Elizabeth

Well when Elizabeth turned 2 I got a free photo package for Elizabeth's birthday. I really was never happy with the pictures we got because we had to pick them from the first 4 taken. So I decided to get new pictures of her taken so I'd have some I really liked until her 3rd birthday.

James suggested using the dress we got Elizabeth for Christmas. So I decided to make some clips for her hair. They came out very cute, and Elizabeth thought they were cool.

Yes, I do realize this picture is blurry. This is just an example of what the poor lady at Olan Mills had to put up with trying to get this kid to hold still for a picture. Elizabeth was very uncooperative. I was told after we looked at the few pictures we got that we could reschedule if we wanted, but I don't think a change of days will make Lizzi want to hold still more.

Our next adventure is potty training, and I am going to make myself start when we run out of diapers Elizabeth's size. I keep putting it off because it is intimidating to me. She is ready though, and she picked out her Dora the Explorer underwear and potty seat (we needed another one for our bathroom in the basement). So wish me luck, I really don't know why this is so intimidating for me, but once we start I'll let you know how it goes. And I'm sure Elizabeth will want to show off her Dora undies, silly kid.

I also wanted to include this picture of Clayton. We had a somewhat long day yesterday. After pictures we ran to Office Max so I could find out how much laminating is (and if anyone can tell me what a linear foot is I would really appreciate it). Then we went to see Grandma and Grandpa because Elizabeth wanted to show them how adorable she looked. Well after that we were all starving, and being very sick of sandwiches we decide pizza sounded good. So Poor Clayton only got about a 25 minute nap while we were home changing Lizzi and getting some money. He enjoyed the Pizza Hut lunch buffet though. So by 8pm when Lizzi went to sleep he went behind the love seat while James was playing Wii and I was working on our taxes. Well about 10 minutes later I asked James what Clay was up to and he had laid down and gone to sleep. So cute!

PB & J

Well Clay is a very good eater (in fact I think he eats more than Lizzi sometimes). I love that he's at the point where he doesn't need everything cut up for him. This particular day we tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was a huge hit and he ate almost every bit of it!

Clay is doing really well also! He still isn't walking. He's still getting his balance a lot of the time. But he will try. I think it will be about March when he finally gets the hang of it. We have had a few times where he took 4 or 5 steps, but he's being very tentative about the whole thing. He'll be going in for a yearly hearing test in the next month or so, so we'll see how that goes and if his hearing has improved or is about the same. Clayton is not really a fan of the hearing aids, and likes to put them in his mouth more than in his ears. I think I'm going to buckle down and work on getting them in everyday in the next few weeks. Clayton is also finally in all 6 months sized cloths. Depending on the brand he's in 6 to 9, 6 to 12, and even some 12 month stuff. We definitely are getting our moneys worth out of his cloths. We were also finally able to turn his car seat to forward facing! So we'll see if he enjoys that on Sunday.

He's also learning a lot of new words and signs. His newest phrase is, "Oh Man!" It's so funny to hear him say it. One of Lizzi's favorite shows is Dora the Explorer. And Swiper the fox says, "Oh man!" anytime he is stopped from swiping stuff from Dora and Boots. So I'm pretty sure that's where he picked it up. He's also finally picked up the sign for "more".

They grow so fast, but it's fun to watch all the little things he does everyday.

Lizzi's New Do

After several weeks of talking about cutting Elizabeth's hair we finally did it. She kept telling me no whenever I'd ask her if I could cut it. Well a few nights ago she came out of the laundry room with the spray bottle I use when I do her hair and said she wanted her hair cut. I pounced! It was very frustrating, she moves around so much! But we got it done and it's even enough for me to live with now. She's very proud of her new hair cut too. Now our next thing we'll be working on is potty training! Wish me luck.

As you can see she was not being cooperative. This is why I don't get many pictures of her anymore. She does not understand if she wants her picture taken she needs to hold still.

I got Clay too. He was trying to get Grandpa's computer while I focusing on Lizzi.

First Bike Ride & James' Sleep Study

James and I have tried to get Elizabeth to take her bike outside and ride it several times since Christmas. For some reason she was very content to just sit on it in the sitting room. We finally convinced her to ride it outside (mostly because I told her if she did she got to wear her helmet, she loves that helmet!). She did really good! She understood the whole peddling concept, she braked when she went down the little incline in the driveway. She just had a lot of fun. James needs to lower her seat a bit so that Lizzi can reach the peddles better though. Once that's done, she'll be a bike riding machine!

She's so proud of herself! Look at that smile.

Thought I would update you all on James too. James has been getting very little sleep for a very long time. I finally got him to the doctor in October I think. I was irritated because the doctor kept us waiting in the exam room for over an hour, and then walks in and starts trying to prescribe sleeping pills for James. We asked if it could be sleep apnea, so he gave us a referral for the sleep center. The sleeping pills did nothing to help James. So on December 26 James went in for his sleep study. Now he will be going in on February 12 for another sleep study with a C-Pap machine to see if that helps. It's a relief that obviously something showed up on the original sleep study so now they are beginning to try out ways of correcting the problem.

Cute Stuff

I got some cute pictures of some of the quality time my kids spend with my parents. Lizzi loves to help Grandma around the house. So whenever Mom is doing something Lizzi is usually not far behind. This day Lizzi was "helping" Grandma mop.

We humored her for a little while, but she eventually got in the way more than she was helping so I tried to distract her with something else. It didn't work and Lizzi ended up with a time out. She can throw an impressive fit now (with stomping and everything), and she's incredibly stubborn (I know she definitely got that attribute from James and I ... probably more from me than James though).

Clayton likes both my parents, but him and Grandpa have a special connection. They just really enjoy each other, they're buddies. Well in the middle of feeding Clay I went to help Mom with something for dinner. So Dad just went over and started feeding him for me (works for me).

Say, "Cheese"

So just for a little update. Clayton took 2 steps today to try and get to Elizabeth. I'm very excited for him and terrified at the same time. 2 kids able to walk around and terrorize me...what will I do ;) Anyways, Clayton is doing really well with learning new words. He won't say Grandpa yet, but I think that's because he likes to tease Grandpa Wahlstrom. He says, Mom, Dad, no, baby, icky, tickle (there might be more, but that's all I can remember). His newest word is cheese. This particular day I wanted to see if I could get a cute picture of what he was doing. Well Clay saw me, then the camera. Next thing I know he's grinning and he goes, "cheese." So cute...how did I get such adorable kids? So here is our little photo shoot of the kids. Lizzi was very into it, but she never looks up at the right moment.

Isn't that smile adorable!

If you can't tell he has a cheerio in his mouth. Lucky for him Elizabeth stashed her snacks all over the place. (below)

This is another cute set of pictures. Clayton is able to get onto his riding toys now. As you can see from the way his body is facing he slid right off it after I took this picture.

Success!!

And here Lizzi is doing what she loves to do, read. This is one book she actually can read, since it's an ABC book. Notice the cute Dora mushroom chair. She got that for Christmas and loves it!

Wii Fit

Well James and I got our Wii Fit about 2 weeks ago! We've enjoyed it a lot, and it's really made exercise more fun for all of us. We usually do the wii fit when Lizzi is in bed, but she likes to watch. She says it's funny and silly. So this morning I did some wii fit so she could watch.

Here she is trying to hula hoop with me

And here she is doing a yoga pose with me too. This is so funny to see, and now she tells me she wants to do yoga all the time.