Test, this is only a test

The Precursor to our family pictures!

A few days after getting back to NY from AZ, Duane took us to a beautiful tree-lined lake and we took family pictures! It was bitter cold when we first got there. Both boys were in the car sleeping as Duane and I scoped out the are for a the right spot and to get the gear set up, but luckily the wind died down a bit once we got the kiddos out.

I love taking pictures with Duane because I feel like it's something we can enjoy and learn about together, not to mention it makes for great family keepsakes! He's always so patient when it comes to family pictures.

I fell in love with this pic of Kalvin and had to get it up here! To me, he looks like a kid model.

Blog name change!

We are officially changing our blog to www.daEllsworths.blogspot.com, read "duh-ellsworths", stands for Duane and Angie Ellsworth, inspiration from Audra and Justin Owens's blog. Thanks! (even though you didn't know we copied you till now) hehehe...

Watch your language!

As many of you know, Duane is working the night shift and gets home at 8:30 in the morning; just as we're crawling out of bed. Usually when I hear him coming in the door (which is downstairs) I'll talk extra loud to Kalvin to keep him from hearing the door screech open so Duane can sneak up on Kalvin.

This morning Kalvin and I were in the kitchen getting the cereal and bowls down when we heard a very loud noise that was either high pitched flatulent or one of Kalvin's balloons exhausting it's contents. Immediately, Kalvin turned to the living room where the disturbance originated and said, "What thuh?...". We found Duane hiding behind the stair case. Duane swears the sound came from a balloon.

Later in the morning, we went to a nature preserve about 10 miles away with two other neighbors and their kiddos. It was beautiful! I think it's where we're going to take our family fall pictures when the leaves change in October-early November. Family is welcome to come for a FREE photo session (CD included) when we take our pictures (you just take care of the plane ticket to and from here and we'll take care of the rest). ;)

At the preserve, Kalvin saw many animals, wild and tame in the park and out: horses (actually at a house across the road), 2 deer in someones front yard, an owl, a bee hive, a large turtle in a huge lily pond, butterflies, fish, fish, and fish. Sadly, we didn't get pics of all the creatures.

Duane captured captured Tristen's preciousness.

The toddler, "cheese".

Duane, putting his great eye for landscape photography into action. (This is part of the lily pond)

Although there is no perception of size in this photo, this turtle was the length of Kalvin!

I love how Tristen posed for the picture too.

Logo Poll! Get your vote in by tomorrow!

Hey everyone, we need your help. We are looking to get a new logo before we buy some business cards so we sketched out a few ideas. Which one do you like? Please vote A, B, C, or none in the poll on the right of our blog. We are pushing this faster than Obama wants healthcare reform so get your vote in.
It is supposed to read "a s p".
Thanks! And if they are all to hard on your eyes, give some suggestions please!

A.

B.

C.

So excited for them to be best friends!

When I put Tristen on Kalvin's tummy Kalvin laughed and laughed. He thought it was so funny!

Kalvin is the best big brother! He really loves little Tristen. Whenever Tristen’s upset, he’ll run and try to "fix" the cry: give him the pacifire, kiss his nose, and very often he’s nice enough to give Tristen his cherished “blankie”. I can hardly wait to see them grow up being best buds! I’m sure they’ll have their moments (especially when Tristen is old enough to fight back), but for now I’m enjoying their sweet love.

Kalvin keeps very busy! Here he is eating Daddy's yummy pancakes and soaking his burned finger. As Duane says, "Another day, another burn." Poor kid... he's just so curious about things and it's hard to keep him away.


Silence is never a good thing when it comes to Kalvin. When he's playing its sounds of jumping and laughing, but silence=trouble.

Here, he's taken 1/2 a stick of butter and spread it over the piece of bread he left over night while I was in the other room getting Tristen ready for a bath.

(See video at www.duaneandangiesworld.blogspot.com)

The summer in Albany means humidity, rain, and mosquito's. The rain I love (actually in July alone we received as much rain as AZ does all year!), but the humidity is not ideal, and mosquito's are worst of all (though they mostly come out at sunset). We keep this netting on Tristen's bouncer to keep the mosquito's from eating him (except the first time we used it I found 2 mosquito's inside sucking his blood, but most the time it's great).

He actually really likes the netting. It seems to be comforting, is breathable, can eat it, and he can see through it.

Boxing Down The Stairs

What better way to end the night than to have Daddy push you down the stairs in a box filled with pillows and your favorite blankets?! You'll notice the video cuts for a second while I was taking pictures in the middle of the movie.

He loves it!

Bubble beard!

Tristen Dean Angel Baby Ellsworth

I call Tristen Angel Baby because he rarely complains and LOVES to smile!

The spider Bite

Kalvin came into the room last night at 11:45 and I let him stay. This morning at about 7:00 he suddenly woke up and said, "bug.". I thought we was telling me about his dream (since he's been doing that a lot lately), so I asked to hear more. He just continued to say, "bug." pointing to his pillow. I read this as him telling me that he dreamt of a bug while laying on the pillow.

We made some muffins for breakfast and Kalvin burned his arm on the hot pan for which he has a blister now. He burns himself ALL the time! He rarely complains much about them though.

At breakfast I noticed a little red mark on his right temple but didn't think much of it since he is constantly hurting himself (lol). After eating, Kalvin and I went to the store so Duane could have some time to work on the talk he gets to give this Sunday on Sacred Home Sacred Temple (or something close to that). While we were in the checkout at the store, I noticed the red mark on his temple getting bigger.

(he's got a little leftover lunch on his cheek)

When we got home I showed Duane who'd heard about the "bug dream" and he suggested it was not a dream, but that he was bit. Duane marked on Kalvin's face where the redness was, gave him some benadryl, and sent him to take a nap. After the nap, it was slightly bigger, and we gave him some more benadryl.

We'll have to see how this ends up. Hopefully not too bad...

Just before bed, I took another mug shot to get the blister on his arm (closer to his hand), the bug bite, and a skid mark (closer to his elbow) from when he fell on the sidewalk yesterday.

He's such a great poser! lol. As long as he gets to see the picture after.

Update from NY

A couple weeks ago, while we were in Sacrement meeting at church, I heard Kalvin saying "Jesus". I looked down to see him pointing at a picture of Jesus on our program. I had Kalvin show Daddy who nonchalantly replied, "Yep, he's a smart kid."

Kalvin likes to jump from the tall kitchen chairs to the love sac. A couple days ago while Kalvin was doing superman from the tall chair, Duane suggested to him that he should close his eyes. The next thing I saw was Kalvin climb the chair with his eyes CLOSED, turn around WITH HIS EYES CLOSED and jump off backward (with his eyes closed), almost missing the love sac! It was pretty scary for me AND for him. He never closed his eyes the whole time again, thank goodness! We later taught him to close his eyes AFTER he climbed the chair.

Follow this link to see the video (if reading this in an email) : www.duaneandangiesworld.blogspot.com

Kalvin loves playing with the blocks Grandma bought him for his Bday! Everyday we build about 10 different trucks with them. Here's one of our creations! I built the base and he built the "trailer". He's getting pretty good with it!

Little boys will be little boys...

Another ouchie! Kalvin likes to sing "Five Little Monkey's" to himself and jump off the couch. A couple days ago, he was on the love sac singing the song, and jumped from the love sad to the couch, missed his target and busted his lip.

Lots of popsicles and a movie can cure almost anything for Kalvin.

On a less exciting note though equally stressful, I spoke in church today on the topic, service. It went well. Actually, the speaker after me chose to base his talk off the SAME talk by Dallin H. Oaks 1984 October General Conference Session. It was interesting to see how we interpreted the talk from different perspectives.

Kalvin is getting to be pretty good buds with the girl downstairs. Actually, yesterday evening Kalvin was outside playing with her and got to be too ornery. He wasn't following rules and started holding his breath (for those of you who don't know; when Kalvin is very sleepy he will cry easily and and can't breathe, his lips turn blue and he kind of looks like he's having a seizure), so he had to go to bed early and leave his friend. She was so upset by it that she cried herself to sleep, too.

