Well the weekend was fun. We went to an outlet mall about an hour away just to get out of the house. We had fun. We also ate lots of good food over the weekend. We finally found a burger place that reminds us a little bit of In-N-Out. It's called Mooyah. The only major difference in taste is the bun. Mooyah also has more options when it comes to toppings. Matthew actually ate almost an entire burger by himself. It was awesome.

Well, the days of keeping Matthew off the couch are over. He can climb up on it by himself now and I often find him there playing with something he's not supposed to. This time I found him "reading".



At least once a day I get asked if we can watch "Wawee". I think I've seen that movie more times than I've seen the Goonies and that's saying something...

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

I can't believe how big our tiny little peanut is now... I didn't realize how big she looked in her tub until I took this picture.



Elise has gotten some AMAZING hand-me-downs from some friends of ours but I still can't resist buying little pieces here and there. I found this shirt at Target and I almost wish they had it in my size... She looks so cute in it.



Auntie Marianne spent some time talking to Elise on Sunday and Elise loved it. Here she is giving Auntie some smiles.





We went over to Elijah's house on Sunday night so that the daddies could watch the basketball game. The boys love any chance they get to play together. They even go to play the piano.



The look on Matthew's face in this video is the same look he gives me when I find him doing something he clearly knows he's not supposed to do. His innocent look doesn't fool me.

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

Elijah got to hold Elise. Bruce has already started joking that we're going to arrange a marriage between these two. Gilbert told Elijah to bring him a portfolio before asking to take Elise out.



So not impressed with the basketball game (he's a Celtics fan)



Aaaaaaannnnnnddddd... here's the real reason I wrote this whole post. I was so excited to get this on video that I had to share. Elise can be pretty stingy with her smiles so it takes some work to get one. I'm just glad I caught this on video =)

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

It's too hot here to really leave the house by myself with both kids. It's about 96 and when you factor in humidity it feels like it's well over 100. At least that's what Casey Curry told me this morning because I really, really don't want to venture outside. Unfortunately for me and the kids, we have to run to the store because we've discovered many, many ants hiding out in our bathroom.

More toddler feeding fun



Check out the yogurt beard



We went out for some lunch over the weekend and Matthew was really curious about this game. They never actually played it. Matthew just watched the demo and got to steer.





I *think* Matthew is eating a french fry here and Gilbert is telling him not to eat the crayons... at least I hope he's not eating a crayon...



I meant to post pictures of this outfit on Mother's day because she looked so cute in it, but I never got a chance to. The skirt was a hand-me-down from our friend Charlie (Charlotte) Parsons, who is about 4 months older than Matthew. You'll also note that Elise is wearing her first hair clip.







Matthew has graduated from his high chair to a booster seat. He eats like a big boy off of plates now. This sometimes results in more of a mess than Mommy cares to clean up, but he loves it and it's fun to watch him grow =)



Little known fact about me... I LOVE shoes. Seriously. I have more pairs of shoes in my closet than Gilbert really cares to look at but since becoming the mom of a mobile toddler I haven't really worn any of them. However, this love of shoes is now transferred over to my little girl and she *finally* has a pair of shoes that fit her tiny feet. She's starting to outgrow her 0-3 month clothing but it still in size 0 shoes.



Hopefully I'll have more to share soon...

Life has been somewhat uneventful around here. That's not necessarily a bad thing... it just means I won't have as much to share on here =). We've officially entered into hurricane season, so every weather forecast includes a look at what's going on in the gulf and the Atlantic. We'll see if this season has anything exciting in store for us... but hopefully nothing that will get in the way of celebrating Matthew's birthday... again.

Grandpa was asking for some new pictures so we had to oblige.









I'm not sure why I find this one so amusing.





I guess that's comfortable? I'm not sure where he got that... Gilbert doesn't sit like that.





The kids were superheroes yesterday. Of course Matthew had his Batman shirt on and Elise's shirt says "Girl Power" and has Batgirl, Wonder Woman, and Super Girl on it. Matthew was really excited to get to hold Elise, too. He's a good big brother. Please excuse the crazy hair. I try to comb it and it really doesn't end up looking any better than this anyway... I don't know when it got so curly.



He's saying "cheese"



He's pointing to himself because I asked him where Batman was.

