I've been trying to capture the way the boys say things on video.  Some of them are so funny and I want to always remember them. 

In this video, Carter is saying the name of the movie he's watching.  It's the movie Up, but he calls it "Balloons."


In this video, Carter is saying what I'm holding.  It's a toy helicopter :)

I've been asked how I'm able to take care of three children under two years old.  I'm able to do it because I'm a stickler for schedules!  If I didn't have a set time when things get done, I'd go crazy.  Plus, I'm a firm believer that my children have done so well because they have been on a schedule from birth. 

Anyway, here is our schedule that everyone was on when Elina was first born.  It has since changed because she eats every four hours, instead of every three. She has also dropped the last feeding of the night.

I wanted to post this so I can go back and remember how jam packed our days were :)

6:30-Elina's first feeding
7:00-Boys wake up (I've been getting them up closer to 7:30 because it takes me forever to feed Elina!). I get the boys up, change them, and feed them. Then they play while I clean up.
8:00- Elina goes down for a nap. If she needs a bath, I do it before this nap.
8-9:30-if I can get something done, then I do. Otherwise I spend this time with the boys
9:30-the boys have room time (I gate them in their room for play time) while I feed Elina
10:00-??I take the world's quickest shower while the boys are in their room playing. I've been sticking Elina in her swing or letting her do tummy time. Then if the boys are doing well in their room, I'll stick a load of laundry in or clean something. Otherwise, I play with the boys in their room for a bit.
11/11:30-Put Elina down for a nap and bring the boys upstairs and start making lunch. We eat it and then pick up the toys.
12:30- put the boys down for a nap and then feed Elina
2-put Elina down for a nap (this is when I take a nap if I can)
3:30-feed Elina
4-get the boys up and then start on dinner.
5-Elina goes down for a nap
5:30/6-eat dinner and get boys ready for bed
6:30-feed Elina
7-boys go to bed.
8-Elina goes for last nap
9:30-feed Elina and then I go to bed :)

I have a few recipes for playdough that is edible.  The boys are just getting to a point where they will play a little bit with the dough.  For the most part, though, the stuff just goes in their mouths.  I wanted to share the recipes for anyone else who might like them.

After I kneaded it, I added blue neon food coloring.  I found it in the cupboard and thought it would be fun to try!

After you've kneaded the lumps out and the coloring in, have fun!

In an attempt to make the most of the short time we have left here in the Windy City, we went to White Fence Farm on Sunday for their fried chicken.  It was so much fun and the boys had a great time eating their chicken and seeing the animals in the petting zoo.  I remember we went there when we first moved here last June and we had to carry the boys into the restaurant.  They are growing up so fast!

Elina was so well behaved during her first trip going out to eat!

The boys looking at the animals.

When we got home, the boys helped their Pop take out the garbage.  It's in their blood to take out the garbage :)

Eric and I are really trying to go out on dates as much as we can while we have a Grandma and Pop available to watch the kids.  This past weekend, we wanted to do something "Chicago-y."  We almost went to this Dutch restaurant, Vincent's.  We've never even heard of a Dutch restaurant here in the States so we've been wanting to try it out.  However, I'd never been to the Chinatown here and there is also a popular restaurant called Joy Yee's Noodle Shop.  We ended up going there and had such a great time.  It was easy to find and the food was AMAZING!

We got these drinks called bubble tea.  I've also heard of them be called boba.  They are fruit drinks with tapioca pearls.  Ummm...delish! I got a mango green tea.

The tapioca is like jelly, chewy balls. They don't taste really like anything, but are fun to eat.

Eric ordered this Korean noodle dish (it was a huge portion!).  They were the best noodles I have ever had!  They were garlic-y and had shrimp, calamari, scallops and chicken.  The sea food was so fresh.  So GOOD!

I ordered a hot pot that was beef soup and they brought you out a plate of shaved beef.  You put the beef in the soup and cooked it how you like it.  It was fun to eat and so good!

Elina is about to grow out of her 3 month clothes. She has this pink plaid dress that is just darling and since it was warmer this weekend, she got to wear it. 

Eating breakfast.  McDonald's oatmeal is so good!  If you haven't gotten it yet, you must!

Here we are at the top! The restaurant had the heat on and it was so hot in the play room.  It was even hotter up at the top where the vents were.  I felt like I was in a sauna!

I had to lift the boys up each step.  It was a workout!

