What we've been up to

Ellery is officially pooping on the potty...usually every day. Praise the Lord. I don't know what just clicked in that child's mind but I am loving it! I guess you leave one stage though to enter the next one. Now, she is scared at night and wakes up some nights screaming. A few nights Nathan has made a pallet on her floor to help her get back to sleep. She seems to be mainly scared of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and fires - very strange.

Price had another test on Friday at Texas Childrens, an MRI. Here's the unhappy camper after the nurse did quite a bit of poking around for his vein for the IV. He was sedated for about 2 hours. Nathan and I were laughing about the first time Ellery got sick. She had pink eye and I seriously thought she might die. She was just so little and vulnerable and I was a brand new mom who was already madly in love with her baby. Now things like MRI's and sedating don't even phase me. I know in the scheme of things these aren't huge things, but for a mom with worry-wart tendencies, this is saying a lot. The Lord has really used everything we have endured with Price to teach me about worry and anxiety. He has used and continues to use this time to remind me that Price is His, first and foremost.

Seriously, Price is such a trooper. He is the most gentle and joyful baby we could ever ask for. We didn't hear any surprising news from his MRI, which was good. If you think about it, pray for the fluid in his head to continue to absorb. We know that this is the key to helping him make progress with his muscle tone and motor skills.

Ellery has a new love - dancing. It seems that week of dance camp just did it for her. She loves to catch a glimpse of herself in a mirror or window while she is strutting her stuff. Here's a quick video we took yesterday. We had watched that wedding entrance video on youtube that is circulating and it got her going.

p.s. That is Colby squealing in the background. He is such an attention-seeker.

It's the little things

I love this picture of my messy boy because it means he is playing with his food! He knows that the food belongs in his mouth but sometimes has a hard time getting it there. Knowing that he is making progress slowly but surely makes me my heart so happy and thankful.

And not one to miss out on the action, E decided to make her own mess.

A tooth for P

I almost forgot to mention that Price's 1st tooth appeared over the weekend. I think it is the bottom right one. A couple of weeks ago, Ellery looked into his mouth and told me that she thought Pricey was getting teeth. I took a look and sure enough, you could see some swollen gums. On Friday, I felt the sharp little thing beginning to poke through.

I kept joking with Price along the way that he could beat his sister to something if he got his first tooth before his first birthday - and he sure did!

Recitals and peer-pressure

Pictures from Ellery's dance recital this afternoon:

Ellery's dance recital was precious! Two fun memories to report. During the middle of the recital, Ellery ran over to where her daddy was sitting and declared, "I love you daddy." It was so sweet and the room burst into laughter. At another point during the recital, Ellery and her friend Ella got the case of the giggles. They had cat masks on their faces and I guess looking at each other got them laughing.

Lots of happenings at our household this week. I've mentioned this before but for about a year now Ellery has had some pooping issues. It was pretty miserable at times. It wasn't uncommon for her to go 5 days without pooping. And many days I took her to my parents house so that she could go swimming with Poppy because this sometimes helped to get her to go. I guess it was the warm water! Nathan and I would also chase her up and down our driveway and get her to dance around the house which seemed to help too. I always felt relieved after a "poopy day" because I knew the next couple of days would be really good ones for Ellery. She wouldn't be agitated or antsy like she was on days when she was holding it all in (lovely, I know). On days she pooped it would be in a diaper, not in the potty. We also give her an adult laxative everyday. Can you imagine?

Well, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much but I think we may have had a breakthrough. This week we were over at her friend Ella's house. Ellery was doing the usual "poopy dance" because it had been about 5 days. She asked me to put a diaper on her so that she could do her business. While I was putting a diaper on her, Ella looked at Ellery and declared that she is a big girl because she poops on the potty, not in her diaper like Ellery. Ellery just kind of looked at her and I said something to the effect of, "That's great Ella. Ellery will do it one day but for now she likes her diaper." Ellery went in her diaper which was good enough for me, but later when we got home she asked to go poo-poo on the potty. Of course I let her try but didn't think anything of it. Something must have clicked for the girl because not only did she go on the potty that night, but every night since then and some mornings. It's unbelievable to me - pooping twice a day when she used to go once or twice a week. The power of peer-pressure!

Ballerina Ellery

This week is full of activity. Ellery is participating in a ballet/tap dance camp in the mornings. I was so excited to sign her up for this camp at the last minute. She is usually at therapy with Price and I in the mornings so what a treat for her to get to do something really FUN this summer. She has never taken a dance class before but somehow I knew she would love putting on her new leotard and tights and trying something new. I was right - she had a blast. On Friday, the parents get to watch a small recital where the girls can show off their newly learned dance skills. I can't wait.

I had to go out and buy some tights yesterday and borrow some ballet/tap shoes so we don't quite have the full look in these pictures. My little ballerina:

Nathan, Ellery, and I are participating in Houston Project with our church this week. This is our first year to take Ellery with us and she really enjoyed herself last night. She kept telling me that she was going to make new friends because the friends she has now are old. That made me laugh. I ended up being put in her VBS classroom as a helper and so she thought it was pretty cool that I was her mommy and teacher. Many of the kids in our class just speak Spanish so Ellery was using her newly learned espanol (thanks to our babysitter Mercedes) to try to communicate. It was cute. She was trying so hard to relate and make friends. I love her willingness to meet new people and try/do new things. She just jumps right in.

Saturday in phone pics

It was a big day for Ellery. Nathan bought Dora Live tickets awhile back and planned a little daughter-daddy date. He didn't tell her about it until last night when he showed her a you tube video of the show. She woke up this morning, climbed in bed with us, and started shouting, "We're going to see Dora today!"

Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead and all we have are some fuzzy phone pictures.

They went to lunch downtown and then this is how they walked in the door.

And while I am on the subject of daddy-daughter - here is a picture of N and Ellerina the day he arrived home from Sudan. He was showing her the video of his time in Sudan.

While Nathan and Ellery were doing their thing, Price and I had a date to Emery's 1st birthday party. I tried out Price in Ellery's car seat and he was loving it! This is the face I am greeted with most of the time when I look back at Price and say his name.

Ooh la la!

Pricey thoroughly enjoyed his cherry popsicle.

Road trip - I just post this because Ellery has really been into taking pictures lately. She actually did pretty well with this one!

Pretty girl swam her heart out with her Poppy.


Would you believe I had to get this picture this morning? We were in our swimsuits all day on the 4th, but I couldn't miss the photo op.

I hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July! We sure did! We were at the lake with my parents and Paige and Taylor. Ellery stayed up with us last night and watched the fireworks. She kept saying, "Ooh la la!" Price did not stay up and watch the fireworks, but slept soundly through them. I wish I could say the same for Colby - he was terrified. July 4th is not his favorite holiday.