I love you and giggles

For the longest time I've wanted to hear Gavin say the words "I love you". He will smile when I say it to him, or even give me a kiss, however, when I ask him to say it he smiles at me and says "no". He is such a turkey. Well, the other day I was exhausted and having an anxiety attack. I look at him and say "I really need to hear you say 'I love you'." He then looks at me sweetly and says "I wuve you." Oh, my heart melted. He hasn't said it since, but that was the best feeling.

Tonight I had both Gavin and Mia on my lap. Gavin was being his normal silly self. Mia would just look at Gavin and smile nice and big. Well, Gavin laughed and all of a sudden Mia started to giggle. It was absolutely adorable. My baby is giggling!!!

Talking about baby, she is crying. Momma's gotta go!!!

Hair cuts, cars, and education

Time for updates! YEAH!!!!

Lets start with the haircuts! I cut Gavin's hair last night. He SOOOO needed one. He was looking rather shabby. I thought he looked cute, however it has been really hot lately and the poor boy gets red in the face so easily at daycare. He loves to play hard. As you can see his daddy looks a bit shabby too! Donovan is short haired as always, his mom likes him to have it that short at all times!

I decideded to cut his hair with scissors! Um, that was a mistake! He cryed the entire time and I ended up with a bathtub full of hair. He looked really cute from the front! However it looked like I butchered his hair from the back. OH, I DID butcher it from the back!!!!

So, this afternoon I decided to just buzz him. I didn't want to go too short, so I went with the length daddy did this past week. A #7 if that means anything! The funniest thing is that yesterday he screamed when I cut his hair and tonight with the clippers he actually WANTED me to give him a hair cut! Not as cute as before, but he's still adorable!














He may not look happy in the dimmly lit picture, but he likes his hair! He wanted to go watch cars! Which is a good segway onto the next topic! CARS!!!

For 3 years Gavin has not been interested in television. Well, on Saturday Cars was on Disney. He LOVES playing with cars, so it shouldn't have been a surprise! He sat there transfixed. In fact when a comerical would come on he would run into the other room crying for CARS. It was so cute that we had to go and buy the movie for him. He has been walking around going Kabow, Kachow ever since! OH SO CUTE!!!! Granted, now he doesn't want to read books, but that is not an option. I actually am going to start keeping track of how long I read to my kids. I want Them to have at least 500-1000 hours of reading before they go to school.

Talking about school - Today when I picked Gavin up he had a paper with his name printed on it three times. He said "Gavin name" when he saw it. I showed him the paper and he said G-A-V-I-N. I was so excited. Unfortunately he wouldn't do it for Daddy!

Mia has started to sleep in her crib! Huge for mommy. For a week now I've had a whole nights sleep. Granted, not last night, but hopefully that will be a fluke! She actually is starting to go down on her own also. She crys for a few minutes, it breaks my heart to listen to her but I'm tired of her pinching me, so I think it is best!
OH, how do you love her big blue eyes!

World Eagle Day

We took the kids to a local bird sanctuary today for World Eagle Day. The bors enjoyed themselves.

New tricks

My boys! Aren't they adorable? Donovan

has his dad's goofy grin!

Mia has a new trick. She is starting to sit. She doesn't do it very well, or for very long, but she is doing it. Don't you just love her chubby little cheeks? I think it is just adorable. She looks so much like her brother. People say she looks like me, however I don't see it.

Everyone is growing

I can't believe how much everyone is growing. Amelia doesn't fit in 3-6 clothes all of a sudden, which is weird because she has only grown 1/2 an inch in two months. She now weighs 15lbs 9 oz. up two pounds exactly from her 4 month check up. She is rolling over front to back, although she HATES tummy time. She sits up with help for a few seconds at a time. She likes veggie baby food, but doesn't like fruites. The doctor said we could go ahead and start her on soft table foods. She went after the biter buiscuit I gave her. She chews and everything. Definitley teething. She still doesn't sleep through the night and spends most fo the night hogging the bed.

Gavin is so cute. He has started to say "I love you." And he has now said "I love . . . " about other things. He will eat something and say "I no like it." He loves day care. He has a favorite teacher, the director Betty and one of the older girls, I think she is around 10. He loves arts and crafts time. He adores music. He walks around doing the beat of "we will, we will rock you" and sometimes he sings the lyrics. He loves the piano and I think I would like for him to learn how to play some day.

