Back to the Grind

This past weekend we had a fun trip to Dallas (pictures will be forthcoming... we forgot our camera so we have to borrow some pics). Though we had fun, we are happy to be home.

We are planning some big clean outs and organization for this weekend so I have been preparing for that. I bought some new containers and have just been trying to think about what I want.

Daniel has been busy with his research. It is kind of a never-ending thing it seems.

The kids are a lot more interesting than Daniel and I. Magdalyn has been busy smiling, sleeping, and wanting to be held. She recently recognized who mom was and feels like she has to look at mom all the time and be held by her a lot. Mags hasn't conquered rolling over yet, though at this point her parents recognize the perks of having a child who doesn't roll over so haven't been too pushy about encouraging it. She'll get it eventually. She does like to scoot herself with her feet quite a bit so she might even crawl before she rolls.

Elise is still loving her preschool. She is always very excited to go and excited when she comes home and shows me all the fun things she has done. I have really been impressed by this preschool and am so happy that she enjoys it so much. Elise has also been busy being a big sister. She hardly ever lets Owen out of her sight and is constantly checking on Maggie to make sure she is alright.

Owen has been busy. He is always pretty busy. Mostly he's busy climbing or jumping or running. He discovered that he can tip over the play kitchen and jump off of that (we are going to be getting rid of the play kitchen). Owen is also talking up a storm. He's lucky to have a big sister who is always saying "Owen can you say this..." and then he parrots it back to her. I have to say he learns a lot of stuff that way.

With Halloween ONLY a month away we have already settled (and purchased) Halloween costumes. Elise decided early on that she would be Sleeping Beauty aka "sleeping booty". Owen will be Buzz Lightyear and Mags will be a tiger, though I am still in search for that Minnie Mouse costume I want for her. I mean, she already has the ears for it thanks to her dad! :) Of course, we will have pictures of the costumes come Halloween time.

Maggie's First Playdate

Maggie had her first playdate today.  Actually, it is the same playdate that she will be having every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:45 to 2:15 while their mom goes and picks up their brother and Ellie from preschool.  Paige (left) and Megan's (right) mom watches Owen and Maggie in the mornings  while I take the kids to preschool.  It is a good trade off.  It is such a PAIN taking three kids with me into preschool (especially the toddler, Owen).

They're cute little playmates since they are the same age.  Paige and Megan are 2 weeks older than Maggie.  They are about the same size except Maggie's limbs are a lot longer.  We have really long kids I am noticing....  Elise, Owen and Mags must get that from their mom.

Family Update

Here we are before church today.  Our little family looks so much bigger in this picture than the last family picture we had taken.  Look at Owen, he looks so big with his tie.  And I just LOVE dressing the girls in the same dresses.  I think it is too cute.  I only have a few dresses matching for them but when they match I just love it, I always feel like we should take a family picture! 

We are happy, healthy and doing well.  Maggie has been all smiles lately and has started to full out laugh.  It is too cute.  Elise is loving preschool and her teachers.  Owen is talking up a storm and getting to be more of a dare devil each day.  Erin is wrangling the kids and has caught herself a nasty cold just in time for Daniel to go out of town.  Daniel is on his way to LA for a conference and has lost 35 pounds making him reach his goal weight in mere months (I hate him, though I have lost the same amount, you can't tell and I have a long way to go).

First ever sleep over!

We had a lot of fun this weekend as the kids had their friends over to stay the night.  Actually, my friend and her husband went out of town for a wedding and so we were able to watch their kids for them for 24 hours!  Sure, it was a little crazy having 5 kids 4 and under, but we had a blast.  We went to the park, the older two went out to a movie with Daniel while the other three took a 3 hour nap (I am not kidding and they all went down easily!).  Then for dinner we went out for a special treat at McDonald's so the kids could wear themselves out at the play place.  Their kids slept through the night (ours of course didn't but we aren't expecting miracles).  We had a really good time and would do it again!

300th Post!

Wow, it's our 300th post.  That means over the last 2 years, we have had 300 things to say about our family.  Crazy.

This post is mostly pictures of Maggie.

Magdalyn having a little tummy time.

This is one of the pictures from the 'daddy photo session' she had one evening.

KISS ME!

Maggie loves Pat-a-cake or Patty cake.  She is so happy and smiley.

This is what I found when I looked out to the backyard.  Sometimes they are so cute together.

They discovered me watching them... cuteness over.

Big Boy Underpants

Since Ellie starts school officially on Thursday, I decided that I am going to start potty training Owen.  I am using this term loosely because it took about a year before Ellie really got it completely and she still has an occasional accident.  But, since I have the time at home with just him, I am going to take advantage of it and start.  Today we went to Target and got Ellie some new panties (they were starting to get inappropriate they were so small) and Owen some underwear.

