Today We...

made cookies and vegetables in the playhouse...

got in trouble for talking back to Mommy...

and watched our caterpillars get even bigger.

Usx12: March.

Wordless Wednesday

Toddler Bedding

Ellie has been doing amazingly well in her converted crib/toddler bed. First night excepted, I haven't had to go into her room to put her back in bed and she waits until after I {or Noah} come in there to get out of bed in the mornings and after naps.

I'm so proud of her.

The only problem was - I had ONE set of sheets for her that matched her new comforter. Trust me when I say, toddler bed sheets {without a comforter} are hard to find here in Abilene. And the prices online were more than I was willing to pay. Luckily, I remembered seeing a crib sheet tutorial on Made. So using it and Ellie's current set as a guide to make the flat sheet, I made her a sheet set using a single twin flat sheet.

$5.00 {at Walmart} + a little hard work beats $38 {and not the color I wanted} every time.

Ellie loves it.

Which of course makes it even more worth the effort. Next up, a teal set {because I know the value of having three sets of sheets for a bed}! :)

Legos {A Look into the Future}

Daddy came home from work early today.

We were all happy to see him.

Especially Noah. Because he was able to talk Daddy into opening the castle Legos that have been tempting him for a couple of days.

Not that Daddy needed much encouragement to open them.

Ben has been shopping for deals on Lego sets and has several set back for birthdays and Christmas when he's just a tad bit older {and Ellie won't put them in her mouth}. But, a couple of them, like this one, have been opened up along the way, to be played with only during special Daddy and Noah time.

They were in Lego heaven. And I've already been warned that Lego men and pieces will be found all over the house sooner than I formerly expected.

And these little guys? Getting bigger every day!

Feeling Special {The Big Reveal}

I'm in love.

We finished the apothecary cabinet {Ben building and staining, me painting} and have it all moved in and set up in the living room.

It. is. amazing.

And so is my husband who built it.

The kids are fans too.

Dearest One, I feel so special having this beautiful and handmade piece of furniture in our living room! It looks amazing and I am ever so proud of the hard work and time that you put into building it for us. A million times, thank you! {And my "to build list"? Ever-growing.}

♥

Five {Hungry Little} Caterpillars

I'm not one known to be fond of bugs. In fact, I've been known {more than once} to close off a room in order to trap a bug {usually a wasp or bee} so that someone else {ahem, Ben} can dispose of it. Plastic cups are my friend and our Orkin Man's number is on speed dial programmed into my cell phone. However, what's the one type of bug that I willingly allowed in my classroom {every year that I taught!} and now, finally, into my house?

Caterpillars.

Today we got five hungry little caterpillars in the mail.

Noah was completely fascinated and mesmerized. And can now tell you that the caterpillars will turn into a "chris-a-list" and then into a "budderfly". Ellie, on the other hand, was completely unfazed and attempted to drink from the cup.

Everybody has been Painting

Everyone has been painting around here lately.

The kids were painting with watercolors today.

Well, Ellie was until she tried to drink her water. Twice.

There were a few tears shed when Mommy took the water away.

Ben and I have been painting recently too... and, thanks to a well-timed visit from a friend, our painting project was moved into the living room.

{Big reveal soon!}

Ellie {@ 18 Months}

{Because I couldn't help but crack up at this face today, I'm including a photo of Noah:}

♥ ♥

Ellie turned 18 months old nearly two weeks ago and I'm still in denial that she's a year and a half old. Her little personality is showing through and everyday she does or says something that just makes us laugh or grin.

Happy 18 Months, Dearest Ellie!

Reading books during school time... some days she takes a morning nap and some days not. On those days that she doesn't, she joins us for school time, which usually ends up with her on the daybed reading stories. The Little One LOVES books.

{We went to the park today, for about 20 minutes - all that the still-recovering-Noah could handle - and she has a new favorite past time: the swing!}

{And the slide.}

Things Ellie Loves at 18 Months:

• Pestering her brother. To. no. end.


• Eating just about anything off of Mommy and Daddy's plates... even if she has already eaten dinner.


• Using lots of new words: "Nana" {Nana and banana}, "Papa", "kiiiddy" {kitty}, "mee-o" {meow}, "buuuh" {book}, "ahh-meh" {amen}, and "Buh-Buh" {Bubba: Noah}.


• Sleeping, playing, and reading in her big girl bed.


• All things Sesame Street and Thomas.


• Crashing her stroller into Noah's dump truck.


• Playing chase with Daddy.

Littlest Dear One, you are amazing. And funny. And sweet. And absolutely beautiful. Inside and out. We love you to the depths. Your laugh is infectious. Everytime you bring a book to one of us to read to you, we willingly put down what we're doing to let you crawl in our laps, because you are one of the sweetest snugglers. You are growing by leaps and bounds. We'll eat you up, we love you so. ♥

Wordless Wednesday

Cookie Tuesday {with Ellie}

Ellie was the first one up from naps this afternoon and seeing how we hadn't had a proper Cookie Tuesday in a while, I decided that she and I would just get started without Noah. She was game as long as she got to go ahead and eat a pre-snack snack.