Donovan is on medicine for ADHD. He has improved scholastically. He is wanting to read to me, which is an improvement. He does rather well. Apparently he has been getting violent when he gets home in the afternoons. The doctor says it is a side effect of coming off the meds. He is now taking a smaller dosage at home so that he doesn't get so violent. I've encouraged Mystie to seek counciling with him. Her comment was "Good luck." We then said that we would seek it through the church. She said that was okay, as long as she was involved. Well, concidereing he probably needs most of the counciling from her end of things of course we would involve her. Whagt a weird thing to say.

I'm doing great in my masters program so far. I have a 98% and this is our last week. Should be an easy week! We shall see.

best 30 dollars

We bought a play gym for Mia this weekend. It is the best 30 I've spent. She hates tummy time and floor time, but I know that she has to do it to start rolling over and all that jazz. She now lays on the floor and plays for her floor time with no problems. I'm so glad.

On the news

Friday we didn't have school so we headed to a pizza buffet place that has games. It was a family fun outing promised to Donovan. Wehn we got there Fox 2 news had thier cameras out. We got interviewed! We were on the news!!! http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-cabin-fever-incredible-pizza-010810,0,3759896.story

Merry Christmas all

I just love Christmas! It takes forever to get here and then it is gone in a flash! I wanted to share some of my favorite memories of this Christmas. It is going to be picture heavy, but I have so much to share and remember.


First of all I was so excited when we opened up the box mom sent us this year for Christmas. Mia got this wonderful Ragedy Ann Doll, and I still need to take a picture of Gavin with his Raggedy Andy. He loves it!!!!
Aren't my babies just adorable! They look like angels when they sleep.

Donovan was thrilled when he opened up his remote control car. The smile didn't lst very long. He was rather upset because Santa didn't bring anything he wrote down on his list. Appenrently he wrote a letter to Santa at his mother's house and she didn't tell us. He got a few things after christmas from his list, but they were from us, not Santa. I think he is also on the verge of figuring out who Santa is. He seemed to hint at it a couple times, and he was rather down about it when he figured out that we do a lot of things. It is just hard to hide everything, I forgot to put away the tape and Scott said something about buying stocking stuffers. Donovan was like "I knew it was you"

Gavin loves hats! He also liked his phone. I remember having one of these when I was a kid. It is nice to know the classics stick around!

Gavin loved helping decorate the tree. And undecorating the tree! And decorating the tree again!

Here is a classic Donovan face! He gave this face when he saw his batman car. He really likes it.

This is Christmas morning before we picked up Donovan. Aren't they adorable.

Christmas Eve! I should have done this Christmas Day after they opened up their Christmas PJ's and had all three of them. Hind Sight!!!

Amelia's first experience with cerial. She wasn't sure what she thought of it at first, then she just gobbled it. She loves cerial with green beans. She isn't a fan of bananas though!

Here is the only picture I have of all of them!

Good news bad news!

I've got good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

Bad new! Okay!!! Well, I failed the flipping Spanish Praxis for the fourth time. The hardest part is knowing that I did worse, and that it was the same test I took the previous time. You would have thought I would do better, not worse! Once I told the superintendent she basically told me that she would not be offering me a new contract at the end of the school year. Great! Now I get to start looking for a new job.

Good news! I started my masters program. I am doing an online program from Grand Canyon University. I am doing my masters on Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Reading. I got my grade from my first paper. I got 100% and i was sooo excited.

Well, tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am going to finish wrapping gifts. Oh, last night I was wrapping gifts in between studying. Gavin decided to help me (yeah, I know, he should have been asleep so he didn't see Santa at work!!). He would take the newly wrapped gift and place it under the tree. I think he did a better job then if I had done it!

No more Grandmom

Mom left to go back to Washington on Tuesday morning. The night before Emily finished painting Mia's room. It is a lovely shade of purple and blue/green. Now all it needs is a chair railing thingy around the room in a dark mahogany to match her furniture. The table in the kitchen reminds me of the kitchen I grew up with, a table top over cabinets. Just smaller. It is awesome, if a bit high. We'll need to get bar stools. We had to tear dwon the paneling in the boys room and in doing so it revealed a bigger problem. We need to do some insulating (it is the COLDEST room in the house) and then we are going to reside the walls and paint. Hopefully that will get done before the boys graduate from college. Mia's room was a much simpler fix!!! The siding on the house has a start. Scott has about 100 days to get it finished. I hope he gets it done. Especially since he has volunteered our house for Christmas this year with his family. I look forward to showing it off, but only if the house is ready. I hope we haven't bitten off more than we can chew (yeah right, I know we did).

