elise getting ready to jump 

ian testing the water 

elise jumping into the pool... 

elise floating on her back all by herself! 

some goggles elise got from one of her new friends at the pool.... 

ian loved playing with these plastic frogs all week 

ian waving from the pool! 

our last morning 

elise wore her daddy's shirt every time after the pool. 

ian looking for airplanes 

ian's mad face...he can't see any planes right now! 

The Verdict is In

ok....so the utrasound is (somewhat) official...we're having a GIRL!!!! we're all really excited here. the doctor didn't get a great look, but he felt like it was a girl. i've felt like it was a girl all along, so i trust the doc. i feel like he's right. i don't think cory is convinced yet. i guess we'll all know before long! =)

informal poll

this is your last chance to put in your guess as to what the baby is! my vote is girl. what's yours?

somewhere, out there

that's where i want to live...somewhere, out there. this morning cory heard a beeping sound that he couldn't place and began investigating where it was coming from. it turns out it was from the new invisible fencing system we bought. (it's not actually The Invisible Fence, but the same technology...we--meaning cory--just have to install it ourselves) so cory has the wire laid out, the flags up and all that stuff. he hasn't finished burying the wire, because that is a time-consuming task that just can't be done overnight. anyway, the beeping was coming from the fencing system. it turns out that our neighbors ran over the wire with the lawn mower and cut it in two. cory says he can piece it back together, but i am very annoyed. as i said, the wire was not yet buried....however, it was IN OUR YARD, there are the white flags all over the place, & no one said anything. i think i would feel a little better if they had come & told us or left a note or something. i mean, i understand that accidents happen. as it is, i am grumpy about it. i'm sure i'll get over it in just a minute, but i am frustrated & want to move to the middle of nowhere to avoid having neighbors!

Playspace

Yesterday we took the kids to this "museum" downtown called Playspace. it has all different centers or stations set up for the kids to play on. they loved it! we stayed for about two hours & the kids never got tired or bored. i think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves!

What a tower! 

Fireman Ian 

Cory & Ian working on a picture 

Ian using glue...scary! 

Arts & Crafts 

Riding along in my automobile... 

Not real sure what this is, but ian enjoyed it! 

So many costumes to choose from... 

Dancing Diva on stage 

Opening the bank vault 

Walking on crutches in the back of an ambulance 

Neonatal Nurse...just taking the baby out of the incubator 

Chef Elise 

name meanings

i really love what names mean. as we've been talking about what we might name this baby, i've thought a lot about what our names mean.

so here are ours:

cory--From the round hill; seething pool; ravine or hill; hollow
dean--presiding official
elise--consecrated unto God
grace--grace
ian--gift from god or God is gracious
jane--Gift from God
kristen--follower of christ

i would love to hear what yours mean...
if you don't already know, here are two pretty good websites that might help you

www.babynamesearch.com/baby-name-meanings.htm
www.babycenter.com/babyname/meanings.jhtml

elise-isms

elise said several things today that i thought were adorable & since i also use my blog as a journal, i wanted to write what she said.

the first one was as we were walking to the car...i was wearing a new green shirt & elise looked at it and said, "that's a pretty new shirt you have on." i was flattered and told her, "thanks". she pointed down to my flower bed and goes, "it kind of matches your weeds!"

the other thing is just a cute mispronunciation. she calls "scar" on the lion king, "Scarf". =)

the last thing happened while we played the joking game in the car. she will say, "why did the cow cross the road?". and i have to respond with the answer. after several rounds of this i was struggling for answers, so when she asked, "why did the chicken cross the road?" i paused and then responded, "chicken? why did the chicken cross the road?" elise goes (very dramatically) "yeah, you know, a chicken. it's an animal!" when i began laughing, she continued, "a chicken! it goes, 'bock, bock, bock!" when i just kept laughing she finally got exasperated and said, "okay, fine, why did the rooster cross the road then?"

the girl has spunk, what can i say?

there could be nicer ways to go

just saw this on the yahoo headlines

Fla. Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

baby names

we're narrowing down our list of baby names...just wondering if you had any suggestions.

what size?

elise has trouble sometimes distinguishing between measurements and how they're used....like height, weight, age, length. to her they are basically interchangeable. but sometimes she gets it right. like tonight, after having watched tarzan several days ago (and being fascinated by how cute he was as a baby) said, "our baby will be the same inches as baby tarzan! i'm so excited about that!" that's an improvement, though. while watching tarzan she said she wanted to steal that baby from the gorilla!

pregnancy

i was thinking about this in talking with mama the other day and the more i think about it the more i notice it to be true. i thought i had felt better this pregnancy and been more able to contribute to the household. as i've begun to feel better and better & more like myself, i've realized how much i was not doing. i think while i was down and out, that became our "normal" and i forgot how much i had let go until i started doing it again. it makes me very grateful to cory for keeping our world running smoothly & grateful that i feel like doing a lot of my regular activities again!

my first pedicure

yesterday i went with my two sisters-in-law to get a pedicure. we were celebrating melissa's birthday & after the great time we had we've decided to do it for every birthday! it was a really great atmosphere and a nice place, too. we climbed up into these huge comfortable chairs (that massaged your back as you sat there), and put our feet in this warm bubbling tub of water. the place provided us with drinks (we just had water) and the work began on our feet. while we sat there relaxing, we had all kinds of things done--exfoliating, massage, several other creams & products, sea salts or something, and several other things. (sorry i don't know the specifics...i was too busy enjoying myself). and then of course we had our nails painted at the end. mine are a neutral color (maybe a mauve) with a pearly essence to it. it looks really nice! amanda, melissa, & i had a great time. we're disappointed that the next birthday isn't until november (although we were tempted to celebrate some of the kids there as well..lol) and i have to say, big ups to cory's parents who watched six children between the ages of 4 and 9 months. we couldn't have done it without them!

