Kidventure

Today we headed to Kidventure so Ellie could have a playdate with Charlotte.  Kidventure is a kid's play center in Middletown, RI and it allowed Ellie to get out some extra energy.  She got to play on slides, bounce houses and a bunch of other fun toys.

I just had to include this photo...she's already socializing with the boys.  I'm sure Hunter's gonna love this one.

Jumping in the bounce house...always one of her favorite activities!

Ellie didn't even hesitate today when we walked into the place.  She took her shoes off and ran right around with all the other kids.  I also was especially happy because sometimes the older kids push her out of the way but today she held her ground and didn't let them butt in line or push her to the side.  Yeah Ellie!

Having fun with Charlotte!  These two were so cute.  They were holding hands in the parking lot on the way out.

They had this cool video game thing that let you interact with the video.  In this one, you step on the firecrackers and they "crack!!!"

I would turn around and Ellie would be gone... of course where was she???  Getting a snack or her drink from the diaper bag.  They had some funny mirrors that Ellie thought were fun too.

Riding on some of the rocking toys.

Ellie never did get the concept of the see saw down.  She kept sitting in the middle...regardless if two kids were see sawing together.

Slides!  I can't wait until later this week.  It's supposed to be in the high 50s so we are definitely going to try to get out to the playground.

Ellie's latest thing was going down the slides on her belly.

Into the big bounce house... she loves her jumping!

Back to the video interactive toy... this time she was playing the piano keys.  Maren had a good time too.  She was in the Bjorn and was watching everyone for quite a while and then she finally fell asleep and stayed that way the rest of the time we were there.  Ellie and Charlotte also had a lunch date in which Ellie made the biggest mess, Maren was getting hungry but ended up falling asleep on my lap, and I got to enjoy a chicken salad sandwich and conversation with Van.  Definitely a fun noon time activity!

Getting Stronger

Hunter had a busy day at school today...he had a test, an oral assessment and then shiphandling this evening until 10 pm so it was just the girls at home all day...so what did we do???  Took lots of pictures! I also broke out the Bumbo chair because Maren loves to sit in our lap looking around and she loved it.

Maren loved being able to look all around and sit on her own.  Ellie used to hate the Bumbo chair so I am thrilled that Maren is such a fan.  Plus it came in really handy during bath time...I let Maren sit in it while I bathed Ellie so that both girls were happy.

The only drawback...she can't escape from her sister's smothering kisses!  At least when we hold Maren, we can protect her after several salvos of kisses and hugs.

Maren is such a strong kid.  She is always kicking her legs and arching her back.  Her neck control gets better every day and she's spending more time awake each day as well.  We loved having her hang out with us today.

Of course when I brought out the Bumbo seat, Ellie just had to take her turn.

I also let Maren do some sitting on the sofa by herself today and she really liked that.  She was laughing and talking up a storm.  In fact, I think she was happier sitting on the sofa than she was when I was holding her.

We got big smiles all day from Maren.  She even let me lay her down in her crib awake this evening while I read Ellie her bedtime story and went to sleep all by herself.  If only Ellie would do the same.

Hey Mom!  This sitting stuff is fun and I also like this "talking" thing and how I can make different sounds.

Here comes my big sister again who just can't keep her hands off of me!

Talking away to Ellie...which Ellie loves. She tells us, "Maren Talkin to Me."

I haven't gotten any really good shots of Maren recently with her eyes open but it was finally sunny today so the house was a little brighter so she wasn't squinting at the flash during each picture.

Big smiles and wide eyes today.  Her hair has been growing and growing.  It's gotten a lot thicker looking.  She is just such a happy baby.  She only fusses when she is hungry or needs a diaper change.  Otherwise, she is happy to look around and check out everything around her.

We also did a little tummy time.  We started out on the loveseat but it's hard to push up on something soft so...

...we loved down to the floor where Maren could push up with her arms a bit more.  She's doing great with her tummy time.

She also loves to arch her back and push with her arms.  I don't know if you can tell or not but her right side is off the ground in the back.  She just can't wait to start turning over, sitting on her own and then getting mobile so she can follow her sister around.

Ellison Kafer - 2 Years

This will probably be the last time we get to have pictures of Ellie in her diaper sitting in the chair with the husky.  It's hard to believe two years have went by since she was born.  It seems like just yesterday.

Ellie has her doctor's appointment with Maren in a couple of weeks when Maren turns two months.  I think she's around 30 pounds and I have no idea how tall she is.  I know that all her shirt sleeves are getting too short and her pants legs are also starting to creep up.

There are days when we are talking to Ellie and we can't believe she's just two.  Her vocabulary is pretty large and she loves to talk...if only we could get her "C/K" to not sound like a "T" although when she asks to "tuddle" or "tiss" it's hard not to smile.

I still think my favorite word of hers is "ketchup" which sounds like "chuppers."  When I say it slowly so she can hear me better, she slowly says "chup-ers" right back to me like she's saying it perfectly.  Ha!

Oh dear!  I love borrowing Ellie's funny phrases.  Maren wanted to take a turn sitting with Ellie this morning.  She's growing too fast as well.  I liked this photo because they were sitting in very similar poses.

