Hurricane Jenni

Maren Fenner - 1 Month

2012-02-14T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well, someone is growing up. We candidly call Maren our little lizard because of her big round tummy and long thin limbs. She weighed in today at 10.4 pounds. She does seem to be a bit longer though and many of her 0-3 month outfits are being stretched both in length and in width right now.

Maren is such an easy going baby. She has been a wonderful sleeper so far and I often lay her down awake but tired and she goes to sleep on her own. Maren is obviously the type of baby Dr. Ferber had in mind when he did his studies. I am hoping her great sleeping continues. She is also a great eater.

Every time I have taken Maren out to the store or the doctor (for Ellie), she stays asleep the whole time. I forgot how easy it is to run errands with a baby versus a toddler! Next month she and Ellie will go to the doctor at the same time...Ellie for her two year wellness exam and Maren for her two month exam. They'll both be getting a bunch of shots but at least we'll get it out of the way on the same day! Can't wait to see how much they have both grown!

The Girls

2012-02-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Well here we are, one month after Maren's birth and she's growing fast! I actually got a few pictures this afternoon when I didn't need a flash. It's amazing Maren actually has eyes!

Hi Mom! Her eyes are getting bluer each day but we'll see what color they end up. Her hair is also getting fuller and it has gotten a bit lighter...it almost has a reddish hue to it when you are in the sunlight.

Maren has just been the happiest little baby so far. She loves to eat and tries to sleep when she can during the day. At night she regularly does 4-5 hour stretches and then eats and goes right back to sleep. We were hoping to move her to her crib this weekend but with people being sick, we spent most of the weekend relaxing. She's been doing so well there is no reason to keep her sleeping in our room for any longer.

Even when she's sick, Ellie is always ready for the camera to come out. Maren hates pictures and Ellie loves them!

Who me? I love pictures? No! Ellie has started saying two things that crack Hunter and I up. She'll go walk into Jorja and say, "Oh, excuse me, Jorja!" She says it over and over as she continues to run into poor Jorja. The other is when I give her something she asks for she'll say, "Oh, thank you, Mommy!" Today when we were putting the papers into the muffin tin, she thanked me after each paper I handed her to put into the tin.

Even sick with a swollen mouth, food all over her face, and hair all over the place, she's still our little angel.

Someone loves the camera... poor Hunter. When Ellie grows up he is going to have his hands full. Ha!

Finally back to taking some pictures! Hoping to make this more regular!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Lucky for us, Valentine's came at a perfect time...Ellie is sick and gets bored really easy having to sit around all day so a few new toys and movies are the perfect distraction for her. Plus, who doesn't love getting gifts for no reason at all?!

Lady and the Tramp...thanks Gammy and Grumpy! We already watched it today.

Dishes, utensils and cups for her kitchen...thanks Nonna and Pops! This provided us endless hours of fun (and lots of pick up times) today. Ellie spent much of the morning making hot chocolate for Daddy and setting the table for lunch.

Best quote from Ellie today as she was opening our gift, "Oooh...a box!" Jeez El, give us some credit!

She got an Elmo Alphabet book...you can see her smile. Best 25 cents I ever spent at a yard sale!

We spent a lot of time reading her new books today. New things always make being sick a little better!

Maren enjoyed reading her card.

We are lucky during this spell of sickness that Maren is such an easy baby...she loves just sitting and looking around which has come in very handy when I am having to hold Ellie...which seems to happen every time I have to feed Maren!

At least Ellie was up and about playing in her kitchen today. She has lost a little weight. Since the last time she was weighed pre-sickness, she's down a little over 2 pounds and is at a fighting weight of 27 pounds right now. Poor thing...

Ellie wanted to make blueberry muffins for Daddy for Valentine's and since we are trying to figure out the best recipe for muffins for her party, we were able to kill two birds with one stone. She loves putting the papers into the muffin tin.

Ellie also loves helping to mix...prepare to lose at least 1/16th of a cup of flour.

Scooping into the papers...even easier now that we got our Pampered Chef delivery from Aunt Summer's fundraiser! The ice cream scoop was the best buy yet! I also got a free easy measure colander since we bought a bunch of stuff and I never thought I would use it... low and behold, it's perfect for rinsing and measuring blueberries!

Yummy! The muffins turned out great... a few more to try before we make our final decision for the party. I had to post this picture because of the priceless look on Ellie's face...we've been getting a lot of this one since Ellie got sick.

Apparently it doesn't hurt to eat blueberry muffins! Khali and Jorja are hoping someone is messy while eating.

Yummy...drinking juice and eating muffins. Good morning!

Of course I left Ellie while I was in the kitchen for a couple minutes and she came in with white on her face saying something... yeah, she was telling me how Baby needed sunblock on her. It's Desitin and it was all over baby and Ellie's hands and face. Joy!

Maren got some fun bibs and a burp cloth for Valentine's. My friend Jessica makes them so if anyone is interested in ordering, she's on facebook- Addie B Designs.

Here is Maren's large bib for when she gets a little bigger. Too cute!

Ellie loves playing with wrapping paper rolls... we were playing a little game of chase today. Thank goodness she's back up and getting back to normal!

On the Mend

2012-02-14T19:41:00.000-05:00

Maren has been completely segregated from Ellie since Friday. Ellie woke up during the night with a fever and Hunter had to sleep in her extra bed because we were having to get up so much to check on her. I took her to the doctor and she has a virus so other than ibuprofen, we just have to let it run it's course. Of course Ellie hates not being able to hold or touch her baby sister.

The rest of the weekend wasn't any better... Hunter continued to sleep in Ellie's room and now he's sick though not nearly as bad as Ellie. She ended up with really swollen gums, canker sores on her gums and tongue and a fever. She didn't eat all weekend but luckily we were able to keep fluids in her. Luckily by yesterday she was starting to eat ice cream and drink a few things other than a juice and water mixture.

This was yesterday...I didn't even try to take pictures this weekend because she was feeling so yucky. We are on the mend though. She was eating a few more things today and she was up playing with her kitchen. It will likely take a few more days for the sores in her mouth to heal up but her fever seems to have broken.

She was still trying to smile when I was taking pics yesterday. We will be so happy when this virus is gone. Can't wait to clean the house of the germs. I have yet to show any symptoms and either has Maren...our fingers are crossed that the two of us can make it through unscathed. Poor Hunter and Ellie!

Exercise and Second Molars

2012-02-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

Last week was the beginning of the end... Maren started her floor time and was clearly not a huge fan.

Ellie tried to help out so she would enjoy it more and just ended up smothering poor Maren... she also told me that her teeth hurt so I checked in her mouth and there it was a second molar pushing it's way in. Little did we know that by the next day a virus would have invaded and our next week would be turned upside down.

Ellie decided eating a lollipop would help her teeth... until she dropped it on the ground and it rolled under the couch and into a huge pile of dog fur. We are not happy with the warm winter we are having...the dogs' coats have been shedding since mid-winter. Not fun!!

Even though Ellie wasn't feeling great, we were having fun playing. She also was quite excited to wear her new hair barrette from her friends Lily and Jack.

We brought up some baby toys for Maren and Ellie decided that teething keys are still fun to play with...along with her stuffed animals.

Poor Jorja and Khali have not gotten nearly enough attention recently but they are both still doing well.

Our little lizard/crocodile...she has such a big round belly and long thin limbs.

Busy Days

2012-02-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

We've been staying pretty busy lately. Maren has been getting in lots of exercise and is cheered on by her #1 Fan, Ellie while she does anything (other than being held by Mommy.) We're still sorting out Mommy and Daddy time with Maren and with Ellie. We've been able to do a pretty good job of giving each enough attention but there will always be times when Ellie wants Mom but I need to help out Maren. Luckily Ellie is learning a lot about patience and she's actually pretty understanding so far. Usually if she really wants me, she'll just cuddle up beside me while I am feeding Maren (which I kind of like)...both of my girls cuddled up in my arms at the same time.

Ellie continues to love holding Maren...unless she gets fussy. Then Ellie will ask for one of us to hold Maren until she is happy again. The other day Ellie was holding Maren and she fell asleep in her arms. Ellie thought that was pretty neat. She does such a great job when she is holding her. Of course, Maren gets a ton of kisses during Ellie's holding session.

As you can see...lots and lots of kisses. She even tells Maren that she loves her which is really nice to hear. She says, "Love you Mare."

I can't wait until these two can actually play together! We've pretty much figured out that Ellie is going to be her normal bossy self but hopefully Maren will be able to hold her own around "The Boss."

Ellie headed to Home Depot for the Kid's Workshop this past weekend. They made a keepsake box and she was able to do a lot of it herself because most of it was just using wood glue.

But she did get to hammer in the heart on top...one of these days we'll get around to painting all her Home Depot projects.

She did earn her 6th pin this weekend...she's really showing off her flare now!

I was able to catch a few shots of Hunter holding Maren. We haven't been great about getting pictures yet...usually because one of us has Maren and the other is playing with Ellie.

Maren gets lots of kisses from everyone...including Daddy.

Maren has still been sleeping quite a bit during the day but she's up a bit more each day. She's been sleeping pretty well at night still. Usually we get a 4 hour block, a couple 3 hour blocks and the rest are two hour blocks. Luckily Ellie has decided that sleeping is fun and has been making it all the way through the night most nights. She sometimes gets up once a night...usually because her dog has fallen onto the floor. Once we pick him up, she's back down. She's even been sleeping in until 6 or later...and going down before 7 each night. Best part is that she is happily letting her Daddy put her down each night while I put Maren down.

I've been trying to snap some photos of Maren while she is sleeping. It's harder to get them while she's awake since I am the one holding her! Maren and I did go out and run errands together this weekend (and Ellie ran errands with Daddy). Although I missed running errands with my favorite shopping buddy, Maren was very excited to be out and about...so excited she took a big loud poop while we were checking out and the poor checkout boy looked mortified. Hopefully he realized it was Maren and not me...ha!

Ellie and I enjoy spending some one-on-one time when Maren is napping during the day. We were able to sit down at her drawing table today and color pictures in her coloring book...then we took a popsicle break. Ellie enjoys when she and I can still spend a little alone time together.

And she still loves posing for photos... she actually lights up when she sees me getting the camera out. Guess I need to give her some time for "photo shoots" more often!

Maren back asleep. I've been using our Miracle Blanket at night which Maren has yet to break out of. All her other blankets have failed. So when she naps during the day she is sure to get her arms up since usually they are pinned at her sides. I did get a 6 hour block of sleep this weekend though...thank you Miracle Blanket!

So happy for Mommy Time! Hoping to get out with both girls soon but we may have to try a family outing first to make sure I'm ready!

Tummy Time

2012-01-31T19:40:00.000-05:00

Maren got her first real taste of tummy time today and she definitely did a lot better than I thought she would. She also seemed to really enjoy it...and of course, Ellie had fun calling Maren's name so she would lift her head up and look at us. I was able to catch this one of her really lifting her head up high...nice job, Maren!

Here is the big sister helping her little sister with her morning exercises...what a good trainer!

I took a picture to send to Hunter at school so Ellie had to get her iPhone and take a picture for Daddy too!

Okay mom...enough tummy time on the Boppy, I'm hungry! Although after I had her unmodified tummy time on her actual stomach she was begging for the Boppy again!

Ellie having a little more fun before we let Maren have a little rest from tummy time.

Hi there! We had some time to kill today so I took some pictures of Maren. Nap time was a little rough today. Usually Maren goes right down and then I put Ellie down but Maren just wasn't tired today so I had to hold off on putting Ellie down... so Ellie just went and laid on the couch and went to sleep all by herself. Oops! While Ellie was napping, Maren happily smiled for some pictures.

Hi Mom! She's warming up to the flash of the camera now... she just needed some more camera practice time!

Maren loves to sit and just look around. I know she can't see much now but whatever she is seeing she obviously likes. She is also pretty good about putting herself to sleep too. If I lay her down when she is tired, she often will just close her eyes and go to sleep.

I caught a photo of Ellie when she woke up from her nap today. Although we didn't make it up to her bed, she still got a good nap. Maren was nice and quiet while Ellie was sleeping...if only Ellie would be quiet while Maren was sleeping!

Hands up! Ellie did let Maren get in a nap or two today... she's been cluster feeding a bunch so she must be having a growth spurt.

Maren Fenner - 2 Weeks

2012-01-30T19:09:00.001-05:00

Making her monthly chair picture debut is Maren! Here she is at 2 weeks old. She happily sat in the chair and looked around and even gave us a few poses. Ellie and I took her to the doctor today for her 2 week check up. They were looking for her weight to be back at birth weight and then she got an overall well baby check up.

Maren had a head circumference of 37 cm, her length was measured as 21.5 inches which was 1.5 inches longer than at birth. They checked it several times and it always measured the same so they think that it was just incorrectly measured at birth since she was so curled up when she was born. The doctor was also very happy with her weight...she put on a full pound since her 5 day check up and has put on half a pound over her birth weight...she's sitting at a healthy 9 lbs 3.7 oz. Nice job eating, Maren!

