The Boy Cave

Currently there are only boys in Ellis' class. He is still in Infant I with Ms Andrea and there are three other boys: Coen, London, and Jake. It is so cute to see all of those boys hanging out together. Ms Andrea is definitely in her element as she has two boys of her own. When Tessa was in Infant I there were two other girls, Samantha and Mekel, that were in there with her. All three of them are still together. I had a picture of the three of them from thier first Christmas two years ago and was showing it to the moms.

I'm hoping Ellis gets to grow up with his homies just like Tessa did. Coen is only a few days younger than Ellis and I have a feeling they are going to become good buddies. Ellis is the next one to move up to Infant II, where he will be with Ms Laura. Ms Laura had Tessa when she was in Infant II. Tessa still has to stop by and say 'Good Morning' when we drop Ellis off.

I'm very grateful to have them in such a wonderful school.

Spicy

Tessa has been a little crabby the last few days. I think she may have a urinary tract infection, she's been complaining that it hurts when she pees. She says it's spicy! I think she means that it's stinging. But I like the word spicy for something that hurts or stings.

Static

There is this great new playground over by Morgan Falls. They have the fake turf grass, which is nice because it doesn't get really dirty, especially when it rains. The down side is of course it's fake, but it also generates huge amounts of static. When Tessa comes down the slide her hair sticks out every where and then she shocks herself on the steps (metal handle bars). Then she comes running up, laughing and squealing yelling "It SHOCKED!" Anyway, I pulled Ellis' hat off and it seems there was some residual static built up. I just love the expression on his face.

Rough Week

This past week has been a rough week for the Hartley Clan. Last Sunday we went to Bryce's 1st Birthday party at Catch Air. Tessa really enjoyed playing on all of the jumpy stuff and playing the ball pit. Ellis just hung out with me, he still was congested and coughing. On our way home, I got a call from Kirsten (who was very upset). She was driving to Atlanta from Texas (2-day drive) with her three dogs, when her car broke down in Mobile. I left the kids with Omi and drove to Mobile to get her. We drove back Monday morning after dropping the car off at a repair shop. I got this nasty head cold on the way down and have been fighting it all week. I took a couple of days off and kept Ellis home as he was really sick and running a high fever. Monday night he was up most of the night and Tessa woke up at 4:00am and didn't want to go back to sleep. Of course, I don't want to take NyQuil knowing that I may have to get up and tend to kids. On Tuesday I took him to the Doctor and he had an ear infection and is on anti-biotics right now. It must be a pretty severe infection, because he is just now returning to normal. I am pretty exhausted right now. I need a full nights sleep and maybe one nap to get back to normal. Unfortuantely I left a wake of destruction in my path, as Mom is sick and Mike sounds and feels terrible also. So, I'll probably have to nurse a sick husband this weekend.

C'est la vie. Maybe next weekend I'll get to recupperate.

Ellis - 6mo Check Up

I forgot that I hadn't posted his 6 months stats. He weighed in at 17lbs 12oz and was 26.5" long. This put him in the 50% for weight and 75% for height. I'm wondering if I should be worried that my son is 6 months old, wears size 9-12 months clothings and his feet fit in 2T-3T socks (that's what Tessa wears). I hope it's not like dogs where you can tell how big they are going to be based on thier paws.

Halloween

Halloween was a rough day for the Hartley family. Both kids did not sleep well the night before, so most of Sunday was spent crabby. Ellis had gotten his shots on Friday and although had no fever or anything, he was really fussy and did not sleep most of the day. He is normally such a great baby, so this was way out of charachter. Tessa was really cantankerous (terrible two's? teething) and if she had been any older and really understood what she was missing, we would have canceled all Halloween plans.

The original costume plan was that Ellis was going to be a lobster. Mike was going to put on an apron and chef's hat and we were going to put Ellis in a big spaghetti pot. But he had finally fallen asleep when we got to Vicki and Casey's and then when he woke up, we put it on him for five minutes to get some pictures and then took it off. Tessa was a giraffe and I was going to dress up as a Safari girl. But, with Ellis being sick I knew I would have to carry him in the carrier and keep him warm, so our costume plans got scrapped.

We did have a great time and Tessa really enjoyed trick-or-treating. She thought it was so cool walking up to the houses and wasn't scared of any of the really scary noises, decorations or costumes. The only problem was that she didn't want to walk, so Mike carried her on his shoulders. I had Ellis in the carrier. It was some great family time. This past Friday when I picked her up from school she asked if we were going Trick-or-Treating again. I tried to explain that it was only a once-a-year type thing. Hopefully she understood.

The whole Gang



My Giraffe (with her bruised face)



The flying Giraffe? She loved wearing Kaitlyn's Grim Reaper wings.



The Devil wears Prada and loves Ellis




Mommy making sure her little man is warm. This is my favorite picture of him right now.

Pumpkin Carving

Ellis wanted to be part of the carving posse. He entertained us and talked to us while we carved. We did a spider this year. It turned out really cool, but in typical Atlanta fashion we carved in a week before Halloween and the damn thing rotted before Halloween. I never did get a good picture of it at night all lit up. I guess next year we carve the day of or the day before Halloween.

Below is Tessa helping me get the seeds out of the guts. I wasn't going to do this at first, but then I realized that it basically occupied her the entire time Mike was gutting and carving the pumpkin. She helped me clean the seeds and place them on the cookie sheet. I love toasted pumpkin seeds.



Daddy showing Tessa how it's done.




'I do it. I do it.'




So much joy in such a simple little task.



'I carry it'

Pumpkin Picking

Ellis was more fascinated by the straw than having his picture taken. These pictures aren't that great. I'll have to go to a REAL pumpkin patch next year. This was one at a little church down the street.

Why toddlers shouldn't dress themselves

I am playing catch-up. I have been a slacker on posting pics from this past month. There will be multiple posts today.

Below is a series of pictures of Tessa in her favorite boots and not much more. The socks she's wearing are mine and she has her tights on her head. She wanted to go to school like this.