20 months

As life continues to go by super fast, it is getting harder and harder to remember to post all the fun and crazy things Elizabeth is doing.  I can't believe that she is fixing to be 2 years old!  Where in the world does the time go?  As Elizabeth turns 20 months, Mommy is now half way through her pregnancy.  I am hoping this little person inside stays inside too at least after her second birthday, but the way this blood pressure has been acting up, it will be a close call.  Besides having to deal with the high blood pressure, I have been pretty good.  I have good days and bad ones but all and all, I am doing good.  We get to find out the sex of the baby next week which we are so excited about.  It isn't that we care what the sex of the baby is, but I just need to know so I can get everything ready.  If it did happen to be a boy, I would have nothing and I am planner so I need to know!  When I went for my last monthly visit in May, the doctor told me I could have an in-office ultrasound to see if they could figure out the sex of the baby but the little person was breech with his/her legs tucked up tight!  It was still nice to see that he/she is healthy and growing but next week can't get here soon enough.

As I might be out of commission for Elizabeth's birthday, I have already set the wheels going to planning the whole thing so if my mom or Greg has to do, it will all be done. 

Here are some of things little miss is doing now:

• She is so freaking independent that sometimes it really gets to me because I might be in a hurry or want to just do it really quick, but Elizabeth will NOT let you help her with anything these days.  Even sometimes putting shoes on can cause a tantrum.
• I guess they are called the terrible two's for a reason... she can through herself on the ground, fake cry, and just be a mess.  Greg still does not believe in the terrible two's but he got a dose last night when she didn't want to take a bath.  I just laugh at him and let him learn.
• She is now saying so many phrases... my favorite "Daddy's at work" (I guess she hears that alot)!  Some of the other phrases: "I broke it." and "Get up."  She can also do almost all the animal sounds and they are so cute.  My favorite is monkey and then she puts her hands under her armpits and says "ooo, ooo, ooo".  I still think that getting tubes put in her ears has helped so much with her talking.  It continues to amaze me.  She will even now repeat things we say so we are definitely going to have to be more careful in that department.
• She loves to be outside.  We have to literally watch her all the time because she can open the doors and go outside on her own.  Even at my mom's house she knows how to open the screen door.  After her morning milk on Saturday's the first thing she says is "outside".  Now with summertime coming on with a vengeance, we have been letting her do lots of swimming since we have to be outside all the time.
• We are so fortunate to have a great daycare that teaches her so many awesome things.  Her sign language and being able to identify all sorts of things is totally attributable to daycare.  She feeds herself so good and only drinks from an open cup at school.  (We still use sippy cups on the weekends because of convenience but all week she only drinks from an open cup.)  They have also been potty training them at school and this past weekend it actually looks like it has been paying off because she actually took her shorts off herself and we found her using the restroom in her little potty.  We were so excited for her!  My goal is to have her potty trained by the next baby... four months and counting! YIKES!
• She loves all her vegetables.  Some nights that is all I can get her to eat.  I pray that she continues to love them.  She also loves mandarin oranges and strawberries.   I don't like to give her much juice (as she doesn't really need it) but my mom and Greg always find a way to get her some!  She will say "apple juice" and they just think she wants it so she can have it... oh the joys!
• She was still going to bed at 7pm until the middle of last week and she decided that she was going to fight me on that too.  She is now pushing 7:30 because I don't want to fight her too bad but by then I put her in her bed and she will cry it out.  She is often so tired that I think that might have  a lot to do with it.  Of course she still wakes up bright and early at 5:30am EVERY SINGLE DAY!  Routine is a kicker sometimes! :)

I love her so much and sometimes wish I could just stop time for a while and remember everything she is doing.  I feel like I have already forgotten her as a baby and often find myself reading back on old posts to remember. 

Here are some pictures from my phone and camera of our silly girl:

One of my early morning "OUTSIDE" times!

We all love nap times... she still takes a nap everyday for about 2 hours...

