Bernie - 16 months old

The rumors are finally coming true! This month we have proven that Bernie weighs more than his older sister. B=27lbs A=24lbs

Marty took Bernie to his 15 month well check-up (we're only a month behind). Bernie is completely on target in every area!

We were slightly concerned that Bernie might not be where he needs to be verbally. However, our pediatrician confirmed that even though he doesn't say words in their entirety, his grunts or sounds that he is trying to make can be considered "words". And thankfully this past month, we've all noticed that Bernie's verbal skills have increased.

Bernie has still been waking up in the middle of the night to feed. Our Dr. let us know that he's not hungry, but we all wake up throughout the night and have to find a way to get back to sleep. Getting up and having milk is what has been getting him to go back to sleep. However, he's got to learn to fall back asleep on his own. As a result, we've had to resort to the "cry it out" method the past 4 nights. He's finally down to less than 10 minutes of crying before he falls asleep again. Let's hope this keeps up!

This boy is a climber. He trys to get on anything and has no regrets as he falls and bumps his head a gazillion times.

Aaaaaaand, last but not least, the past month has brought a new change to Bernie.

"Bubby, we are so blessed to be your parents. Thanks for bringing many smiles a day to our faces. We can't wait to see how much you will learn in the next few years."

Love, Mommy and Daddy.

Arianna - 29 months old

I haven't done any month-by-month updates on the kids in a while, so I thought it would be a good time.

My beautiful little girl is almost 2 1/2 years old!!!! It is flying by!

Currently, we are trying very hard to get her potty trained. She tells us when she has to urinate about 50% of the time and probably 75% for bowel movements. Can't wait until she's out of diapers (nighttime training will be later).

Arianna learns so much and I often wonder how she picks up on certain things. For example, one Sunday morning after church we were at home and she says "Hi, my name is Arianna, can I play with you?" They must have been teaching this to her class in preschool during church service as we had never heard her say this before. Now, everytime we go somewhere, when new people are around, I try to get her to say this to be social and friendly.

Arianna might bust out"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" anytime of day. And she can sing it all the way through.

Her favorite activities (besides saying "I have to potty" every 10 minutes) is to color, play outside, and read books. She loves to play with finger puppets and play-doh but we limit those actvities because they take lots of adult supervision! Sorry baby girl!

And let's not forget that time-outs are still a very big part of our day. This is merited for any of the following activities (but not limited to): telling mommy to go to timeout, sitting on Bubby, not sharing, talking back, and temper tantrums (usually she's not getting her way).

Well, now that you know all about this little pumpkin, I'll move to pumpkin #2.

Valentine's Day Fun

Alexa and Arianna enjoying the V-Day Ice Cream Party.



This big boy loves to eat his ice cream all by himself.



Arianna sat at the table at least 20 minutes to make sure she ate
the entire cupcake and bowl of ice cream. Finally, I convinced her
that it was time to go outside and forget about the treats.


All the kids loving on their Grammie this Valentine's Day.

If you would like to see more of us being us, go to

http://picasaweb.google.com/spilk10/Feb09# for more pictures.

I thought I could never do this

Recently, we had Marty's 3 nieces and our 2 kids take a nice studio photo for his Mom's birthday in January. His sister, Erica, asked me to write a few things about our kids as she was also going to send a copy of the picture up to all of the family in New Jersey.

But, I am not creative at all. If I ever need a cute saying or phrase, I've always turned to my dear friend, Danielle, the elementary school teacher.

However, this time I wanted to pretend I was an English teacher take the challenge myself.
So this is what we've got and I think I did a fairly decent job.


Bernard James Howell
At 15 months, little boy Bernie just started walking,
Yet he still lets his big sister do all the talking.

Stubborn boy Bernie still awakes through the night,
as his 27 pounds keeps his clothes tight.

At bathtime he splashes and kicks,
one of his favorite times to show his tricks.

Sissy's toys and dolls, he likes to take,
to get her attention, for heaven's sake.

His cozy blue blanket, he loves to chew,
but loves to play cars and trucks too.

And best of all, his sweet smile warms the heart
which gives your day the greatest start.



Arianna Rae Howell
Big Sissy Arianna likes to be the boss,
at two years old, this is no loss.

Colors and play-doh she could play all day,
too bad her Bubby usually gets in her way.

The books she reads and sentences she speaks,
still don't help out with those potty training leaks.

She still holds her blankie and sucks on her "pah",
and even calls herself Ari "nah-nah".

Her big blue eyes and cute hair curl,
could only mean she's a Daddy's girl.

25 Things

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things about yourself. At the end, you choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I guess I should finally write mine since I've been tagged a few times. However, I would much rather listen to other people than talk about myself. Which translates as I enjoy reading your 25 things much more than coming up with my own 25.

2. When we found out that we were pregnant the first time, Marty asked me how to spell pregnant. I laughed and insisted not to spell it because I thought he was joking. I guess not everyone is the spelling freak that I am. We still joke about that today.

3. I always said I never wanted kids.

4. My friends told me I'd be the first to have kids. They were right.

5. Before we had kids, my husband always said he would like 4 - 6 of them. We are pretty content with two.

6. My kids are 13 months apart.

7. Even though that was not "planned" and it was very difficult at first, I would not have it any other way.

8. Jessica Simpson is not fat, but I don't think the outfit she wore last weekend flattered her. At all. (sorry they were talking about that on Extra as I'm thinking of things to write)

9. I met Jerry Springer once. And it was NOT on his TV set.

10. I married into a dog. Her name is Lunchbox. Often, I don't get along with her, but when I hear stories of other people's dogs, I realize that she is a very good dog.

11. I love living in Florida. My four years in Alabama for college was very difficult because I couldn't wear flip flops all year long.

12. But, I also love to snow ski. I just get tired of the cold and snow after a week or so.

13. I hope my husband gets the opportunity to open his own restaurant one day. That is his desire, and I know he will succeed at it.

14. He teaches me how to cook. Not that my mom didn't, I just wasn't interested then. And I'm only interested now, because when he's not home, my kids still need to eat.

15. My husband will not take me to the movies. Since we've known one another, we've only gone to the theaters twice. That's because I fall asleep. And I've inherited that from good old Dad.

16. I love sports. Growing up, baseball was my favorite. My brother got my favorite player's autograph for me.

17. I want to become a better photographer.

18. I want to go on a cruise. Really bad. My brithday is in November if you want to help out.

19. My college friends call me by my last name. If someone referred to me as Karen, they didn't immediately think of me.

20. I wish I got to see them more often. I love them and miss them. I hope they have kids soon , so all our offspring will be buddies too!

21. The dishwasher has to be loaded a certain way. Or it aggravates me. And I'm really not a particular person.

22. I need a bigger house. ( refer to #18 if you'd like to help).

23. Diet coke fountain sodas are the best.

24. I like sour candy. Mmm, sour patch kids.

25. I want an interior decorator. And a professional photographer. And I guess I would need the money to afford those people as well.

Friday Night at the Movies with Blue's Clues and Popcorn

Enjoying my New Camera!