18 Months!!

Aaaaaah!!!

My sweet little angel baby has turned into a rambuctious, funny, ball of fire toddler!

And we are loving it :)

Elise is known around here for her funny faces. She never pulls a princess smile. Her facial expressions are always full of personality!

This one is her classic "Cheeeeeese" that I get whenever she sees a camera

Ellie is a Climber. She climbs on everything and can get to anything! Her favorite place to climb to is the freezer where she will snag a popsicle and beg me to open it. My favorite place she has climbed was into her dresser drawer...it was not where I expected to find her when I heard her yelling from her room :)

Cole Clone: El loves her big brother and does EVERYTHING Cole does, which is not always a good thing. Thanks to Cole Ellie loves trains and airplanes, can roar like a dinosaur, has mastered tantrums, loves to tickle, and gives the best hugs.

Ellie is a Daddy's Girl...especially when he lets her play with his Ipod :) This little girl has her daddy wrapped around her little finger and can get away with almost anything when he's in charge!

She may not act like a princess, but this girl loves her "Pretties".

She loves to show off her cute accessories and to hear people tell her she's pretty :)

Her favorite things are shoes, especially her cute rain boots.

At 18 months old Ellie is 33 in long (86 %ile) and 25.3 lbs (64 %ile)

Elise still loves to read (like her mommy) and will bring books to my lap, which I love.

She loves to rub Cole's head and give him kisses.

She is always making funny noises and then laughing at herself (just like her daddy and brother).

El constantly brings me her shoes and begs to go outside.

She is always moving, even in her high chair. She just can't sit still.

Ellie is great with sharing, but won't let anyone push her around and take her things.

She doesn't talk much yet, but she has her animal sounds down :)

Her favorite word is "uh-uh" which she sometimes says even when she wants something.

Elise is simply my smart, busy, funny, loud, loving, stubborn, sweet, sassy, tough, beautiful girl! Love you Ellie bug!!

Spring Break 2011

Ben didn't get much of a Spring Break this year. He had school stuff to do almost every day, but we did get to see him more than usual so we were happy. We even got him to take a day trip with us! Cole had an appointment with Dr. Hong, his rheumatologist, so we headed to Iowa City. Not my first choice for a getaway, but we made it fun anyway.

We saw the Iowa State University stadium...

...and the U of I Museum of Natural History

You may have noticed there isn't much to Iowa City besides the university. We certainly noticed. Luckily Cole and Elise liked the museum a lot more than I thought they would.

We also got to see the Morman Handcart Memorial (which was only a plaque and a walking path, also on the university grounds), the Amana Colonies, and the Tanger Outlets on our way home.

Cole and I also got to have a date to the movies. We saw the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet". It was a fun date, mostly due to the popcorn. Cole couldn't sit through the whole movie, but he had no trouble finishing off the tub of popcorn :)

Like I said, it wasn't a very exciting Spring Break as far as Spring Breaks go...but it was very exciting for us to have Ben around every single day!!

Sweet boy...

Lucky Me

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Des Moines knows how to celebrate this holiday! We went downtown to the parade this morning. I was surprised how decked out everyone was. We saw all sorts of green wigs and hats, a lot of hair dying (on the head and face), green eyelashes and makeup, and an assortment of leprechaun accessories. It was quite the sight!

There was a lot of beads and candy being thrown. We were a lot smaller and slower than most of the parade watchers (since this is a holiday where adults act like kids and get drunk by lunchtime) so we didn't get as much as most. Two strings of beads and a pocket full of candy is plenty! We were very happy with what we got :)

To make our Lucky Day even better, it reached 70 degrees here in West Des Moines!! We spent a sunny afternoon outside enjoying the warmth, the ever-present wind, and breaking in Cole's tricycle and Ellie's car.

I am so lucky to have my two cute kiddos to share every day with!

Cole Can Read!

Cole knows his letters pretty well but wasn't quite understanding that multiple letters make up a word. He would just look at the first letter of a word and guess words that started with that letter. Last night we were reading a book and I helped him sound out the word "truck". Then all by himself he sounded out the words "bus" and "tractor"!

Today we were at Dollar Tree when Cole looked at the sign and said "Hey, there are two L's. What does that say? Doll, dolla, dollar. That says Dollar store!" He sounded out Dollar but not Tree...I guess he has a short attention span like his daddy :)

I can't believe my baby boy is big enough to read! It's only a few words so far, but it still amazes me. I'm so glad that I get to stay home with my kids and witness big moments like this!

Way to go my Super Cole!!