tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6282542750166777832024-03-13T15:45:15.346-07:00from we to three.Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.comBlogger821125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-5476971689006703022016-01-20T13:29:00.000-08:002016-01-20T13:29:05.724-08:00grace.<div style="text-align: center;">
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i decided back in december that i wasn't making any resolutions this year. if i've learned anything it's that introducing a new baby to our family is resolution enough for both me and our family. and in light of that i wanted to be respectful of the fact that 2016 would just be a big transition year for our family and that it was okay just to focus on finding our new normal, meeting everyones needs, and making sure we felt good about how we spent our days. there will be a time for trying new recipes, doing big things, taking vacations, and finding more time for myself but i know that this year is not that. survival with a big helping of grace is my goal for this year and i hope that i find a way to remember that every day. i love staying at home with my kids, i love being a mother, and i love our family but i could definitely find some more grace for everyone in our family as we go throughout our days, and especially when this next baby joins us. adding ellie to our family was not a cakewalk. it was really, really hard. she was a hard baby and basically took every ounce of my attention which meant that at the end of the day i felt guilty for not spending enough time with avery, for our messy house, for feeding us grilled cheese for dinner (again), for counting the minutes to bedtime, and for having zero energy and time left for me and charlie at the end of the day. </div>
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i'm mentally preparing for the same situation this time around, while hoping for a slightly easier going baby, too. but i'm hoping that if it is just as hard (or harder) this time, that i remember that it's okay. that these times will pass and that what matters is not what we accomplished at the end of the day but that we all treated each other well and that everyone goes to bed feeling loved. </div>
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so, i'm making 2016 about "grace" and hoping to grant everyone a big slice of it. </div>
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... grace for the messes that avery leaves all over the house. she has a habit of playing with all the things, all the time, in all the rooms. but she's playing, she's learning, she's occupying herself, and she's learning to clean up after herself. </div>
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... grace for the two year old that needs to be held at the most inconvenient times, and gets frustrated at me and at her sister, and at herself. she's two. she's learning. she needs a hug, and a tissue, and for me to sit for a minute and read her a book. </div>
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... grace for the two year old, again, when she cannot sleep. she's not a good sleeper. she's never been a good sleeper. one day she will sleep. i must remember that this is hard for her, too. </div>
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... grace for myself. i need some time to myself. not much, but a walk in the mornings, a hot shower, and a cup of tea (or soon beer!) at night make me much more able to take care of everyone else. </div>
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... grace for the dog because he's a puppy for goodness sake and he's going to chew things and he needs exercise and he's learning and trying, too. </div>
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... grace for the times when it seems like avery and ellie cannot play well together for even 30 seconds. they're both learning and figuring out how to play with each other, what is acceptable and what isn't, and how to stand up for themselves. it's a process and sometimes it's a messy one. </div>
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... grace for my husband. he works hard. he needs time for himself, too. and he is a great dad. i am so glad he's the one holding my hand at the end of the day. and we both could use some time together, without the kids, whether it's brunch or a fire after the kids have gone to bed or falling asleep while watching modern family. </div>
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... grace during those morning hours when everyone is crying and upset because they're hungry and whiny and not happy with whatever breakfast is being served. it will all get better once they eat and i get some coffee. </div>
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... grace for the messes that will inevitably pile up: the dishes in the sink, the bathrooms that need cleaning, and the laundry piles that seem impossible to fold at times. they do drive me crazy but they also mean that i was spending my time taking care of the people that matter most. the messes are worth it. and they will all get cleaned up eventually. </div>
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... grace for the newborn baby that is coming soon and will probably cry for no reason, want to be fed 12-14 times a day, have a hard time sleeping, be woken up by our loud house, need a million diaper changes, and steal countless hours of sleep from us. because it's a newborn, you know. and really, we are the luckiest to be adding a new person to our family who we get to learn about and teach things and watch grow up. and we know just how fast that time flies, even when there is a lot of crying involved. </div>
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so here's to 2016. i'm hoping it's filled with lots of hugs, "i love yous", and spontaneous kisses. i hope that my kids know how much i love them and how much they love each other at the end of each day. i hope that we read lots of books, play outside a lot, grow a tiny garden, make messes and learn more about each other. and i hope we remember every day just how lucky we are. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-79086555538633949792016-01-05T13:49:00.001-08:002016-01-05T13:49:22.129-08:00the calm before the baby.<div style="text-align: center;">
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it seems like we're slowly returning to normal around here after the holiday and birthday season at our house. i hesitate to say this because i know that 'normal' is about to change again with the addition of a new baby. so maybe instead we're just enjoying the last bit of time we have as a family of four while i make endless lists of things to do, to bake, to buy, to organize before baby. i know that really none of these things will matter and as long as i manage to wash the newborn clothes we have, and buy a few packs of diapers we'll be fine, but i can't stop thinking about all of the things i should do <i>now</i> before this baby comes to make our lives easier. most of them revolve around food: freezer dinners, lists of easy to make dinners, frozen breakfast cookies, and a freezer stocked with some bison and frozen fruit. honestly, smoothies and coffee are my food essentials and i could easily survive off of those and peanut butter sandwiches, but having kids makes me feel like i should provide them with a bit more throughout the day. there's something about ending the evening with a hot, home cooked meal (even if it was prepared a month in advance) that makes me feel like i've accomplished something. and so i keep making lists of things i need to cook and freeze. </div>
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there are endless things that i want to organize: the garage, the storage area in our basement, all of the kids toys and books that seem to multiply at an alarming rate. i cleaned out our toy situation before christmas and it doesn't even seem like we have that much but they seem to be experts at getting out every toy we possibly own, especially the ones with a million pieces, and relocating all of the pieces throughout the house. at the end of the day the legos haven't actually been used but i can find them in four different rooms of the house. avery is getting just slightly better about actually cleaning up after herself. she won't do it without a lot of prompting and whining but she is actually capable of putting toys back where they go. ellie is actually fantastic at this. she would make a great engineer someday because the kid loves order and cannot move onto something else until her original mess is picked up. quiet time and bedtime don't happen until everything is back in its place and often when i call her to lunch or dinner she'll tell me "in a minute, i have to put back" and then she'll actually clean up and put things away. i love it.</div>
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i feel like i should mention that we had a great christmas. i always have dreamy expectations of the holiday: my kids thoughtfully, and slowly unwrapping presents and then playing with them for hours while charlie and i drink endless cups of hot coffee, and then later sitting down to a delicious candlelit dinner that lasts more than 15 minutes. but honestly it was pretty great. the kids have loads of thoughtful family members who manage to ship gifts out to them in time for the holiday (a skill i have yet to master unless it involves ordering something directly from amazon prime) and had lots to open in addition to the gifts we got them. i actually managed to stuff stockings this year, which were filled with fairly practical things and the kids 'big' gifts from us were a big hit and they have really enjoyed them. the theme of this years christmas was definitely frozen, and they now have dolls, blankets, toys, and books that are filled with the world of elsa and anna. after opening presents we made french toast, which everyone enjoyed and the kids did spend a lot of time playing with their new presents. we made a turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner and did light a candle although i'm pretty sure ellie didn't even sit down at the table that night and took zero bites of the dinner i worked so hard to make. we also got to FaceTime with almost everyone back east that day, which was nice for the kids and us! being super pregnant i definitely enjoyed the low key christmas and i would actually really like to make it a tradition to not travel anywhere on christmas day, but instead to just enjoy the company of our family and some good food, too. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-89240748996222609582015-12-21T14:23:00.002-08:002015-12-21T14:23:26.959-08:004 more sleeps!<div style="text-align: center;">
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we've checked everything off of our christmas lists (except wrapping all those darn presents) and all we have left to do is count down the last few days until christmas. with three birthdays in the month before christmas i always feel like the month is packed with crazy. i feel sort of bad for the kids having their birthday so close to the holidays so we try and decorate and make it as special as we can while still doing all the christmas things, too. it makes for a really fun month but always leaves me very ready for the calm of january. </div>
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i actually don't think we did too many activities this year at all. mostly we celebrated at home, together by reading christmas books and watching christmas movies, baking cookies and making ornaments. the kids have loved having the decorations up and really love when we're out after dark and they get to see everyone else's lights, too. the one activity we did was to take the kids to see the zoo lights. we hadn't been since ellie was a tiny baby (less than a month old!) and it was much more fun this time since she could actually appreciate it and i didn't find myself breastfeeding her on the floor of the lion house. we've celebrated with some friends too which is always nice because i feel like this time of year can get so busy that we don't see people as often as we usually do. </div>
