Training

We are working on potty training. Eli does pretty good actually. He loves his underwear, or as he calls them "panties"(don't blame me, he idolizes his sister), and likes to change them anytime he sees another pair. He also enjoys tinkling in the grass in Gigi's backyard. (no, she's not really thrilled about this) And man, that Thing shoots crazy! It's all over the place! But he's awfully proud of himself when he gets the job done! He even wakes at night to potty now, there's no turning back! Yipee! Two days in a row I got him to poop in the potty, the second day at a Luby's! Then the third day, it was back to pooping in his pants. If we catch him we can usually make the magic happen, and being all boy, like he is, he loves saying "turd", little turd!
Evi gave Eli his first tattoo, a tramp stamp, and a little feminine at that. But he sat still through the whole thing. And luckily it was with tattoo pens that wash off!

Evi is enjoying school. Drop off has still been a little hard, she likes to wait until a friend comes in then walk in the rest of way with them. She was "Star of the Week" one week. As star of the week, she could have someone come eat lunch with her. I kept asking if I could come, and she kept saying she would cry when I had to leave, but I kept pushing her, telling her she'd be fine. So I went to lunch with her, and guess what...she cried! I couldn't blame her, she'd tried to warn me. Her sweet little classmates held her hand and walked with her back to class. It was really sweet. And now we're yanking her out of their comfort to move to Tampa. This isn't going to be pretty!

Evi is doing great at gymnastics. She really has a natural ability at it. I hope it serves her well. I keep thinking scholarship opportunity, be it in gymnastics or cheer leading (even though my teenage self cringes a little at the cheerleader thought). Eli has started a Mommy & Me class, or in his case Mommy &/or Daddy & Me class. The first 4 classes were rough. Mostly fits because he didn't want to do the structure of it all. Which I know is normal for a 2 year old boy, but frustrating for the parents! So one week Scott said never again, that it was horrible. So I took him, being stubborn as I am, and he did great! Seriously, he did everything and even let the coaches touch him, where usually it is pure panic when they get close. Like I said, little turd.
He is Evi's mini-me. She is very dramatic when speaking, both in voice and body language, and usually, as soon as she's done saying something Eli is right behind her mimicking her every move and word. It's pretty entertaining.
Evi was able to Captain the Dude's boat recently and Eli decided he should be able to control the speed in order to not be left out! But they both liked it a lot!

This was Evi's hair for crazy hair day.

Milestone Mania!

We have reached some major milestones in the 2 months since I have blogged! (The first time in 5 years that I have missed that long by the way...didn't any of you miss it, were you not worried???)
1. ELI TURNED 2!!!!
He's getting so big so fast. He is Evi's shadow, and repeats everything. And I mean everything! It's amazing how much more verbal he is than Evi was at this age. So watch your mouth! (That message mainly goes to me) He knew how to blow out the candle this time with no prodding. And loved being sung happy birthday to by everyone, but me. I was told to shush, by him.
He is sooo ruined when it comes to sleeping. But man is he sweet. He had a fear of his Aunts Marni & Kristi, but seems to have worked through them. And loves his Aunt K and Auntie Pimps (It should be Auntie M, but for some reason it comes out Pimps).
2. WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!! YAY!!!!
Or should I say, we found a house being built that we want to buy. It is a spec home, so it's not like "we're" building it. We tried to find an existing one, but there is a lot of crap on the market in Tampa for our price range. And who doesn't love a new house. I'm excited about a kitchen with storage!
3. EVI STARTED KINDERGARTEN!!!
She was really nervous, which I can't blame her, and there were lots of emotions leading up to going. But the first day went well. We walked her to her room, she put her things away, found her seat, gave us and kisses, sat back down, gave us another round of kisses, sat back down, turn to look at us and said, "Why are y'all still here?" So I took that as our cue to leave. At the door I turned to look at something, caught Evi's eye, and she came running and cried that she didn't want me to leave. She asked me to stay at the building all day. I'd said, "Okay, I'll stay, I just have to go check on something, but I'll be here"
Alright, fine, I lied to my child. What's new?
I told her what she needed to hear in that moment. When we picked her up, she asked if I stayed and I said no. She said, "I knew you'd say that!" So see, she knows her mother is full of it most of time already.
Now the second day....
She knew I wouldn't be able to walk her past the set of doors. No parents allowed, which is ridiculous for babies, but whatever, that's a whole other story. Well, we got there the same time all the other kids were being released from the cafeteria and it was a little bit overwhelming for her I think and she wouldn't let me go, and was crying and these nice ladies were trying to help, but really they were from hell as far as Evi was concerned. I finally walked away and Evi cried, loudly, and a lot and I stood around the corner and cried, pretty much blubbering. Then went home and blubbered some more. I will say, if I had it to do over again, (which I probably will when we move to Tampa) I would not leave her there like that. It was too much. She has recovered, and she's probably scarred for life. When I picked her up, she was much happier (as another mother pointed out, and when I said, "well, you should have seen her this morning" the other mother said, "I did"). And ever since, she has done great. And she's been exhausted, which I am totally excited about! I love putting the kids to bed by 8. It's great!