 

"CHEESE"!  She loves taking pictures now but doesn't pose very long to actually capture the picture. 

 

She can now almost dress and undress herself.  This is both a good and bad thing! :) 

 

Another pose...

 

My angel... I love her so much! 

 

This was her entertainment on the rainy Sunday we just had... it kept her busy for a long time because she took them out one by one and laid them where nothing was touching.

 

 

This is about as far as she got with putting them back in... 

 

 

 

 

Life is BUSY!

I know that a lot of time has gone by and I always think of things to write on the blog so that I remember everything going on in our busy lives but then when I sit down to write, I can't seem to remember anything.  We have been very busy with birthday parties every weekend it seems like.  We always have a blast hanging out with everyone and it is such a joy to see Elizabeth growing up with lots of family and friends in her life.  I am so glad that the weather is starting to warm up so that we can enjoy being outside and doing things with everyone! 

So my husband has been hooked on crawfish for it seems like weeks and weeks.  I think we had crawfish every weekend for about four weeks in a row.  One of my favorite times that we got together was at Greg's cousin's house.  Of course Greg planned it all out and even volunteered poor Russell and Raelyn's home but it was so much fun.  Brooklyn (Elizabeth's second cousin) and E had a blast playing together all afternoon.  Here are a couple of them playing (are they not the cutest little things!):

 

 

Every time we are hanging out over there it always makes us wish we had a nice big, fenced in play area.  Sometimes I struggle with having to raise our kids away from EC but I know that we are doing the right thing and making better lives for ourselves and our children in the long run.  So, we will continue to visit, play, and then come home to Rosenberg. 

 

E resting up for one of the many birthday parties we have been too! So sweet!

 

 

 

So last weekend was mother's day and it was actually a very relaxing and fun weekend.  Of course we had a birthday party on Saturday to go too but Elizabeth had a blast and Mommy and Grammy got to do a little shopping while we were there.  Sunday Daddy took us to eat at Mommy and Izzy's favorite place to eat... Bob's Taco Station.  I must say that if you have never been there, you are definitely missing out...

 

 

Mommy received a nice massage and a new Willow Tree Angel to replace all the ones Elizabeth broke!  :)  After breakfast Elizabeth got to play outside for hours and hours as Daddy attempted to put a new bumper on his truck (just FYI, it is still not on!).  After lunch we headed to El Campo to see my grandma and have dinner with the family.  I haven't seen my grandma in a few weeks since she has started her chemo but she is looking good.  We could always use extra prayers though so she can beat this cancers butt.  Here are the four generations...

And my mom and Elizabeth....

 

 

I often take for granted all the wonder things I have in my life.  I know everyone has pity parties but lately, mine have been pretty bad.  Sometimes I miss the friends and family that use to be in my life on a regular basis but then I have to stop and think about how busy everyone is.  My list of complaints can go on and on but at the end of the day, I have to just remember that I am loved and I have a beautiful family.  On that note, I will leave you with one more picture of my beautiful angel!

 

Can you believe she use to be this small!?! Where does time go!?!

 



 





 



Easter 2013

Spring time is my favorite time of the year.  I love Easter and all the pretty everything!  This year was kind of laid back.  Saturday before Easter, Daddy's work had a Easter thing that we went too.  Of course Elizabeth is TERRIFIED of the Easter bunny so the only picture we got was when the Easter bunny took a break she hopped up in it's chair.  She had fun doing a little egg hunt and they even fed up hot dogs... yum.

 

 

 

Sunday morning when we woke up, we found that the Easter bunny left Elizabeth some goodies! She is one lucky little girl!

 

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We then got ready for church, which is always an event with Elizabeth.  I usually love going to St. Philips on Easter Sunday because I love the music and it is just so uplifting, but this year we went to Hillije so that Elizabeth could have her own pew.  Ever since Elizabeth has become more active we have been going to church in Hillije because there is not a lot of people and she tends to occupy herself better there. 

