Gratitudes

1. a good night's sleep (when I get one...)
2. blue sky & sunshine
3. music
4. ipods
5. the gospel
6. yellow balloons
7. water - ice cold water
8. a home
9. mothers
10. colors

Another Gabe funny

Earlier this week I made some yummy Fudge Nut Bars for that recipe swap I posted. I needed a picture of them, so I had to cook up a big tray of them. Knowing my weakness for all things chocolate I made them with the plan to take them to others and only have one. So when Gabe got up from his nap I asked him who we should take them to for FHE. He thought about it for a minute and said, "Hmmmm....Dr Gatherum!"

Now you should know - Dr. Gatherum is an OB/GYN and delivered both Gabe and Hunter......but Gabe insisted that was who he wanted to take cookies to. It cracked us up because it's not like Gabe even knows Dr. Gatherum - but we sure love him as a dr (seriously - he is the best dr in the whole world!) and figured a plate of cookies would be a good thank-you. So we made him a thank-you card ran over a plate of goodies for Gabe to say thank you :).

So I had to laugh again when Gabe said one of the things he was thankful for was "Dr. Gatherum". Funny kiddo.

Oh - another thing Gabe's been saying lately is, "Mom - Sound!" He says this whenever he hears ANYTHING - and then tries to figure out what it is. He has amazing hearing too - he can hear kids around the block playing outside, Cory coming home from clear up the street (but that could be because Cory's truck is SO loud), a toilet flushing, water running, Hunter crying or just waking up, dogs, airplanes, you name it. It kind of drives me nuts - but it's funny to see his face when he says, "Mom - sound!"

Gratitudes for Friday

Joanna's:

1. public libraries - in fact, we have 2 public libraries - awesome!
2. children's books - or any books for that matter
3. Wendy's and McDonald's drive throughs
4. the color red
5. hot bubble baths
6. telephones
7. my little boys
8. Robert's craft store
9. Christmas decorations
10. sippy cups

Gabe's (these were only prompted by me explaining being thankful for things, and asking Gabe what he was thankful for - he came up with the list all on his own, and kept adding to it when I told him we were done).

1. Gabbi (We were just checking out my friend Jana's blog and so Gabe was returning to his fascination with cutie Gabbi)
2. pumpkins
3. cats
4. gold
5. Pete (I have no idea who Pete is - but when I asked Gabe he said that Daisy our dog chases Pete in the backyard...?)
6. samiches (sandwhiches)
7. drinks
8. taking rides with mommy
9. lemonade
10. cheese
11. nanas (bananas)
12. Gramma and Grampa
13. doggies
14. ketchup
15. nuggets
16. nursery
17. Dr. Gatherum

Hunter: (as interpreted by mom)

1. milk
2. a mom who is willing to get up all night long to feed him
3. a cozy car-seat
4. a brother that plays with him
5. dry diapers

Turkey Boxes

When we were little kids our family had a turkey box we'd break out at Thanksgiving time. It was a shoe box that was decorated with a paper turkey, and had a slit in the top where we could put lists of things we were thankful for. Then when we'd drive to Mama and Papa's house for Thanksgiving we'd get out the box and read everyone's lists to remind us of what we are grateful for.

So in lieu of making a turkey box (although I saw a really cute pattern for one in the picture here) I thought I'd create an online "turkey box" where I could record daily things that I am grateful for. I'm hoping that it will help me to have a more grateful attitude this month. Please feel free to comment with some of the things you are grateful for as well - let's all have a "Gratitude Attitude" this month!

Things I am grateful for today (and these are in no particular order of importance - just random things I'm grateful for):

1. the internet - to keep us connected
2. fun mail (you know - the kind that isn't bills?)
3. calming music
4. ice cubes
5. microwave ovens
6. baby swings
7. washer and dryer
8. cameras
9. computers
10. pest control guys - especially during "mice" season!

Check back often, I hope to list things each day this month.

Halloween wrap up

Ugh. As I was uploading these pictures I realized that I just copied over my original pictures with these smaller web-friendly versions. Darn it! Now I don't have originals of these pictures that are big enough to print. Darn!

