Girly Things Stace Notices

 I feel bad because it may seem like I'm only posting about Ella Grace these days. But the truth is, I have SO much more documented from Julian's life when he was her age and younger than I do of her's.  At this age especially (the one year mark-ish), they just grow and change so. much. every. single. day. I'm trying my best to keep up with all the new things she says and does, but doing so makes it look like I am neglecting my sweet boy! Honestly, I could fill a novel with all that I wrote on him, and I'm trying to maybe fill a short story with what I have on her:)  

Anyway...

Last night as we were lying in bed, Stace and I were talking about how awesome our kids are and how much we love them.  Temper tantrums DEFINITELY happen with both kids, and sometimes we want to pull our hair out. Sometimes J uses a voice that we don't love, and sometimes (and lots of times, too) he does not listen, but as Stace noted last night and as we say often, he can just be so incredibly sweet.  So sweet, I can't articulate it. He has a kind, soft little heart. He wants to be a good boy and a nice friend so much, and he is. Sometimes he'll ask if we want to do something (ex: "do you want to go on a bike ride?") and then afterward in a really high-pitched, smiley, persuasive voice coax "ya want to? ya want to?" Ha! It's hilarious:)

 But I wanted to write this post about Ella Grace's antics that Stace pointed out to me yesterday.  As he went to get her out of the bath, he said "have you ever noticed what she does when it's time to get out of the bath and she doesn't want to? She lays down on her tummy in protest and whimpers." I've seen her do it before, but it took Stace pointing it out to me to realize how funny and adorable it is, and that it's something we should write down.  He then demonstrated: "Ella Grace, it's time to get out of the bath!" and he outstretched his arms towards her. Then she promptly laid down on her tummy, as if she was trying to hide, and looked up pleadingly as if she was saying "don't take me out! I'm not ready!"

 "Have you ever noticed how she pushes her hair out of her face?"  "yes" I smiled. Then Stace said:

"It's so girly, and I LOVE it!" and then we both laughed at the thought of her pushing her hair to the side. :) 

Stace notices how she sometimes plays with her hair, and also pointed that out to me.

Before her birthday, Stace said how cute it would be if Ella Grace got a baby doll that she carried around with her all the time.  And she does...well, kind of. She always either has a baby doll, a stuffed animal, or a hairbrush.  She often clutches a doll close as I lift her out of her crib. This little doll was the chosen one yesterday. I tried to pry it from her for (messy) lunch time, but she would not have it. So there she stayed...

We also talked about how she is so good at saying thank you! "Tay tuu!" she says in her little high-pitched voice. Yesterday at Publix, the lady who gave her a cookie commented on how sweet it was for such a young baby to say it all on her own. And I managed to get the moment on camera! 

 (notice the hairbrush...)

Stace also pointed out her putting Julian's pj pants around her shoulders yesterday morning as we knelt for family prayer, like a little shawl.  "Look at her" he said smiling... 

 

She does these little things so often, and I'm glad I have my Stace to remind me to never forget them:) 
PS: This 17 second video makes my life complete...

Fits Perfectly

 Julian went to play at Grandmommy's on Monday afternoon. Ella Grace stayed because she had a doctor's appointment today.  So since I've just had this time with my youngest for a couple days, I've really been soaking her in. She is so incredible.  She just endears our hearts to pieces and makes us want to burst with the funny things she does and with her... 
effervescent personality. 

Ok, I've never used that word before, but when I was trying to think of the right adjective that could describe her, that word kept popping into my head. I wasn't even 100% positive on exactly what it meant, but it sounded like it was right. :) Then I looked it up: 

 *of a person or their behavior- vivacious and enthusiastic

synonyms: sparkling, bubbly

Yep, that's right. It fits perfectly. 

Have I mentioned how busy she is?  She is always into things, or crawling over them or through them. Always learning, almost always smiling. When she's not, she's likely just concentrating really hard (or possibly pouting...she knows drama about as well as TNT).

