First Day of Preschool

The day finally came... the first day of Preschool. Ellie was pretty excited this morning as we packed her lunch in her lunch box and packed all of her supplies into her book bag. Her book bag is about 2/3 her size. I was pretty nervous about preschool starting since I was the first mom to teach the class. Six 2 & 3 year olds plus Owen! YIKES!!! It went really well, though. There were a couple of kids that took awhile to warm up-- their moms stayed for today (actually helped me out!).

Here is Ellie all ready for her first day of preschool!!! She did really well. There were a couple of meltdowns. One when one of the girls was wearing the same panties as her (My Little Pony), she thought that the girl had stolen them from her. And another when she realized the same girl had bows in her hair that looked like her bows. I think she is a little posessive of her girlie posessions.

I really love this picture of Elise, but the coloring is really weird for some reason.

Not to be left out, here is our handsome man playing with the lawn mower... at least SOMEONE is mowing. Our poor Owen has had a fever for a few days now. He hasn't really been himself, but is still the sweetest baby ever. He likes to be kissed still and I sure like giving them out!

Here is our Big Boy sitting in his sisters comfy chair. He looks pretty grown up here I think.

Last but not least, here is Ellie eating an Oreo snack on the pot. We don't really allow this, but it looked pretty funny when I saw her, so instead of getting mad, I got the camera. Quick update for all of you that are following close and are interested to know-- we are fully potty trained!!! YIPPEE!!!

Returned with Honor

This past weekend we were back in Katy to welcome Jordan home from his mission in Porto, Portugal. It was also our first opportunity to meet our nephew Spencer.

The two boys meet for the first time

Spencer is small enough for Ellie to hold in her lap, unlike Owen.

All three Weber grandkids

The kids enjoyed the pool as well. Ellie tried water wings for the first time and actually did some unassisted swimming.

Ellie was happy to find someone who wasn't tired of blowing bubbles with her.

Surprisingly, Owen managed to stay out of too much trouble at my parents house. We consider any trip where nothing of value is destroyed a success.

Ellie cheesing before church

Jordan seems to have mellowed out a little after the mission. Of course, it could just be the jet lag (it looks that way in this picture anyway). He gave a really nice homecoming talk in church. I especially enjoyed the part about the sacrament meeting with only him and his companion. We sure are proud of him and of our other missionary still serving in California.

Quack, Quack!

If you have 3 ducks in your kitchen, which one is your Texas cowboy? --- The one on the range!! ------ This was just one of several silly jokes we heard on our Duck Boat Tour that we took today. My mom, grandpa, brother, sister, and two nieces all came to Austin to visit so we decided to do something fun. We decided to go on the duck boat tour!

For those of you that don't know, the duck boat tours are these tours where you ride in these old converted WWII vehicles that can go on land and on water. The picture above is what they look like.
On the tour, they gave each of us these duck bills that blow and you sound like a duck. Ellie's never left her lips. It was fun quacking at all the innocent pedestrians on the streets of downtown Austin.
Here is my grandpa and I. We got very close as we smashed into one another during some crazy driving from our tour guide. I think I squished him good.

Elise and Evan quacking up.

This picture is funny because I took it of Evan as we were passing his favorite "nite spot"--- you can see the rainbow flags in the background. :))
Kim and Kyra. Kyra was a mover on this tour. She also slept for part of it until we got on the water and then she was wide awake!

Owen enjoyed the tour as well. He played with that duck bill for like an hour. Addy also came (my newest niece), you can see her little feeties in the lower right-hand corner.

My mom and my grandpa. It sure was fun going on the tour with my family (minus Daniel and some other key members). It was nice to finally DO something in Austin. Although, I found the afternoon kind of exhausting hauling around four babies! Still, it was a lot of fun.

Owen Speaks

Owen has begun to parrot sounds back to me. It's pretty funny, except when he decides to pound on my face. Those huge hands can hurt.

Cup Chasing

In this video, Owen chases a cup. I was going to add a soundtrack to cover up the background noise, but then I realized it's funnier with the movie going in the background. The movie, incidentally, is Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg. "Fight, Eagles, Fight"....

Date Night

We have had a really great weekend so far. Today we celebrated our 4th anniversary (It is really this Wednesday, but we celebrated today). We went to a restaurant called "The Melting Pot". It was awesome!! We had heard all the rave from my sister and her husband about this fondue place, but decided we needed to find out what the fuss was all about for ourselves.

We dropped the kids off at a friend's house and went out to dinner just the two of us. When we arrived, we were brought to the back of the restaurant and sat in this really intimate booth. It was very romantic. We were thinking the whole time that we haven't been to a romantic restaurant since before we were married! We cooked and dipped our food in fondue right at the table. It was SO delicious!!! We couldn't help but be reminded of Weber fondue nights and we decided right then that one day we will have to do this restaurant with all of Daniel's family (might be awhile... we have to get rich first!).