It was fun taking pictures of Maren...probably because I have been so bad about taking any of her so far. We got some "Ellie-free" time to take them which made it much easier! Maren has a big, healthy tummy and long, thin arms and legs. I think she is going to be shaped a bit more like her Daddy. The doctor said she looked great though. Everything checked out so we'll take her in again at 2 months.

Taking a look at Daddy during photo time! As you can see in the pictures, Maren's belly button is fully healed...the umbilical stump has completely fallen off so she has been enjoying showing off her cute little innie belly button. She also has moved up to the Size 1 diapers. She was trying to wear the newborn diapers like her Uncle Mike...sagging except her issue was they were too small to actually cover her entire bottom (past plumbers crack height.)

Whoa! There is something sitting beside me...what is that?!?! She took quite an interest in the stuffed husky (that Ellie renamed Khali.)

Thought I would sneak this one in there... it's Ellie at 2 weeks. I think Maren definitely looks longer and Ellie looks more proportional. We'll see how Maren looks at her one month photo in 2 weeks!

By "Ellie-free" time I meant that Ellie was busy "reading" her books in her room...and that same husky is still sitting beside her.

Fun Weekend

2012-01-30T18:21:00.000-05:00

Maren and Ellie had quite a busy and very fun weekend visiting with family. On Saturday, Skylar came to spend the afternoon and meet Maren. The Beautiful Aunt Cathy and Uncle Bub also came to visit...they even brought Baylie and Toir to play with Jorja and Khali so everyone had a good time!

The girls all hanging out.

I just loved this set of photos that Alexander took of BAC, Aunt Skylar, Maren and Ellie.

Uncle Bub holding Maren. I think she likes his glasses!

Hi guys! Maren was a very good girl all weekend and even spent some awake time saying hi to everyone.

She was doing some finger play with Uncle Bub.

Eating fingers is even better than just holding them!

Holy cow...eyes!

Ellie and her cheese...

Aunt Skylar holding Maren.

On Sunday we took Maren across state lines to Marion, MA to Uncle Taylor's house to visit. Uncle Parker came down from Harvard to meet his niece. She made sure to stay passed out in the oddest position while he was holding her.

Ellie's shoe obsession continues... this time with Uncle Kiefer's shoes...by the way, Ellie says Kiefer now.

Maren spending some time with Grumpy..and wearing her new hat that Gammy knitted so she and Ellie can be matchies.

Ellie got some outside time at Tabor...and loved every minute of it.

Snow!! There were still a few piles of snow that Ellie enjoyed walking in.

When we got back home, Uncle Tom, Aunt Lauri and Whitney came to visit and meet Maren. Of course Ellie's was excited to open presents...she'll be asking for another sibling if presents keep being given!

Someone sat in chocolate icing so it was pants-less night (until Ellie wanted to go outside!)

Ellie spent the rest of the evening jumping...it was nice to see everyone this weekend. Ellie racked out both nights...too bad Maren is having apparently having a growth spurt...someone spent most of the evening (and day today) eating!

Candids of the Girls

2012-01-27T21:01:00.000-05:00

Holding and touching Maren is still Ellie's favorite thing to do each day. I don't know how many times I have to tell her to back up and give Maren some space. Luckily Maren seems to go with the slow although some of her faces when Ellie hugs her tight or gets too close are pretty funny.

Ellie is telling Maren how it's going to be... "Hi Mare! You will do everything I say and we'll get along just fine."

Kisses....this only happens about a thousand times a day.

So hard to get pictures of Maren's eyes open...when the flash goes off, she shuts them up tight.

Ellie is suffering from my lack of picture taking. The other day she gives me the camera and tells me to take her picture. I take the one above...

...when I put the camera down, she tells me, "No, me picture. More." Ha! What a little ham... she just loves posing for pictures.

So, after the third one of her begging for more I told her we would take more this weekend. I guess it's official...I took way to many photos of Ellie during the first almost two years of her life. There Hunter, I admit it.

I was able to catch a smile by Maren. She tried to cover it up with her hand but I still got a sliver of a smile. She's definitely not as camera happy as Ellie was.

So, she does have a neck. I snapped this one during one of her few napping sessions. Ellie tends to enjoy her motto of "Wake up Mare" so Maren gets very little sleep during the day. When I can get Ellie to do something quiet, Maren instantly falls asleep. Lucky for me, when Ellie naps, Maren is all too happy to also nap so at least I get a little quiet time each day.

So happy to be holding her little sister again.

I know this is not a good picture of either Maren or Ellie but I think they kind of look alike in this one...well as much alike as they can right now.

Uh oh...I let Maren take a nap unswaddled today and what happened...the arms were up over her head just like Ellie used to sleep....well nap, Ellie never really slept. Wonder if they will end up behind her head like Ellie's were (once they get long enough!)

Big Girl Bedroom

2012-01-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

After several days of setting it all up (and having boxes clutter the house), all of Ellie's (and Maren's) new bedroom furniture is set up. Although I was 100% sure we were having a girl, we wanted to wait before ordering furniture for the "girls" room until Baby No. 2 was born. The first project was Ellie's new bookcase. Ellie loves her books but we didn't have a place to store them in her room so we got her a bookcase for Valentine's and she got it as an early present. She was very helpful to her Daddy while he was setting it up.

She held it while he was moving it so he could put on the back panel.

After several days of set up, here is Ellie's new big girl bed frame. Thank goodness the squeaky, creakyHarvard bed frame is gone!! Also with her new wooden bed rails, we have to store the box spring for a while. She loves that her new bed is lower and already tested out the jumping ability on it. Maren's bed is set up adult sized for right now. Can't wait until these two can share a room and have a slumber party every night...well, a slumber party minus the party and with two times the amount of slumbering.

The reason why Ellie wasn't in the picture with her bed...she was putting on her PJs after bath time and made sure to hike them up as far as they could go...her reasoning- she's taller that way. Ha! I think her actual quote was, "Me tall, see?"

Here's Ellie's new bookcase...can't wait to get all her books up from the basement and living room this weekend. These were just the books she had stashed around her room.

On Wednesday, Spence, Meg and Caden came up to visit and meet Maren. Meg brought up dinner and we were able to eat dinner together, Hunter had Spence help him carry up Maren's new dresser for her room, and Caden and Ellie got to have bath time together again. We had a lot of fun and we were so glad to spend some time with them.

One of Spence and Meg's gifts to Maren was a little ice pack with a cute bunny around it. Ellie was twirling and fell into a chair today so she was very happy to get to use the new ice pack.

Ellie the Snow Bunny

2012-01-27T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ellie woke to up snow this morning. It has just started falling in the early morning but Daddy took her and the dogs out to enjoy it this morning. She was really excited to try out her snow suit (thank you Brooke and Mia!) and Cars boots.

Cleaning the snow off with her stick.

Running around in the snow for the first time.

Cleaning off her slide because it's "dirty."

Getting ready to head back out into the deep snow!

Oh yeah... Ellie and the dogs loved all the snow although Ellie was crushed when two days later all the rain had melted all the snow.

Yummy...eating the snow.

I'm gonna get you Daddy! Ellie loved all her snow play.

Time to get a little work in.

Ellie and Hunter went back out later in the day and the snow was much higher now. She was very excited to run in the high snow in her boots.

Ellie absolutely loves the snow. We couldn't keep her from being outside and luckily we have several hand-me-down snow suits that fit Ellie perfectly. She was talking up a storm about the snow.

Of course snow days aren't all fun and play...you have to work too. Ellie took her turn shoveling the driveway and sidewalk and was doing a pretty good job.

Yep, that's our daughter eating the snow while laying on her belly. I never did get outside to get a bowlful to make Ellie snow cream...I guess we'll have to save that trick for the next snow storm.

And our favorite video...Ellie rolling around in the snow. Her favorite activity on a snow day.

The little snow bunny inside after being out for over an hour playing in the snow. It was hard to get her to take off her snow boots. She looks like she's ready to get some ski lessons soon!

Sisterly Love

2012-01-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

I think Ellie's favorite thing to do everyday is to hold Maren. She asks pretty much to hold her before she eats after each diaper change. She has been doing such a good job that I have been letting her hold her little sister as much as she wants. Here they are conspiring about their plan for sleeping tonight. They have both been doing a great job. Thursday night they both got up 4 times but they were back to back so it was easy. I would feed Maren and then as I put her back into her bassinet, Ellie would call out so I would tuck her in and give her a kiss and then get to head right back to bed for a couple of hours. Friday night they each only got up twice with Ellie leading the wake up but she laid right back down and I would go back to my room, feed Maren and then head back to sleep. They slept for 4 hour blocks and both slept in until 7 today. Hopefully we can make that a regular occurrence!

So happy to hold her baby sister. Ellie has been doing a great job. They first day the three of us were home all day she was a little bored but otherwise, she has been a great helper. She likes to get diapers, medicine (my Lanolin), and blankets. By day two, she enjoyed cuddling with Mommy and taking her nap again and she's been the key to getting Maren to sleep at night. Ellie loves to have Maren wake up so she can "play" with her in her Boppy and hold her more often.

Of course, Ellie loves to give kisses to Maren. She talks to her while she holds her and usually says, "Hi Mare!"

She has done a great job holding her. She gives her nice support and cuddles right up to her.

We'll try getting a bunch of pictures this weekend since Hunter will be home and there is an extra hand to help out.

Maren's hair is really dark and she has a ton around the sides and less on top. Her hair is so different than Ellie's was so I wouldn't be surprised if it all fell out and a new head of hair grew in. She also has a darker complexion as you can see and dark eyebrows. Her eyes are blue for right now but maybe she'll end up brown eyed like me and be the darker version of Ellie.

Maren is a huge eater. She camped out breastfeeding from the time she was born and things haven't changed much! At her 2 day well baby visit, she had a good reading for her jaundice levels and she has already started putting weight on which the doctor was happy to see. Her next appointment is January 30th so we'll see how much she weighs then! I think our chunky monkey is going to be easily above her birth weight with the way she is chowing down.

Finally a picture of mom and baby!

Maren loves to sit up and look around. She's been staying up more and more and her eyes are getting bigger and more open each day. She does hate the flash and squints each time we take a picture so we'll try to get some good ones today.

Maren has had a couple of sponge baths already and seems to really like them. She lays there and gets washed and only gets fussy every now and again.

Ellie loves playing with Maren's toys but says that she is going to share. We'll see!

Maren was awake last night and finally joined us as a family at the dinner table. It was great having her and she was sure to add in her two-sense to the conversation.

Welcome Maren Fenner Washburn

2012-01-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

What a crazy week we've had! Not sure if I can believe that a week ago, Maren had just been born. It seems like she has always been a part of our family and we can't imagine what things would be like without her. Most people know the "hilarious" story of Maren's birth by now but if you haven't heard, here is the quick version. Hunter had a big test on Friday the 13th but after his test and a meeting he had, he got home and told me that I could have the baby now. Well, apparently Maren heard him because within an hour, I started having mild (although real) labor contractions about every 10 minutes.

Every 10 minute contractions continued when we headed to bed that night but they started getting stronger and stronger. I finally called my doctor around 2 am and was told to come into the hospital. So, I hopped in the car and drove myself in while Hunter called his mom and stayed with Ellie. I got to the hospital around 2:30 am and sure enough, things were moving along and contractions were continuing to be nice and strong. Around 3:00 am they checked and I was already 7 cm dilated. Uh oh! They got all my blood work and I got checked into my room at the birthing center. It was around 3:30 am and I was now already 9 cm dilated. No time for any meds...it was go time. Big uh oh!

Luckily my water hadn't broken yet and I think that was the only thing keeping Maren from arriving! I texted Hunter around 4 am that he needed to come now. So, he got Ellie up and they headed to the hospital. Luckily Kit was arriving at the same time so they did a handoff with Ellie and Hunter came running up. As he came into the room, my water broke on it's own and then within 30 minutes and a couple of handfuls of pushes, Maren was born. Although a shockingly different labor and delivery from Ellie's, I loved my midwife Kathy and Mary the nurse that I had. Kathy kept me calm and we just worked through each contraction to maximize the arrival of Maren. I loved being able to once again be the person who actually finished the delivery of Maren and be the one to see if she was a boy or a girl.
Although I wasn't right about the date this time, I was right that she is a girl. So Maren Fenner Washburn was born at 5:02 am on January 14, 2012. She was 20 inches long and weighed in at a hearty 8 lbs 11 oz. She has a head full of black hair, a darker complexion than Ellie, and Hunter thinks she looks a lot like her big sister.

Later in the day, we celebrated the arrival of Maren with Ellie by having a little birthday party with gifts and cupcakes. We also left the rest of the cupcakes that Gammy and Ellie made for the nurses...it's no wonder everyone was so nice to us the whole time we were there!