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avery's birthday was a hit. she got a few presents that she really liked (dolls and legos and a necklace were her favorites). we went out to dinner at a japanese steakhouse the night before to celebrate charlie's birthday and her birthday. this is sort of our yearly tradition and the kids love watching the 'show' and eating a huge amount of friend rice. the day of her birthday we opened her presents, went to ellie's gymnastics class and then to the bookstore. avery had been talking about going since i took ellie one day when she was at preschool and i hope it lived up to her expectations. we made tacos for dinner (her favorite) and sang happy birthday to her after dinner. she had requested a strawberry cake, which i found a little tricky since it's nether strawberry season nor could i find a good recipe for one. instead i made her a vanilla cake with chocolate icing and added sliced strawberries to the top and she seemed happy enough with it. </div>
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we'll have a really low key christmas this year. it's just going to be our little family all day. we have plans to have french toast for breakfast in between present opening. i'm really looking forward to setting everything up with charlie on christmas eve and watching the kids open everything in the morning. ellie is still at the slow and sweet stage of present opening. she likes to open something and play with it for a bit before moving on to the next present. avery's a bit faster but i'm hoping they take their time on christmas so we can savor it, too. this is the first year that we're actually doing stockings. i actually bought them and remembered to buy things for them. the dollar spot at target had some great stuff that i know they'll actually use: chalk, bath finger paints, coloring books, and necklaces. we got them each a 'big' present. ellie's is a teepee and avery's is a scooter. and then a few other little things like books, art supplies, and some clothes. i'm hoping they like everything and they also have quite a lot of presents that family members have sent, too. we're planning on making a roast turkey for dinner and hoping for a bit of snow. it's always such a fun day and the kids make it doubly fun since their excitement is contagious. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-36106373981732658322015-12-11T13:10:00.001-08:002015-12-11T13:10:07.073-08:00christmastime<div style="text-align: center;">
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it's the most wonderful time of the year, right? at least it feels like it. </div>
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+ our tree is up, decorated with both colored and white lights, and the kids keep rearranging the ornaments on it. </div>
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+ we're listening to christmas music every afternoon and evening. i have to try and play it not too often or else i'll get a little sick of it by the time the 25th rolls around. </div>
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+ we've watched elf once, we attempted the polar express but we had to abandon it because it was 'too scary', and we'll sneak in a viewing of the grinch before too long. </div>
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+ we're spending mornings reading christmas books and the kids are loving opening two new ones each week that my mom sent to us. our basket of christmas books is overflowing this year!</div>
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+ we've had some snow which always makes things feel festive and the kids are loving bundling up in their snow gear and running around, sledding down our little hill in the back, and then coming inside to warm up with some hot chocolate. </div>
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+ we've attempted one ski trip already this year to test out avery's 'new' skis. of course she hated it and says she doesn't want to go again and doesn't like skiing. but they should fit ellie by next year, hopefully.</div>
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+ we've been making lots of christmas crafts. so far we've done a santa, an elf, a christmas tree, rudolph, a snow globe, and a snowman and our fridge is filling up fast with all of their handiwork. </div>
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+ our christmas cards have been ordered, addressed, and mostly sent. i still need a few more stamps for the rest of them. </div>
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+ avery's been drawing and painting pictures to give to family members and is really, really excited to wrap some presents. </div>
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+ buddy the elf has been slowly making his way around our house and if the kids have noticed that sometimes he doesn't move for four days they haven't said anything. </div>
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+ there are mini trees in each of their rooms. the colored lights on ellie's tree are serving as her nightlight right now and it's the coziest thing to see when i read to her before bed. </div>
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+ we've planned our christmas dinner menu, although i'm still looking for a good breakfast recipe to eat during some breaks in present opening. i'm thinking we might just go with french toast since that used to be one of avery's favorites and we haven't made it in over a year!</div>
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+ we made salt dough ornaments and hung them on the tree. they are quite imperfect but the kids had a lot of fun with them. </div>
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+ we still would like to see the zoo lights, make some sugar cookies, have a holiday dinner with some friends, and wrap and mail presents to far away family. </div>
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it's been such a wonderful holiday season so far and i'm excited for the rest of it. i will admit that we started decorating before thanksgiving, putting up a few decorations each day but saving the tree for the day after thanksgiving like we always do. with three birthdays between the two holidays it's sort of nice to have the extra time to savor the season and the kids are so, so, so excited for everything. they love every string of lights that we've hung, every garland, every stocking, and every wreath. they love their little trees and they love, love the big tree in our living room. i'm really looking forward to a slow holiday with our little family this year. it's actually been really nice having two 'older' kids who can actually understand everything, help with the decorating, and enjoy the mess of baking and crafting. these days are the best and i will miss them, i know, when they're older and 'cooler'. </div>
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<br /></div>Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-60282820386546385752015-06-15T13:50:00.000-07:002015-06-15T13:50:01.035-07:00hello?<div style="text-align: center;">
it's been awhile and i won't even attempt to say that i'm back to blogging but i have missed keeping a record of our family's life. so i'm going to attempt to do just that every once in awhile. poor ellie has had rather sad documentation of her life compared to avery and while i know she's loved every bit as much i would like to actually have a place to look back on her growing up because i know i sure won't remember it all! so, here's what's been going on in the past year: </div>
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... ellie is 18 months. crazy town. i love this age so much. she's a running, climbing, following her sister around all day, talking up a storm, crazy toddler. charlie and i die over how cute she is daily. she's imitating everything that her 'cool' big sis is doing these days including her newest phrase "knock knock, who's there? pee" that she definitely picked up from avery. she's also stubborn, brave, and still very much attached to her mama these days. she knows what she wants and how she wants it and she will let you know exactly what that is. and (knock on wood) she is finally, finally sleeping in her crib all through the night. it only took us a year and a half to figure that one out. she wakes up at the crack of dawn but i can deal with a 5:30 wake up time as long as she's not in my bed thrashing around like a fool for hours each night. </div>
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... avery is three and a half and growing by the minute. she is pretty opinionated about things these days too and like most three year olds has zero patience for things like waiting for things she wants, sharing toys with her sister, and picking up after her own giant messes. she seems so old to me these days and she'll start preschool in the fall. i'm both excited for her and so sad because how in the world is she old enough to go out into the world without me. she's a pretty great sister most of the time and over the past 6 months they have started to play with each other a lot more. i find it pretty adorable and usually waste all the time that they're happily playing sneakily watching them from the other room instead of getting anything done. </div>
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... we recently put dunkin to sleep, which was the hardest decision i've ever made and thing i've had to do. charlie and i miss him like crazy. he was the best and the house seems so empty without him following me around everywhere. </div>
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... i'm so excited that it's finally summer, my very favorite season. we're busy enjoying things like flip flops, dresses, open windows, fires, grilling, the water table, running around without clothes on (the kids, not me), and growing our first garden. we don't have a lot of plans this summer and i'm trying to really enjoy the last bit of completely unscheduled time that we have before after starts school. i know after that we'll "only" have summer's off and i'm really going to miss the freedom of these before-school days. </div>
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... we took our annual trip back to maryland in june to visit family. it was really great to see everyone and we even squeezed in some beach time one day but ellie not the chillest traveler during our second leg of the journey and we were all happy to get back home just to get back to our normal routine. i'm usually complaining about how short those trips are and this one was only a week, compared to the last two years when we've stayed for two weeks, but with ellie being so difficult i was basically counting the days until we got back home. hopefully she'll be a little more laid back next year. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-30212452132863449632014-10-11T20:16:00.001-07:002014-10-11T20:16:11.045-07:00ellie: 10 months<div style="text-align: center;">
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oh my, so late. sorry elle. we still love you loads. this is basically 10.5 months but i'm sure you'll forgive me, right? i could make this really short and say YOU ARE SO MUCH FUN and I LOVE THIS AGE. in fact the only thing i don't love about this age is that your sleep is still not so good. but here are a few details anyway.</div>
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... you are talking! you say mommy, daddy, doggie (this sounds a lot like daddy), baa baa (for sheep although you say this randomly all the time anyway), and cat. i really do love this milestone. so fun. </div>