This summer we also did a trip to Frisco with Scott's family. Its was great! Bebe took us all on a train ride. Eli was ecstatic! He is all about trains. (as a matter of fact, when he is entertaining himself he says all of our names, everyone in the extended family included, and so is Thomas, James and Percy!) I mean, just look at his face in the picture to the right. That was his expression while watching the engine on the track next to us. RockStar!

HOMELESS, WILL WORK FOR FOOD!

We are officially homeless! We sold our house on June 6th, with much relief! While we didn't make out like bandits, we basically broke even, at least we didn't loose money on it like so many people are doing now. And now we are off to Tampa to find a new place to call home. It's exciting and scary! While Eli doesn't care where we are as long as mommy or daddy (preferably) are there, Evi seems to be more affected. I think she'll do better once we get settled. It's nothing major, just little mood swings, a preview of what her teenage years will be like!

Eli has changed so much. He says complete sentences, with Scott & I acting as translators most of the time. It seems like he is a lot more verbal than his sister was at this age.
He is VERY into trains, planes, and trucks right now. Mostly trains. Which made being in OKC to pack a little easier since he will now watch an entire movie, especially if the movie has trains. He's also big on Cars and Toy Story.
Eli may be almost 4 years younger, but he does his best to keep up with big sister. And he's not far behind either. This time next year he'll be running her over, I'm sure. But he has to do whatever she does. I find it amazing that even though Eli is surrounded by pink girly stuff, he's still naturally drawn to all things boy. And how intensely he watches how things work. He's amazing, and he's getting so big so fast. It makes me very sad.
Eli was my perfect sleeper. He went to bed by himself, in his crib, no problem and slept through the night most nights, no problem. Now, he's ruined! He first got to where he wouldn't sleep in the crib, but would still lay down and go to sleep alone in the bed. Now, no way! Like his sister, he wants you in there. While part of me thinks he deserves the same comfort as his sister has received for the last 5 years, the other part of me dislikes knowing that nighttime freedom(for Scott & I) has just been pushed back another 5 years!

Evi was able to go to the last week of school back in Edmond, which she LOVED. She had missed her friends so much. She was like a rock star the day we returned. Her friends were on the playground when we got out of the car and recognized her right away, and began squealing her name repeatedly. It was great for us, because we could actually get some things done while she was gone.
She has conquered the bike. Turning, stopping, riding, although I will admit she needs some work on the starting. And we go all out with protection: knee pads, elbow pads, helmet, and fingerless gloves. Mamma is taking no chances!
We have been house hunting in Tampa. And let me just say, there are a lot of crappy houses out there, and the people selling them sure do think highly of them. But we'll find one eventually. We are just soooo ready for our own space, as I'm sure the family members that have been housing us would agree!

