Saturday, June 27, 2009
Resemblance at 4 Months
Jack
Abby
Ryan
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Brothers
(That isn’t a bruise on Jack’s hand. It’s a fading tattoo.)
And Then I Had Kids
I thought I was a morning person.
And then I had kids.
I thought I was patient.
And then I had kids.
I was adamant that I would nurse my children.
And then I had kids. And found out it could be really, really tough.
I used to get my household chores consistently completed in a timely manner.
And then I had kids.
I never ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
And then I had kids.
I used to be grossed out at the sight of spit-up, vomit and poop.
And then I had kids. (Well, vomit still grosses me out a little.)
I thought pregnancy was so romantic.
And then I was pregnant.
I didn’t think I liked children all that much.
And then I had kids.
I used to sleep in occasionally.
And then I had kids.
I used to feel slightly annoyed at parents whose babies cried in restaurants.
And then I had kids, and felt a whole new level of empathy.
I used to know all the new movies that were playing in the theater, and had seen most of them.
And then I had kids.
I enjoyed leisurely browsing at the mall, Target and Costco.
And then I had kids. Tired and hungry ones.
I used to think maintaining your figure wasn’t all that hard.
And then I had (three!) kids.
I used to have a clean kitchen floor.
And then I had kids.
I used to think I was tired.
And then I had kids.
I went to the bathroom with the door shut.
And then I had kids.
I always told myself I would NEVER bribe my children!
And then I had kids.
I thought I was a pretty good person, without any major character flaws.
And then I had kids, and that theory was completely debunked.
I never understood how I could really be special to God if He loved everyone so passionately.
And then I had kids.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Just For Fun
Did you notice that by the time I took a picture of the cake, there was already a chunk eaten out of it? That part was actually eaten before I got around to even decorating it. =)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Easter 2009
For Easter, we went to Tim’s parent’s church (where the cousins go as well) because we were going to spend time with them after church. Here are some quick pictures of the kids and the activities that followed…
Jack and Abby all dressed up:
Ryan with a small little smile on his face:
All the kids checking out their loot after finding eggs:
A closeup of Abby and her cousin Maddie:
That’s all!! I’ll post some closeups of some of the other kids later… 
Friday, April 03, 2009
what’s been going on
Well, what’s been going on is pretty much what you’d expect with a new little one around. Lots of eating, burping, diaper changing, rocking and only a little bit of cryin’ going on around here these days (mostly by the baby). We feel pretty blessed to have a fairly “easy” baby this time around. We’re still under that newborn fog and are T-I-R-E-D, to say the least, but life is good. Three healthy kids, food and shelter, a secure job, and time to be together. Nice.
My mom came to stay with us this week on her spring break and we’ve LOVED having her here! I’ll try to post some pictures of our time with her next week, but here are a few pictures from the past couple months.
The New Guy!
Abby has two faces lately. This sweet one and….
this grumpy one! She is needing a little extra TLC these days, but overall I think she likes being a big sister. She tells me all the time, “Ryan’s so cute!” =)
Jack is counting down to his birthday later this month. I can’t believe this one’s almost 6!!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Ryan’s first movie
Well, this isn’t the first I took but it’s the first I’m posting. 
Just a short little shot but you can see it here.
Ryan James Ellis
Announcing the birth of our third child!!
Weight: 9 lbs 14 ounces
Length: 21 inches
Born: 2/15/09 @ 1:05AM
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Are You Ready?
As I was going through an old file folder labeled “Baby Stuff” (descriptive, huh?) I ran across this list entitled How to Know Whether You Are Ready to Have Kids Or Not. I’m pretty sure I received it from the birthing class we took with Jack, 6 years ago. It gave Tim and I a chuckle. Enjoy!
MESS TEST
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.
TOY TEST
Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos (or you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.
GROCERY STORE TEST
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.
DRESSING TEST
Obtain one large, unhappy octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.
FEEDING TEST
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.
NIGHT TEST
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00 PM begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 PM. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00 PM. Get up, pick up your bag and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00 AM. Set alarm for 5:00AM. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.
INGENUITY TEST
Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and a pot of paint, turn it into an alligator.
Now take a toilet paper tube and turn it into an attractive Christmas candle. Use only scotch tape and a piece of foil.
Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball and an empty box of Cocoa-Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.
AUTOMOBILE TEST
Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it into the CD player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There, perfect.
PHYSICAL TEST (Women)
Obtain a large beanbag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans. And try not to notice your closet full of clothes. You won’t be wearing them for awhile.
PHYSICAL TEST (Men)
Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your pay check to be directly deposited to the store. Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training and child’s table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience.
It will be the last time you will have all the answers.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Three percent
According to pregnancy.com, I have 3% of this pregnancy left to go. Tomorrow begins Week 39, with my due date being February 13th. I haven’t written much about this pregnancy, mainly because it hasn’t been the romantic, glowing pregnancy every woman dreams about. This one has been hard, and while 3% doesn’t seem like a long time when I look at it, every day now seems to drag on and on. Am I right, ladies? The last week or two of pregnancy can feel looong. Most of you know what has been difficult about this pregnancy for me. Here’s a sample:
* Pre-term labor around 26 weeks, which in the end didn’t really count as pre-term labor because my body wasn’t dilating or effacing, but man! Those contractions were coming every few minutes, and hard!
* Being put on bedrest for awhile after the contraction scare, and then having to really scale back life in order to make sure I wasn’t pushing my body too hard
* Getting big pretty quickly which has been hard on my back. This has also led to people thinking I’m further along than I really am, which is kind of embarrassing.
* Feet pain due to the extra pressure and weight of pregnancy
* Tons of swelling
* Tingly hands due to said swelling - not painful, but pretty annoying
* Trying to keep up with two kids, especially Jack’s first year of homeschooling, as I grow bigger and more fatigued, etc…
BUT, I didn’t start this post to only whine and complain. While that is a talent of mine, I actually wanted to write about the positives of this pregnancy. 97% of it has passed, and before I know it, our little man will be here and I won’t have as much time to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned and blessings I’ve observed through these past 9 months. Let me share a few with you. First, a few blessings.
* I can get pregnant and bear children. You hear so many struggles these days with infertility and miscarriage that I know better than to take this for granted.
* I don’t get morning sickness too badly. Some nausea here and there, and definitely fatigue, but I’ve never once thrown up, with any of my three pregnancies.
* Every indication shows this child is healthy. Ultrasounds look good, and since I first began feeling him flutter around, he has been incredibly active, more so than the other kids. I haven’t worried at all about any lack of movement. Kick counts? Yeah, that gets done in about 2 minutes. And we don’t need orange juice.
* We have great friends. Talk about the body of Christ! People have brought meals, gone to the grocery store for us, babysat so Tim and I could enjoy some time together, called or emailed to just check up on me, and jut plain offered help with whatever we might need. I include family in this category too. We have such great family, concerned and willing to help out all the time. Last weekend Tim’s parents took the kids to the beach and then kept them overnight so Tim and I could have a break. My parents also babysat for us over the holidays and my mom sends fun packages every month for the kids with games, books and treats. And I have awesome sister-in-laws. Easy to talk to, vent to, laugh with, cry with. Blessings, all around.
Now, some lessons. Being put on modified bed rest for awhile really opened my eyes to the fact that I don’t need to be all things to all people in this house. My husband and children are smart, capable people who can really handle a lot more than I realized. A few thoughts about this…
* My husband is a good, good man! I’ve learned how much I really depend on him and need him, not only through the times he is here, but also when he’s not here. Inevitably, there have been times when his work has required him to be gone from dawn to dusk, and those days have been HARD. Those evenings really highlight how much he has done the past several months. When he is here, I can’t count the number of times he has put dinner together, played with the kids, washed laundry, bathed children, commanded me to go to our room, shut the door and rest, put the kids to bed, etc. Several of these chores are usually exclusively my domain (dinner, laundry, baths) so it has been humbling to have to accept so much help. Being the helpee, instead of the helper, is an uncomfortable role for me, but I think God is using this time to deal with some of my pride issues and make me more aware of what a great husband I have been given. Always good things.
