It's SCARY....

....how cute these Halloween things are at Pottery Barn Kids! If I had a bunch of money I'd buy one of each and deck out my house. (Or if I were uber talented and had spare time on my hands - I'd make a lot of thse things) They are SO cute!

On a related note - Gabe is trying to decide what he wants to be for Halloween. I asked the other night and without hesitation he yelled out, "PIRATE!" I honestly don't even know if he knows what a pirate is.....but Old Navy does have a pirate costume that doesn't cost too much. (Pottery Barn has an even cuter pirate costume - but I'm not spending $59 on something that he will wear for an hour, 2 at most). So we'll see if he really does want a pirate costume after he sees some of the others out there. He did show some interest in a fireman costume - but still said he wanted to be a pirate.

Trick-or-treating should be fun this year - especially with our little guy's sweet-tooth :)

We did it!

Well I am proud to report that I have officially gone and run errands with the 2 boys by myself. And know what? It didn't even end up in tears. We had several places to run to yesterday (several things that didn't include getting out of the car, which was nice), and we had to do some grocery shopping and pick up stuff for a Young Woman activity. Gabe was cooperative for the most part and was VERY social at the grocery store - making most of the other customers laugh at some point or another.

When we left the house I told Gabe that if he was good we'd get a treat. He yelled out "CAKE!" Then he proceeded to tell me that he wanted to buy a cake at Lin's and come back and have cake with candles and hats (like for his birthday). I figured we'd buy a cupcake and celebrate having a successful shopping trip when we got home. However, you could only buy a dozen cupcakes at a time and they looked pretty nasty (you know - with the spraypainted blue frosting and stuff?) Gabe was pretty enthralled by some other single layer cakes they had - so I went for a tasty looking carrot cake.

Well we got home and decided we'd have cake after dinner. However, Gabe rebelled and would not eat dinner. I stuck to my guns and wouldn't let him have cake unless he ate his dinner. (Sometimes I hate being the "mean" mom). So we'll see how lunch goes today and we'll celebrate then.

Anyway, I did want to report that we did make it out of the house, and back again, and hopefully we'll be able to do it as uneventfully as we did yesterday.

Also last night I took Hunter to our Young Woman activity - and almost even made it on time! (We were getting ready to run out the door and his diaper was a mess. So as I changed him he pooped all over me and the clean new diaper, as I cleaned that up he peed on me. I cleaned that up and he peed again all over himself and me! So I got everything cleaned up, handed him to Cory for a minute while I threw some laundry in - and by the time I came back moments later he already needed another diaper. We went through 4 diapers in under 10 minutes!!!) But I put Hunter in a sling that I had from Gabe and we headed to our activity. I had no sooner walked around the block than he was asleep in the sling. I was so glad it worked so well! That may be the answer to getting things done with Gabe and Hunter at the same time.

Lastly - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD ELLIS! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Gorgeous kids

Isn't he gorgeous? I am taken back by how beautiful he is, (how beautiful both of my kids are!) Last night when I was getting Hunter down for bed he just sat and looked at me - for a long time. As I looked at him I realized that this does not last long enough - they are babies for such a short time! I hope I can treasure our moments with him as a baby. They slip by so fast!

Happy....

This week we have a lot of birthdays and anniversaries in our family. Just wanted to send out a congrats and happy birthday to everyone. This week we have:

• The anniverary of when Cory and I got engaged. (9 years ago today! Love you sweetie)
• My parents (Mom & Dad Rhien) wedding anniversary - 29 years - wow!
• Grandma Harding's birthday
• Dad Ellis's birthday
• Logan's 8th birthday (which I can hardly believe - I still remember the day he was born quite vividly.)
• Mom & Dad Ellis's wedding anniversary - 32 years (I think...)
• And my sister-in-law Nicole's birthday was earlier this week

So it's a busy week in our families. A pretty awesome time to celebrate for everyone. We love you all!

Knock on wood...

I have to admit, I'm a bit superstitous. And I'm learning that there are things that you just should never say out-loud, and you should even avoid THINKING! For instance:

• "My kids are so healthy" or "I've felt really great physically since I've had the baby!" Inevitably this is followed by some week long (or more) filled with colds, puking children, nasty headaches/bodyaches, or something equally as pleasant.
• "Baby Hunter is a great sleeper - I'm so lucky." This is quickly followed by a night of getting up every hour, for an hour....wait - does that mean we're up all night long? YUP!

So knock on wood, cross your fingers, throw salt over your left shoulder - whatever it takes. But I'm not ever going to tell you what "good" kids I have, or what awesome sleep habits my children have developed!

