A look back at February

Better late than never! Looking back on February, the month was filled with lots of love around our house. :)Lots and lots of it, and lucky for us, everybody got in on it, since Elem was the one to be passing it all around. Well, "love" with a side of kicking and screaming, but we will focus on the love part as we take a look back. Just looking at some pics from the past month, make me smile from ear to ear. Here are a few things and people I didn't want to forget were major impacts this month!

I introduce to you-the handy manny ball. Per Elem that is. This ball gets more action than any other toy in our house, and its not even really a handy manny ball-its really bob the builder, but since the dude has a hard hat on it, and Elem has never heard of bob the builder, he swears it is the handy manny ball. So we will go with that. This ball is his favorite soccer ball, basketball, "slap" or volley ball, kickball, dodgeball, tennis ball, as well as any other game you could imagine he could play with it. It makes frequent trips to the front and backyards, and even to the park. Elem seriously does not go a day without playing with this little faithful fellow! Which means neither do seth and I :) We have each received many pelts with the handy manny ball, but at least its consistent and we know whats coming! ha! Here is Elem at Mills Park at the basketball court, never straying to far from his good ole friend.


I am so happy to say that Sage was a major benefactor in the love department this past month as well. She LOVES to play with her toys and Elem loves to throw them for her, so that has worked out well. She loves to be outside, and so does Elem, so that makes it even better. And she loves to get in on any food scraps she can when Elem is around, because Seth and I dont offer up too much more than some regular ole dog food and a dingo bone! Luckily, Elem is a picky eater and likes to keep his food low enough where she seems to reap a lot of benefits. hehe. And for some reason she is even loving his big boy bed (which I will post on next) and has been caught sleeping in there with Elem-shocker! I am so happy they get along most of the time, its nice to have a sweet little give and take relationship with the young hyper child and the old hyper dog. Makes for quite the evenings. If I remember correctly he was asking Sage if she wanted to get up on his swing set with him, but answered for her and said, since she cant talk, he would say NO for her. Hahahaha.


Ahhh, baby Sadie. Where to start with Baby Sadie. Elem goes to school with a baby Sadie that looks exactly like every single white newborn baby doll in America. Does that make it pretty clear? And he has ONE particular baby at home and ONE particular baby at school that he "knows" as Baby Sadie. And my, does he love those babies. He doesnt play with baby dolls all the time or even on a regular basis, but he does play with them-or her I should say, at random times, and it is like they never left off. he holds her, gets her a blanket, feeds her a bottle, etc. etc. It is quite the connection and I just love to see the little caregiver in him. So adorable!


Next up would be daddy lovin'. Elem has slowly but surley been developing this overwhelming love of the turntables-and music in general. He has always been a huge fan of music, but this month, the breakdancing and all out crazy night time moves he has been bustin out with, during a daddy set on the turn tables, is INSANE! This boy does not move. He knows how to turn the turn tables on, move the needle (which is not always good) and of course he likes to recommend some of his favorite tunes, which daddy is always able to find. It is too funny. Seeing our toddler, well almost preschooler, walk up to the turn tables like he knows what he is doing, and be more than happy to just watch his daddy and bust a moove. I cant even put into words how sweet it is.


Mommy and me time. I have been getting major face time looking back at the month of February! Although the weather has been crazy, a few snow days here and there and a few beautiful summer like days there, Elem and I have been attached at the hip. And I mean that literally, we wake up together, get ready together, go to school together, hang out all day together, eat together, which menas we eat picky foods together, and then lay on the couch together until we both fall asleep. Oh and did I mention I usually get a friendly greeting in my bed around 3:30am or so? Sometimes it is in the form of a whisper, sometimes it is in the form of a tap tap tap, and sometimes it is in the form of crying. Anyway you pick it, I am greeted, and then shoved over and forced to squish myself into the tiniest amount of room possible for the rest of the night's sleep. Ahh, although it is making me a tad bit sleep deprived, I still love spending time with Elem. Nothing is better when he says, "Hey mom, you know what? I love you." :) Melts my heart every time. Although I need to make the seperation from my nite time pal, I guess it is just a little hard for me to let my baby go. He is getting bigger and bigger by the second, and his legs have literally shot up, right before my eyes! I can barely see the baby in him anymore. Still love moments like these though-just relaxing with my little man, enjoying the weather and a nice swing.