Like I said, while we were at the restaurant we had some friends watch the kids. Owen was great and Ellie was well-behaved also. However, our little nudist pooped in the little kiddie pool!!!! My poor friend, Erin (Adam's mom) had to scoop it out of the pool!!! YUCK!!! Of course, I was mortified to hear that this had happened while we were gone, but also thankful that it happened to a friend that I know also gets to experience the joys of potty-training and who was also very understanding. Let's just say, we are still working on #2!

This weekend we introduced Ellie to the computer. We got her a Sesame Street game that is supposed to help her learn her numbers and letters. She plays it on Daniel's old lap top. She is getting better at it, but still sometimes needs help moving the mouse where she wants it.

What kid doesn't love animal crackers? Daniel keeps complaining that our pantry is becoming overrun with animal crackers, cheddar goldfish, Ritz crackers, fruit snacks, Graham crackers, wheat thins, fruit cups and other kiddie food. I think he is going to have to put up with it (and all the little crumbs that come with 2-year-olds helping themselves) for a few more years.

Here is Ellie helping mom make brownies. She really loves to bake and we haven't had a treat in months, so we figured we should make something yummy and chocolate.

Here is Owen hanging on his favorite toy. He continues to crawl around like a banshee (banshees crawl a whole lot), but still no purposeful, spontaneous standing or walking.
Owen has been eating more baby food lately and has also had his fair share of table food as well. He prefers table food, of course. I have been working harder to get him to eat more real food... he still likes me best. What can I say? He likes me... he REALLY likes me!

Stud. Need I say more?

An Evening at the Park

Last night we took the kids to the neighborhood park. We needed to let Ellie run around and get some energy out. The kids have been sleeping really, really horribly lately which means that I have not gotten a lot of sleep. When mom doesn't get very much sleep and the kids are cranky because they didn't get much sleep either, we have really long days.

Elise really loved sliding down the slides.
She had a really good time until she had an accident and we had to go home. She didn't like that too much.
Owen enjoyed the swings. He spent the whole time swinging around. It really seemed to relax him.

Several times we thought he was falling asleep.

Dad and Owen swinging. Owen looks so small in that swing.

Mom and Ellie swinging. Elise is actually pretty scared of the swings, but she will swing if someone holds her.

And here is Ellie pushing Owen in the swing.

On our way to and from the park we ran into a couple of people in our ward. It was fun talking to them and all of us realizing we are in the same neighborhood. Daniel was also able to test out the jogging stroller. I don't think he had pushed it before. He says that it is very nice... I agree!!! The kids and I really enjoy our morning walks.

Big Girl and Mama's Boy

Since I am supposed to be cleaning up my house while the kids are sleeping, I am writing a blog instead. Sometimes it takes awhile to get motivated when you aren't really looking forward to the task ahead. My usual routine is to put it off as long as possible which is why I am stalling and writing this. None of these pictures are brand new, but they are pictures within the last couple weeks that are cute but were never posted.

Ellie and Owen have been busy babies lately. Elise has been doing fairly well on potty training. We still have not had success with #2 which I am a little worried about and she sometimes gets really into what she is doing and forgets to go. So, we do have the occasional accident, but overall she is doing well. We often run errands and as long as she goes before we leave, she is always just fine. She even napped in panties the other day without any problems.

Yesterday Ellie enjoyed playing with her friend Adam. They have been playing so nice together lately. They love to go in his backyard and play in their little pool. Usually they both end up in their birthday suits even though their bathing suits are handy. Good thing they are still innocent little kids. The above picture is of Ells trying to walk in mom's shoes. She really likes putting on other people's shoes (and her own!)... especially moms.

Here is Ellie covered in stickers. I think she covered herself while Dan and I were on our date (for my birthday) and Grammy was watching her. Stickers have saved our lives many times. They are great for church and for the car or whenever she needs something "busy" to do.

Here's handsome!!! Owen has been an honest to goodness Mama's boy these past couple of weeks. I can always tell when Daniel has just picked him up because he starts crying really hard. Mostly he is easy going and doesn't care, but when he is tired or hungry... it had better be mom holding him or else! I don't mind it too much. He lays his sweet little head on me and cuddles in close to me. I love it!

We are waiting for Owen to start moving upright. He is the fastest crawler that I have ever seen in my life, he cruises like crazy and he stands pretty well on his own. I think in the next month or two he will be a walker! I am looking forward to (and NOT looking forward to at the same time) him being able to run around with his sister. They play together a lot already, but it will be even more when he can keep up. Right now we are working on a little sibling rivalry. Owen likes to pull Ellie's hair and crawl over to steal her toys and Ellie likes to sit on his head and push as well as take back all the toys she thinks are hers. --- We're working on it.

