Lost My Blogging Mojo

I've never been one of the most amazing, fascinating bloggers. I'm still not amazing or fascinating. But suddenly I feel as though I have nothing creative or even interesting to blog about. I wonder if people are getting bored with updates on Ellie and Ethan.

I say I blog for myself to keep an online "diary" (or something like that), and that is mostly true. But I also love it when every once in a while I write a post that hits home with others. You know, one that many people can relate to. Or a post that's about a subject that I'm really passionate about, or a post about something I'm struggling with.

I guess it's true what they say sometimes. No news is good news?. I can say this, life for us has been busy but overall just good. Thank the Lord for that!

So, I guess I'm just saying that I'm sorry my blog hasn't been very exciting to read lately. I hope to get my mojo back soon. Not for everyone or anyone that reads this, but for myself too.

Okay, now that that's off my chest, here's some photos of this past week. It was a BUSY and fun one!

Last Friday I went to the zoo with my sisters, nieces and nephew, and parents. We had a GREAT time! Here are some of my favorite photos from the day.

Me and Jenn with our babies. Ashlynn is 7 months old.



Poor Alli and Courtney ended up carrying these two most of the day.




Ellie and Reagan. They love like sisters and fight like sisters. I love to watch these two together. They crack each other and everyone around them up!



The four older cousins



Me and Ellie on the carousel. Although this picture doesn't show it, she was overjoyed to be on the carousel.


On Sunday we went to the family cabin and spent the night there with Caleb's parents. We LOVE spending time at the cabin. I only wish I had gotten more pictures of our time there. Here's Elliana enjoying her first smore. :)



We spent the day of the 4th at the cabin. I think the highlight was taking the canoe out on the lake. Ellie really enjoyed that too.

In the evening we went to my parents house to watch fireworks. Even though Ellie is 2 1/2 years old, this was the first year that she got to watch the fireworks. She loved them!

Here's Elliana with her oldest cousin Devyn.



Sweet Reagan getting some alone time. :)



Our sweet, handsome Ethan.



Watching fireworks from the backyard.





And last but not least, here is a picture of our two babies together. I was putting away laundry in my room and turned around to see that Ellie had climbed into Ethan's bassinet. Yikes! Poor Ethan.



My sister Jenn used to climb into my crib when I was a baby. Maybe it's an oldest sister kind of thing?

Ethan at 3 Months

Wow! Another month gone by just like that.

I'm sure Ethan will be a year old before I know it.

Here's an update on our little man.

Ethan, you are THREE months old and growing like a weed! We can't remember life before you. You are still very sweet and easy going.



~At 3 months, I'm going to guess that you weigh around 9 1/2 pounds. You have grown a lot this month and are even becoming a bit round and chubby. Got to love your baby fat. :)

~You have outgrown your newborn clothes and you are now wearing 0-3 months.

~You're still in size 1 diapers.

~You nurse every 3 hours or so.

~You still love your sleep and we do NOT complain about that! You are sleeping through the night in your bassinette most nights. Every once in a while you'll wake up once but it doesn't happen often. I would guess that you sleep 14-16 hours in a 24 hour period. Yes my son, you like your sleep.

~You are smiling, cooing, and razzing. It's so fun to get close to your face and let you "talk" and smile away.



~Your favorite places to be are in the swing, in the bouncy seat, or in anyone's arms (especially your mama's arms). :)

~We tried putting you in the bumbo seat this month. You liked it a lot the first time, but after the first time you decided you did not like it-at all!



~You are still such a happy and content baby. You only cry when you're really hungry, tired, or desperately need a diaper change.

~Your sister adores you. She's always asking where you are and trying to get close to you. Sometimes she loves you too much. She'll almost climb on top of you and smother you. We have to constantly remind her to be gentle and give you some space. Ha!





~You love to snuggle and we love snuggling with you!

~Nicknames: Handsome, Little Man, EJ, and Bud. Ellie loves to remind everyone that you are her baby brother and she often asks Caleb and I to call you son.

Ethan, we love you so much and are so proud that you are ours. We are so enjoying watching you grow and become your own little person.

Our Trip - Part 2

After Nate and Amanda's wedding was over, we hung out on Sunday morning with the extended family that had come from all over. We swam in the hotel pool, had lunch, and just enjoyed talking and catching up with everyone.

After lunch on Sunday, we took off to Tulsa to visit our long time friends Matt and Erika. Matt went to high school with me and Caleb. When he was dating Erika, I instantly liked her and knew we'd be good friends.

We had a great time in Tulsa. Erika is quite the cook! Everything she cooks or bakes is incredibly beautiful and delicious! I've told her this before, but she should definitely open her own restaurant. I know everyone would love her food.

Both Tulsa and Kansas City were incredibly HOT and HUMID! Caleb and I are such wimps when it comes to hot, humid weather. We definitely like cooler weather and air conditioning. :)

We did our best to stay cool. Luckily, Matt and Erika's neighbor had a pool and we used it as much as possible. Monday was spent having a slow, relaxing day at Matt and Erika's and we used the neighbor's pool and found other ways to keep the little ones cool. :)





Matt and Caleb caught up on some much needed guy-time and went out to lunch while the little ones napped. Erika and I had fun catching up at lunch too. Monday evening was a ton of fun! After putting the kiddos to bed, Erika made some fun shakes that just tasted like summer. The four of us enjoyed the drinks while we played games. Erika and I are both big fans of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, so we plopped ourselves in front of the TV and watched together (much to our husband's dismay).

