And now a bit about my girl....

Ella, Ella, Ella, my sweet Ella.

Aliases: Pumpkin, Sassafras, Lilley Lou (from Memaw Johnson)

Age: 3 and 3/4 if you ask her

Activities: Ella is in ballet.  She LOVES ballet.  I can say that it's helped her to be a little more graceful and I think her technique is there.  She would like to do gymnastics too, but I told her that has to wait until she's school aged.  The gymnastics is thanks to the Olympics and a Dora special, "Fantastic Gymnastics."

Future profession in my opinion: doctor?  She loves playing "check up" thanks to a Disney show, Doc McStuffins.  Recently in preschool, she answered that she'll be a mermaid someday.  When asked why, she answered, "So my hair will go up and down just like Ariel's." :)

Favorite Pastimes: playing check up, playing Barbies, playing My Little Pony, pretending to be a puppy, pretending to be Mommy.  She is beginning to play more and more with Eli, which makes my heart so happy. <3

Personality:  Ella is so sweet and thoughtful.  She is starting to pick up words in a sassy-way, but has not used them with attitude yet.  Ex: totally  Today I packed my lunch in her lunch box because I'd forgotten mine at work.  When I asked if I could use her Tinkerbell lunch box, she said, "Yes Mom.  You can TOTALLY use my lunchbox today."  It was so cute of her.  I'm glad she said yes though because my lunch was already packed and the other side of her is a fiery temper.

Best facial feature: It's a toss up between her beautiful blue eyes and her magnetic smile. Or her double dimples.  I love those too.  It's so funny because the other day, I realized that Eli makes the exact facial expressions Ella does whenever they're being silly.  I wonder if Nick makes them or if I do.  Huh.


*As I wrote this post, I heard news of a friend and coworker's daughter had a seizure today.  Nick and I are praying for their family and the doctors.  It's hard to even continue this post.  I am SO grateful for each blessing I have.

Link to Linzamos

http://ybstl.blogspot.com/2012/08/carla-sue.html

Lindsay blogged about each one of her friends.  Here's the link to the one about me.  I felt like it merited a spot of its own today.  :)

A Little Bit About My Boy

Most times when I think of my kids, I just think about how I'd love to hit a pause button on our lives.  I wish I could just keep them frozen at these ages.  They are such wonderful kids and my heart bursts with love for them.  Since the real-life pause button has yet to be created, I will try my best to capture their little personalities in this blog.  Here's a bit about my little Eli right now:

Age: about 15 months

Nickname: my baby bird (based on his small, little cries at birth and currently the way he eats),  chunky monkey 

Method of Movement: Crawling at lightning speeds and refusing to walk.  Eli enjoys walking with a lawn mower-type toy.  He enjoys walking and holding hands.  He refuses to walk independently.  He just laughs at us and sits down.

Favorite past-times: Throwing everything he can get his quick little hands on.  He throws things hard and far.  You can see he's giving it all he's got as he nearly folds himself in half and lets out a loud grunt as soon as the object has left his hands.  He also loves playing in water, specifically the bath, but honestly, the dog bowl is right up there with it.  He just wants to splash all the water out of everything!  And he crawls his fastest when he hears bath water going or sees the dog bowl on the floor.  

Future profession in my opinion: Maybe a pitcher?

Personality: I LOVE his eyebrows.  They indicate whether he is happy or sad or feeling mischievous.  He is very animated with them and uses them frequently in his facial expressions and "conversations" with us.

Words he knows: Uh oh (when he throws something), MaMa, DaDa, Ella, Good Girl (for Scout, dogs, and other 4-legged creatures), PaPa, ball, boat, no no no no no no (he says this to me if I try to slap his hands and to Scout whenever she barks), hi, bye bye.  I've also heard him say "Thank you" before if I've given him something.  He's said it several times, but most of the time just looks at me like I'm crazy.

Hobbies: Getting past the child locks on the fireplace and kitchen sink.  Luckily thanks to a call I placed to poison control, I know now that all the rocks/materials in the fire place are non-toxic.  When he is scolded for these things, he laughs or mocks me saying, "No no no!"  Pulling girls' hair is another favorite of his.    He will look me in the eye and grab my hair and give it a good yank.  When I say/yell, "Ouch! No, we don't do that!"  He cries as if I've pinched him.  He makes everyone in the room feel bad for him! 

Best facial feature: Eyes, definitely the eyes.  They're the color of denim and beautiful.  Yes, I said it, my son has beautiful eyes.  I'm not the only one to recognize it either.  Others tell me all the time what a beauty he is. (I know, I know, boys are handsome....but I'm his mother, and I feel like he's beyond that....beautiful.)

The Story of Us--How I Met Your Father

A few weeks ago, Nick and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (of course we were together LONG before that).  Looking back on our relationship, I realized that one day, I want the kids to know about the story of us.  So Ella, Eli, here it is.  (Buckle up, it's a long one!)

The year was 1998 and I was a sophomore in high school.  I sat at lunch with a few of my close friends (Jennifer Everett, Lindsay Oldham, DeAnne Regensbuger) and maybe a few others.  At the beginning of school, we noticed two people (Megan O'Neal and Mike Hampshire--who is your dad's cousin, but I had no idea then) sitting by themselves at lunch.  We didn't know them much except having a few classes together, but we felt bad that they were sitting alone and invited them to our lunch table.  After I turned 16, I knew it was time to get a job so I could afford car insurance and gas. (I mean at $0.88/gallon, it was SO EXPENSIVE, right?!)  For some reason, I threw the idea out at lunch.  "Where should I get a job?"  Megan said, "Come work with me at Texas Willie's. I like my job.  We have $200 weekends serving."

Children, let's learn a few lessons here:
1.  When someone tells you how much they make that easily in conversation, they are usually lying or at least embellishing. (And she was, I NEVER made that kind of money there!)
2.  Never work at a place called Texas Willie's.  It's humiliating to tell people where you work, and you never know, you may be repeating the name of it decades after it's gone out of business to tell your children "The Story of Us."
But I digress....

This is how I know looking back, that it was a God-thing for me to work there.  I didn't even know Megan; we never really talked, just sat at opposite sides of a lunch table.  No one else had an idea where I should find a job, so I went there, even though it was a 20 minute drive from my house.  I had to get directions for Heaven's sake!

So I got a job there as a seater/greeter, then a hostess, then eventually a waitress, and made $5.25/hour.  I was the new girl, the fresh meat.  Most of the guys who worked there were....different.  More lessons to be learned....pause the story!

3.  I will do everything in my power to not have you work in restaurant in high school and even college.  It is a big drug scene.  Honestly, I had a crazy amount of access to underage drinking and drugs if I'd had wanted it.  Seriously, I will try to shield you from this environment as much as I can.
4.  The people who work in restaurants (and believe me, I've worked in a few, for more than 6 years) are a little off.  Not so much the servers or front stage people, but the behind-the-scenes people, are just odd.  The cooks especially are a little crazy.  It takes a special kind of person to put up with the stress of a busy restaurant WHILE being over a hot grill.  That "special" kind of person is freaking weird (usually, anyway).

Okay, back to the story.  As I was saying, most of the guys I worked with were a little "different."  I was the fresh meat.....People started asking me on dates.  I felt horrible telling these new people I just met no, I mean, I did want to make some friends.  So I said I had a boyfriend....good excuse, right?

It all worked out until one day, I saw a cute guy at work, and what was that?  Was he wearing a kelly green Texas Willie's polo shirt, just like I was?  YEAH!  He had dark hair that was frosted with blonde tips.  I later found out that he was a busser.  He had just finished cleaning off a table, and was carrying a heavy bus tub.  (READ: Since Nick was carrying something heavy, his biceps were flexed and 16-year-old Carla could barely resist.)  "Who's that guy?" I asked Megan.

"Who? Nick?  Why?"
"Uh....do you see him?!  Look at his muscles!"  <Insert girl giggles here.>
"Why don't you go back and talk to him?"

And so I did...and he ignored me.  (I later found out that your dad was ignoring me, not to be mean or because he didn't like me, but because he thought I had a boyfriend. DANG! The plan backfired!)  In any case, I didn't like being ignored.  I'm not trying to say that I was a big deal in high school by ANY stretch of the imagination, so please don't misread this here.  But I was certainly not used to this type of treatment!  And so like most naive 16 year old girls, for some reason, I pursued him, this guy who was "clearly not interested" in me.  (It must've been a God-thing because otherwise, seriously, if I had more intelligence than hormones, I'd have thought, "Maybe he's just not that into you" and moved on, but instead I worked harder at grabbing his attention.)  After a few months of trying unsuccessfully, I realized maybe it was time to give up.  And then was Valentine's Day, a busy holiday in the restaurant business, even at Texas Willie's.

I was hostessing and my seater was a no-show...something about her having better things to do on Feb. 14.  Well I couldn't NOT have someone to seat the guests on a day that we'd certainly have a wait!  The manager pulled the busser and had someone fill in for him.  Who got to be my seater and greeter?  Your dad!  We got to know each other through actual conversation instead of the "Look-at-me!" "No." types of interactions that we'd been having.  I signed my name, "Carla R. Revenaugh."  Nick said, "What's your middle name? Rae?"  Say WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAA????  "No!" I quickly replied, embarrassed 1.) of my middle name and 2.) that he could guess it on the first try.  I mean, it's practically a name like Rumplestilskin.  Never in my whole life had anyone guessed it at all, how could he have gotten it on the first guess?!  (Sorry Ella, but up to this point, I'd usually lied when people asked me my middle name and said that it was Renee....I love it now as an adult though.....)

The next day was Monday.  My 4th hour teacher said, "Did you all have a good holiday with your sweethearts?" I said, "Actually, yeah, I didn't go out on a date, but I had a really nice day with a guy I like."  That night, I worked again.  Nick was for whatever reason hanging around, but not working.  A manager caught me staring dreamily at him.  She said, "Why don't you just go over and talk to him?  You look ridiculous staring." Uh, what? Staring? Who's staring? Not me....why? Did he say he likes me?  Kylie (my manager) and I sat across from each other in a 2-seater booth and rolled silverware as the night went on.  Nick was still hanging around and Kylie called him over and asked him to sit down by me.  Honestly, I thought she was going to tell him to go home and leave working people alone, but instead, she looked at us and said, "Okay, now ask each other out."
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Blood rushing to my face.  Am I going to pass out?  I put my head down.  Seriously.  How embarrassing.  I have no idea how that moment ended, but Nick awkwardly got up and left.  I felt like crying.  For sure this was it, right?  I mean, he had a chance to ask me out and didn't.  So, for sure, he does NOT like me, right?  Well, heck I might as well give it one last try!

I walked out the door that night, hoping Nick would follow and ask me out.....  But he didn't...(later I was informed that he'd been waiting for me all night, and why did I think he was hanging out so long, and that I just walked out to fast.....)

And so I went back in.  I didn't ask for his number (because then I'd have to call and HOW EMBARRASSING!).  I mumbled that I'd forgotten something and walked right past him.  On my way out the door for the 2nd time, I said, "Hey, do you want to hang out sometime?"  Nick looked up at said, "What? Yes!"  So I gave him my number.  By the 17th, we went on our first date.  (Maybe I'll save that for my sequel novel, because it's a hysterically funny story by itself!)

Somehow 13 years seems to have flown by and I couldn't be happier to be spending my life with your dad by my side and holding your hands.  I love you guys!

Confidence and Germs

I joined a gym this week in an attempt to get back in shape.  My weight is the same as it was before Ella, but having a baby or two takes its toll on a body.  Some of the most important things that I want to pass onto Ella are a good self-esteem and self-confidence in her body.  I spent my childhood in what can I suppose only be described as a mousy attitude towards life.  I was too afraid to ever stop anyone from doing things that I knew were wrong or to speak up for myself.  I so badly want to build Ella up so that she does speak up for herself and she does step in and stand up for what is right.  So what does all of this have to do with me joining a gym?  After I had Eli, despite what the number on the scale or even what my husband said, my body didn't look the same and I didn't like it.  Frequently I would have thoughts like, "Ugh, look at that" when I looked in the mirror, but I made sure to censor them in front of Ella.  If I ever heard her say the same thing when she looked in the mirror, it would break my heart.  And then it occurred to me....I shouldn't have to censor my thoughts like that because I shouldn't be having them.  It's not healthy and I needed a change.  Getting out of the house for a few hours a week is hard.  Every time, Ella tells me how much she's going to miss me, and the whole thing has to be scheduled around Nick's work.  These are not the easiest of obstacles to overcome.  But somehow, I've managed, 5 times now (there was a 3 day trial....I haven't gone 5 times this week...that'd be just CRAZY!).  In any case, I feel like this is something that's worth it.  And I'm going to do my best to keep it up, because if that's what I have to do to get the body I want so I can be confident in it, and impart that on to my daughter, then it's what I have to do.

And on a lighter note....I think I'm going to take up sewing.  I'm super excited to start this new hobby.  I'm hoping to make gifts for Baby Austin (this is Craig & Amanda's baby's name for now in case they for some reason drastically change their minds later and in the future no one knows who I'm referencing).