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... you're still a crawling machine. you're fast and you get where you want to go no questions asked. </div>
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... you're climbing stairs. uh-oh. </div>
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... you're pulling up on anything and everything and starting to walk with your walker a bit. you will also walk when you hold our hands and you get the proudest smile on your face when you do this. </div>
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... you 'read' books. you like me to read to you and you turn the pages and you will also flip through on your own. board books are pretty much the only ones that are safe around you.</div>
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... you love to wrestle with your daddy. avery too if she's gentle enough. </div>
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... you are a really tough kid. you don't cry for much (except when you don't get your way). in fact at one time this month avery hit you in the face because you took her toy and your lip started bleeding. you didn't even think about crying but you did give her a look like, 'oh hell no'. i think she's in trouble when you get bigger.</div>
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... speaking of toys you love to play with anything and everything your sister is into. we're constantly hearing from avery that "i'm frustrated!" and i get it. but thankfully when she's in the mood you guys are starting to play together nicely. this usually involves her dictating the game and giving and taking toys away from you at random but you're usually amused enough by her made up games that you play along for a bit.</div>
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... you eat everything. you're eating three meals a day and i usually just give you whatever we're eating unless it's really hard or tough to chew. dinner is your favorite meal and i'm always impressed with how much food you can actually eat. </div>
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... you have three teeth. two on the bottom and one on the top. </div>
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... you do not like sleeping without me. you've regressed to waking up after a short period of time after i put you to bed and you will scream your face off as long as you deem necessary (until i come and rescue you). we probably need to night wean at some point but i'm not mentally ready for that battle yet. </div>
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... you hate the car and only tolerate the stroller when you're tired enough to be sleeping. i really hate driving anywhere longer than 20 minutes with you because there's a change you'll scream the whole way. i moved you into a convertible carseat this month in hopes that it would help but no such luck. </div>
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... you love ollie and like to lay your head down on his fluffy, fat belly. he's pretty good with you, too. the rest of the animals are a distant second to him. </div>
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you love your sister, your dad, and i'm guessing me, too. and we have loved watching you grow. lately we've been thinking that there's a good chance you'll be our last baby, which is sort of bittersweet. it's made me cherish those snuggles that i get from you even more and worry a little less about when you'll start sleeping through the night. you are the sweetest baby and as hard as those first few months were with you these past few have been so sweet and happy. love you big e. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-25931769096754910802014-08-27T20:45:00.000-07:002014-08-27T20:45:00.329-07:00telluride 2014<div style="text-align: center;">
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telluriiiiiide! man, i love that place. this is becoming sort of a bi-annual (biennial?) tradition for us to visit in the summer. crazy to think that our first trip was 4 years ago when we were much younger and kid-free and the last time we went avery was just 6 months old! traveling with a toddler/two year old drama queen is never easy but it was still really, really nice to get away. i love this place so much and have been mildly obsessed with it since college when i listened to tim mcgraw's set this circus down album pretty much nonstop. if we ever win the lottery you can bet we'd be buying a place here. funnily enough the kids pediatrician is also slightly obsessed with this place and every time they have an appointment we have a conversation about just how awesome it is. </div>
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our drive out was actually pretty horrible. we took the 'back way' and completely forgot that the pro cycling tour was going on. they closed one of the roads that we needed to take and we had to make a four hour detour that turned a 6 hour trip into a 12 hour trip. the kids actually did amazing until maybe the last 2 hours when ellie was just over her car seat. really couldn't blame her since i was pretty over it, too. we didn't get there until around 9:30 on wednesday night and after we found our place and unpacked everything we just tried to get the kids to bed. they both had a hard time that night. avery climbed into bed with charlie who was sleeping in a room with her and ellie was flopping all over the place in our bed. when we woke up the next morning we walked to find breakfast and let the kids sleep a bit as we walked around. <br />
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we usually stay in mountain village (charlie's favorite) when we come and this was the first time that we stayed in telluride. i actually really liked being right in town but charlie said that he really missed taking the gondola into town even though we rode it a bunch while we were there. after breakfast we rode the gondola into mountain village and walked through a bunch of shops since charlie was on the hunt for some ski deals. <br />
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avery loved the gondola ride and we did it again that night and each day after that. after the gondola ride we went back to our condo to try and get the kids to nap but they were doing construction right outside our building and we ended up moving to a different house where it was a bit quieter. the nice thing was that the house was actually much nicer than the condo we were in. one sort of funny thing about it was that it was a really tall and narrow house (4+ stories) and avery kept getting confused about where everything was. and another bonus was that there was cable in the house which meant that charlie and i binged watched hgtv after the kids went to bed. i really miss that channel. </div>
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we ate out for every meal when we were there but we usually just ended up eating breakfast and then a late lunch/early dinner and then giving avery a snack before bed. the kids actually did pretty well at the restaurants, which is something they're often pretty hit or miss with. the one meal that was pretty awful was on saturday i took them to breakfast alone and avery was just not into having proper restaurant behavior or really proper anything behavior but we survived and left and then i walked around with ellie in the ergo and avery in the stroller until they both fell asleep.<br />
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i love this place so much that even just a morning walk is so amazing. the san miguel river runs through town and there's a really nice path that runs along it and we walked there a few times and then took avery to the playground at the end. charlie and i always talk about how awesome it must be for kids to grow up there since there are so many amazing outdoor activities that are literally right in your backyard. the playground was pretty awesome too, avery really liked it although we had to book it home pretty quickly because it started to rain. </div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14862385690" title=" by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt=" " height="500" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5566/14862385690_c3057da31a.jpg" width="375" /></a><br />
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charlie got some new skis one of the days that we were here and then exchanged them a few hours later. i think he's pretty excited about our steamboat trip this december now that he has new, 'fast' skis.<br />
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on our last say here we ended up doing the bridal veils hike that we've done every year in the past. i was actually not at all in the mood to be hiking since i thought the kids would probably freak at some point (they did) but i am so glad that we did it. the waterfall is the tallest free falling waterfall in colorado and not a terrible hike. it's a decent climb but pretty short, which was good since both kids were ready to get out for a bit. on the way down they were not into the hike at all. i think we were all hungry and tired and just ready to eat something. it was 3 pm at this point and we hadn't eaten lunch. so we made it down as quickly as possible and then headed to brown dog (one of our favorites) for pizza and beer. <br />
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on sunday we ate breakfast, checked out of our place, rode the gondola one last time, and then finally headed back home. the kids did pretty well in the car but we were all really happy to be home. i know ellie was so excited to be out of her carseat and she spent the hour after we got home before bed crawling around the house as if she was trying to remember everything. <br />
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until next time, telluride! i know charlie really, really wants to make a winter trip here at some point but i see no point in doing that until the kids are old enough to ski and not whine about the cold. also, i cannot even imagine how expensive it would be to plan a winter trip here. summer is still pretty popular because of all of the festivals that they have going on but not nearly as popular/expensive as the winter time. it's really the funniest down because it doesn't look like anything crazy. it's tiny, there are no stop lights, no chains or big box stores, etc. and the houses are pretty modest and some are really, really tiny and yet they're over a million dollars and really, usually several million dollars. it's also not easy to get here. even if you fly you can't really fly direct (unless you're one of the super wealthy) and obviously driving from anywhere is a huge pain. so it's sort of funny that the little town is as expensive and popular as it is. i have heard that the skiing is amazing but obviously we've never done that. anyway. i totally get the charm but probably will not be buying a second home here during this lifetime. that's okay. we'll just visit when we can and take lots of pictures while we're there.</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-70756133194503048212014-08-26T19:22:00.002-07:002014-08-26T19:22:32.080-07:00ellie: 9 months<div style="text-align: center;">
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happy 9 months, elle. i feel like this was a huge month for you, filled with lots of changes. i cannot believe how fast you are growing and changing. </div>
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... the biggest change this month is that you are full on crawling. you started right after your 8 month 'birthday' so by now you're not only on the move, but really fast, and really good at it. you crawl 'normally' and have officially mastered the cross-crawl. you are literally moving all over the house, from room to room, eating all the dirt you can find and messing with your big sister any chance you get. i thought that crawling would make you a happier baby and i was right, but man it is exhausting chasing you around all day.</div>