While at Target he was excited about getting Choo Choo undies (Thomas the train), but not excited when I took off his diaper and put them on him.  So, we are slowly transitioning and having him wear his underwear over his diaper for a couple days and then we will work on going from there.  Not much you can do when your kid is afraid of his underwear.

Anyways, here are the kiddos showing off their new briefs!

Wish me luck in my new venture!  I may be writing soon about how I give up and have decided to wait until he is 3... look for that upcoming post.  :)

This Week's Favorites

This summer, my poor 18 year old brother had to put up with our little family... me on bed rest, Daniel working and two very active little kids (and then a crying newborn a month later).  He, more than once, commented on how he now has no desire to have kids.  But sometimes, my kiddos do the cutest things and I think to myself, "this is why you have kids".  I am sure that my brother will have kids one day (though I hope it is a little ways off) because he is just such an awesome uncle and my kids just adore him.  Anyway, here are my favorites for this week....

Favorite Ellieism--- "Oh no Owen, we don't touch spiders, they're itsy bitsy".

"I'm a stinky boy!"  This is what Owen says now every time he needs a diaper change.  Poor guy, I guess we should have taught him something more like "diaper change" but instead this is what he picked up on.  It really does give us a little chuckle when he walks around "I'm a stinky boy, stinky boy, I'm a stinky boy!"

The smiles!  Oh my goodness, you can be holding this little sweetheart and look down and she is just smiling away.  She loves to smile and interact.  She now has gotten where she will just stare and follow mom and dad with her eyes.  That look like, "you are my world!".  I love this baby.

Ellie's Unofficial First Day of Preschool & more

This morning was Ellie's first unofficial day of preschool.  Thursday is the real beginning of school, but today was an orientation where she was able to meet her teachers (Ms. Natalie and Miss Nicky) and they had some time in their classrooms while the parents had a meeting.

Here is Miss Elise (Elise is what she likes to be called at preschool & at church) posing for a picture before school.

Here is Ellie holding up a picture she drew when I came to pick her up from class.  She seems really excited about preschool this year and when we got into the car she said she was sad because her school day was already over. 

Here are some pictures to catch up from the weekend:

Maggie hanging out while Elise and Owen play at the park.

Owen posing right before he was stung about 6 or 8 times by wasps that had their nest inside the playground equipment.  It was sad, but we just loaded him up with Benadryl and he was fine.  Reminds me of when Ellie was stung by wasps.  We were sad for Owen but he is such a trooper that he hardly cried for long.

Elise after a sweaty afternoon at the park (pre-wasps).

Here are some pictures of the kids playing this morning:

A Day at the Beach

Yesterday, while we were in Houston for the weekend, we went to the beach in Galveston.  It was SOOOO much fun!  We left Maggie with her grandma since it would be really sunny and windy and we took the kiddos (along with Papa and Grammy) to the beach.  I wish we lived right on the beach because the kids (and adults) had a blast.  Owen and Ellie both loved going in the water and having the waves crash up against them.  They also loved running in the water and helping to build sand animals.  Owen thought the turtle was fun to jump off of.  Boys.  The weather was just PERFECT... lower humidity and temperatures... it was just awesome.  Anyway, enjoy the pictures of our beach fun!

BIG NEWS!!!

No, we aren't pregnant again....--- Daniel has been offered a job at Shell and he has ACCEPTED!!! That's right, this time next year we will be living in Houston (probably the west side). We are anxious to get onto the next chapter in our lives and Daniel is anxious to be done with school once and for all! Things are starting to feel a little cramped in our house and we are excited to be able to buy our first home and feel like real adults.

Since I am telling such wonderful news about my husband, I feel like I should take this opportunity to share some of my favorite pictures of Dan--- if you haven't noticed.. our blog is mostly bragging about our kids so this kind of a change of pace, you know, bragging about Daniel instead.

I know he hates when I gush about him, but I certainly don't do it as often as he really deserves.  Daniel has worked so hard to achieve what he is about achieve.  He has started working toward this end goal before he met me and because of it, our whole family has benefited.  It wasn't easy for him knowing that he could have been working the whole time he was getting his graduate degree and actually making money, but I appreciate his sacrifice and his foresight to realize that this is what he needed to do.  More than anything, I love and appreciate the balance that he has made in his/our life.  He knows that his family is the most important thing and has never made any of us feel like his school or work was more important and it hasn't inhibited our life at all. 

I am so unbelievably proud of my husband for working so hard and continuing to provide me and our children with security and a plan for the future.  While I am the first to admit that my eyes often glaze over when he starts talking all "Chemical Engineeringly", I know he is passionate about it and will enjoy working in this field for the rest of his life.  It is a good feeling knowing that our family will benefit from Daniel being happy with what he is doing.  I love him for making the decision to accept this job a family decision and keeping in mind what this job will mean for our family.  I have always been proud of him and honored to be a part of his life.--- OK, enough from me, I am already going to be toast for writing so much gooey stuff about him.