I can't escape this one. One thing I am so not proud of. How has my love for Diet Coke, somehow made its way into the heart of my little 2 year old???? No we do not give him full cokes or anything, although you could be fooled by the picture below :) haha, and he usually only takes about 2 sips, but still, I have got to make some changes with my drinking habits around him I guess! He knows how much love I have for the ole diet coke, I guess it just cant be skipped. He showed some major love to "DC" during the last month, and you better bet momma is watching out, and listening for those pitter patter of foot steps when he creeps into the fridge to try and tell me he "needs" one. hehehe. Lots of love lately, lots of love.

Who doesn't like the Grammy Awards???

Nobody in this house I can say for sure! Especially when the Black Eyed Peas are playing a compilation of a few of their top hits, and Elem's most favorite songs! Currently, "Imma Bee" and "I Gotta Feeling" are 2 of Elem's top favorite pop songs, and when he hears them he can't help but break out into dance! I love it! This is a typical dance show form Elem, we tend to see about every night or early afternoon when we get home from school. You can't but smile. :)

DVD Care is a must

We don't really let Elem watch too much tv around the house other than your typical Backyardagains or Chuggington episode in the morning. I just feel like there is soooo much time to watch television in the coming years, that the least I can do is keep him sheltered with toddler/preschool only shows-you know with the emphasis being on helping one another, imagination, and music! However, lately we have tried a couple of movies just to see what the attention span is, and it is still not movie ready I don't believe. haha. The first movie we tried out was Happy Feet, and after MANY attempts, we finished the entire movie, and he DOES love him some "penguinos", but still doesn't watch the entire movie all at once. I think that is asking way too much. Then we tried BOLT, because Cecilia has it at her house, and when I asked him what movie he would like to watch for movie night, of course he said BOLT. Again not a huge success, but now he does know the name BOLT. Lastly, and most recently, I tried the Disney movie CARS because I thought it would be pretty action filled, and keep him interested. Sadly again, no such luck on a one time sit down attempt to watch the movie. Which I am actually really happy about-I don't really think toddlers and preschoolers should be sitting around watching movies all day long! But yes that is the teacher in me kicking in! In between these attempts, I believe my love for TWILIGHT has seemed to creep through to my little man, because he is frequently asking to watch "Bella and Edward" way more than any other movie attempt I had made! But I wont go into detail because Seth is not a supporter. Hehe. Now, back to my original point-this afternoon Elem was going to get a DVD out of his DVD player in the playroom, so he casually walked in, pressed the on button, then the eject button, took the DVD out of the rack, and then walked into the living room looking for me. As he was calling me, I watched as he licked the dvd on the silver side, and then used his t-shirt to gently wipe it clean. All I could do was burst out laughing, because that is exactly what I do in hopes of getting a little bit more use out of a skipping DVD or CD. I never even knew he had seen me do that! What a little learner he is.

My little Valentine

Valentines Day this year was more than perfect! First of all, we had this little fellow to make it super worth heading to school in anticipation for the big V-Day party-which included lots of food, sweets, and dance contests and games, as well as a major cool boy V-day shirt I was able to find, courtesy of Old Navy for $2.50:) A good buy always makes me happy, and how could I not be when looking at this???


