Happy 2nd Birthday, Eli!

Today is Eli's 2nd birthday. Two years ago today our lives were changed when we welcomed our second baby into our family. At times it doesn't seem like its been 2 years. While at other times, I can barely remember life without Eli!

2 years ago today

1 year ago today

Today

Happy 2nd birthday, Bubby! Mommy loves you so much!

Fritz's

Vito and I had a weekend away from the kiddos this past weekend. We missed them terribly, so we celebrated being home with a family trip to Fritz's Restaurant. What a fun place! Fritz's is a train restaurant. Orders at Fritz's are called in from the booths on a telephone. A server brings the drinks, but the food is delivered by "Skat Cat" on the overhead track. A mechanical arm stops your order at the platform above your table, which then lowers to deliver your food. This rig is a bit noisy and everyone watches when a meal is delivered.

Needless to say, Eli was overjoyed! He had so much fun watching all of the trains buzzing around the place. Olivia was a bit more timid, but I'm pretty sure she enjoyed herself.

I might add, I was quite proud of my little guy who shouted "PeePee!" in the middle of the restaurant. A trip to the restroom ended successfully with Eli's first "deed" in the big potty. I'm so proud of my boy!!

Starbucks

So remember my last post? When I told you I was to be starting a new class along with everything else in my life. And when I said I was crazy . . .

As I sit here at Starbucks doing homework (well, with a brief break to post this blog), I am reminded how crazy I really am. Yes, I'm doing homework at Starbucks. It seems to be the only place I can get to on a Saturday evening when I'm behind on homework and just have to do it. I'm only two weeks into the class and already behind. Two weeks into it, I'm resorting to leaving the kids home with Vito and retreating to a tiny table at the nearby coffee shop. Two weeks into it means six weeks more to go. Six weeks of Saturday nights at Starbucks. Hmm, put it that way and it doesn't sound too bad!

This was my week . . . meeting after meeting after meeting. Its a good thing I like the people I was in meetings with and that I love my job. I may have gone postal come Thursday evening if it weren't for those two aspects! I suppose this adds to the craziness I speak of.

Lifting my grande, non-fat caramel macchiato to a hopeful upcoming week of less craziness.

Crazy? Yes!

I start a new class tomorrow. I have a few classes to take in order to complete my course of study for ordination and one starts tomorrow. So why not add one more thing to my life. Crazy? Yes! But also ready to be ordained. A few classes, one more year, and I'll be able to check ordination off my "to do" list! I did my first assignment tonight with energy and motivation. Please pray that energy and motivation last past tonight! Ready or not, here I come!

While Daddy was at youth group tonight, the kids and I had a bit of fun. The evening started out kind of grumpy for all three of us. But after a change in attitude from Mommy, we all had a pretty decent evening.

Here's Eli with a tat of his lady. :-) Yes, he picked the tattoo and the location of where to put it. And he proudly held his shirt open for the picture!

My two goofy kiddos watching me make their dinner. This is Eli's new "say cheese" face!

And here they are making silly faces. :-)

SUCCESS!

I wouldn't be a good Mommy if I didn't blog about this achievement!

Eli went pee-pee in the potty this morning for the first time! We've been sitting him on the potty for weeks now, but he's never actually gone. He'll tell us if he's wet or dirty and he'd rather wear undies or pull-ups than diapers. So I know he is showing some good signs that potty training isn't too far away. I've always been told that boys don't train very young, but I do think having a big sister helps us in this area. He wants to be just like his Sissy.

So, this morning we had a great achievement! We all celebrated with clapping and cheering, and Eli got his first sticker on his potty chart.

Here he is standing next to his chart. He doesn't seem as excited as I am about this! (By the way, I think he looks a lot like his daddy in this picture.) :-)

Down 2.3 . . . 37.7 to go

New year, new me. Yeah, I've said it before. But this year . . . yeah, I've said that before, too!

So far, though, I'm down 2.3 lbs. Only 37.7 more to go. I'm motivated and excited. We got the new Wii Fit Plus with some Christmas money and its been fun the past three days. I feel energized and ready to keep working out!

We've also started eating better - all of us! Trying new veggies and cooking more balanced meals. It feels good eating well.

So, here's to a new year and a new me.

Speaking of weight, Olivia is getting close to hitting the 40 lb mark and I'm pretty sure she's grown taller in the past few weeks.

Eli still hasn't caught up to big sister, but he's catching up. I think he's less than a pound lighter. I found some pants at Target last week that I couldn't pass up. They are the kind that roll up to turn into shorts. Except on Eli, since he needs the bigger waist, these are super long and roll up just to the exact length he needs for pants! Perfect! Last year I passed them up in early spring thinking I'd get them later on only to find them sold out when we needed them. So off we went into the dressing room to try them on and choose the 5T pants! 5T! He's not even 2 yet!

I must do better at taking pictures to post here!