Daddy's little helpers...

If there's one thing we do around this house, it's fix stuff. I feel like Adam and/or I always have a 'to fix' list...including magic wands (the one sitting on the counter now has already been fixed twice this week!), kitchen chairs, light switches, Adam's truck, books (HOW MANY times do I have to dig out the clear packing tape to fix library books!?), etc... Even Ainsley knows, "ok...Daddy Fix it, Mommy..." .
The funniest part for me is to watch the girls trying to "help" Adam. Elise has her own little hammer, safety goggles, and 'shop apron'. It's adorable, really.
Last weekend, Adam was fixing a high chair/convertible seat thing that my dad made for the girls...it's a really cool chair, can adjust to a bunch of different heights, etc...and looks much cooler than the big plastic high chairs! Adam had to adjust stuff a little and put in the foot rest part for Elise. It took him about 10 minutes and the girls were helping the whole time. It's so funny to watch Elise imitate Adam (hammering, stepping back to look at it, etc...) and then Ainsley imitate Elise! They both also thought they were so cute when the covered their ears while he was hammering part of it...it was cute, so I took some pictures.
Covering their ears...and laughing at themselves like crazy.



TA-DA! All finished.
and playing Peek-A-Boo...ALWAYS playing that...

Toothy little guy...

So, Mitchell is just over 4 1/2 months old and he already has TWO teeth fully in! WOW. That's a little on the early side as far as teething, but it's so cute, too. He's a CHAMP at drooling, but was only really whiny for about a day with each one. That's nice since I remember the whole teething process being harder with the girls. Of course, Mitchell doesn't have as much of a choice. He's gotta just roll with the punches, that's what you get being third kiddo, I've heard. He seems happy, smiles like crazy, and we're so insanely in love with him. =) I've been trying for a couple weeks to get a good picture of the teeth, but this (above) may be the best one I've got. It was just after bathtime the other day and he was happy and fun! (and CLEAN, which doesn't happen as often as it should!)...sorry, kid.

WE KNOW AINSLEY DOESN'T HAVE MUCH HAIR...

Look at that smile! So precious!

No, people, she's never had a haircut. Yes, I often try to put bows, headbands, clips, etc...in her hair. She pulls it out immediately. She's stubborn like that. She also is starting to have an opinion in her clothing for the day. I think that's fun so I let her 'help' pick out clothes or socks...but the number of times I hear "that's a good looking little boy you've got there" (aimed at Ainsley, not Mitchell!) is astonishing. When it's a cute old man says it, no problem. I'm totally fine with that. But when Ainsley was in THIS outfit last Thursday at the grocery store and was doted on by four or five people about what a "cute little guy" she was, I had to speak up. Two of those were women who should've known better, it's called "visual clues", ladies. I corrected a few of the women, and they seemed to feel a little bad. I was ok with that. It doesn't really upset me, but it just gets annoying. I also love it when the Wal-Mart greeter says, "you know if you put a barrette in her hair, then she would look more like a girl." Thanks.

This is just a sweet picture of her to redeem the crazy outfit and goofy smile from the pictures above. =)

I love pigtails...

This was almost 18 months ago when Elise was FINALLY starting to get some hair! It's amazing to me that BOTH girls have been basically bald until 2+ years old...how is that possible with all the hair on MY head? Anyway, I love this expressionas much I love those pitiful little pigtails...


This shot I took just this weekend and it's precious, too. She LOVES her "long, long hair" now and enjoys smiling for the camera just as much as she used to! =) Amazing to see how much she's changed in under two years! wow...
this picture is a little dark. sorry. just click on it to enlarge it and you can see better...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I can't believe Elise is FOUR years old...it seriously seems like we just got back from Japan and she should be 2. Not a big kid who is four, totally has a personality, and says the funniest things around! A new thing is to put hands on hips, throw one hip out to the side, and roll her eyes...I mean, really?! Not necessary my favorite 'attitude', but a total riot. Apparently, she entertains her teachers at school, too, because they've commented more than once that "she's a great addition to the class, very mature, and quite the comedian..."! HA. I love it.
I didn't want to plan a party b/c I can't handle the pressure. The party-anxiety is all my "issue", I know, so I took advantage of her little preschool and just did a party there for her! She kept insisting that she didn't want cupcakes, but PURPLE DONUTS! How does she even know what donuts are?! Did she see me sneaking them after EVERY one of my OB checkups during Mitchell's pregnancy? I thought she didn't see any of those?! whatever...