We started off partying on Friday at school like I mentioned, and then continued on through Sunday. We have a major problem in our family of wanting to give and receive holiday gifts, or gifts of any kind, a little early! Its almost like we can't contain ourselves and just want to hurry up and give it to the intended recipient, or get something we know we have waiting for us. This year was no different. On Saturday afternoon, I was bubbling over to give Elem and Seth their little V-Day gifts, and so the gift exchanging began, just a few hours shy of the actual holiday. Oh well, its the thought that counts right? Not when you actually open it. Elem of course got to open up lots of little things-but I can not find the pictures on my computer for some reason. The theme of his Valentines Day stash consisted of all things bed-time! He has been BEGGING for some house shoes, and pleading to wear Cecilia's hot pink and purple dotted ones that are about 2 sizes to small every chance he got, so I figured what a better gift! I found the cutest pair of Penguin slippers, and another boot looking pair of red soft ones that he could run in. Which I knew was his overall goal in wanting slippers. He thinks they make him run fast! I couldn't argue with that, so when I saw his insane excitement for the not so cute red ones versus the crazy cool and cute penguin ones, I didn't let it hurt my feelings. hehe. Then of course he got PJs and all that good stuff. I had been planning Seth's gift for a while, and got him some awesome cooking knives since he is my personal chef. To top off all the gift exchanges, Elem came wandering into the living room with my engagement ring, with a new diamond in one of the side diamond slots that had fallen out a while ago, on his little bitty thumb. :) Aww steal my heart. Thank you baby, and thank you Elem for making it such a special Valentines Day this year! The next day, on the actual V-Day, Seth and I actually had a mini date and had brunch at the Clinton Library-Cafe 42, just the 2 of us. In case you know us at all, that NEVER happens. So it was all the more special. :) I love my little family. Great V-day-just wish I had more pics to savor the moments!

The joys of raising boys

"Look what I can do mom! See that bubble I can make with my spit in my mouth? Do you like that mom? Can you do that? Wait, wait, let me show you how you can do it"


The joys of raising boys right? He is a very talented spit bubble maker, if I do say so myself. Encouraging creativity every. single. day. in the Shelby household!

Happy 3rd Birthday Sissy

The little birthday girl! Girly, girly, girl that is!


We can't believe that our Niece/cousin/BFF Cecilia Rebecca Kate just celebrated her 3rd Birthday on February 7th. Elem and Cecilia have grown up together, living just a street apart, so I am not stretching the truth when I say they are Best Friends. It doesn't help that they are only 3 months apart either :) I had no idea how much we would love this little girl when she was born, or know how special it would be to see Elem grow up along side her and see the special bond they have. Not to say that it is all peaches and creme when they are together-yes they are as opposite as the day is long and seem to want exactly whatever it is the other has, but they still grin from ear to ear when they see each other, or when they think they are about to see each other, and they normally have a great time when together! The giggles never seem to stop, and the ordering around from Elem's end seems to get stronger and stronger with each minute they are together. It is enough to give me a good laugh every time we see Cecilia, so that's all that is important! ha! We had so much fun at Cecilia's birthday party this year. It was a Purple Party from head to toe-which has been Cecilia's favorite color for as long as I can remember. We ate lots of hot dogs and cake, jumped and jumped in the bounce house, and played with plenty of good friends. We love you Cecilia and hope you had a great 3rd birthday!

Cecilia: "Elem, do you like my pretty dress?"
Elem: "HUH? Are you ready to go play outside sissy? You ready to jump?"
Cecilia: "Uhm, yeah I'm ready"

Bless her little heart, all she wanted was some major props from her cousin on her fabu birthday tutu! Comon, Elem!

Happy Birthday Cecilia! Aunt Mindy loves you very very much :)

Thats dangerous!

This morning I was being silly, trying to use up some of my energy while talking to Elem, and I did a handstand using the chair stool. No I have no acrobatic talent, but I can be silly! It response to my awkward handstand, Elem, who was sitting in the chair right in front of me, said,

"mom, don't do that, that is dange-ewr-ous".

Hmmm.. he has been saying that word a lot lately, guess I need to tone it down a little bit!

