Michael and Beth's BlogMichael and Beth's Blog - Catch up with Michael, Beth, Ella and Paige

My Favorite Place to Cry

Michael Wender — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:06:36 +0000

The following exchange happened calmly and happily without Ella offering a bit of the emotion implied in the dialog:

Ella: I’m going to go cry in my room.

Beth: Aw, Ella, why are you going to go cry in your room?

Ella: Because I love to go cry in my room.

Abbreviated Nap Time

Michael Wender — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:49:57 +0000

We’ve had Ella in a toddler bed for a little over a month now. Although she’s able to get out of it, she’s never attempted to unless we’ve come in the room to get her out of bed. She’s even cried for things she has thrown out of bed because she hasn’t thought of getting out to get them. Well, things have begun to change…

Yesterday my mother was watching Ella, and she told us that Ella had gotten out of bed as she was on her way back to her room. Today’s story tops that: I’d just put Ella down for a nap. While I was working in my office, I heard a door open. I thought it was Beth coming from our bedroom. Imagine my surprise when I heard Ella in my doorway announcing, “I’m all done with my nap, Daddy.” I assured her that she wasn’t done, escorted her back to her room, and watched her climb back into bed.

Afterwards, I peeked in at Beth who was holding Paige for a nap. We shared looks of raised eyebrows and rolled our eyes at each other. A couple of minutes later, Ella was back up again. This time Beth reminded me to tell her that if she got up again she wouldn’t get to watch a TV show when she gets up from her nap. Hopefully that did the trick…

Family Reading Time

Michael Wender — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:20:38 +0000

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Paige and Ella.

NOTE TO EMAIL READERS: Please click on the title of this post to visit the blog and see the picture.

A Good Night’s Sleep for Paige

Michael Wender — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:23:48 +0000

It’s official. Beth and I are both ready to call last night’s sleep the best so far for Paige since we started “sleep training” her this past Saturday night. She only fed twice (one more hour of sleep would have dropped that to once), and she went down easy (i.e. no crying) for bedtime and after each feeding.

Tell Me a “Mater” Story

Michael Wender — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:21:23 +0000

Ella loves for us to make stories up on the spot and tell them to her. Recently, Ella was introduced to the characters in Pixar’s Cars movie. She loves for us to tell her stories about Lighting McQueen and Tow-Mater. The following exchange relates how one day last week she tried to trick Grandmommy into telling her a story with one of her favorite characters:

Ella: Grandmommy, tell me a “Mater” story.

Grandmommy: I don’t know any “Mater” stories.

Ella: Tell me a “Rastus*” story.

Grandmommy: Ok, what “Rastus” story would you like to hear?

Ella: “Rastus Meets a Friend”

Grandmommy: What friend did he meet?

Ella (with a sheepish grin): Mater.

You may or may not catch the humor and the precocious thinking here, but for those involved this is a scene definitely worth capturing and remembering.

*Grandmommy has told “Pogo and Rastus” stories for years. Pogo and Rastus are two black bears who live in the Smoky Mountains. They still join the Wender Family whenever we take trips to Myrtle Beach.

Fast Friends

Michael Wender — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:00:38 +0000

This past weekend Beth met her two roommates from college for a “Girl’s Weekend”. Here’s a shot of Paige and Josiah during some pool-time.

Paige on the Playmat

Michael Wender — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:57:34 +0000

Paige is the perfect centerpiece to this colorful photo.

Icky Medicine and The Yogurt Solution

Michael Wender — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 23:31:33 +0000

The past couple of days we’ve had a very hard time getting Ella to take some antibiotics prescribed by her doctor. The first two nights we spent over an hour trying to get her to finish one teaspoon of the icky tasting stuff. Finally, today we offered her the option to take it mixed with yogurt, and she likes it. Yea!

BTW: There’s no fooling this little girl. You’ll note that our solution included some negotiations with the patient.

Our 2011 Christmas Card

Michael Wender — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:12:46 +0000

On Saturday, December 17, 2011, Beth and I set out to do the impossible: photograph our two girls and make a Christmas card in time for Christmas on the following Sunday. We dressed Paige and Ella in their Christmas dresses, placed them in the “Christmas scene” we had setup in my office, and I proceeded to shoot as many photos as I could while Beth posed them.

Eight-two shots later, we were still in surprisingly good spirits, and we were pleased with the results. The following day I selected one of our favorite photos and created a Christmas postcard. Next, I uploaded my file to VistaPrint, added all our mailing addresses, and completed our order. Much to our surprise, we’ve heard from many on our list that they received our card before Christmas.

Since our card only included one photo from the shoot, we wanted to share some more favorites, candids and bloopers (HINT: Click on any image below. Then use your keyboard’s left and right arrow keys to move to the next picture. 2ND HINT: If you are viewing this post via email, click through to see the actual post on the site. Otherwise, you’ll only see the image thumbnails):

Waffles for the New Year

Michael Wender — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:39:29 +0000

With Ella a little under the weather, we stayed home this New Year’s morning rather than going to church. Fortunately we were all able to enjoy some waffles for breakfast.