Well here is a recap of our Halloween. It was a QUIET Halloween at our house. Seriously we had about 1/4 of the trick-or treaters we had expected. I was talking to a neighbor and she said tehre were cars lined up our street last year. This year we'd have a couple kids, and then like 15-25 minutes until a couple more came. In the end Cory was dumping candy in their bowls. Interesting....

Anyway, Cory took Gabe out with our friends and their little boy Garrett. Garrett was a mouse from "Ratatouille" - so the 2 little mice went scurrying off to get candy. Almost everyone on our street handed out chocolate - which was a bummer (because then I want to eat it....). But Gabe loved "treating".

It was funny because he called the scary trick-or-treaters "trickers", and the others were "treaters". They went to one house with a teenager dressed up as a scary goblin on the porch. He stood perfectly still until the boys got closer to him and then started moving. I guess it TOTALLY freaked Gabe out. He kept shaking his arms and making this scary face and saying, "Daddy - it's scary!" They pointed out to him that it was just Cody the neighbor. Then all night Gabe kept talking about scary Cody. It was funny to see his apprehension even hours later.

We dressed Hunter up in the costume Gabe wore 2 years ago - a "sweet" pea. He went out for a few minutes with us to see neighbors, but it was pretty low key. The weather was REALLY nice - one of the first years I remember not having icky weather. And it was great to not have to tromp the boys out in snow.

Pumpkins 2007

Ok - I have decided that Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays....Between the gore, the scary costumes, the begging/greedy children, millions of calories worth of candy - and now the goopy pumpkin guts - it's just kind of a gross holiday. I'm trying to focus on the FUN parts of it though, since I'm pretty sure with these 2 little boys I'll never get away with not celebrating the holiday.

One thing we did was go to the "Pumpkin Park" to pick out pumpkins. When we got there I realized I didn't have my camera - and Gabe remembered taking pictures last year, so he was disappointed. Oops....So this morning we carved our 2 pumpkins. We haven't done this before - it was tough! I didn't have a great knife to use - and it was just harder than I thought it would be. I had some templates picked out online (you can find some fun ones here) - but then decided to just wing it. It went better if we had straight cuts - so here's what we came up with.

Gabe - a budding photographer

Today when we (and by we I mean ME) were carving our pumkins for tonight Gabe grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. He was so funny - kept saying, "Cheese!" and telling me everything that he was taking pictures of. He was really quite proud of getting pictures of me and of Hunter. He did take quite a few with his hand over the lense - but here are a few that show the world according to Gabe. (as well as the icky mess we made with the pumpkin goo)

I'm pretty sure we're going to have to get this kid a camera soon - or at least give up mine....he grabbed it back as soon as I took it from him. Oh good - I was hoping we could have a power-struggle over one more thing. :)

Perfect!

This morning I was working on some stuff for The Blind Guy (our business) and I was running around the basement trying to get finished. Gabe was playing with some cars and yelled out, "PERFECT!" and then went on playing. A few minutes later I heard him say, "PERFECT!" again as I walked past him. I said, "What's perfect Gabe? Your cars?" He looked up at me with the sweetest face and said, "No Mommy - you're perfect!"

So sweet!

Digital Recipes

I got invited to be a part of a digital recipe swap. Here are the recipes I created. These are 2 of my very favorite recipes - YUM!

We're back!

So I have been waiting to blog until I could sit down and post some pictures from our trips - but since that is going to take a lot longer than I have right now - I thought I'd just get on and say we're here, and alive.

We have just spent the last 10 days traveling. First trip was to Cancun, Mexico with our friends Kelly & Andy Springer. We took Hunter with us, and they brought their 6 week old baby too. Gabe stayed home and got to spend time with the Mullen's (see their blog for pictures) and his Ellis Grandparents. We met up with everyone last Sunday to send Gabe back with the Springers (Gramma Rhien was waiting for him in Cedar City) and then we headed off to Hawaii on Monday. We went to the big island of Hawaii with our awesome friends Trent & Melissa Cheney, and got home on Saturday. I promise I will post some pictures and tell about our trips later.

