Capturing Moments

I love moments like these, I tried so hard to burn it into my memory. No kids were crying, no kids were fighting. Ethan was at Grandma's playing. Lexi wanted to play with make up & Makelle wanted to join in. We painted fingernails, put make up & jewelry on & had a girly day. The girls put jewelry & make up on me & we just enjoyed being girls. Makelle was so cooperative, she felt so big & loved having jewelry & make up put on.
Lexi got make up & lots of jewelry for Christmas & has loved using it! The picture below on the top right corner is when she did it herself. She put lipstick all over her cheeks & hair & when we tried to scrub it off it wouldn't come off. It died her cheeks, but she sure had fun. She also got some dress ups that she rarely takes off.. she loves feeling pretty.

Santa always comes to my mother-in-laws Christmas party on the 22nd. Lexi & Ethan patiently waited their turn to sit on his lap (there's 23 grandkids & they were one of the last to get their turn). Ethan was so excited when Santa walked in, he screamed "Santa's here!" I asked Lexi if she was gonna tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas & she said, "No, I already did." Santa had come to our ward party. She was right, why did she have to tell him again? Makelle did not like him! But at least we got the picture. The kids enjoyed opening their presents on Christmas morning. It was fun to watch their faces light up. We had a wonderful Christmas & enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Winter Fun

My kids are so lucky to have such a great dad! I don't enjoy the snow, I hate being cold. Luckily the kids have a dad that will play with them in the snow & show them how to make snow angels & snowmen.
Here they are making the first snowman of the season. Lexi didn't last too long, I think she's like me & doesn't enjoy being cold either.

TaDa!

My sister gave me such a cute idea I had to share it. You get sugar cones & paint them with green frosting & decorate them as a tree. The kids had so much fun doing this for family night last night... Jeff liked it too. The kids probably had more fun licking their fingers & knives filled with frosting.

Lexi ended up decorating two, she just had too much fun.

I am terrible at sending out Christmas cards. I have good intentions every year... most years I even get them addressed, but never sent, I don't know what my problem is. So consider this your Christmas greeting from the Ellingson family

Merry Christmas!

I just can't believe it!

I have had the flu 3 times this pregnancy. I had no morning sickness, but thrown up more this pregnancy than I have since being pregnant with Lexi. Makelle started throwing up on Thursday night. We thought it was too much oil in her tummy from dinner, there was no fever or any other symptoms. And she was fine the next day. Saturday night on the way home from my parents Ethan started throwing up.... why do my kids ALWAYS throw up in the car? Luckily I had a garbage bag & we caught it all. We also ended up on the side of the road with him puking some more. Saturday night I started feeling nausious & was out all day Sunday. So far everyone is feeling better... we're hoping no one else gets it & those who have had it are all over it! I want to enjoy the holiday parties & not worry about whether we should even go, so as not to get anyone sick. I know that was kind of a gross post, but I'm so sick of being sick!!

Loving the holidays

Thanksgiving has come & gone. We had a wonderful time with Jeff's family & then we went over to my family's for pie, well... more pie. It's been over a year since ALL of Jeff's family has gotten together, we were actually only missing one person, nothing like the holiday's to bring a family together. The day after Thanksgiving I decided it was time to use the treadmill that just sits in my room. It didn't take long for the kids to come in & want a turn too. Lexi is patiently waiting for another turn
I'm hoping to instill in my kids the importance of exercising & eating right now. They seem to enjoy exercising... it was Makelle's first time on the treadmill, I think she liked it.

Jeff decided to put the tree up. If he would've asked me I would've wanted to wait until the middle of December... I hate keeping Makelle away from the tree. She's drawn to it & loves to take the ornaments off, I think she loves to drive me crazy. I'm looking forward to all the Christmas parties we have going on. My most favorite tradition is boys against girls on Christmas Eve. We go with my family to shop for a family in need. We see who can get the most stuff without going over our limit. Then we doorbell ditch & leave their stuff on the doorstep. We get food & some gifts... I love teaching my kids that there are people out there that don't have as much as we do. When I asked Ethan why we celebrate Christmas he told me it's because when we want a toy Santa can bring it to us... we had a family night lesson on the real reason & now we have brain washed him to say exactly what we told him. One day he'll find out for himself, but for now me & Jeff try to teach our kids through our testimonies.

So Much to be Grateful for!

Our days have been filled with Ethan's soccer games. He loves playing & looks forward to his games. He had his last game on Saturday & scored 17 goals. I was so proud!! I hope the other parents enjoyed coming to watch my little boy dominate. He actually had an ok team this time... 3 other boys on his team scored too & helped a lot with defense. All his other teams, he's been the only one who knows how to play, so he does all the work.
I know this picture is blurry, but I thought it was cute anyway. He's giving his coach knuckles after one of his goals. He had 10 goals the 1st half & the 2nd half the coach tried to get him to pass the ball to his team. He got the game rolling & his teammates got into the game. We will definately keep him in soccer as long as he enjoys it.

