Mason's first Ferris Wheel Ride

While Nana was visiting we went out shopping and found a ferris wheel inside a sports store. She took Mason on the ferris wheel while we stayed up on the second floor to catch the photo opportunities. We thought he might get scared and cry a bit, but he only made it around once and it was only to let people off and load. The attendant said they couldn't have a kid crying like that on the ride so he had to get off. Needless to say he didn't want to hold Nana's hand for a few hours after the ride. I also let him watch the video later and he watched intently and then said "uh oh" at the end.

Nana Visit in Omaha

Nana hadn't been up to see the kiddos since Ellery was born. She was going to watch them for us while we searched for a house, but we already found a house so we were able to spend some quality time with her. It was fun watching her interact with Mason and Ellery. She kisses Mason's ears and he just leans into her and lets her. She also brought a basketball pillow he fell in love with and some dinosaur figurines. The dinosaurs have teeth so he would pretend they would bite you and push them up against you and then say owwww for you.

She of course brought us more girl clothes for Ellery and oogled over her a lot. I agree girl stuff is so much more fun to buy. She also made matching Toado and Friends shirts for Ellery and Mason. She has published two children's books and you can see her books on her website: http://www.maginthat.net/

We are very proud of her in her accomplishments and I hope our kids have the creativity she has.

Help in Omaha

For our house hunting shopping spree we had reinforcements coming in to help with the kids. Grandma Ellen and Uncle Tom are on first shift and Nana is bringing up the rear with the weekend shift. Everyone was a huge help and we appreciated them giving us their time. It was a success and we were able to find a house.

Rob and I would make bets on who we would find holding Ellery and we usually picked Grandma Ellen, but it was Tom. He made Grandma Ellen share. He did go out on an adventure with Mason to the bookstore. Tom also brought Ellery to us while we were out house hunting so I could feed her. It was a cute sight watching him walk up to the building with a diaper bag, and car seat with Ellery inside. We greatly appreciated his help and little did he know we were going to drag him around and look at the houses and make him give us his valued opinion.

Travels Back to Omaha

We are traveling back to Omaha for a big shopping spree. We are going house hunting. Our house is still on the market in Milwaukee, but we hope that will change soon. Our flights are non-stop this time so that will make our travels much easier. Mason enjoyed the colors and the chocolate chip cookies provided my Midwest Express. Most kids fall asleep on the plane, but not ours. Neither one of them slept on the flights, they didn't want to miss any action. Ellery was a champ and smiled and cooed her way through the flight. Mason didn't seem scared this time when we took off and didn't say all done over and over until the last flight home. He was getting restless and kept saying all done as if it would make the flight done and he could get up out of his seat and off the plane.

He did accomplish a milestone while on the plane. He can say all of his other basic colors, but won't say yellow. He can pick it out for you, but is never correct in telling you the color until our plane ride. We were playing with colors and he said yellow for us. More like yallow, but he still said it.

3 Month Ellery

My little angel is already 3 months old. She is such a good baby. She is soooo close to rolling over, but still hasn't mastered it. She can get off her belly back to her back, just not the other way. She is a very happy baby and smiles at us constantly with lots of little coos. She still takes a good 3-5 min to warm up to the idea of a bath. Mason would just ease right into a bath and relax, but Ellery doesn't enjoy the water as much. She is also a wonderful sleeper. 99% of the time she goes down at 9 pm and wakes up at 5 am for a feed. We still swaddle her, but she has wiggled her way out of it by the morning. She still refluxes so we changed her from Zantac to Axid, it is bubble gum flavor so she enjoys it more. She still enjoys her mobiles and is starting to reach out for them. If I give her any kind of toy to look at or hold, I always find it in Masons hands.

Mason Helping Change a Diaper

Mason likes to climb up on the changing table and stand in front of you while you dress or change Ellery's diaper. Rob was changing her today and he actively participated in wiping her and changing the diaper. It is precious and makes me laugh. He really likes to help with anything he can. If you listen closely at the end when he tries to pick her up you can hear him grunt.

