Fun package!

Ella and Cade received a fun package in the mail today from Aunt Pam and Uncle Dave, or "Uncle Pam" as Ella says. :) Ella got so excited as she was opening it and kept saying, "Look, Mommy! There's more!"

Big sis showing Cade what he got- his first truck (and lots of cute clothes)!

What is it, Ella?

"Oh my doodness! It's some clothes! I like clothes!" And she put them on right away...

And "such a tute, wittle puppy! Awww! Here, Mom, take a picture!" :)
Thanks so much, "Uncle Pam"!!! :)

Would you believe...

I gathered my courage yesterday and tackled my first solo outing with both kiddos. They both had doctor's appointments; Ella for her three year check-up and Cade for his one month. First of all, I can't believe my baby girl will be three in a couple weeks. Seems like only yesterday... sigh. And are you sure this little guy has been around for four weeks already? I mean, where have I been?! That moody, sleep-deprived, forgetful, emotionally-overwhelmed, exhausted, but otherwise HAPPY, New Mom haze that I've been living in doesn't count! Anyways, our first stop (the doctor's office) went so smoothly that I ventured to make a quick trip into Kroger, which also went better than I expected. I'd say we were two for two for the day, although I could have done without the pouring rain as I was trying to buckle two kids into the truck! Oh well, like I said, I'm a mom with a new baby and a very rambunctious (almost) three year old- I figure I'm supposed to have that frazzled look, and the rain-drenched hair and clothes just added to it! Haha!

Back to the doctor's visits! Cade is a healthy, little guy. He has gained another pound and is now 7 lbs even and 20.75 inches. There is some question about whether his in-utero growth was restricted and if that is why he was born so small, in light of the fact that Ella was over 8 lbs at birth. My fundal height never changed from 33 1/2 weeks until he was born at 38 weeks, so his growth may possibly have been restricted during that time and may be why I went into labor when I did. That being said, he's finally to average birth size, so that means he's "catching up", which is what the doctors want to see. He's at the 15th percentile now- a good step up from the 3rd. Everything else is right on track and he is "cute as can be"- which we, of course, already know, but love to hear anyway!

Then on to Ella. This little girl just cracked me up yesterday. There is no question that she is a bright, intuitive child; they just don't come any sharper than her. But for some reason yesterday, our lil' miss "I-usually-only-talk-in-complete-paragraphs" and "I-can-recite-entire-books-to-you" daughter decided to make the doctor unsure of whether she knows ANYTHING- even how to talk! So this is how it went:
Dr: Ella, are you a boy or a girl?
Ella: Don't know.
Dr: Can you tell me your name?
Ella: Don't know.
Dr: How old are you?
Ella: Don't know.
Dr: You have a birthday coming up. How old will you be then?
Ella: Don't know.
Dr: Can you count to ten?
(Ella's thinking, "Hmmm... let's see, Doc. Forwards or backwards? English or Spanish? Only to ten? How about we go to twenty? I can maybe even make it to thirty.")
BUT Ella answers with... yep, you guessed it... "Don't know."
Dr: Ella, what color is your shirt?
Ella: Don't know.
Dr: Do you know what color this folder is? Is it blue?
(It's red by the way)
Ella: Yeah, it's blue.
WHAT?!! I'm pretty amused by this point, because I know just how much she is not telling and I can only imagine what the doctor is thinking. The doctor, by the way, is not smiling.
Dr: Okay, Ella, can you show me how to jump?
Ella (just standing there): Don't know.
Dr: Can you stand on one foot?
Ella: Don't know.
And on and on and on... Ella finally went through her colors and answered some questions, but I don't know that the doctor was very pleased with Ella's "progress" or perceived lack thereof, I guess you could say. She asked me whether I had any concerns regarding Ella's learning abilities. Umm, no. She asked me if Ella was putting together 3 and 4 word phrases. Umm, yes, more like she talks in paragraphs, sometimes mini-novels (she does have Lawyer blood in her after all!). She even suggested some dance or gymnastics classes "might help with coordination". Seriously? Why, because Ella said she didn't know how to stand on one foot?! If only the doctor could see her "essercisin" (exercising) with me or dancing around the living room anytime she hears music. In the doctor's defense, she was filling in for another doctor and had never seen Ella before. Usually she's a pretty cooperative patient. So as we were getting in the truck, I was still laughing to myself as I was thinking about our visit.
Ella asked, "What are you laughing at, Mommy?"
I said, "I'm laughing at you. You sure pulled the wool over their eyes, didn't you, Babe?"
She laughed and said, "Yeah, I did!"
Hahahaha!!!

And not to forget the basics- she was 34.5 lbs and 37.5 inches tall. Such a big (and silly) girl!

Lots of fun!

All the Davidsons came to see us yesterday and we had such a fun day together. This was Payton's first time seeing Cade...
We can already tell these three are going to be great buddies (and Cade is going to be one tough, little cookie! He'll have no choice!)."Thanks for saving me from those two, Papaw!"

Outside for some fun in the sun. First up- water balloons!!Ella pretty much just wanted to hold hers and she absolutely did not want anyone to throw one at her!
Payton in a drive-by attack!

Cade slept right through it all, but one day too soon, I'm sure he'll be in the middle of it!

Outside again to go fishing...

Kyle was the only one to get lucky. He actually caught two fish and Ella, surprisingly, wanted to touch the second one! I didn't manage to get a picture of that though. Payton and Chris picking on each other, like usual!

Mamaw grabbing a quick hug...

Kyle and Kellie taking it easy with Cade...

