Aubrie's 13th Month (I found this in draft posts!!!!)

I found this post today while looking through the blog and realized that I'd never published it! Enjoy a blast from the (very!) distant past! Aubri is now 5 years old!

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*She still won't stand up on her own, but she has started pushing chairs and a walker toy by herself. She seems to be on the same time line as Evan as to when she might start to walk. But I'm in no hurry! She can take as long as she needs! (******She walked at 15 months, but made us carry her until she was 17 months old. She then decided that it was faster just to walk whenever she wanted).

*She loves our new swingset. I bought a baby swing for her, and every time I walk past the back door she is pointing at it to go outside. Evan really likes her swing, too, but is such a big boy now that he is ok to sit in the big swing while I push him.

*She jabbers all the time. There's still not a lot that we can make out, but she's started to say Mama a lot more often. She says it when she wakes up in the morning, or when she wants me to hold her. She still says stuff like Dada, Hi (sounds like i), bu-buy, and signs milk, more, and please. She hasn't signed "eat" in a while because she just leans over and points to the food.

*She LOVES to climb up our stairs. She'll go up a few, and then try to come back down before I turn her around and send her back up. Then once she reaches to very top, she takes off towards the bathroom as fast as she can crawl. She thinks it's a game while I grab her up. I love her infectious laugh when she giggles!

*Evan still doesn't like to share his toys with her. If she even looks like she's headed his way while he's playing, he'll run up to me and ask me to pick her up and hold her. I'm trying to explain that some of the toys are hers, and that she just wants to be next to him and play with him. But he doesn't like it when she messes up his way of doing things. I guess it's a good thing that he has a younger sister to teach him how to share; otherwise, he'd grow up having his own way and be terrible to live with as an older man!

*I sent her to school with real milk yesterday to see if she would have an allergic reaction, and I thought we were safe for a while. However, she started getting a rash earlier this afternoon. I'm glad to definitely know what is causing her rash. It'll be hard because almost everything has milk in it, but we'll make it work. At least it's not a strong reaction. All it does is give her a rash (can be really bad depending on how much milk she's had), some mucous in her nose, and some gas pains. (*****On this note; I've decided to take her to an allergist sometime soon to make sure that milk is all she's allergic to).

Elise, 18 Months

There is no way on Earth that I will be able to write down everything that has happened in the last 6 months with Elise, but I will try. :)

My sweet girl is so much fun! I keep looking at her and wondering where my baby has gone! I'm not sure when it happened, but the baby is definitely gone. :( 

She took her first steps at 15 months, and has been walking every since. If she is holding or doing something that she isn't supposed to and sees me coming, she usually "takes off" thinking that I can't catch her; it's the cutest thing! Sometimes she even throws the item before "running" away from me, or hides where she thinks I can't find her.

Her favorite tv show is Sesame Street, although she'll watch anything that her brother and sister are watching (Wild Kratts, My Little Pony, etc). She loves Elmo, and calls him "Elbow."

I can't keep her still enough to read any books, although she will read books in her crib. We have to carefully watch her with paper books, though, as she tears them up rather quickly...

Anytime she wants anything, she'll grab our hand and take it to whatever she wants. If she wants to open the door, she'll take our hand to the doorknob. Or if she wants food, she walks us to the pantry, etc. She has always been good at communicating with us! She's also gotten very good at her sign language. She uses "more" and "eat" quite frequently, although I think that she really means "drink" when she says to eat. She'll also use "all done" and "please" several times per day. Actually, she has figured out much faster than the other two that she tends to get more when she says "please." I remember that it took FOREVER to teach Aubrie how to say "please!" We just had to break her, though, because now she is the sweetest kid ever!!!!!!!

I think that Elise has the most potential to have my curly hair! Aubrie's hair is amazing as it is long, with just the right amount of curl, and Elise's is curly like mine. (My girls are amazing and beautiful!).