Pig Roast

We went to a "real" pig roast this weekend with Rob's co-workers. I didn't point out the pig to Mason, it was scary enough for me. I contemplated not eating it since looking at it on a stick with its claws and teeth intact didn't look all that pleasant, but I have to say it was delicious. Mason wouldn't taste the pork or the chicken, but he did eat some hot dog. I over heard one parent saying to their 10 year old who was eating a hot dog "why don't you eat some real meat". It made me chuckle. My brother always told me hot dogs are made of lips and a$$holes.
The party was at our friends Anna's house. She has a giraffe head in her kitchen that we thought would make a nice family photo opportunity. Mason thought it was pretty cool. She has all sorts of artifacts from Africa. Her dad used to own some land and hunted frequently. She has everything from elephant tusks and feet to a stuffed parrot.

The funny of the party was a lot of older kids were playing and filling up squirt guns. One of them got the idea to pull the nozzle and spray it towards some friends. Once that kid threw it down, Mason started for it, but another older kid picked it up and pulled the nozzle. It was pointed directly at Mason and he took a huge hit from 4 ft away with a blast of cold water from the hose. He of course cried, but we all couldn't help laughing. Would we have laughed as hard if it would have been a girl, who knows. He was fine and still wanted to go after the hose once comforted.

Rob had a good time showing off his little girl at the party. Here is a photo of him and another fellow looking like proud papas holding their daughters. Little Annalei on the left is only 2 weeks younger than Ellery.

Official Announcement

I am going to give the official announcement. We are moving to Omaha, NE. Yippeeeee, we are going to be closer to family and friends. It will be a 5-6 hour drive from all grandparents and Rob's brother Tom is only 2.5 hours away.

Rob has accepted a position at the children's hospital in Omaha in the PICU. I guess I should learn the name of the hospital. He starts his new job August 1st. We are all very proud of him and his accomplishment of completing his fellowship training. He has 14+ years of higher education and that takes perseverance and dedication. He knew what he wanted and he went after it and met his goal. I am a proud wife. He has tolertated me well through his sleepless nights and long hours. I can't thank him enough for all the extras he did for me and gave me when he had already given so much at work. I know I wasn't always understanding and supporting at times I needed to be, but tried my best. I am thrilled and excited for Rob and can't wait to see what the next chapter on our train ride will bring us.

Trip to the Zoo

We met our friends Brody and Brice at the zoo. I give kudos to Katie for coming out with us, Brice is only 3 weeks old. It was a nice day for the zoo trip here in Milwaukee. It was in the 60's. Don't get me off on a tangent on the weather we have been having. It is almost June and Mason is still wearing jackets during the day. It is supposed to get into the 70's this weekend so we are looking forward to that!
Anyways, it is really fun going to the zoo now. Mason gets excited when he sees the animals and just talks and talks. You can understand most words, but some are still hard to interpret what he is saying. We took this picture in honor of Rob. Rob's favorite animals at the zoo is the polar bears. Even if they are just sitting on the rock and not moving we stare at them for a good 10 minutes waiting for them to flicker an eye. Today they were moving all around. It was sad Rob didn't get to see them. It was fun seeing all of the animals.

Constant Companions

Mason is my constant companion and really starting to mimic me. He was carrying his monkey stuffed animal around today and holding it like I hold Ellery and giving it kisses. It made my heart melt. Yesterday I shaved my legs in the shower with him and hiked up one of my legs on the side of the shower and when I was done Mason hiked up his leg as well. I wish I could have gotten a picture of a video of it, it was priceless. He also has been helping Rob with yard work and followed him around with his bubble mower as Rob mowed. We bought the old fashioned blade mower 2 years ago and since gas is so high we have really enjoyed it more this year. I am going to have to knick my bad habits since I have an audience eager to give their version of my performances. He also went with daddy and got a hair cut. I am not sure I like this barber of his, but I am too lazy to take him any where else. I have a hard enough time getting into my hair dresses so I am not going to get Mason in before me. ha ha

Ellery is really interactive. She defiantly talks and coos more than Mason did, but I think she even smiles more. She really lights up under her mobiles or anything that moves above her. She is so close to rolling over but can't get over that arm. She really favors her right side, I have not seen her ever roll to her left. She is sleeping like a champ. We put her down between 9 and 10 and she sleeps until Mason wakes her up at 6am.