Ethan and Lexi taught Makelle ring-around-the-rosies. She absolutely loved it!

She always got a little too excited & fell down before it was time. But she got the jist of the game.

I am so grateful for my kids! I love how good they play together. I love everything that they teach each other. I loved that when they were sick they wanted to cuddle me & stay by me; I'm grateful that now that they're better I have space & don't have 3 tag-a-longs. I'm so grateful for the conference edition of the Ensign. I love the reminders I get as I read it of ALL the things I need to do to be a better mom & a better wife. And I'm so grateful for my family & friends, for their love & service. It makes me want to do better at finding ways to serve others.

Catching Up

On Halloween Ethan started coughing & not feeling so good. Two days later I started coughing & not feeling so good, I got a fever & the body aches. I called my OB & they treated me for the swine flu. I was down for 3 days with no energy... literally. I just layed around for 3 days, barely able to get up & shower. I kept watching the kids & calling the pediatrician with any symptoms they had that were remotely like mine. None of them ever got the body aches & none of them lost their energy. The kids & Jeff were spared, how? I don't know, but I'm grateful they were. The kids have had coughs & low grade fevers & we are now just getting back to our normal selves. I now have the energy to blog again... last night ALL of the kids slept through the night!! It's been 2 1/2 weeks, but we finally pulled through it.

I haven't had the energy to do much, but I saw this cute idea on another blog & just had to do it. The kids feet are the body of the turkey & their hands are the feathers. They had so much fun doing this, Ethan did a lot of the cutting himself, the hands were a little tricky, so I did help him out there. But he did all the gluing & placing... Lexi put the glue on & drew her eyes, I thought they were pretty good considering it's her first time drawing eyes.
Makelle has been my challenge through all of this. She's been so needy & clingy. We have read book after book after book. And gone through so much motrin it's ridiculous. Apples have kept her happy for a half an hour or so... she did get 3 teeth while being sick, so I'm sure that made it twice as bad as just being sick. I can't tell you how happy I was when after two weeks of being cooped up in the house I got to go grocery shopping... the kids were excited too, & they were so good. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving & normalcy.

All rolled into 1

We should start with Halloween, because that happened first. Ethan is a knight (he chose that because he got to carry a sword & a shield around), Lexi is Cinderella & Makelle is a ballerina. Jeff took E.E. & Lexi trick or treating, while I stayed home with Makelle & handed out candy. The kids had a blast, they stayed out for about an hour and a half & came home freezing but happy.

Happy 1st birthday Makelle! The year flew by fast! She was funny & kept those sunglasses on the entire time she opened her presents. We had a hard time getting her to move on to the next gift, she always liked the one she opened. We also had a hard time keeping Ethan & Lexi from opening them for her, they were too excited. She got some books & babies & pretty's... Lexi was so excited everytime she opened up a baby, "For me!!" She was heartbroken when we told her they were for Makelle... even though she has a billion babies herself. Makelle tried reaching her cake while we were still singing to her... apparently she couldn't wait. She REALLY enjoyed the frosting on her cake. She never actually ate the cake, she just smeared the frosting all over her hair. I thought it was adorable, but a little hard to get out. We're so blessed to have her in our family! What a joy!

Just making memories

Makelle's new thing is to hide under the table, eat an apple & poop. I think it's adorable! It keeps her happy & healthy.
One thing I look forward to every day is having dinner as a family. We never miss a night. I love that Ethan volunteers to say the prayer every time & Lexi repeats exactly what he says. What a good example!

Ethan had his pre-school Halloween party. He was so excited to dress up. His eyes are half closed in this picture, so he doesn't look excited. But he sure came home happy!

My knight & his valiant steed. He was so excited when we called to tell him he was going to have a little brother. He ran to tell Grandma, screaming "It's a boy! Grandma, it's a boy!" He was so excited that he tripped & fell & then kneeled on his fingers trying to get up. Oh the memories we create!

Learning & Sharing

Let's start off with my lovely shiner! Lexi got rough on the bed & jumped & landed on my cheek bone. There was so much force that she gave me a huge goose egg & a nice black eye. This picture was taken about five days after it happened, so most of the swelling is down & it has a nice pretty color. I get lots of funny looks & a lot of people really think Jeff did it.
I've been into Super Nanny lately. She gives some really good tips on how to deal with the little munchkins. She talked about a listening game. So for family night we blind folded everyone & they had to listen to whoever was giving instructions to find a ball & put it in a bucket. The ball & the bucket were in seperate rooms, so it was kind of difficult. Afterwards we talked about the importance of listening to mom & dad, so we can be guided to our goal. It was a fun game for the kids. And they did pretty good.
We've also started a new thing; before we put the kids to bed we tell them ALL of the good things they did that day. I've been trying to write them down as I see them. So that even if there are tantrums & fighting at the end of the day we can still end on a good note. I've noticed their desire to do more good things throughout the day.

