A very belated "thank you"

Damian and I have been enjoying more date nights lately (not that we weren't enjoying them previously...we just weren't having them) thanks to Jay and Jessica. Jay has watched the kiddos a couple times, including on our anniversary:

Ellie just loves Jay and gets SO excited when he comes to play with her. For weeks after his last visit, she would go running into the front yard calling "Jay? Jay?" and try to convince me that he was coming -- we just had to wait.

We've also been swapping date nights with Jessica (Cain's sweet mom). And Ellie absolutely adores her too! In fact, the last two times that Jess has watched her, she has woken up the next morning and cried (literally!) when she discovered that Jess was gone and she was stuck with us. Even a little bribery with her favorite morning milk wouldn't stop the "I want Cain's mommy!" cries. So the good news is that the date nights are great for our marriage...the bad news is that they're terrible for my self-confidence. ;-)

We're so lucky to have such great friends -- thank you guys!

Hhm

The other day, Damian heard Ellie calling for help. This is what he found:

We have no idea how she got into this predicament, but like a good father, Damian made sure to take a picture before helping her get down.

Hirsts at the Aquarium

We had a great day of family fun at the Dallas World Aquarium (thanks to very sweet birthday gift for Damian from the Baxters and the Galyons). The term "aquarium" really doesn't do this place justice! In addition to absolutely amazing aquariums (including a shark tank that you walk through/under, and several smaller tanks that allow you to come nose-to-nose with manatees, otters, etc.), the DWA has a huge indoor rain forest complete with parrots, flamingos, monkeys, alligators, etc. We had such a wonderful time exploring it all and Ellie was in heaven! We could hardly get her to come inside the DWA because she was so interested in the little fairy penguins at the entrance, and she LOVED the sea otters:

Despite a very short morning nap, Charlie was so happy in the rain forest. I think he really liked the sound of the waterfall, which could be heard throughout the area.

This is a terrible family picture, but since we take so few, I thought I should post it...plus it shows Charlie's beloved waterfall:

I couldn't get any good pictures, but both kids enjoyed the huge aquarium with manatees, huge turtles and enormous (and really weird looking) fish. It was so sweet to see both kids practically nose-to-nose with the manatee.

Little Bruiser

Charlie has officially entered the “bruised and battered” phase of life!  Yesterday, he busted open the gums above one of his top teeth (and has a nice blood blister to show for it), and then today, he pulled up on Ellie’s little refrigerator and it toppled down on top of him. :-(  I felt horrible since I was sitting just a few feet away and still couldn’t prevent it!  And I know that it’s just a part of childhood (Ellie constantly has bruises and skinned knees), but it’s so sad to see his sweet little face all covered in bruises.

Don't mess with Ellie!

Tonight during dinner, Damian was antagonizing Ellie with the age old I'm-going-to-eat-your-[blank] trick in an effort to get Ellie to finish her dinner (in this case, it was Ellie's bell pepper that was the source of trouble). Every time Damian threatened to eat her food, she would scream "NOOOO!" or "NO! I SAID NO!" and throw herself over her plate to protect the pepper. Damian eventually followed through on the threat and ate a piece of the pepper; at which point, Ellie started crying and screamed "NOOOO! SPIT IT OUT, DADDY!" I guess she's serious about not sharing her food...even if she doesn't actually want to eat it herself.

Finally a picture to illustrate why sometimes my answer to “what do you want to do this weekend?” is simply: “pee in private!”

Just a few random things...

I love about my hubs:

1. He loves spending time with his family and is fiercely protective of quality time with us. He doesn't do anything that regularly takes time away from us and we practically have to kick him out the door in order to get him to do anything for himself.

2. He will happily take his daughter to a birthday party (and buy the birthday present!) when I'm out of town or being a wimp about being out in the heat.

3. His "allergies" still get him and make him tear up on a regular basis when his kids do something new or particularly cute.

4. He works so incredibly hard, during countless hours, to allow me to stay home with the kids

5. He lets me sleep in every Saturday and Sunday. Seriously, this makes the top 5! And what's even more impressive is that he gets the kids up and ready, feeds them breakfast, and enjoys the time with them.



I love about Ellie:

1. She's so social that she talks to inanimate objects ("Hi house, what are you doing?" "Bye foot" (as it goes into her shoe) "I gotcha, milky, gotcha")

2. She's learning to negotiate ("play for just a bit?" after finishing dinner; "just one?" "No." "just two?"; "I'm gonna need some milky." -- that last one isn't really a negotiating tactic, but it does crack me up every time she's "gonna need" something, so it does make it hard to say 'no'!)

3. She's so sweet to Charlie...when no one is looking. She'll give Charlie a toy before climbing into her own carseat, she reassures him when he's upset, and she walks around the house saying "handsome boy, handsome boy" (I might have had something to do with that).

4. She's never met a stranger (they're just friends that she hasn't met yet) and she assumes that everyone can't wait to be her friend. If we're at a restaurant, she'll say "hi" to everyone around us and if they don't answer/acknowledge her, she will stare them down, saying "hi, hi, hi, hi, hi" until they do.

5. She couldn't be more enthusiastic about life if she tried! Everything is exciting and warrants squeals, dancing, and singing...at high volumes.



I love about Charlie:

1. He saves his biggest smiles and laughs for us. He's actually sort of a serious baby when other people are around, but when it's just us, he's silly and smiley and full of awesome belly laughs. I will never tire of the huge grin he gives me whenever I walk into his room to pick him up from his crib.

2. He's my cuddle-bug -- he loves to be held and cuddled. Ellie never slowed down long enough to be cuddled, so I just love it when Charlie lays his head on my chest or holds on to my arm while I'm carrying him.

3. He has a great sense of humor already. Just looking at him with a mock-serious expression makes him crack up.

4. He absolutely adores Ellie! He follows her all over the house with a big smile (even when Ellie is screaming like a wild animal "NO! THAT'S MINE! GO AWAY!"). And in the afternoon, when he wakes up before she does, he's whiny and fussy until his constant companion is up from her nap.

5. He's just so sweet! There is no other way to describe his personality. I know he's still just a baby, but I can just tell that he has a sweet, sweet nature. He doesn't demand attention (good thing -- he knows he wouldn't stand a chance with Ellie around), but is just happy to be with you...preferably in your arms.