I can't get Elise to eat grapes or oranges, and sometimes avocados, but she loves everything else! I really don't have to worry about her not eating, like I do with Aubrie, as she pretty much eats anything. Elise started wearing size 18 months on her first birthday, which has never happened with any of my kids! I'm excited to take her in for her checkup on Friday to get an accurate weight, height, etc. I'm fearfully behind on her shots, though, so I'm not excited to see how many shots she'll have to receive...

She absolutely LOVES her brother and sister! She loves climbing on the couch (which she's now able to do without my help; yikes!!!!!). Seeing the kids together is probably one of my absolute most favorite parts of watching the kids grow up together. I love watching them giggle, laugh, and play together. I hope that they are always friends and close!

Also, she has learned "The Look" all on her on! It's sort of a joke, but she started this after being around Aunt Clarie only a few times. Elise has the most amazing eyebrows for The Look, and we have a hard time not laughing when she does it!

She FINALLY says "Mommy!" She would always say "Daddy" when I asked her to say "Mommy," and it became a funny game to her. After months and months of joking around with her (but really wanting her to say it!), she says "Mommy" all of the time now!!!!!!!! She's still a Daddy's girl, though, at heart. :)

Here is a list of the words that she'll say:

Hi, Puppy (any animal), Daddy, Aubi (Aubrie), Bubba (Evan), Elbow (Elmo), Elga (Elsa), Biper (Diaper), and Pops. She's our little mimic, though, and she'll try to copy any word or sound that we make. Oh, and she shakes her head no and says "u-uh" to any question that you ask her, even if she really does want it!

Elise, as with all of my children (thankfully),  is very creative. She LOVES markers, but is not allowed to play with them as she writes on anything she can get her hands on; cabinets, washing machines, paper, her face, etc. Also, if it's quiet, then she is into something. :) 

Cryable

While taking Evan upstairs to go down for his nap, he says, "Is it naptime?" 

I said, "It depends on how cranky you are. You've been really cranky for the past few minutes."

He said, "I'm not cranky, I'm just cryable."

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Gotta love the way he tries to put all of his words together!

New Blog

I have started a new blog in order to be able to continue to upload photos to our blog. I'm still keeping this blog so that I can turn it into a book (one day), but I'll start to post to our new blog from now on.

Here is a link to our new blog:

http://thegonzofam.blogspot.com/

Thanks, and love you all!

Job Stability

I hate that I have to write this post, but I want to remember what we're going through and all that God has done for us. Chris found out this past Tuesday (3/29/11) that his job is in jeopardy for next school year. He still has a job, but we're not sure what that is going to be yet.

As Chris was getting ready to take his band to the UIL competition, he found out from his principal that he was not on the master teacher list for next year. Because of a proposed budget shortfall, every district in the state of Texas is on a hiring freeze, as well as cutting back many positions. Chris was told that they could try to get him 2 half time positions (doing band) so that he could still be working in music. I'm not sure how that is going to work, though, because someone else would have to lose their job or be transferred to a different subject for that to work... I guess we can only wait and see what they say.

It's nice knowing that he will have a job next year because that takes away from the monetary stress that could've been created by this mess. It's just not knowing what he'll be doing, as well as being worried about the program that he's worked so hard to build up, that has him stressed. It's also sad that education has come to this point.

I feel very blessed to be where we are in this situation. I think that God has some amazing plans through all of this, even though I don't have a clue what those could be! I told Chris a few months ago that I felt that something big was going to change for next year. I honestly, as selfish as we humans can be, thought that it was about Chris becoming a head director somewhere and us moving into the home of our dreams. Little did I know that it would be Chris "losing" his job. I have often found that God moves in ways that we think are just plain crazy, but good always comes from it. In fact, it always seems to be the perfect ending, which we never would have thought of. So, I'm trusting that God is going about this in an unconventional way, and that something better than we could have ever imagined is coming our way.

Fun Conversations with Evan this Month

(While watching a show called "The American Rabbit" that we used to watch as kiddos):

Evan: "Those bad guys are not nice. Well, they're a little bit nice, and a lot mean."