Easter and then some

I can't seem to keep up with what my kids are up to right now. What with traveling between Houston, Tampa, OKC and work, I feel like I'm living out of a bag.

Swimming has begun in Houston and Tampa and Evi had lost her confidence. It's taken a couple weeks of swimming almost daily, but she's back at it again. A little water bug! And Eli is right behind her. He jumps in right after her, ready or not. He just motors around in his floatie all by himself.

Poor Evi, being the big sister comes with a lot of pressure. Sometimes I feel so bad for her. She's constantly being told "don't do this, your brother is watching!". He wants to do everything she does, if he sees her do something, he's always right behind. Like jumping on the couch, or into the pool, regardless if someone is watching or not! So much pressure on a 5 year old!

She has been learning to ride her bike! She's getting pretty good at it. I still stay close behind because I dread the first time she takes a fall. For those of you who have never seen Evi injured, it's an exhausting experience. Lots of tears, loud constant crying and she tries to be a gimp and not use whatever limb is injured...at all. And I am constantly reminded by my own mother while I'm telling Evi to get over it, that I was drama queen #1, and had to be carried for DAYS when I fell down. I then tell her that was a monster of her own creation, but she doesn't seem to care.

Eli is repeating most everything. He's gotten everyone's name down, but surprisingly, Evi's was pretty much last. He now knows how to make his sister cry when she wants something. And already seems to enjoy this ability. I try to tell her he's going to do this for the rest of her life is she doesn't learn to control her emotions, but I'm getting nowhere. She's just too sensitive for her own good.

Easter was a success. The kids enjoyed their many celebrations and hunting the eggs.

It was fun to watch Mila and Eli together this time. They finally acknowledged eachothers existance. Most of the time it was just to steal toys from eachother, but they would actually play a little together too now.

Boys will be boys:

Eli was sitting on the deck, behind Monet, the cat. I noticed he was really concentrating on her "backend". Then slowly, he raised his finger to her hiney hole...luckily, my reaction was enough to startle Monet into moving, and Eli did not get the chocolate starfish!

Evi & Eli were in the bath together, Evi laying on her tummy next to Eli. I came back in the room and Eli said, "Toot!"

I asked "Who tooted?"

Eli reaches over and puts his finger in Evi's crack! I spend the rest of the bath trying to get him to leave her crack alone!!

NO PICTURES!!!!

I still have no camera!! I don't know where it is! This having 3 places to "live" is killing me! I can't keep track of anything. The kids are enjoying it however. I think they like having more people around than just old mom & dad. But I have got to find my camera!

It was rodeo month in Houston, and we ventured out one cold (it was cold for Houston) afternoon and saw the animals and watched the events. Our favorites by far where the barrel racing, calf scramble and muttin' bustin'. I think Evi & Eli enjoyed the petting zoo and riding the ponies the most.

My cousin Melanie had her first baby, Malin. It was the first "baby" Eli has gotten to meet. She's sweet, and oh so tiny! If only Eli had had a head like that!

Eli is verbal. He finally says "mommy" which is so sweet to hear! He's gotten a few more animal noises down, like cow and sheep. He's a slow learner compared to what his sister was I think. All part of being the second child, right?

One exciting event for us was almost getting to see a giraffe give birth at the Houston zoo. The mother giraffe was walking around for a while with just a hoof sticking out. She gave birth about 30 minutes after we left, but we couldn't have seen it anyway, they had moved her behind a wall. Which was probably for the better. I'm sure it would have a source of nightmares and a million questions.

I took Evi to a wedding with my parents, Auntie M & Mila. We went and bought her a pretty spring dress. Obviously my poor child needs to dress up more because she felt so beautiful in it, she kept singing how pretty she was (with her eyes closed, this was serious singing). And once we got to the wedding, all she wanted to do was dance. So of course, after the wedding party had done their dancing, I ended up on the dance floor with her...and no one else. Eventually Mila joined the party. But it was serious business for Evi. I wish I would have gotten it on video. It was great.
We are still living with Gigi & Chacha, and have spent some time in Tampa too. I just wish our house would sell already, even though it's been only a little over a month, I'm ready to move on to the next step in our process. I'm ready to be there!