 

She was so cute so we had to take some pictures in her church dress but getting a picture where she was actually looking is a totally different story!

 

 

For lunch we went to my family's Easter... this is before she saw the Easter bunny... then she would not hunt an egg for nothing because she thought the bunny was going to get her!  Silly girl!

 

 

Then we made it to the Leopold family Easter jus time for the Easter egg hunt... she was excited to get to hunt without an Easter bunny freaking her out!

 

Grandma Leopold and us. 

 

 

Cousins! 

 





The Baby

Greg and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our second little Leopold sometime in October.  My due date is not until Nov 2 but since Elizabeth came 3 weeks early, it is probably safe to say this little Leopold will also make an appearance in October.  We are excited and probably just as scared as were the first time!  Most people are thrilled with the fact that I am pregnant... of course I am bringing a life into this world... but some people just like to play on the emotions of a pregnant girl!  When I announced my pregnancy at work, everyone was happy for me until I told my boss... the first words out of her mouth were "I was wondering why you were getting plump."  No congrats, nothing... then back to work we went!  This is no lie.  I have not been skinny in a really, really long time (if ever) and I am very self-conscious about my weight and I don't need a reminder that I am overweight... I see it every time I look in the mirror! I was shocked and very upset that someone would tell me that to my face, but the way I see it, it is not against the law to have children and I am going to be happy for our little family.  So on that note... here is the little peanut:

This was at 6w6d but I am currently 8 1/2 weeks along.

 

 

I think that Elizabeth knows we are pregnant without really understanding.  Just over the last few weeks, she has been OBSESSED with her babies.  It started out as only one baby that we took everywhere we went, but silly Mommy bought another one thinking it is smaller and we can take that one everywhere, but no... Elizabeth just takes them both now.  It is so cute and she loves them so much.  She will feed them, kiss them, put them to bed.  She will even try and put a diaper on them if it would fit.  It has become our tool and our enemy all in one.  We will tell her "baby isn't crying" and she will stop crying if she is upset.  She will throw the biggest tantrum you have ever seen if she doesn't get to take baby with her somewhere.  When she gets in the car after school, that is the first thing she says "baby".  She is growing up fast and I know that she will be a great big sister.   I can't believe she is going to be 18 months next week... where does time go.  Here are some pictures of E and her baby:

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for Spring

On Saturday we went to the Eggstravaganza in El Campo.  It was really windy and trying to get a picture of my little mover and shaker is next to impossible but it was still fun to see family and friends with their kids.  I don't think we are going to have a problem with Elizabeth Easter egg hunting... she took off like she knew exactly what she was doing.  It was so stinkin' cute!  She picked up her eggs and put them in her bucket like she has been doing it all her life or something.  I tell you, kids crack me up!  She is doing some of the funniest things lately!  I love watching her grow and learn new things... now only if she would start talking!  Enjoy our pictures from the eggstravaganza...

She was absolutely terrified of the Easter Bunny

Mommy's camera is just too slow to catch that pretty smile 

She did love this Easter bunny though... 

"EGG HUNT!" 

"Humm... this one looks pretty" 

We saw Brooklyn... 

We saw Paislyn...

"Do you think my tractor is sexy?"

We are so ready for Spring and warmer weather... Lets pray it comes soon!

Catchup/photo dump

So it has been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog.  I have been 1.) busy and 2.) just plain tired!  I have been falling behind in lots of mommy-to-do's lately and I hope to do a little catch up.  So, here are some pictures of what we have been up to the last six months...

First we had FALL!

We went to Brookshire for a little Fall fun...

Daddy and Mommy went to watch the Ricebirds play in the State game! 

Then came Christmas... and we had lots of them! :)

Just a little fun at Grammy's house...

Elizabeth's first pigtails... 

Hanging out at Brooklyn's first birthday...

I hope to do a better job of keeping up with Elizabeth on here.  I want to keep a better log of everything she is doing.