Gavin misses his Grandmom and Emma something fearce. He walks around asking for them. It's sad! Mia sleeps with me more nights than not. It is just easier to nurse her and fall asleep then get out of bed and blah blah blah. Donovan had his first report card. He is struggling and we are going to have him tested for adhd. Hopefully that helps.

Lots of fun

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. Mom made it into town last Tuesday and immediately came down with pneumonia. She spent 3 days in the hospital. We've dubbed the hospital "the sheritan". It was SWEET!!!! Mom got A+ care. She is out and if Scott can get organized enough to get things done we will have our kitchen cabnets started.

It has been lovely having my sister Emily in town. She calls Amelia Emma (which was to be her nickname until Gavin began calling her Mia). It is cute! Gavin loves his Grandmom and his Aunt Emma. Oh, and lets not forget the doggy zoe!

Mia's smile

First and for most, Mia is smiling. I gotta share. She started smiling about two weeks ago. She has this sweet little that just makes my heart grin. When she grins like this she often coo's. Gavin never coo'd so the first time she did it completely surprised me. Every once in a while when she is completley content and her big brothers are smiling at her she starts to REALLY smile. She als smiles like this when I tickle her chin or pat her tummy. Gavin also likes it when I pat her tummy because he just dies gigglinGavin absoluetly loves his little sister. He wants to hold her every chance he can get. Although he does love her he has his jealous moments. If Scott or I are holding Mia he also wants to be held. That is okay, I love holding both my babies.





School is going well. I am enjoying teaching this year. I have a great group of kids. We are settling into our new home. My in-laws are here helping fix the windows and roof. My mom and sister Emily will be here next week to help with painting and siding. Soon we will have a beautiful home.

Has it already been a month?

I look at my newborn daughter and I am in utter awe. I can't believe that Amelia is a month old. Amazement fills me when I realize that I have successfully nursed her and that she is growing. It is weird knowing that Gavin at this point was failure to thrive and I had to suppliment, yet here I am feeding on demand and not worrying about making a bottle at 3am. However, next week I go back to work. I need to rent a pump and I am terrified that my supply will go down! I know I'll be fine.

Okay, so her one month appointment was today. She weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces, 20 1/2 inches tall. She has gained a pound in the last 3 weeks, right on schedule! woohoo mommies milk!!!! Here are some pics of her and Gavin taken today. He sure does love his little sister!!!!

Cloth Diapers

A bit before Mia was born I remember reading my sister Stacie's blog about cloth diapers. It got me thinking about my childhood. I remember vividly the bucket of diapers in the bathroom. My mother washed the diapers and folded them. The nostalgia of those memories filled me with a desire to go back to my childhood when Gavin was born. I HATED the bucket of bleach water in the bathroom. I HATED folding the diapers because I couldn't figure out how to do them. The pins had me on pins and needles. I know I stuck him at least once.

Interestingly enough, things are different with Mia. Stacie's blog got me thinking once again about trying. After speaking with my mother I learned that you don't need a bucket of bleach water in the bathroom. At least not while you are breastfeeding. Apparently breastfed babies poop just washes out in the wash. No need for bleach, which is harsh on tender bums.

Each time I put a cloth diaper on Mia I smile. It feels good not to be filling up my trash can with dirty diapers. Besides that the dog doesn't get into the trash and spread it through the entire house. Folding the pre-folded diapers (a life saver, no longer do I need a masters degree in diaper folding) gives me a sense of peace and calm. These cool little snappies that kind of grasp the cloth instead of pinning the baby soothes my soul. I just love cloth diapers.

Now if I can just get Scott feeling comfortable in putting the diapers on Mia. We got a goodly amount of disposable diapers from my baby shower. I am sure until they have been used Scott will continue to avoid the cloth ones. It is truly funny that a man that can figure out the intricacies of mechanics and electrical gadgets can't figure out to put a diaper on an 8 pound little girl!

Cribs and cradles

I remember as a little little girl of about 3 looking at my new sister Joan in a cradle. The next thing I'm not sure if it is a memory of my mind or a memory learned from hearing it over and over. Stacie picked Joan up out of the crib by her neck and brought her to our mom.

