The Adventures of EEN

Excuses, excuses...

2010-11-01T08:50:00.005-05:00

With most of my blog followers on Facebook, it almost seems gratuitous to post pics here too, so I've gotten out of the habit of uploading here. For the benefit of those of you who either don't FB or prefer blogs, I'll try to get back on track.

Here are some pics from last night:

Lost Video Footage

2010-04-27T15:25:00.002-05:00

When I was uploading butterfly pictures today, I found some video footage from February. Stairs + couch cushions and blankets + cardboard box = lots of fun for three kiddos. Who needs snow?

Our Latest Experiments...

2010-04-27T15:12:00.002-05:00

Ella got a butterfly house as a Christmas present from Sky, so we sent off for the caterpillars and got them in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We had fun watching them grow each day and then form their chrysalids, and over the past two days, we've been able to enjoy the butterflies. Watching those Painted Ladies fluttering around was fun for us, but torture for the cats, so today was release day.

Easter + Bluebonnets

2010-04-05T08:36:00.007-05:00

Creative post title, I know. But I'm just happy to be getting a timely post on the blog at all. :) We had a lot going on this past weekend, but it still managed to be relatively relaxing. Maybe it was the beautiful weather that made it feel that way (or the fact that all three kids slept fell asleep in the car on the way home from the farm last night at 7 pm and slept until after 7 this morning). Either way, it was a weekend that left me feeling blessed with a fabulous family.

Now onto the part that you're really interested in, pics of the kiddos. I just realized when uploading these that I didn't get a single picture of Egan egg-hunting (was he just too fast? wearing his invisibility cloak? suffering from middle-child syndrome?) Whatever it was, sorry about that (especially to Egan), but do check out the photo of him in the bluebonnets below--I think it's my favorite of the flower pics.

:: Nico was more interested in eating the candy inside the eggs than hunting. After he found a couple on the porch, he had to be coaxed off to find more. Then he got distracted by the pond and pretty much skipped the Saturday egg hunt altogether. Good thing for him that we have a community Easter basket rule at our house. Good thing for me too. :) ::

:: Ella was the grand prize egg winner (and the one with the most eggs at all three hunts we participated in over the weekend, she keeps telling me). She's sweet, smart, and cute, but humble, she's not. ::

:: Nico trying to get Ella to explain to him why I put them in matching light-colored outfits and then wanted them to sit on the ground to take bluebonnet pictures (or maybe I'm confusing his thoughts with my own muddled ones). ::

:: Okay, here it is, probably my favorite pic of the day. Egan just has the sweetest, most wonderful smile. I see it and I think this can't be the same boy who smeared refried beans all over himself just so he could get a bath in the kitchen sink like Nico or tried to remove all the wallpaper border in his room in the middle of the night or used a black dry erase marker to decorate some plain white walls. That smile makes up for a lot of trouble-making. ::

:: I think it might be physically impossible to get three kids to sit still and take a posed photo, but two out of three isn't bad (well, one and a half if you take into account Ella's "I'm posing for a picture" crazy face). ::

:: This is actually the best of the three of them together, even with Nico not looking. Sometimes you just take what you can get. ::

:: Nico was too distracted by the flowers to sit still for pictures. He just wanted to pull the tops off of those luscious bluebonnets. ::

:: Ella thought picking them was a great idea too, until we told her she had to stop and that she couldn't take them home with her. ::

:: Another of my favorites showcasing the sweetness of Egan. ::

:: Two monsters meeting up at the watering hole. ::

:: Wow, four people sitting still and looking at the camera. And I said two out of three wasn't bad. Dijar is muy talented. ::

Planting Day

2010-03-23T11:55:00.004-05:00

Ella got lots of gardening things at her birthday party last Saturday, and we spent this morning planting tomatoes, peppers, pansies, sunflowers, and pumpkins. The boys mostly enjoyed splashing in the water and throwing dirt. Nico was also a fan of eating the dirt. He was so convincing about its yumminess that Egan even tried it once. From the dirty look he gave N after he spit it out, I'd say he wasn't impressed. :)

Baby, it's cold outside!

2010-02-12T09:12:00.004-06:00

But that doesn't keep the little ones in the house. Last weekend, we got out the giant slide that we bought before Ella's birthday last year. It's a little worse for wear after having been stored since summer, but still makes for lots of fun, especially when you have a dad like Dijar who doesn't mind throwing you over the top. Enjoy the pics of our good time.

:: These kids were absolutely flying over the top, and enjoying every minute of it. ::

:: Yes, this is little Nico, about to do a flip with full leg extension. He's prepping for the summer Olympics 2028. ::

:: These smiles kept pushing the "somebody's going to get hurt" thought out of my head. I still flinched a lot though. ::

:: Egan's hair is really growing out now. I've been trying to convince him to at least let me cut the front, but he's not interested so far, and I figure it's his hair. ::

:: Sharing the first dandelion of the year. ::

:: Cold but happy. ::

Playing in the sunshine

2010-01-25T09:52:00.003-06:00

We took a trip to the park last week to enjoy the sunshine and the good kite-flying wind. The glowy sunlight made it a perfect occasion for pictures:

(Please ignore the crazy spacing...blogger is being a punk this morning.)

