The Great Escape

Well, today the event that I have been dreading happened. Ellie climbed out of her crib. Luckily I was right there and caught her on the way down, but I don't plan to sit in her room all night waiting for when she decides to go wander the house. She had bitten Isabella (another first) and I put Noelle in the crib for punishment while I consoled her sister. Apparently Noelle thinks she is too young for time out and took matters into her own hands...and legs...and biceps. So tomorrow I am off to Babies R Us for the recommended crib tent (thank you Nicole) as there is no way that she is ready for a big girl bed. Can you imagine her in a twin bed? She would get lost in there. I've been reflecting lately on how easy Isabella was as a toddler because ,besides the drama, she never tried to climb on ANYTHING. Most of the time I was trying to peel her off me. Honestly, it is really nice to have 2 such different personalities in our home. I still don't understand how 2 such mild mannered adults have produced the Drama Queen and the X Games star as offspring though. Maybe it was all that southern sweet tea I had during pregnancy.

Snow day number 2

Well, yesterday we played outside without coats and blew bubbles. Ellie ate alot of bubble soap and Isabella tried to dominate every activity. Noelle can now climb up the slides and go down by herself. She also happened to fall down our hill in the backyard, first doing a somersault and then logrolling about 5 more times before Ben rescued her. Just a few scratches on her face but now I remember why we wanted to build that railing off the patio. Today it snowed and snowed and snowed. It was probably more than we have ever had since we have lived here in Knoxville. Isabella had a wonderful time as I knew she would. She pestered me all day to go outside but I was unwilling to take both girls out by myself. So I offered to take her out when Ellie napped. Well, Ellie never napped, so Izzy was downright furious by the time Ben got home. We listened to Ellie cry on the monitor and Izzy said, "I think she's asleep mommy". Nice try dear one. Eventually Daddy came to her (and my) rescue. I shoved them both out the door at him and said "see y'all in an hour!". Noelle was not sure of the snow at first. She was skeptical of her outfit which greatly impeded her mobility. She licked the snow and made a "brrr"face. Ben took her sledding down the hill. She cried but when he brought her back to me she cried to go back out. Maybe she was just a little wary of that hill from the day before. Maybe Izzy has the right idea. Here is a picture of her taking her baby swimming today. They both had to put on bathing suits. Then she loaded her baby in the car and was off to the makeshift swimming pool - our bathtub. It made me shiver to look at her but I had to choose my battles today. By the way, I have the best husband in the world. He is mopping our floor right now on his own accord. I am such a great housewife. My hubby works all day, takes the children when he gets home, did the dishes and now is cleaning our disgusting house. What have I done to deserve this?

Izzy's Dance Recital

The reason this entry is so delayed is because I have been trying to upload video of the main event onto this blog without success. I suggest visiting Paula's blog if you are a friend, or you can go to youtube and look at my videos. They are listed under cindymariematheson. The show was great and I have to say it sure beat the 3 hour long recitals that I used to be a part of (just ask my poor husband that in his undying love for me sat through 2 of the same show my senior year - gotta love that man!). Izzy was very "participatory" and seemed to eat up the fact that she was on display. I am glad she had Millie next to her to help her remember the steps! At the end all the students received a special medal and got to stand on the podium. Isabella again took the time to pose like a supermodel to get her picture taken. I am glad that her first ballet experience has been fun, without pressure, but now that she is almost 4 it is time to put the pressure on (just kidding, but....). I think that is she still loves it after this smemester we will try out a dance school, just have to wait to see where we will be in June!!

Christmas and happy new year!