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... you're also pulling up on anything and you even try and stand on your own, which hasn't been successful for you yet but i can't believe you're even trying. you like to try and stand from a sitting position and you also love to pull up on all furniture and people. </div>
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... your sleeping sucks. i started having you sleep in your crib for at least the first portion of the night right before you turned 8 months and i really didn't think that you would be screaming your face off a month later. i will nurse you and rock you and then put you down in your crib and about 50% of the time you'll wake up, pull up on your crib and scream for a while. i've tried going back in to rock you or pat your back but that never worked because you never really fell back asleep and would always start screaming the second i left your room. ugh. i hate this part of parenting but i know that you need your sleep and letting you cry a bit before you fall asleep on your own seems like the only thing that's going to work for you. one thing that's slightly hilarious/annoying is that you almost always fall asleep sitting up and holding onto the crib. it drives me nuts that you won't lay down to sleep after all of this but i've learned that going back into your room to try and lay you down only makes things worse. you're napping twice a day. the morning nap is often on the go but your afternoon nap is usually your longer one at home. you prefer that i lay with you for this nap and i really need to work on getting you to nap alone so you don't develop the same bad habit that your sister had of needed to be held through her entire nap.</div>
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... you have a tooth! finally. and i actually thinking you're working on more with the crappy sleep and the constant chewing on everything. </div>
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... you're eating just about anything these days although i've been much less structured about feeding you than i was with feeding avery. you don't really like purees from the spoon so all of that baby food that i made is still in the freezer. luckily avery likes it so i know it won't go to waste. you love eating solid foods and i can usually feed you some chunks of whatever we're eating. you also have started to like pouches, so i've been buying those too since it's easier to get more fruits and veggies into you that way. you're still nursing approximately a million times a day/night so i know you're getting a lot of nutrients through that, too. </div>
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... you took your first road trip this month and did pretty good. you slept terribly, but did pretty well in the car although we did have some rough moments. feeding you puffs seemed to keep you entertained for a bit and you eventually fell asleep, too. </div>
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... you are one determined child. you know what you want and you're going to get it. you will throw a fit if we take something away from you and you have no problem attempting to push avery around if she's in your way or not 'sharing' with you. i actually have to watch you two pretty closely because you're officially into everything and she officially hates it. </div>
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... but despite that you really love your sister. your face lights up when you see her and you love to touch her, play with her, wrestle around with her, and basically do all the things that she's doing. she's actually not all that into you at the moment with is a little heartbreaking as a parent but i'm hoping she'll warm up to you more once you can actively play with her. </div>
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... you are a physical kid. your favorite game is to flop around on our bed and wrestle with your dad. you'll throw yourself backwards and you think it's the funniest thing ever. you're constantly banging your head on things and scratching yourself. luckily you seem to be pretty tough and get over things quickly.</div>
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... you're getting to be weary of strangers. you like to people watch but if they make eye contact with you you'll start crying. i think you prefer me to other people but you really love your daddy, too. i'm so thankful that you're so into him at this point.</div>
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... you love baths. you will seriously throw a fit if i don't get you in the tub fast enough and you always scream when i take you out. you splash around like crazy and love all of the toys that we have. this is actually one of the few times that you and your sister play nicely together. </div>
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... you also started climbing stairs this month. woah kid, too fast. our house in telluride had two stairs from the den to the kitchen and you quickly mastered going up those but would then face plant down them. uh oh. you haven't attempted to do this since we got home but it's only been a day. :) i think we might have to invest in some baby gates for you. <br />
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happy 9 months baby girl. we love you!</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-19907919771512176212014-07-31T13:46:00.000-07:002014-07-31T13:46:00.131-07:00project 52:15<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14697522874" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3893/14697522874_d838a2b2c5.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<i>happy are they who take life day by day, complain very little, and are thankful for the little things in life. </i></div>
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unknown. </div>
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it must be pretty wonderful to be two. ellie can't wait. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-91893330955582604542014-07-30T14:21:00.001-07:002014-07-30T14:21:28.323-07:00some two year old updates. <div style="text-align: center;">
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the grumpy toddler. i always dreaded two in my mind because everyone always talked about how awful that year was. although i sort of feel like now people are onto how much worse three is than two so maybe we have a lot to look forward to. :) anyway, know that a's more than two and a half (do not forget that half!) i feel like we're solidly in two year old territory and i actually haven't found it that bad! i mean she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you about it, she is starting to be a bit manuplitative, and she's just getting into the world of having a sibling who she can't always boss around, so there are definitely challenges but there are also some good changes too. she knows what she wants which means that she can actually tell you why she's upset. this is huge. and she's also getting good at identifying feelings so she can tell us if she's frustrated or excited or mad and why. this is one of my favorites. lots of times we can't do much about the reasons behind why she feels something: i get that your frustrated that you have to go to bed but uh, you have to go to bed. BUT sometimes just talking about those feelings and acknowledging them makes a huge difference in her world. </div>
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i'm so interested in seeing how her relationship develops with her sister over time. ellie is now at the stage where she will yell if she doesn't get what she wants. not putting her fast enough into the bathtub? she screams. took the mail that she was eating away from her? she cries. and what this means for avery is that if avery takes a toy away from her (something she does all the time) then ellie cries and avery's quick fix of giving her something else no longer works because ellie knows that she wants <i>that</i> toy, not just any toy. the whole concept of sharing is sort of strange to me because i get that we want kids to play together nicely but i don't feel like it's fair to expect them to hand over their toys because it's the nice thing to do. so we're trying to teach avery that if ellie is playing with something than it is ellie's to play with until she decides that she is done and likewise if avery is playing with a toy she doesn't have to hand it over just because someone else thinks it looks cool. </div>
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a is also having a hard time lately with charlie traveling. i noticed this happening back in may when he was gone a lot and then i forgot about it because he was home for a month and then we went on vacation but now we're back into our normal routine of him being gone maybe 50% of the time and avery is having a hard time sometimes. this past week she actually got upset before he left for the first time, which was hard to see. but what i've noticed is that when he gets back from a trip she's extra clingy to him (totally understandable) but to the point of not going to bed because she 'won't let him leave the room'. when it's just me with both kids her bedtime and naptime routines are pretty short and sweet because i have two kids to take care of and therefore she knows: she gets two books and one story and one kiss. always. sometimes she cries about this and tries to drag things on but this is always what she gets from me so she gets over it pretty quickly. unfortunately when charlie travels a lot it seems like she is just getting back into 'normal mode' when he leaves again and she has a hard time again when he gets back. i actually think she could use a later bedtime but i can't figure out yet how to put ellie to bed (this usually takes about 20 minutes) before avery goes to bed without letting avery either play on the iPad or watch tv, something i don't really want to do. when charlie's around it's not a problem since he can just hang out with her but if it's just me i'm not sure what else to occupy her with during that time when i need her to be occupied, safe, and quiet. </div>
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and because i can't end this on a negative note i have to talk about how sweet she can be. she says 'i love you' unprompted to charlie and i and ellie and the dogs. she always tries to comfort ellie when she's crying. when ellie was crying the other night because she was having a hard time going to sleep avery was visibly upset. she kept saying "mommy go get ellie and bring her downstairs". she wants to feed ellie. the other day she fed her yogurt and a few days later a banana. pretty sweet. she's nice and polite to other kids at the playground and is really warming up to people she doesn't know. she holds ellie's hand in the stroller and will ask me to put ellie's song on if she starts to cry. she can feed the cats on her own and usually does this if i ask her. she <i>loves</i> to bake and cook and craft. we made cookies the other day and she kept saying 'i'm so excited to make cookies'. she also loves to FaceTime and talk on the phone. it's actually getting difficult to have an actual conversation with anyone when she's around because she wants to monopolize the phone. the other day she corrected charlie when he said shit, "shoot daddy". and she is so excited for the holidays this year. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-59872605188473657792014-07-29T13:42:00.000-07:002014-07-29T13:42:00.189-07:00project 52:11<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14134405993" title="DSC_1110 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_1110" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/14134405993_6aa1956a2f.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<i>things don't have to change the world to be important. </i></div>
