A Sweet Farewell to "Elmo"

Last Friday. Zach's mom, Wytonia Hanlon, unexpectedly died. (Hence the lack of posts). We got the news while having dinner with my twin sister, Ashlei, who was in town for a friend's funeral (Ashlei lives in Texas). We were shocked and couldn't quite take it in.

Zach's mom was known to us as "Elmo". Her name was supposed to be Me-maw, but that came out of Ellie's mouth as "Elmo" and has stuck since. We shared the same birthday, and this past February she just turned 48. She has had a tough past few years after her son, Zach's brother Justin, died tragically in June 2008. She not only suffered with some depression with the loss of her son, but was also diagnosed in January 2009 with a blood disease known as TTP. She was getting treatments (blood transfusions) almost everyday and chemo every week for 6 months, and then slowly she was getting better and the treatments were becoming farther apart. We had just gotten news the day before she died that she was only going to be having them once a month! So as she was getting better with her disease, she was taken from this earth. We think it might have been a heart attack, although we still have not gotten the results back.

We are sad to say goodbye, but are thankful and confident in the fact that we know she is in heaven with our Lord, praising His name without any pain or suffering. Zach and I both are overjoyed by this statement because his mom has lived a tough life with a bad past. We have seen her overcome her struggles and draw close to the Lord. We have seen her attitude, actions, and life completely changed by the gospel. The past six months of her life we have strongly admired, and are sad we will no longer experience her joy and love... which came completely from her love of her Savior, Jesus Christ. She was someone who accepted everyone, I mean EVERYONE. She never looked down on you, loved you, and cared for you to the extreme. She could make anyone laugh, she had a sense of humor which brought a smile no matter what the circumstance was. She called us almost everyday, just to hear the sound of our voices and tell us she loved us. Ellie absolutely ADORED talking to her, they had a very unique relationship. One that I will miss, just because of the type of love she had for my daughter.

I'm sad that Ellie will never get to call her, jump with her, or know her sweet love anymore. She's so young that I think she will only remember what Zach and I tell her. Ainsley will never remember her, but I can surely say to her how much her grandmother did love both of them. Ellie could light up her day when nobody else could. Elmo was always the one person Ellie wanted to call. I am so thankful for the love, the joy, and the memories we did get to share together. She will never be forgotten and will always be in our hearts.

Poison Control

Yesterday we called poison control for the second time in 3 months. The first time I never shared about was when I thought Ellie ate a tad bit of dog poop. This was at my parent's house. I was doing something with Ainsley when all of a sudden Ellie started screaming. She had some poop on her fingers and had put them in her mouth, she was screaming because she was completely disgusted by the taste. I at first thought it was her poop, but then realized it was the dog's moments later. She ended up being fine, but Zach insisted I call to make sure we shouldn't worry.

So now for the second call which happened yesterday evening. I was cooking dinner and Zach was playing with Ellie. He was commenting on how bad her breath smelled, like rotten eggs. Well moments later she came up to him and her breath smelled like bathroom cleaner, she had sprayed disinfectant spray in her mouth! I had left it out on top of the sink because that's where I wash her dirty underwear and afterwards I disinfect. She somehow was able to reach it and decided she must put it in her mouth. What goes through a 2 year old head?? Why would she think that she needed to put that in her mouth?? I don't think she sprayed it because she normally can't figure out how to spray it, but you never know because neither one of us saw it. Never again will I leave any cleaner out, she just can't resist putting anything in her mouth! Hopefully this will change. We called poison control just to keep an eye out for any symptoms we should worry about. She ended up being fine and it didn't bother her. We gave her lots of water and some dinner which diluted the cleaner and drowned out the taste.

We'll see how many more times we will have to call... hopefully none but for some reason I'm thinking this will probably happen again.

Ainsley- 5 months

Ainsley is 5 months old! She is growing so fast and I can't get enough of her. She is just too precious and very lovable.

Some facts about my little munchkin:
-She is very aware of everything going around her now and absolutely adores her big sister. She smiles the biggest and laughs the hardest at little Ellie, I get jealous. However, she definitely is still the mommy's girl. She always lights up when I'm around and is most content in mommy's arms or lap. I don't mind at all :)-She is chewing on everything, grabbing everything she can reach, and drooling like crazy!
-She loves her exersaucer and stays in there for quite a while when mommy is tending to some business.
-She is starting to sit up on her own, but just for a few minutes at a time.