8 weeks old! Holy cow. Where has the time gone? I can't believe she's (almost) 2 months old! Matthew will be 2 in four months!

Speaking of how big our little girl is getting... Here are some pictures of her in her little blue dress from this past Sunday.





And a short video so you can all get the full effect of the cuteness

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

I wish I had caught him in action, but I'm posting this so you can all get a good mental image. Matthew pretends that his lightsabers and swords are either weedwackers, vacuums, or brooms... depending on which parent he's mimicking. At this particular moment, the lighstaber was a weedwacker... and he was wearing my sparkly Roxy flip flops as he "edged" the dining room. It was awesome.



I rarely have the patience to let Matthew go to town when he's feeding himself because I have a hard enough time keeping up with his messes as it is. I figured he needed some practice with his spoon, though...











My little movie star



My parents, being the wonderful, loving, generous grandparents they are decided that Elise needed a Cabbage Patch doll. Apparently I was pretty fond of my doll as a kid and I actually still have her at my parents' house. She'll be making her way here soon thanks to my mom, but they also wanted Elise to have her own... Well, apparently toy stores are no longer carrying them in store and some don't even carry them online anymore. I was lucky enough to find a newborn doll with brown eyes at Target. Here she is:



Well, both kids are doing well. Elise still doesn't want to get with the program and I'm pretty convinced that she could care less about what Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam have to say. As a result, I'm still tired =). Otherwise, though, she's cooing a ton and smiling at us here and there. Hopefully we'll be able to catch one of those smiles to share with all of you.

Matthew is... well... he's 20 months old and acting it. He's smart, charming, and incredibly funny... but he's also a daredevil... Crazy kid.

One last video. We LOVED when Matthew did this and love it just as much when Elise does it. Not so much the sneezing, but the sigh that comes afterward.

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

Well, he's here.

Zion Benjamin Ramirez
May 22, 2009
7:15pm
8lbs, 10oz (I was way off. My guess was over 10lbs)
20.5in

Zion and Elise were due 3 weeks apart. Seeing as I went early and Elizabeth went late, they're actually 7.5 weeks apart. I guess everyone is doing well. Elizabeth labored for 40 hours and pushed for 2.5 of those hours. She also did it all natural. She is my hero. From what I'm told he got my dad's cleft chin. Looks like we already have something in common =)

Just a quick update with a few pictures. Apparently my brother and his wife are at the hospital right now. She's been in labor for over 24 hours at this point and they just broke her water. My nephew is on his way. It's a bittersweet moment for me. I wish I could be there.

I found Matthew trying to climb into the bookcase. He seriously can't sit still.



Ok, so he'll sit still long enough to watch a little bit of a movie.



Ok, here's what's going on here. Elise was on the floor for some tummy time and Matthew was so excited that he ran up to sit next to her. Well, he misjudged the distance and ended up kicking her in the head. That's why she's crying. She's got a nice scab on her head now, but at least it was all done in love.









It's sad, but we just realized the other day that Elise is 7 weeks old and we litterally had no pictures of her and Gilbert. Here's their first picture.



A couple more of my silly boy





And finally, a video of Matthew playing with Elise and giving her "kisses".

Untitled from Melissa S on Vimeo.

Well, both kids had their check-ups today and I survived my first trip to the pediatrician without help. Matthew wasn't a fan of being there. In fact, when we pulled up in front of the building he took one look at it and said "no". However, being the amazing big brother that he is, he helped me push the stroller into the dr's office while wearing his Batman sunglasses and I have to say he looked pretty awesome.

He wasn't fond of the shots, either, but I expected that. I had him go first so he wouldn't see Elise getting her shots and then freak out when he realized the same thing was going to happen to him. He did get concerned when Elise was getting her shots though. He kept pointing at Elise saying "Baby? Baby? Baby?" as if what he really meant was, "Mom, pick her up! Don't you see what they're doing to her? Are you crazy?!" It was cute.

Here are the stats:

Elise

Height: 21.5in (50%)
Weight: 10lbs 3oz (55%)
Head: 14.5 (45%)

Matthew

Height: 32.5in (30%)
Weight: 27lbs 9oz (70%)
Head: 20.25 (still above 95%)