Ellie finally got to hold her new baby sister, who she lovingly calls "Mare."

Ellie checking out Maren while Gammy was holding her.

I just loved this picture because you could see both of their hands. Maren has some long fingers, huh?

Being in the hospital is never fun... the nursing staff has to come in through the night and get your vitals and the baby's vitals which means we kept getting woken up!! Boo!

Maren seems to love sleeping and she likes being swaddled nice and tight when she is asleep. She has been such a peaceful little baby so far. She doesn't cry much except when she is hungry but she's pretty patient and will wait to eat when she wakes up. She'll spend her time looking around taking in the few surroundings she can actually see.

Bis Sister Ellison takes another try at holding Maren. She was very angry I was trying to help her out.

As you can see Maren loves having Ellie hold her...she was actually very hungry and settled right down once she had eaten.

Sunday we got a visit from Grumpy, Aunt Summer, Uncle Tay-Tay, and Uncles Wiwi and Chan-Chan. Ellie was so excited to see everyone. As you can see in the picture she was also very excited to hug Maren.

Heading home... Monday afternoon we were finally ready for discharge. Maren and I both got the okay to head home. Maren left the hospital in the same outfit as her big sister and her Daddy left the hospital in. She also left wearing the same hat as her big sister and her Mommy wore home. We just had to add the Bundle Me to battle against the cold winter weather!

Maren makes her self at home...and Jorja makes sure to introduce herself to her newest little sister.

39.5 Weeks

2012-01-12T18:50:00.000-05:00

What an appointment I had today at the doctor's! I think I have mentioned before that my midwife has 24 births this month. Well, this morning she was delivering one of those babies so my 9:15 appointment got moved to 10:30. Not a great time for Ellie and I since it's lunch time and then nap time right afterwards but they assured me we wouldn't be waiting long so there was no need to schedule an appointment later in the day or tomorrow. We showed up at 10:30 and waited in the waiting room until 12:30. We were finally seen around 12:45... I had an ultrasound to measure all my amniotic fluid levels which looked good, my placenta looked good, and the baby's head hadn't moved down according to the cervical exam. The only thing Kathy was concerned with was the heart rate was on the lower side of the acceptable range... I think it was between 120-130. So, she sent me over to the hospital (conveniently located almost across the road) to have the fetal heartbeat monitored.

Keep in mind that neither Ellie or I had had lunch or a nap yet and it was around 1:15 by now... so, we got to the hospital and I had to provide a urine sample (which Ellie thought was apple juice and asked if she could drink- yikes!). Then I got hooked up to the heart monitors and I was supposed to sit still for the next 20 minutes...while watching an irritated Ellie. Oh fun! Luckily, we turned on cartoons and the nurse got her some crackers and juice with a straw. She sat relatively still in the bed with me and the test ended up fine so I was released from the hospital. When the baby kicked the heart rate went up nicely so it seems this baby just has a low resting heart rate (Hunter enjoyed hearing that part). I also had several contractions during the test but none of them were very strong so...maybe we're headed in the right direction for labor soon (I can only hope!) Ellie passed out within a minute of being in the car after we left the hospital. It was a long draining day but we can hope that maybe Ellie and I will both sleep well tonight.

Ellie loves the baby and really can't wait for him/her to arrive. We saw a newborn at the appointment today and she wanted to go see her very badly (I spared the new mom the shock of Ellie wanting to touch her new bundle of joy!) My next appointment is on Tuesday afternoon which is after my due date so here's to hoping after today's experience that I don't have to go back to the office again until 6 weeks after baby arrives!

Ellie had her first experience with Oreo's and she's definitely a fan...a big fan just like her Daddy.

Food Cravings

2012-01-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

It seems like the last week or so, our days have revolved around food. Probably because we only leave the house to go grocery shopping...that's not really true but pretty close to the truth. So, since we went to the grocery store this weekend, Ellie got her weekly donut. Yummy! She never seems to forget to remind you that she gets one each week.

Another item that Ellie has once again become obsessed over is the popsicle. The good thing is that I no longer have to bite pieces for her so now you can give her one and she'll happily sit and eat it. Very happily!

We also seem to drink an amazing amount of chocolate milk/milk in our house lately. I feel that most of that is from me...it's definitely one of the things I have been craving the most for the last several months.

Ellie has still been very helpful in the kitchen. We were making meat sauce today and she was happily stirring for me and doing a pretty good job. Today I hit 39 weeks so we are 7 days (well, 6 days now since today is over) until the No. 2's due date. Wonder if I'll make it until next Monday?!

January Kids Workshop

2012-01-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

So we headed over to Home Depot today to the January Kids Workshop so Ellie and Hunter could get in their woodworking project for the month. Ellie was very happy to have on her safety goggles today.

It was actually pretty crowded when we got there so Ellie had a little fun people watching while Hunter was getting the wood glue on a few things before they started hammering.

Ellie has gotten a little bossy in the last several days. We're not sure if it's because the baby is coming, if she's tired or if it's because Hunter is back in school... regardless, every time Hunter took off his goggles, she would help him put them back on today.

She kept taking hers off and was cycling through 3 different pairs while her Daddy was working hard on her Savings Shed today.

She did enjoy getting a little hammering in although once we had the first part of the roof on, all she wanted to do was drop the remaining nails into the slot.

Of course hammering the table was also a lot of fun to her today. I also had Ellie sit in the time out chair today for one minute for throwing a small bucket across the kitchen. Later in the day she got angry and threw all her pots and pans out of her kitchen onto the floor. She then looked at Hunter and I and said, "Me sit bad chair." She then moved the chair over to face the wall and sat in it for about 30 seconds and then walked back in the room and said she was done sitting in the bad chair. I guess that discipline method backfired...ugh.

Ellie has also figured out that her fingers fit into her nose holes. We've tried telling her not to pick her nose and that it's dirty but she just laughs and does it again. We tried ignoring her but she will sit there with her finger up her nose until you eventually say something. So, yesterday I told her I was going to cut off her finger if she put it up her nose again. (I know...really mature, huh? But I was so tired of seeing her do it.) Anyway, she goes to the kitchen and starts digging in the drawers. I ask what she is doing and she says, "Knife, mommy cut finger." Ugh...once again she has called my bluff. Hunter says I need to get a book on discipline because I suck at it. I think he may be right. Help...I can only imagine how I am going to keep her under control when she's older.

Ah...finally a finished Savings Shed.

38.5 Weeks

2012-01-05T19:10:00.000-05:00

Well, we're now in uncharted territory. Ellie was born and home by this time in my first pregnancy but here I sit, still pregnant. I had my 38 week doctor's appointment today and I got another ultrasound to check on position, amount of amniotic fluid and heartbeat. Everything looked good. The head is still down, down even further than last time (if that is possible), the amniotic fluid levels are still looking good and the heartbeat was strong and looked good on the screen. Today I felt good again even though the last couple of days I have had strong and steady Braxton-Hicks contractions. The baby's head keeps hitting my cervix so that is also a barrel full of fun. Luckily the contractions are erratic and go for various lengths so it's definitely not real labor.

Today's doctor's appointment was pretty funny. Ellie was so excited for the visit...she jumped out of the car and was running while holding my hand to the office. We got back in the room and she was telling the nurse to check my blood pressure and then when the midwife came in, she was being a little bossy with me. Kathy, the midwife, told her she could have a sticker after the appointment so Ellie was telling me to get off the table and leave. I then pulled up my shirt so she could get the heartbeat with the doppler and Ellie yells out, "No, me do shirt." So, I had to put my shirt back down so she could lift it up for the doppler. Kathy was laughing and saying it's better that she is headstrong and independent (she was being polite...Ellie was being downright bossy) than if she let people walk all over her. Um....I guess?!?! Ellie was helpful and held the belly jelly while she got the ultrasound machine ready. Ellie thought that was really cool. After we finished though, Ellie grabbed my jacket, threw it at me and handed me her diaper bag and then opened the door and went running to the desk to get her sticker. Luckily Kathy took her and told me to take my time. Then she had to tell everyone bye on the way out. What a handful she was today!!

Love You

2012-01-05T19:01:00.000-05:00

Ellie has been acting crazy lately. Her latest stunt is to take her pants off and if possible she takes her shirt off and walks around after dinner in her onesie. Oh my...

Even though Ellie has been acting a little crazy lately likely due to seeing all the baby stuff being brought out up from the basement, she can still melt our hearts. After dinner we were reading her bear book and she looked at me, gave me a kiss, and then said, "Mommy Love you." It's the first time she has said to to me so of course, I loved it. Then when Hunter came in the room she said, "Daddy Love You." Awesome! I tried to get it on video and she says "Love you" though love comes out a little funny.

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T18:35:00.000-05:00

Although at times I felt like No. 2 was coming the last few days, I'm still sitting here 38 weeks pregnant and no baby. The Braxton-Hicks Contractions are continuing and the baby is remaining very active when my stomach isn't hard as a concrete ball. So, on the 1st we celebrated my 33rd birthday. On New Year's Eve I was in bed by 9...so different than when I was younger and always wanted to stay up for my birthday. I still remember when I turned 21...the year 2000...gosh that was a long time ago. Anyway, Ellie made me a beautiful card for my birthday.

I got all kinds of nice presents and Ellie enjoyed opening every single one of them. I think she thought it was her birthday but wasn't finding my gifts very much fun for her so she let me have them.

Luckily Hunter and Ellie let me rest a bunch on my birthday which was awesome! I even got to eat a red velvet cupcake for breakfast and after dinner. Yummy!

More gift opening... Hunter also treated us to Thai food for dinner. Double Yummy! Plus Ellie loves it just as much as we do.

With Christmas and my birthday so close, Ellie was in total present opening frame of mind. I can't wait for her birthday in a couple of months!

Hunter even put a candle on Ellie's cupcake (notice we don't have any pictures of me blowing out a candle on my cupcake) which did not help show Ellie it was my birthday yesterday.

Yummy! Ellie loves cupcakes almost as much as I do.

But she definitely likes the icing may more than me.

Crazy to think another birthday has come and gone. Today was the day I predicted I would have No. 2. I was not correct this time. It's crazy thinking that with Ellie I was in the hospital today and in just a few hours she was being welcomed into the world. So, it's anyone's guess when this baby will come. I felt pretty good today and we braved the grocery store along with everyone else in Newport.

Ellie was being silly at dinner tonight. She was giving Hunter these huge hugs and kisses but every time I went to snap a picture she would close her eyes.

I know she has really enjoyed her time with Daddy during this break. She asks for "her Daddy" whenever he leaves or goes out of the room and has even preferred him to change her diaper or give her a bath which I love! It's going to be tough to watch him go back to work tomorrow but we'll keep ourselves busy, I'm sure.

So excited about cookies and cream ice cream for dessert!

37.5 Weeks

2011-12-29T19:03:00.000-05:00

Today I had my 37 week doctor's visit and everything is progressing along. Hunter and Ellie both came with me today so Hunter could hear the baby's heartbeat again. The heartbeat sounded nice and strong and all my symptoms are normal for this stage in a pregnancy. My worst symptom right now is carpal tunnel in my left hand.

Hunter thinks that my belly has dropped a bit and I would have to agree with him. We're getting closer... on Monday I will be 38 weeks which is when we headed in to have Ellie so we'll have to see how this pregnancy progresses. My next appointment is on Thursday morning.

Merry Andover Christmas

2011-12-26T20:36:00.000-05:00

What a weekend! We headed up to Andover on the 23rd and got settled right in...Ellie jumped on the drums and wanted to join in on all the Rock Band fun...

...she may have to wait a few years to be old enough to actually make it through a song though. Everyone else had a fun time drumming, singing and playing guitar to their favorite country songs though.

One of Ellie's favorite toys of the weekend...Etch-a-sketch.

After a lot of activity inside, Ellie and Daddy headed outside in the cold weather to enjoy some time at the playground.

Ellie loves walking around campus and definitely enjoys every second she gets to swing and go down the slides at the playground.

We all know Ellie's obsession with Justin Bieber is strong...she was happy to see her Bieber, Chan-Chan, in the flesh.

Ellie wanted her chance to play guitar on Rock Band.

Ellie and Caden were beating up Uncle Kiwi.

Throwing out reindeer dust on Christmas Eve so Santa would know where to stop.

Ellie just kept getting handful after handful of dust to throw out.

One of Ellie's favorite things about the weekend was getting to have bath time with her cousin, Caden.

Caden likes the water even more than Ellie. They were so funny playing in the tub together. It was Caden's first time bathing with someone.

One of my favorite photos of the weekend... Ellie and Caden hanging out with Aunt Meg and her iPad. Ellie loved the Sesame Street app.

Reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" before bedtime.

Ellie at times was more excited playing with Gammy's bracelets than looking at the pictures.

Writing her note to Santa...gotta love the crossed ankles.

Christmas morning...the whole Washburn clan.

Ellie walking into the room and seeing a room full of presents...