I know, I'm a slacker...

2009-11-23T09:46:00.004-06:00

but it's been a busy month. Here's one picture to brighten your day--I know it made me laugh out loud. (This is Ella's Dora wig from a couple of Halloweens ago, btw.)

Your Cute Halloween Fix

2009-11-03T07:47:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween. These kiddos certainly did. We only trick-or-treated on our street, but still ended up with gobs of candy between Ella and Egan. Luckily they're not old enough yet to care too much about it, so they ate a few pieces and then we put it away in the pantry. Out of sight, out of mind. Enjoy the photos!

:: Egan the monkey, Nico the cow, and Ella, aka Fifi, the French poodle ::

:: Think this might be my favorite costume yet ::

:: A little blurry, but a lot cute ::

:: Love those ears, love those lashes, love that Nico ::

:: Egan wasn't at all interested in paparazzi this Halloween. He actually even took a swipe at the camera. I think maybe he went easy on us during those so-called "terrible twos" so he could really slam us throughout age 3. :) ::

:: Ella is the complete opposite in terms of taking photos--a total ham ::

:: Showing off the loot post-trick-or-treating ::

Hiking last weekend

2009-10-27T11:40:00.006-05:00

So it's fall, almost Halloween, and that usually means a trip to the pumpkin patch. But D & I weren't especially looking forward to it since we've been for the past four years. I suggested a hike somewhere we hadn't been before and the Es thought that sounded like a good idea, so we headed to Great Hills Park in northwest Austin. We had gorgeous weather, tasty snacks, and a playscape midway through the hike that EEN were very happy to play on (well, Nico really spent more time practicing climbing the stairs than playing, but he still had fun). Here are some pictures (those of you on facebook have already seen some of these, but there are new ones too.)

:: The best of the posed group shots ::

:: Egan crossing a creek (notice his tongue and the foot that is already in the water--we crossed so many little creeks that at some point he just stopped caring about whether he got wet) ::

:: Ella jumping off a huge boulder--she said this tied with the playscape for her favorite part of the hike ::

:: Egan jumping--he said he was pretending to be a bird ::

:: Sweet smiley Ella ::

:: Dijar checking out the creek ::

:: Nico stayed awake for the whole hike (and Ella typed this whole sentence--yay, Ella!) ::

:: Egan wouldn't let me take his photo in this little cave unless he got to hide behind his rock ::

:: On the trail ::

:: Rock climbing ::

:: One of my personal favorites ::

:: Another good one ::

:: Crossing another creek, this time via roots instead of rocks ::

:: Checking out a really neat limestone-sinkhole-kind-of-thing ::

I forgot about these pics...

2009-10-10T20:18:00.007-05:00

I just realized I never finished posting the rest of the Colorado vacation pictures. Here are the last set. We spent one day hiking, wading, fly fishing, etc, along the Chalk Creek. This place is a couple of hours from Colorado Springs. We would never have found it if D and I hadn't been channel surfing and seen photos of the place on Dateline (the story was "The Murder at Chalk Creek"). We didn't find any bodies, but we did find a very nice waterfall and a cold creek to play in.

:: The best of about ten photos Janie took trying to get five people to look and smile at the same time...four out of five ain't bad ::

:: A series of photos with approximate dialogue--It's too cold ::

:: Okay, we'll go without you ::

:: Wait for me! ::

:: Fly fishing like Daddy ::

:: Our in-house photographer ::

:: Back in the car ::

New haircuts for Ella and me

2009-10-09T17:37:00.005-05:00

Ella has been asking for a haircut for awhile and we've just never gotten around to it. I finally got a much-needed haircut myself this morning and that spurred Ella to insist on me cutting hers this afternoon. Here are some before and afters.

::Ella's waist-length hair::

::Admiring herself in the mirror post-haircut::

::Catching me watching her admire herself in the mirror::

::Showing off the ponytail that's missing::

::New haircut=happy Ella, fewer tangles=happy Ella and happy mama::

::Me and Ella Belle::

Happy birthday to Nico!

2009-10-04T14:13:00.005-05:00

We had Nico's first birthday party yesterday. We managed to keep him awake through the whole thing and he seemed to really enjoy himself. Here are some photos.

::Think he's getting ready to make a wish?::

::Nico loved the plate almost as much as the cake (well, maybe because it had cake on it...)::

::Full and happy::

::But not too full for just one bite of this yummy candle::

::Time for clean-up::

This boy is a berry-eatin' fool

2009-10-01T09:22:00.003-05:00

Nico loves food (gets it from his mama, I think). He's not picky, either (definitely doesn't get that from his mama). He eats his veggies like a champ and really doesn't refuse much. I taught him the sign for "more" the other day and now he uses it constantly, always in reference to food. I think his favorite foods right now are berries, especially blackberries and raspberries. He does like to share if you're interested. :)

It's still hot in Texas...