So, I ordered purple donuts from the Kroger Bakery (!)- they asked several times, "Purple?! Really? Not pink or white for a little girl?" No, people. She loves purple. Any shade.... We put together gifts of crazy straws and little blowing horns, and that was it. I took it all to school and Elise was in heaven. She was so happy that she got donuts, juice, and that all her "friends" sang Happy Birthday twice!! It was sweet. Adam was at work, of course, so I was juggling the other two kids as well, but we survived. I'm pretty sure Ainsley just wondered around the room and took sips of any Capri-Sun that wasn't being consumed. I saw her drinking off a few at least! How nobody got sick is amazing...

I also decorated the kitchen for her, we played special games (just Elise and Mommy) during rest time, and then she opened presents and had candles in her pizza for dinner. She was happy and felt celebrated for sure. That's what matters, right?! We love you so much, Elise, and you're a JOY in our family!!!

Cute stinker...

Here are two quick pics of Mitchell, who's now 4 months old. Where does time go!?! what you can barely tell from these is that he was naked from waist down (due to some diaper rash issues, he's 1/2 naked a lot!)...as we were taking one of these, he pooped! Unknown to us for a couple minutes, we were trying to get him to smile, laugh, etc...and were a little confused when he wasn't his usual happy self. Maybe because he was smooshing around in his own feces..that's why we constantly have a couple blankets under him. =) HAHAHA... He's adorable.




And, FYI...CHECK OUT THOSE EARS!!!!! Mitchell clearly has one "Moseley" ear (his right- it definitely sticks out way more than the Left "Martin" ear...). We don't say one is "better" than the other, just different...

Update...

Well, we're still fighting wolves (who've also created fear at afternoon 'rest time' too, now!), but things are better than they were this weekend. After four nights of total misery (90% of it being shouldered by Adam- he's the greatest!), we've figured out a few minor solutions.
-Reasoning isn't working. I guess she's just too young to understand most of it (although we thought the opposable thumbs argument was a real winner!).
-She has 2 magic 'no wolf' wands in her bed with her now. Before nap/bed, we walk around the room waving the wand, checking under beds, in drawers, closet, etc... and 'wave away' any wolves.
(she looks in places like INSIDE her shoes...if a wolf was really that small, is it worth being scared of?! I decided not to tell her that wolves are WAY bigger than that...probably wouldn't have helped in the long run).
-A lot of people have suggested some 'wolf spray' (water in a squirt bottle) that we'd let her spray around the corners of room, window, doorway, etc...but I feel like that goes against the fact that we've said wolves don't live anywhere near here and can't even get into our house...but since she doesn't seem to follow our logic anyway, maybe it wouldn't hurt at all. not sure...
-Our best bet has been to let her fall asleep with her door open. No extra lights on, nobody in there cuddling with her (I just feel like that could lead to more dependency on us 'helping her to fall asleep' in the long run. We're SO NOT "family bed" people...), just letting her hear us a little bit and not feeling too confined seems to help. I'm sure we'll have to fight another battle of closing her door at some point, but for now this is helping. =) As soon as she falls asleep, we close the door and she slept fine the last two nights after that...

So, we'll see. Thanks for all the help, prayer, and suggestions! Once again, I LOVE the wisdom of other moms and am so thankful for this crazy internet thing that lets us 'network' in ways that are really helpful to me!!

Next blog...ELISE IS FOUR YEARS OLD NOW! =)