Adventures of December

Where to begin for the month of December...I think maybe I'll backtrack on this one.
Christmas was great!  Santa brought us Disney passes (YAY!), and I did not go overboard on gifts this year.  I think because we had just moved, I'm still in purge mode and don't want to add anymore clutter.  Plus, my kids have PLENTY!  But it was good just the same.  Eli totally enjoyed opening presents.  He had a hard time leaving any wrapped present alone.
We had 3 visits for  pictures with the jolly old man.  And the third time was the charm.  Eli walked right up and let Santa pick him up.  When asked if he wanted to go take pictures for the second time Eli said ""NO!" But when I told him "Santa brings you presents", he couldn't put on his shoes fast enough.  But still just sat in front of him for that one.  And this was the first year that Evi didn't cry!

pretty boy Eli

ChaCha dressed up as Santa and came to the door at my mom's.  When we opened the door, before Charlie even spoke, Eli said, "ChaCha's Christmas!" ... Turkey!
We also have one of those Damn Elf on a Shelf.  And I say "Damn" with the utmost affection because Evi has enjoyed that damn Elf, which she named Kelf, so much.  He "magically" moves each night in order to keep an eye on the kids to report back to Santa, and she loved looking for him first thing.  Problem was, Kelf's magic provider didn't always get good service in the house, and he would spend multiple days in one place.  

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve in Florida!

On a sad note, Evi's kitty, Flower died this month.  We found out this summer, when she shrank to a tiny 3.5lbs that she probably had kidney disease, and would not last long.  But after we moved, she gained 1.2lbs in just 6 weeks, and we were beginning to think maybe it was all just stress related.  Then she lost her reflexes in her back legs for a couple of days.   She could walk, it was like her back end was drunk.  After an emergency trip to a vet, she was better. (no thanks to the vet for that improvement) Then we noticed she wasn't eating her food, and was hiding under Evi's bed all day.  Needless to say, we knew it was near the end.  The only time she didn't cry was when I held her, or she was in bed next to us.  It was very sad.  Scott told Evi that Flower was sick and had gone to the vet so that I could be there too to tell her.  One thing led to another, and we ended not telling her for like a week.  We were busy, and it was never a good time!  Cut me some slack here!

pooped

But finally I told her.  She didn't even cry!! She was too worried about getting outside to play.  But she has been sad about it.  Although, she has already asked if this means she gets to get a new kitty.  So don't worry grandparents, when you go, she'll just be ready to pick your replacement!  But really I'm glad.  She is too young to have to really understand the finality of death, and I hope she doesn't really have to for a long time!

Afro-buddy!

So...the same afternoon that she is informed that her cat has gone belly up after a "trip to the doctor,"  Eli ends up getting taken to an ER for croupe and she is abondoned by both her parents for a night.  I'm pretty sure she was a little worried Eli might not make it back either!

The ER experience was, well, honestly I don't know what to say it was.  Eli had had a cold and cough, and I had just taken him in to ready clinic the day before for an earache, and he had seemed to be doing better.  Then around 3pm I noticed his cough changed.  Scott and Evi left to visit family around 4:45 and by 5:15, he had gone down hill so fast I loaded him up and took to an urgent care near our house.  They, in turn, sent me to an ER.  At this point, Scott had left Evi with his mom and sister and met us there.  After a steroid shot and 3 rounds of breathing treatments, he hadn't improved all that much.  So Eli and I were loaded into an ambulance and driven to a children's hospital, which he loved every minute of. The saddest part was just before, when we had to help hold him still in order for an IV to be put into is poor little arm.  It was the hardest part of the whole night.  It was the only time I allowed myself to be emotional.  He just kept crying "carry you!"  which is what he says when he wants to be held.  It was hard.  But for the whole rest of the time, I just kept thinking about how many other people were in that hospital because their children were dying of horrible diseases...I could handle a little battle with croup, and be greatfull for it. 
He's doing better, and has shared his cold with us all and then some!  Luckily no more trips to the ER though!
Conversations with EVI:
EVI:  "I HAVE THE BEST GRANDMA, I TELL THEM BOTH THAT"
Mommy:  " That's pretty smart of you Evi."
EVI: "DON'T YOU MEAN THAT'S PRETTY SWEET OF ME?"