....reading Santa's note back to us.

Time for stockings... Ellie got a pail with penguins on it. She also got gold coins (the chocolate ones) and knew that was where I hid hers. Even today when we got back to Newport, she was checking her pail for "chocolates."

Final stocking present...

oh my... a Dyson ball vacuum cleaner...and it really cleans up.

Watching Ellie and Caden play with their vacuums was so much fun. Talk about two kids that like to clean!

This was the closest I could get to getting pictures of the reindeer shirts we got for Ellison and Caden.

This picture just made me laugh... Caden gave Ellie a Band in a Box and Ellie was playing with the maracas. Caden loved his gift to Ellie and wanted to play too. They were both good sharers through the weekend and enjoyed playing with all the new toys.

Ellie wearing my Washburn Athletic Club T-shirt from Summer. Ellie got her own in pink but was in awe of mine. She took her nap that day wearing it.

Grumpy's new pet chinchilla. Ellie couldn't say chinchilla so she took to calling him Chimmy. His official name is undecided but I think he may always be Chimmy to Ellie.

Gammy made Ellie a reversible apron for her kitchen. She loved wearing it around...

...and put it right on when she got home to Newport and started cooking right away. We made it back to Newport today with no traffic. We're now going to get settled back in and start getting ready for Baby No. 2 to come. The Braxton-Hicks contractions have started to occur more often and with more intensity so now that I am 37 weeks...we're getting closer. Next appointment is on Thursday.

36.5 Weeks

2011-12-22T20:02:00.000-05:00

Here we are 36 and a half weeks... I had a doctor's appointment today for my Strep B test and to get a quick check before Christmas. I got cleared to travel to Andover so that's a plus too. Baby is continuing to grow, the head is still down, and the heartbeat sounds nice and strong. I'm getting lots of sideways kicks and even more feet pushing directly where my belly button is. I can't say it's confortable but it's nice to know the baby has such strong legs!

My midwife has 25 babies due in January so I'm having to call prior to heading to the office for my appointments to make sure she's not delivering a baby! Next appointment will be next Thursday and each week until the baby arrives (hopefully sooner rather than later!)

Ellie is still enjoying lifting up my shirt in public places to see the baby and she's enjoying lifting her own shirt up to show her tummy when I take my belly pictures. She's been really having a lot of fun with this pregnancy and I'm glad she is understanding so much about it. She's still playing with her baby doll a lot and practicing taking care of the baby. My favorite is when she is playing with her toys and tells Hunter or I how she is going to share with the baby. I guess we'll see what happens when the baby actually comes!

Circles

2011-12-22T19:55:00.000-05:00

I am not sure who was more excited about the new dog beds...Ellie, who had to try them out before Jorja and Khali could, or the dogs.

We knew Jorja would love her new pad...she had these same kind when we were in Arlington. They are made in the USA and from recycled plastic bottles.

Khali seemed to like hers too but it always takes her a while when we change her pad. They both slept really well last night...each time I got up for a potty break, Khali hadn't moved and was still in the same position. These pads also fit their crates nice and snug so we get less noise when they roll around. It's a win-win.

Ellie has been enjoying drawing at her new table. She has gotten better at identifying her shapes and is finally saying "circle" instead of "round" all the time when she draws a circle. She just can't stop drawing circles right now.

Here she is telling me that she is drawing a circle.

I love watching her go over, climb up into her chair, and go to work drawing. Let's hope she'll be as diligent with her school work when she gets older.

Break time... Ellie was lounging on her chair, wearing her slippers and eating a candy cane from Santa.

Merry Newport Christmas

2011-12-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

Since we'll be in Andover for Christmas Day, Santa came to visit Ellie last night so she could also celebrate Christmas in Newport and open Rossi family gifts. Here is her first look downstairs this morning. She was also excited to wear her new pajamas that she picked out by herself.

Ellison was so surprised and overwhelmed by everything as she walked down the stairs but at the same time she couldn't help but smile when she saw all the presents.

The first thing she passed was her new table and chairs. She went right to them and sat down. Still a little shocked at everything going on.

Next stop...the Christmas tree where she noticed that Santa had hung Shrek candy canes all over the tree.

She then checked Santa's note back to her and saw he and the reindeer had eaten and drank everything we left for them.

Stocking time! Ellie insisted she open her stocking gifts at her new table.

First gift...finally, her own pair of purple slippers. Since she's wearing footsie pajamas a lot less now and is wearing big girl pajamas, she needs something to keep her feet warm when walking around.

She has gotten so good at opening presents and gets excited when she opens things. This morning was so much fun watching her face light up as she tore the paper away.

Markers for drawing! Ellie has been wanting markers for so long. They are so much easier for her to draw with than crayons. She also got a set of colored pencils too.

Final stocking gift... a pad of drawing paper. I am sure you can guess what we had to do next...yep! Stop opening presents so Ellie could draw for a while.

So excited to be using her new markers.

Concentrating really hard on her first masterpiece.

We finally got her back over to the tree so we could start opening more gifts. She loved all the different wrapping papers and pulling the paper off each gift.

Ellie got several movie...Hunchback of Notre Dame, Monsters, Inc., Gnomeo and Juliet, Dumbo and a Strawberry Shortcake movie.

She got a few new pairs of big girl underwear. Her favorite pair was the one with Belle on them.

She finally peeked around the corner and saw her kitchen. We couldn't keep her from it any longer so we paused opening gifts once again for Ellie to explore her kitchen. She loves the microwave!

She seems to like all the things we use most (which is why Santa brought this particular kitchen!) She liked using the ice maker/water to get something to drink.

Time to do some laundry... Ellie loves helping with our laundry so she got right to work on baby's blanket.

Time to make some fries in the oven. She used a box as the tray for making them.

Back to gifts for a bit...Ellie helped Daddy open her gift to him.

Playing with her new blender! It really blends.

Checking on the fries...yummy!

Khali and Jorja loved watching everything that was going on. While Ellie played in the kitchen, they laid right in the dining room watching her and when she is at her table, they went to lay underneath. They got new crate pads for Christmas that will be here tomorrow so they are anxiously awaiting their arrival. What a great morning...I have a feeling Ellie will stay very busy the next couple of days until we visit Andover.

Ready for Santa

2011-12-21T08:42:00.000-05:00

Oh boy! Ellie was keyed up yesterday getting ready for Santa's visit today. We made him some "cookies" and Ellie was such a big helper. She was peeling the Hershey Kisses and putting them onto the pretzels for me.

Ellie was talking nonstop about Santa all day but she really started gabbing as the evening was coming to an end. She couldn't stop talking about how Santa was going to come and what we were going to leave for him.

Here we are prior to bath time leaving Santa his milk and cookies. Ellie also decided she wanted to leave the reindeer blueberries because she likes them so much. She left him a note she wrote herself and put his milk in a mug that she painted too.

She loved pointing each of the things she was leaving for Santa out. She was so excited for his visit.

Gabbing away about Santa and anything else that comes to her mind. We couldn't keep her quiet yesterday. Luckily she was in bed and asleep by just after 7 so Santa had plenty of time to come visit.

Santa left presents in her stocking...

...and lots of gifts, along with ones from family who we won't get to see this Christmas.

Nonna and Pops sent a nice table and chairs for Ellie so she can do her drawing and coloring somewhere now.

Santa also left a kitchen set for Ellie. Can't wait until she opens everything...this is going to be a fun Christmas because Ellie really seems to get it this year.

Christmas at the Mansions

2011-12-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Today Ellie, Hunter and I headed to Bellevue Avenue in Newport to do Christmas at the Mansions. As part of the holiday season, three of the mansions decorate for Christmas. We decided a Monday would be a great day for us to go since there was likely going to be smaller crowds. We were right and had a great time. Ellie loved looking at all the decorations and trying to spot Santa in each room. First up was The Breakers. This was Cornelius Vanderbilt's summer retreat and it was the most lavish of the three. The gates to the entrance weigh 6500 pound a piece!

It was pretty cool out but the sun was shining so we made sure to walk the grounds as well as through the mansions. Here is Hunter and Ellie walking up to The Breakers.

Hanging outside before heading in to look at The Breakers. Pictures aren't allowed inside to preserve the lavish furnishings but they are amazingly decorated.

We did get to snap a picture in front of the Christmas trees set up in the great halls of each mansion. Here is the tree in The Breakers.

Next up was Marble House. This was also a Vanderbilt home (I think Cornelius' nephew) and pretty much the entire inside of the house is covered in marble. It was decorated by Alva Vanderbilt and was a gift to her for her 39th birthday.

Ellie and I enjoyed walking the grounds and seeing the water of the Bay.

Although Ellie was very well behaved and stayed behind all of the ropes in the mansions, she enjoyed letting loose outside between each tour. Running after Daddy was her favorite activity.

Here are Daddy and Ellie at the Chinese Tea Garden House which is a small house used for tea on the grounds of the Marble House. Ellie liked the dragons.

Getting a piggy back ride from Daddy! I wish I could have gotten a ride during the tours!

Flying into the parking lot to head to the final tour of the day... The Elms.

The third mansion was The Elms. It was decorated with lots of Asian influence.

This tree didn't come out as nice as the one at The Breakers. Ellie enjoyed the library at The Elms. It had a bunch of period children's toys. She got onto her tummy and just looked at all the toys from behind the ropes. There were lots of rocking horses!

More running after Daddy and a little bit of chasing leaves.

The grounds at the Elms were really nice. They had stables and in the spring they have beautiful gardens.

We had a lot of fun on the tours and both Hunter and I were really surprised that Ellie hung in so well. She didn't have any meltdowns, no crying, and happily ate a snack between each place. Pretty good for walking through three large mansion tours! I think the decorations were key and helped to keep her interest.

So happy at the end of the tours!

Okay Mommy! No more pictures...let's go get some lunch! Each tour took us about an hour so we were ready for some yummy food.

Still smiling!

In the car at the end. Ellie can't wait for her car seat to be turned around so she can face forward like Mommy and Daddy! Soon enough, Ellie!

These final two pictures are from the Newport Hospital Birthing Center. Ellie, Hunter and I went to check out the Center on Sunday morning so we would know where to go in the hospital and so Ellie could see where Mommy would be having the baby. She loved the bath tubs in the rooms the most as well as the waiting room table and chairs. The elephant was her favorite...

...followed closely behind by the giraffe. Something tells me we are going to have to beg Ellie to come see her new brother or sister because when she arrives at the hospital she is going to want to go right to the waiting room to play.

Final Kid's Workshop

2011-12-17T18:15:00.000-05:00

This morning was the final Kid's Workshop of 2011 at Home Depot. Ellie, Hunter and I headed there this morning in addition to running a bunch of errands and Ellie got to make a coaster set.

She enjoyed helping Daddy hammer the nails in...

...and put on the wood glue so it would stay nice and sturdy.

Ellie even got to go a little nailing herself. Daddy is a very brave guy to put his hands anywhere near her hammer!

She did a good job and was very excited about the coasters. She kept saying she was going to put Santa's milk and her juice on them.

Mommy got to help Ellie put the cork pads on the bottom of the coasters.

Then we checked to make sure they all fit in the coaster holder. They did. Hopefully we'll get a chance to paint them before we have to leave Santa's milk out for him.

Ellie was very excited. She got a new pin for her apron. Can't wait for all the projects next year!

Very excited. She walked through the store with a bit of a swagger holding her coasters and showing all the Home Depot employees who are always so nice and make a big deal out of her projects.

35 Weeks

2011-12-16T18:19:00.000-05:00

Two more weeks down...35 weeks done. Actually this weekend I'll hit 36 weeks so I've finished up 9 months and we're entering into that final 10th month of pregnancy! Woo hoo! Ellie and I headed into my doctor's appointment today and things went well. The heartbeat sounded nice and strong and Baby No. 2 made sure to move around plenty for my midwife to see.

We also got to have an ultrasound to check on the baby's positioning in my belly as well as see the heart beating. My midwife, Kathy, seems to think this baby is going to be bigger than Ellie, even though Ellie was 7 lbs 11 oz and she was two weeks early. During the ultrasound she had to push my pants pretty much off in order to get low enough to see the top of the head. The baby is sitting very low which explains my fondness of the restroom and all the pressure I am getting on my cervix. I also found out the big hard areas in my tummy are the butt and the feet. Hunter says we must have a little Kim Kardashian or CoCo in there with the size of this rump!

We've taught Ellie the correct anatomical names for boy parts and girl parts and she made sure to impart her wisdom to Kathy today. Kathy asked if I was getting stabbing pain in my vagina and when Ellie heard vagina she spoke right up and said, "Mommy, Jina; Jina, me; Daddy, Pizza." And there you have it.

Ellie loves touching the baby and feeling kicks. I think she's going to miss her favorite pillow, the baby bump, once the baby comes though. As Hunter says though...you'll still have a pillow there for a few months. Thanks Hunter! We seem to think Ellie is going to be a great big sister. She's been saying more and more how she's going to share her toys with the baby...let's hope she's going to be just as happy to share her mommy too.