Hunter liked Hawaii much better than Mexico and was AMAZINGLY good on the flights to and from Hawaii, as well as most of the trip. He did NOT however enjoy Mexico. The weather in Cancun was HOT HOT HOT as well as HUMID HUMID HUMID and WINDY WINDY WINDY. Throw that all together and he really wasn't very happy - expcept for the second we'd get into our hotel room - and he was happy as a clam. It was frustrating, but to be expected. In Hawaii he had a much better attitude and really we started to "get" each other. I'm starting to understand his schedule a bit better, and he's getting better about letting me know what he needs. By the end of the trip Melissa even said, "That's you're tired cry - I'm even starting to hear it!" And he really only cried out once the whole plane ride from Hawaii to Salt Lake! GO HUNTER!

Speaking of Hunter - he has grown a TON! Seriously I need to put him on the scale, but he has really filled out, and is even getting a bit chunky (something we've never experienced with Gabe!) And this morning he rolled over for the first time from his back to his stomach - YAY! He did it so effortlessly - but wouldn't attempt it again after his first success. I'm not in anyway anxious for him to be mobile - but it is fun to reach milestones like that. He has also started to discover his hands - holding onto things better, sucking on his hands - it's been fun to watch. He still loves bathtime (and even started swimming from one end of the tub to the other in Hawaii), he LOVED swimming in the pools on our trip, and he has fun in his swing. I'm grateful we've survived the first 3 months and that things seem to be going better. It is definetly harder with 2 kids - dividing time betwee the 2 - but we're making it work.

And Gabe - what a funny little kid! I felt horrible leaving him home from our trips, but with all the traveling - we kept looking at each other and saying how it would have been SO hard with him there. But we'd also do things and think of how fun it would be to share those experiences with him - like the beach and the pools. Next time we'll all do it together (in fact, we're planning a trip to California in January and I might go with my parents and sister with the boys to Disneyland in March). We are so grateful for family who helped out while we were gone. Gabe had so much fun with cousins and grandparents and we felt so lucky to have people who love Gabe (almost) as much as we do here to take care of him. Thanks everyone!!!

I'll post pictures soon. Have a great week!

A better week

Well it's been a much better week than last week. Hunter is still a pretty fussy little guy - but we've discovered he enjoys the swing - and that's helped out a lot! Gabe on the other hand....is still 2 years old....

Hunter and Gabe even got to enjoy a couple of baths together. It was all fun & games until Gabe wanted to show Hunter how to "really" splash - and that was a little much for Hunter (and mom!) But I think they'll continue to have fun in the tub. I'm glad my little boys both enjoy the water - makes bathtime a lot easier on all of us.

Cory's dad has been here this week to help Cory get caught up on some big work projects. Gabe sure has enjoyed having him around. "Grampa! Grampa! Grampa!" is all I've heard all week. He's going to be quite upset when Kim leaves tomorrow!

Well I have a crying baby - better run. Have a great weekend.

Can it get any better than this?

Seriously - can it get any better than Christmas music and Josh Groban!?!?!?

Yeah it can! A Josh Groban Christmas cd full of CLASSIC Christmas, and including a song with Faith Hill (another one of my favorites) and one with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I just barely downloaded this from itunes, but so far so good.

Darn Josh Groban made me break my rule of "No Christmas music before Thanksgiving". Oh well....(and secretly I've been listening to this song by the group SHeDaisy & Rascal Flatts - The Twist of the Magi. Shhh - don't tell.)

Yeah - it was that bad...

So it hasn't been the easiest week at the Ellis house. Hunter has been particularly fussy, Gabe's reached a new level of fit-throwing, Cory's been swamped with work stuff, and I've been totally grumpy - add it all together and our house hasn't been the funnest place to be. I have barely had time to catch my breath - much less sit down to blog (or go to the bathroom...)

