Uninvited Guest

Chip thought a picnic would be nice on Saturday. He packed up the leftover burgers from the night before and I packed all the baby gear. We got set up at the park and were about to enjoy the weather when Streed said, "Uh Oh!" We looked around and saw this huge white dog walking up. I had seen it several times over the years and new it was a sweet dog. He came first to Streed and began sniffing his burger. He then walked right around to Chip. Ella was terrified and jumped in Chip's lap. The dog was getting all in Chip's face and even put his paw on his shoulder. I could not contain myself I was laughing so hard. I was crying it was so funny. Because I was laughing so hard, Streed started laughing too. I was holding Nate and trying to get my camera out of the diaper bag before the dog moved his paw. I knew these pics just had to go on the blog. So, enjoy them as much as Streed and I did.

My Brown Eyed Girl

(thanks Clara for catching this shot)

A Crying Shame

What mean mommy won't give their baby a coke...when she is 19 months old and in the 98th percentile for her weight? Not only does she deny the baby the coke, but she also takes pictures of her as she cries and reaches for it. I should be ashamed. Don't feel too sorry for her. She has had her fare share of coke. She swipes one any chance she gets.

the baby in the picture

That was Ella. Sometimes Nathan looks like them and sometimes he looks like he's not related to them...except for the hair. But, I saw this picture of Ella and saw how much it looked like Nate. I showed it to Chip and he couldn't tell who it was. I wouldn't have known either if it wasn't in the "ella" folder on the computer. She was one month.

Play Clothes

I have started putting Ella in Streed's old stained clothes to play in the yard. We play out there so much and she is getting all of her new summer clothes SO dirty! So, here she is in an old boy's shirt...with one of her new bows.

New Bows

I visited a friend the other day and she passed on some bows to Ella. I am so thankful for them. They are big and look so good in her hair. She gave me about 8 and they are all different colors.

All Gave Out

This weekend marked the end of my attempt at nursing. I think there were multiple reasons for the lack of success. Without going into too much detail I think it was mainly a supply and demand issue. You can email me if you are really dying to know. I am trying to spare my male readers.

This basket had been full of milk for the past 5 weeks. By this weekend there was one lonely bag left. I guess now I will have to supplement him with fish sticks.

Prissy Sissy

Sunday I decided sissy needed her toe nails painted. Acutally she decided. I had painted mine the day before and she was quite interested. For some reason Chip wanted to do it. Then, as I was getting ready for church Ella of course was right there with me. I was straitening my hair and decided to do hers as well. Chip had been telling me how long her hair was. (THANKFULLY he bathes them at night while I am cooking.) Her curls are so tight that you cannot tell when it is dry how long it is. So, I think curiosity got the best of me since I haven't seen it wet in a while. She looked like such a big girl. When Streed saw her he said, "She looks like you, Mama".

Big Brother & Big Sister

They LOVE their baby brother. There literally has not been one moment of jealousy. Probably because he spends hours a day in my room in the pac-n-play. So, when he is out and alert they are so happy. Regardless, I am happy they are in love with him. Ella is determined he should have something in his mouth at all times. So far she has only tried to give him his bottle and his paci. Streed just likes to love on him.

Dang It

It has happened again. We decided on Ella's name while in Brazil. We come home to find "Ella" being a very popular name. It even started popping up in Pottery Barn Kids. So, before naming Nathan, I check baby name websites and it was no where near the most popular. But, wouldn't you know I get my new PBK magazine this week and there it is, in bold letters...Nate! GEEZ! But, I am not too upset. We named Ella for a special reason as we did Nathan. So, it is fine. It was just funny to me. I guess Streed has nothing to worry about. Except the reality that he will have to repeat his name and explain that it is his mother's maiden name every time he introduces himself...for the rest of his life. And, it never fails, the response to his name is either 1. I like that OR 2. Interesting.

Ya know we're bad, we're bad

Don't they look fierce? They are quite a team. We came home from somewhere (taken a few weeks ago) and they were both in jerseys. This is a daily occurance for Streed but a first for Ella. My camera sits strategically on my kitchen counter so as to always have it easily in reach. Clara took some pictures for us.

Guess Who?

At first glance which baby is this?

Blast from the past

I was going through old picture cd's after Nate was born looking for newborn pics of Streed. (Our old computer crashed and I lost LOTS of pictures.) I found this picture while looking at the cd's. Thought it was cute. My face isn't quite so thin anymore. I do have a recent desire to start exercizing again so maybe there's hope.

Like I said

I saw this on a friends blog and it made me think about what I said about having little time to do certain things. I just wish I had that older girl helping me cook. :)

Yard Work

We (Chip) have been working hard on the outside of the house. While Chip's mom was here she uprooted all of our old shrubs. I don't have a before pic because they were up before I knew it. The front of the house used to be so ugly that I never took any pictures of it. Now, it is so pleasing to look at. The previous owners used part of the backyard for a garden so there were huge dirt mounds that you had to walk through to get to the grassy area. This was a messy situation with the kids. We didn't know what to do to remedy the dirt issue. Chip's dad suggested a deck. We had never thought of that. Chip bought an $8 "How to build a deck" book at Lowes and went to work. We are so pleased. He is really proud of himself and I am too. We have already used the backyard way more than before. We are not done with the landscaping. We still needs some grass. We went to get some sod and Lowes the other day and had an accident that resulted in both kids falling out of the buggy due to a hole in the floor of the garden center. No sod was purchased that day.

Spikey Nate

I need to go to bed but just have to post some pics of Nate's hair. It seems to be different from the other two. His is super fine, super soft and super spikey after a bath.

old pictures

These could have and should have been posted a while back. For some reason I am slacking. There are many areas of my life that are on the backburner at the moment...the blog, cleaning, showering, time in the word...to name a few. I have several posts to get done soon--landscaping/deck building, Nate's hair, our afternoon friends etc.


taken sometime the first week home. they still love him after a month.

looking in their easter basket. ella quickly grabbed the chocolate bunny.

sporting their new fake crocs from the easter bunny. ella still has the chocolate bunny gripped.


playing hide & seek. i don't know who taught them this game but they love it. they don't quite understand it but they love it.