She's de.ter.mined.  This girl may be small, but do not underestimate her.  She gets it done.

 The phrase "fits perfectly" popped into my head today as I was rocking her to sleep.  This child has had no interest in weening.  Judge away:)  I never planned to nurse much longer than a year. With Julian, I did for 13.5 months. I kinda cut him off because I was pregnant with Ella Grace and wanted to reduce the chance of anything happening to her. I stopped one night, he fussed for a minute, and then never looked back.  Ella Grace, on the other hand, when I try to cut her off, it might work for a time, and then she always finds her way back to wanting to nurse. Tonight I did not nurse her as I rocked her to sleep. I just held her, and soaked her little baby body in and kissed her little forehead at least ten times. She was so peaceful, and so comfy.  She just fits so perfectly in my arms. I wanted to bottle up that moment and never let it pass.

 

 

 

My goal is to take more videos of the random, "unhistorical" moments in my children's lives. Here is one of them. She's not doing much, but watching this breaks my heart because I already ache to have that moment back again, and yet it was just today.

And here's a historical one for kicks, too:)

I love these children of mine so much it hurts sometimes.  I think the hurt comes from knowing that tomorrow they will be bigger than they are today.  I miss Julian like crazy.  Stace and I both do. We love that our children can go play at Grandmommy and Pop Pop's every so often for a couple days because we know how loved and taken care of they will be there. We love sharing them with our family because we know how much our family loves them and how much our children love them back.  But boy do we miss them when they are there. We sure can't wait to see our little man tomorrow!

Oh, and guess what, Boo? 

 

You fit so perfectly, too.

Julian's Self Portrait

Today Stace taught Julian's Sunbeam class-- Julian moved up from the Nursery to Subeams last week since he turned 3 last month. The lesson was called "Heavenly Father has a Body," and Stace taught how God created us in His image and we have bodies, too. Daddy put his iPhone on reflection mode, and held it as he walked around the room and let each child look in the "mirror". He asked the children questions like "what color is your hair? What color are your eyes?" Julian knows he has blonde hair and blue eyes, but as he looked at his reflection, he stated "I have black eyes." He must have been fixated on his pupils...

After the children took note of their reflections, Stace asked them to draw pictures of what they saw in the mirror.

After church Stace handed me Julian's drawing but I didn't give it a look as we wrangled to get the kids to get in the car. But Stace redirected my attention to the drawing and said "that's actually pretty impressive."

By way of explanation, Julian has always preferred to gnaw on the Crayons:)  So for a child who has never shown much interest in drawing or coloring, Julian's artwork truly made us so proud!! I mean, he's only ever drawn one discernible face before, and even then, it wasn't that discernible:) I must have asked Stace three times with a huge, proud smile on my face "he did this all by himself?!" :)

He drew pupils in his eyes, "a big smiley face" he said, hair, a nose and of course, "lightning"-- because what's a self-portrait without a little lightning? :)

Our little Picasso at church today.

Ella Grace's 1 Year Album & Updates

As I sit here and think in the wee hours of the night about my baby girl, my heart overflows.  Stace and I often just talk about her and just smile as we name all the things we love about her, and the funny and endearing things she does. We are so crazy in love with this little person.  Sweet child of mine.  She is too. much. love. She has so much personality. She is hilarious. She loves to laugh. Here she is playing peek-a-boo.

 

She loves to dance. She loves when I sing to her. She loves when any music at all comes on. She seems to really dig my Owl City Pandora station. :) I think she is going to be quite the girly girl. Always ready to put her bow on-- she hands it to me, then tilts her head forward as she waits for me to put it in.  She picks up an article of clothing and wraps it around her shoulders like a little shawl. She keeps her hats on.

 

 But at the same time, she wants to be in the action just as much as her brother...she keeps up with him quite well! Though I can't get a picture of those two to save my life...