Well, tonight I was cleaning a sippy cup for Gavin in preperation of our night time routine. I had put Mia in her crib to keep her safe from her older brother. He either sits on her, hits her, or wants to hold her. Because of this I try to keep her out of his reach. She had been quietly taking her binky, but she started to cry. I saw Gavin leave the kitchen. I finished getting his sippy cup ready. When I walked into the bedroom I gasped. Gavin had climbed into the crib (he had NEVER up until THIS moment done so before. I didn't know he could do it!!!!) and was holding his sister in his clumsy 2 year old way. It was adorable, but made my heart stop. I guess Gavin and Mia won't be sharing a room. He just won't leave her be. Now we have to figure out how to keep Gavin safe from climbing up Donovan's bed and falling and breaking his neck!

Announcing Amelia Larkann Elias

On Tuesday, just as scheduled, Grandpa Dick got a wonderful birthday gift at 8:10 am. Mia came in weighing a total of 8 pounds 3 ounces. She was 19 and 3/4 inches tall. Mia did wonderful, however momma struggled a bit. They game me the spinal tap and laid me down. The nurse immediately put me back up and said that I needed to be up because they gave me a "goodly amount for my weight". I could hear the anesthesiologist talking and apparently I didn't do very well. My blood pressure dropped low and my blood oxygen level was in the 80's. I had so hoped to breastfeed Mia immediately but it took over an hour to stabilize me. I finally was stable and began the process of bonding. I love my daughter! Donovan constantly wants to hold her, than again so does Gavin. The first time Gavin saw her he said "baby" and slapped her. Since then he has done very well and loves to give his sister kisses. He did freak out the first time he saw Mia breastfeed. He now comes up and says "boobies" each time with a bit of concern on his face. We are home and doing well, other than the bouts of tears. I get frustrated rather easily, but I know it is going to get better.

Well, here are some pictures that were proffessionally taken at the hospital hope you enjoy.

Watching the clock

It is now all a matter of time. In a little more than an hour Scott is going to take Donovan (who is rather insistent on meeting grandma at the airport) to pick up my mom and Kathy. I so want to go but there isn't enough room in the car. Scott is just going curbside so it isn't like we would wait for them to come off the plane anyways.

For the past 4 weeks Mia has been vertex (head down). On Thursday she decided that she wasn't going to give her momma any chance of even the idea of a vbac and is now breech. She is such a little stinker! She feels heavier, I feel so much pressure it isn't even funny. There is this part of me that wants to feel what real labor is like. I want my water to break and I want to feel contractions. It doesn't look like she is going to oblige! Oh, well. It's not like I really want to be in any more pain than I have been for the last couple of days anyway!

I had my first pregnancy related dream last night. I dreamed that Mia was here. I dreamed that she had beautiful red hair the color of her aunt Emily (oh how I hope so!) and that I had no problems with my milk supply and she latched on immediately. She was feisty though and I had to wrap her up pretty good to keep her hands from pushing on me (Gavin would do that). I then dreamed that the nurses forgot to put in the IV's in me properly and let me walk around right after surgery (like I would be able to do that anyways). They also forgot to weigh and measure Mia after she was born. It's kind of funny. My dream reassured me of my fears in regards to breastfeeding, but heightened my fears about the nurses at the hospital I will deliver at. Scott was there for a week and didn't have a very good experience. I guess I really am worried about it!!!!

I can't believe that I only have two more days left before I get to hold her. Last night was a nightmare trying to sleep I was so excited because Mom is going to be here. Add that to the discomfort of being 39 weeks pregnant!!!!! I know tonight will be interesting to sleep through but Monday I think will be almost impossible. Scott is working Monday night, but planning on coming home early (probably around 2am). I'm sure that I will have a hard time falling asleep and then when he gets home I will become wide awake again. I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am so I know that I will be up at around 4am to take a shower and make sure that my suitcase is ready. It is right now, but I know myself and I'll repack it again and again in the next two days. Oh the anxiety and excitement coursing through me right now. Heck I keep pausing as I type to look up at the clock. It has been 8:59 for the LONGEST time! I guess the old saying a watched kettle never boils can go for a watched clock never progresses in time!!!!!

Finally some good 3d pics of Mia

Today I had my growth ultrasound at the Perinatal Center. Scott and Gavin came with me (Donovan was with his mom). Gavin was super busy then entire time I did my NST (non-stress test). The only time he sat still was when the nurse gave him a blue-rasberry snow cone (I wish I could have one. They look SOOOOOOOOOO good.) Amelia also wouldn't stay still. I was having contractions, but the monitor was too high to catch it. The nurse moved both the heartbeat and contraction monitors. She wiggled, squirmed, and moved away from the monitors. It was just as adorable as her brother visiting the other women in the monitoring room!