Ethan wanted to go on an adventure today. He wanted to look for shapes. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to help Lexi learn her shapes. We searched around the house for lots of different shapes. The vacuum is a triangle. I thought it was pretty clever & pretty close. It was even Lexi's idea... I think it was a lucky guess, but the more we do it the better she'll get.

This was their star find. Not too shabby.

Ethan noticed this rectangle right off... the door, but actually the rug woulda worked too.

I'd love to hear your ideas & activities that you do with your kids. I'm not very creative myself, I have to steal other people's ideas, that's why I watch Super Nanny. And don't forget to vote, the poll is at the top of the blog... boy or girl?

I'm Lovin' It!

I love all the energy that I have. Even though I'm not fully myself, I'm enjoying what energy I do have & am enjoying my kids a whole lot more! With no energy I literally didn't want my kids to do anything, I didn't want to clean up the mess. But now, I'm having more fun with them & don't mind the clean up. We let the kids paint pumpkins... they had tons of fun & made a huge mess. Good times! We made sugar cookies for family night. They had so much fun rolling their own dough & using the cookie cutters. Our family night was on service, we were supposed to decorate the cookies & give them to our friends & neighbors. We actually didn't have time to do that yet, so hopefully today. That was an even bigger mess & more work for me. But we had fun & made some good memories. Makelle was happy to entertain herself & was all smiles... she got to taste the dough too. She's been in a new phase where she wants to feed herself. So we gave her a plate & she had a blast eating pizza.

We find out what we're having on October 30th. So vote & tell me what you think I'm having. I've been secretly hoping for a boy, I believe three teenage girls would make me crazy, especially given how close they'll be. I know we'll survive & I'll be so happy either way. After talking to my aunt who has 4 girls in a row & super close too, I know I could do it & will have love & support. Let's just hope this one is a good sleeper too!

It's Amazing

It's amazing how little minds come up with big ideas. Ethan wanted to put on a show for me. Him & Lexi used the chair as a stage & did tricks & dances for me. He told me to put up the blanket & where to put the chair. I thought it was a very cute idea & their performance was spectacular.
Ethan showed Lexi how to do it & she did her own little rendition. It was adorable & I look forward to the next one

It's amazing that Makelle is up & walking. I don't know how it happened, every time she would get up to walk some little child was there to push her right over, or pick her up, or even try to "help" her. But she is walking everywhere now, so I figured it was a good time to put shoes on. She loves them & doesn't do to bad walking in them.

It's amazing that our garden produced as much as it did. This is me & Jeff's second year planting a garden. We are still figuring out tricks & what works & what doesn't. Guess what, pumpkins worked! We had a fun time picking the pumpkins together.

Yes Lexi is eating a tomato like an apple. I don't get it, but she seemed to enjoy herself. Our zucchini & squashes have also done well. We're so lucky to have a garden & eat the fruits of our labor

The Diaper Fairy

Lexi decided to regress from potty training & started pooping in her panties. This happened at least twice a day, sometimes more. I found it easier to put her back in diapers. She was still peeing in the potty, so I still considered her potty trained. I was complaining to a cute friend of mine & she suggested the diaper fairy. The fairy comes while she's sleeping & leaves behind a special gift. While we were in Disneyland I talked to her about the diaper fairy & what was going to happen, and asked her what she wanted the diaper fairy to bring her. By the time we got home from Disneyland she was pretty excited for her to come. So we gathered all of her diapers & put them in a basket by her bed. When she woke up the fairy had taken all her diapers & left her some make up.. (she's such a girl!) She understands there are no more diapers & has done so well! She has pooped in her panties once & had to clean it up. She got poop on her hands & hated it. I made it clear that it's her poop & she has to clean up her accidents... of course I cleaned up after, but when she wasn't around, so that she knew it was her responsibility. Lexi is now potty trained.. again & hopefully it will work for any of you struggling to potty train your little ones.

Disneyland, "diego" zoo & Sea World

Our trip started early Monday morning, we left for the airport at 6 am. We barely made our flight, security was super busy! Ethan & Lexi enjoyed their first airplane ride. Lexi kept saying, "Hold on, hold on tight." Makelle on the other hand cried most of the time & was not enjoyable. I don't blame her though, it was quite early & she was rudely awakened. We had a rough time finding our hotel, we went the wrong way a couple times, but we finally found it & headed off for Disneyland. The second we stepped in Ethan threw a fit cause he wanted to buy the first thing he saw... and the tantrums continued!!
The first character we saw was Captain Hook. Lexi was scared of him. Ethan was excited & Makelle really didn't care.

