he will have 4 bottoms before he has any tops!). When both don't sleep you just start thinking that perhaps it isn't the child, but the parent that is the problem. I have faith that Owen will get back to normal soon though. I think Ellie is just going to have to grow out of it.
Beginning in June, Ellie starts Ballet! I am so excited about it. She does her summer ballet program in June and then doesn't have anything in July and then in August starts up again at a new place. Of course, I am geeked about it! Daniel and I are both really excited to see her all dressed up in her leotard, tights and ballet slippers! The place that she starts in August is year round. It looks like a really good place and I am excited because she will have recitals and everything! It has been fun looking for ballet clothes for her since she wears the smallest size. She is going to look SO cute. The summer class she is taking is strictly ballet and the year round class she is taking is 45 minutes of ballet and 15 of tumbling. She will be attending class twice a week.

Sleep? What sleep?

Things for us have been fairly normal. Elise is coming down with yet another cold. Her nose was running all day yesterday. We went to the park yesterday and I was chasing her around with a Kleenex the whole time. She has been acting a little sick but mostly has been in good spirits. Last night we gave her some Dimetapp Nighttime in hopes that it would make her feel better and give her a more restful sleep, but that backfired. She woke up 5 or 6 times. Elise and her lack of sleeping is just getting old. It isn't even that I can't handle it or anything, it is just old. She is almost 2 and still can't sleep through the night. I feel like we have tried just about everything and it really is just the way she is. She just doesn't need a lot of sleep to function. Apparently she is supposed to be sleeping like 11-12 hours every night. Yeah right!!!

Like I said, we went to the park yesterday. We only stayed about an hour because all of these day care kids were there. There were some pretty big kids there! We played for awhile, but as soon as those kids started being mean to Ellie, we were outta there!

Owen has also been having a hard time sleeping, but I think that is more because we changed his sleeping surface. He has been waking up about 3 or 4 times the last couple of nights. His problem is when he wakes up, he wants to be UP and play so it takes a lot longer to put him to sleep. I have a bit more tolerance for Owen because he is still a baby. I bet he would do better if I let him cry a bit more, but we are always scared to do that because then it wakes Ellie up!

We have been a bit home bound this last week. Owen is too big to carry in the snugli and still can't sit on his own, so the places we can go are pretty limited. We can only do things where we take the stroller. So, that is why we went to the park and we will likely go for a walk today. It is a little frustrating because I am someone that needs to do "something" everyday. I enjoy getting grocery shopping done during the day so when Daniel gets home we can actually spend time with him. We have enjoyed the time at home for extra playtime as well as some craft time for Ellie and I, but we like our freedom!

FHE and SMOOCHES!

We have taken a lot of pictures the last few days so I thought I would share a few of them.

We finally got a wedge for Owen to sleep on instead of his boppy. He needs something to keep him a little elevated since he can't breathe otherwise. It is working out okay I guess. Now he can use his boppy to help support himself as he tries to sit on his own.
Getting a good picture of Ellie is quite the trick. I either get her looking and not smiling or smiling and not looking.
Here is Owen having a little tummy time. He is starting to scoot a bit so I think he will be an early crawler. I am pretty anxious for him to be mobile. I know most moms aren't, but he wants to play with Ellie so badly that I am eager for him to be able to.
Here Ellie has kicked Owen off of the boppy so she can lay down on it.
Ellie sometimes (not very often at all) likes to hold Owen. As you can see, the disparity between the two is not much so it is kind of like "who is holding who?"
Here is Owen playing in his saucer. He is wearing his Mickey Mouse outfit, which Ellie loves because she can point out "Mica!".
Last night for FHE we prepared our new FHE chart. Before we just had a paper chart that Ellie and I made. This one will be more permanent. Here is Daniel hanging it up.
We haven't put the names on it yet.
Dad and his sweet babies.
SMOOCHES!
Not hard to tell who enjoys it most!

YARD WORK

This week has been busy for us. The latter part of this past week was really beautiful outside, so we made sure to take advantage of it. We went to the park on Wednesday and played for almost 3 hours! That is a pretty long stretch for us, but Owen wasn't complaining so we went for it. Thursday we had a play date, which usually lasts 3 or 4 hours. Ellie really enjoyed playing with her friends. Her friend, Adam, has a little playhouse outside that she really likes to play with. On Friday, we went to a different park and spent about an hour or so there. It was really hard to stay that long there because it was REALLY windy and Owen doesn't breathe real well in the wind.
Today we are spending much of our day getting the yard in order. In these pictures, Ellie is watching her daddy mow the lawn. It is a favorite thing to do around here. I think our yard is fairly easy to do so it doesn't take him too long. We plan on going outside and trimming the trees and bushes. I bought some shears yesterday so we are ready to trim! I just bought a toddler activity book that I am really excited about. I just read the first few pages and I already have tons of ideas for Ellie to do. I am trying to find more ways that she can play and use her imagination. I think that is really crucial for her at this age.
Ellie is really coming a long way in her language skills. She is forming sentences left and right. She is also really funny when she mimics mom on the phone. She definitely gets a lot of her expressions from me. Ellie has also started saying her own prayers (with help from mom and dad of course). She takes her turn in the rotation for dinner prayer and says her own prayer right before bed. It is really cute. Usually when I leave her to go to sleep she will continue "praying" in her bed because we hear her in the monitor "bless Pat, bless Jordan" (because we always bless those missionaries!). It is pretty cute.