* My kids are ready for a little more independence! What awesome little helpers they are. A few things they’ve learned how to accomplish due to my present pregnancy state: clear the table, get their own water from the refrigerator, put their clothes in the washer and move them from the washer to the dryer, wash their own hair and bodies in the bath, pick out and put on their own clothes, put away most of their own laundry (Jack actually just learned how to even hang up his own shirts!), unload the silverware from the dishwasher…and the thing is, they LIKE doing these things. I have been shocked -SHOCKED! - at how much they want to and actually can help. What a blessing, and what an awesome thing for me to learn now, before Baby comes.
* Jack can pour milk. Allow me to explain. I don’t sleep well at night at all. After about 4 hours, I am either awake or only lightly dozing, unable to get comfortable. After an exhausting night I usually start to fall asleep again around 6:30, which is, of course, when the house begins to stir. This was highly frustrating to me until a counselor friend of ours made a suggestion. The night before, fill the kid’s cups up with milk and leave them in the fridge, pour some dry cereal into bowls and leave them on the table, and also leave a small cup of milk in the fridge that Jack can pour on the cereal for himself and Abby. My first reaction to this suggestion was to laugh outloud, but he finally convinced us to just give it a try. And people, it WORKED. Jack loves being in charge of this, has not once made a mess of it, and I have gotten a bit more sleep out of it. Plus, when I wake up, breakfast is done. We don’t do this every night, but a couple mornings a week is a lifesaver. This is another great thing to know before Baby comes.
* I’ve learned a little bit more how to just let things go. I’ve had to. When I had to be on bedrest for the health of the pregnancy, there just wasn’t a choice. What mom doesn’t need more lessons on this? I’m still far from perfect on this issue, but I’ve definitely had more practice lately.
* God has good timing. About two weeks before the pre-term labor episode, we hired a housecleaner that we adore. She was the first person we interviewed and she’s great. Not only does she clean the house, but she’s very affordable, and will wash sheets, make the beds, fold laundry…plus, she speaks perfect English and is sweet to the kids. Love her!
So while this pregnancy has had its downs, it has also had its ups. I’ve been humbled and helped, by so many people and I am so grateful. God really has a way of taking our hard times and using them to benefit us. I also realize that my “hard pregnancy” would be a cake walk for others. Some women have much bigger problems than I do, and I know in the big picture, this isn’t much. That doesn’t take away the fact that its been a long 9 months, but it does give me perspective when I want to feel sorry for myself. And perhaps the thing I am most thankful for is…
* Our gestation period is not nearly as long as an elephant’s. Those poor mama elephants are pregnant for 22 months - almost two years! Can you imagine?! 
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Christmas, Part 2 aka “Disneyland!”
My family came into town a few days after Christmas and we got to enjoy a whole week together. For their present this year, my parents took us all to Disneyland - wow! What an adventure! None of the kids had ever been before, so everyone was wide-eyed and ready for action. It was a feat trying to keep 11 people together, 5 of which were 5 and under, but we did it for the most part. We were treated to the 2-day park hopper pass which took the pressure off of trying to see everything all in one day, but I still felt like we just scratched the surface. There is just so much to see and do!
Both mornings Grandma treated the kids to suckers before we went into the park. Here are the girls enjoying theirs - Ali, Katy, Abby and Emily. Aren’t they cute? =)
Enjoyng the Mark Twain boat, the big one that circles the island. I don’t think I’d ridden this in a looooong time, but it was a big hit with the kids!
Abby steals some Grandma time while onboard. =)
Emily and Jack. I think they had just gone through the Tarzan Treehouse.
What trip to Disneyland would be complete without seeing the castle?! It was beautifully decorated for winter. Here’s our princess!
Jack hanging out in Toon Town
As a special treat, my parents let the kids all pick out a hat as a souvenir. Jack and Alison really got into it, can you tell? =) The other girls were into it too, but went for the safer option - their hat came with sunglasses for goodness sakes! =)
Jack now refers to this as his “jellyfish hat.”
Laura and Katy
This picture pretty much sums up the excitement of the trip!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Christmas, Part 1
I know, I know. Christmas is long past, but I still want to share some fun things that happened around here! We enjoyed some fun times with both sides of our families, and here is a smattering of photos from the Ellis family festivities!
We went to the Hemet Christmas Parade and watched our niece, Maddie, ride on a float and participate with her dance class. She’s the cute blonde on the left. Quite the natural entertainer, eh? She’s got the wave down!
