Family kinect time

Right now I'm watching Ellie try a racing game. It's scarey and funny all the same. I sure wouldn't I've her my keys, but watching her constantly move her arms back and forth with a constant smile on her face is really funny. She has a whole lot of energy.

Trying new things

Today was a good day. Max ate a little bit of chicken tender at dinner. He did this knowing it was his only was to desert. For some reason that threat worked today as it doesn't always.

Max is also learning to ask to go potty sometimes. Not always, but sometimes.

He's my big boy!

Have a picnic

Max has taken to asking me to sit down with him on the floor while he drinks to "have a picnic." We did this once a couple weeks ago and he seems to have really enjoyed that time.  So now, it happens at least once a day. He always asks me to get some water and drink with him. It's really cute. I like that he wants me to sit with him. Although, I still can't get a kiss :-)

Christmas Break

I have 2 weeks off over the holidays this year. I feel like we haven't done anything special with this time. I've been using it to relax and catch up on sleep and just be with the kids as much as I can. I feel like the time is flying, but we are enjoying being home together. We have 4 more days together and although that it a lot, I feel like it's coming to an end. That makes me sad. I sure wish I didn't have to go back to work. I love being home with the kids all the time.

Sleep In Ellie's Room

Max and Ellie and both so excited to sleep together in Ellie's room. It's funny. They get so excited and even wanted to do it during naptime. They are still struggling to get themselves to sleep.

When they wake up in the mornings, the noise and energy takes off like a rocket. They played together in there this morning for nearly 45 minutes before even bothering to come see me. It's cute seeing them enjoy each other so much.

I have to admit seeing them grow up and need me less is a little sad, but seeing them grow closer and enjoy each other does make me very happy. I hope we can find a good way to make this transition successful. I'm glad we started it over break where I can be more flexible with schedules and sleep.

Night One

It took the kids until nearly 11pm to fall asleep. They were exhausted this morning. Max seemed to take it better then Ellie. He looked forward to his nap and took a good 3 hour nap.

We are trying again tonight. It's been an hour and I'm still hearing some noises. Here's hoping!

An experiment - Max in a big boy bed tonight

It's been a while since I've written. We've been enjoying the holidays. I'm home from work for 2 weeks and trying to do a lot of resting. I also had some plans for helping Max prepare for the new baby while I was home. Major goal was potty training. That hasn't honestly been going to well. Max doesn't seem to care when he pees in his pants. The only time he uses the toilet is when we make him do it. Not sure how this is going to improve anytime soon. We will see.

I did decide to try Max out in the extra twin bed in Ellie's room. Tonight we decorated Max side of the room with his new vehicle stickers. We put the new big boy sheets and blanket onto Max's bed. He was pretty excited about getting into bed. We put them to bed a bit late. They shared a story with Daddy. Then we shared prayers and songs with Mommy. Then I tucked them in with instructions they could talk for a few minutes. I left.

About 10 minutes later, after listening to them sing to each other and talk to each other, I went in to tell them it was time to go to sleep. They didn't argue. They needed more hugs and kisses, and a little TLC, but I left without tears.

It's been about an hour and a half and at least one is still awake up there. I've been listening and hoping. I know I need to be patient. This is hard for me, because I hate for them to be missing sleep. I think this is harder for me then them. I am so conflicted about them sharing, but they were very excited.

I'm hoping for a good night and trying to be patient. I'll update soon. Good night.

20 Week Sonogram - The big event

From the moment I am pregnant, the milestone that gets me through the first trimester sickness is looking forward to the 20 week ultrasound where I get to see the baby, know it's healthy, and discover if I'm having a son or daughter!

I am so blessed to have a wonderful son and daughter. I did not care if this was a boy or girl; my prayer was for and continues to be for health!

Dec 11th was the big day for my youngest child. We arrived on time and started the sonogram around 3pm. At first, I was worried because this little peanut was just lying there completely still. I've never watched one of my kids do that. They have always been bouncing around. Right away we hear the heart rate and was told she's fine. We continued to watch as our baby's heart, head, and other body parts were measured and counted! It was perfect! Although, the baby wanted to stay curled into a ball. We had a to move me around a lot to try to see baby's heart, and to try to get a peak to determine the sex.