A perfect end to the day- a visit from the ice cream truck!

I love this picture! Could they be any cuter?!

We're so glad you all came up and can't wait for you to come back soon!

Yard work

We spent a good part of the day Saturday working on the yard, planting flowers, and spreading mulch. It was definitely a perfect day for it.
Ella planting her very own flower pot with the begonias she picked out at Home Depot.
Proud to show off the finished product...

Helping Daddy with the watering...

A well-deserved drink at the end of a long, hot day...

Alright, Ella!

Big news in our house last night- Ella went #2 on the potty!!! That is huge, seeing that she has pretty much refused to even try until now. Daddy has been promising her her very own camera if she would go #2 on the potty, and she couldn't wait to call and tell him that now he's going to have to pay up!
Way to go, Ella!!

Around this house...

It's been a busy few days around here. We had a lot of great family time over the weekend and got out to enjoy some beautiful weather. We had a yard sale on Saturday and it actually went really great. Chris and I were both pretty impressed with what people will buy. You know the saying 'one person's trash is another's treasure'- well, that was definitely the case for us. Anyways, it felt good to get the house cleared of a bunch of "stuff" that we no longer wanted. We didn't make enough money for Chris to buy his Harley (maybe next time, Babe! :), but we did celebrate the day with dinner out. Cade got to experience his first night "out on the town" (he was so thrilled, he couldn't stay awake!) and Ella had her first experience with chopsticks...

Ella thought they were pretty fun, but enjoyed them a lot more as drumsticks. :)

Me and my sexy date. I love, love, love that man!!

Aside from that, life is slowly getting back to "normal" around here (or what our normal will probably be for the forseeable future!). We are falling into a comfortable routine of life with no sleep, a messier-than-usual house, and higher-than-usual piles of laundry. We are having so much fun though, and, believe me, not too many minutes ever pass without some oohing and aahing over our precious, new baby. He is just so sweet! And, at the risk of sounding like my mom everytime she talks about Chad :), Cade's just a good baby. Usually a little song or touch is all it takes to calm him. And he's such a cuddler! I could hold him snuggled up in my arms all day! Seriously though, who could ever resist this cute, little guy?!

Big sis is doing pretty great with him these days. She's really a good helper and loves to go get diapers or blankets for me upstairs. :) At the first sound of a whimper, she runs to him and says, "Oh, don't cry, Buddy! It's okay, you're okay. Do you need your mimi?" It's pretty sweet to watch and we're feeling pretty lucky that she is adjusting so well.

Our two most beautiful blessings...

What do you think? Do these two resemble each other or what?! Everyone keeps asking and this picture makes it pretty obvious. :)

A little update...

Sweet, baby Cade is growing and growing! He had a two-week check-up yesterday and has gained 1/2 a pound and grown 3/4 of an inch. He is now officially a full 6 lbs and 20 1/4 inches long! All the way up to the 10th percentile! He just might be a linebacker yet! :)

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! We celebrated a pretty Easter Sunday at home, just our little family. It was a good, peaceful day.
Our sweet Easter princess ready for church...

A highlight of Ella's day was singing her favorite song, "Mighty to Save", at church. She was delighted when the band started singing it and she has talked about that so many times since! So precious! Then we raced home to see if anyone had hidden any Easter eggs in our yard. What a lucky girl! Eggs when I was younger never had money in them!

Her excitement every time she found an egg was so stinking cute!

"Oh my doodness! I just not believe this!"

The girl and her loot...

Cade had a fun day, too! And Mamaw, he was wearing his "Just hatched" sleeper, but it got "wet" before we could take a picture! :)Awww...
Dad and his little sweeties...

To all our family, we missed you terribly on Easter Sunday! Hopefully next year we can spend it together!

Another fun visit

Uncle Chad and Aunt April came to visit over the weekend and get their first peek at Cade. We always have a great time together and love having them here.
Cade saying hello to Aunt April...
He just stared and stared at Uncle Chad...

Then we found out why! Hahaha! We had ourselves a good laugh over this one!

Ella and "Apel"...

Cade putting on a show! He's no fool- he knows who will spoil him! :)

And I just love that picture!! Thanks for coming, guys! We love you!

The last few days...

We've pretty much just been hanging out the last few days, trying to get into some sort of routine around here (trying being the key word!). We've been talking up Easter to Ella, but, man, is it hard to try to explain the importance of Easter to a 2 1/2 year old! She seems to accept the idea of an Easter bunny a whole lot better than the idea of Jesus dying on a cross. However, we saw the Easter bunny at Walmart this morning, and Ella decided she didn't want him to bring her any candy. He was too scary! :) Her innocence is just so sweet and special.
Here she is getting ready to color some eggs...
I'm not sure who was more excited- Ella or Daddy! :)

"Say cheese, Mommy!"

Ella with the finished product. Way to go, Ella! They're beautiful!

Some more fun this week. Ella has been super inspired by this season's "Dancing with the Stars". She puts on her "clappy shoes" and "pretty dress" and let's loose! Look at that fancy footwork! What a cutie!

And I can't post on here without a picture of Cade or I'm sure I would hear about it. :) Here is our little sweetie, doing what he does best- sleeping! He is so tiny and precious, and we can tell he has gained a little weight (even though he is still such a little peanut!). The boy is ravenous and would eat every hour if he could. He's got some toughening up to do if he wants to hang with big sis! Right now though, I'll take this little sweetheart anyday (I just wish Ella would stop bouncing her yo-yo ball off his head when I'm not looking!).