I know, I know. Everyone has already moved on into the new year, but this is my first chance to post. We started out Christmas Eve with a dr. visit for Isabella. She seemed to be coming down with her 10th cold since October and I just wanted some validation in my thoughts that she might have allergies. Well, we don't know the answer to that yet, but we did find out she had double ear infections. Ellie had double ear infections as well, so needless to say we had not been sleeping much. We skipped church that evening in an effort to stay sane. Isabella perked up a bit and we set out cookies and milk for Santa. She was excited for him to come but did not want to see him because she is afraid of his beard. Both girls went to sleep easily, antibiotics on board. It was a true Christmas Miracle as Noelle slept through the night that night. Both girls were excited to open presents - they got a playhouse like Lindsay's to share, Isabella got a doll with a potty and sink, and Ellie got some little people playsets from Santa. Mommy and Daddy got them some clothes and puzzles. Ellie really got into the paper ripping but truly enjoyed climbing on top of all the presents rather than playing with them. We made it to church that day and enjoyed a calm, uncrowded, beautiful mass. After that it was time to get to work since we were leaving for Ohio the next day. We stayed in Ohio for 1 week and enjoyed seeing all of our family. The girls received way too many gifts from everyone and we could barely fit everything in to make it home. Isabella had a great time with her Grandmas and Grandpas and Ellie began to warm to everyone too. I think she is beginning to remember people from visit to visit now. She definitly prefers the men over the ladies though. She knows how much those Grandmas and Aunts want her approval - she prefers the more low key approach of the 'pas. We celebrated New Years with a sleepover at Uncle Davy's house. I made it to 11:20. Just couldn't do those 40 extra minutes. I climbed into the bed next to Isabella and was glad to just sleep next to my sweet girl to bring in the new year. We have much to do and look forward to this year. My personal resolutions are to find more patience with my children, lose 50 pounds (would it be asking too much to accomplish this by April 1st for my bridesmaid dress?) and to be more productive with my time. Happy 2009!!!

The Nutcracker

Today I took Isabella to see The Nutcracker for the first time. Having been a pseudo-ballerina at one time in my life I have been anxious to share this experience with her. I made peace with the fact that we would most likely be leaving early which made the experience a little easier. Not to say it was easy. Isabella LOVED it. And you see, that was the problem. From the moment the overture started her head bobbed in unison with the music and her little legs ached in need to join in on the movement. She was able to contain herself pretty well for the first half, thanks in part to our awesome seats. We were only 3 rows back in the balcony (which I have always preferred to get the full stage view) with nobody in front of us directly. She had no trouble seeing. At intermission she entertained most of the lobby with her skilled arabesques and even inspired some other young folk to join in. For the second act we moved to an empty section of the balcony as I anticipated an early exit. I was correct in my thinking. She enjoyed Mother Ginger with the children running under her skirts, but the Waltz of the Flowers is a little too long for anyone to handle. I was glad to take off, as the production was good (definitely better than I could have ever danced) but the set and choreography (in my humble opinion) uninspiring. Plus we beat the traffic (yay!). I am glad that we did it, but I will probably hold off for a few years before we do it again. As Isabella said when we were done, "mommy, that was a really long movie."

Oh Christmas Tree...

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how long will you be standing? Seriously....

We put up our trees December 1st and neither girl will leave them alone. Noelle's main goal is to savor the taste of every ornament, while Isabella likes to make up stories about the ballerinas - this cannot be done without taking them off the tree. Her favorite story is about the double life of ballerinas- I bet you didn't know they are physical therapists too. According to Isabella, ballerinas help get the people out of bed who have headaches and knees that hurt. It is no coincidence that I also went to work this week for the first time in ages. This is how I've explained my job to her because I don't think she would understand that some people have artificial knees and it is my job to torture them, or that the 300lb guy that just laid his bike down on "The Dragon" and has a shattered pelvis must walk TODAY (per dr.'s orders). I do love my job but it is a tough one to explain to the queen of "but why?" On a funny note, Isabella was crying before bed last night. When we asked her why, she said through her tears "I am just a drama queen!"

As for Noelle, we have increased our workload by 90% by putting up the trees. We need to know where she is now every second. She is very skilled at taking off ornaments. Her favorites are the plastic icicles. She'll double fist them and lick away. Yum! The grandmas are going to be very happy to have us in their "empty nester inappropriately decorated for children" houses this Christmas. The neat part about all of this is that you can truly see the excitement in their faces. There is something magical about all of those lights.

proof

Here is proof of Ellie, or as we like to call her, The Ellinator, performing her gate-climbing stunts. She looks alot like George, the infant chimpanzee here at the Knoxville Zoo. Don't worry, Ben was within arms length of her, hidden from the camera for effect.