Can we come over today?

The Cole's came to visit!!! I thought they were coming next week, but Lisa called today and asked if they could come over! So fun! We've missed our best friends from Arizona, and Max guessed right away who was coming over to play when I asked him. We now are even more excited to come to AZ in June for the draft! We took Rylee and Tyse to our favorite park, and had so much fun. Slides

Swings
and hugs for our long-lost girlfriend.

We miss you guys, thanks so much for coming over to play...sorry you got stung by a bee, Tyse...hope your hand feels better!

Walk-a-walk-a

We went on our first walk in our double stroller this afternoon! I was scared to break it out because I was afraid that Maxer would be poking Ivy the whole time, or he'd be giving her fishy crackers without me knowing. Neither happened and despite the fact that Ivy was probably starving, and it was way windy (and chilly), I think she really liked it! We only went a mile, but it was nice to be outside again!

4 Weeks Old

Ivy's growing and so much more alert...she's 4 weeks old today, and I can't believe it!

When Max was born, my sister Brandy gave me the idea to take a picture of him every month next to the same stuffed animal so you can see how he grows. It was so fun to do with Max, so I for sure wanted to do it with Ivy. Max made her this build-a-bear to give her when she was born...when you squeeze her paw, Max says "I love you, baby Ivy." sooo cute! So, here are her first two...This is Ivy at 1 week old... and this is her today at 4 weeks.

Sooo big!

Butterfly Jungle!

Jeffer took an entire day off today...(in the middle of the season, that's huge!)...to take us to the Butterfly Jungle at the Wild Animal Park. Well, we drove the hour and a half...or however long it takes to get there, just to see the butterflies, and when we got there, the line was HOLY LONG! So, rather than waiting and waiting and waiting with a 3 week old baby and a crazy little 2 year old, we asked Max if it'd be OK if we fed the birdies (which is totally awesome all the time) and go to the little petting zoo and call it a day. So, we bailed the line and fed the Lorikeets... ...and pet the deer that are in the petting corral. Max is getting so big, huh?!?
Then we decided that really, we drove forever to see the butterflies, and it was the last day to see them, dang it, we were going to wait in line until Max couldn't deal with himself anymore, and then we'd go home. At least we would have tried...

So we waited and waited...for over an hour and a half. Max was AMAZING all day, and amazing in the line for so long! Ivy was AMAZING all day, she ate before we left, slept all the way there, and in the baby bjorn...I fed her once while we waited in line, and then slept all the way home...holy amazing baby! (we were gone from noon-ish to 6:15 and she only ate once...and didn't even make a peep)

ps...don't laugh, we don't know if we worked the bjorn right...but she didn't fall out, so we're good, right?
Ivy sported a large flower on her head in hopes that the butterflies would land on her...dang! it didn't work.

Anyways, it was worth the wait, Max loved to see the huge freaking spiders and cockroaches that lived in the cave that preceded the butterfly jungle (caged, of course).

The butterflies were sooo cool, there were a gazillion all over the place, and they got so close to us. Unfortunately none landed on us (per Max's request, he didn't want ANY to land on him) and our photographer didn't get any pictures of us and the butterflies (he needs some instruction) but they were awesome!

Anyway, our first family outing with the four of us was really fun. Jeff was a really good sport, seeing as he messed up his ankle while playing softball with the ward this morning. He didn't complain once as he hobbled about the zoo, literally hobbled. I'm so thankful for my family!

Have no fear!

Today was my first official day alone, with no hope of reinforcements arriving in the morning, and I'm still alive...

...and so are Max and Ivy.

I even finished a project that's been on my list of things to do.

Its a pin cushion!

I found the plastic cupcakes at Joanns for 2 for $nothin'... and couldn't resist!

Cheryl's Last Day

Well...so sad, but we have to take Cheryl to the airport today...which officially marks the end of my days with fabulous help, and leaves me all alone with two little kids. Im scared to death, I know I can do it, but will I still be a fun mom to Maxer, and will little Ives learn that screaming is how she gets what she wants, or will shr be mild-tempered enough to know that Max is high-maintenance, and she needs to wait her turn? Only time will tell, Im just hoping that I can manage a shower and a coat of mascara every day before Jeff combs SoCal for its prize winning future big-leaguers. In the meantime, this is what we did on Cheryl's last full day:Cheryl constructed these way cute Mary Jane booties out of felt, and I embellished them... she made two other colors, but Im slackin' and did other stuff-- dont know what other stuff, but other stuff.