In Mickey's house, they were mad at each other & wouldn't sit closer together. I thought we were in a magical place, so the fighting would stop, but... I was wrong!

Here they are fighting over Mickey's chair. A little embarssing? I'd say so! It did make me feel better when I saw other parents dealing with tantrums too. They fought a lot, they continued their fighting in their sleep!! "Stop kicking me!" "You're on my side." After that we put them in seperate beds & things were much better.

In toon town they have a little play ground, Makelle was so excited to get out of her stroller!

Lexi looks a little worried, "He's touching me!!" She likes her personal space. Ethan loved seeing all the characters he sees on TV

This was the best part of my day! Lexi chose a new purse filled with good stuff for her souvenier. She hasn't let go of it since. She fell asleep everyday & missed out on some rides. But I was happy because she wasn't whining or crying.

This is included in the best part of my day. She usually fell asleep the same time Lexi did, so we had peace & quiet for a few hours. Bliss!! Makelle found this bear at one of the shops & would not let go of it! We tried every stuffed animal & character in the store & she pushed 'em all away. She had her mind set, she's a girl who knows what she wants. We were lucky to have my in-laws with us on the trip. My father-in-law doesn't like going on the rides, so he stayed with the sleeping girls when there was a ride that I could go on.

Ethan picked out the most annoying sword in the world for his souvenier. But I always knew where he was, it was that loud!

Makelle cuddling her two favorite things in the world. I don't know what I would do if we ever lost either one.

Goofy's line was always so long, so I just snagged a picture. He was always moving, so it was hard to get a good shot.

Waiting for the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was Ethan's all time favorite ride. Why? Because you get to shoot guns!! We went on it probably 3 or 4 times in a row, the line was short & it was fun for the kids to shoot the targets.

Mulan wouldn't touch the kids. They were soaked! There was a splash park type place in the Bug's Life & they loved it! It was so hot!

I think Minnie was Lexi's favorite. Makelle was puzzled by all the kissing noises she was making

Mater & Lightining Maqueen. Ethan was fascinated!

The next day we headed over to California Adventures. Ethan loved the Toy Story ride over there. More guns! The line was super long, but worth it, it did go pretty fast. And that is where we saw the Bawden's... any of you Harvest Park friends remember them from the other ward? Lexi enjoyed the swining ferris wheel ride. We also saw a Bug's Life 3D show. The kids hated it!! I thought it was good, but the kids thought it was scary. I also took Lexi to the Muppets 3D show, it wasn't really scary, but she didn't like how close everything got.

Ethan didn't enjoy the rides that were dark or got you wet. But he was a good sport & tried most of them. I wish I could've gone on more, but it was still fun to watch the kids enjoy the magic.

Thursday we headed to San Diego. Ethan kept calling the zoo the diego zoo, instead of San Diego. I was hoping he wasn't connecting it with Go Diego Go & be disappointed when he wasn't there. Ethan liked the bronzed animals more than he liked the real ones. He had to get his picture taken next to every one he saw.

They have a cute little play ground for the kids. They all enjoyed it!

I love Lexi's cheeser's.

Makelle loved exploring & getting dirty... anything but that stroller ...AGAIN!

These are the tigers. Apparently they have 4, but can only bring out 2 at a time because they don't get along. It was cool to see them so up close. They also have 2 lions, we got to see them chewing on big huge bones. The San Diego zoo is huge! I sure got my workouts in walking up & down those big hills.

The polar bears were the most exciting part. They were so active & playful, we spent the most time watching them. This was the first time I'd ever seen a panda bear. It was so cute! And of course we had to get the picture of the elephant stomping on the kids.

Friday we headed over to Sea World. They had an awesome penguin exhibit. And the kids got to play with the starfish.

They got to see a sea turtle

Ethan thought it was so cool

I didn't forget about Makelle. I know there's not tons of pictures of her. But she was good to either sit in the stroller or sleep. But by this time she was getting ancy.

Of course we had to see the Shamu show. The kids didn't particularly love it. They didn't want to sit down & watch anything. But I love to watch these animals. They amaze me!

There was 3 performing, I had an older man with a really big hat sitting in front of me, so I didn't have the best view, oh the things we do for our kids.

They had a really cool shark exhibit as well. You go underneath the ground & the sharks are swimming all around you.

They had a cute polar bear exhibit, but the bears weren't as active as the ones at the zoo.

Saturday we headed home! We are all pooped. The kids had fun enjoyed the rides, & really didn't want to leave. Makelle did much better on the plane ride home. She slept most of the time.

Ethan & Lexi enjoyed their new coloring books & watched a little TV. Before we knew it we were home! I'm happy to be home! Vacation is a lot of work, but we enjoyed our trip & hope to do it again when the kids get a little older.