embarrassing stories that my kids probably will be mad at me for telling a few years from now....

Emmy is doing great with potty training. Since it is such a hot topic at our house and we are always asking her if she has to go "poopy in the potty" it also becomes talked about in public (which is actually pretty embarrassing for me). The other day we were at the super market and Emmy told me she had to go. I thought since we were in there anyway I would use the restroom too. Even though I was not going #2, Emmy decided to cheer for me as we do her. "Go, mommy, get that poopy OUT!" She yelled in the restroom. I could have died of embarrassment. I had a chat with her about keeping out voice down when in the public restroom. On the way out of the room she said (in her regular volume of voice). "we did a great job mom going poopy in there - good for us!"

Today Emmy was complaining about her butt hurting which usually means she is constipated. So I had her drink juice and I gave her a bath. This worked like a charm and later as I helped her get dressed and she held out her arms to me for a hug and said "Oh thank you so much mommy" and I asked her why she was thanking me. She told me "I am so thankful for you giving me juice, a bath so I could get that poopy out" What a sweet and thoughtful girl.

That's all for the gross stories. Robb is at the Republican convention all day so I am planning to take the kids to the park and for ice cream later.

mom loves her Bobby kisses

When Bobby decides to give me kisses I usually get about 10 open mouth prolonged kisses in a row. He never gives just one! So when he was on a roll today giving kisses I tried to catch him in action. My sweetheart! I know someday I won't get these kisses so I'm getting as many in now as possible....wet, slimy, messy Bobby kisses that I love ;)

Bobby opens his gifts

Bobby has been opening his gifts all month since he technically missed his birthday party.

He has enjoyed lots of new toys and clothes from his family!

What an awesome St. Patty's day!

Such a great day so far. Beautiful weather outside, the sun is shining. Woke up early with both kids and after breakfast Robb took over so I could go for a training run. Running another 1/2 marathon in May so I'm up to 9.5 miles. Emmy and I went to the last gymnastics class and she insisted on wearing her cowgirl boots from Grandpa Kelly. She told anyone who would listen that grandpa bought those for her. She had about 15 kids in her class and they all went around in a circle saying their name and their favorite animal. When it was her turn she yelled out, "I'm Emmy Eckert and I love COWS!" She was the only kid who stated their entire first and last name and the only kid who did not choose a puppy or kitty as the favorite animal. Those trips to the ranch are making a difference in her answers I think. Then later in class the teacher had them stand in the center of the group and do their favorite gymnastics trick. Most of the kids were too shy to attempt a trick in front of teachers, parents and classmates but not my Emmy! She jumped up before her turn and I had to remind her several times that it was not her turn yet. Finally she was up and she ran to the middle and dance around waving her arms and singing, "la la la la, I'm a princess!" She told me this was her princess dance. Her teacher told her she was AWESOME. She wanted another turn but this was not to be. My little performer! After class we went for some frozen yogurt and I am always surprised at how much frozen yogurt that girl can eat - she is my girl! We came home and spent some quality time with our little Bobby. I can't wait until he can join in on the fun and take classes and go for ice cream too. He is well on his way.......

A busy week!

We started out the week feeling a little crazed....or at least I was! I had read a sign at daycare the week before that said Monday is dress crazy week. Kids were supposed to wear inside out and backwards clothes. So I really talked this up to Emmy and tried to get her excited. Later on in the morning I got a text message from Robb telling me he dropped the kids off in their crazy outfits and no one else was dressed this way.....turns out crazy dressing day was the week before. I picked up the kids and Emmy told me immediately, "Mom, it is NOT inside out clothes day anymore!" I told her that yes, I heard that. She then told me, "It was SO funny mom, I laughed a lot...ahahahahah!" Then on Wednesday Bobby got an ear infection so I rushed from work to get him. He was a hit and charmed all the ladies at the doctor's office with his giggles and smiles but was pretty fussy at home. Tonight I was putting Emmy to bed and she insisted I cut the tag off her teddy bear. I told her that that was his tail and he would say, "OW" if I did that. She gave me a look like I was really stupid and told me, "Mom he doesn't talk even," I went to cut the tag off then and made a noise in a different voice pretending to be the bear saying, "OW"......she gave me the stupid look again and told me, "mom, it just doesn't make sense because that bear's mouth isn't even open!" Emmy is definitely smarter than me now!

Bobby finally gets to enjoy his 1st birthday cake!