Tonight was much better, we had a little BBQ with them and the kids had such a blast together. They were laughing so much and Kalvin would run up to her and they'd give BIG hugs. Her mom thought she was going to plant a kiss on him, but I haven't seen any smooches yet!

To come: pictures of the porch when the kids toys are out! We joke that it looks like we run a day care or have about 10 toddlers.

I feel your prayers!

You know just a couple days ago I was thinking 'I should be a lot more depressed right now. I should be upset that I'm so far away from family with a newborn and a homesick toddler. I should be crying everyday that it's so hot and pasty that Tristen doesn't even want to eat because we practically melt and stick to each other since we don't run the air conditioner.'

And then two thoughts came to me: 1) We both have such caring families who must be praying for our well-being and 2) Duane is being, well, himself. He helps wherever he sees me struggling and is Kalvin's best friend.

Two months ago, I thought I'd be much more homesick than I am now. Don't get me wrong, there are many things I miss about good 'ol AZ (the heat not being one of them), but we're surviving.

It also helps that Tristen is so sweet to us also. I call him my little Angel Baby because that's just what he is, an angel. Last night he slept 8 1/2 hours! By the time he woke up I was begging him to eat and even then it was only about 5 min. before he drifted off to sleep again. Silly boy!

I landed a job in AZ and am coming home!

My sister, April, can take full credit for getting me this wedding in September. It's actually her sister-in-law who's getting married on 9/9/09! What a neat day to get hitched!

Duane has an extra hard rotation the month of September working in the NICU with 80+ hour work weeks and we wouldn't see him much anyway (and if you only count when he's in his right mind without sleep deprivation, I don't know that we'd ever see him), so I'm taking the kiddos and jetting out of here! Don't get me wrong, New York is beautiful (and humid), but there's no place like home!

Kalvin has started talking SO much! Lately, he's been telling me his dreams just as he wakes up from sleeping at night. The first dream he told me about was that he went home (AZ is what he's referring to I'm sure) and something about Grandpa. Another dream he's had was that a bee stung him. It was cute to see him tell this story, he said, "Bee! bzzzz.... OUCH!" and of course he had all the actions to go along with it.

I've decided to get my NY real estate license. We'll hopefully be buying a home at the end of Dec. and it should make finding a home much more convenient if I have my license, plus I'm excited to learn all about the buying process (since I feel very uneducated on the matter at this point). It's an online class and after completing the 75 classroom hours, I will take a proctored exam in NYC followed by the state exam.

We are lucky enough to live just above a girl Kalvin's age! She's a cutie and they like playing together. Just this morning Kalvin was asking where she was.

A couple days ago we made a trip to a park just a few miles away.

Kalvin came and sat by his friend and I had to snap a picture before the moment was over.

And an update of the baby.

There's been a lot of rain, so puddles will naturally be splashed in...

(click on the image to see it enlarged)

And the winner is...

I'd say it was a split 50/50 on the guesses for who was who (probably because none of you had a clue as to who was who), but.... drum roll please..........

Tristen is the top picture and Kalvin is the bottom. The only way I remember is that Kalvin has a bigger double chin (he was two weeks older in the pic than Tristen was) and I used a flash on the picture with Kalvin (I don't have a built in flash on the camera I have now).

It will sure be fun to compare their pictures when he's a little older. :)

Tristen

Kalvin

Guess Who?!

Kalvin and Tristen are going to look very alike! Of course, I am only judging by their first 8 weeks, but go ahead and see for yourself! I dressed Tristen in the same outfit today and took a picture in the same swing. I'll let you guess who is who and on Monday I'll let you know who was right.

Somethings I hope to never do again...

My sister, Rachel, who had been staying with us for the last month was scheduled to fly home July 21. From the day we scheduled the flight home (months ago) I was not looking forward to her departure. I knew it was going to be difficult to let my little helper go and that Kalvin was going to miss her. The flight was scheduled for 8:20 PM and leaving from the JFK Airport in Jamaica, NY (just outside the Big Apple). We made the most of that day by taking a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. The weather was beautiful with few sprinkles of rain and overcast skies to shade us from the sun. On our way to the airport we drove by Ground Zero. It was incredible to see the uneven and bumpy road which I can only imagine is from the towers falling. The buildings close were noticeably resurfaced. I wish we'd had more time to see the city.