sibling rivalry

this morning elise was laying (or is it lying?) in the bed and ian, being the typical little brother that he is decided that he would climb up there and stand right in front of her. elise was annoyed by this and it showed. to which ian responded by getting even closer and annoying her even more. (hard to fathom, i know...=) i thought i would die laughing as elise in a very firm, loud, commanding voice said to ian, "Get Out My Way!" as ian continued to hold his ground, elise became more and more agitated, repeating louder and more frequently, "GET OUT MY WAY!" pretty quickly there we interceded and smoothed things over, but, ah, the joys of siblings....

word confusion

cory is going on splits with the missionaries tonight & so this morning we were calendaring about the days activities. somewhere in all our discussion, elise picked up on something & asks, "why do we do splits with the missionaries?"

take a sip

ian & i were sharing a mug of hot chocolate this afternoon. it was pretty hot when i first started drinking it, so i was sipping it with a spoon. ian joined right in, but pretty soon he decided he wanted his own spoon. he pulled a chair over to the drawer and opened it. there were no spoons left in the drawer, so he took the next best thing. he was so cute as he came back over & sat on my lap, dipping his fork in and slurpping hot chocolate right along with me. needless to say, i don't think he got too much!

top 10 foods i'd like to eat right now

this is in updated random order (cory's suggestion), because it's so hard to narrow it down....

1. shrimp, chicken, &/or steak kabobs
2. lasagna with garlic toast
3. hot dog w/ slaw, chili, ketchup, mayo, mustard, & onions
4. aussie chicken & veggies on the side
5. BLT w/ cheese, mayo, salt & pepper
6. chicken milano
7.key lime pie
8. smores
9. some kind of decadent chocolate cake
10. homemade lemonade

ok...i just realized there is one more i have to add...
11. sonic's chocolate cookie dough ice cream thing

naked

two of my nieces came over earlier in the week. kyleigh is almost 5 and marleigh is almost 3 & when they come over they love to play dress up. elise has an odd assortment of dress up things--old clothes of mine, bandanas, funky socks, all kinds of things--and the girls have a ball. one problem is that during the switching around of clothes, sometimes the girls (and ian) end up in just their undies/diapers. this was the case as they came to lunch the other day. all four of them were down to just the bare minimum of clothing and kyleigh observed that they were all "bus naked!" i thought melissa and i would die laughing as kyleigh told each one they were bus naked! =)

elise and kyleigh in their finest...elise would be in a robe to a nightgown, tied chicly around her waist with a winter scarf. kyleigh looks stunning in her own shirt and a silver tree skirt. who knew fashion could be so simple!

pantry

i was getting some things out of our pantry today & thought i smelled something a little funny. i began investigating with the most obvious culprits...the potatoes & the onions. i keep them in this bowl, so i took them out & didn't see anything out of the ordinary. after i got that far, i realized the smell was stronger and more severe, so i picked up this bowl and underneath found a puddle of yuck. i can't really be sure how it got there or when. i have to think whatever rotted had to be fairly recently or the smell would have been overwhelming (especially to a pregnant woman). i cleaned up the mess, sprayed cleaner & air freshner & i can only hope that things are better when i go in there next time. *yuck*

a quick question

what would posssess a child to take off his poopy diaper and throw it on the floor? just wondering...

baby shower

i helped give a girl at church a baby shower last night. two others helped throw it together. it was at my house which was fun to host, but may i just say that i am exhausted! i fixed those yummy ham and cheese rolls with the mustard/poppy seed sauce, a cake, and cupcakes. my friend (who had no connection to the shower) helped me by fixing a spinach dip and a hummus dip and bread & go along with it. someone else did a veggie tray. it was a nice party, a good turnout, and lots of good gifts and friendship. but let me say again, i am exhausted. whew! (as a side note, ian did not appreciate being banished to the bedroom with elise & cory to hang out during the party. he was extremely mad & offended & upset!)

cory's birthday

cory's birthday was tuesday. he got off work a little early & visited with all of us. then his mom, dad, sister, & 2 nieces came over. his mom & dad couldn't stay long, but melissa and her girls stayed for a supper of chicken enchiladas & birthday cake. marleigh, who is almost 3, really likes sweets and having a snack. at some point during the day, she pulled a chair over the freshly iced cake, where cory found her helping herself to the chocolate frosting! the cake had some cosmetic damage, but was salvageable. we had a lot of fun. cory got a nice pair of slacks, a new button up shirt, and a propane lantern that he's really enthused about. so its now 28 big ones for cory dean the butterbean!

napolean dynamite

i thought all you napolean dynamite fans might get a kick out of this. i was a little scared by my results, so take the quiz at your own risk!


You are LaFawnduh. Why are you so sweaty?


Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

meltdown

tomorrow is cory's birthday so today elise, ian & i went to walmart to get his gift and a few other odds & ends. somewhere in this trip, ian decided he needed to be held. normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, but between a cart & the pregnancy, holding him is just out of the question! so amid blood-curdling screams, kicks, body-flinging and the like, i strapped him into the front very tightly and headed for the checkout. and yes, the scene continued all the way to the car. needless to say we got many stares ranging from "oh you poor woman" to "wonder if i should help" to "can't she make him stop that racket" to "i wonder if she's kidnapping him". at that point it's a toss up as to who is actually having a meltdown--him or me!