How Time Flies

LOVES those sunglasses. Sometimes, she even wears them right-side up.

It's always Halloween here. The "pointy hat" had to be unpacked due to popular demand. And, she usually requires both brooms when she is in character.

Someone mentioned that I hadn't updated in a while. I'm a little shocked that it has been over a month. Here are the highlights and lots of pics:

Made it through Christmas (we had 4) - we now have enough toys to start our own preschool

New Year's Eve wearing her Christmas crown and her "Cheese" face. 

Mom and Dad are attempting to budget using Mint.com - it's addictive like Pinterest but depressing

Ellie's first haircut - we got rid of the party in the back

I couldn't believe how much hair she actually had.

The party is over.

 Transitioned to her big girl room - it went surprisingly easy

Daddy (and Ellie) repainted the nursery - Now, Dad just has to move the furniture around and Mom gets to accessorize and stock

Ellie helping Dad paint her old room for the new arrival.
Luckily, she doesn't seem to be sentimental about much other than Halloween.

Mommy has started nesting - I am slowly decimating the resident rat's nests

We rescued a kitten - although another family is currently fostering him

Our feline visitor "Obie". He stayed one night and is temporarily staying with another family.
He still would like a forever home....

Isis and Obie sharing a cozy spot. Luckily,  Isis got the sunny side or it might not have worked.

Dad finally got his Vader mannequin set up - Ellie has started requesting visitation

We went to Shedd Aquarium as a family - That is a pricey little day trip with strollers EVERYWHERE

Mom & Dad get a night out in the City this week for an overdose of Hot Chocolate and Ellie is going to try her first sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's

Tis the Season

Here we are halfway through December. I am extremely remiss. Here are the highlights:

Ellie has been sick for the better part of 5 months now. Mostly she's had back-to-back colds, although we've had stomach flu, sinus infections, pink-eye, and hand, foot, and mouth disease in there also. Currently, she has a straight cold, but is trying to give herself pink eye again.

She is now 2. Like flipping a switch, she is now super chatty, a little mischievous, not above throwing the odd tantrum, and has had a huge growth spurt. She is almost 25 pounds and about 34 inches, which puts her squarely in the 50th percentile for height and weight. If you recall, she has been holding steady in the bottom quarter for the last two years.

Thing 2 is getting more active. We are now 6 months along and he/she is getting pretty frisky. I've been fairly careful this pregnancy not to gain too much weight. However, we traveled to Texas last week and I indulged in a few too many sweets and snacks, so I blame half my weight gain on that. I'll try to clean up my act over the holidays and see if I can get back on track.

Ellie's big girl room is on hold. Mostly because it currently houses all the unwrapped Christmas gifts. And, I have a few sewing/craft projects on-hold until after the holidays. I'll have to come up with a different gift-storage solution next year.

Ellie's "big" gift for her birthday (a baby doll). She is quite the busy little mommy to Francesco. Thank you Aunt S & Uncle D for the stroller!

Sisters can live 1200 miles away, but apparently they still dress alike... M was wearing a grey sweater too, but she got her wires crossed and wore a teal shirt....

Ellie playing with Dad's eyes/hair at the Christmas Festival (Sights & Sounds of Christmas).

A self portrait by our budding photographer.

With Aunt C outside of Smitty's BBQ.

Apparently, pregnancy lets you get away with a lot. P thought I was going to wear this to his formal Christmas party and wasn't going to say a word. His relief when I said I was going up to change was priceless.

Happy Halloween

Mom used some old linoleum carving tools and whipped out this sucker. Other than this guy, no one was harmed.

Ellie the Vampire:  Mom freaked out and had E pick out a spare costume Monday since she was showing signs of not wanting to wear Yoda. She wore this to school. There may or may not have been chocolate involved in putting the costume on. And, bonus, she'll be able to wear it for another 4 years :)

Dad was able to sweet-talk her into Yoda for actual Trick-or-Treating. She doesn't look thrilled here, but she was actually VERY excited to go trick-or-treat with Cousin S. All afternoon, she kept busting out with "Happy Halloween!"

I can't believe it's already November. Ellie has had a chronic cold for almost 2 months. Then, a couple weeks ago, P started complaining of a sore throat. A few days later, I had it too. I'm blaming Thing 2, but the mucus has been crazy thick this time. And, where I would normally treat with Sudafed or something, I've been pretty helpless to take anything since most over the counter drugs are not baby friendly. So, after suffering horrible flemmy mornings, conversations punctuated by violent coughing, and trouble getting comfortable enough to sleep, the mucus moved from my throat to my nose and I sought help from a professional. I have one day left of my Z-pak and am feeling much improved, although I think the coughing and slime will linger for a while. So long as I don't hack up a lung every morning, I think I can handle some residuals. Ellie is on milder antibiotics (that she loves since it's bubblegum flavored) and her runny nose and coughing are almost gone.