When we got to the airport, I thought we had a lot of time so I wasn't rushing. When we finally made it to the Jet Blue check-in I looked at the time and noticed her flight left in 30 minutes! And there were about 10 people in line in front of us to check-in. I knew she wasn't going to make the flight. At that moment of finding out we were going to have to find Rachel another way home, it was as if a switch went on in Kalvin's head that it was time to start terrorising mom. He had a poopy diaper and was laying on the ground scooting away from me and into strangers and their luggage. With Tristen strapped to me, I had restricted mobility and felt helpless. I did what I could to stay calm and took Kalvin to the bathroom to change his diaper. We made our way back to the car as I talked to Duane on the phone and he began looking up other flights for Rachel. Kalvin demanded to be out of the stroller and was walking just fine with us when he decided to take the "walk-alator" (like an escalator but on flat ground) the opposite direction from the rest of us. I called to him and he started to walk back but then decided to run away again. A tall black man came to the rescue and ran over, scooped up Kalvin and brought him to me. That was all Kalvin needed to start acting the way I wanted. It scared him half to death! LOL

We got back to the car and I fed Tristen while Duane looked up flights. Well, to make a longer story a little shorter, the battery in my phone died before we could make any permanent decision on a flight so I drove around town till I found a pay phone. I picked up the phone that was sticky with some kind of scum and phoned Duane. He did not answer and I started to leave a message, but was cut of by some kind of operator because there must have been no microphone on my end (so it couldn't hear me). I turned to leave but felt prompted to try again. I called again and Duane answered; sure enough, I could hear him but he couldn't hear me. I began yelling into the phone and he said he could barely hear me, and thus began our conversation.

The finalized plan was for Rachel to fly home on Southwest the following morning at 6:10. It was about 10:30 PM at this point. After check out a few cheap Motels, we decided to sleep in the car at the aiports parking garage. It was a hard night. I didn't want to sleep too deep for fear that we would miss this flight as well. By 2:00 in the morning, we made our way to the Southwest check-in without knowing that they would be closed till 4:30. We found a couple wheelchairs and made up camp. Kalvin did not sleep at all.

When Rachel walked away down the gangway, Kalvin cried, reaching his hand out to her and calling her name. It was so sad! I immediately diverted his attention to the window so he could see the planes. He got to see Rachel's plane and repeatedly pointed it out to me.

The drive home was long and hard with a few stops for sleep. Kalvin slept the whole way till we got home and then he would not sleep at all, though I begged him to so I could rest. Tristen was an angel!

This morning after Kalvin woke up, he asked "Where Rachel go?" I reminded him that Rachel had gone home and with that he told me, "Ah home. Ah home." meaning he wanted to go home and began walking downstairs and to put his shoes on.

"This is our new home." I told him, but it didn't seem to stick.

So, before moving out here, I remember being warned that people "back east" are not very friendly. I've seen that. One instance that I laugh about is when we were going to drive in a toll tunnel. I paid the toll worker $2.00 in dimes (to get rid of some change) and then handed her a $20 bill. She looked at the bill for a second then said in a very nasty tone, "You can't do that! Either give me the change or the $20!" I laughed after leaving and told Rachel the woman couldn't count.

To come: Kalvin's birthday party with the Mickelson's and Ellsworth's!

Back by popular demand! The De-throning

By request, here is the second video that has sound and Duane successfully in de-thrones Kalvin.


Again, for those of you looking at an email, you must go to the actual blog site to see the video: www.duaneandangiesworld.blogspot.com

Kalvin throning himself

Kalvin has an incredible fascination with toilets. With as many times as I've told him to get his hands off, or to get his head out of it, he continues to be drawn to the visibly germ-filled seat!

