Boys Vs. Girls

So people ask me if I notice much difference between raising a boy vs. a girl. Now Roc is only 8 mths and Ella is only 2 3/4 but the one major thing I have noticed so far is loud noises. Roc seems to enjoy them while Ella runs to another room. Noises such as coffee grinder, blender and mostly the vacuum. As a baby Ella was terrified on the vacuum, so much so that I could not vacuum with her in the house. She is now ok with it but often runs and hides in another room, while Roc on the other hand loves it and will smile and follow after me trying to touch it. Roc is also a much earlier mover. For instance he crawled at 7.5 mths, Ella almost 9.5. Roc pulls himself to standing and can cruise (slowly) at 7.5 mths, again Ella 9.5 mths. I would also say he is more of a climber, for instance a few weeks ago I looked over had he had done this. (Now I do watch him but I do have to get my blogging in too :) ) He did not fall I came to the rescue before this could happen.

He Eats!

Roc is now 8 months and I have had a hard time getting him to each much food and anything with the slightest bit of texture would cause him to gag and throw-up-not just a bit of spit up but a lot of food would come up. But all of a sudden he has been able to eat, this is just in the last day or two. He actually ate a whole Ritz cracker yesterday and then some cheerios too. It is amazing to me that he can go from gagging on something with a slight bit of texture to eating Ritz crackers! This is a huge relief to me as I was having visions of nursing him forever, and anyone that knows me knows I only want to do this for a year :) I hope this eating keeps up.
Here he is today showing off his new talent.

Happy Anniversary

It was one year ago yesterday that we moved into our house! I can't believe it has been that long already. We really love our house and are very thankful for it. I was thinking about the little things that I love about my house that I am so glad I have:
Instant Hot Water Tap on my Sink
Water/Ice Machine on my Fridge
Central Vac System-a must with wood floors
Block Out Blinds-keeps the rooms nice and dark

For the most part the house is complete, but I have yet to decorate Roc's room-just can't find anything I really like-and Kevin has many landscaping projects to look forward to this spring and summer, but other than that we are in good shape.

ELLA!

ok so I know this is just babble but to us it sounds as if he really is saying Ella. (the first two noises)

BFF

Today my friend LaSarah came over with her daughter AnnaLuisa. I have not seen her in a while, which is sad because we have been best friends since kindergarten and live in the same town! We always say lets get together but never seem to, she is very busy teaching piano, BSF, taking care of her family and working in her church and another bilingual church, but finally today we made it happen, and hope to make it happen way more often!. AnnaLuisa is four and she and Ella got along really well and had lots of fun. Here are a few pictures of the visit. (AnnaLuisa cooperated very well when we told her to smile for the camera, but Ella was a challenge!)

Easter Celebration

We celebrated the secular part of Easter on Saturday. Abby and her crew came for weekend, and so did Rachael and Michael. The kiddos had a good time hunting for eggs and Roc even got to join on in the fun. My parents gave us some wonderful gifts and we really appreciate it. Here are a few pictures on the kids on the hunt.

Saying Mama

Roc can say mama and dada now, not sure if he actually relates this to us or not but it is still cute none the less. Here's a video of him saying mama, what a doll. Look at those big blue eyes!

Feeling Better

I think we are all back to normal now. Ella was pretty sick on Tuesday and basically laid on the couch and slept all day, only waking up to throw-up bile. It was pretty pathetic. I have never seen her like this. I woke up Wednesday morning throwing up and felt sick all day. To top it off I did not have my morning coffee so had a splitting headache all day. But today I would say I am about 90% and feeling better as the day goes on and as I get some food in me. So far Kevin has escaped this. We have been sick with the flu twice already this year, just me and the kiddos. Last time I was sick for a week, so I am grateful this time was only one day. Maybe we will make it out of the house today!

