I will Survive : )

I have officially survived my first week all by the lonesome with the kids. Alright....it was only a 3 day week, but I did it!!!! I have to say that there were some hairy times, but all in all we did pretty darn good. In fact, we even ventured out of the house to go shopping yesterday. Apparently Costco is very entertaining to a couple of 2 year olds who have been couped up (and their mommy for that matter)!

Yesterday my arms started aching and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Was I have flu-shot sympathy pains for Eric?? Then I picked up Ethan and realized what it was. My how your arms forget what it is like to pick up 2 kids over and over all day. Oh and the little one really likes to walk and bounce. We do that in circles several times a day. It is pretty entertaining because Ella and Ethan will follow along behind me doing the same thing : ) It is the new Greer exercise routine. Too bad it doesn't work as well as sit ups. Still planning on getting to those someday......

I Low Choo!!

Oh my sweet Ella Girl. I just had to share a couple of stories about my adorable daughter.

The other night when Eric was bathing the kids he called me to come in there. Ella was holding her Ernie and Elmo tub toys up to her chest and acting like she was nursing them. Like I said - such the little mommy!

While I was driving down the road I heard Ella singing "I low Choo Buddy" (I love you Buddy). I looked in the rearview mirror and she was holding his hand and swinging it back and forth. They both were grinning from ear to ear.

How did I get so lucky???

Long Over Due!

I am a bad blogger. I have blogged in my head many a times over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately it has either been at 2 am while I am nursing Matty or another time when I don't have the time or energy to post. We have been busy with getting our 2 year & 1 month pictures made,Christmas shopping, playing, eating, some sleeping, and just getting plain big! So in an effort to get up to date quick, I am going to post like I used in my GE days......Bullet Points!!

Ella

* Officially a 2 year old. Sometimes I think she is a cross between a 2 year old and a teenager. She is completely bi-polar. One moment she is kissing and telling you she loves you, then next it is an endless string of "No's." She has started putting herself in the corner. Nothing seems to deter her at this point.....prayers are welcome and appreciated : )

• * She is loving being a big sister. She constantly asks/demands to "Look at Baby Matthew!" Then she has to kiss his cheek, eyes, nose, eyebrow....you get the picture!

* The La Leche League would be proud of this someday mommy. She has taken to nursing her Elmo and Cookie Monster toys in the bathtub! I would love to get a picture and post, but I am afraid we would get in trouble ; )

* We had a close call with Ella last Friday. She ran 100mph right into a corner and busted her forehead open. Fortunately our neighbor Dr Carl came over and patched her up without any stitches. She is tough as nails. She cried at first because it hurt, but then just cried because she wanted Mommy to throw away the shoowey paper towel that I was pressing on her head to stop the bleeding.

Ethan


* Ethan is loving his new tricycle his Nana and Papa got him for his birthday. He is an expert at keeping his feet and hand right where they are supposed to be. He could ride up and down the block all day.

* My heart is breaking because my precious boy has already found his first girlfriend.....Tinkerbell. His eyes light up and he grins from ear to ear every time he sees her!

* Ethan has really enjoyed looking at all the toy catalogs that have come in the mail. He can now name a number of characters he never knew before by sight - Superman, Batman, Indiana Jones, Iron Man. Eric is so relieved he has been more interested in the superheros than Barbie!

Matthew

* Today Matty is 6 weeks old. I have read this is the height of fussiness for babies. Let us hope! I am kidding. He is actually very good, but he does have stretches of extreme fussiness. We didn't really experience that with E2, so this is a new one for us.

* Over the last week he has started to smile. You have to be quick to catch him. It is absolutely adorable. I can't wait until it becomes more of a habit! I have tried to catch it on camera, but the darn delay makes it impossible!

* He has also started to try to babble a little. This happens even less often than the smile, but is worth the wait. He really works up to it, then a big burst of "ga-ga" comes out real quick. What will I do when I have 3 chatterboxes? Go deaf I suppose!

* Matthew has had quite the tour of Nashville (or Bellevue at least!) Since he has me on the boobie leash, he goes out with me where ever I go. He is very easy going in the car and when I am running errands. We went to vote, get the flu shot, Target, grocery shopping, and we even took him Christmas shopping yesterday at Opry Mills. Now I see what it is like for most people after they have kids! We just holed ourselves up for winter after E2 were born. I didn't even want to think about how I would handle them both. And of course we were extra cautious due to their prematurity.

Mama & Daddy

* Eric is excited to go to the Vandy game this Saturday. I am excited for him too. He has earned a game! I am going to a movie on Sunday with my sister in law.....I can already taste the popcorn!!

* I go in for my 6 week check up on Tuesday and then I am off!! Big Kid lifting and sit ups here I come!! Well....at least the first part!

* This is also the last scheduled week I have for help from Nana or Mimi. Oh it has been so nice to have them! I am sure that I will still get lots of help when I need it, but it is time for me to give it a whirl on my own. I am pretty nervous about it, but I am sure we will survive. Someone once told me as long as they were all fed by the end of the day, I could count it as a success. We'll see......of course she has one child. And she never said anything about me eating!

Trick or Treat!!

We had a fantastic Halloween this year. Ethan and Ella dressed like clowns....quite a stretch for them! Their Nana had made the costumes for Houston, Madeline and Elizabeth when they were the same age, so they worked perfect for them. Matthew just wore a Halloween sleeper that just about swallowed him whole.

Their cousins came over to go trick or treating with them too. The girls were rock stars and Houston was Iron Man. We just hit a few houses on our street, but it was a lot of fun. The kids weren't exactly sure what to think about all of it. They never said "Trick or Treat" even though we practiced it all week. But they did make me a very proud Mama when they said "Thank you" after they got their treats. Ethan also got a kick out of all the Jack O Laterns. As I have mentioned, he has an OBSESSION with candles. He made sure he pointed all the candles to all the neighbors.

I look forward to next year when they will get into Trick or Treating even more. Maybe I will have enough time and energy to come up with an original costume from the whole brood. Just Maybe.....