Have a great weekend. :)

2 week update

These pictures make me laugh. Since Hunter was born I've tried many times to get a cute picture of Gabe kissing Hunter on the top of the head. I've tried everything....Last night these are what we came up with. Pretty pathetic huh? The 3rd one is my favorite because as I took the picture Gabe said in this squeaky, tiny voice, "Teeny, tiny ears. Ohhhhh..." It was hilarious...But I think I'm giving up trying to get a good kissy brother picture for now.

I took Hunter to the dr today for his 2 week visit. He's growing like a champ and has hit 7 lb 7 oz. And it looks like either the measurement they took at the hospital when he was born was either wrong, or he's grown almost 2 inches in 2 weeks. (They said he was 19 inches at birth, and he measured 20 3/4 inches today). I'm thinking he wasn't quite stretched out when they measured him at birth. And his umbilical cord stump fell off today too. (Like you really needed to know that.....)

But other than that he is looking great.

The rest of us on the other hand....It looks Cory and I have come down with some kind of flu or something. We are both so achey and crummy feeling; nausea, headaches - the "gunk". I had things to get done on my 'list' (which by the way has really worked, and helped me get a lot done this week) this afternoon - but instead I curled up in the recliner with Hunter and took a rest - it was great. Good thing my to-do list is somewhat flexible huh?

So tonight I'm planning on making something simple for dinner, having us all get in our jammies, and having a family movie night. I'm hoping to persuade Cory and Gabe to watch "High School Musical 2" on the Disney Channel with me...but we might be watching something animated of Gabe's choice. We'll see. Either way, I hope we get to bed early and sleep well - all of us!

And speaking of dinner, I'm proud to announce that I've made a healthy, well-balanced meal every night for the last 5 nights, and I have meals planned and shopped for through next weekend. It feels good.

Gabe and I even made zuchinni bread one afternoon (he loved dumping the sugar in), and homemade oreo cookies yesterday afternoon (and he helped a TON with the cookies - and loved it all). I think he'll be wanting to help a lot in the kitchen now that I whet his appetite for it.

Well everyone, have a great weekend and here's hoping you stay healthy and don't get this 'gunk' that we've got!

2 weeks old

Yup - it's been 2 weeks. It's flying by already!

"I'm a Survivor..."

Mom mom left Sunday morning, and we're actually surviving. I figured that I'd hurry and post this before something big blows up and we shift from surviving to barely hanging on... (knock on wood that doesn't happen!)

Sunday actually went really well. Hunter was still young enough that I didn't want to take him to church yet to encounter all the people and germs. So he and I stayed home. But the evening went well and everything. I got some organizing done (scheduled our week and stuff), did laundry (which I actually put away!) and even made dinner and cleaned up from it! I was pretty proud of myself for the first day mom was gone.

Yesterday went alright too. I didn't quite accomplish everything on my to-do list, but we didn't have too many temper tantrums (mine or Gabe's), Hunter survived, I got some Blind Guy work done, and more laundry washed, folded and put away! Gabe and I did some coloring, played cars together, played play-doh and overall I think the day wasn't too bad.

Today we're not quite doing as well...Gabe seemed to pick up some of those germs at church on Sunday and over the last couple of hours seems to be coming down with some kind of a bug. He's stuffy, runny, grumpy, whiney (more than ever) and just really struggling. I'm hoping and praying that he'll stay down for his nap because he and I both need the break! Keep the little guy in your prayers - with all the changes in our house with the new baby he doesn't need to be getting sick on top of things. (this is a picture of Gabe with his morning ritual. He likes to come in and get in our bed - he prefers if I stay in with him - and watches a PBS or Disney show. His favorites are Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Playhouse. He likes to have juice and a snack (fruit snacks) and recently has added asking for a glass of milk too. He brings toys, kicks back on the pillows and veg's out. I love hearing him sing along with the characters, and it's fun to see him start to catch on to the alphabet and numbers from Sesame Street).

But as for today - I do have plans for dinner tonight, have a very organized grocery shopping list for when that finally happens (hopefully tonight when Cory gets home to watch one or both of the boys) and I am hoping to cross a few other things off my to-do list if these boys nap at the same time. Oh - I guess I should try to eat something for lunch too....since it is 2:30 already...

I also thought I'd throw a few pictures up here though. I know it's hard for family to not be here with us with new baby Hunter, so I want to be as good as I can about posting pictures when I can.