Sick Kids

Not much going on here. If you know my sisters you have probably read their blogs and know that my Grandma Ruby fell last week and broke her hip. She had surgery on it and is now in rehab recovering. The Dr.'s think she will only need a few weeks of this to be back to normal. If any of you know her she probably will, as she has the determination and will to do so. Ella and I visited with her for a couple of hours on Sunday but have not been able to make it back, as Roc starting throwing up Monday morning around 3 am and today Ella started. This is our second round of the flu this year and I am just hoping I don't get it again. Roc seems to be on the mend and is taking a nap right now, Ella is napping on the couch so all is quite now. Hopefully we will all be better for Easter weekend. Hope none of you out there get sick!

The Video

Roc is Crusing

It seems he has gone from not being mobile to being really mobile really fast. He has been pulling himself up to standing now and yesterday I looked over and he had walked with this chair from Ella's Kitchen to almost the office. I tired to get him on video but he got more interested in the drool that fell on the chair. Well for some reason the video won't upload so I will post without it for now and try later.




Also isn't it amazing how little girls love to be mommies to their dolls? I put Roc in the highchair while I was making brownies and I asked Ella if she wanted to help me, She did of course, but first had to get her doll in her highchair so she could watch too.

Oh and this is not related in anyway but a new Top Chef starts tonight!!!!! Yeah I missed the last season because we had no TV (finally broke down and decided to get it in November-we went 8 months with no tv and after a while you forget about it but sometimes it is nice to have it too) so I am excited to watch this one.

Ear Update

I took Roc to the Dr. yesterday to have his ear checked out. It turns out his ear that was infected a few weeks ago is still not totally healed and the other ear with the enlarged lymph node (the bump behind his ear) is also infected. The Dr. prescribed a one day antibiotic and we will go back in three weeks for another look. The Dr. is thinking he may have to have tubes put in. Ella was scheduled for a second round of some immunization today, but since we were there yesterday they just did it right then so we did not have to go back. I really like their Dr., he is very good with the kiddos and always lets me ask all the questions I need and takes the time to answer them for me. But what is even better is his nurse Angie is great too! She always lets Ella get a sucker and something from the goody bag even if the appointment is for Roc. Yesterday Ella brought her Bitty Baby in and when we went to weigh Roc Angie asked Ella if she wanted to weigh Bitty Baby. I thought that was cute. Then after Ella's shot she put a band-aid on Ella and one on Bitty Baby. She even remembered that last time we were in Ella told her she liked Nemo, so she brought her a Nemo sticker. On the way home Ella, who was still thinking about her shot says, I told Angie I did not like shots! She never actually told her this but I thought that it was a bit funny to hear her say this as if Angie was giving her the shot for the fun of it....How can it be after four already?!

Ella the Elephant

No not my little girl, but the character. I was introduced to this darling character at my shower for Ella. Ella's full name is Ella Ruby and Hannah just happened to find two books with her name. Ella the Elegant Elephant and Ruby Sings the Blues. Both of these are wonderful books and we read them all the time. There are now two more Ella books and I have been scouting Ebay for a good deal. I finally got Ella Takes the Stage for a steal. We got this in the mail yesterday and I was originally thinking of saving it for her birthday, but then decided we needed to start reading it now. Now I just need to find Ella Saves the Cake and we will be set. I also discovered there is a cute website for Ella the Elephant and just now in looking at Amazon a new one is set to come out in June. Ella sets Sail. Can't wait to get and read this one. I have also been debating buying the stuffed doll they have of her. Not sure it is worth it??
Ella proudly displaying her new Ella the Eleafump (as she calls it) book.

