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

Our Family Vacation

So, we just got back this past Sunday from a great trip to St. Louis. We headed out early Thursday morning and drove straight to Six Flags near St. Louis. Nana rode with Alex, Ellie, and I, and Papa drove Matt, Ben and Greg. Good thing Matt actually read the directions that I had Yahoo mapped, because at the top, it SAID it was sending us to Six Flags, but where it was ending us with the directions was in the center of St. Louis!!! Nowhere NEAR Six Flags by the way. So, he called right away and got the correct directions. Good job Matt!
The big boys had a great time there, the little ones only lasted a couple of hours, so I left with them and headed to the hotel to check in. We just hung out that night and then on Friday, we went to the zoo. It was a nice zoo, comparable to Henry Doorly I think, but it was so stinkin hot, most of the animals were inside or hiding in caves or something. A fun time altogether though. The kids and I experienced Dippin' Dots ice cream for the first time. Very interesting...
So Friday night Matt and Papa went to a Cardinals vs. Dodgers game. Poor Papa had to sit in St. Louis next to his son wearing Dodgers gear. I think Matt said he got heckled a bit. Good for them! So while they were there, Nana and I wrangled up the monkeys and took them to the Magic House Children's Museum in St. Louis. They had a GREAT time. We were there for about 2 hours, and I think we could have stayed for at least 2 more, but it was getting late for the little ones. They had that electricity ball that you touch and it makes your hair stand up. Well, my sons later informed me that they found out that they had hair on their bodies that they didn't know was there, in places that they didn't WANT to know was there! Thanks boys, little too much info!
Saturday was a trip to downtown St. Louis for some fine dining, visiting the St. Louis Arch (very cool, but no, we did not go up), and then all the big boys headed to the day baseball game. Nana and I took Alex and Ellie and trucked our booties about 20 million miles in the 100+degree heat (just up the street according to Papa!) to see Union Station. There were several times when I thought I was going to lose Nana on the walk. You know she was looking pretty rough when a security guard stopped us and told us it was only $5 to take a cab, and we should seriously consider it! Well, we opted to push on and we made it! It was pretty cool at Union Station, and Nana and I had our caricatures drawn...funny stuff. We also stopped at the Fudgery for some delicious fudge, which was made with lots of singing by the workers and crowd participation.
Saturday night was wind down night. Papa took Ben and Greg swimming at the hotel while the rest of us relaxed, and I tried to get everything together for our morning departure. We headed home early Sunday morning. Overall, the kids did pretty well driving. Although the last hour or so on the way home was ROUGH for Alex and Ellie (and for myself and Nana). They were worn out! But I think they had fun, or at least I hope they did!
Now it's back to real life. School starts next week. Football started last week for Ben. They didn't have enough players for the fall baseball team, so he decided to try football again. I think he's enjoying it so far, although he has told me that the pads are a pain! Greg will start soccer soon. They are smart and don't practice in the 100 degree heat, unlike the psycho footballers!
Alex wears his Sportacus costume every day and is as hyper as ever. I think I can officially say he is potty trained. No accidents for quite some time. Ellie has finally tackled crawling and is pretty sure that she can walk all by herself sometimes (she can't). She's also quite the drama queen. She lets us know very loudly if she thinks whatever happened to her should hurt. She's finally getting her two front top teeth, and has three of her bottom teeth. She's eating all kinds of table foods now and thinks she's pretty hot stuff.

I think that's all for now. I'll post pics soon.
Take care,
Lisa

Ellie's Birthday Party

Well, we celebrated Ellie's first birthday in Omaha at Erin and Kevin's house on August 4th, and it was a blast! They have an above ground swimming pool, and it couldn't have been a more perfect day for swimming! It was, however, too hot for the silly folks who didn't bring their swimsuits! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

As for Miss Ellie, she totally dug (into) her cake! See photos for details. Apparently her foot wanted to get in on the cake action too! So anyway, we had a Backyardigans themed party because she really seems to like the colors and songs of that toddler cartoon. Yes, I know, it's sad that my not yet one year old has a favorite cartoon already. What are you gonna do... We grilled out and Uncle Todd smoked a brisket (thank you Todd), and had salads and chips galore.

Today, August 16th, is actually her birthday. We are going to take it easy, just have a little cake and a couple of presents. Today is also Class Assignment day for the boys, where we go find out who their teachers are and sign them up for activites, etc. etc., so thankfully Simi is going to watch Alex and Ellie for me! So that will be her big excitement for the day!

Have a good day!

Lisa