Season Tickets

Karl and I are lucky enough to have lifetime rights to front row seats of the Orthner Family Theater. We make sure to renew our season tickets yearly.

This is a compilation of our show we went to see this morning.

Here are blurbs of some of the MANY wonderful shows we have been privileged to attend in the past years. They are posted roughly in descending order of time. 

Never a dull moment!

She is one-teen

I feel like this is a common theme among my recent posts, but my oh my, Elli is growing up on us. She changes daily. So blogging is my vice to get through this fast paced life. Hopefully I can freeze a small snapshot of a memory in my mind when I lay it down here. 

Elli recently made the BIG highly anticipated switch. Yep, she is looking forward in the car. The first two turned at one years old, but Elli had to 'ride' it out for an extra year. 

 One of the biggest past times for Elli these days is imitation, whether peers, sisters or adults. I mean, she is clearly doing ballet as well as this little gym teacher!

 I think she has got the posing for the camera down pat too. She does have two great role models for that too.

I feel like she will be going to school any day now...just too much for me.

 This evening was pretty busy with homework, dinner prep, ailing/recovering Daddy etc. Elli needed something to do. So I hand her 5 napkins and tell her to put them on the table.

 Done! Okay, next I give her five forks, including a recently acquired flatware from Karl's childhood. Then dinner plates one by one. Elli was over the moon to be betrothed with such an important task. She was doing this 100% on her own. No big sisters to step in as mom #2 or mom #3. Just her.

 People, look at this. My one year set the table for the family dinner! Get 'em while they're willing.

 Well, this huge helper needed her diaper changed shortly after. She was left with just a diaper on as the rest of dinner was placed on the table. No worries, she got herself dressed. Backwards and inside out, but dressed!

I am lucky to be witness to this lovely spirited child's life. It is a roller coaster of growing up. With all these ups you know there are downs too. On this same day that she did all this, she bit her sister's shoulder so hard that you can count at least 8 teeth marks in the full circle of a bruise.

I love you Elli Dew

A bond like none other

When we had Dewy, I told Karl I wanted him to have a best friend. So we got Pace. Now they are inseparable. 

We had Brady and I told Karl, I wanted another baby so Brady could have a best friend. We had Reese. Now they are inseparable. 

We gave them their own rooms in FL, they asked to have sleep overs in each others rooms every night. So we gave them a common bedroom with bunk beds. Now, they are sharing the same bed. 

In this first picture, they both have their hand draped over their sister's leg. They are wound into each other like pretzels. 

This next photo was after Brady had a long emotional evening because she missed her daddy so much. I asked Reese is she could make Brady feel extra loved that night. Reese shared her pillow and her oxygen. 

I hope Elli will be able to build this same bond with them as well. 

My baby is all grown up!

What happened? She isn't a baby anymore. Now the reference of her being my baby has nothing to do with age and ALL has to do with her being my youngest. How did this happen? But what a sweet thing it is to behold.

Let's explore the awesomeness of She.

 She mastered her first easter egg hunt. All I did was tell her "go clean up all those eggs"

 She wanted so badly to enjoy all those sweets she accumulated at the egg hunt. I tried to distract her with the miniature jar of bubbles she got. It worked for 5 seconds (look how sweet her blowing bubbles is) then she dumped out the jar to move onto bigger and better things...sugar.

 Apparently I haven't been giving her enough credit. While pulling the wagon with Reese and Elli, Reese shouts "look mommy!" Yep, Elli unwrapped a tootsie pop and went about her business.

 No worries though, MY baby still loves a good snuggle or piggy back ride. And I don't mind one bit.

 But, more importantly, she loves doing EVERYTHING her big sisters do. If Brady runs out in the early morning with a giant bear in tow. You bet that Elli races to find the other big bear, heft him over her arm, and proceed to the backyard too. Imagine the battles that fall into place when a almost two year old constantly tries to be a 5 or 6 year old.

 I do have to say, she is just as sweet as they come. I love her infectious joy of life.