Ellie loves saying she has a baby in her tummy too. I'll head back to the doctor next week for my Strep B test and one more look over before Christmas. Here we go...the final month...but hopefully less!

Nature Tunes

2011-12-15T19:33:00.000-05:00

This morning Ellie and I headed to Rocky Hill School to attend their Nature Tunes class. It's for 2-5 year olds and included the JK class. Ellie had a great time. First off, she got to see the Beautiful Aunt Cathy. She was very proud when she told Aunt Cathy her name...with Aunt included. They got to sit in Kelty Camp Chairs which Ellie thought was extra cool.

They read/sang lots of songs like "Where is Thumbkin?" but Ellie was excited when Miss Meg the music teacher read/sang "If You're Happy and You Know It." Hello Stomping Queen!

I was surprised not only that she didn't mind sitting on her own with the group but that she sat so nicely and listened to all the songs. She didn't participate in all of them but she was watching everything the other kids were doing very closely.

Ellie got most excited when Miss Meg sang/read "Frosty the Snowman." She got out of her seat and moved up a lot closer.

I just had to get video of the Frosty song because of how into it Ellie was. So excited! I'm glad I got it because it allowed Hunter to see how much she enjoyed herself today.

After singing Frosty, they got to draw with chalk on black paper so they could make their own Frosty the Snowmen. Ellie decided dumping the chalk out would make it easier to get the colors she wanted but she was very happy to draw with the chalk.

She looked over at me and I got a nice big smile while she was drawing.

Of course like every other time she draws, she eventually got into her serious drawing position...on her belly.

But when Miss Meg told them it was clean up time, Ellie was more than happy to help pick up the chalk. She is definitely her father's daughter.

Although she isn't smiling, she was so excited to bring me her picture to hold while she went back over to enjoy some more music time.

They got to pick out two rhythm sticks each. Ellie grabbed Navy colors...yes! She is already brainwashed!

She thought beating them to the rhythm of the music was really cool!

We then got to spend a little time outside waiting to see Aunt Cathy after Ellie's Nature Tunes class. She was enjoying putting her hands in her pockets.

Peeking around the columns! Hi Mommy!

Time to go inside and see Aunt Cathy.

I had taken this picture a few days ago but never posted it...Ellie watching more Justin Bieber videos. I love when she asks to see Chan-Chan singing with his guitar...that means she wants to watch the Justin Bieber/Rascal Flatts video because he plays his guitar in that one. Chan Chan is going to have his work cut out for him at Christmas...hope he's practicing his guitar playing skills!

Army Navy 2011 and a Baby Shower

2011-12-10T20:07:00.000-05:00

We headed over to the Ferrari's to watch the Army Navy game today. Ellie actually asked to wear her jersey (yeah!) Hunter and I sported letter sweaters...he wore his N* sweater and I wore my Black N sweater to add a little color to the party. Ellie had fun playing with the Leap Frog laptop and showing Sebastian how to hit all the buttons.

She also gave a lot of attention to the Santa doll. She sat hugging and kissing him and even rocked him for a bit. If only she was so kind to the real Santa!

The girls surprised me with a baby shower since Christmas break starts next Friday and I may have this little one before they get back in town. Crazy, huh? Ellie helped me cut the cake.

Pink or Blue...Congrats on #2! We've still got a lot of guesses for boys... but we'll see soon enough. This weekend I hit 5 weeks to go. Thanks to everyone for such a nice surprise!

Van made a beautiful banner for the party. I need to take some lessons from her...

Ellie enjoyed playing with all the kids and toys. It also is a plus that Navy beat Army for the 10th year in a row.

Bonus Kid's Workshop

2011-12-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

Home Depot had a bonus workshop today for left over projects that kids may have missed during the year. So, we headed over this morning and Ellie got to get another pin and project under her belt.

She has the routine down. She puts her apron right on and asks to wear her safety goggles (until they get uncomfortable and she tears them off).

Ellie was very helpful today as she helped Daddy hammer the nails in for the hook on her new heart shelf and hook.

She loves using the glue and with all the practice she got making the turkeys for Thanksgiving, she's a pro now.

More hammering...

Finished...of course, we'll get around to painting it soon and then she can hang her necklaces on the post and maybe put her watch on the shelf.

Eating a yummy lunch after completing the big project at Home Depot this morning.

Ellie Logic

2011-12-09T18:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Ellie picked out her outfit completely by herself... I guess she wanted to wear pink... luckily we didn't have anywhere to go. She was happy with her outfit especially once she realized her pants had pockets.

The girls continuing to hang out together most of the day. We did a big brushing on them both today and they probably need session or two. They were loving the cooler weather today...I think tomorrow night it's supposed to finally get below freezing.

Ellie has been saying the funniest things. She had a doctor's appointment today and she's a little over 36 inches and is weighing in around 27.5 pounds with all her clothes on. Anyway, when I told her she had an appointment today she shook her head yes and then said, " Me Belly, Ouchy, Baby." When the doctor asked her if there was anything he needed to check out, she told him about the baby in her belly that hurt. The doctor got a huge laugh out of it...I then explained when she accidentally kicks me or does a WWE move on my tummy I tell her not to hurt my tummy or the baby.

Another of Ellie's funny comments is when she wants to watch music on You Tube she asks to watch her Uncle Chandler...aka Justin Bieber. Chandler is mortified by the thought he looks like Bieber but Hunter and I can see the resemblance. She especially likes the song he sings with Rascal Flatts because he plays guitar and sings which she points out to us.

This is another video of Ellie singing along to one of Bieber's Christmas songs. Her other funny comment today was that she wanted to go with her Daddy to help him change after class tonight. He had to go potty so Ellie likes to go in and watch. Although Hunter isn't nearly as used to this as I am, he always lets her come in. Today though she grabs a huge wad of toilet paper and tells Hunter she is going to wipe. I think she said, "Daddy, me help, wipe," as she started to push her hand full of toilet paper between his legs. I was down in the kitchen and I hear," No Ellie, I got this. Daddy doesn't need help this time." Hilarious!

Gingerbread Train

2011-12-08T11:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday it was pouring down rain all day so Ellie and I worked on her Gingerbread Train. She was very helpful kneading the icing to get it ready.

Using the icing bags are hard enough...trying to help Ellie use them was even more challenging but we got the train together finally. She thought it was pretty cool.

Putting on all the candy was the fun part although it took us a while. I would put some icing on a piece of candy and Ellie was supposed to then stick it onto the train. By the time I put the icing bag down to help her, the candy had disappeared...into her mouth. She had more fun eating all the candy than decorating with it.

She was very proud of herself though and thought the train was very pretty. She also thought after we finished she was allowed to start eating it. I told her we needed to wait until Daddy got home. She was so excited to show him her project.

And there it is...the messiest gingerbread train ever but we had a lot of fun putting it together.

Giant Gingerbread House

2011-12-06T21:19:00.000-05:00

So, today's holiday outing was to the Giant Gingerbread House. Santa was supposed to be there with Mrs. Claus but they decided he wasn't coming until 1 pm...Ellie's nap time....so to get back at the Newport Marriott, we let our kids run around in their lobbies for awhile. Here are Oscar and Ellie looking at the Giant Gingerbread House. They are just itching to get inside the fence.

So, here is the Giant Gingerbread House. The House is 7 feet tall, the lighthouse is 16 feet tall. It is made with 450 pounds of gingerbread and 45 gallons of royal icing. There are 4,000 cookies and giant lollipops on the roof and it took 100 hours to bake and construct. It just makes me want to go up to it and pick off the candy and eat it.

The kids also enjoyed pulling on the giant Christmas ornaments.

Yes, she knows she isn't supposed to touch the ornaments but just like at home, she can't help it.

Giant tree...even larger ornaments.

Having way too much fun in the lobby of the Marriott today.

Running up and down the stairs. At least it allowed all the kids to burn off some energy.

Ellie saying hi to Caroline. She really likes going over and checking on Caroline. Let's hope she is as attentive to her new baby brother or sister.

Then we got all the kids into their strollers and headed down to Bowen's Wharf to check out the lobsters. There were some mighty big lobsters in the tanks.

Ellie having a little conversation with Lily while checking out the lobsters.

It takes so little to amuse the kids. I think they enjoyed the lobsters more than most things we have done. There were also some crabs and fish in the tank.

The fisherman removed a claw that had "broken" off one of the big lobsters. It was bigger than most lobsters I've eaten. Yummy!

We got the rest of the decorations up the other day but I wanted to get some pictures up. Mantle is done and we're using the old stockings until Baby No. 2 comes and we can work on some matching ones.

Banister is done. Ellie and I love putting the lights on and then sitting in the living room. It gives such a nice soft light when the sun is going down.

The tree is about as done as we are going to get. Ellie's new ornament for this year is a horse that she picked for herself. I picked one of a bear taking pictures with a camera because I've been pretty snap happy the last two years and Ellie picked a Santa with red, white and blue for her Daddy.We also added the starfish and sand dollars to the tree which seem to be Ellie's favorite things to want to touch.

Jorja and Khali once again enjoying each other's company. These two seem to always want to sit together recently.

Ellie has shown quite the liking to the Food Network, particularly Giada. We watched her bake cookies and make soup for her daughter, Jade the other day and now when Ellie seems Giada she says, "Giada, took (cook), tookies (cookies)." Yep....she sure did Ellie.

Ellie talking about her favorite chef, Giada.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-04T20:21:00.002-05:00

So, today was a big day for Ellie...she got to put up her first Christmas tree but I think she enjoyed opening up all the Christmas boxes more than actually hanging ornaments on the tree. She really enjoyed finding Santa's cookie plate.

She made sure to tell us several thousand times today that it was Santa's plate and that we will put cookies on it for him.

Hunter got the hazardous job of putting on the lights. Ordinarily I love putting on lights but being that the tree is like a cactus and my belly almost knocked the tree over several times, Hunter bit the bullet and did it for me this year. His poor arms and hands have pricker marks all over them...such a tough guy!

Ellie and Daddy got to hang the first ornament...a pick by Ellie- Santa Claus.

Jorja and Khali weren't sure what to think exactly. They just hung out and laid one of the beds together for most of the day.

Ellie loves pointing out the ornament she made yesterday at Santa's Workshop (the one in her right hand) and she also likes touching a few of the other ones...like the U.S. Navy ball she has in her left hand and a Santa sitting in a rocking chair. We haven't put up a tree for 3 years and it was fun going through all the ornaments. I forgot how many Hunter and I have accumulated together to add to all the ones I had while growing up. We're still not completely done the tree but this is as far as we got today.

We started on the staircase and fireplace mantel garlands today but didn't finish those either. Trying to figure out exactly how we are going to decorate them this year.

Ellie loves the garland and the lights on the staircase. We went to the Hibachi Japanese Steakhouse for dinner since we didn't get to go out last night for Ellie's 21 month birthday...she loves those places and tonight was no exception. She loved the soup, salad and ate quite a bit of my chicken, noodles, and vegetables in addition to her own fries and chicken. She even tried oranges for the first time and couldn't get enough of them. She always pigs out there...but who doesn't! Even at 9 months pregnant I finished my plate...no sure where it all went but it was yummy!

Hanging up ornaments with Mommy... hanging up the skiing moose ornament I got when I was living in Maine in 2004. Boy do I miss the skiing at Sunday River!

Our pictures of the tree at night are a big fail but this is the best one... hoping we can finish the tree and the rest of the Christmas decorations by the end of next weekend!

We are finally done moving stuff from Ellie's room to the baby's room. We got everything finished off today so Ellie has both big girl beds (one she says is for if Uncle Kiwi or Chan-Chan visit) in her room. Ellie is doing a good job in her big girl bed. Still waking up at least once a night but she stays in her bed and calls for us. She also doesn't seem to mind that her rocker is gone. Thank goodness! In other big news...Ellie was laying in bed tonight and she told me she needed to go potty so off we went to the bathroom where she went pee pee in the potty. Once again she was very proud of herself though it did take a bit longer to calm her down before she was ready to fall asleep for the night.

Santa's Workshop

2011-12-03T19:22:00.001-05:00

This afternoon after getting the tree set up, we headed over to Easton's Beach to the Santa's Workshop. While waiting for Ellie's assigned Santa time, we got to ride the carousel. Nothing makes Ellie happier than riding on horses.

This was the fastest carousel I have ever seen. Ellie started out holding on for dear life but eventually got her riding legs.

We then headed into the craft area and Ellie made a noodle necklace with Daddy. She liked playing with the noodles more than threading them onto the yarn.

But she did enjoying wearing her necklace! We then headed over to the ornament decorating table. Ellie helped me pick out foam characters and jewels to put onto her ornament.

She was very proud of it when she was done and hung it right on the tree when we got home.