Add to that the wind - man it's been nuts! The wind has blown non-stop for like 4 days - MAJOR wind! Wind has always made me grumpy, and today when I was talking to my mom she said that is actually a phenomenom. Did you know wind blows around negatively charged ions and a lot of people have problems when there is wind? After talking to her I'm totally going to read up on that. So I'm going to blame it all on the darn weather :).

So here's to having a better weekend. I'm looking forward to General Conference!

Cutest pictures ever!

It's been "one of those days" already for us at the Ellis house. So I wanted to look at these pictures and remind myself that it can be happy here :)

This is Hunter - oddly a little after he had 3 big shots for his 2 month dr appointment....I had him on his changing table and he was just happy as a clam. It's funny because he really loves laying on his changing table - that's where I get the best smiles and coos from him...

Anyway - I hope your days are going better than ours is here, and if not - maybe these adoreable pictures will help cheer you up too!

8 weeks

Wowza! It was 8 weeks ago that Hunter was born.

He has been so funny the last couple of days (when he's not a grumpy guy....) he has developed this funny smile that he smiles with his whole face. His mouth is open WIDE and he looks like he's trying to swallow you whole! I haven't captured it quite right because he only does it for me, and only when I'm making silly faces at him. (and not when I'm behind the camera) But it sure is cute.

I've also noticed that he tends to scowl a lot. Poor little guy's going to have grumpy wrinkles.

He's also quite vocal. He does this thing when he isn't necessarily crying - but he's growling and kind of whining....it's interesting, and sounds pretty pitiful.

And he's getting a flat head on one side like Gabe did. Yeah, not happy about that, and I'm sure the pediatrician will say something about it tomorrow at our 2 month visit. The interesting thing is that the side that I always lay him on isn't flat. I noticed today that even if I lay him with his head to one side - he always changes it to the other side.

And tummy time? HA! He hates it. Anyone have any suggestions for ways to get him to enjoy it better? I lay on the floor with him and talk to him - but he still just rubs his face on the blanket and screams....Well here he is.

(The pictures on top are from today - and these ones of him in red are from a couple of days ago).

a few pics

It's been a bit since I posted some pictures of the boys - so here you go. Hunter's been smiling more, and more responsive to our voices. He is still pretty fussy in the evenings, and wants to eat almost anytime he's awake - but we're loving him. Last night he decided to get up every 1 1/2 hrs - 2 hrs which I wasn't too fond of...but once again - I love him to pieces.

And I finally got around to taking pictures of Hunter in his blessing outfit. He's quite a bit bigger now...but oh well. At least I snapped some pictures, and I won't have to keep looking at the blessing outfit on the dresser and feeling guilty that I didn't have any. (I left the stuff out to remind me - but it still took me several weeks to get it done). He is 7 weeks in these pictures.

Gabe continues to crack us up. He says some of the funniest things, and he's teaching Cory and I that we really have to watch every word that comes out our mouths - he picks up EVERYTHING. (the good, bad, and ugly)

He's also decided that everytime we go to the store he should get a toy. Nice. Yesterday he threw a royal fit because I wouldn't buy him a 40$ Diego playhouse toy. And I even offered to get him a smaller Diego toy and he just had to have the expensive BIG stuff. I have a feeling he gets that from his dad :) He also has already started his Christmas list of things he wants (and the list is LONG) - funny kid.

Well lots going on this week - but nothing exciting to report really. Hope you all have a great week! Take care.

digital layout

Gabe is a giant....

Today Gabe has been fascinated with the word "GIANT"....not totally sure why.....But at lunch time he had spaghettio's and had made a big mess. I said, "Gabe! You're a GIANT mess!" Then he kept repeating "Giant Mess! Gabe Giant Mess!" over and over again. When I cleaned him all up after lunch I thought I'd gotten it all, and he pointed to a spot of spaghettio that was on his hand. I said, "uh-oh - that's because you are a GIANT ______" (and I waited for him to shout "Mess!")

And Gabe yells, "GOOBER!"

:)

Gabe

Gabe always wants me to take pictures of him when I get the camera out to snap some of Hunter. Last night he wanted me to take a picture of his bandaid, his 'unders', him wiggling, and him running. So here you go - here's Gabe in all his glory.