This weekend will be fun for us. We are swapping babysitting with our friends again so we can each go out for our anniversaries. Saturday is our day and we are planning to go to "The Melting Pot". We are really excited about it. My sister and her husband have been several times and always rave about it. Daniel always has had a fondue dinner on Christmas Eve growing up so hopefully this will be a little reminder of that. Maybe we can even get some yummy ideas for this Christmas Eve dinner...

Dancing Queen

Ellie shows off some of the moves she learned at ballet.

Stroller Racing

I promise we did this safely 9 or 10 times before the one near miss that's captured here. At any rate, the kids didn't seem to mind....

When Daddy Comes Home

This is what the kids do when they're waiting for Dad to come home. Warning: It's a little long.

Ellie Sings

Here's a couple of clips of Ellie singing. The first song is from the Wiggles. This movie is rated PG-13 for brief nudity.

Bathroom Fun

Our week has finally come to a close. I must say, it has been one of the longest weeks ever. Ellie's potty training is actually going great, but it is still a little draining. She has not had any accidents at all except for #2, we still haven't gotten that mastered. Ellie wears a pull-up for nap time and on outings but has yet to wet one of them, so that is a great sign!! We hope that this week she will figure out that everything that comes out of her must go in the potty.

Here is Ellie... panties and all. Sorry for those of you who don't care about the potty training adventures, but it is literally consuming our lives right now.

Here are Ellie and Owen. As you can see, there isn't much of a disparity in their sizes, but Ellie is still a bit taller than Owen is... at least for now. They continue to play fairly well together unless Ellie sits on Owen's head. He doesn't really like that. Owen has really come to like getting into the bathroom and particularly fishing around in the toilet. When we close the bathroom door he will just sit at the door and cry because he can't get in. I think he has just become overly curious about the bathroom since we have been spending so much time in it with Ellie. Owen is doing wonderfully. I swear he grows an inch every day. He has been pretty unpredictable in his sleeping patterns, so I imagine that will be the next habit that will need correcting after we finish potty training Ellie. Owen really loves this rocking horse. When Dan or I don't put him on ourselves, he will just lean over it and bounce. As you can see, he enjoys it.
Elise trying to fit herself into the shelf cubby. Our little shelf (well, our not so little shelf) has been working out really great. We use the bottom shelves for the kids and they can both pull down whatever bins that they want to play with. Surprisingly, we haven't had any climbers. Yet.
Owen "cleaning" the kitchen. What can I say, I teach them young.

Owen now really loves his baths. We bathe Elise and Owen together and they love that. Usually there are several squabbles during the bath... mostly a fight over who gets to sit next to the spout where the water comes out. Ellie is a little stronger than Owen still, but Owen sure holds his own. When he hears the bath water running, he moves SO fast!

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Pee in the Potty--That's Good Enough For Me!

This week I decided that we HAVE to potty train Ellie. I told myself I would do it this summer and summer is only 3 weeks more, so I had to start this week. Monday and Tuesday were pretty horrible. She wasn't getting it, I was cleaning up her messes all over the house... I was on the verge of giving up... we have potty training stories that are so gross that we won't even post them on the blog.

Today was a good day, though. Something just clicked and while there were a few accidents, she started going pee in the potty. She doesn't do it when we just sit there, but when I ask her if she needs to go she will go to the bathroom and tinkle in the potty. This was only the first day she really has gotten it, but it is incredibly encouraging. She still doesn't get the doing #2 in the potty, but I hear that it takes a little longer to get that done. I imagine when she does that for the first time she will be well on her way. We are still putting a diaper on at night (which I imagine we will do for a long while still) and she wears a pull-up during nap time, but besides that, she is all panties!

We have just stuck her in a dress or t-shirt the last couple of days. Here are a couple of pictures of Ellie (in her dress) and Owen looking debonair.

Cute babies... Ellie is wearing one of the bows that I made. I had bought a bunch of bows and then realized I could make them myself... so I did!
She still loves this Mickey Mouse. She puts it to bed and carries it all around with her.
Owen yawning. He was tired and ready for his morning nap.
Here are Elise and Owen having fun in the bath. We have a lot of cute bath pictures, but we didn't want to post anything too "showy" online.

In other news, Daniel continues his work and says he is getting stuff done, but is still moving slowly. I just got called as a Nursery Leader (in addition to my activities committee calling). I don't mind the calling and feel like I am pretty good at it since my own child is nursery age. I've also started working on my lesson plan for the first preschool class on August 28th!! It is coming so fast!

Owen and Elise continue to be pretty happy kids, but still both sleep pretty badly. Owen was doing alright and now is waking up constantly at night... not sure what is up with that. Ellie is 2 years old and still wakes up at least twice at night.... ugh... will it ever end? I haven't slept through the night in about 3 years!!! EEK!