Our little Owen is growing up big! He has moved from 6-9 month to 12 month clothes. It certainly didn't last very long. We think he will catch up with Elise in no time. I bet by the time he is 18 months, they will be the same size! They already wear the same size diapers. Owen has started taking an interest in moving around. He can get himself on his hands and get himself on his knees, but not at the same time. It is kind of sad because you can tell he really wants to go places and keep up with his sister. For now, he just squirms on the floor.
Owen is also continuing his rice cereal. I think my kids just don't like rice cereal. I have been fairly consistent with it and I don't know that he is liking it any better. Yesterday I started adding a spoonful of baby food (peas) in with the rice cereal for a little flavor, but I am not sure he likes that flavor either! I am starting to get a little anxious for him to take a bottle or go to a cup or SOMETHING because he bites me all the time and it REALLY REALLY REALLY hurts! It has become his little signal to me that he has finished. I am not fond of the signal.

Owen Kisses and Ellie Loves

I had a couple cute pictures of the kids, so I thought I would write a blog. Things are going great. Owen is still teething and has proved to be a little ornery when that is happening. However, we can't really complain too much since he is pretty easy going most of the time.
Here is Owen in his car seat (obviously). He is growing out of it and we were going to get a car seat for him this past weekend but the place we looked didn't have what we were looking for so he hasn't gotten his new seat yet. This morning we had to go somewhere and I took him in his car seat and just about broke my back... he is so heavy!! Owen has discovered his feet! Last night he was just laying on my lap and he couldn't stop staring at his feet. He would move them all around and was just entranced by them. It was fun to watch. He has also started putting his hand up to my mouth when he is nursing for me to give him kisses. Owen LOVES kisses! He loves kisses wherever and whenever people want to give them. Owen loves to watch his sister as well. He will just sit in his jumperoo or his exersaucer and smile and watch her. It is pretty cute. Once in awhile Ellie will appease him and come over and talk to him a little bit. He loves that!
Here is Miss Elise Louise. She has been pretty delightful as of lately. She has started really having some good conversations with us and has realized the value of learning how to say, "I love you, Dada" and "I love you, Mama". She usually rattles off a list of all the people in her life that she loves. It is an extensive list. She is very musical, loving to dance, sing and play toy instruments. She thinks that cartoon theme songs are especially fun to sing in the car. One of her favorite songs right now is, Head, shoulders, knees and toes. Here is Ellie again playing with the blind cord. This is not a common practice. I am normally pretty crazy about the blind cords because I watched this talk show one time about how kids died around the house and being strangled in the blind cord was one of them. So, we ALWAYS tie them up. I was just about to tie this one up. (Yes, I am one of those parents who freaks out about that kind of stuff!) This week we saw a couple of bunnies in our yard. I wondered how they got in the yard, but at that same time I was thinking it, one ducked under the fence.

Things with me have been good. I have been having a little issue with my new visiting teaching route. Not the people I visit, but my partner works full time and can only go after 6! Of course, this is the worst time ever for me because that is dinner time and time to get the kids ready for bed and really the crabbiest time of day for ALL of us. And since Ellie will only let me put her to sleep I would always have to be home by 7. Not to mention that all of the sisters I visit teach are stay at home moms with similar schedules. So, I think the R.S. president is going to switch it around. In other news, I have started working on Ellie's 2 year album. I make an album every year for the kids and since Elise is almost two, it is about that time!

Daniel has been a busy worker these days. School keeps him busy. He says he is mostly working on the research stuff now, so that is a good thing. Additionally he has told me a potential graduation date that I can live with, so that is nice. It is always a little hard watching our friends in the ward graduating and moving onto greener pastures and us still working away. We feel really lucky though to have all that we have. Daniel has also been busy maintaining our yard. It was overrun with weeds and ants so he fertilized it and put ant and weed killer down this past week. The yard already looks much better. He does a good job.

Easter Sunday

Why we celebrate Jesus' resurrection with an egg-laying bunny I'll never understand, but here we go anyway. First, the egg hunt.

Ellie caught on to this game really quickly. Perhaps the Easter Bunny should have taken some time to hide the eggs a little better.

Ellie doesn't really get the idea behind the recorder. She keeps trying to make the noise herself. She'd make an excellent kazoo player, though.

Owen got toys as well, even if he can't use them. The Easter Bunny makes sure everybody's taken care of.

Ellie shows off one of her plastic eggs.

We have eggs of the chicken variety, as well.

Owen is pretty happy just to be a part of the celebration.

Owen in his Easter outfit

And Ellie in her Easter dress

Together


With Mom

With Dad

You can see we went a little crazy with the camera today. I know, because after church Ellie grabbed the camera from off the kitchen table and aimed it at Owen (in his Jumperoo) saying "Smile, Owen!" And after he smiled at her, she looked at the camera and said "Cute!"