This was a fun little parade because most people threw candy for the kids as they passed by. It was hilarious to watch the kids all dart out and scramble to claim their loot! Here are Grandma and Abby enjoying the parade fun.
Here’s our nephew Zach singing in the children’s choir at his church on Christmas Eve. I didn’t get to actually go because Abby was recovering from strep throat and I didn’t want to take her out around everyone else, but I heard that Zach was the hit of the show, singing loud and strong right into the mic! The music teacher in me loves that! And I think it’s funny how pained he looks doing it - lots of concentration going on there! =) He’s the one in the middle with the red polo shirt on.
Abby and I met up with the rest of the family later to open presents at Grandpa and Grandma Ellis’ house. A couple of Tim’s aunts and uncles, as well as his Grandpa, were there too, so it was a full house. Loud, crazy, chaotic fun, with wrapping paper flying everywhere!
Abby opens up a new Strawberry Shortcake beauty salon set, which she now loves!
Jack with his new pop gun (is that what you call it? I never know what the real name is for these boy toys!) from Grandpa. He ran around the whole night pretending he was shooting chickens, of all things!
Here is Aunt Barb with the latest addition to the family! Justin was born to Aaron and Annette in November and he’s already stolen all our hearts! What a cutie!
And last, just a picture of my cuties in their Christmas finery. This photo brought to you courtesy of fruit snacks. =) I’ll be back tomorrow to share some pictures of our time with my side of the family too. I’d say “Merry Christmas” but, um, it’s almost Groundhog Day.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Cute Quote
Abby asked me last night, “Mommy, do you know that sometimes Daddy calls you Honey?”
“Yes, I know! Isn’t that nice?”
She then turned around to the rest of the family and informed us all that, “Boys are sons and girls are Honeys.”
Cute!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Holiday Home Tour
Several weeks ago, my friend Heidi invited all her friends to join her in an online tour of our homes as we decorate for Fall. As you can see, my decorating taste is pretty simple - just a few touches here and there. Here are my favorite Fall decorations around my house this year.
This pumpkin basket was purchased at the Sugar Plum festival many years ago. It’s our Halloween candy holder and it is now holding bags of Skittles and Tootsie Roll pops for Friday. Shhh, don’t tell the kids!
Ask Tim - I am constantly fiddling with how to decorate the mantle. I know it needs a much bigger piece above it, but so far I haven’t found the right thing. So up a bunch of pictures go with a Fall wreath and some flowers!
A little festive on top of our hutch. Come December, the pumpkin will be replaced by a Christmas something. Easy!
These two pieces are up on the ledge of the kitchen cabinets. They actually stay there all year long. This year I am going to actually use the pumpkin tureen for soup and make some cider for the pitcher. However, I say this every year and it’s only happened once. =)
These next two pictures are just of little somethings on the decorative shelves heading up the stairs. My sister-in-law, Annette, gave me the candle and holder. I think it’s so pretty!
Love this little guy toting his watermelons. Reminds me of Jack.
And then this is our “formal table”. Looks pretty formal, huh? =) The gals in my small group gave me these cute scarecrows several years back for my birthday. I love getting them out because they remind me of the special friendships I share with these ladies. And I think I bought the table runner last year at Kohl’s. No sentimental value there, I just like it. =)
Consider yourself invited to share your holiday decorations too! It’s fun to see what we all collect and I’d love to get all your decorating ideas. I hope you’re all having a happy Fall season so far!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Baby Belly
This afternoon Abby told me my tummy “looks like a blowfish.” And then later Jack decided a funny game would be to run around the playroom gleefully yelling, “Whoa! Watch out for the Fat Mommy!”
This is not so good for the self-esteem, ya know? Tim has kindly been reminding me that they’re just kids and love me to death, but still. A blowfish?
However, they are already so welcoming and sweet to this new baby. Abby comes up to my belly several times a day and gives it a little hug or pat and says, “Hello, Baby!” She’ll ask if he’s sleeping and may sing him a little silly song or pretend to tickle him. Very cute. It melts my heart. And both kids like to give my belly a hug and a kiss goodnight, already bonding with their little brother.
Love it, love it.
So I’m blessed, blowfish belly or not.