 

I took the cutest one EVER tonight...but of course it was in the bathtub. And since I gotta watch our for creepers, I have to deprive the good and honest people of the world from seeing it. Bummer:(  She is emotional. Today I took a Crayon away from her because she was putting it in her mouth (she knows it's a no-no, too!), and she just tucked herself into a little ball with her head on the ground and whimpered. It was so adorably pitiful! Speaking of crayons, she has shown so much more interest already in coloring than Julian ever has.  She went through an entire Crayola coloring book in one sitting, looking at the pictures, and "coloring" here and there as she pleased:)

 
She really holds a crayon quite well! Holding one seems to come easily for her.  

She is so. smiley. 

 

She LOVES her stuffed animals!  

 

 She has about 8 animals and baby dolls in her crib. Loves 'em.

She loves animals and gets so excited when she seems any of them...she is not afraid at. all. Her favorite books these days are ones that are actually songs with illustrations, so "Five Little Ducks" and "Baby Beluga" books are tops on her list. 

 

She still loves Karen Katz peek-a-boo books, too. She loves to race her Little People bus around all the live long day! 

She still isn't walking.

I'm trying not to worry.  Here she is as we left her x-ray of her hips last week.  She got this due to the hip displaysia she was born with, but which corrected itself. The doctor ordered she receive X-rays each year until she is five, to be on the safe side.

 

We are meeting with the pediatric orthopedist in a couple weeks to go over the x-ray. However, a wonderful friend of ours who is a radiologist took a peek at the x-ray with his coworker, a world renowned pediatric radiologist, so we wouldn't have to wait that long for answers.  He said there is an abnormality, but that it's very slight and is actually very common ("probably 10% of the population has this. I probably have it" he said). He said it shouldn't have anything to do with her not walking yet. We'll find out more soon. She has her Daddy wrapped around her finger...

 

 

...but really, she's got us all wrapped around her finger. At her last doctor visit a couple weeks ago, we found out her percentiles have decreased even further from her one year checkup. She's in the 3rd percentile for weight, but I kid you not: she could eat us all under the table. Eating while holding a sponge curler. More proof of her girliness;)

 

She's fearless.

 She is seriously steady on this thing, and really can steer. It's crazy.

 

 I'm in love with her hair...

 

 And her eyes...

 

I'm telling ya, Stace and I just make some seriously strong-willed babies. This one's a firecracker like her brother!  We love her so much. We couldn't imagine our lives without her.  She is charming and smart and it's hard not to love her with your whole heart! She is somethin' else.

My free Heritage Makers points expired in their entirety a few days ago, and so I worked like mad to get this baby done!  And I finished by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin, and used every last point! For some reason this version shows some mistakes that I corrected before I ordered it. Pay no mind to those if you spot them:)

Jelly Bean the Jokester

 After our North Pole Breakfast (for dinner), little Jelly Bean was up to all kinds of mischief!

Jelly Bean was all about easy-to-pull-off-antics. He didn't want anyone to catch him in the act, so he was always quick to finish his foolishness in two minutes, tops!

Graffiti-master:

Nativity poacher: 

Guitar player:

 Repeller:

 Peeker:

Teacher:

Relaxer:

"Ahhh...this is the life":  

 
Hitchhiker:

 

 He is always way up high, out of reach of baby hands who could steal his magic...

 

One night he spent a little too much time under the mistletoe. Methinks Mrs. Jelly Bean had too much eggnog...

Righteous little Jelly Bean...

Cirque de Jelly Bean...

 

His true home (the North Pole) is where his heart is...

 Teach an elf to fish...

 As I watched Julian's little face light up every morning as we looked for Jelly Bean, those sweet moments were tucked inside my heart.  Even Ella Grace seemed to be in on the fun, as she also lit up, giggled and pointed when she spotted our silly little Elf in the morning and throughout the day.

 This was a fun game and new tradition.  Stace and I would simply look around our house right before bed each night and wondered where we should put him. It took between two seconds and 2 minutes each night, but the memories of these delighted faces will last forevs. :)