These couple of pictures are of Hunter at bathtime the other night. He's started to actually enjoy bathtime (it took a few times). He likes the warm water but gets fussy if it starts to cool off, and fusses right when I get him out and he's not totally wrapped up in a towel. It's been fun to watch him warm up to the water. I hope he'll enjoy bathtime like Gabe always has. It can be a really fun part of the nightly routine.

Meal Ideas - need your help!

I'm working on making my life more efficient and organized - something that is a necessity now. One of the biggest problems I have had in the past is mealtime. Both coming up with what to have for dinner, and making sure that I have all of the ingredients before I start cooking. I have never been really great about planning our meals - and I've been led by what sounds good at the moment. This strategy hasn't worked really very well lately, and so I'm revamping my approach. I'm hoping to make a menu for a week at a time (I'm going to work up to two weeks at a time - and maybe even further if possible) and see how that goes. I'll make my menu over the weekend (by Sunday evening at least) and do my grocery shopping on Monday's.

Here is the list I've come up with in the last couple of minutes. There are really easy recipes, and use ingredients I either already have, or basic ingredients I can stock up on at the grocery store.

• Baked potato bar with green salad
• Taco salad
• Cobb salad
• Spinach Salad
• Oriental Chicken and cabbage salad
• Creamy Chicken casserole
• Shepherd’s pie
• Fred’s Sweet and sour chicken
• Curry Chicken with rice
• Hamburgers/veggie burgers
• Grilled chicken breast (marinated and bbq) with grilled veggies
• Stuffed bell peppers
• Kraft magazine recipe for Alfredo sauce with chicken and pasta (with veggies)
• Lean Cuisine Skillet dinners
• Frozen Lasagna
• Beef Stroganoff
• Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
• Cream chicken enchilada’s
• Green chili chicken enchilada’s
• Spaghetti and meatballs
• Fajitas
• Lemon chicken quesadilla’s
• Breakfast burritos
• Pancakes/French toast
• Sloppy joes
• BBQ pork/chicken sandwiches
• Crock Pot recipes (look for more of these)
• Jessica’s chicken
• Chili and cornbread muffins

So - this is where you can help. I would love suggestions for easy, healthy, possibly make-ahead meals that I could add to our dinner list. I'm going to make a big list of dinner ideas, and then each week I'll pick enough for the week and we'll call it good. Hopefully that will help me with the classic question,

"WHAT'S FOR DINNER?!?!?"

Thoughts at one week after Hunter's birth

So it's been one week since our sweetie was born. It's gone by fast, and slow - depending on the moment. The sweet moments go by too quickly, and the grumpy moments drag on. It's hard to stay too grumpy though when you see a sweet scene like this:

• Before Hunter was born I started getting worried that with two little boys only two years apart that we'd be dealing with a lot of "hand-me-downs" and shared toys. Now that's not a bad thing for our pocketbook - it's a relief actually. But I just feel bad and hope that Hunter doesn't feel cheated. Anyway, it seems that I have also fallen into the same problem that all parents have - I have been calling Hunter Gabe's name over and over again. I guess it's out of habit. But I feel bad because it seems that not only will this little guy not have any of his own "stuff" - but he doesn't even have his own name!
• I'm already apologizing to Hunter that he can't go to college. Apparently with all the wet/messy diapers he has (SOOOOO many! That little guy 'goes' more than any baby I've known!) we are going to have to use all of his college money to buy diapers :)
• Hunter sure is a cutie! He's been a little more alert/awake the last 24 hours. He spent some time last night on the floor playing with Gabe. Gabe sure thought that was funny.
  


• Biting, hitting, tearing library books, licking cabinets, spitting, whining, time outs, yelling, throwing things...yeah - I think we've hit the terrible 2's. (this all happened in a matter of minutes)
• Going to the dr for well baby/kid checks with 2 little kids is enough to cause a minor meltdown for a new mommy - especially if the visit includes waiting for almost an hour. (Even if Grandma comes with them - heaven knows how we'll do it in the future by ourselves). Thank goodness it didn't involve any shots today!
• I have little (small) kids. Gabe in particular. He measures in the 10-15% for his height and weight. Hunter has a smaller head than Gabe (he really hasn't gotten anything from me, if I can't even pass on my large head....) and he's in the 20-30% for height and weight. Hunter had gotten back to his birth weight this past week, which the dr said they don't expect until 2 weeks. So he's happy with how much he's put back on. I still think the little guy is pretty skinny....
• Simply thinking about starting Weight Watchers again somehow has a way of making me want to eat chocolate, fast food, chips, and cheese. And try as I might - I swear it makes me hungrier just thinking about the points I shouldn't be eating.
• Getting a little worried about how we're going to manage on our own when my mom goes home...she's been particularly helpful at mealtimes. Especially making sure we have a well balanced dinner to eat. I'm a little worried about the frozen/takeout meals we'll be eating in the upcoming future (see the last bullet point - pretty related).
• Hunter isn't a huge fan of being awake and not eating. He has a hard time sometimes when we try to play with him, or keep him up before it's time for another feeding. I do feed somewhat on-demand, but there are times when it's simply not time for another feeding. Poor guy.