And a funny story from a few weeks ago (6/23).  I didn't have time to blog it, but I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget.......I needed to shower and shave, so I thought I'd put Eli in the bathroom with me to keep him "safe."  What could happen with glass doors and Ella's help, right?  EPIC FAILURE.  Even after removing germy hazards, my son still found all of the grossest places in the bathroom, including: running his bink along the bottom and corner of the shower, then after getting a new one, throwing it in the trash (how did I not pick that up?!) and before I could get it away, getting it out of the trash and putting it on top of the toilet, then putting his MOUTH on the TOILET!  Ugh....I was half tempted to give him some alcohol to sanitize his mouth!  So grossed out.....

Stayca-Vaca June 29-July 8

Since we got our camper, we've been taking a staycation the week of the holiday at Mark Twain.  Almost our whole group camps with us, so it's Memaw & Papa Johnson, Aunt Jody & Uncle Bob Witt, Linda Gilmore & Kevin McAfee, Bill & Mickey Deuser (who live there now), and Tara Sheffield (who also lives there).

On our first night up there, we karaoked at Linda & Kevin's "red neck dome".  I was so proud of Ella.  She got up and sang "Big Green Tractor" with me.  Really, I just sang it with her.  She knew every word and did GREAT with the microphone. Seriously, my heart SWELLED with pride. :)

On Saturday, we had a campground potluck dinner, a golf cart parade, and watched fireworks.  Wouldn't it have been nice if we'd taken pictures of ANY of it?  Nope.  Sorry, but here's a few I took on my phone when I randomly thought about it.

She wants YOU!

Ella dubbed herself the "American Princess."  Who am I to crush her dreams?  She told me that she would wear  it every day and "Even princess sleep in their tiaras."  Really?  I didn't know that!

Eli in his drastically different, but so adorable 4th apparel

 On Sunday, Memaw and Papa left for a graduation party.  Nick & I had a party of our own on our new deck during naptime.  This was maybe my favorite day.  You should've seen the looks on their faces when they came back!

Ugh....I don't like it, but at least he gets it honest.

Scout went to the Johnsons' on Sunday.  I missed her terribly for the rest of vacation.  We heard she was acting depressed.  This made me miss her more. :(

The weekdays are pretty much a blur of Nick fishing, go out on the water, hang out at night, and repeat.  We played some games, which you know I love.

The only notable difference was on July 2.  Amanda got the best birthday present of all.  Her 20 week ultrasound was scheduled.....and...it's a BOY!!!!  How exciting!  We are so happy to hear the baby is healthy and a little playmate for Eli will be headed our way in November.

The following weekend, we traveled to Wheatland with Kevin & Linda and the whole gang for Kevin's boat races.  Nick really enjoys watching them.  The heat got to me, and I ended up leaving early on Sat. with a migraine.  On Sunday, instead of going back to the races, we decided to pack up and get home at a decent time.  

Over vacation, we realized that Eli's entire top gum is filled with teeth ready to break through.  The top 4 are clearly outlined and white because they are just so close.  However, we discovered a bottom tooth had finally broken through! (7/6/12)  My son is 13 1/2 months old and finally has his first tooth!  He wouldn't let us take a picture (not that you can see it clearly anyway), so just here's one after we found it.

Grant's Farm June 25

Kristin was in KC this week with Lewis & Clark kids at SkillsUSA nationals competition.  Why do I mention this?  Because it means that we didn't get in our weekly adventure with the kids and I really missed her.  It's so odd when your sister, who you work with and speak with every day (usually multiple times per day) is out of town, and not only that, but BUSY!  (How dare she be busy!) I missed Kristin, and Ella missed her cousins.  I knew I had to plan something big to make up for it....but what?  How about asking Nick on his day off to come with me and the kids to Grant's Farm, on a day when I knew it'd be hot?  Okay....Here's the thing, starting on WED, temps will be at 108.  However, the 25th was a TUES and highs would only get around 95ish.  That means if we get there when they open (around 8-9), we can get there, look around, eat lunch, and be gone by 12, 1 at the latest.  Although that's always the plan, and usually I can accomplish said plan with Kristin, somehow with Nick, we move slower.  So it was pretty hot when we left, but we had a great time together.  Here are some pictures.  There are lots of cool animals, and I took pictures of them, but let's be honest, if there's not people in the picture, to me, it's not worth my time in uploading it!  So I'm not posting pics of the buffalo, mules, horses, camels, etc....

getting ready for the tram ride

feeding the baby goats--through the fence--maybe next year we'll try inside the pen