Music Class

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Mason has been taking music classes for the past 8 weeks at Haleybird Studios. www.haleybirdstudios.com This is actually his second session and he really enjoys it. It has been fun watching him progress each week and open up more and more. We think we can get in another half session but we are going to miss Haley. She plays a musical instrument each week and Mason is mesmerized by it. I didn't realize she played a longer song each week to work on attention span, but this week she played a 2 min. song and by the end Mason was getting ansey. I always wished she played more each week, but now I realize why she didn't. He also got to play instruments, sing songs, and dance. We start each class with a Hello song and Mason waves sometimes and sometimes not, but he always gets the clap in at the appropriate time. He hasn't ever joined in singing the songs at class, but I have caught him at home singing songs. We also sing a song in a circle holding hands each week that usually ends with a falling down. Mason loves it and is the first kid up off the floor signing and saying more. It is like he is telling everyone hurry up and get up so we can do it again.

Ellery is the sweet one at class. She usually sleeps through it and was joined by her new friend Brice on the right who is only 2 weeks old. He is so tiny that it really shows how big her cheeks are. Mason is playing the drums with Brice's older brother Brody.

Taking the Plunge

Rob took the plunge and bought a MacBookPro. I never thought I would see the day, he has always been anti Mac. I have to admit I am excited as well. Not so excited about the learning curve of the Mac. I actually was getting good at Windows and office to the point where I could teach Rob sometimes, now the tables will turn. He will research how to use a Mac and have to teach me again. Moral of the story, never say never.

The green monster

Mason for the most part does very well with Ellery and I haven't notice a lot of jealousy, until this morning. He wasn't jealous of me holding Ellery but daddy was playing and cooing with her this morning and he wasn't very thrilled about it. Rob was in bed and had Ellery sitting on his chest and was smiling and playing with her and Mason wanted to sit on daddy's chest as well. Didn't matter what I was doing to play with him, he wanted his daddy's attention. We got to thinking and Rob usually doesn't hold Ellery exclusively like he did this morning or at night until Mason has gone to bed so this might be an adjustment for him. I think he realizes he has to share me, but having to share his dad might be an issue.

22 Months Mason

Mason is 22 Months, I feel like I just posted his 21 month picture. He continually amazes me everyday. He is starting to put two words together you can understand and will repeat every word you ask him. He says airplane when he hears one flying overhead and he does it when he is inside or outside the house, it is hard to understand what he is saying, but once I hear the noise then I realize what he is saying. He is still obsessed with basketball. He points out every basketball goal and requests to play basketball outside before 7 am everyday. We don't make it outside until 9ish usually. He knows all of his colors and will say them appropriately most of the time. His favorite is blue and purple. He actually says purple better than blue. He loves Nemo and Elmo. I bring him to bed every morning and he watches Nemo while I feed Ellery. He only watches 15-20 min then he signs to go and eat. He still sleeps like a champ at night. He does request to be covered up before you can leave the room and then blows you a kiss goodnight. He also has to have a cup of water. We were bad parents and gave him a cup one night when he was sick and we haven't weaned him from it. Not a big deal until full force potty training is in effect. Which he was doing great using the potty chair at night for 4 nights straight, but now he gives you a big fat Noooooooo.

Our nightly ritual is letting Mason play, dance, and jump around on the bed before he goes to bed. He now loves to go lay on our pillow and cover himself up. This is also when he steps or kicks Ellery usually on accident. He is very loving, if he gives someone a kiss everyone around gets kisses and hugs.