Tuesday morning we headed to the Tulsa Zoo. It sounded like a great idea, and we really did have a great time for the most part, but the heat got to us and we weren't able to stay very long. Not to mention that we forgot our double stroller back home so Caleb had Ellie on his back and I had Ethan in the front carrier the whole time. Not the best idea when it's incredibly hot and humid outside.

Here's Ellie having the time of her life at the petting zoo.






So, after we couldn't take the heat any longer we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Elliana had fun talking to the Chick-fil-A cow. :)

Tuesday evening was a lot like Monday evening. Erika made delicious drinks and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Matt and Caleb played some more games and Erika and I opted to watch some more of The Bachelorette and Mean Girls. We were up waaaay too late that night.

Sadly, Wednesday we headed for home. This may not sound like the most fun vacation of all time, but it was relaxing and we had a wonderful time.


I simply had to add a photo of Ethan from the trip. He's so sweet!

Nate's Wedding Pics

For those of you that read the post below, I promised to add some of my brother-in-law Nate's wedding pics as soon as I got my hands on some.

My mother-in-law was kind enough to let me "steal" some of her photos from the wedding weekend and I had to share them. I still don't have enough pictures to really let you get a feel of the whole wedding from beginning to end, or to see the whole wedding party, but these are still some really great photos. Enjoy!

Nate and Amanda's Wedding Weekend - slide show

I'll tell more about the second half of our trip in my next post. :)

There's No Place Like Home -Part 1

We (our little family of 4) just got home from an 8 day road trip/ vacation to Kansas City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had a wonderful time but we're also happy to be home too.

Let's see, where to begin?

We started out in Kansas City to be a part of Nate's (Caleb's brother) wedding. Remember this post? Nate and Amanda tied the knot on Saturday June 4th and it was seriously one of the most unique (unique in a really good way) and fun weddings I've ever been to. We all had a blast!

Elliana was the flower girl and Caleb was the best man. They both did very well at their roles. :)



Amanda (the bride) has a very unique sense of style (I LOVE it) and it definitely shined through at this wedding. They didn't go with traditional matching bridesmaid dresses and black tuxes. Instead, they opted for an old fashioned, vintage look. I felt like I had stepped back in time a bit. The groomsmen all wore gray pants, white button up shirts and mis-matched ties and fun socks. The bridesmaids all wore mis-matched old fashioned looking dresses. I SO wish I had gotten a picture of the dresses and guys outfits but trust me, it all looked GREAT together!

The reception was at this great venue named the "Main Street Cafe". It was a great room that had groupings of couches, a stage, mirrors all over the walls, and it all looked a little mis-matched and old fashioned too. It just had a fun overall feel to it. Instead of your traditional sit down dinner, Amanda and Nate had a dessert table with little cakes, cookies on a stick, cinnamon rolls on a stick, caramel apples, a coffee/ latte bar, and pizza. So them, and so much fun!





This was my FAVORITE part of the reception, and I expect many brides to steal this idea. Instead of having a guest book for everyone to sign, Nate and Amanda came up with the idea to have a "photo booth". It wasn't really a photo booth though-it was even better! Whoever wanted to would go up on stage, pick a "prop"- they had sombrero hats, HUGE sunglasses, fake mustaches, boas, etc., and pose for one of the photographers taking pictures of everyone. Then you would sign under your picture. All of the pictures will go in a book for Nate and Amanda. Again, so much fun!



And the dancing, oh the dancing! First of all, Nate and Amanda took lessons for their first dance and it was amazing! They did a choreographed fast dance. It was part swing dancing and part, well, who knows but it was FANTASTIC! I wish I was cool enough to pull off a first dance like that. I also wish I had gotten it on camera.

Ellie came alive as soon as the dancing started and she became the center of attention for a short time. To say she enjoyed herself would be a HUGE understatement. She was having so much fun that we stayed well past her bed time.

I had to share some of the funny things Ellie said to Caleb and I during the reception. Caleb took Ellie to another room to change her diaper. Over and over she kept saying "We're not leaving are we Daddy? We're not leaving, right? I want to dance with all the peoples!"

As the night was coming to an end Ellie and I were in another side room and she sat down on the floor. I said "Are you finally tired little miss?" She suddenly looked up at me with big eyes and said "Mommy!! I forgot... to DANCE!" She then jumped up and ran back to the dance floor.

If you want to see Ellie in action, check out these videos of her on the dance floor:






I am so kicking myself for not taking more pictures, but with my hands full of taking care of Ellie and Ethan, I did the best I could. Would you believe I didn't even get a picture of the bride and groom?! I know, I know, no good! But I will share pictures that others took as soon as I can. :) Here are just a few good pictures that I took at the wedding:

Here is Nate holding Ethan and giving him a bottle. Aren't they handsome?! ;-)



Here is Elliana with her cousins. That's Nehemiah to her left. He was the ringbearer. Abby is to her right and she handed out the programs.



And this just might be my new favorite picture of Ellie and Ethan. :)



Because this post became so long, I've decided to finish up the second part of our trip in another post. I'll be back soon. :)