Talking, talking...

That title says it all! Jenna and Nolan are always talking and almost always saying something smart or funny. And Ellie has really started to talk now! She's making lots of sounds and really stringing them together. She'll say: mamama, bababa, ga/guh, mmmmm, ada, ahhhh, and probably more. Wonder if she'll say 'mama' first like Nolan did?!? Last night, Nolan was stalling to get in bed and he asked Jesse in a really sad voice when we were getting a puppy. Apparently, Jesse is thinking this fall!?!?? Anyways, Jesse told him to just think of names for the puppy if he can't fall asleep. So today, he said we should name the dog Jack! He obviously was thinking about it last night! After church tonight we went out to eat. We talked about what the kids learned in Kid-o-deo and they started telling us about Zaccheus. They answered our questions about what he did and why. Then, Nolan wanted to ask us a question, although it sounded more like a riddle and we weren't quite sure how to answer! It was something like, "there's something really big....". Jesse finally said 'tree!' and that was exactly what he was looking for!!! Such a smart little boy! Speaking of that, we did decide to sign Nolan up for preschool this fall. He'll go Monday and Wednesday mornings, and just stay home with me on Fridays. I don't want to have all three of my mornings off from work taken up, so we'll see how that goes. The weather continues to be great, so we got a little soccer in tonight after dinner. We have talked to Jenna about playing soccer this summer, and even having Jesse coach, but don't think she's quite ready for that. Next year maybe! Nolan and Jenna start a Tumbleweeds class this week through community ed. It will be fun to watch them together. A comfort for Jenna to have him with her, I suppose. Would love for her to really build her confidence in doing things on her own :). On Friday, it was Day with Dads at preschool, so Jesse joined them for the last part of class. They played mini golf, made root beer floats for snack, and made a book together. They both had a great time!

Spring!

Well today wasn't as warm as it has been, but it didn't snow!! I worked today, so kids went to daycare. Ellie had a rough day and wouldn't really drink a bottle until she got home with Jesse. And as soon as she saw me, was all snuggly and sweet with me. She is such a momma's girl!!! Hopefully she'll do better on Thursday. Just glad she'll eat a little food at least! Jenna and Nolan do fine at daycare, so no worries there. Tonight before bed, we played a little wheel of fortune... Just guessing letters to the puzzle (Jenna) and Nolan crossing them off on the letter chart. Hoping tomorrow to go get zippers for the bean bag chairs and then a tension rod and washcloths to finish working on the puppet theater and puppets....and of course laundry!!

Back to work and preschool :)

Well, Spring Break is over! Although, with my job, I just work two weeks now and then have two weeks off the beginning of April...LOVE!! So, today we had ECFE after a break last week. Jenna and Ellie wore their new matching outfits, so cute! We played outside on the playground since the weather was amazing. Ellie had fun watching everyone, swinging a bit, and playing in the wood chips. After ECFE, we went to Kid's Hair and got Nolan's hair cut. Jesse was going to do it, but we seem to forget every night, so just brought him in. The lady spiked his hair when she was done cutting it and then sprayed it blue! So cool! And she sprayed a little sparkly stuff in Jenna's. Jenna went back to preschool today as well. She is finally doing better with dropoff, just needing a hug and kiss and saying goodbye! My big girl :). I've been working on making Jenna and Nolan bean bag chairs, so I worked on the inside/insert and the outside covers during nap and after preschool. They will be awesome once we get the covers on...I'll have to make one for Ellie too....and maybe Jesse and I?!?! Not too much else today, other than a storm after dinner. The warm weather and thunderstorm really make it feel like May and not March!!

Spring is almost here!!!