Teachin' him early

Need I say more? Seth and I are HUGE music lovers and always have been, and can in no way imagine our life without music in it! No, we do not sing beautiful music together, or hum tunes with a harmonica around a fire at night, but we would if we could! Whether it is spinning records, listening to jam bands, or some James Taylor, we really want Elem to grow up in a household full of music. And to always have the opportunity to grow or express himself musically any time he would like. For now, we have a few instruments around the house, radios and ipods he can get to any time he wants, and of course, daddy's favorite:

The turn tables-


I am not exactly sure who the new Serato scratch live was purchased for a couple of weeks ago? Seth? or Elem? So far, his newest trick is "scratchin" during one of daddy's mixes! (no mom and Becky- that does not mean scratching the record with his fingernails, it is a DJ style of spinning-hehe)

Teach them young right?!

If at first you don't succeed...

Try, try, again.

Man do I try to say these words, not exactly in that saying-since it is a little dated. :) But in so many words, if you don't succeed, you do need to try until you figure out a way you can do it. Be it putting on your cloths, putting on your shoes, trying to reach a light switch, writing your name, or even just trying to get something out of the pantry-sometimes you just have to give it a good ole 5 or 6 tries till you figure out how to do it. I have tried many approaches, giving encouragement, threatening with time out :), showing by example, offering some help, and just staying silent, it seems that they all seem to have their own affect on different circumstances. I still never really know which one is the best fit for Elem for each and every little thing he is trying to accomplish on his own. All I can do is my best, even though at times, my best seems to get me frustrated, and him in a major fit!

It seems every day, and every few minutes for that matter, that these toddler 2's are not only showing the blessing of some serious time for tantrums around our house, but they are also a time for wanting to do things all by yourself. I have mentioned it before, but it is that ever growing sense of, you can do it, why can't I. That as grown ups we still seem to carry around. Naturally I expect my toddler to have the same feelings, and even more so, sense of "want to" and have to" beeming from his every bit of existence! Basically, it happens one of 2 ways: 1. You try and you don't succeed which results in the tantrum sort of answer. Suggesting a feeling of frustration and can't do attitude. Nobody likes this one. 2. You try, and don't succeed, but keep on trying until you figure out a way you can succeed. These are the ones we all like to see. Even if they are a little bit funny, and sometimes crazy!

Those that ring a bell, I see about every day, trying to get that left arm out of the sleeve of the shirt -this one is a pain!!! And usually leads to some screaming, but never wanting you to touch him or help, because he can do it! Or trying to get his shoes on by himself-even though he has the biggest feet in the world, that do not fit easily into any shoe. These are just a couple of examples that you are doomed if you help and doomed if you don't! So, it is almost better just to let it happen and allow him to work things out himself, unless you can make it into a game of some sort-that seems to help a little bit. But the kind like the pics below, are the ones I LOVE!

Elem has been saying some clever things to keep himself up at night, like

"I need sumpthin out of the pantwy". " I'll be right back, mom"

Only for me to find this:




Guess he figured out one way or another to get to those Hershey's Kisses. Oh well, he worked so hard to get them, I couldn't possibly tell him know, but just tell him to hold on so I could grab the camera!

Making the bed-Toddler style

Ever tried making the bed with a toddler? Well, one of my pet peeves is to have the beds made when I leave the house each and every single day! There is just something about coming home and them not being made, that seems to get under my skin. However, it is also something that distracts me from my toddler, and lets just say, being the morning people that we are, neither of us are happy to embrace things that aren't specifically in our own individual plan before around say-10am. Hehe,. I needed a plan to get Elem out of his state of whining for me "not to make the bed" and put some attention on him-all the while accomplishing my goal of getting those pesky beds made! This is how I make it work, each and every morning:



Cecilia was over one morning, heading to school with us, so she got to get in on the action. This was her first time, so you can tell Elem is way more INTO the whole idea of being knocked out with the pillow. I actually had to cut the video a little short, because it does take about 10 minutes to do the whole thing. But I can tell you, the bed is pretty close to perfect each and every single day-thanks to my little man!