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steve jobs. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-32070956465264449782014-07-28T13:37:00.000-07:002014-07-28T13:37:00.203-07:00project 52:8<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. </i><br />
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c.s. lewis.<br />
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sort of hard to imagine anyone ever hurting these two, but i'm sure the day will come all too soon. i get upset when kids are mean at the playground these days. but here's to fairy tales, and underdogs, and brave characters: may they be more than just entertainment. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-66367638402982173772014-07-26T13:30:00.000-07:002014-07-26T13:30:00.118-07:00project 52:9<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>some things take time. </i><br />
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i will say that it took more time than i thought to adjust to being a family of four. but now, i cannot imagine life any other way, and i'm so happy we were gifted with this adventure. i hope these kids will be making silly faces at each other in 30 years.</div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-83583928429989165392014-07-26T13:27:00.000-07:002014-07-26T13:27:00.086-07:00lately ... <div style="text-align: center;">
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... i love summer. seriously i cannot say that enough. i think i could happily move somewhere where it never got below 50 degrees. it's actually been hot here (for my standards anyway) and we've actually had the ac running. we usually keep it off if it's below 90 but we've been in the mid-upper 90s these days. we've been playing in the water table a lot. both avery and ellie are big fans. ellie can't really hold her self up yet for long periods of time but she loves splashing away and avery usually does a pretty decent job of sharing with her sister. she only dumped a bucket of water on her head once! </div>
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... blueberries were on sale the last time we went grocery shopping. i feel like this never happens so i bought a bunch and we made blueberry pie. and then we ate it for breakfast for the next few days. <br />
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... sleep. oh infant sleep. this is just about the only part of parenting in the first year that i don't like. sleep is so amazing when it's good and so awful when it's bad. i'm trying to transition ellie to her crib after 8 months of cosleeping and i'm not sure if it's harder on me than on her. i physically miss her when she's not in our bed although i do love not sleeping in one position all night long and waking up with my arm asleep. there's been a bit of crying involved in this transition and i hate listening to her cry. i just feel awful. and guilty. but, i think she'll sleep better on her own and honestly she's waking up after every sleep cycle if i'm not physically next to her so i know she needs to learn to put herself back to sleep. this is just a hard topic for me and i'm hoping she makes the transition okay. <br />
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... i gave the kids their first dual bath the other night and it was amazing. i don't know why i didn't do this months ago. they both really enjoyed it. well, avery didn't enjoy when i washed her hair but she never does. i'm hoping this will make bath nights a little easier on all of us, especially when charlie's gone. the non-slip mat made a huge difference for ellie in the tub since i didn't have to worry about her falling all over the place. <br />
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... avery wanted to try on halloween costumes the other day. ellie's going to be a bear this year since we have the costume from avery's first year and i'm not about to buy another one since i'll be lucky if she wears it for 10 minutes. she hated it but we're hoping she'll warm up to it come october. in her defense it was about 85 degrees and that costume is pretty hot! avery loved her leopard costume from last year and has been asking to wear it again but she keeps telling me that she wants to be a purple butterfly this year. i'll have to try and come up with something since she's been pretty consistent. we've been reading halloween books since june so she's pretty psyched for the holiday already. she also was insisting that i get out henry's costume, too, but i managed to talk her out of that one. i can only torture him one day a year. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14696737271" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="375" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3860/14696737271_64236ea156.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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... we've been doing a few things around the house this summer, too! after not doing anything for a solid four months after ellie was born we've had the outside painted (something it needed very badly), our deck restained, replaced our storm door, replaced a few lights (4 and and more to come!), rearranged some furniture, and hung some lights on our deck. i need to do another house updated post just to keep track of the things we've done. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14697514024" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="375" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5577/14697514024_a036867a95.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14719784073" title=" by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt=" " height="375" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3842/14719784073_3223e4b9e5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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... we took the kids to heritage square last weekend. charlie was excited because avery actually wanted to ride the rides this year, unlike last year when she would only get on the merry-go-round. but it was really hot and we got way too many tickets so we decided to play put-put since it required a bunch of tickets. we did this last year, too, and avery basically just ran around the whole time while charlie and i played the course. but this year ellie was over it by the time we went to play golf so i left avery and charlie to play on their own while i went to go feed ellie. apparently avery was hot so she only wanted to play the holes that were in the shade, which was sort of a problem since there were other people who were actually trying to play. she came back and told me that "daddy said we have to go home because i didn't listen". funny, only because apparently he never told her that at all. i think basically she just wanted to eat ice cream and then head back to the air conditioned car at this point. after lunch we headed out and both kids slept for over an hour in the car while we drove home and packed their pool stuff, stopped at target for a few things, and then headed to the pool. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-49570871222802699112014-07-25T12:40:00.002-07:002014-07-25T12:40:15.194-07:00ellie: 8 months<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14743384102" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3912/14743384102_bf809650c0.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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8 months feels like she's almost in toddlerhood. a little too soon for that but wow has she changed in the last month. i feel like from 6-7 months there wasn't a lot happening for her but from 7-8 she's just grown bigger and gotten older. i can really see the one year old she'll soon become. and as always, these ages remind me so much of how i love the second half of the first year. some of my sweetest moments with avery were in those six months and this is proving true for ellie, too. </div>
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... she isn't crawling but is about as mobile as she can get without being able to crawl. she rolls all over the place and goes from sitting to laying down and back to sitting easily. she can get pretty far between this and inching and scooting her way around and it's no longer safe to put her on the couch or bed and walk away. she wants to crawl badly and is so very close. </div>
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... she is really into standing and pulling herself up. she's not quite able to pull herself up on anything yet. she'll do it all day while holding your hands and has even let go a couple of times! woah kid, too soon! but i caught her successfully pulling herself up in her crib on the monitor the other night and had to drop her crib down the next day.</div>
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... between the two things above this has been a very frustrating month for her. she wants to badly to be fully mobile but just can't quite figure it out yet and there is a lot of crying in frustration because of it. </div>
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... she had her first plane ride (three actually!) this month and did great. </div>
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... she also spent the night away from home for the first time and did pretty well. thank you cosleeping. </div>
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... she definitely prefers to be in my company but doesn't seem to be dealing with the same separation anxiety that avery was at this age. she is happy enough to go to other people or be held by other people and she absolutely loves charlie. he picked us up at the airport the other night after we were away for a week and she gave him the biggest grin and squeals as soon as she saw him. it was pretty cute. </div>
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... she really isn't eating that much as far as solid foods go. with avery we did a mix of baby led weaning and purees and i think because of that she was eating a lot more at this age. ellie's usually eating once a day 1-2 ounces of food. i would feed her more but she's had some trouble adjusting to digesting it and honestly she refuses it a lot. i know she'll get there eventually and i'm just glad she's breastfeeding well enough that i don't worry about her getting enough to eat.</div>
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... she plays really well on her own especially if someone is in the room with her. lately avery has been playing with her, so long as ellie plays along with whatever game avery's dreamed up, and it's both cute to watch and nice because it entertains them both!</div>
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... she had her first successful pool trip this month. we've tried a few times before but we finally were able to get her in the water without her screaming so that was nice. she loved just sitting in the shallow water and splashing around. </div>
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... she also had her first beach trip but she didn't do much other than lounge on the blanket and then fall asleep in the ergo. i even forgot to put her in the sand and i'm so mad about that!</div>
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... she's usually napping twice a day. her morning nap is pretty short. longer if she's in the stroller or the car but i can't usually get her to sleep past 20 minutes at home. the afternoon nap is usually 2 to 2.5 hours and the longer the better or else she's pretty cranky by bedtime. </div>