 I also love her sense of humor. She is our resident comedian, always trying to get a laugh out of someone or laugh right along with others. She loves a good joke that is above her head but makes everyone else laugh. 

But about the sweetest thing as of late, is her new phrase "Daddy home". It can be phrased as a question or a statement. She wakes up, she immediately looks towards the master bedroom and asks "daddy home?". Daddy walks into a door after work, she goes running "Daddy home!!!!". It breaks my heart though, when Karl is out of town. She asks about 15 times a day "Daddy home?" Every time she sees a black sedan "Daddy home!" Playing in the backyard, she walks to the garage door, reaches for the knob and says "Daddy home?" She is a full blown daddy's girl and that makes me SO happy. I think she has her daddy sold on this only daughters business. 

Master of her own disguise

When she thinks she has secretly gotten into her sisters play make up but has really gotten into their markers!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

At the end of the rainbow

After having my first child, and falling head over heels for her, I wanted to give her everything life could offer. I wanted her to have a sibling (especially a sister) that she could have a lifelong bond with like I have with my own sister. Sure, enough 18 months later she had a sister.

Their bond has been apparent from the beginning. I post about on here often. Here are the latest examples.

Yesterday, Brady was invited to play at a classmates house, that also lives in our neighborhood. Great, fine, wonderful, except this is a friend of only Brady. Remember this is their first year of school ever to not be in the same class. So, up until last fall they shared all their friends. Reese was devastated by the lack of Brady. Brady was gone for 1.5 hours at her friends house. Reese cried uncontrollably for one hour of it.

Then today, I stopped by the school to eat lunch with Brady. Brady's teacher quickly whispered this story to me.

They are working on St. Patricks day folklore in class. They were discussing the pot of gold legends. The class was asked to write a sentence "_______ is worth more than a pot of gold." Brady showed her teacher her paper. "My sister is worth more than a pot of gold." Her teacher stated "Brady, you have two sisters, you need to put an s on the end of sister." Brady replied "no, I mean just one sister. My sister, REESE, is worth more than a pot of gold to me!"

That means more to me than if she would have said me. If nothing else, I want to raise kids that love their siblings!

My Non-Toddling Toddler

Elli is now 16 months old. She is every bit of 16 months old too. Her personality is really starting to show. So I thought I would give an update on my little ray of sunshine since it has been 4 months.

First off, she is ALMOST walking. She has taken her first step, back on September 9th. I was taking a video of her because she had just started standing independently. While filming, she happen to take her first step. Who actually catches a child's first step on film? This lady right here does ;)

I suggest you turn down your volume, I squeal really loud in the video.

She has taken up to 4 steps at one time, but that is not consistent yet. Once we can build her confidence, she will be off and toddling.

But she has not let the lack of upright mobility stop her from being a curious exploring 16 month old.

She loves to put of sunglasses. As soon as they are on, she looks at everyone in the room with the "aren't I fabulous" look. My response is always "Hollywood!" (Anyone remember the 80s movie "The Mannequin").

 She is also really taken a liking to books in true Orthner Girl fashion. Currently her two favorite good night stories are "Goodnight Moon" and "The Dog Book"

She loves to be outside and playing in our yard or at parks. 

 You will often find her at the back door like this... Trying to figure out how to work that door knob. Tonight I told Brady to go outside and play and within seconds Elli was standing at the back door.

 She is still a bigtime cuddler, giving some of the best hugs ever, and yes, she still loves to play with hair. All those hugs are by far my favorite benefit of Hypotonia.

 I think besides outside time, she treasures playing with her big sisters most. She really thrives off their attention. She also is really showing a need to have things in order, like her oldest sister. She will always attempt to put her good night story back in the bookcase. Today the remote was left on the coffee table and she crawled with it to the stool that has a basket it is normally kept in. She pulled up on that stool remote in hand so that she could properly place it. Yes, she is taken, no, you can't borrow her.

