6 Months

Elise is 6 months old! My sweet baby is growing up way too fast. She weighed in today at a whopping 18 lbs 12 oz and is 26 in long. She has mastered rolling and almost has sitting mastered. No teeth yet, but the way she is acting it won't be long. She LOVES to eat...anything, except green beans :) She is happy when her tummy is full and sad when it's not. She loves to suck her thumb and sometimes fingers. She thinks that Cole is hilarious and loves to play with him most of the time. She loves to look at her handsome Daddy, and makes sure that Mommy is always close by. She has major stranger anxiety, but it is getting better...she doesn't always cry when she sees a stranger anymore, sometimes she even smiles! Cole loves her giggle, Mommy loves her smile, and Daddy loves her chubbers most! Ellie is such a sweet angel and we all love her so much!!

Spring Break

WARNING: This is extremely long!

Ben got a whole week off for Spring Break! It has been so much fun. First, we got a new car (a Honda Odyssey)! Thanks Daddy for giving in so that Cole and Mommy could have a van :) Then we took our new car to Minnesota:

We went to Como Park Zoo and Conservatory

Elise got to go swimming for the first time!

We spent a whole day at the Mall of America:

First stop was Legoland. Ben and Cole were in heaven, they could have played here all day!

Next stop was Nickelodeon Universe. Thanks to the Webbs we all got to ride a few rides!

Ellie was happy to stay in the stroller :)

A few rides was enough for us, then Mommy and kids hit the stores while Ben hung out in a flight simulator. Win-win for us all!

We spent the afternoon in the aquarium:

It was amazing to watch the sharks, stingrays, fish and turtles swim right over us!

Cole's favorite things were the jellyfish

As usual, our sweet girl was happy watching from the safety of her stroller

We thought it would be fun to go to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner. We lasted long enough for a few pics before Cole was too scared to stay any longer.

So much for that idea.

We hit the aquarium one more time after dinner, ran into IKEA!!!!, and then started for home about 9 pm. It was a really fun vacation...just what the doctor ordered!

After our fun little trip, it was time to get to business and find a new dryer. (Ours died last week) We spent a few days on Craigslist with no luck before we broke down and got brand spankin' new ones!!! I know, I am spoiled :)

We also spent a day at the Incredible Pizza Company. It was a blast, but our camera battery was dead so we didn't get any pics. We will just have to go back :)

Today we went to an Easter egg hunt downtown. It was kind of ghetto, but hey a hunt is a hunt. Cole and Ellie had fun, and that's all that matters.

Cole found his two cute friends to hunt with :)

We were in desperate need of a break from school, and this week has hit the spot. Thanks to our tax return we were able to play and buy all week! It will be hard to send Ben back to school on Monday :( We will have to start another countdown until summer.

Stuck

I was in the kitchen making lunch when Elise started crying and Cole yelled "Mom, I'm stuck!"

Ellie had rolled across the room and gotten stuck under her bouncer and the piano:

And Cole, being his curious self, managed to get stuck the wrong way in Ellie's jumper:

At least we aren't stuck inside anymore. We have grass and leaves!!

Spring Fever

There is sun in Iowa! I was worried we would never see it again. It has been sunny and above freezing all week!! Cole begged to go for a walk outside, and I was all for it as well. We still had to wear our coats, but it was a really nice walk. We were just glad to be outside without the risk of frostbite. Now, if only the snow would melt.

"Can we go down the slide?" Cole asked

Maybe next time.

Physical Therapy

Cole started PT for his knees, and he loves it! He asks to go play with Ann, his physical therapist, but I think he really means her toys. He doesn't usually notice what she's doing because he's too busy playing. She always says how compliant he is...and what a chatterbox he is :) Once again he was rated best patient of the day. What I want to know is, how come he's not compliant with me?