Home is where ever I am with you...

Halloween!

with cousin Lucas

We have a home!!! YIPEE!! It's not what we were looking for...3 car garage, one story, large lot and a pool, it is a 2 car garage, 2 story, narrow lot (on a lake) and no pool (yet)! But we are very happy with it, mostly because it's ours! And all our belongings are finally in one place. It's like Christmas for the kids since they now have toys they have not seen in 10 months. And Evi is in heaven with all the neighborhood kids! She goes outside to play every day, and there are other kids out there too! It's awesome. It was not like this in our neighborhood in Edmond, but it's how I remember it for me growing up. I'm so glad they'll get to have this too.

Birthday Girls

Evi has handled going to a new school great! She does drop off for her daddy no problem, for me, there are lots of tears. So dad just takes her all the time now. She is growing up so fast! She took her brother to the ice cream bar at a restaurant and ordered for each of them and was even brave enough to ask for sprinkles! I was so proud of her. On the other hand, she's still sleeping in bed with us, along with her brother who is totally ruined! So not so grown up at the same time.

The Trick-or-Treaters

She is totally obsessed with loosing a tooth. But she's nowhere near one even being a tad bit loose. She has caught on to reading no problem. It always so impressive to hear her sound out a word and figure it out on her own, because the English language is full of things that don't make sense. I would like to go back in time to when all those "men" got together in room to decide how things would be spelled and throttle them all for not just making things simple. As my mother would say when something was done the hard way "obviously a man did this."

50's day at school

She turned 6 in October too. But a lot was lost in the shuffle since we closed on the house the day before. But she was still showered with gifts, which all a 6 year old really wants anyway, right?
Eli is full of words and phrases and complete thoughts. It's pretty amazing. He likes to sing Twinkle Twinkle, and enjoys Old MacDonald and Wheels on the Bus. And is obsessed with the letter "W" which he pronounces "da-blue". There is a "M" stitched on his Mickey Mouse lovey, which he thinks is a "W", (he does look at it from the top down) and when we couldn't find Mickey for a couple of days, he wasn't upset that Mickey's head was replaced by a dog's, it was "where is the da-blue?"

Eli with "Damn Dog" Matti

We spent Halloween in Houston and went trick-or-treating with Tooti and her friend Jordyn. I made Evi a uni-corn costume out of one her sweatsuits and thought Eli would where a train engineer outfit with a Thomas the Train costume over it. While he liked the Thomas, he wanted no part in wearing it, so Cha Cha did.
As a bribe for moving, we took Evi & Eli to Disney for the day. It was fun to see Eli, seeing as it was a year and half since we went last time and he was too young to recognize things then. He still had no interest in meeting any characters, and his favorite ride was the Buzz Light Year Ride, of course. He chose a pirate's revolver that shoots a light in the shape of the jolly roger even though he's never seen a gun or really anything that has to do with guns. It's funny how they are just naturally drawn to them.



Deep thoughts with Eli Keyli:

Mom:Are you a big boy or a baby?
ELI: I A BABY!

When Evi and Eli are fighting over something we usually end up telling her that Eli is the baby, and just let him have it and he'll loose interest...well the other day they were fighting and Eli was yelling "I THE BABY! EVI, I THE BABY!" Obviously, it's time to rethink our strategies if he's old enough to understand the concept!












Conversations with Evi:
while watching Thomas the Train with Daddy & Eli
EVI: " I DIDN'T KNOW PERCY WAS A GIRL" (Percy is one of Thomas' train friends)
Dad: "He's not, he just sounds like one because he's British, sometimes they sound like girls" (the comments found in this blog have do not represent the Bernauer household...)
a little later
EVI: "IS ELI BRITISH? BECAUSE SOMETIMES HE SOUNDS LIKE A GIRL."

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?