She went over and worked on a letter to Santa. She got to use stamps and markers. Fun!

Then onto the sticker table! Ellie made a train with the help of Daddy.

Nice job Ellie! She was really proud of herself. She actually was enjoying having Daddy help her with most things today...especially the rides.

Waiting in line for juice and cookies! Yummy!

Juice!! Ellie is definitely my daughter and picked the grape one. Mommy had to taste to make sure it tasted good.

Sugar cookies. We bypassed the icing and sprinkle table after the sugar high from last night. Ellie had her cookie plain today!

Riding the mini train outside at the beach. Although it was cool this morning it warmed up nicely by this afternoon and Daddy and Ellie enjoyed a nice ride.

Hi Mommy! I think the funniest part about the ride was that the seat behind Hunter and Ellie looked like a clown car. Does a 12 year old really need his mom to ride the train around the parking lot with him?

Enjoying the day outside!

Once of Ellie's favorite parts of the day... getting to sit in the fire engine and drive. One of my least favorite parts of the day...having the firemen ask me if I was due this weekend and upon me telling them I have 6 more weeks to go, listening to their amazed wows! Ugh.

We snuck in another ride on the carousel and I forgot to just take a candid and made the mistake of asking Ellie to smile.

A little more natural of a smile...She just loves carousels...almost as much as real pony rides.

It was funny watching Ellie and Hunter ride the carousel. They were chatting the whole time and I looked over several times and Ellie's arm is up in the air...she resembled a bull rider holding his arm up and getting bucked all over the place.

Finally, our time to go see Santa. Once again Ellie is shy and doesn't want to sit on Santa's lap. She does sit on Mommy's lap beside Santa though...

...then Santa pulled out the candy canes and she decided she would humor him and talk for a bit. Not too bad...but we're still 0-for-4 when it comes to Santa pictures this year.

Getting ready to head up to bath time...Ellie catches a flight on Daddy's back. Someone had a good 21 month birthday today.

Home Depot Workshop

2011-12-03T19:04:00.001-05:00

It's the first Saturday of the month so we headed off to Home Depot this morning for the Kid's Workshop and Ellie got to make a Snowman Napkin Holder. Woo hoo!

Ellie and Daddy very carefully put the snowman together.

Ellie loves helping use the screwdriver. Of course she also was playing with a pair of pliers while Hunter was tightening each screw.

Mommy got to help put on the stickers...although Ellie would look at me instead of where she was supposed to be sticking the scarf, eyes, nose and mouth of the snowman.

We also got to see Santa... although Ellie was so excited to see him...she preferred if it was from afar. She did happily accept the candy cane he gave her and she allowed me to hold her while standing beside him. We are striking out with Santa's so far this season!

Ellie got her pin, certificate and her finished snowman napkin holder. Good job Ellie! Then she was happy to go around Home Depot and shop for a while.

We picked up the tree on the way home and then Ellie got to cheer on Khali at our very own UFC fight int he backyard.

She did take time out to tell Daddy which scraggly branches on the bottom to cut off the tree...all while eating her apple.

Ellie turned 21 months today and what a day we had. She helped Hunter cut the tree to make it stand up even, we headed to Home Depot for her project (and they are having projects the next two weekends too!), and we got the tree up in the house. Waiting for the branches to settle and then we'll start putting on lights tomorrow. We also headed to the Santa's Workshop at Easton's Beach and we started getting furniture moved around the house in preparation for the baby. Ellie now has both big girl beds in her room and we moved out the rocking chair. Hoping to finish up a lot of the moving and decorating tomorrow!

Command Kid's Christmas Party

2011-12-02T20:30:00.001-05:00

Tonight was Hunter's Command's Kid's Christmas Party. Ellie was excited all day with the prospect of seeing Sansa. We met Daddy at his school (which she thought was pretty cool) and she got to eat pizza and decorate her own cookies to eat. After all the icing she put on her cookie she was running around the room like a crazy woman!

Ellie and her buddies Oscar and Jack. Oscar will be 3 in January and Jack in 2.5 years old.

Showing off the reindeer candy cane she made with Daddy.

Stopping for just a second to give Mommy a hug...then she was back off running around with all of the kids.

She got to draw with crayons on a huge sheet of paper which she was really enjoying.

Draw, draw, draw... of course with a purple crayon.

Daddy even let Ellie try on a hard hat.

Then it was time to meet with Santa. She told me today she wanted "tooks" from Santa which is how she has been saying cook recently. She didn't want to sit on Santa's lap and so Mommy had to jump in to hold her in her picture. Then the "elf" brought out Ellie's gift so she wasn't interested in Santa anymore.

Ellie loves opening gifts now so it looks like she won't need any help this Christmas.

She ended up getting a drawing book and Etch-a-sketch combo which she loved especially because this one is pink (plus hers is ready to die from overuse anyway!)

We also spent quite a bit of time outside today and Ellie was pushing her swing and when I asked her what she was doing she told me "dogs." Guess she remembers getting all those underdogs from her Uncle Kiwi and Chandler.

And of course...what would time be outside without a lot of running around her play house?! By the time we got back from the party, Ellie was ready for bath time and bed time. After a few stories she was knocked out. Hoping for a good night of sleep so we can have some fun again tomorrow. Oh yeah...Ellie asked to watch her "Elmo Potty Time" video she is borrowing from Oscar. Then when I asked if she had to go potty, she said yes and then went pee pee on the potty again. She was so happy. Baby steps.

33 Weeks

2011-12-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

Headed into the doctor's today for my 33 week appointment and things are going well. Heart beat and fundal height were good and the baby's head is down...so looks like we have just over 6 weeks to go until the due date. We did spend some time talking today at my appointment and she warned me that this time will likely be even faster since I got to 8 cm so quickly with Ellie. Apparently my midwife has 25 babies due during the month of January...wow! I guess the likelihood she will be at the hospital when I go into labor is pretty good, huh?

As you can see, the belly is large and in charge. I am actually feeling really good other than the normal things you feel when you are in your 9th month of pregnancy... heartburn has set in pretty strong (must be another full head of hair according to those crazy old wives tales), I'm tired (but who isn't after chasing around after Ellie all day), and as Hunter says, my tossing and turning at night is downright violent (but who actually likes to sleep on their sides all the time anyway). The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to show...guess we really need to finish up getting all the baby stuff pulled back out for the arrival. If anyone has any guesses for birth date and gender of No. 2, pass it on to Hunter or me. Right now I'm guessing a girl on January 2nd and Hunter is guessing a boy on January 21st. The due date according to the doctor is January 16th.

"Sansa" Obsessed

2011-12-01T19:56:00.000-05:00

Ellie is totally obsessed with Santa. This morning we got to start putting the treats onto our Advent Calendar. It's so crazy how into all things Christmas Ellie is this year. So different from when she was 9 months old. All she can talk about all day in "Sansa." Before nap time she wanted to listen to only songs that had Santa in the videos and at bed time she only wanted stories that had Santa in them. This is going to be a long month if this behavior continues and I think by the end of it, both Hunter and I are going to be so sick of hearing and talking about Santa.

Ellie got a new cup today...one with a straw. She picked out the orange and purple one herself and was drinking water from it all day. She thought it was the coolest thing. Of course, she was wearing her "Sansa" bell (the one she got from Santa on the Polar Express train ride) all day and even asked to wear it to bed. I don't mind all day because it actually allows me to know exactly where she is when she goes into another room but we drew the line at wearing it to bed.

Jorja and Khali have been allowed a little more freedom in the house recently. When we go on short errands, they have been allowed to stay out and have free reign of the house. So far so good. They have been behaving so it makes things a lot more convenient for the short trips. They have been loving the cooler weather outside as well. I am sure they are both hoping for some snow soon.

"Sansa"

2011-11-29T18:15:00.000-05:00

Ellie spends a lot of her day now talking about "Sansa" which is what she calls Santa. She likes listening to songs about him and during our weekly trip to Michael's she picked out a "Sansa" toy. It's one of those things you put in water and it grows. So, as you can imagine we spent a lot of the afternoon checking on "Sansa grow, water."

So tired...Jorja and Khali during a rare quiet moment in the house when they aren't getting chased by Ellie with her stroller.

We have started (slowly) switching the warm weather clothes to downstairs and putting the cold weather clothes upstairs. Tonight some of my "flop flops" as Ellie calls them went downstairs and the Uggs came upstairs. Ellie was thrilled as you can see by the pained "cheese" smile she is giving the camera.

Moses Basket Envy

2011-11-28T18:37:00.000-05:00

Today Ellie told me that her baby doll was sad because she didn't have a bed so I pulled out the Moses Basket Ellie rarely used as a baby and thought she could play with it. Unfortunately Ellie didn't want to share it with her baby at first. She said it was hers.

She also decided she wanted to play with her Taggies blanket that she never really used as a baby too. It has started...I can only imagine what she is going to do when we pull out toys that she really played with like her floor mat.

She eventually let her baby lay in the basket and she covered her with the blanket. Of course the cover was over her head instead of her body but at least she's sharing!

It was only short lived though...Ellie decided baby could lay with her in the basket. Too bad I will never let Ellie lay in the basket with her real brother or sister.

I guess we'll have to start pulling out all the baby stuff soon so Ellie gets used to seeing it sitting around before the baby comes home. That way it won't be like new to her anymore.

Whenever Ellie gets a diaper change within 15 minutes of bath time, we usually let her run around diaper-less. Tonight however we pulled out her big girl underpants and let her run around in those. She was 1 for 2 and peed in her first pair but this pair made it until bath tub time. She enjoyed wearing them around and maybe if she feels the pee, she'll realize she needs to hold her pee until she sits on the potty...or she'll just pee in her underpants each time she wears them.

She did show me where the pee pee should go when she's wearing her underpants. I don't think we're going to get very far with the potty training before the baby comes but I am glad the big girl bed is going well. She only got up once last night and then went back to sleep easily so we're making good progress there.

Shhhh!

2011-11-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

Aunt Janet sent us a picture from the weekend we went up to Maine to visit so I wanted to post it. Today Ellie talked nonstop. She was telling us about everything she did or saw or has ever seen or done. She was telling me the moon was behind the clouds tonight (which was an interesting one to decipher), she was telling us both about the "dilla," as in quesadilla, she was going to eat for dinner...basically if it popped into her head, she wanted to tell us all about it. She headed out to Home Depot with Hunter this morning to get the last pipe for our second coat rack and was very excited to tell me about the pipe when she got home. She was quite the talker and we were actually able to have some pretty good conversations today. It was certainly fun listening to her but exhausting at the same time.

Christmas Tree Selection

2011-11-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we headed over to Sweet Berry Farm to select our Christmas tree. The best part about Sweet Berry is that we can tag our tree and then go back when we are ready to put it up in the house to actually cut it down. We'll likely head back next weekend to get it.

Ellie picked several trees she liked...all were just about her size which were a tad too small for the house.

Ellie loved walking through the rows and rows of trees. There were so many different types to choose from. Hunter wanted to make sure to get one that had a lot of pine tree smell to it.

Walking with Daddy trying to find just the right tree. The trees Daddy liked best were all a little too big for us. There is nothing worse than a huge tree with not enough ornaments!

So, Ellie and Mommy went searching all the way to the end of the Tree Farm to find the perfect tree for our place this year...not too little and not too big. Needles that would keep the dogs from drinking the water instead of inviting them in...

Ellie did get a little sidetracked playing with the dandelions while we were looking at the ends of the farm.

Then we found it. The tree the farthest away from the Farmer's Market. It was just tall enough to not be short but short enough to not be hard to get all the ornaments on. I also like to say that it's part cactus because of how sharp the needles are and it smells great. It should fit all our family ornaments just right too and Ellie will be able to help decorate the whole tree.

Here we go...tagging our little tree!

Ellie was pretty excited. We're not sure she knows what exactly we are getting the tree for but she was happy to help me put on the tags.

Finally we put on our ribbon to finish marking the tree. Can't wait to get it back to the house next weekend to decorate!

We're not sure what kind of tree it is. It was in the Nordmann Fir area but it has hard needles like a Blue Spruce...who knows but it's nice and full and doesn't have any holes that we could see.

Ellie is fascinated with the needles and she was getting tired of looking for just the right tree.

Luckily Daddy was able to give her a lift back to the Farmer's Market where we were parked.

So tired... all the running around through the tree farm tuckered her out.

So she got an apple at the Market to sustain her until we got home. She gobbled it down and then went to sleep anyway. She was so tired, I transferred her with ease and she slept like a rock. What a fun morning outing!

Thanksgiving Fun

2011-11-25T18:31:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving morning Ellie, Gammy, Grampy and I headed downtown to watch everyone run the Feaster Five. We saw Team Hoyt while waiting for everyone to run past which is always a highlight. Two years ago I ran the 5K...I can't imagine running it right now (although this baby has a few months on how pregnant I was with Ellie at Thanksgiving!)

The whole "Washburn Athletic Club" clan came running by together although you can barely see Kiefer's feet behing Parker...and Parker is practically hiding Hunter in the gray shirt too!

When we got back, I was able to get Ellie to actually take a nap and then she was ready to enjoy the festivities. She happily wore her flapper looking Native American headdress. She had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone. She made sure to spend lots of time with Aunt Skylar.

It was hard to get a picture of the headdress while it was on. It had Ellie's Native American name... Eyes like Ocean.

The dinner table before we sat down for the meal. Ellie's turkeys made great centerpieces.

Ellie's favorite part of the meal was Gammy's Anadama rolls. I think she was having an eating contest against Chandler to see who could eat more.

Ellie did a good job on her dinner and decided she really liked the deep fried turkey.

After dinner, Ellie spent some time hanging out with Gammy at the "adult" end of the table.

Grumpy ended up making yummy pancakes for everyone this morning since Sunday was going to be crazy with people getting to the airport. Ellie ate at least 4 pancakes and kept talling Grumpy how yummy they were.

Bed Rails

2011-11-22T20:02:00.000-05:00

Today Ellie had a play date with Oscar and Sebastian. Maggie, Oscar and Sebastian's mommy, made play doh for the kids so we spent time dying it to the colors they wanted and then playing with it. Ellie wanted her play doh dyed purple (no surprise there) and Oscar had a green-blue color.

Ellie had a lot of fun with the play doh and in spending time with Oscar and Sebastian.

Sebastian is starting to crawl around and he worked his way under his Exersaucer. Of course Oscar and Ellie both tried to do the same thing resulting in Ellie getting stuck sitting up with her head through the sitting area. I see some foreshadowing to what will happen when No. 2 comes and we start bringing out all the baby toys.

Bedtime is always interesting with Ellie. Now that she is in her big girl bed and the crib and toddler bed are both out of her room, we have to spend a little more time getting her ready to lay in bed and go to sleep. One of her favorite activities is to listen to Daddy read...or to read beside Daddy like she kept doing tonight. Finally though she gets sleepy and ready to lay down and then has been falling asleep listening to Hunter read to her.

As you can see, her bed rails are on so now we don't have to worry about Little Miss Rolly Poley falling out of bed. She only rolled out of her toddler bed 3 times but it makes us feel better knowing she can't roll out now. She's very excited to see the Washburn/Ebbott side of her family for Thanksgiving and has been practicing saying everyone's names and asking about them. Hopefully she'll have a good night sleep. Each day in her new bed is getting better.

Polar Express

2011-11-20T19:52:00.000-05:00

Ellie had a busy day today. She and Daddy got up early and then headed to Home Depot together to get some things. Ellie had so much fun spending time with just Daddy and was even more thrilled when they got home and she was able to play in the leaves...while helping Daddy, of course.

Such a good helper. Between the wind and Ellie "helping" raking the leaves in the backyard took a little longer than Hunter planned on!

But this evening we headed over to the Old Colony Railroad Station in Newport and Ellie got her tickets to ride the Polar Express to the North Pole.

She was so excited and kept talking about the train and riding. She always hears the train's whistle at the house so she was ready to finally ride her first train.

Seeing the train coming down the track to the station!

As well as having a little fun with Daddy before getting on the train for her ride.

So exciting...we finally get to board the train!

Ellie wasn't sure what to think. She couldn't wait to get started.

Plus they had crayons to color with!!

Oh my...we're finally moving. Ellie wasn't sure what to think.

She couldn't believe we were moving and she could watch everything going on outside while standing up!

Ellie was pretty excited to sing along with the songs that started playing over the loudspeaker. She was dancing and clapping away.

Just hanging out waiting to see what happens next...

Even better we got to look at the water and boats while riding the train by the bay.

What Polar Express ride wouldn't be complete without hot chocolate...

...and cookies. Yummy!

Ellie was excited to get her first temporary tattoo. We picked out a pretty snowflake and she liked watching the girl give it to her.

Of yeah... she kept checking it out even after we got home and she got in the bath tub.

I think this was Hunter's favorite picture. I showed Ellie how to use the tambourine so she could play it while we sang Christmas carols. She was not amused at first...

...but she eventually got into it. She wouldn't crack a smile but she happily played her tambourine.

A little video of Ellie enjoying playing the tambourine. She got pretty good at shaking and hitting it!

Near the end she was getting a little tired. The lights were dimmed and we were moving and she got to sit on Mommy's lap. It's like riding in the car and falling asleep but even better.

Ha! Ellie was not a fan of Santa tonight. She didn't cry but would not get her picture with him or his elf. She did however quickly take the sleigh bell he gave her as a present for believing.

Then the balloon guy came by and made her a peppermint stick. I know she looks pained in this picture but she's actually saying cheese while holding her sleigh bell necklace and cuddling up to her balloon peppermint stick. She did a great job on the train ride. We didn't know what to expect and luckily she waited until we were 5 minutes from the station to give Mommy her Christmas present...a nice big dirty diaper.

Real Big Girl Bed

2011-11-19T19:51:00.001-05:00

So, we have been staying busy the last couple of days. Hunter finished up his Bridge Resource Management course which was adding a couple of extra hours to each of his days and Ellie was missing her playtime buddy. We did get a huge delivery of clothes from Brooke and Mia so Ellie was diving right into the shoes (and boots as you can see in the picture above). I finally got all the clothes washed and now have lots of new outfits for Ellie for the spring.

We finally broke out Ellie's red "Jessie" hat to let her wear while watching "Toys" (aka Toy Story 3) today. She loved it...but had to take a few important calls during our viewing of the movie. Also, Uncle Tay Tay (Taylor) came to visit for the afternoon and to have dinner with Ellie which she enjoyed. She even decided to behave when we went out to dinner tonight instead of wanting to run around everywhere. Thank goodness!

The biggest news of all is that Ellie's real big girl bed has been moved into her room. I was even able to find a set of really inexpensive purple sheets to help lure her into the bed. She helped her Daddy take the crib and move it to the baby's room. She even told us today that the crib was for the baby. Whew... luckily it didn't take her too long to get her out of the crib. One big step forward completed! Now we have to attempt to get her out of the toddler bed eventually.

She loves the purple sheets and was so excited about them, she had trouble laying still after she finished drinking her milk in bed tonight. So, she ended up going into her toddler bed for sleeping tonight but maybe we'll get her into the twin bed for her nap tomorrow. Our fingers are crossed! The oddest part about Ellie going to sleep the past few nights has been her asking me to sing lullabies to her. I admit I don't have a great singing voice but I guess she likes it enough as it's helped lull her to sleep each night. Plus, we are slowly migrating furniture from Ellie's room to the baby's room...I can't believe we have to start pulling all the baby stuff back out soon but I'll hit 32 weeks this weekend so it's approaching quickly.

31 Weeks

2011-11-16T20:04:00.000-05:00

I had my 31 week appointment today and we're continuing to get closer to my due date. The midwife said the baby has definitely grown and is now getting pretty squished in my belly which explains why it is so hard and why we can always feel body parts pushing out against my tummy. The heartbeat sounded great and I get to start going every two weeks now. Next appointment is December 1st.

I asked her about the sore spot I had on my lower tummy and she said it definitely wasn't a strained muscle but that it was likely a bruise from getting kicked hard one night. Luckily I haven't felt it in several days so it's likely healed by now. We also talked for a while about how Ellie may react to the baby and nothing was a surprise but it was good to start thinking about it. Ellie was funny today at the appointment. She sat up on the exam table with me and when the midwife was getting the doppler, Ellie lifted up my shirt, pointed at my belly, and said "baby, mommy." Yep...she definitely understands there is a baby in there. We'll see how she likes it when the baby is in Mommy's arms getting lots of attention!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2011-11-16T19:57:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday morning, Ellie and I headed over to Lily and Jack Ferrari's house to do some Thanksgiving arts and crafts with some of her other buddies. Ellie's favorite part was the googly eyes she was gluing all over her turkey. She had a great time and was doing pretty good with her crafts.

Ellie was excited to go because her buddy Oscar was going to be there. I got a quick shot of Oscar and his mom, Maggie working on one of his four turkeys.

Ellie also spent a lot of time playing with Lily and Jack's toys. Older kids (3.5 and 2.5 years) have all the fun toys!

She also enjoyed reading too. We had a pretty good turnout for the day. The babies, Caroline and Sebastian, were there; Lily and Jack (obviously), Oscar, Gabe (who is just over 2), and Allie (who is 3.5). Ellie also enjoyed making bracelets out of pipe cleaners to wear. Hunter always says that Ellie is going to be like Madeline Albright with all her "costume" jewelry and broches. Ha!

Ellie has been taking a couple steps forward and a step or so back each day when it comes to her going potty and sleeping in her toddler bed. Monday and Tuesday nights she slept in her toddler bed and today for her nap she slept there too. However, this evening after trying to go to sleep in in her bed and not being able to, she eventually ended up in her crib. As far as peeing on the potty, she has went on there once on Sunday and then once again on Tuesday. We'll see how she does the rest of the week. We're not pushing her one way or the other and just letting her decide what she feels like doing.

In other big news, when you ask Ellie what her name is, she now finally will tell us that it's Ellie and then she gets a big smile on her face. She is also starting to talk in even more sentence fragments which has been fun to listen to because of the way she puts her "sentences" together. It's like when I used to translate Latin text and the verbs and nouns would be all over the place.

Leaves

2011-11-14T19:48:00.000-05:00

Since today was warmer, Ellie, Jorja, Khali and I spent most of the day outside. After swinging for a ridiculously long time (45 minutes plus on the same swing), I decided it was time for a new activity. So, I grabbed our rake and made a small pile of leaves for Ellie to jump in. I mean, who doesn't like jumping in leaves??!!

As much as Ellie likes to jump onto her butt, she loved running over and jumping into the leaves. She'd jump then roll around in the leaves and then tell me to rake them back into a pile for her to jump into again.

We didn't have any more lucky with the potty today but we're hoping since Ellie knows what she is doing know that she'll start to try more often.

In other big news though...Ellie asked to sleep in her big girl toddler bed tonight...and after Hunter read some poems to her, she fell right asleep. We'll see how long it lasts or how long until she rolls out of bed. She may wake up confused and want to go back to sleep in her crib but we're hoping this is another step forward to moving out of her crib for good.

We've had a couple of big events these past couple of days... using the potty and sleeping in the toddler bed. Ellie also started singing the alphabet today...she now says "A, B" over and over. Maybe tomorrow we'll work on getting C or D down too.

Pee Pee in the Potty

2011-11-13T21:14:00.000-05:00

What an unexpected exciting evening we've had so far! After bath time, milk and rocking time, Ellie was laying in her crib to go to sleep and all of a sudden she sat up and said she needed to go pee pee. She will occasionally tell me the same thing during the day and then I sit her on the potty and within 10 seconds or so, she wants to get off and go do something else. I decided to let her try to go...and guess what? Ellie went pee pee on the potty! She thought it was really neat to watch her pee pee after Mommy got so excited so see pee pee actually go into the potty.

After we got excited, Ellie then spent the next hour laying down in her crib and then telling me she had to poop. So, I let her try but we didn't have any success with #2 tonight. She did however, climb into her toddler bed and lay down for 15 minutes between poop attempts. Exciting stuff, huh? Her first self regulated pee pee in the potty and laying in the toddler bed without us asking her. Ultimately she fell asleep a bit over an hour after her bedtime in her crib for the night but both Hunter and I think it's going to be a long evening. I'm sure with all the excitement of her pee pee, she'll have a few wake ups tonight. I'm actually excited to see how she does over the next week with her potty training. She obviously knows what she's supposed to do with #1 now. Maybe we'll make a trip to the store to pick up some big girl underpants for a reward!

Playtime with Wiwi and Chan-Chan

2011-11-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

This morning Chan Chan and WiWi broke out the wooden trains to play with Ellie...although her idea of playing consisted of tearing up the train tracks and throwing them after her uncles carefully laid them down for her.

Very intent on watching how to make the trains go...before she turned on her demolition mode.

Ellie then went out to play on the new playground in the quad and since she's never met a playground she didn't like...she had a great time, especially since she got tons of attention from her uncles. Swinging on the big kid swings is always fun.

Ellie also was obsessed with her raspberry hat that Grammy knitted her this weekend. Even when we were inside she would put it on herself.

Underdogs are only allowed in the baby swing...so Ellie got right in and as you can tell she loves underdogs!

Whoa! Uncle Chandler's underdogs are so high... she loves it!

Finally time for the slides! So much fun!

Ellie took turns climbing up all the different entrances to the slides... she did a great job getting up this one all by herself.

Yeah! Big slides!

Even better...dual slides. She loved sliding down with her uncles!

Of course from the time we got home this afternoon, Ellie has been asking about Wiwi and Chan-Chan... and she even asked about Bumpy, which is what she is calling Grumpy right now. We'll see her buddies again in about 10 days so let the countdown begin!