Happy Mothers Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and I wish everyone else a great day. I slept in a bit this morning and then we all got ready and loaded up and went to the Wauwatosa Crime Stoppers Pancake Breakfast. Mason was free and when we went through the line they only gave him 1 pancake. We should have paid for him because he ate 5 whole pancakes and a banana, this was after having 2 pieces of toast and a banana at home. I am fearful of the grocery list and bill once when he is a growing teenager. Ellery slept through the event. The Brewers game sausages were at the event, Mason was a bit scared of them, but that didn't stop us from having his picture taken with them. After our bellies were full we all came home and relaxed the afternoon away. When our relaxation was over I found my cake, cards, and beautiful flowers on the table. Rob drew around Mason and Ellery's hands and cut them out, folded them together, and glued them on popsicle sticks. My bouquet of hand flowers is by far the greatest gift ever. I think they could be a priceless mastercard commercial. It was very thoughtful and sweet of Rob and I will cherish them forever. I am blessed to have a wonderful loving and supporting husband and 2 great kids to celebrate my day with. I wish this for every mom!

Talk to me

Ellery Tummy Time

I realized I have been posting more video of Mason than Ellery. I have been taking video of her but she never smiled quite right or cooed enough for me to share. I think I captured what I have been waiting for in these two clips. I think she is adorable and precious. In her 11lbs of cuteness I think she has a pound in her cheeks, but I just want to squeeze and kiss them. She got her shots yesterday and was a bit cranky last night, but she is doing great today. I never noticed it affecting Mason like it did her. I think it caused her more pain than he had. If you touched her thighs last night she would cry. She is still an angel, sleeping through the night most nights but occasionally awakens for a 3 am feed.

Oppppps

I try to shower before Rob leaves in the morning but if I don't get that accomplished I bring Mason in the shower with me and put Ellery in her swing in the bathroom. I had placed Ellery in her swing and was about to get in with Mason but he had a surprise in his diaper so I took him to his room to get him cleaned off. They say never to leave your toddler alone with your baby. I was only a few seconds behind him, the time it took to wrap up a stinky diaper and throw it away. I was talking to him and asking him if he needed to sit on his potty chair and he is telling me no, but when I walked into the bathroom the corner of the swing and Ellery's right foot are all wet. Mason peed on his sister. Her swing had blocked in his potty chair, so I am not sure if he just got really excited to shower or if he couldn't get to his chair?

Swimming Class

Mason's swim class had an open house last night and Ellery and I went to watch what Mason and Rob had been doing the past 5 weeks. Rob said this was the first week he didn't cry and got right in. I contribute it to my presence. They sang multiple songs, played games, blew bubbles, used a kick board, and jumped off the side. It was enjoyable to watch him and Rob interact in the pool. Mason really enjoys putting his face in the water and blowing bubbles. He made my day, I was up in the viewing area above the pool and every so often he would look up at me and yell mommy! Could be that his dad was prompting him to do it, but any way it was a great feeling.

Ellery 2 Month Check up

Ellery had her 2 month check up today. She got 5 shots instead of 3 due to the short supply. Luckily the nurse Jess was really quick and did a great job. I also had Rob hold her while she got her shots. She checked out nicely.

Her stats come in at:

Weight: 11 lbs 4.5 oz (Mason was 13 lbs 7 oz)

Height: 23.5 inches (Mason was 24.5 inches)

Head Circumference: 37.5 cm (Mason was 39 cm)

Not quite sure how our kids have small heads? I am average and I think Rob is above average on head size.

Mason in sunglasses

I got Mason an inexpensive pair of sunglasses in hopes he would like them and then enjoy the real deal. Rob's first response to the monkey glasses was " you've got to be kidding me" and of course I wasn't. I think they are hilarious. Mason wore them off and on all morning. The monkey glasses are working in wanting him to put them on and leave them. He wore them from the house all the way to the doctors office for Ellery's 2 month check-up. Once we arrived I took the video and then he took them off and said "all done".

What is a Zerbert??

My definition of a zerbert is when you put your mouth on someones body part, usually the belly and blow making a farting like noise on their skin. We like to be silly here in the Chaplin household.

