"Determination."

"Determination."
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I an engineer

Elijah talking to me from his carseat:
"Mama, I an engineer. I put big huge rockets into space. I make Delta 4 Heavy with a SKILSAW! I make big, huge, big, big, big satellites. I very, very careful put satellites into SPACE!"

Awww... He wants to be like his Daddy! Good choice, little buddy.

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Elijah says...

Elijah is quite the talker... here are a few of our favorite sayings that have come out of his mouth!

• "It's a plan" (I think I say this a lot...)
• "Let's do it!" (I say this, too...)
• "Sounds good"
• "I need Elijah songs" (kid music... preferrably "Tractor Tractor" or "Truck Tunes.")
• "Oh my chinny chin chin" (this one was from Super Why)
• "Oh. My. Goodness!"
• Stuffed animals are referred to as "My monkey's friends..."
• "Big, HUGE..."

A little Bob in the morning

Eli and Eva settle in to watch a little "Bob the Builder" this morning.

Brother greeted her with "Hi, Baby Girl! Hi Missy! I watching Bob!" She decided to join for a minute before heading to her favorite swing.

He still loves to jump...

He still loves to jump...

@ABQ Jump for a MOPS playdate. Several comments from mothers, "He's a good jumper, isn't he?"
Yeah, he's had lots of practice. Johnny Jumper Graduate.
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Compliment

Last night at dinner...

Elijah: Mama, you the very best cook in whole world that I have ever, never seen!!

Awww!

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Eva Crying

Evangeline at 3 months...

Our little Eva is 3 months!

Eva is starting to laugh and smile much more.  She holds eye contact and coos at us.  Oooo.... oooo... Aaoooo... We love hearing her little voice in such happy sounds.

She's strong! She can stand on her own if you balance her, and holds her head up... an athlete in the making.

 We still call her our "Princess and the Pea..." Though lately we're wondering if it shouldn't be "Princess and the Pee..."  Eva cries immediately if her diaper is slightly wet.  This puzzled us at first, as Elijah was/is not bothered in the least by a wet diaper, and denies he needs a diaper change though the diaper is literally hanging off of him... "No, I play!"

And she has opinions... she absolutely refuses to nurse from the right side. I had been hoping to avoid pumping this time around, but she has other ideas.  She also gets completely distracted when trying to eat, so we cover her eyes with her blanket.  Cracks us up!

 I have been eating completely dairy-free for over 2 weeks now.  The change in Evangeline is remarkable.  She is emerging as such a sweet, engaging, social little creature... Dare we say a happy little baby? Definitely a successful experiment.  She is still passionately vocal about her needs, but mostly she cries when she is tired or hungry... perfectly normal times to cry!

Her eyes are a clear, dark blue, and her hair continues to be dark!  We continue to watch it with interest.

It never hurts to ask...

This past weekend was a three day weekend (MLK, Jr Day) and at the last minute I called up my brother Isaac who lives in LA to throw out the idea of a visit to ABQ. We had been trying to work out a visit this past Christmas time, but it just didn't work out. Ike and Abigail were were ready for an adventure and took off the very next day once Abigail finished work. It was such a treat to hang out with them and for them to get to meet Eva their newest niece. It had been roughly six months since we had seen each other. 

Ike and Abigail arrived just in time for the Patriots and Bronco's game which was great as Ike is a Patriots fan. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a game although it was fun to still watch together. I'm impressed that Ike could drive 13 hours and arrive within 5 minutes of the start of the game. 

The next morning we visited a local architectural site called the petroglyphs where they have thousand old symbols on rocks. We enjoyed scampering over rocks while looking at symbols of aliens (if you don't believe me look at the bottom picture where Abigail is right in front of a humanish looking person with tentacles coming out of his head and I'm standing next to the rocket ship). :) It was a beautiful day, although a bit cold for our Californian visitors. 

Following the petroglyphs we visited our favorite restaurant El Pinto where Ike and Abigail were able to enjoy some New Mexico cuisine. 

Another highlight was being able to see Ike and Abigail's pictures of their trip to Europe where they visited England, and Italy. It was so much fun to see shots of Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Oxford, Rome, Italy, and a slew of other beautiful locations. 

Overall it was a great, but short time together!

Ike and Abigail Visit

We had a somewhat spontaneous visit from Ike and Abigail and although it was a short visit it was a wonderful time together.

How Eva Gets to Sleep

This is how our sweet, fussy little Eva likes to sleep... Swinging in her adored swing with a paci and a blanket surrounding her, then as she gets tired, she pulls the blanket over her eyes! (Often she needs assistance with this part, but now we have figured out what she requires, it's a lot smoother a process settling her!) Shut out the light, the noise, the world, and let me have a little peace, says Eva. I also cover her eyes with this blanket when she nurses... She instantly relaxes and can concentrate on eating. Otherwise, poor little thing can't focus.

P.S. Don't worry, she is well-attended, she doesn't sleep at night like this, and the blanket is wonderfully breathable! Actually, these Aden and Anais muslin blankets are the absolute best. (Baby shower gift idea!) Love them. Light, so soft, and huge... I'll be able to swaddle her easily til she's done being swaddled. I'd have loved these with Elijah who wanted to be swaddled til well past 8 months.

P.P.S. I've been noticing Elijah's monkey has been swaddled a lot lately... And the other day, Nana Monkey needed his eyes covered so he could get to sleep... Much processing is being done through Monkey.

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Eva's Praying Hands

I love how she clasps her hands like this. "Praying hands."

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Ottens come!

We met the Ottens at the airport, complete with Christmas gospel choir!

We made some fun Christmas crafts with Uncle Jeremy... Snowflakes and snowmen!

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showing Jeremy and Co. a bit of New Mexico: Petroglyphs and Tent Rocks

the group of us... ready to see some petroglyphs!

A well photographed excursion... David snapped a picture of Dad taking a picture of Mom taking a picture of Jeremy...

In case you doubted that aliens landed in New Mexico...

An early Donald Duck?

A puzzling problem... our puzzle tradition, this time with a picture of the famous ABQ hot air balloons

Venus and the Moon... (within a 7 degree field of view)

Brother and Sister (plus Eva in the carrier) at the Tent Rocks

Serious Hikers!

The canyon

Our little hiker did quite well!  He loved it, of course.

The Tent Rocks with snow

Tent Rocks... as featured in the quality flick, "Cowboys and Aliens"

Christmas Day with the Ottens 2011

Merry Christmas from the Ottens and Vosses

A Merry Christmas, indeed!

1st Christmas tree in our new home

Elijah got toy parachuters in his stocking.  Of course we had to try dropping them from the loft, with Elijah catching them in a laundry basket!

A special present from Oma and Poppi... a "big HUGE" Caterpillar excavator!  The excavator was used to scoop up any scrap of wrapping paper left on the floor!

Play food for our Little Sous Chef

Modeling the cool hats from "Ms. Alli" in Singapore