Eventually, about half an hour into it, Miss Hillary announced that we were having a daughter! I wasn't surprised one bit. This is the first time I really knew what I was having. I was thrilled and I couldn't wait to tell Ellie as I knew she wanted a sister so bad!

This little peanut also tried hard to hide her face as we tried to get her photo on the 3 d image, but we have a few shots. She's a cutie. I'm so happy and excited to know I have another daughter coming. Now, let the planning and preparations begin!

Telling Ellie she was having a sister was the other highlight of my day. Ellie was so happy, she jumped up and screamed, then jumped into my lap and gave me the biggest hug ever! She held on tight for a good 30 seconds. That's a big hug from my Ellie Bean! I wish my girls a life time of a special sister friendship!

The Baby

Today Max was very interested in the baby. This morning at breakfast he asked me to come over so he could talk to the baby. He was so sweet as he said hello.

Tonight, going to bed, he decided we should sing to the baby. He picked Ba Ba Black Sheep. He turned his head to my belly and sang so sweetly!

Sticks!

Tonight Max had another BM on the potty. They don't happen frequently. When he got off the potty to admire his work, he screamed, "Sticks in my poo-pie! Grampa, come see my sticks!"

LOL, he was so proud!

Grampa walked away into the other room.

Max just jumped around the bathroom celebrating his success and awaiting the arrival of his chocolate rocks!

Big Sonogram Coming

Tuesday is the big sonogram for baby number 3. I'm so excited to find out if it's a boy or girl and see my little one on the monitor, and most importantly, get a perfect health report!

It does seem like this pregnancy, though painful, is flying by. It's hard to believe I'm nearly half way there. I have started to feel the little early flutters and kicks a couple times and it is wonderful. I believe this baby is a very strong baby, thanks to all the extra drama (longer sickness, headaches, stronger back pains, etc) I've been feeling. But, as long as it gets me my healthy little baby at the end, I'm game.

I was laying in bed an hour ago thinking about names again. This is something I do more often then David for sure. I thought at this mid-point I would document my favorite names for both Boy and Girl, just to preserve the fun that I was thinking of names for both sexes, since that fun will be cut in half on Tuesday (hopefullly).

So, the top runners in my mind are:

Margaret Vonita Cummings - called Meg
Drew Robert Cummings - called Drew

David still prefers the classics, and by classics I mean the names we've talked about on other pregnancies that haven't made it, but to me, those have early been retired - James, Hannah and Clair.

Recently, I've believed strongly this is a girl because of the way I am physically carrying her. In the early months, I was sure it was a boy thanks to the strong sickness. So, it could still go either way for sure. In that, I asked David to think of girl names and he has thrown two new ones into the mix for consideration - Zooey and Chloey. I'm not sure either of them passes my one day CEO test, but Zooey feels closer to me as a possibility. However, I still stick with Meg and Drew!

Stay tuned.....

A Christmas Tree

We set out with the thought of cutting down our own Christmas Tree this year for the first time in a few years. After listening to Max wine upon being put in the baby ergo and demand to be held, we decided to go with a pre-cut tree at the front of the farm. David and I were looking around and trying to eye up an appropriate tree. It was a bit of a stretch because our size goal was around 7 to 9 feet. The selection was either 5 to 6 foot trees or 12 to 14 foot (or even higher trees). When David first stood up one of the big trees to look at, Ellie got so excited about it's size. We both knew it was a bit big and may prove challenging; I was worried about getting it into the stand; David was worried about it fitting in the house.

I proceeded to look through the smaller trees desperately trying to identify something in the medium price range. Ellie pronouced a bit of a fit, "I do NOT want a little tree. I WANT THE BIG TREE Daddy already picked up!"

I could not help but laugh as she sounded just like me as a child. I remember fits about the size of the tree many years. I just looked at Ellie and said, "You are just like your mother."