Brandt loved to hang onto the poles.

I love her dainty hands.  She definitely has my insanely long fingers!

Elina has also adopted finger sucking like Brandt.  He sucks on the first two fingers on his left hand.  She usually sucks on the second and third.

My friend, Athena, does these posts called "7 Quick Takes" where she posts quickly about various different things that are going on in her family's life.  I thought I'd do the same as so many things are going on in our family.

1. Eric is taking the Step 3 of the boards today.  He's been studying nonstop (the main reason for the lack of posts lately as he's been using the laptop to work on questions).  We (he especially) are so excited to have him back as a participating member of the family! 
2. We just accepted an offer on our house in Phoenix...for 51% of the price we paid.  Ouch.  Darn Phoenix market.  Bad news is that it was obviously a short sale.  Good news is that we will be free and clear of the house and the buyer is an investor who is going to let the family who is currently renting it stay.  Yaaay!  They are an awesome family and we are so excited about that.  Let's just pray the bank accepts the offer! :)
3. Last Saturday was the one year anniversary of finding out I was pregnant.  It was fun to reminisce about that day and think about how our lives have changed since Elina was born.
4. Brandt learned a new phrase the other day.  During dinner, Eric's dad noticed a squirrel eating the bird food.  He open the back door and yelled, "Get out of here!"  Well, the little mimic liked this phrase and started saying it.  It's so funny!  It sounds like, "Geh-ow-a-hee!"  Well, it's funny until he says it to his mommy :)
5. Eric and I are gearing up for our trip to Augusta in a few weeks.  We're pretty excited!  We're going down to find a rental home. It's slim pickings on the MLS, but we have faith the Lord will lead us to the perfect home :).  I'm excited to see Augusta for the first time but even more excited to spend a couple days with my hubby.  When the boys were about 4 months old, I visited Eric in Dallas when he was doing a rotation there and we had a BLAST!  Going away together without any children is such a treat and such treasured time.  We can be the couple we were when fell in love!  I really hope we can continue to get away without the children every once in a while.
6. It's beginning to warm up a little bit here in the Arctic, aka Chicago.  This weekend is supposed to get up to 80 degrees!  We're so excited and I'm sure we will be hardly spending any time in the house.
7. Eric started OB-GYN last week at a hospital downtown.   It's a tough schedule and he's been dreading this month all year.  As he says, he doesn't do ladies and he doesn't do babies!  Luckily he scheduled a few days off to study for the Boards and he's taking a few days off to go down to Georgia.

And that's about it! 

Eric and I got a new point and shoot camera for our trip to Augusta we're taking in a few weeks.  I was playing around with it one day and the boys were my victims :)

Eating lunch.  The boys got to have a banana crunch muffin for dessert. It's an Ina Garten recipe and they turned out sooo good!

Hey!  I got Carter smiling on camera!

My beautiful boy!

Helping Pop fill the bird feeders

Carter upset about something :)

I pulled out the jump-a-roo the boys used last week to see if Elina would be big enough to use it.  Her little legs aren't quite long enough to reach the floor, but if I put a pillow beneath her, she can kind of bounce.  The first day she tried it she was so excited!

She was so excited

She was concentrating so hard!  You can see her latest skill here...sticking out her tongue.  She does it all the time!

Concentrating so hard!

"Mom, leave me alone!  I'm busy!"

So fun!

We ended our play session with a little tummy time.  She's doing so well at it.

Wow!  I need to get this post up before she's 4 months! 

Elina constantly reminds of how blessed we are as she is such an easy baby!  She is such a joy.  I've never seen a baby as happy as she is.  It's as if she is so content to be with us and be part of the family.  I love having a daughter :)

Things she's learned or done this month:

• Roll over
• Squeel
• Gnaw
• Sleep 12 hours at night
• Moved to a 4 hour schedule
• Exhibits stranger anxiety~the poor girl has it pretty bad!
• Plays in her jump-a-roo
• Sits in her bumpo chair

She loves to talk to anyone who will listen.  Her favorite thing to do is sit with you and have a conversation.  I love it!  She has also become more aware of her surrounding and if anything is going on, she wants to know about it!  This is especially true when she's eating.  She has a little bit of Brandt in her and sometimes you've got to tell her to focus! :)

Being very thoughtful!

Concentrating so hard!

Look at me!  I'm so cute!

Blowing bubbles

One of the cutest smiles I've ever seen!