Mason giving Ellery Zerberts

Ok, so I am behind in my postings and I will back log our trip to Omaha and visits from Tom, Grandma Ellen, and Papaw Brooks. I just couldn't resist sharing this one. I was trying to get some new dance moves from Mason and he wasn't cooperating. He kept climbing on the bed to play with Ellery. I am proud that I caught her first zerbert from Mason on camera. He wouldn't stop giving them to her and she didn't mind getting them. It gave me a good chuckle.

Another proud moment is that Mason has received an m&m every night since we returned from Omaha for using his potty chair. We are very proud of him. It started out as just a dribble on Saturday night and each night he has gone more. We try in the mornings as well, but not having near as good as luck as the evenings. We bribe him with 1 m&m for going, we know it is probably not the best, but it is working.

New Table Center Piece

Ellery has graduated into the bumbo seat. She is still a bit wobbly in it and leans to her right if left unattended for very long, but she absolutely loves sitting up. Now I can set her on the table and she'll watch Mason eat or watch me prepare it all. Mason wasn't too thrilled the first time we set her on the table with him. He wanted to sit in the seat but he has adjusted to his new table center piece.

Traveling with Children

Traveling with a child isn't near as hard as traveling with two. Our trip down to Omaha wasn't that bad, our flights were on time. Mason's last flight was in December and he really didn't grasp the idea. This time he had his own seat and we talked about flying prior to our trip. Once the plane took off he was a bit frightened and signed and said "all done". It was kind of cute, he did finally relax into the flight and slept most of it. Ellery did great on the trip, we brought a pacifier for her but she didn't need it. She doesn't take a pacifier so we were thankful we didn't need it. Our trip down was uneventful but still exhausting. One last funny from our trip down. I asked Rob for the camera and he immediately looked over Mason to see why I was requesting it. He wouldn't give it to me because he noticed he had put Mason's shoes on the wrong feet after we went through security. I didn't notice it for 30 minutes so it didn't seem to bother Mason. Rob is famous for putting on clothes backwards.

Our trip home wasn't as smooth. We had delays due to weather and that isn't so pleasant with children. Rob's statement was "I understand why liquor is available and why people drink in the airport". I had the opportunity to ride the escalators for 25 min with Mason. He had spilled his milk all over his stroller and Rob took it to clean it off. It took a bit longer than expected but Mason was thrilled to ride up and down up and down. He did say up when we went up and down when we went down. I think he has the concept down after riding them constantly for 25 min.

Papaw Brooks and Grandma Debbie Meet Ellery

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While we were in Omaha Papaw Brooks and Grandma Debbie came up to visit. It was their first time meeting Ellery. They spoiled the kids and had a good time playing with them. Mason was a bit unsure of Papaw's prosthetic legs, but he warmed up after a bit. He enjoyed playing with Papaw, but what he really enjoyed was pulling his ear and watching his teeth fall out.
Mason wasn't sure what to think of it and pulled on his own ear after pulling Papaw's.

They also gave Mason a coffee mug shaped cup with his name on it. He of course wanted to drink out of it like an adult so we would fill it with a little water. He did ok with it most of the time but occasionally coughed and gagged on it while spilling it on himself and the floor. They were spoiled with much more, but most of all LOVE. It warms my heart watching everyone interact and love on my kids.

Grandma Ellen helps out in Omaha

Grandma Ellen came up and visited us while we were in Omaha as well. We had lots of visitors and it was great seeing everyone. Grandma helped out and hung with me and the kids while Rob was out interviewing. We did hit the zoo one morning for 2.5 hours and it was amazing. We only went into the aquarium and jungle, but it was a very nice zoo. We did get mesmerized with the penguins for a good 20 minutes but Mason enjoyed racing around and looking at the aquatic life along with the monkeys in the jungle.
Grandma Ellen was also a huge help while I went on my tour of Omaha with a realtor. She stayed back at the hotel with Mason and Ellery. Mason was down for his nap and Grandma Ellen REALLY enjoys snuggling with Ellery so she napped as well. I don't think she would ever put her down if it was up to her. It was nice having the extra pair of hands to help out. She did go for a walk with Mason at the hotel and he came back with gifts. Grandma Ellen taught him to pick dandelions and give them to me. It was the sweetest thing.