The Many Faces of Ellie Cave

The many funny faces of little miss thing! So cute I had to share! Enjoy!

Easter 2008

Hey Everyone!

Hope you all had a good Easter! We had fun traveling to Omaha, Sioux City, and Remsen to spend time with the extended family. We had a couple of Easter egg hunts, and the Easter bunny DID end up coming to Gramma and Grandpa's house, despite the repeated threats that he just may not bring anything to children who make bad choices! Apparently the Easter bunny decided that my children made good enough choices, although I begged to differ.

So the latest with Ben is that baseball is starting soon, I think in 3 weeks, so he is pretty excited to get things rolling. Also, his 11th birthday is right around the corner, April 17th, and he's having a pool party at the community center where Matt works out, and is inviting the whole class. That's a total of 42 kids! I'm sure they won't all be able to make it though, at least that's what I keep hoping for my sanity's sake!!! So anyway, 11th birthday...but I'm pretty sure he thinks it's his 13th. At least that's how he's acting. He was growing his hair out, ya know, because he's maturing, and that's the cool thing to do these days is for boys to have long hair. But with that hair growing came the growth of a major attitude! I'm so not ready for a pre-teen! The rolling eyes, the arguing, and giant sighs of despair...mom, I'm so sorry!

So anyway, in our parent/child battle for control, I took him for a haircut yesterday. It's not quite as short I as I would like to see it (and crazy Matt wanted it buzzed!), but I had told him we'd compromise and I'd let him keep it a little longer. However, when all was said and done, he informed the hairdresser that this haircut was NOT a compromise. So I informed him that next time we will NOT be compromising and he will be getting a buzz. He changed his tune pretty quickly. He will learn sooner or later not to mess with me....

Greg's soccer season has begun and his team is 1-1. He doesn't seem to be quite as enthusiastic about soccer this season, but I think he'll get into it a little more when the weather warms up. For some reason, he's not really a fan of playing soccer in 40 degree weather! Greg's birthday is also coming up, May 7th, and we are not quite sure what we are going to do to celebrate his 10th birthday yet. He's pretty laid back about it, isn't too worried about it yet. He's pretty preoccupied with debating whether or not he wants to grow up. Seriously, he told me that. He's not sure if he wants to grow up or not, and sometimes his actions tell me he's going with the latter! However, he really is a sweet and caring boy, and generally learns his lessons from watching/listening to Ben get in trouble!

Alex is just as onery but cute as ever. His latest phrase is "Do you know what GRANDPA says? Grandpa says YES!" whenever he wants something that I say no to! And he told me last night that he had a problem. So I asked what the problem was, and he said, "the problem is that we have to go get Greg from soccer. I miss Greg..." Awwwwwww. Another funny...he kept telling me that he wanted to play with the "potato" in the front closet in the living room. I could not figure out what he was talking about and just told him no. He kept asking me day after day, so finally I had him show me what in the heck he was talking about...he wanted the Play-Doh! LOL! He also has a birthday coming up, number 4 on April 30th. He told me he wants a rocket cake for his birthday. I'll have to see what I can come up with!

And finally, Ellie is still Ellie. Drama queen, princess, loves to make fish faces and give kisses when she wants to get down. Her favorite things to eat are the Little Einsteins brand fruit snacks, and yes, they have to be Little Einsteins (or Backyardigans). I bought the cheapy ones and she wouldn't eat them! Little stinker! She's becoming quite adventurous, climbing up steps, sliding down on her booty, and she now gets up on the hearth, climbs over the arm of the chair, and sits in the chair as if she's climbed a mountain! So funny. Oh, and she likes to read books.

She's starting to say a few more words, but she generally doesn't say too much. She just screams mostly. We are working on that.

So that's the scoop around here.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,

Lisa

Ellie's 18-month Check-Up

Well, little miss thing had her 18 month check-up today...she's staying right in the 25th percentile for her height and weight, and around 65% for her big ol' melon (head circumference), which she gets from her father! She's 22 lbs, 13 oz, and 31" long. So she's just our little peanut. I have to look, but I think Alex weighed that when he was like 9 months!!!

I also found out that she has an umbilical hernia, which apparently is quite common. It's not a big deal for those of you who don't know. We always just thought that she had an "outie" belly button, but as she is getting bigger, more prone to screaming and throwing tantrums and laughing really hard, it's making it bulge a little more. They usually resolve themselves by the time they are 3-5 years old as her abdominal muscles grow stronger. So no worries for now. I just have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get much bigger, red, swollen, etc., etc.

So anyway, that's all. She's doing really well altogether.
Lisa

Oh yeah, Kimmy Beware...

I forgot to mention...in addition to all the other stuff Matt is doing, he has also been working out at the gym for the last two months, going at least 5 days a week for 1-1/2 -2 hours! He is looking HOT!! (not that he wasn't hot before, just a skinnier hot!!!)

I'm so proud of him. He's really sticking to it. He really feels good and is hinting that he is needing a few SMALLER additions to his wardrobe! Go Matt, go Matt, go, go, go Matt!!

However, everyone who knows Matt knows that he is a people watcher, and I think that is the REAL reason he keeps going. His gym is like a soap opera, and if he misses a day, he's all messed up the next time he goes! He literally creates names for people and gives them a story. It's hilarious! I anticipate him coming home every night just so he can give me the low down on the show!

Ok, but really what is keeping him motivated is my little sister Kim! She is an exercise maniac and works out like 3 hours a day! She's nuts, but good for her. She's in great shape, and I envy her. I wished that I liked exercise. I think I'd be good at it !:-) Again, good to have goals...

So anyway, Kim can work the stair-stepper forever, in fact, I'm sure she's the reason they've had to replace the stair-stepper at her gym! LOL! But really I think she does about an hour at level 10?? Well, Matt wants to take her on at Christmas this year! He came home about 2 weeks ago and told me he could take her on NOW, and was all geeked up to find out how soon we would be seeing her! I was like, uh, I'm not so sure you're quite ready. She does like an hour every day! He didn't believe me, so he just had to call Kim. After speaking with her, he's recanted his statement and his working hard every day to get there!!!

So anyway, kudos to Matt. You all should send him messages to keep him pumped up!!!!

Thanks,

Lisa

Basketball and Ponytails...

So, I haven't kept up my resolution to post more often...sorry to those who live vicariously through us!!! LOL!

Well, basketball season is almost over. Greg's season ended last week with a winning record, but a loss in the first round of the tournament. Darn the luck. So Greg's passing the time by taking pictures with the camera he got for Christmas...

One down, one to go...

So Ben (#32) is playing right now as I type. Yes, I'm a bad mother today. I didn't go to what might be his last game of the season due to the fact that my toddlers are all but out of control at sporting events and I just didn't have the patience for it today. I did, however, go to what was predicted to be his last game last night!!! The team pulled it together and pulled out a pretty nice win for the first round of tournament play (it may have helped that the other team played with only 4 players for the first three quarters due to sick kids, but hey, we're not picky)! So anyway, if they win today, they play for the championship next weekend. Then basketball will be over for the season...just in time for baseball and soccer practice to start!!! Whew!

Although I have to say, since Matt has been coaching, I'm not doing quite so much of the running since he has to be there anyway, which is nice considering I have two little ones to get in and out of pain-in-the-booty but life-saving 5-point harness car seats! Car seats that, by Alex's standards, are "NOT BERRY COMFY"! He lets me know every time we go somewhere. So anyway, back to Matt coaching...he coached Ben's basketball this past season, he is coaching Ben's baseball team, and is talking about coaching Ben AND Greg's basketball teams next year! All the while working long and hard days to make sure that I can continue to stay home with the kids!! What a guy! He loves us, I know!

Speaking of staying home/working, I am actually going to be doing some contract design work for Matt's company, working from home. They are getting busy enough that Matt needs a designer SOMETIMES, so I will just log my hours and they will pay me as we go. I'm pretty excited!

And as for ponytails...Ellie got her first real one today! She's getting so big, and so stinkin' cute, but what an attitude she has!! She's talking all the time, but we don't really know what she's saying. Here's what's clear...Dada, Uh-Oh, Wow, Hi, OWWWWWWW, Juice, Cheese, Ball, and sometimes Mama. I think she also says please and thank you, but I only can tell by the context in which she says it, not by how it sounds!! She's generally been my very cautious child, but I've changed all that with one trip to a little playplace here. It's a little area in the Zona Rosa shopping mall and it has giant firm, but soft fake fruit for the kids to climb on. Well, she wasn't quite sure what to do at first, and really didn't leave my side for the first 20 minutes or so. However, one trip to the giant kiwi and it was all over. I had to pull her away from it kicking and screaming! She now climbs on EVERYTHING! And stands up on it like she has conquered a mountain! Pretty cute. Except her favorite thing to climb on here is the STONE hearth.

And then there's Alex, who is almost 4 years old if you can believe it! AND he just as onery as Ellie. In fact, I believe the two are conspiring against me. I believe he is teaching her everything he knows, and she is a quick learner! So anyway, I'm trying to get Alex ready for Pre-K, which he will start in the fall. There's a long list of things he has to know before he can start, and we have about 3/4 of them down. But I think it is going to take all summer long to get him ready. They expect him to be able to sit still and listen for TEN WHOLE MINUTES!! YES, ALL AT ONCE!!! He can't sit still for TWO minutes, much less TEN!!! But, it's always good to have goals, right?! Favorite new quote..."Do you know what Dad says? Dad says YES!" when he wants something that I have said no to! Oh, and another new quote..."Hey, what's the BIG IDEA?!?!?"

So anyway, that's the scoop around here!

Talk soon!

Lisa

Alex...Does He Know Me or What!??!

Ok, so this won't sound as funny with me writing it as if you had actually heard it, but for those of you who know Alex (he's 3-1/2) and know how he speaks and inflects his voice, you might be able to hear him saying this in your head. So here's how the conversation went this morning...