2009-09-29T15:44:00.004-05:00

but the water coming out of Barton Springs is definitely not warm.

And one more photo, just because...

2009-09-25T16:10:00.002-05:00

Look at my little Nico! He's all grown up (and all bruised up, but that's another story). Hope his smile makes you smile too.

Our latest experiment...

2009-09-25T13:29:00.004-05:00

The Es have enjoyed being scientists for the past few weeks as we've watched our tiny tadpoles metamorphose into frogs. The last couple of days have been especially exciting, because they're sprouting legs all over the place. It was difficult to get a good photo, but the one below shows a few of the stages: on the bottom right is a large tadpole with only a tail, on the bottom left is one with a tail and two back legs, and then right in the middle is one with all four legs and still a little stub of a tail (if you click on the photo to make it larger, you can see the details a lot better).

The vase/aquarium sits right in the middle of our kitchen table, and we had a long discussion today at lunch about when they technically become frogs. Egan says the ones with little tail stumps are already frogs, while Ella says they're not frogs until the tail is completely gone. Anybody have a definitive answer?

The long-awaited zoo post

2009-09-22T16:07:00.004-05:00

We're enjoying the cool weather too much to spend lots of time inside on the computer, but I know if I don't hurry and get these up, I never will, so here they are. (The first few pictures are mine and then there are several from Janie. I'm sure you can see the difference in quality. :o))

::Egan and Janie on the carousel::

::Egan touching the parakeet when the zoo worker wasn't looking::

::Nico after a couple of hours of being pushed around the zoo::

::Dad and Egan before we went in::

::Ella feeding a giraffe (I think this was her favorite part of the zoo)::

::Nico before he got too worn out::

::Egan on his pony ride...I think her name was Sunny::

::Ella on her pony ride...this one was named Amiga::

::Ella carefully feeding the parakeets::

Fishing over Labor Day weekend

2009-09-10T13:01:00.006-05:00

We hiked to a pond near our house twice last weekend for fishing trips. The first evening was mostly a scouting trip. Dijar only took his fly rod and managed to catch a few sunfish. It was enough to interest Ella and Egan in going out again the next morning.

The next day, Ella managed to catch one sunfish all by herself and both of the Es got to reel in a few that Dijar hooked for them. Then we pulled out the big guns (cheese) and caught a few catfish. Hope you enjoy these photos from Dijar's phone.

::Nico was more interested in running away than the fish, but he did pause for a few seconds the first night to take a look::

::Egan was very interested in touching the fish, but not so interested in being patient and actually fishing::

::Ella and Egan were excited about the size of the catfish after catching bluegills all morning::

Have I managed to catch up yet?

2009-09-02T14:00:00.011-05:00

Not even close. I have, however, managed to somehow get caught up in going through all of Ella's shoes and clearing out those that no longer fit (what four-year-old wears a size 12 besides my big-footed princess?) and culling and reorganizing three bookshelves full of childrens' books in the playroom. Those things, along with finally uploading all of the vacation pictures, have given me a slight sense of accomplishment today.

There's no way I'd subject you to all of the photos at once, so we'll start with those from our hike at Garden of the Gods (aka "The Red Mountains" in Ella-speak).

:: Fearless Ella the rock climber ::

:: Nico hitching a ride up the cliffside ::

:: Egan, Ella, and Dijar at the "summit" ::

:: Egan and Ella in a cozy nook ::

:: Nico's makeshift hat (that stayed on for thirty seconds, tops) ::

:: Egan (the self-proclaimed mountain goat) looking for handholds ::

:: Dijar showing Egan how it's done ::

:: Nico and I finding a cool spot in the shade ::

:: Mom brings her own shade :o) ::

More to come when I get a chance...next up is the zoo trip.

Back from vacation...

2009-09-01T11:56:00.002-05:00

...and still trying furiously (and maybe futilely?) to catch up with unpacking, laundry, etc, while keeping up with the everyday stuff. Spent two+ hours dealing with our new dental insurance this morning--how hard can they make it just to find a single dentist who isn't part of some chain conglomerate? Anyway, that hasn't left much time for getting photos from the camera to the computer and then on to the blog. My plan is to get started on that while the kids nap (if I don't collapse with them), so maybe you'll see some vacay pics by tomorrow. Au revoir...

Egan is 3!

2009-08-05T08:56:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe that my little guy is already three, but it's true. We had fun at his dino-themed party over the weekend and then spent the actual day having fun at Chuck E Cheese and baking yummy lemon cupcakes. We made time for Janie to take some birthday photos--enjoy!

The promised post

2009-07-28T09:39:00.011-05:00

I've been spending a little time honing my photography skills over the past couple of weeks. The kids are the perfect excuse to take a hundred photos at a time. Plus I've got a relatively new camera and I'm still trying to figure out all the features. Janie's been giving me pointers on photography and editing, so hopefully you'll notice a positive difference.

Here are my favorites from our last "photo shoot."

Gotta love those Ella lips.

Egan is our brave one. We filled up the water tables with water and ice this time, so that water was cold!

And here's Nico sucking on ice and making that same old crazy face.

This is Ella's favorite picture, Nico under the water table finding more ice to eat.

And here are a few more just for fun. I know I'm a little heavy on the Nico pics, but he was just easier to photograph this time. Plus, we've got beaucoup pics of the other two.

Oh, and for those of you who are keeping track, Nico's up to five teeth now and is walking (and climbing) everywhere. I found him on the couch this morning--first time he's gotten up there without help.

Creative costuming

2009-07-24T17:22:00.003-05:00

I've actually got several photos to share, but don't have time right now to get them all uploaded, so you can look forward to another post soon. Here's one to tide you over. Ella loves to dress herself, and has begun to help create Egan's ensembles as well. He's happy to oblige.

Wildlife in the suburbs

2009-07-16T09:28:00.006-05:00

We've been blessed with two swallow's nests on our front porch this year. The kids and I love watching the nesting process throughout the spring and summer. The first nest was occupied by a swallow family who seemed to have it all together. They built the nest, mama laid the eggs, the babies hatched, got fed and fat, learned to fly, and moved on.

The second family has had more trouble. Their first attempt at nest-building was a flop. When the nest was about half done, it fell off the wall and hit the concrete porch below. But they persevered, built a stronger (and better-attached) nest, and mama laid eggs and patiently sat on them. We (not so patiently) waited for the babies to hatch. One afternoon, I found an tiny egg that had fallen out of the nest and broken when it hit the porch. A few days later, mama stopped sitting on the nest all the time and we saw one little baby bird sticking his head over the side to be fed. I found him covered in ants on the front porch just a couple of days later, long before he had time to build up enough strength and bulk to fly. We thought that was the end of the road for that nest this year, so we were very surprised when another baby bird started chirping up there last week. We kept a close eye on him, pulling for this little guy to make it. Every day he would be perched closer and closer to the edge of the nest, and I was sure he was going to fall out. Dijar joked about putting up a net under the nest to catch him so he wouldn't meet the same fate as his siblings.

Then yesterday when I was leaving for Krav Maga, a movement in the yard caught my eye. That baby bird was fluttering around on the grass trying to fly, but he wasn't getting anywhere. Mama and Daddy bird were swooping around nearby, keeping an eye on him. We've got at least two neighborhood cats who like to hang out in our yard, so it is definitely not a safe place for a baby bird to play. I left the rescue mission to D and EEN. They did a little internet research and ended up taking some photos and then putting baby in a tree in our yard, where he's been since last night. His parents come by and feed him every little while and he seems to be doing well. Our own little mama bird Ella keeps running to the window to check on him.

Here's baby bird post-rescue.

Egan and baby on the porch.

Showing mama where her baby was going.

Doing just fine this morning.

Playing catch-up...

2009-07-15T08:46:00.008-05:00

I haven't been taking many pictures lately (I've got good excuses--Janie's pictures are better, Dijar always has his camera phone out, I'm usually carrying a baby, etc, etc), which makes it hard to update a blog. But in the hopes that you don't mind low-quality photos since they have such high-quality subjects, here's an overview of the past couple of weeks.

If you want to see some better pics of the many of the same events, check out Janie's blog.

Who doesn't want to take a bubble bath in a tub in the kitchen floor? The Es and I are reading the Little House on the Prarie series at bedtime and Ella was excited to "take a bath like Laura does."

Before our Fourth of July evening picnic, we spent time in the pool at the farm. We actually fit three adults and three kids in the bigger one at once, and although there wasn't much room left to move, being in the water sure did cool us off.

Nico loves the water too.

Can you see the face that he's making here? I call it his crazy face. He does it all the time now.

Here's a pic from last weekend's square dance. This was about midnight, after the Es had crashed and just a few minutes before Nico had his first square dancing experience (riding on my back).

These two are from last night. Dijar helped the Es build a pyramid and they proceeded to climb and jump for about thirty minutes. (There are pillows underneath and no one got hurt, just in case you're wondering.)

And the kids aren't in this one, but I thought I'd throw it in for fun. On our seventh anniversary, D and I went out (by ourselves!) to Mother Egan's for their trivia night. We didn't do too well on the trivia, but we had a good time.

And if you've made it all the way through this post, I'll share some news with you: Nico's walking now. No pics yet (though Janie does have video), but it's as cute as you'd expect it to be. :o) Oh, and he's up to four teeth now. I'll have to try to get a picture of that--he's got the bottom two front ones and two of the top ones on the sides instead of the front, so it looks pretty funny.

Until next time...

Caving at Wonder World

2009-06-25T08:30:00.005-05:00

EEN and I took a trip to San Marcos yesterday to visit Dijar at his lab and take a tour of Wonder World with Becky, tour guide Dustin, Janie, and Robert. Egan especially liked being a little "cave monster." I only got a few pictures because Nico didn't enjoy the tour quite as much (he didn't mind the walking as much as he did the starting and stopping).

Here are a couple of the mini-spelunkers:

And their aunts (just to give credit, Egan took the one of Becky and Ella and either he or Ella took the pic of Janie):

Egan's summer haircut

2009-06-22T14:53:00.003-05:00

Just a quick picture to post today. Egan went from long locks to an almost-buzz cut. He was a little shocked when he looked in the mirror afterwards and even asked where his long hair was. I think he'll be choosing to grow it out again after summer's over.

What we've been up to the past couple of weeks...

2009-06-10T13:35:00.006-05:00

The kids and I are spending more time running around this summer since Janie has been home. Having an extra set of adult hands helps to corral three little ones outside the house. We recently did a short photo shoot in Bastrop. Here's the best of the group shots Janie took.

Ella (and Egan since he wants to do everything she does) is becoming quite the little photographer. Anytime something happens, she wants to grab the camera and document it. Here are a few pics she took in the past few weeks.

Egan eating plums right off the tree (this boy isn't scared of the dark).

Sky at his birthday party

Cousins Melissa and Thais at the farm

Ari at Mom's birthday party

In other news, besides being brave and cute, Egan's working hard on potty training (sorry, no pictures of this one). Nico has perfected crawling and is practicing cruising and walking with assistance.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

You want more?

2009-05-26T08:42:00.002-05:00

I just found out that even with high-speed internet, it takes forever to load video, so I won't be uploading Nico's crawling video right now, but I do have a few pictures to share.

And Janie has some new layouts with excellent photos here.

Sledding in the summertime...

2009-05-26T08:19:00.001-05:00

This was one of our Memorial Day projects. Enjoy!

Nico updates and more...

2009-05-11T16:14:00.003-05:00

Nico's been busy with lots of new things in the past week. Now we've got a one-toothed crawler on our hands (you can't see the tooth in the pic below because it just popped through this morning, but I thought the photo might elicit a smile or two anyway). I pretty much run around all day making sure that nothing gets left out on the floor or anywhere else, because he pulls himself up on every piece of furniture to get at things he's not supposed to have (he's a master at turning on the PS3).

We spent Mother's Day morning at the farm. As you can tell, it's already hot here in Texas. Ella suggested she set up a lemonade stand so someone could bring her lemonade and Popz made it happen.

And here's our little king of the mountain. The heat doesn't seem to phase him (neither did the rough rocks on his bare feet).

Hope everyone had a happy Mother's Day!

Rub a dub dub, three kids in a tub

2009-05-05T09:25:00.007-05:00

Well, it's a somewhat-tight squeeze, but we still manage to fit all three kids (and all their toys) into the tub at once for bathtime. I love this photo because we didn't manage to get even one visible face (in our defense, we have been working with a wonky camera lately (the LCD screen only works when it wants to), but a new camera is on its way.)

And despite his strange look here, Nico really loves splashing around in the water with his sibs now that he's a little older.

Since I haven't posted in awhile, here are some other happenings from our lives lately. Ella and Egan got to experience the magic of dry ice for the first time (Egan kept running in and out the sliding door, so he missed being in this pic). They were both duly impressed.

And a couple of weeks ago, we went on a hike at the farm to see some owlets. Dijar climbed a tree to get good photos in the nest, and here is the best one.

When I was looking over the photos I noticed that both Ella and Egan were pantsless. That is not uncommon at the farm (especially for Egan). He did end up with lots of scratches that day, but they didn't phase him. Half the time he doesn't wear shoes either.

Here are a couple of shots of happy Nico (et al) in the wind.

Cross your fingers for a speedy delivery of the new camera so we can take more photos.

Puppy love

2009-04-23T15:42:00.002-05:00

Nico is in love with this stuffed dog that SuperNana sent for Christmas. I have no idea who it actually belongs to (Ella says she thinks it's Egan's), but it doesn't really matter, because Nico isn't giving it up. Even when he's really upset, we can just squeeze that dog's belly to make it squeak and Nico will smile while he's still crying.

The Es jumped in today when I was taking photos of N and I managed to get a couple of decent shots of all three of them. Enjoy!

Just in case you don't check Janie's blog regularly...

2009-04-22T16:20:00.002-05:00

...here are a couple of layouts you missed in the last couple of weeks.

Want more? Check out Janie's blog.

What is up with that tongue?

2009-04-20T09:40:00.004-05:00

Every baby is different, and Nico is no exception. One of his latest tendencies is to stick out a very pointed tongue when he's happy. It's better in person, but just in case you don't have that option, here's a taste.

And here's another photo just because I liked it. Just in case you're wondering, this kid drools all the time, but no teeth yet, and he teases us by getting into this position all the time but never actually crawling. I'm constantly grabbing the camera thinking he's really going to do it this time. He likes to keep me on my toes.

If there's not much going on...

2009-04-17T16:08:00.004-05:00

then why am I so busy every day?

I know, I'm neglecting the blog. I'll do better, I promise. I left my camera at home last weekend and didn't get any Easter pics (Becky did, so if you read this and want to see some posted, email her and tell her to send them to me--I'm sure she love to hear from you).

I do have a few other pics to share.

The egg hunt last Saturday was cancelled, so the kids hunted in our backyard and then played with the eggs and the ever-handy blower motor. Here's one of my favorites:

And here's what they were looking at:

And one of the other two kiddos from today...

Nico likes food now, pretty much everything we've tried but peas. Here's Ella's first attempt at feeding him bananas this morning. She opened her mouth like this everytime she gave him a bite.

It's been a busy week...

2009-04-10T13:27:00.004-05:00

We started off the week with an emergency trip to the dentist's office after Egan knocked his tooth loose (on Ella's head--she was fine). They just pushed it back into place and said to keep an eye on it, and it doesn't seem to be bothering him much now, although he is always pushing it around with his tongue.

Except for the hair-in-the-eyes situation, I'm liking his long hair. I keep thinking if I just wait a little longer, it'll be long enough to tuck behind his ears. He's still scarred (well, emotionally, at least) from his last run-in with the shears and isn't interested in getting it cut again. (If you don't know that story, it will suffice to say that Dijar got a little close around the ears.) We'll see how he feels when the hot weather sets in this summer. Might be time for that buzz we talked about but never actually brought to fruition last year.

Ella and Nico had well-checks at the pediatrician this week. Both are doing wonderfully. Ella had her first sight and hearing screen and she loved it. She didn't even seem to mind the five (yes, five!) shots she had to get. She even volunteered to go before Nico and she barely flinched. She's really growing up. Her new thing lately is wanting to cut up her food herself with a knife and fork.

Nico is trying his hand at pulling himself up and wishing he could figure out how to crawl. He can get himself up onto his knees with his feet underneath, but so far he always ends up falling over face-first. Then he flails around and tries to get somewhere for awhile. If he can get ahold of something (like the table below), he'll pull himself over to it. It won't be long before we'll have to start babyproofing the house again.

We're doing an egg hunt tomorrow afternoon and the Es are very excited. They've been practicing hunting eggs at Mom's the last few times we've been out there. I'll try to remember to take the camera with me. Hope everyone has a great Easter.

More blower pics...

2009-04-01T15:40:00.006-05:00

So I posted yesterday some pics of the fun we've had with the blower motor, but Dijar emailed me some more from his phone today I thought you guys might like. We spent some time seeing what floats and what doesn't when put in front of the fan and then we spent a lot more time with the kids taking turns in front of the fan themselves. (BTW, Nico and I tried it, but it really wasn't as great to us as Ella and Egan made it seem.)

D also sent some photos from last Sunday morning at the farm. There are new baby sheep this spring, Mocha and Latte, and they're getting more used to the kids each time we visit. Alex and Ella are holding Latte in this shot.

And I know this isn't the greatest picture (I am so bad at taking self-portraits--see how I cut off some of everyone's head here?), but I still like it--the sun, the hammock, the lazy Sunday feel.

What's going on this week?

2009-04-01T08:43:00.006-05:00

Lately, Ella's really been treating Nico like her own personal baby doll. We have to remind her daily that she's not allowed to pick him up or carry him around without our permission (and supervision). Thankfully, he seems to enjoy her attention most of the time.

Egan's learning that not being nice and gentle with your little brother has consequences. For example, when you bite his finger because "he's tasty," you should be prepared to head straight for time-out. (Yes, this actually happened; no, I don't have photos.)

Nico is working on getting bigger by the day. Monday was his first experience with food (well, except for that cookie, Mom. ;o)) He was definitely more interested in the spoon than the pears.

And just one more for good measure...

2009-03-31T14:08:00.002-05:00

Ella loves talking to Nico, especially since he's so responsive now. Here's what happened the other day when she told him to make a funny face. Maybe he's taking after Aunt Lisa.

(A sidenote: I especially found this funny in opposition to his oh-so-serious Che t-shirt.)

Playing in the tube...

2009-03-31T13:56:00.005-05:00

Dijar came home one day last week with several giant trash bags and an idea. Add in some duct tape and one trusty blower motor, and here's what resulted. Don't you wish you were here to join in the fun?

Spring flowers...

2009-03-25T09:02:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, the Es got the planting bug, so D and I took the kids to Home Depot and let them pick out flowers. Both of them were excited to plant, but Ella has definitely shown more interest since then. She's very good about reminding me that we need to go out and water them every day. Egan's typical mo is to skip the flowers and go straight to playing at the sand table. These photos are from yesterday's watering/bubble-blowing/sand-playing session.

And here's one of Ella "checking email" on her laptop. How strange it is to think that she'll never know of a world without that kind of technology. At three (well, four tomorrow), she's already adept at using a mouse, navigating a web page, even playing PS3 games (thanks to Dijar).

Ella's Birthday Party

2009-03-24T14:07:00.004-05:00

With Janie home over spring break and planning for Ella's birthday party, taking pictures and blogging have taken a backseat. In fact, I didn't get any photos at all from the party last weekend. Thankfully, Dijar backed me up with his trusty camera phone, so I've got some to share. The composition and character of these is great even if the quality is a bit lacking.

Here are several fun shots from pre-party.

And here are a few of Nico with Jessica after Sunday morning waffles.

If you'd like to see more great photos of EEN (and family) from the last couple of weeks, you should check out Janie's blog at http://ladyponies23.blogspot.com/.

Me no likey

2009-03-10T08:24:00.003-05:00

Nico's a pretty easy-to-please baby. He doesn't get upset very often. But then we had the great idea to put all three kids in the bathtub together to get clean and get some cute photos. This was his reaction. Not sure if it was the big bathtub or the rowdy siblings that got to him, but either way, guess we'll stick to bathing him separately for awhile longer. (BTW, he got so upset so quickly that we didn't even get pictures of all three of them. We'll have to try again in a month or so.)

Gender differences in action

2009-03-06T11:00:00.003-06:00

Now that Nico's sitting up, Ella and Egan have been playing and interacting with him a lot more. This includes adding to his wardrobe. Can you guess which hats were added by which child?

(Egan also added the "necklace" to the fireman ensemble--he likes to keep us on our toes in terms of staying away from gender stereotyping.)

Beach trip, el fin...

2009-03-02T10:40:00.010-06:00

So even though it didn't get much above 70 during our trip, there was no getting out of putting on bathing suits and braving the cold ocean waves. The Es and Dijar managed to stay in for five minutes or so, while their wimpy mama kept her clothes on and only walked in up to her ankles. Ella had been begging to surf on her little kickboard, and she got her chance on Wednesday.

After that quick dip, we headed back to the hotel hot tub (or as Egan calls it, the "hot pool")to warm up. All of us enjoyed ourselves there. The hotel had a really nice pool area--it's too bad it wasn't warmer.

On our last full day in Galveston, the sun came out for awhile and we headed for one of the newly reconstructed beaches to work on the sand castle we'd been talking about since before we left home. Here's a photo at the beginning and one towards the end of construction. Dijar headed up the building, while Egan did the digging and Ella hunted for shells and rocks to decorate with.

Nico and I sat on the beach and played. He's sitting up pretty well by himself lately and had a great time trying to get the sand into his mouth.

Those of you with keen eyes may have noticed that everyone in the first sand castle photo was dry and everyone in the second photo was wet. That's because they took a break in the middle for one last dip in the ocean. The previous trips had made them brave enough to explore out into deeper water. Ella came running back in to visit N and me, and this was her response when I asked her if she was a surfer girl:

No words necessary, huh? Egan had fun too, as evidenced here:

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe twice on this trip, even though the animals moving around really scared Egan. He spent most of those meals glued to my hip or in my lap. Nico thought the whole thing ws great. He especially liked the fish pattern on our table and being able to sit in the highchair and watch us all eat.

And thus ends the first beach trip we've all taken together. Overall it was a really good experience. All of us had fun and it wasn't quite as hard as I'd anticipated to keep all three kids (and two adults) occupied and happy.

Exploring the marshes and the aquarium

2009-03-02T10:11:00.006-06:00

On a couple of mornings last week, the kids and I explored the saltwater marshes. Galveston suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Ike, so there was a lot of debris to work around, but the Es loved seeing the giant boats and the birds. We saw some spoonbills and egrets, but I only got a picture of the great blue heron.

In the afternoon on Tuesday, we went to the aquarium at Moody Gardens. The Rainforest Pyramid and the Imax were closed for repairs, but we got to see a shark exhibit and the kids especially liked the seals and the penguins.

Here's one of the best non-people pictures. Who doesn't love a pufferfish?

And this is one of my favorites with people. I love Ella's reflection in the tunnel wall. (Just FYI for anyone who hasn't been to this aquarium, it's a good one for little ones because they have neat features like this tunnel and it's not overwhelmingly long. We were there for about and hour and half and got to see all exhibits, find all of the shark stamps for the scavenger hunt, and play for awhile at the touch tank.)

Here are Ella and Egan inside a diver's cage. Ella kept telling me not to get too close because she was a shark and she would eat me. I tried to explain that the sharks (hopefully) stay outside of the cage, but she liked her game better.

Nico was awake and happy pretty much all of this excursion.

Ella convinced Egan to get low and talk to these fish. I wish I could've gotten the view from the other side.

I've got some more pictures from this trip that I'll get posted later today or tomorrow. Hope you're enjoying them as much as we enjoyed taking them.

Beach trip, part 1

2009-02-25T16:55:00.004-06:00

I know I've been a bit slow getting these up. Finding time to talk about vacation while still on vacation is hard. I've got tons of pictures, but here are some of my favorites. (No time for touch-ups...I'll leave that to Janie.)

Nico and Dijar had fun playing in the mirror while I got Ella and Egan ready to go.

The first thing Ella did when she got to the beach was find a stick to write in the sand. She said she wants to write her name everywhere so everyone can see it. Dijar said we've got a future tagger on our hands.

The Es played a game (which Ella was sure that they created themselves) called "Chase the Waves." For a while, they were hesitant to get wet because it was a bit cold. Don't you love Ella's beach hair?

While they played, Dijar practiced his tai chi on some driftwood.

The kiddos finally got a little braver and had a great time wading without getting too wet...

until Egan decided to go swimming (at least that's what he says he was doing). He was pretty upset about his soaked self for a few minutes...

but got over it quickly once he warmed up (good thing D stuck extra towels in my car).

And it all became just a fun memory after we hit Ben & Jerry's. Eg reminded us about his swimming adventure all night and the next day.

We went to the marshes and to the Aquarium Pyramid at Moody Gardens yesterday. Maybe I'll get to those pictures tomorrow.

Just because...

2009-02-23T20:04:00.001-06:00

So this is a little bit of a backtrack, but I thought I'd share a photo of Nico from last weekend. Dijar and I were trying out the photo gallery on the PS3 and I snapped this quick shot. I love the giant eyes (you should see them on the tv screen).

Oh, and I got lots of good beach photos today, so I'll post a few as soon as I get a chance.

Hello from the coast...

2009-02-23T07:59:00.004-06:00

So we made it down to Galveston without incident (amazing actually, since Ella woke up yesterday throwing up). Maybe it was the excitement of going to the beach that got her all riled up. We're staying at the Hotel Galvez, a very nice historic hotel right on the seawall, and have an excellent view of the beach right out our window. The Es weren't too impressed with the room--I don't think they exactly understand the concept of a hotel. Egan keeps asking if we're going home now.

Dijar's going to be busy at the conference all morning, so the kids and I are planning to do a little exploring. I'm taking the camera and will try to get pics if they decide to cooperate.

Ah, yes, the broken elbow...

2009-02-19T11:40:00.001-06:00

Here's a picture just for Aunt Lisa (okay, for anyone who wants to see a picture of Ella's purple cast). During a recent playtime accident, Ella broke her elbow. She had a hard splint for a week and a half and then a cast for two weeks. The cast is off now and she's on resticted activity (no wrestling or monkey bars) for two more weeks. Thankfully, it was her right elbow (she's a lefty), so she still managed to do important things like hold her baby brother. She handled it all very well and seems to have a high tolerance for pain. To prove this, she spit medicine in the face of an ER nurse and her loving mama. Guess the meds are worse than the pain, huh? She must get that from me.

My happy snugbugs

2009-02-19T10:23:00.003-06:00

Just so I can get in the habit of posting, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos of late.

Dijar just got a new sleeping bag and the Es were having a great time trying it out.

Nico loves to play with his brother and is very interested in anything you put in front of him, especially cameras.

Attack of the mud monster

2009-02-18T15:26:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, we decided to hike at a park near the house. It started out great. We found an armadillo right off the path and Dijar and the kids went around and flushed it out so I got a close-up view.

After the dillo sighting, the hike continued as normal: Dijar walked ahead with Nico in the Bjorn, Ella tried to stay right on his heels, Egan tried his hardest to keep up, and I brought up the rear, helping Eg out when he needed it. D and El always run ahead and hide so they can jump out to scare us.

After we crossed the troll bridge, we came to the pond, secret home of the mud monster. First, Egan got lured in by a tiny frog. He only got mud up to his ankles. Ella, who had left us with the frogs to follow Dijar, mistook a primordial ooze pit for terra firma and ended up in up to her knees. D and I were, as Ella so frequently puts it, laughing our heads off. Ella wasn't nearly as amused. I pulled her out, but one shoe stayed behind and had to be dredged out with a stick.

We decided to head back to the car, where D cleaned up Ella with the spray of a well-placed water hose at the park bathroom and I stripped down Egan. He thought this was great fun.

We went back to the park the next day, but decided to play soccer instead of hiking.

And so it begins...

2009-02-18T11:07:00.000-06:00

Inspired by a blogging sister and a baby-blogging friend, I have once again entered the blogosphere. I've noticed that I've taken fewer photos and written less down since Nico was born, and my hope is that the social pressure of a blog will keep me on my toes. An added bonus is a better record of the kids' day-to-day growth than my current habit of jotting notes on a calendar to someday be transferred to baby books. We'll see how it goes.