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... nighttime sleep has been interesting. we've still been cosleeping mostly but a few days ago i decided that for both of our sakes she needed to start sleeping in her crib for at least the first stretch of night time sleep. i know she'll wake up to eat in the middle of the night and i'm fine with that. the crib adjustment has not been easy (or successful) for either of us but i'm trying to keep at it because i know the longer i wait the harder it will be for her. also, i could use a few hours to myself in bed and i know charlie is over the tiptoeing into our room when we're ready for bed. so, we're trying but it's not easy. </div>
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... i'm not sure how much she weighs. charlie and his mom both mentioned that she looked like she went through a growth spurt but she's still pretty tiny. she's wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes but some 3-6s still fit and she has a few 12 months that she wears, too. no doubt she'll be a small one just like her sister. </div>
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happy 8 months, elle. i cannot begin to explain how much i love you and how happy i am that you're a part of our family. life is just so much better with you in it and i love all the time that i spend with you, even those 3 am snuggles. especially those 3 am snuggles. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-155193528774088222014-07-13T08:09:00.001-07:002014-07-13T08:09:13.287-07:00vacation roundup part two: new york + maryland 2014<div style="text-align: center;">
i have a bunch more pictures that i wanted to include even though we didn't do a lot more things. i'm always amazed how jam-packed my days can feel when i'm taking care of kids even though i don't actually accomplish that much and the same was said for our days visiting family. my dad and charlie were only in town until the sunday after the fourth and the kids and i stayed until the next friday. we took them to cabin john park, which is right by my parents house. it's such an amazing place for kids and always makes me wish we had a great park like that by us. the playgrounds are amazing and the train is, of course, a huge attraction for avery each year. i saw a few friends, and we visited my aunt's house were avery rode her first pony. i was way more excited than she was about this but i was just excited that she actually got on this time. we spent a lot of time at home, no complaints here, those are always some of my favorite moments and they seem especially nice since they're some of the most peaceful moments of the day. </div>
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ellie's first time in a swing!</div>
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grandma made her a frog and toad and bought her the books to go along with them and avery insisted on sleeping with them.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14635537902" title="DSC_0169 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0169" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3877/14635537902_b5422db5dd.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14655902923" title="DSC_0209 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0209" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2913/14655902923_72fb1e9498.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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i have an almost identical picture to this from 4 years ago. i'll have to dig it up.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14612995636" title="DSC_0224 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0224" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/14612995636_f80f982b37.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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this little lady really liked her grandpa marcus. he even taught her how to stick out her tongue.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14449589137" title="DSC_0238 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0238" height="332" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3862/14449589137_bf204b9392.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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getting ready for the train ride at cabin john.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14449345090" title="DSC_0243 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0243" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2935/14449345090_a444a51a82.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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charlie was psyched. </div>
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my mom dug out a few dolls and avery pushed them up and down the driveway approximately a million times. </div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14449584807" title="DSC_0261 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0261" height="332" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5553/14449584807_bcccef268c.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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hopscotch fail.</div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14636031655" title="DSC_0412 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0412" height="332" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3860/14636031655_c63477bf31.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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this little lady was happy enough to watch all of the sidewalk chalk, baby doll playing, and wagon trips up and down the driveway. </div>
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14636009685" title="DSC_0436 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0436" height="500" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3914/14636009685_99011a0678.jpg" width="332" /></a></div>
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my mom made some amazing food as usual. i'm still at shock that i actually have to meal plan and grocery shop again. i really enjoyed a two week break from all of that. </div>
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all the babies! we made a trip to southern maryland to see one of my best friends from college. i cannot believe we have four kids between us. it was so nice to spend the day together, especially because we parent pretty similarly and it is always somewhat a relief to be around someone who parents the same way as you do. bonus points if they don't mind that your toddler runs around naked. </div>
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a sleeping baby. adorable. <br />
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this picture looks cute but really they were not into sharing with each other. two year olds don't believe in sharing.<br />
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and more babies! this little dude is three months younger than ellie and managed to survive her smacking him repeatedly on the head.<br />
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as much as it was nice to see everyone we are really happy to me home. the kids never sleep all that well when we're traveling. they always seem to not adjust to the time change at night and yet adjust pretty quickly in the morning, which means they basically lose 2 hours of sleep a day from waking up so darn early. i can't complain too much because avery slept in my mom's room while we were in town so she had to deal with her early morning shenanigans, while ellie and i got some extra sleep. we all shared a room in ny and avery was pretty horrible about actually going to sleep. odd because at home she puts herself to sleep just fine. i was a little worried that when we got back home she would be asking for 'snuggles and hand holding' but as soon as we got back she went back to her usual ways, thank goodness. although she is waking up really early, at least she's going to bed before 9 pm. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-23220102349532106832014-07-12T19:54:00.000-07:002014-07-12T19:54:16.278-07:00a vacation roundup part one: new york + maryland 2014<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14612295544" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="375" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/14612295544_eb8dfc77bf.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
oh look, a semi-peaceful plane picture. both kids were actually amazing on all three plane rides. so thankful for that!<br />
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whew. we just got back from two weeks of visiting family back east and it was so, so nice to see everyone but it was also a bit of a whirlwind and we are all glad to be back home. we first flew to new york to visit charlie's family. his cousin was graduating from high school and his whole family was in the area. there was a bunch of us staying at his aunt and uncle's house and it was really nice to see people that we hadn't seen in a while. one of the things that i don't love about traveling is that avery always has a hard time with the changes and doesn't always act the best. add that with two kids attempting to adjust to a time change and it can be difficult at times. totally worth it but challenging. i have practically no pictures from our new york trip (i'll have to steal some from family so i actually have some pictures of the trip). we visited a lot of family, celebrated graduations, and even managed a short trip to the beach one day, which is the only thing i actually took pictures of. </div>
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i've never been to the beaches in new york so i wasn't sure what to expect. this one was pretty nice although the water was a little chilly but it didn't seem to bother charlie and avery. i didn't go in because i was either taking pictures of them or trying to get ellie to sleep but we had a really nice day and his mom and aunts came to so it was really nice to just spend more time with everyone. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14449408810" title="DSC_0002 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0002" height="332" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5586/14449408810_82a9f6d53c.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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i temporarily lost avery's hat so i tried to get her to wear mine for a bit. she didn't last too long before taking it off. </div>
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this kid loves getting buried in the sand!</div>
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a sleeping e. </div>
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i really wanted a family picture but of course avery refused to join in. </div>
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after 4 days in ny we flew down to maryland to see my family. we spent a lot of time just hanging out, playing on playgrounds, and attempting to convince the kids to sleep. my parents had a party for family on the fourth and then charlie won the 'fun parent award' by taking avery to see fireworks after the party. i stayed behind to put ellie to bed but i was told she really liked them but she kept trying to hold them. silly a. </div>
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a pre-party nap.</div>
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again. really wanted avery to join us for a picture but she wasn't having it. </div>
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e and her aunt.</div>
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we spent a lot of time hanging out in the driveway!</div>
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a post-party nap.</div>
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waiting for fireworks to start.</div>
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aaaand crash. love the sunglasses that she insists on wearing in the car even when it's dark out. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-70684904257151539432014-06-26T19:56:00.000-07:002014-06-26T19:56:00.922-07:00dunkin + henry<div style="text-align: center;">