-She loves to stand on her legs and can put her full wait on them! She can even pull herself up from sitting when holding on to my hands, such a strong girl.
-She still is very happy, except in the car. She does not like her car seat too much and cries in the car a lot of times (does not make long trips fun at all, I try to avoid them unless I can sit back with her... if not, I lose my mind and start to cry).
-She still takes a paci, but loves her thumb.
-She still takes a bottle, but only certain ones.
-She is starting to eat solids, but we're still not very good at it.
-She still sleeps wonderfully at night. Will go 12 hours most nights, and even sleeps until 8-8:30a in the mornings, and even then Ellie will wake her up! Although recently she's been waking up first around 7-7:30.
-She nurses 5 times a day, every 3 hours.
-Naps around 3 times a day now. Once in the morning somewhere between 9-11a (while we are out and about) for about 30 minutes unless she can get more, poor thing. Second nap is usually when Ellie naps around 1p-3p. Third nap around 4:30-5p for about 30-45 minutes. I know she would sleep more if I stayed home in the morning and she didn't have a loud sister running around, but I guess that is just the way things go when you have two. She deals with it and still acts happy. She's learning selflessness at an early age!

I think that's about it, however I could go on and on about her. I am so blessed to have her in my life. There really isn't a day that I thank God for blessing us with her, I am so in love! To think that this love only grows more and more and doesn't even compare to our Father's love for us!

Ellie is Potty Trained!

At the end of April I did a post on how Ellie was very interested in the potty and how I was not interested at all in training her. Well that was Friday when I posted it, and the next day I decided to try underwear to see what happens. Well it was a disaster, I thought, since the whole day we had about 20 accidents and 2 accomplishments. I knew the next day she was definitely not ready since she was completely turned off the potty, she had no desire to sit on it. However, surprisingly on Monday she wanted to sit on the potty. I decided to go ahead and let her because I hated to teach her that the diaper is where you should go potty. So she sat on the potty, and then to my amazement she PEED! I was shocked, but was still thinking this was only a coincidence. However she kept asking and continued to pee on the potty and keep her diaper clean! Tuesday I decided to keep her in underwear around the house, but diapers while we were out or during naps/nighttime. This went well and we continued this until Saturday (May 1) when I decided to keep her in underwear all the time except nighttime. Sunday night she refused to wear a diaper, so I let her go without. We had one accident when she woke up the next morning. Monday night, the same thing but she had 2 accidents (in the middle of the night). I ended up putting her in a diaper. Tuesday night, she was convinced that a diaper would be okay to wear to bed.

So little Miss Ellie is potty trained except for at night! I'm waiting until her diaper is basically dry until I switch to completely diaper free. I'm completely shocked, but she totally was ready. She really did most of it on her own. She goes by herself most of the time, I rarely ask her if she needs to potty because she usually always tells me. She has been doing great being accident free most days. She still has problems pooping in the potty, she can never catch it in time. This is not so fun since we have to clean up the poo in the underwear, but hopefully soon she'll learn. It's not as bad as I thought it would be, and it's nice knowing I don't have to buy diapers for her anymore! So proud of our little Ellie!

So here are some tips to any of you who are thinking of potty training (these are some things I learned and were told from others, a great help):
-for training girls: a dress is a major plus because you usually don't have to change the dress, just the underwear!
-hand sanitizer is your best friend especially if your child doesn't reach the sink. Going to the bathroom about 20 times a day, you do not want to wash your hands every time, but yet you need to teach them that you should. So sanitizer comes in very handy because it's a major pain to try to wash her hands when you have to hold her up while washing.
-potty training 1-2-3 was a great approach! Instead of approaching it as let's go pee and poo on the potty, you approach it as let's stay dry and clean. This way they learn that being dry and clean is the goal, so diaper or no diaper in order to stay dry and clean I need to go on the potty! Definitely check out the video
-treats really encourages them to go, and even now we still try to give her lots of praise. I think this helps keep her going.

We only are having troubles with poo and at night. I think time will help, she is really young. She does great out and even on car rides. I'm very impressed by her! Yay for Ellie! She's a big girl now :)

Ainsley Rolls on Video!

Finally got it!

In Honor of Mother's Day

This is just hilarious, hope it makes you laugh.

Swagger Wagon

I want one just because this video is so awesome.

Laughing Girls

It's hard to tell who is laughing in the video because they have identical laughs. Ainsley is laughing when you might think it is Ellie. Super cute :)

Carson and Ellie

Last Friday we had a little play date with Carson (and his little sister, Mary Grace). It was a beautiful day, and the two of them played so well together! I didn't have my camera, but Catherine (Carson's mommy) did. She took some pictures. You can check them out here: Ellie and Carson sitting in a tree...

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

I actually relate to this more with Ellie than with Ainsley. Most of the time I feel like this when they both are crying...