November is the start of the busy season. We have a golden anniversary next weekend, lots of appointments over the next couple weeks, Thanksgiving, Ellie's birthday, then we go to Texas for "Christmas-giving". December kicks off with the company Christmas party, the Kappa Christmas party, and our other two Christmases. Sometime in there I need to make/buy gifts, decorate for the holidays, wrap up Ellie's big-girl room and switch her so I can start refurbing the nursery.

Our ultrasound is in a couple weeks. This one will be a surprise as well. We're still debating girl names, although we do have a better list this time around. 

Yoda and Vader

Believe it or not, they are actually both smiling....

E at 22 Months

I just realized I haven't updated on Ellie in a while. I may need to reference this when Thing 2 is her age, so it would be nice to have on record. She is currently a super busy little bee. She sleeps well (11-12 hours). She is taking dry naps (no diaper). She now WANTS to use the big toilet instead of the potty chair. She peed and pooped (in the toilet) today at Target after telling me she needed to in the middle of the baby clothes. I'm seriously considering taking the potty chair out of my car, but I'll probably leave it there for emergencies.

At her last weigh-in, she was 23 pounds 6 ounces. She's still petite, but has started to gain a little weight/muscle. Grandma just delivered a new batch of big girl undies in the next size up. I think she'll be able to wear commercial underpants from now on. I just saw Hanna Anderson makes a conservative underpant for 20-30 pound shrimp boats. At that rate, she'll be able to wear the same underpants for another year or two.

She currently is in love with The Train Song and actually requested to stop watching Mystery Box to watch it the last time we did her nails. Another favorite is the Elmo Song. She hasn't requested the Bus Song in the car lately, but she does spend a lot of time babbling and even engaging me in conversation sometimes. She is speaking in caveman sentences. "Mommy blue jeans." (trans. Mommy is wearing blue jeans.) "Mommy car, no Daddy car." (We're in Mommy's car, not Daddy's car.)

She has become quite the whiz with puzzles and sorting. One of her favorite toys right now is the Melissa and Doug block farm puzzle. It has 6 different puzzle pictures you can choose. She prefers Mommy to complete the puzzle, but she can now identify all the correct pieces for whichever picture she chooses to "make". Currently, they are abstract Cubist pictures. But, some of the pieces are tricky to categorize, so she is on the right track. So far, she is not real great on color identification.  Her standard guess is that something is blue. Then, pink. She does know some colors, but most of the time, I think she is messing with us. Sometimes, she can count to ten. Other times, she gets tripped up around "six".

Ellie recently decided she was ready to graduate from her high chair to a booster. So far, she has been pretty well-behaved. However, when we use a booster at a restaurant, she usually climbs out at least once or twice to sit in my lap. Still working on that one. She also has decided she is too big for a bib (since they don't use them at school). However, I have put my foot down and require one when we eat red sauce or yogurt. This morning, she circumvented the bib and rubbed yogurt all down her black pant-leg. I may be outclassed.

She likes to draw. Mommy is pretty tight with the crayons for now, but she draws at school most days, at every restaurant, and every time she goes to the library. Hopefully, I'm not stifling her artistic spirit.... She has started being able to identify the ripe raspberries on our bush (as opposed to eating the unripe ones). Right now, raspberries and strawberries are somewhat interchangeable since both are grown right outside our house and she can eat them fresh.

She is getting braver about going down slides. She can be very sweet and understands the concept of sharing. Today, she got to the bucket and scoop at the playground a split second before an older girl. The girl tried to take them away and her father scolded her to give them back since Ellie had them first. The girl started crying, so I encouraged Ellie to take them over to her and share since she had already played with them quite a bit. After thinking it over, she did and they were able to play together a bit. We'll see if that good will lasts after she has a sibling to compete with.

In books, she is still interested in Thomas, but now also likes one from the library called "By Myself" about doing things independently. I'd like her to get to the point where she can at least lower and raise her pants herself. She got a pair of velcro Chucks today. Maybe she'll start putting on and taking off her shoes soon. She likes to walk up and down the stairs now. She still prefers a helping hand, but she is learning to hold on to the wall or rail, so by the time I'll need to carry Thing 2, she should be okay. She also likes anything Curious George and an old 50's book called "Saucy", about a dog who has puppies. I'm not sure why, but she also likes anything about rabbits.

I could go on, but that's probably enough minutia for now. I'll try to get pics for next time. If anyone knows of any good kid/family portrait photographers in our area, please share. We're looking to get this year's holiday pics and documentation of Ellie at 2.