Conversations with Evi:
when she felt like a cousin was leaving her out
EVI: "HE HURT MY FEELINGS! I ASKED IF I COULD PLAY TOO, AND HE TOLD ME 'NO, I DON'T WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU' "
mom: "what exactly did he say? did he say the last part, or just no?"
EVI: "JUST 'NO'. BUT HE WANTED TO SAY THE OTHER THING!!!"

at a wedding
EVI:"WHY DO YOU KISS WHEN YOU GET MARRIED?"
mom: " it kind of seals the deal, makes it official" and I give Evi a kiss
"now are we married?"
EVI:"NO, WE'RE 2 GIRLS!" she thinks a little, then kisses me and says
"WE'LL HAVE A GIRL & GIRL WEDDING!"
she also says she's going to marry her brother a lot, which in her defense, I remember Julie Montemayor saying in primary school that she wanted to marry my dad, and I became very upset because I wanted to marry him...so she should get past this!...right?

E is for Echo

Eli is trying to say everythingng. No one can really understand him, but he's trying. He's like a little echo following you around. He has also perfected his high pitch squeal when something is not going his way. It's worse than a girl's. We're working on "help please". I hope it takes soon!
But he is a lover for sure! Scott drove his truck to Tampa and was gone for 4 days, which is the longest he has ever been away from Eli. When he came in the door, Eli burst into tears, it was so sweet. He then hugged him for a long time with that half smirk (his shit-eating grin). But he loves on everyone. Unlike his sister who cried anytime someone came over, Eli runs to them with open arms.
My children love to run naked through the house before bath time. It's funny how quickly Eli picked up on this from Evi. One night while Scott was getting them ready for a bath I was doing something with mom on the computer. Eli comes tearing in butt-naked. Matti (mom's Toto dog) comes running at him and licks his weewee! Mom and I squealed and laughed, and Eli just stood there for a full 60 seconds at least, unsure of what just happened with a blank expression! Scott finally had to pick him up and take him to the bath.
Gigi & Chacha bought a large battery operated vehicle for the kids at their house. It's a Jeep, and it's almost as big as Mali's Jeep Liberty. Eli hasn't figured out how to work the peddle yet thank goodness! (Nor are his legs long enough to do so anyway!) So he enjoys being Evi's navigator at the moment.
Living with Gigi and Chacha has been, well, exhausting! Mainly for my mother, I'm sure. Thank goodness we have an entire upstairs living area (with big screen & our own DVR) and 2 whole bedrooms. It would definitely be really rough otherwise. And here I gave my parents a hard time when they bought such a big house!

We, once again, went to Tampa and hit a couple parks: SeaWorld & Busch Gardens. We also fit in a celebration of cousin Mya's 3rd birthday and beach trip or 2. Eli was finally big enough to ride some rides with his big sister. He loved it!


Eliisms:
truck, stuck, duck, look = all sound about the same, and like the f-bomb
milk
watey = water
bubbles
Tooti = which he says like the kid from "The Shining" says "REDRUM"
and he pretty much repeats whatever your last word was.

Conversations with Evi:
discussing poop...
Scott: "How does something so big come out of someone so little?"
EVI: "I EAT A LOT OF CHOCOLATE"

Talking about going to see Beauty and the Beast and all the singing that will happen
EVI:"I KNOW, AND WHEN THEY START SINGING I WILL BE LIKE, TOTALLY OVER IT"

While mixing her ice cream with toppings:
EVI:"I'M MEXICAN IT UP"

