Baby Claire

Jo's only got 4 weeks until the first Ellis love child arrives. She sent us all an update this afternoon...

Hello all! It's been a while since we sent out an update, so I thought I would just let you know how things are going. We had our wonderful baby shower about a month ago. It was so amazing! We really don't need much of anything now, thank you all for your thoughtful gifts! Claire has been stretching more than flip-flopping now, which is surely a result of the lack of room for her to do so :o) I'm feeling more cramped...kind of like I've got a balloon inside my belly that just keeps getting blown up more and more every hour! :o) That's alright though because we only have 4 weeks to go! The count down begins today actually!!! I've not really gotten swollen or too uncomfortable yet. Let's just keep hoping that stays away. I'm also still sleeping in the bed, which, from what I hear, is quite a miracle! We are going to the doctor every week to check progress as we prepare for labor. Only a few more appointments left now!

They're planning for a completely natural delivery and intend to do most of the laboring at home. With it being her first experience of labor, I'm not certain of any outcome, but I think that's half the fun in having babies. I love surprises! Jo's a planner, totally a planner- so for her sake, I hope it's exactly how they have invisioned. She's been the best pregnant person! She never really complains; always positive after a comment about not sleeping. It's encouraging to me as a mom and it reminds me of just how strong my big sister is... I like her.

Training for the 5K...and flying with eagles

So I lost it recently and decided to run the half marathon in January...
I got help with training (the future training; have yet to start) and was told to hit up runnersworld.com to get a schedule. It's laughable as far as I'm concerned; but, I'm curious to see how well I do. I like having goals and I'm looking forward to having a reason to run. I miss it... actually I just miss how amazing my legs USED to look. haha
11/1711/23
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12/812/14
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10 miles
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12/1512/21
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SpeedworkDist: 5mi, incWarm; 3x800@6:23w/400 jogs; Cool
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13 miles
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1/121/18
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Race DayDist: 5 KGood Luck!
10 miles
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Josiah and I were eating breakfast and his eyes got all big and he goes:
"Mom, last night! Last night I was dream I was riding on an eagle's back!" He went on to tell me that they went to the store and the eagle let Josiah pet him, but not on the wing- because the wings "are just hard". At the end of his whole little shpeal, Josiah puts his palms up to me and and said "it just worked itself out, Mom. It just turned out."
Silly little goober. I love him.

Just for you, Ms Fields

I love blogging the silly Norris-isms that occur almost hourly in our house.
..........Nothing today! It's been way too long since I've blogged or otherwise made written documentation that we've lived for the past few months.

Cate's been exercising her right to speak and act freely. She's learned that she can make noises to a certain reaction and is absolutely thrilled with herself.... I wish she'd not take the advice of her older brother who has her convinced that growling loudly is the golden ticket for her every desire, but I'll take what I can get at this point. :) She's learned "where's your nose". As far as she's concerned, it's the funniest thing and she's just so darn proud of herself.....

Josiah got sent home from school Monday for "being a turkey" is what the director's assistant called it, but frankly he was a terror. ..............If I ever questioned whether or not he belonged to me.......
As I was driving to the school, I was thinking of Mrs Strouhal (who's more than likely dead by now) who retired the year I was in her 1st Grade class, Mrs. Mc Adams: for accusing me of cheating while I sat secluded in the corner of our 4th grade class room, Mrs Jenson: who, as far as I could tell was possessed..... Poor FISD

First Day of Preschool for the Tallest of the Two

On Sunday, Cale and I sat down and purposed to plan the perfect (A+, if you will) "First Day" Breakfast and morning for Josiah. We bought special breakfast- I make these amazing breakfast sandwiches- and set out Josiah's clothes, set the alarm for super-early so we could have our time together before the offspring awoke.
Sweet husband turned the alarm off in his sleep. Yup, we woke up at 7:20. It put a damper on Caleb's morning, but Josiah didn't know the difference. Caleb it usually at work at 6, if not before.... He was entertaining that morning....

Josiah was so sweet and so cute for his first day of school. I've been growing his hair out for the summer and when trimming around his ears I made a baldspot about the size of our couch in his hair. I tried covering it up, but the end result was buzzing his goldilocks all off. So sad. He looks handsome, thought. And older.

He insisted that I simply park in the pick-up lane to pick him up and was FURIOUS when I got too excited to wait and went in to get him. He saw me at the door and just scowled. :(
So I went back outside-ALONE- and drove around to the pick-up lane and parked. He got in just as happy as a little clam. He's a nerd.

His teacher's really nice. I thought her last name was going to be sort of difficult for him to pronounce, but he does really well.

He's also making friends already!!! There's a boy in his class named "Boots". Spelled like that, too. I was thinking maybe someone special in his family worked for Boots'n'Coots??? I dunno. But Josiah likes him and says he's a pirate with him at recess.

He doesn't talk about the girls in his class and when I ask he tells me they aren't his friends and they're strange but each time I've dropped him off and picked him up, these two girls make him sit with them and run to hug him... weird.
I was annoyed with the girls obsessing over Josiah until one of their mothers was walking past me in the parking lot to her car and I wished her a good day and asked how her daughter was enjoying school- she looked at me and said something rude and got in her car. :) I think the other moms know I'm young? haha. maybe a little? For a second I enjoyed the fact that this woman's daughter will one day have her heart broken because my son will not want to date her and she'll remember this day and feel bad about the way she treated me.... A far fetch, but it helped. Then my consciense kicked in and I felt bad for the chunky, middle-aged minivan driving woman. (I'm as bad as they are)

I've thoroughly enjoyed the Friendswood moms. I thought it would get better by the time I became a mom. It's certainly not better, but it is WAY more fun now that I'm a mom. I've enjoyed messing them this week. Maybe I'll get a chain wallet for Josiah's jeans...


Does anyone remember the Friendswood bubble? I'd sure enjoy a memory if you've got one!!!

"Josiah and Dr Taylor" Take: One

Well, Josiah's first trip ever to the Dentist's office (gross, right?) went off without a hitch! Josiah was SO brave and absolutely LOVED all the attention. He stood (if you can believe it) completely still for the new-fangled x-ray machine to rotate around his little head and "get his picture taken". He was so sweet! It was absolutely hilarious watching his little brain work at 90 miles an hour to try and figure out what the contraptions were that were going into his mouth. But, all in all, the trip was fantastic and our Dentist and his office staff were wonderful. I can't imagine a better place to take my kids. They made it so fun! Killer puzzles, too! Josiah wanted my help on one of the puzzles he was working on and while I was looking for its spot he said, "Mom, I just don't need your help. You're slow." And he took my piece away and immediately put it in its place. I'm a loser, apparently.... I finally know how my mother felt... Totally recommend the dentist though! If you live in Friendswood, it's the Friendswood Dental Group. They're amazing. And current, which is nice. Cool Kid starts Pre-school tomorrow. It's SOOOOOO bittersweet. A teacher he had during his summer camp was a Sunday School teacher yesterday and so it made him more excited about school tomorrow. But I was secretly hoping that he'd cry enough to where we could just start school next year... Can you believe he had the audacity to tell me that he didn't want me to walk him into the school? He said I was too old. I've NEVER been too old for anything. I don't even use night cream, yet; I told him. He didn't buy it and told me I wasn't allowed that that it was just the rules.....and he wagged his stubby, little finger at me. So I called him a punk and said it wasn't very fair for the moms that want to watch. ............And yesterday I got onto him for calling me a punk and saying that it wasn't fair for the little boys to not see the toys at Target. I couldn't figure out where he got off talking to me that way... :)

Kids say the Darndest things!

So we're meeting my college roomate and her husband for dinner last night. Cale and I had to time it just right so we didn't bring the restaurant down with screams and craziness....

5pm I get both kids in the car. Neither have napped to speak of and Josiah is furious that I can't magically make Word World appear on the television screen. He doesn't understand the concept of TV and MOVIE.
5:10 they're both completely out!!! YAY!!! So we (I) ran a few errands (get gas, return library books, get coffee, drive thru carwash aka money eater and rain bath) and ended up at Salt Grass (dinner destination) at 6. The meeting time was 7:15 so I drove around the parking lot to Target and parked in the corner of the back 40.
I planned for this and in doing so I packed a book and 2 magazines in Cate's diaper bag. :) HURRAY! Downtime!!! About a third of the way through Real Simple's September Issue, I caught something gross out of the corner of my eye.........

Painting a picture:
It's the end of time and I have the only vehicle on the earth: a Honda Civic (does everyone know how small a Civic is? Do we all agree that it'd be close to obsolete in an arrial view???).
So I, the sole remaining human, drive my Civic to a lonely parking lot. A Target parking lot, let's say. The Civic is ALONE in the middle of a parking lot.

So you see how tiny this car would be from above and how random it would be for a bird to crap on the DRIVER SIDE WINDOW of my car????


So this is what I figure: the bird, perched in the tree in my front lawn, saw how excited I was to get some nice, peaceful time (this bird reads minds) and followed me around town. It had a bite to eat at one of my stops and rested once we got to Target. This bird is the devil and soiled my freshly rinsed car! (drama added to emphasize irony. Is it really that bad? no.) :)
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Stick with me, I'm so sorry I babble.

Told you that story to tell you this story:
Josiah woke up and noticed my window (and more than likely heard me cursing the stupid bird that obviously aimed for my car) and said "mom, a bird went poo on your car?".......rest of the conversation went like this:

Me: "Sure did, Buddy. I guess he really had to go."
Si: "How we going to clean it off, Mom?"
Me: "I don't know, sweetie. A hose I guess?"
Si: "I know what we could do! We could get an ELEPHANT to clean it for us!"
Me: "We cou-?"
Si: "He could suck up the water into his nose and spway your window for you! It would be all clean!"
after an Oscar worthy attempt at not laughing at my precious boy, I asked where we should look for an elephant.
His reply. "Oh Mom, they're at the petting zoo."
I guess I should have known that?

So that's what we'll do today, I suppose. Go petition help from the petting-zoo-elephant.

Josiah's amazing.

dirty little feet

Lighter note...

Cate's totally going to take off any day. It's so sweet; and so sad (she's officially not a baby). She's taking several good steps on her own and it's aweful and amazing.

Cheers!