Toddler Translation

Ella (in a concerned tone):  "Can you get me? So the ladybugs dont get me?"

Translation: "Can you put your arm around me while we sit in the chair together?"

A Random Smell

On our way outside heading to work/our sitter's house:

Ella: "Oooh. It smells out here."
Me: "Really? Hmm. I don't smell anything. What does it smell like?"
Ella: "A snowman."

Probably not likely. Yet.

In Need of a Laugh



After Erin had a full body blowout that happened exactly 8 minutes after a fresh bath, paired with a toddler (at the same time) trying on my nursing pads singing "I got two pads! I got two pads!", I had to seek some comic relief tonight after bedtime.

 

Dedicated to all of the moms out there :)

 

A Day at the Farm

Yesterday, I took Ella to a local farm with our pals Lindsay, Evelyn, and Charlotte. I had been told they had some farm animals that Ella would probably enjoy, and it seemed like a fun idea for just Ella and me.  Little did I know all of the things they had out there! It was a blast.

 

Chickens and rabbits galore...including baby chicks and tiny new bunnies

 

Wilbur the pot belly pig....goats.... a donkey...a sweet little farm dog named Tucker!

 

 

Sweet baby kitties!

 

 

 A garden and pumpkin patch; the girls all picked and took home gourds/carrots

 

 

Speaking of happy little farmers, this one stayed home and napped :)

 

A Busy Week

It's been a busy week for all. Here are our updates!

Derek has been gone on the East coast all week for work. He traveled Monday morning-late Thursday night and visited South Carolina and Pennsylvania. From what I'm told, he worked hard, ate well, and slept peacefully in luxury hotel beds. :)

Erin rolled over from her back to her tummy on Thursday night. She has been trying so hard this week and she finally got it! She's been acting a little funny lately so we're hoping to see a tooth sprout up here soon.

Ella missed her Daddy all week, but kept VERY busy with a steady flow of visitors from her aunts and Gma Lorrie and Gpa Tom! It was quite a treat having other people cook for her, read to her and bathe her.

I had a very busy week keeping everybody full/dry/clean/happy/on schedule. With the exception of one very bad night's sleep, the rest went pretty smooth thanks to all of the help I got from family and friends! Weeks like this remind me how hard single parents/military spouses work...

In a conversation we shared the night Daddy was coming home, I asked Ella if she wanted to take Daddy out to eat the following night to spend some time with him.
Me: "Where do you want to eat at?"
Ella: "The table."
Me: "No... like... should we go to a restaurant?"
Ella: "No. I just want sammiches. At the table."
Me: "Really? If you could eat anything, what would you want?"
Ella: "Just sammiches. At the table. That's all."

Note to self: we need to get out more.

Erin - 4 Months

(Monday, September 17th)

Favorite Item: Toys that light up/play music

Favorite Trait: Her sweet smile...I LOVE those bursts of giggles... her thick little legs!

Newest discoveries: Erin is starting to grab at the sides of her crib, so we now find her in many different sleeping positions.  She is becoming a little worm figuring out how to squirm her way out of things.

A typical night's sleep: Bedtime around 7:30 or 8, eat around 5:30 (sometimes hungry at 3am)   

Favorite Activities: Bathtime!! Being talked to or sung to. She gives the sweetest (mouth wide open) kisses right now.

Nicknames: Peanut, Er-Bear

Personality: So, so sweet. Starting to get chatty. Still our little "concerned citizen." Her emotions are a little more even keeled than those of Ella as a baby.

 A video of Erin chatting away this weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8m3w00bABo

Ella, 3 Years Old

Now that Ella is 3, it seems only appropriate to update her biography. :)

• Favorite Items:   When she travels overnight, we still have to pack Mimi and her Ella pillow. Just about everything else can be left at home. Lately, she's been pretty attached to a plush Tigger animal.
• Favorite Trait: Her eyes and her smile.
• Personality: Very sweet, very funny/entertaining, always a "people watcher." Generally timid around those she doesn't know well; always needs time to warm up to them.
• A typical night's sleep: Bedtime at 8, up around 6:15  
• Favorite Places: The park, any place with animals, riding a boat, loves to be anywhere but home!
• Favorite Activities: Puzzles, playing with babies, playing Memory, playing with Erin
• Nicknames: Ellie, Ellers, Ellie-Bellie, Eleanor (her government name when she's in trouble)
• New Learning:
• I'm trying to work on getting her to write more... she does not sit down much.  Activities like coloring/scribbling or practicing writing shapes/letters are things I'd like to work on now that it's getting colder outside!
• Ella got several new books from her birthday party. She loves being read to, but this week she has started to take an interest in "reading" by herself. I've been hearing her all week sharing out loud what she sees in the pictures, or using her own imagination to make a story. It has been fun to finally be on the receiving end of story time! Erin also listens intently to the sound of Sissy "reading."

Birthday Party

Ella's birthday party was a blast! Thank you to everyone who came. We couldn't ask for better families and friends.

Cupcakes by Missy!

 

The highlight for Ella: singing the birthday song!

 

 

Look at all the love =)

 

Some, but not all, of the kiddos!

 



 

Present time!

 

 

Finally, a photo when Erin was happy

 

Trivia Time!

 

Can you tell our babies apart?

(Answers are below for those that want to cheat.)

 

 

 

 

 

(I love how this shirt is too small for both of them.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

Erin/Ella

Erin/Ella

Ella/Erin

 

 

Bring on the Good Stuff

Erin is delighted with her nightly bowl of cereal! Aside from occasionally being too tired to sit through it, she is usually looking forward to this before bed time. She is usually in her most talkative moods right after this, so she's been very entertaining this week. :)

Happy Mommy

6 signs it has been a good "Mommy Weekend:"

I have a stack of new clothes for myself
I finished my book (A real one. Not a children's book.)
I am AHEAD on a home-made gift I'm working on
My kitchen is deep cleaned (although the rest of my house is.... well.... normal)
My kids are full, clean, happy, and went to bed at an impressive hour (& Ella is especially happy after a fun stay at Gma/Gpa's!)
I'm pinteresting at 9:30 PM on a Sunday night

And I lived happily every after.