I was changing Alex into his clothes, and yes, he still wears Pull-Ups to bed because, well, I don't want to have any more laundry to do than I already have. HOWEVER, he pretty much is dry every morning, so as I was taking off his dry pull-up this morning, I said, "Yeah Alex, your nighttime underwear is dry! Do you think it's time to start wearing these regular underwear to bed?" To which he replied, "Noooo moooommmmm. I can't wear these to bed!" "Why not?" I said. "Because I can't go to sleep!" So I said, "Well, but Alex, you don't pee your pants anymore, right?" "NOOOOOOO", he said, and as he raises his hand and points his finger in my face, he says, "That makes you verrryy Grumpy!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA (I'm laughing in case you can't tell). It was soooo funny the way he said it, just very matter-of-fact, and he had his head turned and was kind of looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Funny stuff, for me anyway!

So that was my entertainment for this morning. He always cracks me up though. Yesterday, we got into the van and it was pretty cold. He told me that the van was too cold and so we needed to get a new one. "A new one!?", I said. He said "Yes, we need to pick up a new white car." WHAT?!?

And when our house gets too messy, (thanks to all of his toys of course), he tells me that we need to get a new house too! And when we are driving, he lets me know when the light is red or green, and if he sees a red light and thinks I'm not going to stop, he yells at me "Oh Mom, Mom, the light is RE-ED and it's not YOUR turn!"

Well, I could go on forever quoting things Alex says that make us laugh, but I'll let you go for now.

Lisa

It's About Time For An Update!

Hello All and Happy New Year!!!

It's been a while since I've last posted...sorry about that if anyone is a regular visitor (Jennifer!).

Lots has been going on since I last posted in August. We've endured a whole season of 4th grade soccer (Greg) and an even longer season of 5th & 6th grade football (Ben)! He had practice or a game every night of the week, and games on Saturdays! But it was fun and Ben is already talking about next season, so as much as he dreaded practice, he must have enjoyed it! They both are now playing basketball, and Matt is coaching Ben's team. For anyone who wants to come see them in action, most of their games are on Saturdays for the next 5 weeks. E-mail me if you want to make plans to come. We'd love to have you!

We had a crazy but fun Halloween in Omaha. My sister Chris got married to a great guy named Todd on Nov. 3rd, so we decided to head to Omaha for some trick-or-treating with Nana and Papa since we were going to be there that weekend anyway! The kids had fun and I think they wore Papa out! Ellie was a female Tigger (recycled Alex costume!), Alex was his usual Sportacus, and Ben and Greg were some random black robed scary things with sickles and sithes!!

The wedding was beautiful and perfect of course! We'd expect nothing less from our dear sister Chris!! All of the sisters were her bridesmaids so it was lots of fun! The wedding was at St. John's Church on Creighton's campus, and the reception was at the Tiburon golf club. Very elegant and beautiful.

Fast foward to the holidays...we were supposed to go to Sioux City for Thanksgiving but ended up staying in KC because my precious little Ellie woke up with PINK EYE on Wed. It was a very quiet but enjoyable Turkey day at our house. Matt made a delicious turkey and I made homemade mashed potatoes, corn, dinner roles... and what would be a holiday without Aunt Bonnie's famous Salted Nut Roll bars! Ok, they weren't actually made by Bonnie, I made them! They of course were not as good, but I dealt! And then there was good ol' Hy-Vee apple and pumpkin pie. We feasted all day and all night, played games and watched football. The boys helped us cook, they actually just peeled the potatoes, but they thought that was the funnest thing ever! Wow, I think I need to get them out a little more! OK, not really...

Christmas was crazy as ever. We went to Omaha and Colombus the weekend before Christmas and had a GREAT time with family and friends. Matt and I actually had a fun night out in Columbus with some GREAT and FUN friends while Matt's parents watched the kids. They didn't have so much fun. My "precious but very much attached to her mommy" daughter Ellie screamed for 2-1/2 hours while we were gone. I had her sleeping before we left, but Matt swears she can smell when I'm out of her range and wakes up! Poor Nana, she was a trooper and handled it well, and we are so grateful to her. However, I don't think she will be baby-sitting for Ellie for a while!! :-)

We came home on Sunday night so we could be home for Christmas day. We had some friends over on Christmas eve, and Christmas day was very nice. Thanks goodness Santa's elf had wrapped all the presents before we ever left, because she was way too tired to wrap them when we got home. That elf is such a genius! So, the kids all raked it in...that silly Santa, he must not have been really watching, because I was certain that they were all on the naughty list! Oh well, what are you going to do?!

Picture of Ellie in her beautiul Christmas dress on loan from Samantha Curtis. Thanks Samantha!!! Yes, she is getting into my lid drawer, one of her favorite things to do. However, she is definitely my daughter...she likes to pick them up and put them back after she has thrown them all out!

And one of Matt and I at my mom and dad's house in Sioux City. Yes, we look tired because we are tired! It's always fun-filled, late nights at the Block house!

And last one of the boys trying to put a gingerbread house together. Uh, it didn't work out so well! But it was fun trying!!!!

So, that pretty much catches you up on the Cave's! Hopefully I'll do a little better job blogging in 2008! I know you all have nothing better to do than read my ramblings!!!!

Best wishes for a safe, happy, prosperous new year!

Lisa