 She is also a trooper. We have to go to quite a few doctors, and she has become the queen of the waiting room! She takes the hours of driving to the hospitals and the hours of waiting to see the doctor for minutes like a champ. Love this girl!

 Here is a couple more fun videos that show Elli being Elli.

Lastly, my big girl may not be walking but she is drinking out of an open cup regularly now. She wants to be just like her big sisters. 

She is growing up right before my eyes. But I am okay with that, because I love seeing her grow up, such a fun journey to be on.

Game Night Liar

Game night is our Friday night tradition. We have been going at it for about a year now. The girls really do look forward to it, but they refuse to have game night when Daddy is out at sea. They say we aren't a family when daddy is not here.

As a preface to this story. I believe heavily in making sure that my girls lose games on a regular basis. I rarely 'let the girls win.' The only time I will purposely mess up to give a daughter advantage is when the game skews constantly to one kid so I will set the other kid up for success. For example, in memory if one girl gets all the matches for the 5th game in a row, I will try to show the other where her card is through a pretend mismatch. Anywho...

Last weekend, we played Brady and Reese's all time favorite game night game...Life. At the end we were counting money, First Karl announced how many 100,000 bills he had: "13" then Brady speedily proclaims "I have 19!" Reese jumps in with "I do too" (I thought I heard her count only 18, but I think it was an honest mistake). There I sat with 21 100,000 bills in my hand (yes I know that is 2.1 million but I am working with 4 and 6 year olds). No one looked my way, but I was completely okay. No need to claim victory here. I am not competitive and what ensued is much better then claiming victory. The girls SQUEALED in delight that they had "the same exact money and they BOTH are the winners". They danced around for at least 15 minutes singing the victory song of the dual champions. I cleaned up the game with Karl and then snapped pictures of the closing ceremonies in the game night festivities. They were so excited about the tied 'wins'...now who could break the news to them with faces like these. So, yes, on this night I 'let them win'!

iPhone Worthy

I always laugh at what photos end up on my iPhone. Here is my most recent captures. They all have a story which is why I love digging through my phone pictures!

Reese is still in love with this dress. She wears it every laundry cycle. But this picture is also special because I had time to snuggle with her and just her one morning. 

 When Dewy misses his daddy he spends about 15 minutes each morning running around the house up and down stairs whining while holding this big toy in his mouth. As if he is on a mission and the angel dog toy is his sidekick.

I have completely let go of guiding the girls in their clothes selection. I will only decide if they are covered and appropriate for the weather. This day Reese put on just tights with this 'dress'. I told her she needed to have something that would cover her bottom, and these floral shorts apparently was exactly what she needed!

 One morning Elli woke up while I was getting showered and dressed. Brady asked if she could go into the nursery with her. This is what I walked into. Sisters are the best thing in the world.

And lastly, I may have another girly girl on my hands. Yesterday, Elli only got about 30 minutes of a nap. She was cranky by dinner time so I was having a hard time getting the cooking done. Then all of a sudden she was quiet and happy for like 20 minutes straight. What turned her frown upside down? PURSES! Oh boy, at least I know what to expect out of girly girls since I have raised two already. 

Show and Telli

Yep, shall I write show and tELLI. I always like to post about the girls when they get to be leader of the day at school. This is a responsibility the girls do not take lightly. Shopping for snack, picking out a the right outfit, deciding what to bring to show and tell so that their friends will be in awe; this is all serious stuff. However, lately what to bring to show and tell has been an easy decision...a baby!

I love that the girls are so proud of Elli that they want to share her with their class. It works out that she is on display about once a month. The teacher discusses the new milestones for her age as the kids watch and ask questions. On Friday, Elli even showed off her latest move, the barrel roll!

I just love the bonds I have with my siblings and love even more that my kids love each other just as much.

 Showing off her neck exercises

 This right here is pride and pure love all mixed into a three year old.

A funny side note: When Reese was leader of the day, Brady was on her third day of missing school for a fever. So that I could be in the room so help Reese show Elli, they allowed Brady to sit in the loft. She looks so pitiful over there.