• If nothing else - having Hunter has made Gabe more excited about having his picture taken. Anytime I take the camera out to get a picture of Hunter growing up right before our eyes Gabe gets all excited yelling "CHEESE!" the picture with his tounge sticking out was me trying to come up with something other than the signature smile he's created.

Sleeping the day away

Hunter is quite the little sleeper. He's either sleeping, or he's awake and wanting to eat. So far he doesn't have much time where he's just awake and chilling (except ocasionally in the middle of the night when I'm 1/2 asleep myself). I guess in time... But he's pretty precious when he sleeps.

He prefers to be swaddled, and in fact - swaddling him is a sure-fire way to put him to sleep! If he's not swaddled his hands are up by his face - and more often than not he'll startle himself awake. He also likes to be snuggled up on our shoulder with his legs all tucked underneath himself. Cory likes that Hunter will sleep on his shoulder - Gabe prefered a softer environment (like on mom's shoulder).

I sure love the peaceful look on his face when he is sleeping, it's pretty sweet.

Party time

Digging into his presents.
Hunter was quite the party-er!

Some of our decor. My favorite part of the decorations was the balloons Cory hung from the ceiling fan, and then turned it on low so they floated around.

Trying out the new trike (in his new crocs). Gabe's legs are still a little short (a problem I've always dealt with....) but he'll have fun soon racing around outside on his bike.

The birthday boy!

Here are some photos from our little party last night. When Gabe woke up from his nap Cory put on the Cars soundtrack (loudly) and we danced around the house looking at the decorations (crepe paper and balloons everywhere!). Then we settled down to open presents. Gabe wasn't content with just taking the wrapping paper off the presents - he wanted to open all of the boxes and start playing. He loved the gifts he got and had fun playing with all of them! Thanks to everyone for being so generous.

Then we had a birthday dinner of pancakes (one of Gabe's favorite foods) with strawberries and whip cream. He still wanted CAKE for dinner - so we thought that pan-CAKES would work so we didn't feel too guilty for a sugary dinner :).

After dinner we got out the cake - a CARS cake. (Everything was CARS themed). Gabe was super excited about it and loved blowing out the candles. However, the minute we put the piece of cake in front of him I think he ate all of 2 bites, and played with the frosting some. But after all the fuss he'd been making for the last weeks and particularly all day of his birthday - he didn't dig into the cake like we thought he would. It was pretty funny.

Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and the gifts - you were all so sweet!

2 years ago today...

...our life was changed forever.

We welcomed Gabe to our family on August 7th, 2005. In some ways it seems that he's always been here, always been a part of our lives - a lot of times I have a hard time remembering a time without him and without being a mom. I guess in a lot of ways my life up to that point was just preparation. I've become what I wanted to be when I became a mom, and in a way that is really when my life started.

There are moments like today when I sit back and think - NO WAY! I can't believe that it has been two whole years - time is racing by too quickly. And I know that with the addition of Hunter to our family that time will only speed up faster. That makes me so sad. Today I was thinking that in the future we'll be facing things like boy scouts, first dates, his mission, girlfriends, and someday a wife. Someday I'll be spending time with Gabe when he and his wife welcome their new babies into their home and I'll get to watch him be a daddy. I know these things are in the distant future, but scary enough the distant future has a way of becoming the past faster than we realize.

But for right now I'm going to try to enjoy these moments, capture these feelings and live in the here and now. I can't believe that my little boy talks now (and oh boy does he talk!), that he is so independent at times, that he has opinions and desires. I love that he has favorites, dislikes and that he is so sweet at times. I love how he loves his new baby brother. I love the sweet voice he uses when he says, "Morning mama", "Morning Hunter". Or when he says, "S'rong Hunter?" (what's wrong Hunter - when Hunter is crying). I love how excited he's been today to have cake for his birthday and how simple things make him happy - like his favorite pair of shoes (his Crocs). I love when he tells us stories about things that go on in his days. He gets so excited and it's amazing what things he remembers, and the vocabulary he uses to tell us about it. He's a crack up!

