Double "E" Blessed

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Terrific Toddlers

Ella and Emma are very fun toddlers. They love to play together, be chased, tickled, and jabber all the time. This is such a fun age. They are learning new words all the time. We still can't understand much of what they say, but they can each say about 10-15 words now. They are doing better learning to use a spoon (we still have to scoop the food onto the spoon, then they put it in their mouths).

Here are a few "eating" pictures. Emma tends to be the messier eater, but Ella can definitely make a mess as well.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Emma above, Ella below)

Ella playing with a straw

Yummy Chicken Spaghetti!

Emma cleaning her plate (above) and Ella laughing at her (below)

Emma likes regular spaghetti also.

We LOVE to play the piano!

On October 4, my cousin got married in Kansas City. We drove up there with my sister and her family. The wedding was an outdoor ceremony. It was beautiful. Between the wedding and reception, we had time to visit with everyone there. Our girls loved walking around in the grass and climbing the steps. They probably went up and down those steps 50-100 times each.

Emma and Daddy

Ella

Emma and Daddy: All tuckered out after climbing all those steps.

On the way home from the wedding

You would think they would be tired of their car seats after all that time driving to and from Kansas City, but they started climbing in and playing with them as soon as we got them out of the car.

These are just some random fun pictures.

This is what it looks like when two 17 month olds get into your file cabinet.

Ella signing "please" to go outside.

Above: Ella, Below: Emma

House update: Our housing situation has gotten a bit complicated since I last wrote. Someone else made an offer on the house we had a contingency contract on. We had 3 days to remove our contingency or let it go. Our house did not sell in that 3 days, so we had to let it go. Four days later, we got an offer on our house. So, our house is scheduled to sell on Nov. 13. We have not yet found another house that we like enough to buy, so we are planning on living with family until we can find a house that will meet our needs at a price we can afford. Please pray for us to find a new house soon and for our sanity as we pack and move.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Long Overdue Update and some Big News

I know it has been a long time since I have updated, but life is just a little crazy around here. We are all doing well. Ella and Emma are growing and learning new things every day. They are trying to figure out how to climb onto and into things right now. I could probably do an entire post of pictures of them sitting/ standing/ climbing in various locations. They are jabbering a lot and beginning to try to repeat some words. It won't be long before we will be able to understand all the wonderful things they keep trying to tell us.

Our New Bible Class

Our church family has been blessed with so many new babies in the last year, they decided to move our girls up to the next class. They seem to be doing very well sitting in their big girl chairs.

Wonderland

We took the girls to Wonderland this summer. They were too little for most of the rides, but they did enjoy the carousel.

Climbing into and out of the cradle is great fun!

Contrary to the looks on our faces, we love lemons!

New Big Girl Car Seats

Ella learning to use a spoon, "Use the other end, sweetheart."

Emma learning to use a spoon (only she wanted to hold onto it with her teeth).

Is this drawer for tupperware or toddlers?

We LOVE to play outside and try to walk in the grass.

Classic Pic: Sitting on the Dishwasher

Sweet Emma Smile

They thought having this bucket on their heads was the funniest thing ever.

(above: Ella, below: Emma)

And now on to the big news. NO, I am NOT pregnant. We are moving! Just across town, but still moving! A month or so ago, I was approached by a lady at our church who has a montessori preschool in her home. She is retiring and offered to sell it to me. After much deliberation, we decided to buy it. This decision requires me to get the Montessori training (which I plan to start in January), and we need room for a classroom. We had already been casually looking for a bigger house, but we really stepped up our search. About 2 weeks ago, we found a great house in a great neighborhood, with 1200 more square feet than we have now, in our price range. We currently have a contingency contract on that house and put our house on the market today. So, we are now doing our best to live in a pristine house until we can get a contract on it, (not an easy task with two almost 16 month olds running around). I will not start the preschool until the girls are 3 and can be in the first class. This will allow me to stay home with them and then follow their school schedule when they are old enough for that to be an issue. We are very excited about this new opportunity, and hope it will work out for the best. Your prayers would be appreciated that this will all work out for the best.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Click Ranch July 2009

We went to my family's ranch in Des Moines, New Mexico for a nice vacation in early July. The girls and I were there for 10 days, but Bryan was only able to be there the weekends. We had a lot of fun with lots of family there to help take care of the girls. At one point there were 20 of us in one house with only 2 bathrooms. Only my cousin, Derek, was not able to be there. Towards the end of the week, Ella and Emma were kind of grumpy, for reasons unknown, but we didn't let that ruin our week. They worked quite a bit on learning to walk while we were there, and really started taking off shortly after we got home. On to the pictures: