Chub Check---Yep Still Chubby!!

 

Eli is still healthy and growing bigger everyday. He loves eating pretty much anything that I put in his mouth. He decided bananas weren't all that bad, he loved watermelon and cantalope this week. He is rolling all over the place, he can get where he wants by rolling so he hasn't tried getting up on all fours to attempt crawling. We are working on getting him to sit up too.

Catching up!

 

 

Luke showing one fillet from his king salmon.

 

Eli has been upgraded to a real high chair now. He loves the new view and being out of Micali's reach. We have been experimenting with new foods. He enjoys peaches, carrots, and sweet potatoes. He doesn't really like applesauce, bananas or peas yet but we throw those in every once in awhile still. Coming up on the menu are green beans and squash. He absolutely LOVES taking a bath. He soaked everyone tonight with his kicking just seconds after getting in the bath. I really need to get a video of him in there he is just too funny.

Before and After---Micali's New 'Do

 

Micali and I went and got our haircut about two weeks ago. We both got quite a lot chopped off but the change is nice. She did a great job sitting in the chair all by herself. She liked looking in the mirror at herself and kept saying pretty. We had to bribe her with a sucker the last few snips but I think it turned out cute. She lost a lot of her curls but I think it will look better now that it is all mostly the same length as it grows out. Daddy has missed her curls but they will grow back soon!
I love the picture of her cleaning out the brownie batter bowl. She really didn't want anything to do with it until she watched me enjoy it. The picture of her and Eli is also a classic. She still asks daily to hold him even though he is gaining on her quickly. She is now weighing in at 24lbs and Eli close behind at 22. They really enjoy each other!

I am spoiled!

Well today was an exciting day for a lot of people to finally send their kids back to school after having them home all summer. Some look forward to this day with much anticipation. I on the other hand do not!! I am so spoiled to have my husband home with me and the kiddos for two full months out of the year. We had a lot of fun being together as a family this summer. It was the most relaxed summer we have had since getting married. No summer job, remodeling projects or newborn babies. Now I am trying to adjust to "real" life again. Figuring out how to take two kids to the grocery store, doctor's office or any other place for that matter has made this week interesting to say the least. I will figure it out sooner or later. My main point here is I miss Luke being at home with us. If any of you have ideas on how to become independently wealthy so he doesn't have to go back to school I would love to hear them! ;)

Chickens--Butchering Day.....

I purposely didn't autoplay this slideshow because it shows a lot of details in the butchering of the chickens. If you aren't into looking at that sort of thing you may not want to push play. Believe it or not, A LOT of people said "I want to see that" when they found out Luke was going to be a "Chicken Farmer." So here are pictures to prove that he can do it. (Thanks Leah for taking these) We honestly can't take too much credit for raising these chickens our friends were VERY generous in allowing us to buy chickens with them, and then raising them at their house. Luke did help clean the barn a few times but other then that we weren't too involved. We have eaten a few of these chickens and the meat is quite tasty!



The pictures of Eli were taken during this quite eventful day. He was a great baby and super patient while mommy was busy packaging the chicken. Oh--I forgot to mention that they were able to butcher all 48 chickens in a day. I somehow got the easiest and cleanest job of vacuum packaging the meat in its final stage of preparation. Lucky me!

Catching a King at Last!!

Luke has a great friend, Ryan, who took him out on the Kenai River twice this week to give him a chance to catch a King Salmon. He finally caught one lastnight and here are pictures to prove it!

Xander---The Great Beagle!!

So on Saturday I was on my home from the grocery store and got a call on the cell phone from Luke. He wanted to know if I wanted a dog. We had been talking about getting a dog since we had a fenced in back yard and because we really wanted Micali to get over her fear of dogs while she was still young. So he went and looked at the dog that he had found on Craigslist. That dog was a definite NO GO but got us thinking about getting one so we ventured over to the Animal Shelter to see what they had to offer. We decided that we wouldn't get one unless they had one that we really fell in love with right away. Well Beagle Boy who we later named Xander--short for Alexander came home with us. He is a great dog and was very obedient and well trained. Micali he loved him instantly. Well yesterday we noticed Micali sneezing a lot her eyes were watering and she just sounded super congested. We decided to wait it out and hope it wasn't that she was allergic to him. Well it was much worse today with a constant draining nose so we said our farewells to Xander being close to tears and took him back. So again if anyone is looking for a GREAT family dog here are some pictures to see him and he is available at the Kenai Animal Shelter. We had fun with him for the few days we had him. Luke loved getting the exercise with him. Maybe we can try again later.

 

Potty Party!!

Well with yesterday's failures lingering in my head I went forward determined that today would again be a day without diapers no matter what it took. Micali took to the idea right away and was excited to wear her Pretty Pony panties she got for her birthday. Right now it is naptime and all I can say is today has been a success!!! Here are a couple little clips to give you an idea of the excitement at the Peless house today!



I started this post earlier in the day during naptime but it took too long to download the clips so I am finishing it now at bedtime. Today was a NO accident day!! Way to be Micali. I think she was ready and DONE with diapers!

Even if you lose, you win.............

You win because you play!! These words have been going through my head all day today as we had our first experience with Potty Training. Micali's favorite show to watch is "Signing Time," and this happened to be the main song for the show she watched this morning. As I watched and ANXIOUSLY waited for her first signs that she needed to go potty I thought about these words over and over. Was I going to win or lose today?? Or was I in fact going to win just because I played? Well, it all seemed to be working out well. After plying her with snacks and drinks for about 45 minutes, she had an accident. So... Luke took her running from each room and area in the house (10 times in all) back to the potty where she helped pull down her wet panties and sat on the potty chair for about 2 miliseconds. Up go the panties, away they would run talking about practice going potty and how every family member imaginable will be so happy when Micali has dry panties. With dry panties on, Luke kept at the game and finally she went in the potty (after only one accident). It was like Niagara Falls after all the drinks she was offered. So she takes the pee-pee to the toilet, proudly flushes it and the party begins. She got to call Grandma Peless at work and tell her the good news. Then she got a sucker, cheetos, smarties, and every other good thing. She also got to dance two Reba songs with her daddy. She was beaming the whole time that this was her party. So we thought we were winning...until five accidents later had Luke ready to commit himself, Xander (our new pet Beagle) was sure he would be confined to the garage for life, and Eli was just oblivious. I took over for Luke to regain some patience and so he could cook dinner. All seemed lost but I believed in the song. Then, the exciting part. Micali wanted to take a bath and Luke took Xander for a run. In the middle of the bath she signed potty and after I placed her on the seat she went POO-POO!!!! And then she went again, and again and again. She had been holding it all day and every time we (Luke arrived home to see the evidence which she proudly said bye-bye to as she flushed it) put her back in the tub she would sign potty and poop some more in the toilet. It was a mother's dream come true. She was happy to be going potty, she could now be back in a diaper for bedtime, and we could get some mental and physical rest. But she went and that is the exciting part. The sad part is we think she might be allergic to Xander and so might have to take him back to the pound unless someone reading this wants a wonderful, awesome, excellent-family pet, fairly well trained already beagle to love and take care of.
Kristen and Luke contributed also.
P.S. You should have seen the party he threw for her. It was all smiles and dancing and eating.

Candle and Cake.....

 
Micali absolutely loved her birthday CANDLE. The cake wasn't a big hit at all---at least this one wasn't. She ate a few cupcakes without the frosting but wasn't a fan once the frosting and sprinkles were on top. However, the candle just amazed her. I guess she hasn't seen one lit too often. She just stared at it until daddy helped her blow it out and then she asked for it to be lit again and again. Each time it was blown out she would sign more and point to the candle. I think she had a fun day. Daddy just got her birthday present finished. He made her a rocking chair (from a kit) and now we just have to stain it. It looks so cute so I will post some pictures of her in it soon!