Surprise!

That's right folks, we're expecting again. Soon there will be four.... Tentative due date is 3/30/13.

Mommy's Days Out

I'm feeling nice and relaxed after my recent long awaited "weaning" trip. Ellie weaned a couple months ago when I took a brief 36 hour sojourn to Wisconsin. I went with another mommy friend to the Sundance Resort in Utah. I have had my eye on this place for a few years since it came to my attention while I was searching for possible family vacation locations. It was very secluded up on a mountain with a beautiful babbling creek running all throughout and down the mountain. The resort was relatively rustic, but had fabulous dining onsite and wonderful staff. There was also a spa onsite and a gallery with art classes. We indulged in several of the offerings, including a bit of the shopping. We also made a couple day trips into Park City and Salt Lake City.

P on the other hand, did not have a relaxing 5 days. He chose to go above and beyond with super ambitious plans. He took Ellie to the Shedd Aquarium on Sunday and the Museum of Science and Industry on Monday. Reportedly, Ellie enjoyed the "fishies" and the baby chick exhibit. P thought she would love the trains at the MoS&I, but they were a little small. I guess she is a little spoiled by the Railway Garden at Taltree. She had several accidents and a couple of meltdowns over the course of the week. And, as I found out when I returned home, a nice little upper respiratory infection. Now, it's mostly over with, just a little residual runny nose. Needless to say, P was very glad to see me.

I have been promised a similar trip for consequent children. Luckily, I have it in writing, because I'm not entirely sure he is still wants to do that.

The beautiful flowers waiting for me in my room.

A couple dozen strawberries. I shared.

Hard to see, but a family of wild turkeys walked past the cabins daily looking for grub(s).

Alicia and I at Cucina Toscana. If you are ever in SLC, you MUST try it. Best Italian evah!

Helping out the economy at Gardner Village. (Cute, mostly reasonable boutiques.)

August, Bodily Fluids, and Other Adventures

Once again, where did the time go? Ellie is now climbing furniture. She has also been battling a bout of Stomach Flu. I had a sore throat last week, so all in all, it's been super fun lately. As a first time mom who doesn't remember getting sick much, I was kind of hoping my kid wouldn't either, but just a few weeks into school, she got her first real cold with fever. Last weekend, we visited friends who it turns out had stomach flu the week before. And, Ellie slept in the youngest girl's crib. That may or may not be where we picked it up, but, as I found out with a little research online, this is a pain to quarantine as you are contagious for 2 weeks after you have symptoms. Joy. I don't know anyone who can keep to the house for 2 weeks plus.

Some of the highlights of Ellie's past week include throwing up three times in bed, waking up at ungodly early hours, diarrhea on the floor (which the dog ate), and explosive diapers at night. Needless to say, I've been making good use of the washer and had a minor freakout this morning when I had a pile of poopy sheets and a washer that would not unlock. (As a side note, the dog has also been suffering some loose stool, but I doubt he'll learn his lesson. He now trolls the potty chair looking for fecal matter we forgot to dispose of.)

P got back from his summer trip to Yosemite a couple weeks ago. There, he climbed Half Dome with some friends. He had a fabulous time and took a ton of photos that I'm sure don't begin to do justice to the real experience. We are slated to take a family vacation there sometime in the next 10 years or so. I get a Mommy vacation (a weaning gift) over Labor Day. I'm really looking forward to a long weekend of being able to go potty on my own, eating Cheetos in peace, and not lugging my 22 pound accessory up and down stairs. I'll also be enjoying some lovely views in the mountains of Utah and a meal of fabulous Italian food that hopefully lives up to the hype.

We went to a gorgeous wedding at an unlikely garden spot in Wheatfield, Indiana last night. Of course, we did not take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Hopefully, I did not give the bride stomach flu....

A friend from Texas came to visit while P was in California. Initially, the idea was that I would have some help taking care of Ellie. However, it quickly became clear I'd need to farm that out to Grandma and our beloved babysitter so that I could take our houseguest to see the sites. We saw a local play, saw the Cubs lose, cursed Chicago traffic, went to Michigan for the day, saw a clown driving on the Dan Ryan, had brinner, and did a little shopping. I had fun. I think she had fun. Ellie didn't seem any worse for wear. But, I think I'll just man up next time P travels and stay home alone.

Me with Tri Kappa book club in Madison

My garden looks like a garden this year. This is before the melons went rogue...

A nice creative arbor at FLW's Taliesin

Ellie taking advantage of having the splash pad ALL to herself. She only plays in the baby jets...

My zinnias are so happy. Will be doing these every year from here on out.

M with the Cubbster himself.

Mom and Ellie.

 

 

Ellie at her favorite destination - Taltree's Railway Garden