One Morning in Maine

2011-11-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Chandler, Kiefer, Ellie, Hunter and I headed up to see Grandma, Uncle Barry and Aunt Janet, Alexander and Ashley....oh, and the dogs, Tess and Toir (and guess who's names she picked up fastest...yep, the dogs.) Ellie requesting to hold her two best buddies hands on the way into Grandma's.

But on the way out to Aunt Janet and Uncle Barry's, she held Grandma's hand. Hopefully we can get some more pictures of the two Ellie's at Thanksgiving this year.

After lunch we headed outside into the backyard and Ellie kept herself busy playing in the birdbath with the shuttlecock. Water play is so much fun!

She then got her turn to learn to play badminton. Like most sports that require hand-eye-coordination, it didn't seem to be Ellie's thing. But she did like swinging the racquet around...especially at the bushes.

Ashley took some time to help Ellie try to hit the shuttle... thank good ness for Ashley or else Ellie's closed eyes would have missed every time!

Ellie then had to take a little break while Daddy got doggy poop off her shoe. I think Ellie is a magnet for poop since she is the only one who ended up with it on her shoe. She didn't seem to mind though.

Playing a little badminton with her uncles...who were showing Ellie how racquets can also be used as swords.

Maybe if she has a racquet in both hands she can maybe hit the shuttle?? Nope...she still missed but she had a lot of fun trying!

Veteran's Day in Andover

2011-11-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

Since Hunter had off on Veteran's Day, we headed up to Andover for the weekend. We had an Andover Alumni Veteran's Dinner on Friday night that we went to and we also made it to the end of the Pep Rally (it was Andover vs. Exeter this weekend). Ellie also got to spend a lot of time outside running around with her two youngest uncles.

They made sure to show her lots of fun things this weekend...like how to be a sniper. Ellie enjoyed pointing out to her Uncle Chan-Chan (her nickname for Chandler) where Uncle Wi-Wi was hiding. I'm sure Kiefer loved having all of his sniper spots pointed out as Ellie tagged along behind him.

But she couldn't have enjoyed herself more spending time with them. She also had fun playing with Sabe (her nickname for Sable) and Port (her nickname for Porter) as well as Jorja and Khali.

Getting to sit on the big stump was a lot of fun.

But most of all Hunter and I loved watching her cuddle up with Wiwi and Chan-Chan. She would climb right up on the couch and snuggle into Kiefer. It was the cutest thing ever. She is completely obsessed with these two now!

King Park

2011-11-08T19:03:00.000-05:00

The Daylight Savings Time change is continuing to keep things a bit loose in our schedule. The good part is that Ellie is spending time with her Daddy in the mornings now. Around 5:00 or so Ellie gets up and immediately asks for Daddy. So, she usually heads downstairs with him to do breakfast and get her milk and juice. She has really enjoyed spending time with Daddy in the morning and Mommy has enjoyed her extra blissful hour of sleep in bed!

Ellie "jumping" in the leaves. She thinks crushing the leaves is so much fun. Hopefully we'll be able to get her somewhere we can rake a big pile for her to jump in. The downside to the DST change is that Ellie wants to nap really early in the day. I've been able to hold her off but she's been a little bit crabby. I am also loving the extra time in the evening when she is in bed before or at 7 again. She's also been sleeping better at night since we made the change...or I guess since we didn't make a change and stuck to the pre-DST scheduled times. We'll see how things continue to shake out through the next week or so.

This afternoon Ellie and I headed over to King Park which is on the water by Ocean Drive in Newport. It's a nice little playground and it's right on the water so that was a huge plus...even though most of the sailboats have been taken out of the water for the winter. Ellie and I met up with her friend Jordan and Jordan's mom, Christen.

Ellie had fun climbing and going down the slides. It also got us out of the house and Ellie was in a much better mood...although she was running all over the place and kept going from one play area to another that was around the corner.

Ellie sliding down to meet up with Jordan. Ellie has been a talking fool today. She's been trying to use more sentences but they've been coming out in fragments and they are randomly strung together. Tonight at dinner she was telling Hunter about her day and was jumping all over and we were both having trouble following her storyline. Luckily I was able to piece most of it together since I was there for the highlight reel she was telling him about.

I guess even bike racks can be fun to play on. We worked on yellow today and Ellie seems to be doing a bit better on it. She still doesn't have it down cold but she's getting there.

I told Ellie this particular ladder to get to the big slides was off limits...of course that means nothing to her. I turn my head and the next thing I know she's climbing on up. I gave her a spot but she was able to get up to the top on her own. Is there nothing this child can't climb?

And it was totally worth it...Ellie got to go down the big curvy slides once she climbed up the crazy ladder, again and again. It was such a nice day to be at the playground. So glad we were able to get out and meet up with Jordan and Christen too.

Providence Children's Museum

2011-11-06T14:50:00.000-05:00

Today we headed to Providence to the Children's Museum...we figured we could battle the time change by keeping Ellie busy. She was very excited to see the water room right as we walked in.

Ellie and Daddy had a lot of fun making all the water fountains spray.

Ellie was even more excited to spend time with her friend Oscar. The whole way up in the car she kept saying Oscar's name and "Bastian" for his baby brother Sebastian.

It's amazing how a little water, some colored balls and a few strainers can keep kids busy for hours.

We were finally able to get Ellie to leave the water exhibit and check out some of the other ones!

They had a construction exhibit and Ellie liked riding in the car on the bridge with Oscar.

Of course when Ellie was playing by herself, she preferred to climb all over the car.

Steam roller!! Ellie loved riding on the real steam roller.

And of course playing in the tugboat under the bridge with Daddy.

She made sure to spend time in the crane as well.

Dump trucks are pretty fun, especially when there are rocks involved!

Ellie loved the 1860's farm exhibit. She made sure to drink from her stein,

eat her apple,

and eat her corn. Yummy!

We finally got to Littleland which is made for kids 4 and under. She had a lot of fun sliding down the tree slide.

And even more fun climbing up the ladder for the slide.

One of my favorite pictures of the day... Ellie was very excited to find out this wooden "boat" rocked.

We just had to get video of Ellie...she was going crazy rowing her boat today.

Running away from Daddy during a chase in the tree tunnel.

Another of my favorites... Daddy surprising Ellie as she was getting ready to go down the slide.

We went outside for lunch since it had gotten warmer and sunny. Ellie decided playing in the sand was a lot more fun that eating her PB&J sandwich though.

Digging for bones...or playing with sand, whichever way you want to look at it.

Home Depot

2011-11-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

The first Saturday of every month Home Depot has a kid's workshop where they can go and do a project so today Hunter and I took Ellie to make a wooden frame. I started out helping Ellie and we just had to get a picture of her in the safety goggles.

I then let Daddy do the second half. Ellie did a good job helping both of us hammer nails into the four corners.

She liked using the screwdriver a lot too. She was very focused.

I think Hunter enjoyed spending some time using tools with Ellie this morning.

Ellie then showed Daddy the next step while he read the instructions. She seems to be a natural. :)

There it is, her finished frame. She had a good time putting on the stickers. Of course now that we have it at home, I'm sure Ellie and I will paint it and then put some fun beads or "flare" on it.

Ellie even got a cool Home Depot orange apron to wear each time she comes back to work on projects. She was very proud of her frame today.

When she took her frame up to the Home Depot guys, she got a certificate of Achievement as well as her first pin for her apron. Can't wait to get more pins each month!

We then spent some time walking around Home Depot because it's just one of those fun stores to walk through. Ellie proudly carried her frame and wore her apron the whole time. Each of the clerks she walked past congratulated her on making her frame.

Ellie had fun looking at tools to add to her Christmas wish list.

Anybody want to rent out a couple of kids? For free? Ellie met Oscar at Home Depot and they built their frames together. She was very excited to see him again. They also were enjoying exploring the store.

Today was a pretty cold day outside but we ended up walking to downtown for a late lunch since it's Newport Restaurant Week. We chose a place called The Pier Restaurant down on Howard's Wharf and we meet Daddy's college roommate Doug which was a lot of fun.

Today was a pretty busy day but Ellie still got in plenty of playtime outside with the dogs who loved the cold weather.

Ellie did a good job sleeping last night but of course tonight is Daylight Savings Time which I am sure will be interesting. Last time we just let Ellie go to bed an hour later... not sure what this time will bring. I'd love that extra hour of sleep but I'm sure Ellie will be up at her normal time which means an hour earlier. Boo!

20 Months

2011-11-03T20:48:00.000-04:00

Today is Ellie's 20 month birthday. It's hard to believe that it was already 20 months ago when she was born. She grows leaps and bounds everyday and is even getting pretty good at her colors (finally!) Yellow seems to be the hardest for her to get correct right now. She always seems to be pushing the envelope with her daredevil attitude. Her latest favorite thing to do on the swingset is lean back when she is swinging. I about had a heart attack when I first saw her do it thinking she would fall off the swing. But no, she just laughs and says "weee."

She continues to be a happy kid and she's been charming the pants off everyone we see in stores or when we are out and about. She's really taken to saying "please" and "thank you" to people and likes to say thank you in sign language (which looks like she is blowing kisses now). That's the move that melts most people. We were in Best Buy today and they had the music on and we walked past a store clerk meeting and Ellie was dancing away in the cart. All the clerks stopped their meeting and started dancing along with Ellie to the music.

Ellie enjoys spending time with Jorja and Khali in the backyard. She loves watching them play and wrestle. It really gets her laughing...especially when Khali "sneaks" up on Jorja and pounces. Luckily Jorja plays along even though she is looking right at Khali while she is "sneaking."

Her latest thing to like to do is sit at the table like a big girl instead of in her booster seat. We've removed her tray for good which means food stays in bowls now but she's been pushing sitting in a regular chair. I guess if we find a purple booster seat her tune might change and she'd go back to sitting in a booster. She also seems to like hot dogs quite a bit now...then again, what kid doesn't?!

Everyday Ellie has to go to the garage to get her rowing in. She also likes to tell her Dad to get on the erg so she can clap and cheer him on. We don't even mention it to her...she just goes to the door, points and says "row." As much as Ellie likes running, swimming and now rowing, I think she might end up more like her Dad than her Mom when it comes to sports.

We had the nicest sunset tonight. Pictures never seem to do a sunset justice but Hunter tried to snap a pic anyway.

29 Weeks

2011-11-03T20:29:00.000-04:00

Well, the belly is continuing to grow which is a good thing to see at this point since the baby is getting bigger and bigger each week. I think my weekly reminder said the baby was about 2.5 pounds and around 15 inches long at this point. Kicking continues to be the No. 2's favorite activity. They are starting to stronger and stronger and some make me stop whatever I am doing to say "ouch." I went to get a pedicure yesterday and the Asian lady at the shop said I was having a boy. I think she must be in cahoots with Ellie who refuses to say girl and says the word "boy" anytime we ask about the baby being a girl (or if we ask Ellie if she is a girl). My bets are still on another girl.

I'd like to say this past week has been great but I've been getting over a cold. The good thing is it seems almost gone. A bit of a cough and a little congestion left but otherwise I'm feeling much better. The worst part about getting a cold and being pregnant is no help from cold medicine. The good part is that Ellie and Hunter didn't get sick from me coughing and blowing my nose all around the house.

Go Navy!

2011-11-02T13:28:00.000-04:00

Our friends Maggie and Henry sent this photo over from Halloween. It's one of the few of Ellie looking at the camera and holding her pom-poms. I thought it was too cute not to post.

Banana Bread

2011-11-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

Today Ellie and I decided we were going to make banana bread together. By together I mean that I measured out all the ingredients in separate bowls and then I let Ellie use various measuring cups to put them into the mixer in the right order. We also spent a little time feeling the different textures of the ingredients. Ellie enjoyed pouring the sugar and did a really good job of being relatively neat.

Of course her favorite part was smashing up all the bananas and then putting them into the mixture. She kept pointing to the bowl as it was mixing saying "nana, nana."

Baking with Ellie is a lot of fun because she really seems to enjoy it a lot. Although it's definitely not something I would do if I had a time crunch on getting something baked. I think it took us at least two or three times as long to make the banana bread today as it usually takes me.

Today was relatively warm out so we spent time outside running around. The ground is still pretty wet but that didn't stop Ellie, Jorja or Khali from enjoying running.

Of course it's even more fun when Daddy's home to chase us around. Hunter has been walking into work the past couple of days so when we saw him coming we surprised him by meeting him out on the front porch.

When Daddy comes home, Ellie always asks to go practice her rowing. She loves it and loves watching Hunter on the erg just as much.

Today Ellie was doing so well with her arms that Hunter added in some legs...by adding in legs I mean that she got to move an inch or two back and forth on the seat. She thought that was pretty fun.

Ellie and her fruit. The girl loves nectarines and peaches and calls them apples. I guess they are pretty close. Today she chose to eat her second peach of the day with a handkerchief on her head.