Packing is Good Times

I'm leaving the boys in Dada's capable hands to visit Aunt Sessy in Savannah, so I thought I'd leave you with a picture until I get back. Suitcases are so fun.

How do YOU cookie?

Every few weeks I meet a dear friend MG for lunch. Who is MG? You might remember, I've mentioned her before. She was my supervisor and mentor when I started working at CDC, and we've stayed in touch past her retirement. We used to meet once a week, but because of schedules (and because I'd be as big as a house if we kept eating Panera once a week!) we usually meet once or twice a month. It's the highlight of my week, I love catching up with MG (short for Momma Gwen)'s life and telling her all about ours. She's funny, loving and a wee bit sassy at times, so any conversation with her is incredibly satisfying. As if that all isn't enough, she sometimes bakes goodies and shares! WHOOOOOO!! She makes the most incredible brownies (from a very secretive recipe) that are out-of-this-world delicious, and she recently made some cookies. YUM. She had a nice little parcel full of cookies waiting for me one day we caught up, and after I ate one at lunch (and another on the ride home), I shared one with the boys. MG thought they'd be better heated just a little, so I zapped them in the microwave for just a few seconds to make the chocolate a little melty.

And so the boys dug in. As I watched them eat, I noticed something that Keith and I have been aware of for a while: our boys are very different. Personalities, looks, preference for decibel level of their conversational voice, etc. Their approach to the cookie eating showed some of these differences.

Let's analyze Cole first. See how he calmly and deliberately puts the cookie into his mouth? Fingers go right in, guiding the cookie to it's destination.

I can't pretend that chocolate doesn't get everywhere, but he's fairly neat and gives a sweet appreciative smile.

Grady's approach is a little less....organized. First, he takes the cookie/food item and explores the texture. Since we're dealing with cookies here, he gives it the crumble test. If said cookie passes the crumble test, then he shoves 2-3 pieces of the cookie into his mouth at once. NUM-NUM!

Or, from the looks of this picture, he rubs it all over his face.

Messy or neat though, I could tell both boys loved the cookies, so thank you MG!

Beach Babes

Our boys are lucky enough to have two great sets of grandparents, and one of us those sets live at the beach! (some might say they live on cruiseships, given the number of cruises they do in a given year, but that's another blog post). Many, many a year ago Keith proposed to me during a 4th of July weekend visit to Navarre, so we've tried to go back to visit most Independence Day weekends. Last year we were just a tiny bit busy with two hollering reflux-having babies, so we did not make it to the beach, but this year, we went! It was the boys' first beach trip, and it was a huge success. No one screamed and threw themselves about at the feel of sand or salty water on their skin. (I'm not saying the weekend was free of temper tantrums, I'm just saying they didn't happen at the beach).

The boys loved going into the water at the beach. LOVED IT! Dada was always up for a venture into the waves, but Momma had to pass the duties on to Grampie once the waves started to get a little bigger than she is tall. It's hard for a shortie to stay upright in the waves when you're topheavy while holding Big Baby, ya know? Gran had all sorts of toys for the boys to play with both at the beach and at home, and best of all, she had some tasty beach snacks* Cole liked pretty much all the toys but Grady oddly gravitated towards an old flip-lid basket of Gran's. The basket is magical-you put things in it and close the lid. Then you take things out, and close the lid. Then you open the lid, put things in, close the lid. Then you open the lid, take things out, close the lid. On and on. It's such good fun.

Our good friends (and cute newlyweds) Mr. Andrew & Ms. Hela were also in Navarre visiting Andrew's parents, so they met up with us at the beach and later at the pool. Speaking of pool, the neighborhood pool was another big hit! Cole floated about with Mr. Andrew and Gran, and a bit with Dada. That kid knows how to relax, and was right at home floating weightlessly in the water. Grady liked the water, but not as much as pushing the plastic chairs around the pool. We like to think he's practicing the football sled drill, a baby-pool-esque version of this:

All in all it was a great weekend visiting with Gran GG & Grampie. We can't wait to go back. Pictures of everything I talked about above are at our BabiesSquared Picture Site. Click and scroll to Beach Trip 09. Enjoy!

*The boys want to know who decides on the serving size for those snacks. The container said something like 7 servings per container, and they finished that container within a few hours. Maybe the serving size is based on teeny little babies, and not Big Boys. Big Boys can eat!

So, way back in June...

Yes, friends, I am very behind in telling you about the goings-on of the Ellerman 4. We've been busy. Busy growing, learning, and carting ourselves here, there and everywhere. Back in June our dear friends Amy and Matt got married. You might remember Amy from our wedding, she was the tall good looking blonde bridesmaid. (yes, tall & blonde together makes me want to hate her too, but she's really rather pleasant and likeable). Amy and Matt currently live in Phoenix, so it made total sense for them to get married in Jekyll Island, right? Right. So they did. We were excited-extra vacation! Jekyll Island, here we come!

Problem is, we have kids. Two of 'em, and I didn't see how fulfilling my bridesmaid-al duties would be possible with Frick and Frack demanding all my attention.(see how I slaved at this wedding? Here I am, getting my nails done with the bride) In steps Aunt Sessy, another dear friend of mine. Aunt Sessy, or Sara as you non-favorites can call her- lives in Savannah and bravely volunteered to watch the boys Friday-Sunday so we can go do the wedding thing. She does have a bit of twin experience as she is aunt to two adorable twin girls (who are now about 4 months, I believe), and I just knew Grady and Cole would love having her all to themselves for two days of lovin' and spoilin'.

I have loads of pictures to share. The boys loved being at Aunt Sessy (and it seems Aunt Sessy either liked having them, or tolerated them enough to not have all their stuff piled up at the front door when we got to her place Sunday morning), and the wedding was gorgeous! Amy is a detailed oriented person (READ: slightly compulsive), and her attention to detail showed . From the programs to the welcome bags, the wedding was stunning! We also enjoyed meeting and spending time with all of Amy & Matt's Phoenix friends. Enjoy pictures from the weekend here: BabiesSquared Photo Site. (click, and scroll to Amy & Matt's Wedding).

I unfortunately did not get any good pics of the boys at Aunt Sessy's house. I did take one, but they were not happy about their playing being interrupted, and I don't think that's an accurate depiction of their time with her. Here is a picture of her and Grady at different time,

Congrats Amy & Matt, and thank you Aunt Sessy! We owe you big.

Content

As much as I like to grumble about it, I am happiest when busy and under just a wee bit of pressure. The last few months have been brutal in terms of keeping work/life balance, but at the same time, I feel like I was so much more efficient and effective. Now that work has slowed down and I'm not being awakened by my alarm at 5am, I'm feeling a little out of sorts and am learning to be content with the slower pace again. The good news is that I can get back to blogging, but the bad news is that without a deadline, I'm not very creative. So bear with me, I have several blog posts and cute pictures coming soon.

Besides blog entries, this week I am also focusing on being content. It's often an elusive thing if you're goal oriented, but I'm doing my best to be content with a house that is a wee bit tinier than we like, but isn't selling, a dog that is a wee bit more annoying than I have patience for (what, I'm just being honest), a husband who insists on throwing his dirty clothes in a circle around our bed, and two sons who think its hilarious to take a sip from the sippy cup and then spit it all over their shirts. Not funny. Not funny at all, Momma thinks.

Last day

As I struggle to pull myself out of bed and into the shower, I take comfort in the fact that is today is my last crazy day, and come 3:30, I can relax. AND I have most of next week off to spend with the boys. Whoooo!

I bet Dada and the boys will do laundry while I'm gone.

2 days left

Here is another favorite of mine!

TH-R-EEEEEEE

Quatro, or Four

We've been watching a lot of Handy Manny at the house lately. Manny is hispanic, so he says everything twice. Once in Spanish, then in English. He's kind of like Dora the Explorer, but more rugged. In honor of Manny, the countdown today is numero quatro, or number four.

This is not a recent picture, but I really like it. This was taken at my work during a reception this past March, right after the boys turned one.

MUCH better!

This countdown interruption is to report that I am now much happier with the blog background. I gave the ole colored stripes a chance because Keith liked them, but that was a fierce assault on the eyes. This I can live with.

The Big Fiver

and 6...

7 more days

I have 7 full days until my hectic work season returns to normal. And by hectic, I mean really, really, really crazy. The good news is that it's all about to slow down, and the potentially even better news is that my work might be featured in Newsweek magazine soon. Let's all keep our fingers crossed.

Come next Friday, I return to being the witty writer that I (think I) normally am. Until then, we are doing a picture countdown. Today's picture is Cousin Rhett locking Grady into a dog kennel with Cole presumably cheering Rhett on. Do it! Do it! I can just hear Cole saying; he's quite the instigator.

Happy 4th of July!

Tomorrow we head south to Florida to visit Gran GG and Grampie for a beachy 4th of July. Hope everyone has a great weekend! Check back next week, I have several blogposts ready to go and will dazzle you with those then.

Flashback alert! Here are the boys on July 4th, 2008, enjoying Avondale Estates' parade. All I can remember from that weekend is that I was exhausted, and it was hot. Look how bald the boys were!