After much deliberation, we agreed to the very large nearly 13 or 14 foot tree, with the plan to cut off the bottom foot and a half where the trunk looked too big and fat for our stand. Then we purchased it and brought it home.

Upon getting it home is where the real struggle started. David and I spent over an hour trying to get it in the stand. The poor thing was butchered and ended up loosing nearly another 2 feet before properly standing in the tree stand. During this time both kids hit tears because they couldn't help decorate the tree. Max even pulled out his tools and watched to help Daddy with cutting the tree and getting it "fixed." He's sweet, but it was dangerous and eventually I ban them from the room.

Nearly 2 hours after we got home, dinner done in shifts, Ellie and I finally put the lights on. She was a great helper. Of course, Max wanted to help too, and it's not really a three man job, but we tried to include him best we could.

Lights strung with minimal drama, it was time for Daddy to put the angle on top. That too went down without much drama, thanks to his willingness to just get the ladder and get it done. Then, it was on to decorating.

Ellie and Max were both psyched to get to this part. Turn out, Ellie was off to the races and did a pretty good job this year. Previous years had been hard for her. Poor Max, he couldn't get the hooks to work in his little finger and was too frustrated to allow me to help. He put two ornaments on the tree (and by he, I mean with my help over a 15 minute period) before finally ending the drama. We decided to do bath and bed. Then Ellie sneaked back down and played elf with Mommy to help me finish the job. Ellie was a trooper. Once she understood that if she wined another syllable she was going to bed, we had a peaceful 30 minutes of tree decorating. She really did a great job!

I was so tired at the end of the night that I didn't finish the final trimmings. Those still need to go on, probably not until tonight. But we do have a standing, fresh, beautiful tree 17 days before Christmas, which to me, is the perfect lead time!

Max Grumpy

This evening Max and I were looking at the new photo album I had made. He sees a picture of himself eating ice cream with a bit of a look on his face. He points at it and announces, "Max Grumpy."

I couldn't help but smile. I'm glad he sees that emotion on his face. He gets that grumpy, disappointed look quite easily. He will also quickly turn to smiles too. It's part of his little Gemini self I think.

I asked him why he was grumpy while eating ice cream, he seemed perplexed himself. The funny thing was that as we proceeded to look at the next few pages, they all had a picture of Max Grumpy. Who knows what was going on in April.

Shared art project

Ellie got a foam gingerbread house kit for her birthday from the Govars. She was excited to put it together. After dinner her and I started working on it. Max decided he wanted to help.

Ellie was very gracious in allowing him to help. Max was patient with constant correction of where he tried to put stickers. The project took over an hour to complete and both kids really did a good job. Ellie was a little frustrated at times when Max didn't do it just perfect. (And I understand her frustration as sometimes I felt the same towards her :-) ) Like mother, like daughter. We both kept calm.

They were both so proud of their accomplishment. Once we cleaned up, they picked up the house together and said, "let's go find a place for our new decoration together." I let them go. A minute later I hear squeals of delight. They were so excited to show that they had placed it on the kitchen table together. Afterwards, they even did a bit of a happy dance as I called it, jumping around, laughing, smiling and commenting on how well they worked together!

What a great evening and team building activity tonight!

Santa 2012

Tonight both kids enjoyed waiting for Santa's arrival, saying hello, sitting on his lap, and even telling them what they'd like for Christmas. There were no tears! In fact, no tears from any of the cousins either. I think this was a first! It was a good evening.

Ellie rattled off a list of every princess movie and item she could think of as her wish list.

Max's wish list was more simple. He wants a camera. That's it!

Santa brought them each a dinosaur from the show they watch as Sarah's, Dinosaur Train. They were quite a hit with our kids and the others.

Sisterly love, and brotherly dissapointment

Tonight Max did his first full poop on the potty. He was very excited, mostly to flush.

Ellie too was very excited and ran to see it, as it was flushed away. Since she didn't make it in time, she proceeded to head to the stairs and sit there and cry. Crying, because she didn't get to see the poop before it went down the drain!