Finally it was my turn for the growth u/s. I love seeing her. She ended up measuring approx. 8 lbs 3 ozs which is the 88th percentile of fetus' her gestational age. I figure that when she arrives she will be in between 8-9.5 lbs. My belly sure is big enough, and still growing! The best part was when the tech tried to get a 3d picture of Mia's face. In the past the techs didn't try very hard. This time Mia had her hands in front of her face. We jiggled her around and finally got some good pictures of her. The first one she still had her hand covering much of her face, however it is a great picture of her chubs. I just love the double and possibly tripple chin she has. She is going to be my little gordita!

The second picture made me get all weepy. Every single u/s in the past I've always left thinking that she looked a little weird. Each time the tech would say something like "You'd look funny too squished up against the placenta." I always wanted a clearer look at her, even if it was a profile. Today I got my wish. I was just amazed at how her lips look so perfect and that she has my chin, Just like her brother does. Scott pouted when I said that and tryed to make his chin look similar. It was hilarious. It was amazing how Gavin just sat transfixed by the pictures on the screen. He kept saying "baby" over and over again. The tech left to talk w/the doctor and I just couldn't stop looking at the screen. I know that I will spend hours just looking at her when she gets here. Just as I did when Gavin was a newborn. (Heck, even today I go into the boys bedroom at night just to look at Gavin and Donovan in their sleep. They are at their most angelic!). I just can't wait until the 28th.

Just one quick note about Gavin! He is such a shoeaholic. He just loves to wear shoes. Well, tonight I was putting him to bed and I took his shoes off. Oh, what a mistake. He just cried! Finally I got him calmed down and put him to bed. A few minutes later he was just weeping. You could hear him repeating "shoes" over and over again. I walked into his room and he was tring to climb his dresser to get his shoes. I got them down for him and he just giggled as I put them on his feet. He climbed into bed, covered himself with his blankets and giggled again. Just made me smile soooo much.

graduation, swimming, and the fourth of july

Each of these deserves its own blog, but oh well.

On May 21, 2009 Donovan graduated from kindergarten. His daddy was able to attend (I wish I could have). He was a bit sad, not quite ready to graduate - I think a picture is worth a thousand words.

Gavin went with Scott of course. He worships his older brother, as you can see from the picture. Not only that but he just adores wearing hats (although only briefly. I just wish Scott got a good picture of Donovan as well.

One of the first purchases we made this summer was that of a small pool to keep the kids cool. Funny thing is that we only have used it twice because soon after we got a membership to the community pool, so we spend most of our time there. Donovan loved the pool.

Gavin liked the pool, but he prefers to be swaddled up in a blanket or play in the dogs cage. I just love these pics of Gavin. They are just toooo cute!!! But then I am surely biased! You may be asking yourself - My goodness look at that bruise on Gavin's forhead!!! Yeah, he fell while I was at the hospital when I was having contractions several weeks ago. The bruise is finally fading away, but there are these times when he wrinkles his forhead and it looks like he has a dent! It makes me feel horrible!

Fourth of July has always been a special holiday for me. I am grateful to live in the United States, and am proud to be an American. Each year I am reminded of why we celebrate the 4th of July. On the Second of July the continental congress met and decided to write a declaration of independence. It took 2 more days for it to be written. Thomas Jefferson wrote later that the signing of the declaration of independence would be heralded through parades, firework displays, picnics, ect! How interesting that over 200 years later we are still celebrating it. This year we had planned on driving to Washington, Missouri to participate in a "Tea Party" activity, however it was HOT, I'm 9 months pregnant, and it was raining. We decided to stay at home, since our neighbors across the street spent an inordinate amount of money on pretty explosives!!!! We went out at about 8pm. Gavin would walk a bit away from me and as soon as a firework was set off he would run back to me and say "Hot, hot". It was adorable. He was fascinated by the snakes, and we got him to try the sparklers. His favorite part was to put the sparkler next to another surface and see the glow it created. He is our thinker, that is for sure. Donovan had such a blast that he didn't want to come in. We let him stay outside for an extra hour after we went inside. Our neighbor was out there and she kept an eye on him for us. Besides that he would pop his head in every once in a while and say "did you see that?" He was adorable. He didn't want fireworks day to end, and three days later is still lamenting the end of the fourth of july. He wants to know how many days until the next fourth of july!!!!

34 week belly pic!

Look at that cute little (okay, it's kinda big!!!!) belly. It is so round and cute! I feel like I have a beach ball in shirt. I carried alot lower with Gavin and I think I just looked fat! The best part is that this time around strangers are actually asking when I am due. That didn't happen with Gavin!