Chester

We want a dog, but we settled for a fish. Chester joined our family today. He is a crest tailed Beta and he's reddish on top and blueish on the bottom. He hasn't eaten yet. Those little balls of fish food are still floating on top and getting more and more puffed up. We'd decided that he's either scared of his new surroundings or he's sleeping. I hope he's still alive. I'm not good at keeping living beings alive. I don't have ANY plants in our house. That's right. We are plantless. I've had plants in the past, but alas, they've died rather quickly. The majority of them end up with bugs flying around, the rest of them dry up and die. This rule has been consistent with both outside and inside plants. I don't do fake plants either. They still need to be dusted and that is just one more thing on my list that would get pushed to the next day and the next and the next and, well, you get it. So, I digress...back to Chester. I think he is still alive. Do fish sleep?

Ellie and I had a mother-daughter outing today. I needed to get new sheets for our bed and decided to take just one baby with me. I took the "walker" so she could get out and about. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and she was in heaven! She gently touched some displays and loved tying out all the kid-sized chairs that they had on display. Everyone was greeted with "Hi!"

We left the store and I was putting her in the car to go home and she had a fit! I asked if she wanted to walk longer and she quickly signed "more." At home, getting her to sign is like pulling teeth, but apparantly, she really really wanted to walk. So, we walked back to the outdoor mall and went to a coffee shop. Then, we walked down to the other end of the shops and went in Petsmart to see the dogs. She LOVED that!!!

We decided to skip buying a Golden Retriever and bought a fish instead. We'll see how long I can keep this fish alive and then we'll see about a dog. I'd like all 3 amigos to be completely potty-trained before a puppy enters our abode, so I'm thinking a dog will come in about 3 more years. Oh well. Jack will have to wait.

So, my last post was when October was gone and now it is November's turn. Wild. My parents were right...kids make the time go by faster. We stayed in town for Thanskgiving and had some friends over. It was a great time. I cheated a bit and ordered the turkeys so all I had to do what heat them up!!! Check out this website: http://www.pfaelzerbrothers.com/ It will take care of all our party-planning needs. ;)

In other news...Lily finally popped her first tooth!! Woooohoooo! That only took about 7 months. Ellie looks like that Monster puppet on Sesame Street. She has about 7 half-teeth and 2 real teeth. Very cute, actually.

They are doing pretty cute things now too, like kissing each other. TOO CUTE!!!! Love that. Lily and Liam are starting to walk more with Lily taking a slight edge. Ellie is running and beginning to jump off small steps. She is very proud of herself too.

For those of you reading....white lights on the house, or colored??? I grew up with colored, but Jack thinks they are little cheezy. I'd like some more opinions...

What month is it????

I can't believe October is gone. Just gone. What happened? We had my sister visit for a weekend and then my mom came to visit. It was great to spend some time with them and watch them spend time with the kids. The kids know them and get so excited when they see their Aunt Molly and Grammie.



We played in the leaves, crawled around the backyard and got to go to a farm. Our nanny owns a horse and invited us to see her where she is boarded. The kids got to feed carrots to the horse, ride the horse, see kittens and dogs just roaming around wanting to be pet. They loved seeing the animals and playing in the dirt.



In other news, Lily has taken 6 steps by herself and Liam finally has taken a couple. He still thinks of it as more of a game and will fall forward, expecting to be caught. When do they actually grow out of that trust? When I played tennis in college, one of our team building activities at the beginning of each season was to play that "game" where you stand on a table and fall backwards, trusting your teammates to catch you. What preparation and nerve that took! I hope that Liam is able to hold onto that trust for a long time before he begins doubting.



They got some new "cars" for Christmas too. An early Christmas present from their Grammie and Papa John, but best to get some use out of them now. Thank goodness there are 3 cars, although they still manage to fight and push to all get into the SAME car. Two of the cars have cell phones that ring and beep and the other car is a flatbed truck with construction tools for Liam. So far, Ellie has been the occupant of the flatbed while Liam drives. It's actually pretty cute. She "talks" into her cell phone while Liam is driving her around. Train them up early, right?



Christie