Mama: "God says we're supposed to show love to one another, right? Are those guys showing love?"

Evan: "No, they are not in love."

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(To Chris when he went in to wake him up one morning...)

Chris: "Want to go to a birthday party today?"
Evan: "Yeah!"
Chris: "Then we need to get dressed, first."
Evan: "I want to wear this shirt." - it's a way too big camo pj shirt
Chris: "You'll need pants, too."
Evan: "I don't want to wear pants. Daddy, I want to watch you pick up the toys."
Chris: "These toys on the floor? You want to watch me pick up the toys that you got out?"
Evan: (said like duh!): "Ye-a-ah!"
Chris: "Well, let's get dressed for the party, then you can help me pick up the toys that you got out."
Evan: "That I DUMPED out! I'm canna help you!"

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(While driving back from a Life Group game night. Aubrie has been awake since 2:30pm, and is starting to cry.)

Aubrie: crying
Evan: "Aubrie, you want me to sing to you so you feel better? Do you like this one?" (he's playing with his sing-a-long Elmo toy complete with microphone).
Evan: "The wheels on the bus," etc. "Aubrie, you like that, Mamacita?"
Aubrie: giggles
Evan sings a few more songs to her, and she giggles after each one. Then Aubrie starts to cry again, and I ask Evan if he needs to sing to her again.
Evan: "No, I already sing to her. She feels better. Aubrie you don't feel better? Do you like this song?"
Aubrie: giggles

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Aubrie's 13th Month

* she definitely has a little temper when she can't have something she wants! She really loves to have whatever her big brother is playing with, and knows how to throw a major tantrum when she can't have it. But she's really good about being distracted, so that helps.

* she is just belly laughing at everything nowadays.

* she actually signed "please" the other day, but still cries most days when I "just won't give her what she wants" (when I'm really just getting her to say please first).

* she just started pushing around a little ride-on/push toy (thanks Aunt Weezie!), and is loving it! Up until now she just climbs on and off, over and over again. I think now she'll actually start to stand up on her own more often. (She hasn't really done that at all yet, aside from a few times).

* she loves to say, "Hi!" (sounds more like ("i")), to everyone.

* she now has 12 teeth, and is getting 2 more. She skipped the "eye teeth", whatever they're called, and is getting the first molars on the bottom. She seems to be a much better teether than Evan so far. Evan was really cranky when he was getting his molars! So far Aubrie is doing great with it, though.

* she still says "nana" if she wants food, drink, or milk.

* she also says "Dada" all the time, and just loves it when Chris comes home from work.

Evan's 34th Month (2 years, 10 months)

This month has been so much fun with my Little Man! In two months, he's going to be 3! Most of the time I can't believe how fast time has flown by, but it doesn't seem that weird that he's going to be 3. He's already telling us that he's 3, and then we have to correct him and tell him he's still 2. He now thinks it's funny that he and I have birthdays 4 days apart. I told him that I'm going to be 30 and that he'll be 3 (& he knows that his birthday is in May). He thinks it's funny to tell me that I'll be 2 and he'll be 3. If only.

What else does he do now? Hmm... Aside from the occasional meltdown before school because he wants to watch Blue's Clues, he's still the same happy kid. He still lines his cars up when he plays. He still doesn't like to eat dinner most of the time. He still LOVES to read books in bed. In fact, I've found him sleeping with more than one book spread out in his bed or under his body, and I've wondered how he could even fall asleep with all those books in there!

He LOVES to watch Blue's Clues. Man, oh man does he love Blue's Clues. If I let him, he would watch it all. day. long. if I let him. And his little photographic brain will remember specific episodes and then he'll want me to find it for him to watch... I guess I need to pay more attention!

He loves to make this cute face while telling me something that he thinks is true. He turns his head sideways, opens his eyes really wide, and kind of smunches his mouth up. He'll make this face while telling me something like, "____________________." Love that little boy.