I finally made a cute little bandana skirt for Miss Ives which made me think of my dad (as he carries hankies in his pocket, and uses them on a regular basis, and thought he'd be proud of the legacy he's passed onto his children and grandchildren. Unfortnately, with inflation, we'll probably have to fork out more than a quarter for these Hankies to be ironed-- dont get too mad, Brand and Erin... You guys only got 5 cents or something crazy, and sweatshoppish. Inflation hit just after Erin outgrew ironing hankies, and passed the chore onto me.) :)(ps, I know her skirt doesn't match her socks... I just really wanted to try it on her!)

Ivy is working on her double-chin and filling out her cheeks. We are trying to get her chunked up like Max was. It'll happen, she just started out waaay smaller, so it's taking longer, but she's getting cuter everyday! And she's sleeping so well! And Max is loving having Grandma here... and will be so sad when she leaves. He's doing great with his new little sis, and loves to 'hold him.' He's such a big boy!

Max and Batgirl

The last couple of days, Max has enjoyed chasing our neighbor girl. They play so cute together when they are one on one. They just chase and chase and chase. This week she is a super hero named Batgirl, but her regular name is Analena. They are fun to watch! ps: max is rocking his shirt the Grandma Mousser made for him that says I'm Ivy's big brother. It was cute, but then he found Grandmas makeup bag during his naptime and had a party with her concealer and mascara. They were both casualties to his drawing on the sheets and his shirt, but at least the eye shadow survived...barely. If you look close, you can probably see the concealer on his shirt. crazy boy!

After Hours

We put Max to bed, and he has always been so good at just going to bed when it was time to go to bed. He's never fought us when we do our bedtime routine. He just goes to sleep...until this week. Weird. He still doesn't fight us, we never hear a peep out of his room, but this week, while AZ grandma has been here, and the extra twin bed has been set up in the kid's room, he's had a project after hours. Not sure if he does it as soon as we close the door, or if he does it in his sleep...but here's the routine. Snack time is at 7:30PM, 7:45PM is tubby time, followed by putting on jammies. Max gets to choose his 'high book' (the phrase is stolen from my sister Erin, and denotes the special books that are kept up high so they don't get thrashed...as much...), then he turns on the lamp in mommy's room and sits in our special rocking chair to read. Then he chooses 3 animals to sleep with in his bed, we sing a song while we put his blankies on, he says his prayers, and then mommy says a prayer, we say goodnight...and we shut the door, usually by 8:04PM.

When grandma goes into Max's room to go to sleep, this is where Max is supposed to be. All of his animals are there...and the basket that they live in during the day. But no Max.

Where on earth is Max? This is where Grandma is supposed to sleep, but there's a new resident...
...so, before Jeff and I get in bed, we have to transfer the little narcoleptic sleep walker back into his bed, and all the animals back into their bed. We think it's the funniest thing!
What a crazy boy!

Birthday Card Collector

Cheryl, my MIL, thought ahead and prepared the necessities to make this sooo cute birthday card holder. Of course, we never like the papers/fabrics that other people choose when they make them, but ours are always cuter! It was a fun quick project with mucho cutting involved. Didn't take very long, and that's the way we like it! Here's my finished product...and the link where we learned how to! http://littlenannygoat.blogspot.com/2008/10/craft-tag.html

So fun! Now I just have to write people's names in the correct spot (that stresses me out, because I hate looking at my own handwriting...and what if I mess up?!?) Pencils are nice. and stick my already made cards into the correct envelope. Woo hoo!

I'm Smilin'

Ivy is smilin' like crazy...especially when I'm just about to fall asleep. It's my favorite to watch her do it. She even laughed a little bit the other day. She's a California Girl California Dreamin"

Grandmas and Grandpas are our favorite!

Grandma and Grandpa Mousser


Mar Mar and Paw Paw (Ellsworth)

Tweeks

Translation: 2 Weeks Ivy is 7 lbs, 10 oz at her two week appt.

