A Princess on her Throne

I am giving Potty Training Elsie another go since school has started and we have had a calmer schedule during the day.  It has not been easy.  She just really doesn't get it.  Today she took off her poopy diaper, brought her potty into the family room and sat down on it, poopy bum and all,

 and...

fell asleep

 Ayla came upstairs and told me all about it.  I ran downstairs in hopes to capture it on camera.  Don't judge my pictures.  I wish I would have had the presence of mind to slow down  or open the blinds for this first shot before she started waking up and rocking back and forth.  I ran for my good flash and then forgot to change my shutter speed because I didn't want to miss the moment.  She is funny anyhow!  She kept going forward and backward as if she were trying to find a place to rest.  And by then the flash had woken her up and she was not happy.  She is yawning in this next picture and although a little fuzzier than I would like, I couldn't resist sharing.

I love that she is still in her church dress as if a princes sitting on her throne.
But maybe with out quite so much class.  Won't she will love these pictures when she is older?

Brent called and is only and hour away!  Yippee.  I need to get started on the zucchini muffins I promised the kids we would make  and surprise dad with before he gets home.  I love the lazy hours of Sunday with no where to go and time to bake!

First Day of School 2011

School started without a hitch and Ayla couldn't have been more excited. After watching two older siblings get to ride the bus and go to school for years, the anticipation was tangible. She loves saying goodbye to Elsie and having Elsie miss her. It means that she is the big sister and getting to do something not everyone gets to do. It made me laugh so hard the first day of school when Ayla came running home from the bus stop. I could see and feel the Joy emanating from her smile and her walk/run/bounce as she came to tell me all about the bus ride and her first day of Kindergarten.

The picture of her brought such tears to my eyes as I processed it because she is so beautiful to me. I love her spirit and will miss her so much this year. She brings so much peace and joy to our home, and it is lovely how we all adore her so and can't help but laugh when she is around.

Oh, I love all of my kids but it sure was time for Sienna and Hunter to go back to school and have some separation for each other and from me. Structure is a very good thing around here and the schedule has already been a wonderful welcome addition to the last week.

As a side note: If you haven't seen the new Winnie the Pooh(oh how I love A.A. Milne for writing of such wonderful characters) then you should do it. We all laughed about it for days afterwards and my kids play "Bakson"(Owls version of "Back soon" that turns into a horrendous monster that steals your socks and messes up all your books, ect.) all the time. And we loved it when Piglet said that he can not knot and everyone was so excited that he could Knot Knot. You have to see it.

Caught Redhanded

I opened the pantry to find Elsie eating chocolate chips right out of the bucket. She grabbed them real quickly and shoved them in her mouth. She makes me smile. Even if she does need some help with her hair.

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Stubborn

Mention physical therapy due to low muscle tone and this is what she decides to do...

Gotta love it. Would you still take her?

Little Miss Elsie

Many of you probably wondering if Elsie is walking yet. Well, the answer is nope, she is not. But not to worry. She is finding plenty of other things to keep her little, 19 month old self busy when she is not walking around the furniture, coloring(with her left hand, crayon poised perfectly),pushing her stroller around, or telling Buoy no.

She is busy getting in more cupboards and drawers than all three of the other kids ever did, put together. She unloads them and then finds herself a nice little seat from which to watch me and laugh.

She can't hold still and loves to be climbing. She does not stay in her high chair and has climbed out of it since she could pull herself up. We have to remember to buckle her in, which we don't always do. She loves to sit on the counter and devour the food there, or the table. She is usually one of these two places.

She is very happy when she is happy and she can also throw a fit with the rest of them(meaning my rest of them, and if you haven't been fortunate enough to see one in action then believe me they should win a prize for their determination). If she is mad she will throw things and shout, "NO!" and then crawl away and pout in a corner. She is just the same as the others in the fact that there is no calming her down. She needs to do it on her own, in her own time.

She can say quite a few words now and is learning more every day. She says, Buoy, No, baby, book, baba, drink, bubble, mama, dada, cup and I am sure some more I am not remembering right now.

She had a darling little smile that crinkles up her nose and her eyes are enormous and the strangest deepest gray. I love them. She has long, straight eyelashes and a little, petite, tiny, body. Her hair is finally growing in and I have had to cut it a few times to prevent the mullet.

I love her. She sleeps, smiles, eats and plays and then sleeps some more. Who could ask for more from my stubborn little non-walker.

Elsie almost walking