His new favorite thing to do with Aubrie is to wrestle with her, whether she likes it or not. Most of the time, she's happy to play at first. But he likes to grab her around the neck and roll around with her. Good thing she's tough and pushes back!

I'm sure that there are many more things that I'm forgetting right now. As I look at my children, I think of all these wonderful things that I want to write down. But as I sit at the computer, I know that I'm not remembering it all. I only hope that I can keep the memories in my head as I grow older. One of my worst fears is growing old and forgetting important things in my life. I guess I'll just have to show my kids how much they mean to me every day; through every hug and kiss, bedtime story, kiss on a bobo, hugs when a bug comes too close, or playing cars and trains all day long. "I love you both so very much, and I am glad to have you as my children." ~Love, Mom.

(PS~Our blog space is still saying I need more storage space to upload pictures. So until I either pay for that or figure out what to do, I'll have to hold off on pictures. Not to worry, though, I'll get some up soon.)

Aubrie is a Ladybug

When I dropped the kids off for Rodeo Day at MDO this morning, I had a chance to talk to one of the other Moms from a girl in Aubrie's class, named Addy. She told me that Addy just loves Aubrie, and says her name all the time.

In fact, they took Addy to Build-A-Bear the other day, where she bought a ladybug. Guess what Addy wanted to name her new ladybug? You got it; Aubrie! Isn't that cute?! Aubrie has her first best friend!

Unk's 80th Birthday Party

On Saturday, February 19, 2011, the kids, my Mom, and I took a drive to Talco, Tx (East Texas) for my Great Uncle's (Unk) 80th birthday party. It's probably been about 6 years since I have been up to visit, and it was so nice to see everyone again. 

It's about a 6 hour drive from our house, so it was nice to have my Mom along for the ride. She really helped make it a smooth ride with the kiddos on that long trip! We actually missed the party, though. We drove up about 10 minutes before the party was officially over. But it was really cool to see the small church where my cousins were married again. So as soon as we got there, we packed back in the car and headed over to Unk's house.

His house is amazing, and brought back so many fond memories. I got to see my cousins again, and I was reminded of all the fun times we had there during the summers and Thanksgiving each year. He used to have about 1,000 acres surrounding his home, and we were able to run around to our hearts' content as children. We would ride the 4-wheelers through the "forest," find cool trails, make trips to Walmart for more fishing gear (because we lost all of our lures in the trees...), fishing, and playing canasta are just some of my memories. I also remember my Great Aunt Laverne making us take baths every night before bedtime, which I never understood until now. There's no way I'd let my own children go to sleep as dirty as we must have been!

I got to see my cousins and their families, too. Ashley turned 13 last week, and I hadn't seen her since she was like 6. Zachary, Markus, and Kristopher were all so much bigger, and were all three "all boy." And we got to meet Diane's 8 month old baby, Evelyn. She was so cute and chubby! I loved it!

Clay, Amanda, Ashley, and Kinley took Aubrie and Evan to the closest pond to the house, also. I stayed back to chit chat with family. We used to spend so many hours fishing at this pond, and it was neat that my kids were able to see that and experience some of that.

Evan loved the cows, and tried to talk to them. He was kind of disappointed that they didn't moo to him, until he saw some farm equipment that he wanted to touch. But as we were looking at the equipment, one of the cows mooed really loudly, and he thought it was really cool.

Aubrie was like a little monkey attached to me the whole time. If anyone wanted to hold her, I had to peel her off of me, pass her off, and then run away. She and Ashley bonded, though, and Ashley hung onto Aubrie almost the entire time we were at the house. I even saw Aubrie put her head on Ashley's shoulder once. So cute.

It was so nice to see everyone, and I hope we can make it up there more often so that my kids can experience at least a little bit of the wonderfulness that I did as a kid.

(more pics to come... It keeps saying I'm at my picture storage limit, but I've never had that problem in the 3 years that I've had the blog... So I'll figure it out and then add more pictures).