Tonight Kalvin and I came home from running a few errands together and he told me he needed to go "Potty". I took him in and sat him on his squishy throne. A few minutes later Rachel went in to check on him. I soon heard small boy cries and by girlie laughter. Could this be Aunt Rachel playing another trick on Kalvin? I jumped up from my seat and ran in the bathroom to see this.

Something tells me this is the last time he's going to stick his head in the toilet! Poor kid!

(Sorry, there is no sound. The volume was off on Duanes phone and it will not record sound if the ring is not on... LAME! The commentary was so funny! Probably the funniest part was when Duane bent down next to Kalvin and said, "I'm so sorry kiddo! I'd give you a kiss, but you're all poopy!")

You can not view this video from the email. Please visit: www.duaneandangiesworld.blogspot.com

Niagara Falls, Canada, Palmyra, and more

Life hasn't slowed down. This last weekend we took Rachel to see Niagara Falls and were able to stay in Canada (thanks to the hard work of my mom sending us everything we needed for her). We kept the trip to Niagara a surprise. She knew it was somewhere special, but not anything more. About 10 miles out from the falls, we put a blind fold on her and she kept her eyes closed as we walked up to the falls.

As soon as we took off the blind fold, she said, "I knew it!". I guess she saw "Niagara Falls" on the GPS and assumed that's where we were going.

Kalvin was a little scared of the loud falls and especially when the fireworks started going off though he had his fingers spread just enough to see out.

After viewing the falls and the impressive fireworks, we tried our luck at crossing the Canadian border with only a copy of Rachels birth cirtificate and Tristens hospital papers and shot records. Duane picked a good line to wait in and we found a nice guy to let us through. After crossing the border, our GPS did not have record of the roads, so we drove blindly looking for a place to stay. After a bit of a search, Duane got us a great deal at the Hilton Hotel. We were on the 42 floor overlooking both the American and Canadian falls in a 2 bedroom suite with a big hot tub that had jets. It was $159.00.

Rachel and Kalvin looking out our hotel window at the American falls. Best Buds!

There was a lot of fog that morning. Here are the American Falls; the Canadian Falls were almost all covered with fog so I've skipped putting a picture of them in.

Kalvin, loving the bubble bath!

Just before the Maid of the Mist cruise. Kalvin didn't know what was coming!

After a half day at Niagra, we left for Palmyra (about 2 hours away). We got there just in time to get to the Pageant but it ended up raining us out by the time it was half over. How sad to leave. It started raining and stopped about 10 minutes later, but they announced that another cell was headed in that direction so we had to leave. :( I was happy to get a little extra sleep that night though.

First Duane took this great video of Kalvin's new favorite song, "Five little Monkeys".

The next morning we slept in and didn't get out till 11:00. We stopped by the Sacred Grove and Duane took some great pictures of the beautiful trees.

Gotta love Duane's face.

Kalvin, daring to look over the edge of the bridge.

I love this picture Rachel took of Kalvin following Daddy, dragging his newest found toy, a big stick.

Our attempt at a family picture in the sacred grove.

The Grandin Bookstore where the BOM was published.

After seeing some of the sites in Palmyra we started for home (3 hours away) since we were all hungry and didn't want to stop on Sunday. We made it home by 6:00 that night and were able to relax a little before bedtime.

Tristen was so sweet to give great big smiles for all of us.

Kalvin loves the stethescope Duane gave him. I found him listening to Tristens stomach sounds though Kalvin thought it was his heart. He kept saying, "heart... heart... heart..."

Duane came over just after I got the picture, and told him where to put the stethoscope to listen.

I have to post this picture because l love it so much. I took it one of the first few days we were here. Rachel and Kalvin were playing outside just after it had rained and the overcast clouds were perfect for taking pictures. In fact, there is no editing on this picture. It is straight from the camera. :)

A few days ago Rachel and Kalvin built a fort and I've been meaning to upload this picture. After putting the fort together, I put on Kalvin's favorite show, Hoodwinked! You can see him an the laptop here with his blankets just behind him.

We'll see those of you who can make it tomorrow evening at 5:30, on Skype at either the Ellsworths or Mickelson's for Kalvin's birthday Skype!!!