Swinging

Ainsley seems to love swinging. Ellie hated it until she was about 18 months old. I guess it makes sense since Ainsley also likes to be rocked/swayed and they are very similar motions. The other night (the night Ellie bit her tongue), we pulled out the swing because Ainsley was fussing during dinner. After dinner, Ellie decided to have a little fun with Ainsley:



They sure do love each other, it brings me so much joy :)

Tongue Boo Boo

Last night while I was cooking dinner, Zach was watching the girls. Ellie decided to do what she does best, mess with Kayla. She thinks that standing on Kayla while holding onto the couch is tons of fun (along with jumping on Kayla, riding Kayla, hitting Kayla, kissing Kayla, and some good things such as playing ball with Kayla, laying next to Kayla). Zach warned her and told her not to stand on Kayla (mostly because we feel bad for the dog, not that we were concerned with her getting hurt). Welp, Kayla stood up because it wasn't feeling too good and Ellie was on her back, so she wacked herself onto the couch. She was crying really hard and was bleeding in her mouth, but we thought maybe she busted her lip or bit her gum. During dinner we discovered, when she stuck her tongue out, that she bit her tongue (on both sides)! It must have really hurt and I definitely can feel her pain with this one:
I took many pictures trying to get her to stick out her tongue. Here are some of the outtakes that were cute (Zach was trying to help, so I thought I needed to include him in some of the pics):

Precious Ainsley

She is just too cute. I love it when she smiles and giggles. She absolutely loves this thing (the exersaucer). When I sit on the couch and she looks over at it, she gets the biggest smile on her face. However, she does not like being in it when we are out of the room.

Oh a few more tid bits about growing Ainsley. I'm not sure what it is, but she is never content for more than 15 minutes anywhere but in my arms. This means I am almost always holding her, which is hard to give Ellie some one on one attention. It is also hard to get much of anything done without a fussy baby in the background. I do feel extra special though, and it really has made me learn to give up on some things just to spend time with both my girls. Ainsley also is starting to suck her thumb a lot more. I'll be able to get a paci in her mouth occasionally in the car or when going to sleep, but most of the time she ends up knocking it out and sticking her thumb in. Oh well, it unavoidable I think. At least I try.

Enjoy the video. Warning: it's a long video.



(This video was taken a few weeks ago, she has a blanket in the exersaucer to help her balance since she still can't sit up completely by herself.)

Why I Choose Not to Take the Pill

Since this is almost the 50th Anniversary of the Pill I've been reading a lot about birth control and it has struck me that I never really have shared my opinion on this subject. I know that this blog is mostly about my kids, but it is also a place I can share my views. I like to look back and see not only how my kids have grown, but also how I have grown. So here it is, my view of the pill:

Way back in 2007, when Zach and I were engaged, I decided to address the issue or what we will use for birth control. I had been on the pill since high school for cramping and assumed that I would probably remain on the pill, however I wanted to see all the options. I'm not sure if I heard it somewhere or I just read how the pill works, but I found something that alarmed me.

The pill works in three ways:
1) prevents ovulation preventing any possibility of pregnancy
2) thickens the cervical mucus preventing sperm from reaching the egg
3) thins the lining of the uterus preventing a fertilized egg from implanting

The third is what alarmed me because I would consider this abortion. I believe life begins at conception, when the DNA is formed. Now if you believe life begins at any different point (such as implantation), then you would disagree. But I think a majority of my audience probably agrees. No one knows how often the third step actually happens while taking the pill, but we do know that sometimes even all three methods don't work (since women get pregnant on the pill all the time). I understand how women might find this alarming or question if this is really wrong since their intention is not to abort a child. I can't describe it any better than Al Mohler on why I choose not to take the pill because of the fact it can work as an abortifacient. Here is his blog post about it: Can Christians Use Birth Control?

After discussing with Zach about my concerns, we agreed to use another method (condoms). He didn't really share my view on this matter, but is up in the air. Tonight I actually told him he needed to do more research on the subject. You might be thinking, well they didn't use the pill and they ended up getting pregnant one month later. Yea we messed up (twice, even with Ainsley), but I'm kinda glad we did. We might have gotten carried away with the views that we needed this or that before having kids, or needed to do this before having kids, or even the typical I'm not ready yet. Now don't get me wrong, I definitely feel that there are good reasons for waiting to have kids, but we probably wouldn't have had any. I'm the first to say that having kids is definitely hard work, with tremendous sacrifice. However the blessings they are to me and all that I have learned from them are incomparable to the "burdens". Our society views kids more as burdens than blessings, which has led many astray.

From a biblical stand point, I think God intended sex not just for pleasure but for procreation. Therefore if you are having sex (which should be done within marriage), you should always be open to having kids. So even though we have not only one, but two surprises... they were both planned by God. However this does lead me to question how open I should be to having kids? Should I completely surrender all forms of birth control, surrender everything but Natural Family Planning since there is nothing to stop procreation except abstinence, or are non hormonal contraceptives (i.e. condoms) okay? I still have yet to conclude that any birth control that is merely a contraceptive and not an abortifacient would be theologically inconsistent.

Feel free to share your opinions.

