It's Not Possible...

for them to be any stinkin' cuter.

And just ignore that little scab on Ellie's face. She, um, had an incident the other day. What else is new? Oh, I'll tell you actually - she took two steps last weekend! I maintain that she is no where near actually walking. She is just brave, has no fear and tries to walk. Sometimes she gets lucky and gets a step or two in and sometimes she lands square on her butt in a second flat.

Jack started school last week and is loving it. I just love our conversations on the car ride home when I pick him up because he has all sorts of stories to tell. My favorite Jack moment recently was last Sunday. We were watching tennis and cheering, saying things like "Hit the ball! Go! Yay!" Well, after a whiff or missed point or something Jack said, "He not hit the ball. Dat's a bad choice. Dat's not a good choice." Clearly he's picked up something I've said when disciplining him and telling him something "is not a good choice."

Happy Easter!

We're kicking it in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. LOTS of pictures when we get back to Sumter.

Petite Sophisticate

Ellie is already so mature... here she is fearing a pinafore dress over boot cut jeans. How stinking cute is this outfit? Seriously. The pinafore dress was made by none other than Sasa and I think Ellie looks quite grown up in her black and white. And those jeans? Ridiculous. She can't wear them again because her thighs are too fat and they are seriously flared - tight through the things and knees and then flare out to show off her socks. I love this picture because E is chewing on Jack (as she does on everything) but he doesn't seem to mind.

A Few Photos

Some random pictures from the past couple days in Columbus. I don't have good internet access and I apologize that the updates are so sporadic.

Ellie still likes her bath!Jack checking things out with his "mirror", aka magnifying glass.

Looking cute and happy.

Being sweet.

Happy Valentine's Day

Our little Valentine's Jack and Elizabeth in their special Valentine's shirts!

This is Jack's idea of some Valetine love. Not sure Ellie is a fan of the hug.Jumping Jack.

Sweet girl.

Our New Bath Technique

We've been trying to avoid spending hours every night bathing and preparing kids for bed. You'd be surprised how long it takes to bathe, dress, read, brush teeth and cuddle one kid before bed. Double that and you no longer have any adult down time in the evening. I think we've finally figured it out. Baby tub in the big tub = two kids bathed at the same time.Please disregard Jack's dirty M&M dessert face. I promise we thoroughly cleaned him.
Jack likes to help with Ellie. Here is his rubbing her belly.It was seriously successful. BOTH kids were in bed by 8. That's a record.

Big Brother & Little Sister Shirts!

Jack wore his special "Elizabeth's Big Brother" t-shirt to the hospital when Elizabeth was born, but Elizabeth has yet to wear her "Jack's Little Sister" onesie. Until today. Here are the little ones modeling their shirts!

It's hard to get a good picture of Jack yjese days because as soon as we get out the camera he says, "Cheeeese" and makes a ridiculous cheese smile.

Saturday Morning

Elizabeth is starting to develop a bit of a personality. She is cooing and smiling a lot more these days. She's started noticing and grabbing at things, too. Here she is playing (well, happily laying) on her playmat this morning.

I love how you can hear Jack rambling in the background, and I promise he is not normally that unintelligable. Let me attempt to translate:
"Ibuuuirtunnaall." = I built a tunnel.
"Ibuuuirchoochoopurpurtunnaall." = I built a purple train tunnel. (But, he lost even me on that one, so who knows.)
"Ewpuuchoochoonit." = Oooh, I put a train in it.
"Dat baby." = That's baby.

When All Else Fails...

Turn on PBS Kids. Yes, they are happily staring at the TV.

We are pretty much housebound this week and it is no fun for anyone. Jack has croup and is so snotty and hoarse, it's pathetic. Elizabeth has been healthy so far in her short life so fingers crossed she avoids this round of gunk.

Elizabeth's Special Blankets

Sweet little Elizabeth is lucky to be spoiled by lots of adoring family, but there are two special handmade gifts that we will keep forever.

Memere, Kevin's mom, made Elizabeth a beautiful quilt. She was here in the fall when we were putting Ellie's room together so she knew the colors of the nursery. She went back to California and made a gorgeous quilt and gave it to Ellie for Christmas. The front side is ivory with a pink floral and green fabric and the back is a pretty floral.
Jack (with a plane tattoo on his hand) pointing out some details.Elizabeth's great grandmother on my side, Rappajeanne, knitted a sweet green blanket before she even arrived. It is so soft and just so happens to perfectly match the nursery. (She also made an adorable yellow one for Jack before he was born.)The diaper baby pictures were so fun last time we took some more today.

My favorite:

Jack didn't want to be left out, so here are some pictures of him at 1 month to compare to his baby sister.

Double Bath Shenanigans

Jack loves his bubble baths these days. He was getting kind of bored in "his" tub so we recently moved bath night to our tub. The other night we made it a double bath and cleaned Elizabeth, too. She is obviously much too little to actually get in the tub, but she did go for a dip in Jack's bath!

She looks like she's not sure sure about this giant tub.Jack helped by pouring water on Elizabeth's belly.

Helping is fun!It will be so cool when Ellie is old enough to play in the bath with Jack. In the meantime, we'll enjoy our fake double bubble baths.

Jack is a Great Big Brother, Vol 1

Yesterday I left the kiddos unattended in the living room together while I went to the bathroom. (This task has often proven difficult while home alone with two kids.) I heard Elizabeth crying as I walked back into the room and saw Jack crouched over her. I admit I was nervous that I would find him pinching her or something equally unkind. Instead, he was leaning over her to try to put her pacifier in her mouth! Luckily this was not an easy task so I was able to take a picture.
The sweet big brother.

Little sister content with pacifier.

Aren't they cute?