I'm just going to jump right into blogging and say nothing about how long it's been!! I had Spring Break last week, so enjoyed my time home with the kids, not thinking about work (at all!)! And to make things even better, the weather has been AMAZING!! We played in the sandbox and on the swing set, went for walks and bike rides, and even spent a morning at the Como zoo with Daddy and Danielle and Blake Bjorklund. We also had the Blake's over for an afternoon of playing. And now back to work for two weeks...then two weeks off!! Jenna is growing up so fast! She is doing really well reading simple books and we encourage her to read anything in her environment. When we make trips to the library (like today), she always heads over to the non-fiction section to find books on animals. With the weather this week, she was in heaven playing outside. She and Nolan have nicknamed the playset 'Bucky' like the pirate ship from the show Jake and the Neverland Pirates. So, they play pirates quite a bit! We put a bunch of their gold doubloons and treasure from their birthday party in the sandbox, so there is lots of treasure to find! They have also really been in to hiding their plastic Easter eggs around the house or outside for each other and then finding them. Crazy to think that Jenna is almost done with preschool and will be starting kindergarten this fall! She will have fun! Nolan is such a big boy too! He is fully potty trained, only wearing diapers at night! His vocabulary is quite impressive ans he is always amazing us with what he says. One day, I decided to give him a mohawk and when he looked in the mirror, he said it looked like a 'crest' like the dinosaurs in his books!!! He got a Wild pillow pet for his birthday and then went to a Wild game with daddy. He got to see 'Norde' there, so now his pillow pet has the same name...and goes to bed with him every night! Most of the time, he plays well with Jenna and they love playing doctor, vet, school, restaurant, and anything else creative they think of. I love listening to them play while I'm folding clothes or making dinner! Nolan is all boy and maybe has a bit of second-child syndrome at times. He gets into trouble quite a bit, but he wouldn't be the same then, would he?! Ellie is 8 months old now and her personality continues to emerge. She is very happy most of the time, but can get upset pretty quickly. Just in the past week she has changed! If you take something from her, don't give her something fast enough, or she can't reach something she wants, she lets out a high-pitched screech!! She has also been rolling like a mad baby...all over the place to get into things! Ellie just started to push up on all fours, so we'll see how fast she learns to crawl....she is going to be trouble!! She loves to eat now is trying more and more of the food we are eating. Noodles and rice are yummy! I have signing 'milk' to Ellie since she was about three months and she has been getting excited when you say and sign it. Can't wait for her to start signing herself! Ellie is proving to be just like her brother and sister when it comes to a love of reading and books. She loves to read books at bedtime and seems to know where to look when I ask her if she is ready to read a book! Ahh, such a sweet, mama's girl! If I'm away from her for work or even just a little bit, she has to be in my arms if she sets eyes on me or hears me! Okay, this is my goal now....to write something quick about each kid each night before I go to bed. I have been terrible about scrap booking and baby books, so this will be where I can keep memories for me and them! :)

A new year to try this blogging...

Okay, so I really stink at blogging or journaling!! I did find a really cool pin on pinterest to make a perpetual journal for myself. Basically, every night, I write down something on a notecard with the year in front of what I write. Each date of the year has its own notecard. Then, as each year goes by, you can see what you've been up to! Very easy to keep up with since its sitting on my nightstand! But, there just isn't room to write something on each card about each kid, myself, Jesse, and anything else going on in our lives. So, back to the computer I think! I was looking through documents on the laptop and found the printouts from the website/blog I had started when I was pregnant with Jenna and I believe with Nolan. I wrote on there until Nolan was about 12 weeks old! Here goes...again!

Today I went back to work after having two weeks off for Christmas. I ended up only staying the morning and coming home to switch with Jesse to take care of Ellie. She finally got the cold and cough that Jenna and Nolan had all during break. Poor thing, can hardly breathe she's super stuffy and runny nose all at the same time. And a terrible, congested cough. Jesse took Nolan and Jenna to daycare and stayed home with her. She seems to be getting a little better, but we have her 6-month check up on Friday, so if not by then the doctor can help. Little Miss Ellie is getting so big! She's sitting up so tall now, although we still put the boppy or pillows behind her to catch her if she falls. After dinner, we came downstairs to play the wii and Ellie had fun just watching Nolan and Jenna! She also played a funny game with me, looking at me and then turning away and then back again when I made a funny sound. So cute! Yesterday, she started making the 'b' sound....so excited to hear her start to 'talk'!!

Yesterday while I was cleaning the living room to vacuum, Jenna and Nolan were at the computer in the kitchen watching the Disney channel online. Nolan walks in to the living room with scissors and tells me he cut his hair! Oh jeez! I walked to the chair he was sitting on and saw a dusting of hair all over. He pretty much got one side of his bangs. He needs a haircut anyway, but, now he really does!! Tonight, I put him to bed and got the giggles...he though that was really funny and joined in with me :). Love that boy!

Jenna is getting soo big! Hard to believe that she'll be going to kindergarten this fall! As we were reading books together at bedtime, she seemed to be 'reading' different words in an Eric Carle book. You see the word at the top in lower case letters and then search for the picture and word in upper case letters on the bottom. Neither Jesse nor I had read the book with her for a while, so either she has an awesome memory (we know she does!) or is really starting to recognize words and sound them out! It's exciting to see this new skill emerge in her.

Wow! So much for starting a blog!

Well, that wasn't the best start. Have a few things I need to change and writing about the kids on here is one of them!! So, just have to write the funny things Nolan said the other day. We were driving home and he asked what Moms do. We asked him what they do and he said, "they feed Ellie with their boobs!" so then we asked what dads do..."they make waffles and panpakes!!" Nolan and Jenna are so smart! Have to keep up with this :).

My first post