{Please ignore my shorts... I was putting extra clear coats on the new cabinet!}

"Tear here to make sweet memories"

Two minutes before the first batch was to be taken out of the oven... still dressed in a pirate skirt from earlier play time. He demanded that he have his own spatula despite the fact that the mixing part was over.

Sweet Memories indeed.

Monday = Tired.

Sick kids = Tired Mommy

Thank goodness Daddy was willing to play the "truck game" with us tonight.

DiGiorno Hoops and Pizza House Party

Back in November, I hosted a Shutterfly House Party with some of my girlfriends. Tonight, we were lucky enough to get to host another House Party with our Life Group: a DiGiorno Hoops and Pizza House Party!

Our party pack included coupons, for free pizzas {including the combo packs!} and for $4 off {which, allowed us to get some for free from the Commissary as well},

some fun "Bam-Bams",

and other pizza party necessities.

The pizza was awesome... and so was the company. But since Noah got sick just after his bath {evidently, it was NOT her teeth, because Noah now has what Ellie had} and I had to clean him up, and our babysitter was already sick, which meant I got to play babysitter to the kids, I didn't get to take any photos of our actual Life Group eating and having fun.

Thanks DiGiorno - we ♥ your pizza!

Busy.

We kept busy today. Playing, painting, and having a little fun together.

And I simply cannot wait to show off Ben's handiwork with the nearly completed apothecary cabinet!

Success?

Ellie slept wonderfully in her new big girl bed last night. I only had to go in once to put her back in her bed and throughout the evening, every time I checked the monitor, she was still lying, asleep, in her bed.

When I got up this morning, I checked the video monitor again, and I thought I saw her still lying in her bed, asleep. So when Noah woke up, I grabbed my camera and he and I went in to wake Ellie. We opened the door and I turned on the light... and while Noah kept saying, "Good Morning, Ellie! Good Morning!", I started panicking:

Ellie was not in her bed.

She wasn't in the playhouse and she wasn't on the other side of the dresser, hidden from my view as we came in the nursery.

Noah spotted her first, under her bed. Still asleep. Just as I was bending down, she opened her eyes, blinked a few times, and gave us a half-smile as Noah was laughing saying, "Look Mommy! Ellie under her bed! She's silly!".

I snapped the photo and immediately pulled her out - she was not pleased to be taken from her comfy sleep spot. Silly girl! But, despite being under her bed, I'm counting last night as a success!

Nap times went great - she stayed in her bed, slept in her bed, and even stayed in her bed until Noah and I came in to get her. Amazing!

♥

I was chosen to host another House Party, this time, a DiGiorno Pizza and Hoops Party. The party pack included an over-the-door basketball hoop and ball. Noah has been begging to play with it for days now, since he saw it in the box. Ben got it out for him tonight and the boy has been going crazy playing "bass-ketball".

He only slowed down to play a little MarioKart with Daddy, per his own request.

St. Patrick's Day

A trip up to Oklahoma City wasn't in the cards, but I still needed to get the Little Ones back from Camp Nana-Papa. So, Mom and Papa Snow met me in Wichita Falls with the kiddos to do the swap. They both seemed pretty happy to see me, though the first thing I heard from Noah was, "Where's Daddy?".

Awesome.

I love to tell the stories about how my {at the time, little} cousins would greet me, not long after Ben and I started dating, with "Where's Ben?". And now, even my own kids ask.

They were exhausted. {All four of them!}


Noah whined that he wanted to ride some more in Papa-Nana's car. He and Ellie were asleep not long after we left.

Mom, Daddy-Man, BB, and Jessie - Thanks for giving Ben and I some time to ourselves and even some time with our friends before he deploys. And for not being annoyed when I couldn't come all the way up. We're SO very grateful for you all and words cannot express how truly thankful we are! ♥


Once back home, Ellie was immediately stripped down. Which made me a little sad since I didn't get a good photo of them in their St. Patrick's Day shirts. Mom said she had had some "bad diapers" while she was there... and, lucky me, she had one on the way home. No fever, so I'm hoping it's just the six teeth that I can feel trying to come in.

Meanwhile, I converted her bed.

Now, with Noah, we HAD to convert it... he climbed out and I barely caught him as his head hit the floor. Ellie has been doing the "leg-hike" and acting as if she might try to climb out. Since she's past the age that Noah was when we converted it for him, I went ahead and just did it. Knowing that we won't be needing to move her out of the actual crib for some time, I had bought her a cute toddler bedding set, a little more girly than the current crib bedding, on sale at Target a couple of weeks ago.

She. is. so. excited.

She loves her new big girl bed and so does Noah.

As good as it was to have some time at home with just Ben, we're happy to have our loud and messy kiddos back.