Finally after over a week of delaying his first bites of cake due to he and Emmy having a bad flu....Bobby finally got his first taste of cake! He loved every bite. There was no need to coax

or convince him to try. We didn't have to dip a finger in for him or try a bite first....no he just dove right in and made a mess. He made sure to get as much cake in his mouth as possible. A special thanks to Brandi Bear who bought this special cake for him. Tomorrow evening the Moldenhauer family and Grandma Pearl are coming over for dinner to help celebrate too. So Bobby didn't really get a big blow-out first birthday party....but he got a lot of little ones over the past week and he got many birthday wishes from us all. He is loved. What a great year we have had with Bobby in our family. He is precocious, honery, adorable, mischevious, sweet, busy, strong and completely lovable. He is a true Eckert boy. Tonight when I fed him a bottle before bed and then was rocking him I asked him if he would share some birthday boy kisses with me. I ask him for kisses a lot and I probably get him to give them to me about two times a day (I ask about 20 times a day). He is stingy with his kisses but always gives them if he is just seeing me after I've been running errands or when I get him from daycare. He also gives them when it is just him and me and he is in a good mood. Tonight thought when I asked I got about 5 in a row and they were kisses that I felt really meant, "I loooove you!" They each lasted about 5 second each with him pressing his little baby mouth onto mine. Then when he finished he giggled. I just felt so loved by my boy.....someday these type of kisses won't be appropriate I suppose. For now, I will just enjoy all the hugs, kisses and cuddles that I can talk my little blessings into giving to me!

Family trip to the zoo

Today we packed up the family and the new wagon that the kids got for Christmas and headed out on a beautiful day to the zoo. Bobby was pretty quiet and still which is strange for him. We thought maybe it was because he was taking it all in at the zoo. Emmy thanked us several times for a "great trip to the zoo" which she told us she "really enjoyed!" She speaks like an adult and has so many sayings that are unique to her. Several people stopped to laugh at her since she was constantly making animal noises (oinking, hooting, growling, howling) at the zoo animals. She really enjoyed the owls today and had been asking about seeing them since we had first arrived at the zoo. I had packed plently of snacks and so the trip was full of food and fun for all.

Emmy, daddy and mommy have a special viewing on the new basement TV

Robb finally got his entertainment system set up downstairs. The only other person who may enjoy it as much as he does is Emmy. I made some popcorn for them and we all snuggled up to watch a cartoon movie called Tangled. Emmy sang and danced (even though it was her first time watching it so she didn't know the words). I ended up making 2 huge bowls of popcorn which mostly Emmy ate. Once I got done making the popcorn I convinced Emmy to come sit on my lap and let me hold her. Robb is so nice about giving me all the cuddle time with the kids. I know he would probably like some extra hugs too but he usually lets me get most of the moments where the kids want to sit quiet.

Bobby finally feels well enough to take his one year old pictures

We had to reschedule Bobby's one year old photo shoot since the kids were sick. He finally was acting and feeling like himself again this weekend. We did some pictures with Bobby holding a paint brush (like Dad) and he just loved it. He did so well that I thought that JC Penny should pay us for letting them shoot our cute, happy baby (I can still call him my baby right....) I mean not trying to brag - but just look at these pictures of this sweet, smiling baby! Bobby is getting SO big now and looks so grown up running around. He got a wagon from the Lovdals that he has enjoyed pushing around and a big dump truck that he gets behind and races around the living room. These were perfect gifts for our big brute! Robb and I are feeling so relieved that he seems to be acting like himself again....this month with the kids having one illness after another was just tough on our family. Robb and I had to take so much time off work with no one around to help us out. We are hoping to worst is over. The weather is so nice today again that we are planning for a trip to the zoo. This will probably be the first trip that Bobby can actually react to the animals and Emerson always enjoys a zoo trip. Spring is coming!!

Emmy has some strange requests for breakfast

On weekend mornings I usually ask Emmy what she would like me to make for breakfast. Usually its whole wheat pancakes with berries or french toast.....but today she wanted mini pancakes and pickles. So, that is what we had (or rather she had, the rest of us had pancakes).

Bobby is sick on his 1st Birthday

As promised mom is taking over blog duties to give Bobby an equal voice in telling his stories now that he is one....here it goes!

Our poor little Bob-Bob was sick on his big day. He started throwing up (all over me) the morning before his birthday and because he continued to be sick over the weekend we had to postpone his big party. We still had him take some pictures with his sports themed cake and when he is feeling better we plan ot have him dig in to the little cake that Brandi Bear bought him. I bought him a small and a large cake but was pretty disappointed in how the smaller cake turned out. I ran into Brandi when I was at the store picking it up and since she could tell I was upset that the cake didn't look better she texted me later and told me she had ordered a small cake for Bobby and would drop it off later. What a good friend! Bobby slowly started feeling better as the weekend went on and we hope all his birthdays after this one are better and healthy!

Here are some pictures of Bobby on his birthday with his cake and his daddy while he was recovering. He got lots of special attention and his big sister bought him a special gift (his own set of car keys and cell phone) and she sang Happy Birthday to him. Bobby's birthday meals consisted of pedialyte, crackers, bananas....anything he could keep down.