So tonight we'll celebrate my baby's 2nd birthday. We're having a Cars cake, and we've decorated the house with black and red streamers and red balloons (Cory's even hung balloons from the ceiling fan and they're spinning around - it's quite festive!) Cory even went all out and got some Cars party favors, Cars dishes to eat on - the works. What a fun daddy!

He also went out on a birthday date with Gramma this afternoon. She took him to Wendy's for lunch (where he ate all of his nuggets - a pretty big accomplishment!), and then they went to Deseret Book where he got to pick out a fun new book. Gramma was very proud of him - he was on his best behavior.

We've been asking him for a few weeks what he wants for his birthday and all he answers is, "Cake" but that's expanded to "cake with candles" - like he had at Aunt Ashley's house. We asked what he wanted for a special birthday dinner and he thought about it for a minute and then whispered in the sweetest voice, "cake!"

The first few days

Well here we are in the midst of the first days of Hunter's life. We left the hospital Friday night around 6:30 and have been making it work at home. It's an adjustment, but it's good to be where things are familiar.

Here are some promised pictures of Hunter, our new sweetie. This little guy is sleeping like crazy, and if he's awake, wants to eat. He's so cute and tiny and SKINNY! He looks more like Cory than Gabe did I think (if that's possible) - right down to the L-O-N-G fingers and toes. In fact, we compared Gabe's toes to Hunter's - and Hunter's are either as long, or longer than Gabe's! And Gabe will be 2 on Tuesday. Kind of funny.

But he's eating well - which is good. He really took to nursing immediately, which was such a relief and a surprise. Gabe did well - but this has just gone smoother with nursing than I had planned. Still painful....but that's to be expected at first I guess.

Gabe is doing OK with the idea of being a big brother.....not fantastic, but ok. He wants Mom and Dad a lot - and won't let Gramma help him with much - but he's been sweet with Hunter. He and Cory went on a LONG ranger ride yesterday with a bunch of Cory's friends and their kids (5 "daddy's" and 9 kids). Cory's Ranger broke down and they had to be towed back to the trailer by one of their friends, but they made it home in one piece (and covered with the most HORRIBLE smelling mud. UCK!) It was good for Gabe to have a day with Dad. It's funny because 2 of the little kids that they went on the ride with commented on how much Gabe talks (these were little kids too). One little girl said, "How old is he? (Cory answered almost 2) Then why does he think he needs to talk so much?" :)

I'm feeling pretty good too. My back is still sore (I had a lot of back labor - and it feels like it), but for the most part I feel pretty good. My feet are swollen too - but it's getting better. It does feel great to be able to sleep on my stomach at night and to be able to bend over without a large beach ball in the way is wonderful. I'm tired, but that's to be expected, and as I get more rest I can feel a difference.

Well I'm trying to get Cory and Gabe off to church now, so I better go. Gabe's taking a picture of he and Hunter to Nursery with him to share with everyone. The day after Hunter was born everywhere my mom and Gabe went he told EVERYONE about his new little brother Hunter. It was pretty sweet I hear. He couldn't pass someone in the hall at the hospital, or at the store - or Wendy's without sharing his news. Let's hope he keeps feeling excited about it.

Welcome Hunter Harding Ellis

Just a QUICK post to tell you that Hunter Harding Ellis made his way into the world this evening at 5:05 pm. He weighs 6 lbs 12 oz. and is 19 inches long. I'll post more about the specifics later - but knew lots of people were anxious to hear news. He is precious, and actually looks a lot like Gabe did...just smaller. He started nursing and made some of the cutest little grunts and noises. Can't wait to get to know this little creation.

Gabe is getting ready to meet his new brother - who is getting cleaned up in the nursery right now. He was concerned that Hunter had an owie (because he was crying) but when Gramma reassured him that Hunter was ok Gabe asked if Hunter could go swimming. Then he was worried because Hunter wasn't wearing a shirt :) Should be an adventure for all of us.

The date and time are set

It's official! I'm going into the hospital tonight (middle of the night...1:00 am) to start the induction process. At my doctor visit earlier today he just said that I'm not progressing at all - not dilated or anything. He said that since at this point I'd already had Gabe - he was fine with inducing me. He even said if it was HIS wife - he'd do the induction. So I take that advice and we're going for it.

I'm pretty nervous about the process - but I guess part of it is just nerves about this big new change in our life. I'm thrilled, excited - but nervous.

We'll update when we get a chance with some pictures and info.