Ellie just loves her role as big sister...probably too much but that's a good problem.  She has started telling Maren "Love you so much Mare, so much" although "so" sometimes sounds like "no".  Too sweet.

We can't wait for Ellie to show Maren the ropes as she grows up.  I know Maren is just dying to move around to play with Ellie and she's working hard to get stronger each day.  Soon enough these two will be playing games together and we can't wait for that day!

Look Dad, no hands!  Hunter loved this photo!

This morning we headed to a fund raising brunch for the St. Patty's Day Parade they have in Newport.  It's such fun so we went to support.  They had a Green Eggs and Ham themed breakfast in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday on Friday.  They had lots of delicious food and it was all you can eat.  I was so happy to have bacon and eggs benedict again after having to skip out on two of my favorites during my pregnancy.  Ellie's favorite was the sausage links. She housed about 4 of them as well as a whole plate of scrambled eggs, melon, hash browns, some of my french toast, and most of Hunter's OJ.  You would think we didn't feed her!

Ellie wanting to pose while helping Daddy with dinner.  Notice her blue fingers and the blue areas on her face.  She got into her stamps while Daddy was "watching" her this afternoon.  Luckily it all seemed to come off in the bath tub!  Can't wait to see what the next year brings for Ellie.  She's definitely come out of her shell and come into her own person in the last 6 months or so.  Hunter and I think that person is pretty darn spectacular and love each minute we get to spend with her...even the ones when she's crabby because soon enough she's going to be grown and out of the house and we'll wonder where the time went and we'll be wishing she was still our two year old "baby" again.

Ellie's 2nd Birthday Party

What a day!  Ellie's birthday was themed "Blueberries for Sal" because of how much she loves the book.  So we had a fun time coming up with ideas for her party that fit the theme.  My friend Van (who owns VanLikeTheCar Designs...her blog is in the Hurricane Hole to the right if you want to check out her stuff...or look on etsy) took my vision and created the cutest tags for the Blueberry Preserves from Nervous Nellies for the adults...

...and for the favor pails for the kids.  Ellie packed the pails with her favorite things... bubbles, temporary tattoos, smiley face stamps, Jelly Belly jellybeans, and a stuffed bear (to match with the story).

Gotta keep the adults happy.  We tried a new recipe... Smirnoff Blueberry and Lemonade and it was pretty good.  We also got a few different blueberry beers from Shipyard and Newport Storm.

The food table was packed with lots of blueberry items....we had fruit salad with lots of blueberries, veggies and dip, brie and crackers (I think Ellie ate at least 3/4 of the wheel), goldfish (a huge hit with the kids), blueberry lemon bread (made by Gammy), a blueberry pie (made by the Beautiful Aunt Cathy), blueberry muffins (regular and mini sized), blueberry scones, and Ellie's birthday cake (made by Katrina's bakery here in Newport and they do a great job).

Van also made a cute banner for the party!

Ellie's cake close up... it was so good.  Katrina's was so accommodating. I dropped off some of the Nervous Nellie's Blueberry Preserves and they used that for two of the layers and they used whipped cream for the icing instead of buttercream on request (yummy!).  She also designed it to look like Ellie's favor tags.  It had white cake inside and was probably one of the best cakes I have ever had.

Aunt Cathy's blueberry pie.

the muffins and scones.  We have a ton leftover but Hunter is going to make his class happy before their test tomorrow and Ellie digs into them all day long...not to mention I've been enjoying them throughout the day too!

We had a few games for the kids...at the end of the party they got to pick their own blueberry.

They got to do a game we called "Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk" where they glued down a blueberry pail and then got to stamp blueberries made with a cork onto the paper.

Maren slept for the first part of the party in the Bjorn and then she hung out with Gammy and Aunt Cathy for the second half.  She even took part of a bottle to tide her over during the party... this growth spurt is keeping her pretty hungry.  She loved looking around and watching everyone.

Ellie loves her Pellegrino...she says it's spicy (instead of bubbly).

We then played a game we called "Winnowing Blueberries" where there was a gift wrapped and the kids passed it around and would open one layer of wrapping paper.  All kids love opening presents so they had fun seeing what kind of wrapping paper was next.

There was Jordan opening a layer with her mom, Christen.

Charlotte takes her turn with Oscar and Lily looking on waiting until they get to open another layer.

FInally cake time!  Ellie wasn't sure what was going on when Hunter brought her cake over.

She was afraid to blow out the candles even though she couldn't wait to blow out mine on my birthday

Daddy helps Ellie blow out her first candle...

...then she tells him he has to blow out the second one too.  Ellie has been singing "Happy Birthday" to herself for the last couple of days.  She also has been saying she is turning two and holds up her pointer fingers on both hands to show two fingers.

Finally a smile!  She had a great time at her party with her friends.  She and Maren both slept like rocks last night and only got up once each...luckily it was back to back so I finished feeding Maren and then went in and retucked Ellie in so I only got up once all night.  Thank goodness!  Hunter and I were exhausted after yesterday!  Maren also slept in until 8:30 am or so today...of course the day I have to get up and finish cleaning and rearranging furniture from yesterday!