Weekend

We had a nice weekend, did not do much, but with the weather being so nice we spent some time outside yesterday. Kevin worked on the yard and the kiddos and I enjoyed the swing set. They both enjoy the swings. "Higher! Higher!" is what Ella says. She also enjoyed a picnic lunch outside since her swing set has a built in picnic table. Ella also loves to follow Kevin around and "help" him with the yard work. She especially enjoys the rides in the wheelbarrow. Also now that she can pedal her tricycle she has been enjoying this outside. Kevin and Ella planted a ton of tulips last fall all around our yard, and they are starting to come up. Tulips are my favorite flower and I can't wait to see them in bloom. Michael was home for the weekend, so he came over to play with Ella for a while on Saturday. It is always nice to see him.
On a more sad note Roc has another ear infection. I thought last night he seemed really hot so maybe he had a fever. Today he woke up and was not too happy and just seemed really tired. We did not go to church, again ( I hate missing it but with kiddo and us being sick I have missed more than I would like too), I was going to take Ella to Sunday School (did not think Roc should go sick) and then come home but when I went to wake her up she was out of it, so I let her sleep. I think it was a combination of the time change and just being tired. We finally woke her up at 10:00. She was very sad that she missed church as she looks forward to this all week. So I took her with me to my mom's while I did her catering bills for the week. When I got home Kevin pointed a bump on Roc's head behind his ears. He was feeling quite warm so we took his temp. It was 102.1 so I called my dad who said it was probably an ear infection. I took Roc to my Dad to look in his ear and yep, another infection. He just got off the antibiotics from the last infection on Friday. So we will see how he is doing tomorrow. This ear infection thing is new to me as Ella never has had one. He perked up after a good does of Motrin and now is sleeping soundly. Another good note from today I order Ella's birthday gifts from American Girl as they are currently doing free shipping with no minimum order required. She has a bitty baby so I got her a stroller for it and the accessories for the changing table. My mom/dad are getting her the bitty baby changing table. Now I can't wait for her birthday to get here so she can have these new things. If anyone out there wants the free shipping code for American Girl let me know, but you have to order by the 16th. Hope everyone had a good weekend too!

Swing Set Fun

Katie brought Sadie over yesterday for a little bit of fun out on the swing set. It is getting a bit nicer here so now we can start using the swing set more. Roc loved swinging, so my hope is he will enjoy this all summer long. I want to plant a small garden and if I can keep him occupied in the swing I can garden without worrying about him crawling through the dirt!
Here are a few pics of the fun.

Blocks

My mom got the kiddos a set of Melissa and Doug blocks for Valentines. These are a big hit with Ella, Roc and Kevin. Roc loves it when we build a tower and then he will scoot or crawl over and knock it down. He usually will scoot over to knock it down before we can get a decent tower built.

Craigs List

So since our new bed did not need a box spring I decided I would list this along with the metal frame for our bed on Craig's List. Kevin had his doubts anyone would want this, but I thought, hey its free so why not try. So I listed it for $100.00 thinking if someone was interested I could probably get at least $50.00, but low and behold someone wanted it and they did not even try to talk down the price. The check cleared the bank so now I am thinking of using this money towards an new duvet set for our room. We have had the same one since we got married so I think it is time for a new one, then I am going to attempt to sell our old one on Craig's List and we will see what happens. Or maybe I should try to sell it first??
Has anyone out there sold on Craig's list? I like the fact you don't have to pay for it and there is no shipping involved, they came right to our house and picked it up. This is my first time doing this and it was very simple to list it and I got good results. We will see what happens next time.

Ella' New Bed

We bought some new bedroom furniture and it finally arrived on Thursday. We really like it, but it looking at it we keep thinking it is way bigger than what we saw in the store (Costco Home in Kirkland). We originally were going to get both children twin beds, but happened upon a great set that only came in full. We started Ella out in my old twin that was just a mattress/box spring and metal frame, then in anticipation of the new bed we got her a full mattress/box spring. It was higher off the ground than the twin, so Ella would start at the door and taking a running leap to get on the bed. It was quite cute (should have captured it on video), now her bed is so high this is no longer possible. But I think she looks quite cute in her new bed and she loves it! Now I am on the hunt for a new comforter for her, one with bugs and butterflies to go with the theme of her room.

Roc's Newest Move

So Roc's new thing it to pull himself to his knees and balance on things. He really likes to do this on the Sit n Spin and just sit there, he will do this for a long time. I think he likes the music. By the way he was not hurt from this little fall it looks worse that it was.