Ellie Rolls

Look at what Ellie has learned to do:



Just a note: this video is from a few weeks ago. I have taken the birthday banner down, although it did take me another week after Ellie's bday.

Double Date- Minute to Win It

Last Thursday we had a double date with our friends, Laura and John Baumeister. We had a yummy dinner, put the kids to bed, then played Minute to Win It (stole this idea from the Shelton's).

We played a total of 8 games. How you play: you have to do the activity provided in one minute or you loose. Zach won with the most points, which we made up how to score. A few of the games: sorting candies in order, rolling a ping pong ball on a tape measurer into a shot glass, spinning around 5 times then tossing a ball into a hole, make 3 golf balls stand on top of each other (no one was able to accomplish this, however John did do it while we were just hanging out afterward), keep 3 non-helium balloons off the ground (extremely difficult), toss a ping pong off a wall and catch it in a bowl on your head 5 times, and more...

We did play a game where you have to make a candy elevator. Here are some picture from that:
John went first, had a hard time. I'm pretty sure he never got them in his mouth. Next, Laura B:
She got the candies in her mouth, took a little fixing of the elevator first. Up next, Zach:
Zach won this game, he got the candies immediately. Last, me:
Yea, I lost. Never could get them into my mouth. Oh well.

We had a lot of fun! Thanks to the Shelton's for the idea, and then to the Baumeister's for a great time!

Ainsley's First Taste of Solids

I won't say first taste of food because I feel like rice cereal isn't really much of anything. I decided with doctor's advice to go ahead and start the solids. We documented this experience:


I don't think Ainsley is quite ready. As you can tell from the video, all of it I'm pretty sure came out of her mouth. I tried again at lunch time and she only got one bite. I just don't want to cram the stuff in her mouth, that's not the point. So I think I'm going to wait a few more weeks and try again.

With Ellie I made most of her babyfood except the veggies. I definitely want to do that again, I actually enjoy it. I think to make it a little bit easier I might invest in one of those babyfood processors which cook it and puree it all in one! I'm going to enjoy seeing how Ainsley likes each new food. I love this stage... they don't make much of a mess because you control it all and they will eat anything that you put in their mouth (although they might not like it much).

Red Lights

This past week while riding in the car, every time we have had to stop at a stoplight Ellie starts yelling. At first I could not figure out what she was saying, so then she started using some more words in her sentence. She was telling the cars in front of us to go.

So we would pull up to a stoplight and stop behind a car. She then says, "No car, go. Car going, go." As she says this to the car, as if it was going to obey her, she motions her hands as well. I find this hilarious, but after multiple times I realized I should probably teach her what's going on. I usually tell her we can't make the car go, but today I taught her about the stoplights. Didn't really work, because she said it again, but I'll keep explaining that the lights, not Ellie, are what tell us to go or stop .

Learning to Potty

The past few months Ellie has been interested in the potty. She has asked to sit on the potty, and recently is starting to want to sit more frequently. She finally has used the bathroom on the potty, number 2. It occurred Wednesday night right before bedtime, Zach and I were shocked! We were super excited, got out the potty chart, put a sticker on the chart, and gave her a lollipop (which took FOREVER to eat).

I'm just not sure if I'm ready for this next step. I'm really excited that my little toddler is desiring to be a big girl, but it's exhausting! Now that she's wanting to sit on the potty more frequently, we are having to go in the store, the library, the gym. Now I don't think I would mind so much if she actually did go potty, but this is not the case. So I have to lug everybody into the bathroom, take off the pants and diaper, sit there for 3-5 minutes waiting for something to happen while making sure Ellie doesn't fall into the toilet and Ainsley is somewhat entertained, then we skip the wiping and flushing since nothing occurred and wash our hands (which Ellie is still not too good at). It just stinks to go through all the trouble when nothing happens! However, I highly enjoyed this morning after trying to potty and asking her to get a diaper, she came in with two pairs of underwear on. Of course both of them were on completely wrong (one was up around her tummy, the other covering her bottom, but both of them were put on with both legs through one leg hole). It seems that most of the time at home we can rarely have a good moment to potty. I either have to stop what I'm doing (i.e. cooking), or leave her on the potty because Ainsley starts to fuss or cry. This afternoon right before her nap, she runs into the kitchen while I'm washing a few dishes and hands me her dirty diaper (fresh poo inside). She then proceeds to tell me she wants to poo poo in the potty... she'll get it soon enough. Oh boy, if only it was easy...

Not only am I not ready, I also feel like she's not quite ready. She doesn't quite understand the "got to go" feeling, but I don't want to discourage from using the bathroom. I'm conflicted in what to do. I guess I'll suck it up and deal with the inconvenience, she'll learn eventually (but the question is, how long will it take? can I deal with it that long?).

Let me know if you have any tips, I would love to hear thoughts on this.

Lalalalala

Just a glimpse at Ellie's singing ability: