Feed Me!

Our "Tweet Tweet Eggs" hatched so we now have "Baby Tweet Tweets!" It's so fascinating to see them so close. I've obviously seen baby birds before but only after standing on my tip toes to barely catch a 2 sec. glimpse. Adelyn and I were both so gitty when we opened the propane box and this is what we saw:

Isn't it so sweet how they instinctively open their beaks ready for their momma to feed them?! I automatically drew a parallel to my own life as a full-time mom. On top of diaper changing and laundry, I sometimes feel like that's all I do. You know-- feed my babies. Between Ella's every-3-hour feeding (6x/day) and Adelyn's picky palate, I'm constantly preparing new dishes and washing bottles in between. It's definitely not the fun part of being a mom.

BUT, you know what? The overwhelming feeling I get sometimes knowing that my girls need me is worth all of that. I don't know how to explain it. It gives me purpose. It gives me much more of a purpose than when I didn't have kids and only worried about myself. I think it's so incredible how moms just instinctively give themselves to their kids. They sacrifice so much no matter how monotonous the daily ins and outs can be. And now that I've been a stay-at-home mom for a year now, I've gained such an enormous respect for other full-time moms who are willing to give up their careers and independence to stay home with their kids. Not that I don't respect moms who can have professional lives, too, because my life wasn't easy then either... I just know how this job is sometimes labeled as 'easy' or 'priviledged' and many of the things we do often go unnoticed. As a professional, I used to run on recognition and this job doesn't get any sometimes. We don't get raving annual performance reviews or a slap on the back when we've done something right or even something extraordinary. Sometimes we don't even get a thank you. I can only hope that when my children grow into adults, they will understand why it was important for me to be at home with them during their primary years. I've got the rest of my life to go back to work and be an example of a strong, independent woman who can have her own career, right?! :)

O.k., enough of my random rambling. Here's your photo fix:

The Ups & Downs of a 2 Yr Old

Adelyn completed her first Potty Chart today!! She actually started potty training on her own a couple weeks before her 2nd birthday but we decided to wait to be aggressive about it until she finished one full chart. We do the potty dance, get a potty sticker, a piece of potty candy.... you get the idea. Now I've just got to get her to take it a little more seriously before we transition to pull-ups. All in good time.

Also, I was on the phone trying to schedule an eye appointment (apparently I am not through with my annual eye exams even though I got Lasik last year!) and when I noticed how cooperative and quiet Adelyn was being, I went in to the other room and she was in her secret hiding spot. Here's an older video of her hiding out to give you a visual:

No big deal I thought.... she does this all of the time. That's until I looked closer and this is what I found!!

Yes, oh yes. Artwork ALL OVER my custom-made drapes that an interior designer helped me pick out. And this is just a small sampling of what she did. I've used every known method of removing ink stains known to man to no avail. It is officially permanent and it drives me nuts! Oh well, at least it's not on the reverse side that everyone sees from inside the dining room (rather than outside the window). At least that's what I keep telling myself.........

On a positive note, here's a cute video of the girls I forgot to share earlier:

We only let Adelyn hold her 'sissy' in small installments.

Oh, and here's a shot of Ella Bella Bean after a bath yesterday. She looks so angelic!!

Adelyn's 2 Yr & Ella's 3 Mo Pictures

We have the best family photographer ever. She is a full-time mom who does this on the side for just a couple families... we feel so special! She is so patient and talented that we drive all the way out to Lake St. Louis (a good hour and 15 min. from home) just to take the girls' pictures on a quarterly basis. It's always an ordeal for us but as you can see from the pictures below, it's always worth it! These are just a few of the best shots I wanted to share. Thanks again for another great shoot, Katie! :)

It was already a long day (and Ella was getting a little grumpy which is very out of character for her!) so I told Katie that we could take just a few shots of Ella this time since we would be having a more extensive photo shoot for her in another 3 months. We'll make up for it at 6 months I am sure! Here is my favorite shot of our new little princess (tiara included):

Andrew's Latest Project

We've been needing to get outside lights for our new home so we contacted a company in STL to come do a display the other night. It looked great but Andrew decided that he wanted to do the work himself. (Again, a man with a new project always in mind!) So, we headed to our local Home Depot and purchased the lights. Then, when Andrew returned from work around 2ish yesterday, he got to work. It's always a little scary watching him take on such big projects but they always turn out great! He even had to learn how to mount a metal box on the brick and route wire under the sidewalk. By 8 pm when it got dark, he had me go to the street so he could unveil his work at once. You know that classic scene in the movie "Christmas Vacation"' when Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) pulls the entire family out to the front yard to proudly show them his awesome display of 25,000 twinkle lights? As everyone waits in anticipation, he plugs the lights in and..... nothing. Well, I hate to admit to being a pessimist sometimes, but I had this scene replaying in my mind as I dragged Adelyn out to the curb with me to wait for Andrew to flip the switch. But instead, our entire house lit up and it looked awesome! I don't think Andrew appreciated it when I got Adelyn to sing "Hallelujah!" with me when they turned on. :)

Here are a couple pictures. It's hard to truly see the entire effect since our camera doesn't take great pictures in the dark, but at least you get an idea. He did a fantastic job, huh?!

Trip to the Zoo

We decided to make an impromptu visit to the St. Louis Zoo yesterday while the weather was nice. Adelyn wanted her Cousin A-A (Austin) to go, too, so we picked him up on the way. Even though Ella once visited the zoo for an Easter breakfast, this is her first official time there to see the live animals... whether she paid much attention to them or not! The animals must have also been enjoying the weather because most were out and about for us to see including (but not limited to) bears, lions, penguins, elephants, zebras, ostriches, antelopes, giraffes, hyenas, and flamingos. Adelyn waved at all of them and told them goodbye as we departed each site. She especially loved the Butterfly House. She can't quite say butterfly yet... she calls them "bies" so when we left, she happily shouted, "Bye Bye Bies!" :) She also made sure to wave every time the "choo choo" passed by... and she made sure that everyone else waved, too. Here are some pictures from our fun day.























Here are a couple more random pics of the girls yesterday:

Good Ol' Michigan Days....

Before having our girls, Andrew and I lived in Lansing, Michigan, for 2 years where he got his first job out of college. It's also where I began working for a dominant bank there called Fifth Third Bank (I know... funny name, huh?) which turned out to be the best career move even though I later walked away from a wonderful regional position to be at home with my girls. Anyway, I always say that Michigan was such a wonderful experience for our new marriage but I'm happy to be back closer to family especially now that we have one of our own. Every so often, I'm reminded of those good ol' Michigan days, though, and I wonder how it would be to raise our family there... and this weekend was definitely no exception.

First, we received gifts in the mail for our girls from our old Michigan neighbors. They were the best and we miss them so much! Here's a picture of Adelyn sporting her personalized backpack that they sent her. Ella isn't big enough to sport her new outfit yet. Thanks again, Becki, Ben, Drew, Delaney, and Baby Daniel!

If you notice in the background of this picture, Andrew is a proud (re)owner of his old Jeep Wrangler that he recently sold to a guy who put tile down in our old house. Long story. Anyway, he's been fixing it up over the last couple weeks, refinishing the body work so it'll look spiffy on the road this summer. You should see the work he's done to it. He's never painted a vehicle in his life but decided to do it last week. (This is a guy who always has a new project in mind...) Here are a couple before/after shots:

Anyway, I took it out on a pretty day and you guessed it.... it reminded me of Michigan! You see.... that Jeep and I go way back. I used to drive it during some nasty Michigan winters. Andrew somehow talked me into driving a new Mach 1 Mustang as my primary driver since he had to use an SUV for work purposes. I ended up driving the Jeep more since the Mustang didn't fare well in Michigan weather. Yes, I was a sucker! Oh well.... I was having fun in my last few years without kids and didn't even know it! :)

I'm looking forward to having some hot days to go out in the boat. That's definitely something I miss from Michigan, too. There was always a lake nearby. The beautiful weather we've been having here lately is like July weather in MI. Those summers were almost worth those nasty winters driving the old Jeep!

Ella Bella Bean is 3 months old!

This is what I call our new baby. I once considered 'Bella' as a first name for her but say that with our last name, Oney (Oh-knee), 5x fast and it sounds a bit too much like the sandwich meat. Her cousin, Austin, asked why I added 'Bean' on the end and I told him that it was because she was like a jelly bean, tiny and sweet!!

Anyway, Ella Bella Bean is 3 months old today!!! She has been such a fantastic baby who likes to eat and sleep. In fact, she has been sleeping through the night (10+ hours) for the last two weeks. Before that, she slept 6 hrs if I let her go that long. Ever since she was born, I was the one to wake her up for her feedings and hardly ever did she stay awake after she finished a meal in the middle of the night. It's crazy how easy she has been!! Adelyn was a good baby but she left me totally sleep deprived for about a month until we got our days/nights straightened out. I'm lucky that my girls are such good sleepers! Here's a picture and video of our beautiful little 3-month-old. Sorry that he video is sideways! :)

While Ella was taking *another* nap, Adelyn and I played out in the yard this morning to take advantage of some beautiful weather. We found a bird's nest full of eggs in our propane box. Adelyn said, "Tweet Tweet Eggs!" when she saw it. Then we walked across the street to a lot next to our neighbor's house to pick a couple wild flowers to give to Baby Ella in honor of her 3 month birthday! :) Here are some pictures. These are the moments I was talking about that I'm so fortunate to witness with Adelyn and I can't wait to do all over again with Ella!

By the way, I wanted to explain quickly why my page template keeps changing. Basically, I'm just having fun with a new hobby of digital scrapbooking. It's been since college that I've worked with HTML code, so I'm learning more and more every day by playing around with my page. So, sorry for all of the changes! :)

"Baby's a Good Girl!"

Here's a cute clip of Adelyn trying to feed Ella (under supervision of course!)

"The Man Cold"

Too funny not to share!

Some of the Best Things Come In Cheap Packages

I should probably explain the title. We decided to go cheap this year on Adelyn's Easter basket and buy a $10 Wal-Mart special with some princess dress-up pieces included. Besides, Grandma always gives her an awesome basket full of favorite candy, coloring books, toys, etc. So, who'd guess that those princess toys have been her favorite to play with lately. She loves to put one of Mommy's shirts/dresses on and dance around in her princess slippers and pretend like she is Cinderella (she says "Ella"). It's so sweet! Here are a few pictures of her in her princess get-up. I was so impressed that she picked out a princess gown that matched her outfit!

"Mommy's a Good Girl!"

This is what Lil' Miss Adelyn says when Mommy has done something to meet her expectations... such as give her a small piece of candy or lie down with her in bed at the beginning of her naps. She also tells Daddy that he's been a 'good girl' when he's done something nice for her. :)

Unfortunately, Mommy has been feeling like a 'sick girl' lately. Adelyn just got over some sort of upper respiratory viral thing that caused her to cough like crazy and vomit. She's also been running a high fever over the last week. On Friday, her pediatrician recommended a chest x-ray to be sure it wasn't pneumonia. You should have seen the pitiful little thing raising her arms up for the "picture." Thank goodness it came back o.k. and she's doing much better.

So now I think I have contracted a case of the sickies with a horrible cough and ache-all-over feeling. But you know how it goes... no sick days for Mommy! Somehow, Baby Ella has dodged all of this so hopefully I've gotten it instead of her. Wish us luck there!

Adelyn felt good enough yesterday that we decided that it was safe for her to go bowling for the first time after church. With a little help from Mommy and Daddy, she got one strike and picked up two spares! Sorry I didn't have my camera with me at the bowling alley because there would have been some great photo ops. I'll try to be a 'good girl' next time and remember my camera-- ha! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Pics/Videos

O.k... I must confess that occasionally, Andrew and I allow Adelyn to listen to "big people music" so she can get her groove on. I mean, have you seen this child dance? It would be so unfair not to allow her the opportunity. She has another year before we can enroll her in dance classes anyway. Don't worry-- we'll be more selective of the music she dances to when she's a little bit older and can actually understand the lyrics. In the meantime, check out this video we took of her this week doing some freestyle.

Ella has been movin' a lot, too... she's been kicking up a storm. She's also been cooing a lot, giggling once in a while, and smiles all the time! It's so fun to watch her become more and more aware of her surroundings. Unfortunately, I haven't caught a lot of her coos & giggles on video but here's one of her getting excited for Mommy.

Here are other random recent pictures of the girls:

If you notice, I've become a little obsessed with matching headbands. Even Shelby and Adelyn have matching "headbands" here! :)

"The Mystery of Children"

So, I was reading this awesome book called "All You Need to Know About Raising Girls" (Trevathan & Goff) and it referenced another book called "The Mystery of Children" (Mason) with a quote that I wanted to share because it spoke to me in so many ways. Here it is:

Just to watch a child at this work of exploring every detail of some perfectly ordinary physical object-- this is an act of contemplation, which itself has a sanctifying effect upon the observer.... I need a child to teach me once more how magical the world is, how everything that exists is charged with an overpowering enchantment.

I think that I've grown so much as a person when I became a mom. Every day, I'm finding that there is more to life than having my own career, getting regular mani/pedi's, straightening my hair or putting on eyeliner before I go out, etc. Admittedly, there are times that I feel like my days are running together with the same routines, the same tantrums, the same shallow conversations, etc. But the good far outweighs the bad. The moments that I'm fortunate enough to have with my children are so meaningful and I can only hope that they are benefiting from those moments as much as I am.

Sorry for the serious stuff. I'll try to keep the next few posts more lighthearted. :)

Mommy & Daddy

Awww.... I was browsing through old pictures while the girls were napping and found this snapshot of Andrew and I dancing to our wedding song at our reception. I almost forgot about this picture. I remember exactly what we were talking about at that moment. I can't believe it will be 5 years in September. I promise I'll get some recent pictures of us on here sometime soon but in the meantime, I wanted to share this one.

First Post...

Yes, I finally jumped on the bandwagon and decided to blog. I figured-- what better way to share pictures of the girls and family news, etc.? Besides, I think everyone's e-mail boxes are starting to reach their maximum capacity thanks to all of the pictures/videos I love to send.

I want you to know that the choice to start blogging was an easy one... but the practice of blogging won't be easy for me. See, for those who know me best, I can be a bit of a freak when it comes to permanency of words. I mean, the thought of leaving something out there with grammatical/spelling errors, etc., really bothers me. It bothers me to the point that I often revise letters, e-mails, etc. like 3x before I send them. I know... I know. What a freak. So, this blog will also serve the purpose of helping me to express myself in a better way without worrying so much about how I do it.

So, there you go. My first post and I've already admitted to being a freak. Can you imagine what is in store?! :)