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today avery asked me to take pictures of her with henry and then she insisted that dunkin join them as well. she is actually not usually this nice to them. i mean she has her moments but it's not all love. in fact just earlier today i had to take a bracelet away from her because she was using it to hit henry on the head. based on that she's pretty lucky that he was willing to stand next to her. i think that all of the popcorn she fed him right before didn't hurt. </div>
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they are such good dogs. the best really. they put up with a lot from her. and keep coming back for more. or at least don't run away when they see her coming. i hope she always loves dogs. i can't imagine not having them around our house and they are the best companions. i'm so glad that she can at least appreciate them some of the times and i'm so thankful they love her. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-48962040142679497942014-06-25T19:18:00.002-07:002014-06-25T19:18:48.787-07:00ellie grows up: 7 months<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14485838936" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="500" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2906/14485838936_583a14142b.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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oh ellie, you are seriously at the squishest, happiest, best baby age ever. you're still such a baby but you are really enjoying interacting with the world around you. what life is like for you at 7 months:</div>
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... you cosleep. you love it, it's working for us, and i actually enjoy the snuggles most of the time.</div>
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... you're a champion sitter and can get from sitting to your belly. you actually sit in a 'split position' most of the time, which is funny to me. </div>
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... you want to crawl! but you really can't figure it out yet. </div>
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... you mostly like your big sister. you guys are so cute together although she is a <i>big</i> sister, which means she can be a pain at times. i know because i was one, too. </div>
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... you are loud! you squeal, yell, scream, babble, blow raspberries, and make indian noises. of course you are at your loudest when we try and do things like eat out at a restaurant. you also love to yell at your sister's gymnastics class. i think the high ceilings and the music gets you really excited.</div>
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... you do not like to be left alone. you can play really well by yourself but prefer that someone else is close by. </div>
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... you've figured out how to digest solid foods and now are eating something twice a day. pears are still a favorite but you also like mangos and bananas. applesauce was not a hit and you don't really like vegetables either. i guess only the sweetest things will do. </div>
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... you grab everything and immediately put it in your mouth. you're actually pretty quick and strong so we have to be careful when we put things down near you. </div>
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... you love ollie. you don't get to pet him much because avery usually is too rough and scares him away but you get so excited to pet him any chance you get. </div>
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... you are the smiliest baby every. charlie actually pointed out that you tend to swing in both directions more than avery every did. you're both so much happier and so much sadder than she ever was. she was a pretty chill cucumber when she was your age. </div>
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... you're napping two to three times a day and sleeping about 10-12 hours at night. i think you would sleep better at night but lately i've been having to change your diaper in the middle of the night once or twice and it's always hard to get you back to sleep after that. </div>
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... you love to stand and get the proudest look on your face whenever you do. you can't pull yourself up but you love when we help you stand and will do so for quite awhile. i think it brings a totally new perspective for you.</div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-55968316487490857682014-06-25T14:18:00.003-07:002014-06-25T14:18:38.833-07:00it is finally summmmmmmmer!<div style="text-align: center;">
it's really no secret that i love summer. in fact the amazing summer's out here are what get me through the long and cold 'springs'. sorry colorado i don't really think you can call it spring when you're still dumping snow all over the ground. anyway, it's felt like summer since our last snow on mothers day (horrible present by the way) and we have been enjoying every last bit of our warm weather. </div>
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ellie has finally gotten over her hatred of the stroller and will now ride for a while (and usually falls asleep, which is an extra bonus) so we've been back to taking our usual walks that i missed oh so much. and it only took me about 5 months to feel like the double stroller purchase was worthwhile but now i am so happy that we have it and i really love it. we've even walked to the pool with both kids in it and loaded it down with all of our pool gear and it did great. it's a little tricky to get into the back of the car. our jeep juuuuust barely fits the stroller in the back and it's not the easiest thing to move around but it can be done. unless we're going somewhere like the zoo or to boulder to walk along the creek and playground hop we usually just use our umbrella stroller for avery and the ergo for ellie. anyway, henry always comes with us on our walks too and i promise avery that we'll stop at the playground at the end of our walk, which helps keep her complaining to a minimum. sometimes she even falls asleep too and then i get a few minutes of quiet. :)</div>
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i made avery her first ice cream cone the other day and she definitely approved. she insisted that i keep reapplying sprinkles throughout the entire process. we also finally have organic strawberries and blueberries at the store and have been eating a lot of fruit. we even made strawberry pancakes for the first time and they turned out pretty good. they were really sweet so i think the syrup is optional on these guys. and we've also used our popsicle molds a few times and avery is definitely a fan. i just froze juice for these but i know there's a bunch of different recipes for popsicles all over the internet. the only downside to the popsicles is how messy they are. they definitely require a bath or a dip in the water table right afterwards.</div>
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we've been hiking a few times and avery even did her first 'solo hike' where she climbed the whole way up to red rocks by herself. she did great and was so cute when she had to stop and find a rock to sit on for a water break and a snack. ellie's also done really well. i've just kept her in the ergo and she'll usually sleep for at least part of the hike. i've tried to move her to my back in the ergo but she wasn't having it so she's still facing forward. there's still a few hikes that i'd like to do by the end of the summer but we'll see how ambitious we get. right now i think the longest that we've done with the kids is around 3.5 miles. <br />
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we've also just spent a lot of time hanging out in our yard. avery loves throwing the ball to dunkin and playing in the water table, although it's not as exciting for her as it was last year i think. her favorite game to play outside is to take off all of her clothes and sit in the water table and dump water all over herself. and when she gets chilly she requests a towel to wrap herself up in (she calls it a paper towel) and warms up in the sun.<br />
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our 'family' (ellie, too!). please note that i am apparently the laziest walker of our group.</div>
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we also managed to make it back to the museum of nature and science the other week. and this time the discovery zone was actually open and avery had a blast playing in it. i'm definitely thinking this will be a great place to take her in the winter when we need to get out of the house. it doesn't hurt that it's very dino focused and avery is really into dinos these days. she 'dug for bones', played in an awesome water table, built things with blocks, showed ellie a thing or two, and we watched a dino show that she was really into before we checked out two other exhibits and left. there were a lot of other things there that were geared more towards older kids so it's kind of nice that there's lots of room to grow there. also, they have older kids as volunteers and they did a great job getting the little kids involved in the activities and showing them what to do. </div>
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we've also managed to take a few naps, head to the pool (although it's been mostly a little chilly for the pool in my opinion), and grill some meals. i love grilling because it means we always eat really healthy and also charlie does most of the work. :) <br />
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thanks for being so awesome, summer. i'm hoping to stretch the rest of you out as long as possible and i'm in no hurry for fall even if avery is already asking for 'trick-or-treat books'. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-403529014821079482014-06-24T19:35:00.001-07:002014-06-25T19:44:24.652-07:00happy two and a half, avery!<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14507193434" title="DSC_0180 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_0180" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2928/14507193434_1f937a814b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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at two and a half you ...</div>
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... call daddy charlie about 90% of the time. </div>
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... call me honey about 50% of the time. </div>
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... you love your little sister and ask to hold her, and play with her, and help her do things. honestly you're a fabulous sister almost all of the time. but sometimes you will push her over for no reason and then smile sweetly at me while she cries. </div>
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... you are still pretty tiny! some of those 2T pants don't stay up too well on you. </div>
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... you love to read and are mostly into reading to yourself these days. you have quite a few books 'memorized'.</div>
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... you want to DO IT YOURSELF. i get it. </div>
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... you have informed me that i am your favorite girl, daddy is your favorite daddy, ellie is your favorite sister, and henry and dunkin are your favorite dog. </div>
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... you love to hear stories and request them all throughout the day.</div>
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... you are independent. you want to do what you want regardless of what other kids are doing. </div>
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... you love ice cream and marshmallows and popsicles. you also love pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. </div>
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... purple is your favorite color and you love butterflies.</div>
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... you love to be outside. </div>
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... you are just starting to walk up and down steps and are very proud of yourself each and every time you do it. you'll tell me, 'i walked up the stairs ALL BY MYSELF". and then we high five. </div>
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... you refuse to wear jeans. apparently they are "too tight". </div>
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... you want to help with everything. and usually you do!</div>
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... you play pretend all the time. you have an amazing imagination and i hope it never goes away.</div>
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... you love the water and fish. you have a counting book that has 7 fish and one is a shark and you get mad every time we read it: "that's not a fish that's a shark". </div>
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... it's june but you still talk a lot about christmas. i cannot imagine how excited you're going to be when it finally comes this year. we still read christmas books although we've managed to put off your requests to watch <i>the grinch. </i></div>
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<i>... </i>you've informed me that ellie is going to be a bear for halloween but you're not sure what you should be.</div>
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... you love to dance and are officially requesting your first country song (yes!), which is "this is how we roll". </div>
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... you give the best hugs and tell us that you love us for no reason. when ellie hugs you (i.e. grabs your hair and tries to chew on your face) you tell her "awww, i love you ellie". </div>
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... you sleep with bunny and tiger. and are very specific about your bedtime routines. if charlie is around you want him to put you to sleep.</div>
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you are so.much.fun. i love this age you are at even though sometimes you are not very logical, i suppose that's to be expected. but you are still the sweetest and i cannot believe that you're already two and a half, halfway to five!! crazy. love you, little a. </div>
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Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-42720816385650499112014-06-19T13:16:00.000-07:002014-06-19T13:16:00.617-07:00project 52:7<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful.</i></div>
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i remember this day so well. it was actually not very peaceful although this was a sweet moment. charlie was in hawaii and ellie was in the stage where if she didn't get her first morning nap in then she screamed the rest of the day and didn't sleep until bedtime. babies are strange. BUT i remember that it was warm and march and we actually played a bit on the deck outside, avery threw the ball to dunlin for a long time, and avery and i ate chocolate chip cookies that my mom had mailed to us. ellie spent a good amount of time in the moby wrap and i listened to <i>free</i> by zac brown band about a hundred times. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-9023408023602288122014-06-18T13:06:00.000-07:002014-06-18T13:06:29.170-07:00project 52:10<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14072864352" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2918/14072864352_9f1ef51c25.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<i>we lose ourselves in the things we love. we find ourselves there, too. </i></div>
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<i>-kristen.martz.</i></div>
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it's funny how people change over time i think. i remember when i was pregnant with avery a lot of people were surprised because they told me they thought i would never have kids. in fact, my mom was the only one who said that she knew that i would have them or at least want to. i think for the longest time i thought of having kids as something that would happen in the far off future until one day i woke up and felt like i wanted them now. anyway, even though i knew that i wanted to be a parent it wasn't really until avery was born that i wanted that above all other things. charlie and i used to have these conversations about passion. and he would say 'there's nothing you're really passionate about besides our family'. and i think that's true. i have interests outside of my family (although most aren't things i've found the time to dabble in lately) but my passion is being a mom. this is only surprising to me because for the longest time i was adamant about being strong and independent and i saw those things as something that didn't really mesh with staying at home with my kids but rather building a career. fortunately, i think i've found that you can be strong and independent and a good role model regardless of what your job title is. i've also learned that independent does not mean selfish, although i think it can be hard to separate the two sometimes. i sometimes will be folding laundry on the floor, surrounded by toys and ellie and avery and think, 'i am so lucky'. some might say <i>blessed</i> but i think they're one in the same. i never imagined that these things would be so satisfying to me but they are and i'm so thankful that i get to spend my days this way -- doing what i love with the people i love the most. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-86069890221862329412014-06-17T19:46:00.001-07:002014-06-17T19:46:36.068-07:00project 52:6<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/13002431465" title="Untitled by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="375" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7394/13002431465_28b419e602.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<i>some things take time.</i><br />
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wow, i haven't been on this space much lately but that really means two things. one, these kids keep me busy and two, charlie has been around a lot. both great things. anyway, i'm attempting to pull some of the pictures that i have of the two of them together from this year and this is an old one. ellie was so tiny! and it was winter! so glad that she's sitting all on her own now and that summer finally did come to colorado. also, avery is a great big sister. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-628254275016677783.post-39099353647027176832014-05-28T20:07:00.001-07:002014-05-28T20:07:24.291-07:00this and that.<div style="text-align: center;">
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... between charlie traveling so much and visitors coming i feel like the past few weeks have been crazy busy. we decided just to take some time this weekend and relax and spend time as a family. it was really, really nice. we actually spent a lot of it out and about but it seems that if we stay at home we're inevitably juggling the kids back and forth so we can get things done. on saturday we decided to check out the denver museum of nature and science and i was actually pretty surprised at how big it was. growing up right outside of dc completely spoiled me for comparing museums but this one was pretty good. we actually got a family pass for $90, which means that this will be our go-to day trip when the weather isn't nice. i like that it's big enough that we can make every visit different. we were going to renew our aquarium pass but i wanted something different and i like that this will entertain us for longer than 20 minutes. avery really does love her fish though so i wonder if she'll miss her monthly aquarium (and tiger) visits. while we were there we also saw a show in the planetarium. it was short (25 minutes) and about the planets in the solar system. avery loved it and kept loudly whispering the whole time, 'i'm watching a <i>movie</i>'. </div>
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... on sunday avery and i planted some flowers while charlie and ellie played. avery loved it and was actually really helpful this year compared to last year when she just tried to eat the dirt. she got totally filthy, even licking her dirty hand at one point, and looked so cute with dirt smeared all over her face and in her hair. after we finished planting she insisted on carrying the new pots to their appropriate locations and then we immediately took a shower. now i just hope that we don't have any terrible hail storms that come through and kill the flowers like they did last year. i would like a new roof though. </div>
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... ellie sits! one of my favorite milestones and such a game changer in the world of entertaining babies and getting things done around the house. <br />
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... we had a really nice memorial day weekend. we didn't do a whole lot but we spent some time as a family, went to a barbecue, hiked, and cleaned the house. productive and fun, which is my favorite combination. it was actually pretty chilly so we didn't even attempt the pool and that last picture of avery cracks me up. we were outside playing ladder ball and she said she was cold so i got her a blanket. then she said she needed a hat so i got her a hat and THEN she said her neck was cold so i got her a scarf. and it really wasn't that cold. the rest of us were hanging out in shorts and tshirts. <br />
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... sometimes avery will play with ellie for short periods of time and it is the sweetest. <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14311458713" title="DSC_1115 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_1115" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/14311458713_dda0ba80a3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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... and sometimes ellie will hang out with charlie and that's pretty sweet, too.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14267273113" title="DSC_1105 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_1105" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2916/14267273113_9ee3ca6f0b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14244901332" title="DSC_1100 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_1100" height="332" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5502/14244901332_4d058b612b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdeland/14060445478" title="DSC_1102 by Danielle, on Flickr"><img alt="DSC_1102" height="332" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2932/14060445478_e11e3c7502.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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... and lastly, avery and i made a card for my mom and i cannot get over her 'concentration' face. she was so into the drawing until she all of a sudden declared that she was done and wouldn't color and more. we don't draw nearly as much as we used to and i miss it. it's one of my favorite activities to do with her, although lately she's really into sidewalk chalk. i'm hoping that she'll get into coloring more again but usually, unless there's a purpose, she's not just into coloring for fun again. </div>
Daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11703030032227801828noreply@blogger.com1