Our goal was to meet or exceed our birth weight, and she's a champ, beating it out by 3 oz!

Good Job, Girlfriend!

She is in the 25% for weight, and her 20 inches is 75% for length...

tall and skinny woo hoo!

Next Dr's appt. is in two months: that seems a long way away, but I know it'll come sooo fast!

ps...stinkin pampers never called us back..that's OK, we'll still rock the pampers on our booty until we're 3 or so!

Wish us luck!

So fun: one of our neighbors told us about a casting call for a 2-4 week old baby for a Pampers Diapers Ad. I gathered up all of my courage on Monday, and while my dad stayed home with Max, Mom and I took Ivy up to the casting call in Santa Monica... worth a shot, right?

Well, we made it past the first cut, so to speak, because we got called back to go in again tomorrow! Don't know if we'll get the spot, but it's still fun. Wish us luck! If we make it, Ivy and I will be in a TV commercial, as well as on their website, etc... Also... in the weeks to come, check out

http://www.greenasweegrow.com/home.php

Max was asked to be in a photo shoot for this new organic line of clothing. His photo shoot is on April 24th! It's not a paying gig, but he gets a free shirt, and a free 5 x 7 from the shoot. Sweet enough for me! Keep your eyes out for a couple of cute Mousser kids...and keep your fingers crossed for Ivy's call back tomorrow!

Our Easter

We had a busy weekend that absolutely flew by...

Max got to show off his new baby sister. He loves to hold 'him,' as he says, but was occupied the whole weekend with either a grandma, a grandpa or a cousin...he had such a fun time!

We finally dyed easter eggs on Saturday morning, and Maxer did a very good job making non-pastel eggs, just the way mommy wanted... we like bright easter eggs!
Everybody also went to the beach on saturday, minus mommy and Ivy, which was fabulous, and Max and the girls found a big whole to play in... I was happy that Max got to go, and I didn't have to chase him around!Sunday morning, Daddy blessed Ivy in church, the reason that our family was in town. Here's our first family picture!

Ivy and Max's Grandparents After church, the easter bunny came and brought Max sooo many fun things, including Bugs Life... ...and brought Ivy a truck load of jelly beans and The Little Mermaid. This is the blessing skirt I made her...She had the cutest 'go-big-or-go-home' daisy to put in her hair that my sister, Erin made her for her blessing, but it was roughly half the size of her head, and covered one of her eyes. I was sad not to put it on her, but you bet she'll wear it in a month or t wo. (sorry, Er) There's an ancient tradition in the Ellsworth family to crack (only on Easter, mind you) hard-boiled eggs on each others heads...I warned Jeff before I did it, but he wasn't very appreciatve...Max got me... :)
And the girl cousins hid easter eggs for a major hunting adventure, in which Max collected so many eggs...
...that he had to trade-up for a bigger basket!

We had a fun Easter, hope you did, too!

Mousser Girl Power

Our Arizona Mousser Girls got here today to be here for Ivy's blessing on Sunday. (They are pretty much Max's favorite thing!) Each took a turn holding our pretty little girl and Ivy loved it being snuggled and held all night long. She slept for forever....so, the fact is, that if she doesn't sleep tonight, they can't hold her anymore! :)

Katie...

and Aimee...

Julie...

And Max's little partner in crime (thanks, Lex for playing with him all night...he LOVES you!) Lexi

Check out all the cute blondies--sorry, Ives...you're a black sheep like me!

A Nest with MarMar

Mar Mar brought a fun project with her (one of many) for Max to do for Easter. They made a nest. It was an idea she found in Family Fun Magazine--which I love, by the way. First, MarMar collected sticks from the back woods of Sultan, WA...just in case they didn't have sticks here. She and Max found some more when they were collecting sweet gum balls at the park. They formed some Crayola Magic Foam (some kind of modeling clay) into a nest shape and Max painted it blue... Then they poked sticks all around the nest.
...see, here's a stick...So cute, huh?

After you let it dry out (which takes longer than 24 hours, but whatever) Max got to decorate the nest with Easter grass and feathers. We haven't dyed Easter eggs, yet, so we just stuck a hard-boiled egg in there for the time being...but Max promptly ate it, so we're waiting for some colored ones!

Cute little project!

thanks, marmar!