Well, we've made a big decision this month...we're putting our house on the market and attempting a move to Florida! YAY! I'm so excited! We have cleaned out our house of ALL extra items...and I mean ALL! It's amazing! Scotty & I have decided we want to be minimalists in our next house, it just feels so big and clean now. The kids have a different plan though. I boxed up all their toys, except for 3 storage containers full of toys, plus a few odd items that won't fit. Poor Evi, after a couple weeks of those toys, she's utterly bored and keeps asking where something is, and doesn't like my response of "it's in storage". And on the note of cleaning things and boxing things up...I have no idea where my cameras are at this moment, so there are hardly any pix to add to this post. Plus I've had no time to take any!!!
So now we're moving in with Gigi & ChaCha in Houston so that I can drive to work and not have to leave a day early 5 times a month in order to start a trip. I can't wait!! Gigi can though!!
...Now on to my kids...
Evi had her last month of school. At first I wasn't sure if we should send her, but she begged to go to see her friends, and the house was no where near ready, so we let her finish out January. I'm a little sad because she absolutely LOVES school this year. And she has this great group of friends that I like the moms too. But she asked if she'll get to visit them after we move, and was perfectly alright with leaving when I said yes. Although she doesn't really grasp the subject entirely, I'm sure. I let her invite Addie, Lainie and Julia on a play date just the 4 of them, as a going away party.
Evi is totally jazzed about living near the beach, Mickey Mouse, Sea World, Busch Gardens , and of course her cousins, that it seems to be enough to trump everything else. Plus, she wouldn't go to school with these girls next year either since we aren't in the same school zone as any of them. At least, that's what I keep telling myself and everyone else in my own defense!!
Evi still has been sleeping with me, or Scott when I'm gone. How can I say no when she has a smile ear to ear as she crawling into the bed with me? Or when she says, "let's do your favorite cuddle mom," meaning spooning. Surely she sleep in her own bed by the time she goes off to college, right? I've been doing my best to ruin Eli too. If I go into him when he cries, then there is no way he's letting me lay him down anywhere but my bed. But if Dad goes in, he doesn't usually fight it. So needless to say, Scott has all but banned me from being the responder...poor Eli.
Speaking of Eli, he now says his name with the "L" in it. It used to be "E - I!!" Now he says it exactly as his sister does when she's annoyed with him, the same inflections and everything, it's great! If you think his name is short, it's not when Evi says it.
He also tries to say "stinky", "okay", "mickey", "nose", "eyes", and "soda". (Don't even try to have a Dr. Pepper around this kid without sharing! He's already a Pepper!)
We recently went through a 4 day stretch where Eli threw up once a day around 6 to 7 pm. The first day, we think he was just gagging on some drainage. But after that, we highly suspect he was forcing it because he figured out how! So nice, we have a buelemic year and half old son...great! Luckily, after the 4th day he seemed to have forgotten about it...for now.
We had some photos done this month. Bebe has an outfit and rocking horse that both Scott & his dad had their pictures taken on around Eli's age, and I had a costume that was mine that wanted Evi's picture in. Evi unfortunately kissed the concrete with her nose at the zoo a couple of days before we did it though. Still they turned out cute.

Conversations with Evi:
when talking about how Eli sleeps in his bed by himself,
EVI: THAT'S BECAUSE ELI'S A BIG BOY

Mom: "My sweet, silly girl!"
EVI: "I'M NOT SILLY, I'M PRETTY"

after falling at the zoo, while sobbing,
EVI: "WHY DOES THE CONCRETE HAVE TO BE SO HARD?"

EVI: "I'M SAYING THE BAD WORD IN MY HEAD, AND YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW IT, SEE..." she looks me in the eye for a few seconds with a huge grin on her face
"I SAID IT IN MY HEAD AND YOU CAN'T HEAR IT!"
Mom:"what bad word?"
EVI::"I CAN'T SAY IT! IT'S A BAD WORD! IT'S THE ONE YOU SAY SOMETIMES"
(that list has several options)
Mom: "just whisper it in my ear"
EVI: whispers"OH MY GOD"
Mom: "yeah, let's just say that one in our heads"
That could have been so much worse!