the calm before the baby.

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 now 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.  

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.

   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.  

  

easter.

easter was pretty low-key this year, although it is most years.  ironically this was the first year we didn't go to church since having avery and my mom was out here celebrating with us.  she had to fly out that afternoon so we decided to do brunch in the morning before she left.  when avery woke up she was pretty pumped that it was easter even though i'm not quite sure she really knew what to expect.  this was our second year dying easter eggs with her, which we did the day before.  she was really into the dying part and kept demanding to see the eggs throughout the day.  charlie hid the dyed eggs in the morning and she 'hunted' for them after she opened her (and ellie's) easter baskets.  one of the things that i got her in her basket was a doctor's kit.  she's been really into playing doctor the past few months so i thought that she would really enjoy it and she definitely did.  pretty much everyone, dogs and cats included, have been a patient these past few days.  anyway once we pried her away from that she found the eggs around the house.  she actually did a pretty good job.  i was expecting us to have to really walk around with her and point out the eggs but she totally got it and was really proud of herself for finding those eggs.  after the egg hunting we made a frittata and i roped charlie into cooking some bacon and then we had some coffee cake after we ate in shifts while passing off ellie.  after breakfast i made everyone take pictures.  charlie was not terribly impressed with this idea, and then we took avery to the playground.  nothing too special but still nice and simple.  one of these days charlie and i are going to have to make up our minds about if we're 'doing' santa and the easter bunny.  

lately ...

everyone's been sick so we've been in survival mode but let's catchup. 

... we celebrated valentine's day!  my favorite holiday.  the kids were pretty lucky and got lots of presents from their grandparents.  lots of clothes for ellie, which she really needed and a few toys for avery.  our present for avery was a lego set.  i went with the small ones because she has pretty good fine motor skills and they take up less space.  unfortunately, i picked a set that has really tiny pieces.  i think it's supposed to be a farm set with tractors, etc..  she does really like them though and plays with them every day.  i think i'll try and get her some 'plain' legos to go with this set in the future.  charlie's had a lot of fun building with them although he gets mad when avery destroys his creations. 

burt's bees makes clothes! i didn't know this.  and they are amazing.

...  ellie has been sick.  she definitely got what avery has/had (she's been sick for 14 days now!) and i took her to the doctor since i was worried about her.  he basically said that it was some virus and to be worried if she doesn't get better in 3 weeks since it could mean a sinus infection.  ugh.  we got the nose frida the other day.  i actually meant to get it before ellie was born but never got around to it and it's been amazing.  i hope she gets better soon because it's so sad to see her sick whimpering.  and also i want some sleep.  

...  we also got avery a toilet of her own.  side note:  i cannot stand the word potty.  i'm not sure why but i have always hated it.  anyway, she wants to sit on it all the time now.  i suppose this is good and i really am sick of changing diapers.  the assembly line of diapers gets pretty old with two kids.  BUT i am really not into potty training.  it just seems messy and boring.  my original plan was to wait until the summer and then attempt the 3 day method so that she could run around naked outside and we could spare our carpets but we'll see if she decides she's ready earlier.  

...  the weather has been pretty amazing the past few days.  we've tried to get out and enjoy it a bit although it's been hard with ellie being so sick.  all she really wants to do is sleep in the moby wrap and cry. anyway, we took avery to the playground on sunday and as soon as she got there she said "i want to go home" so we turned back around.  she then refused to ride in the stroller and wanted me to carry her (of course).  it was a pretty long walk so i let her ride on my shoulders and ever since then she's been asking to ride on my shoulders all.the.time.  especially when she doesn't feel like moving on her own.  

...  my in-laws sent us some flowers for valentine's day.  i love tulips and have been meaning to plant some bulbs somewhere in our yard.  maybe i'll do it this year and have some for next year. 

i miss spring.

...  charlie and i talk all the time about how long we want to stay in this house for.  there's a long list of things that we'd like to do if we end up staying here but most of them won't actually increase the value so we won't do them unless we end up staying.  the biggest thing that we've talked about is turning the master retreat into a fourth bedroom.  obviously this is one of the things that would boost the value of the home but i wouldn't invest the money unless we're going to stay.  charlie also really wants a third bathroom in the basement.  i do not, because i hate cleaning bathrooms and 2.5 is more than enough for me.  but we'll see.  we also would really like to change the deck in the back.  the back of our house is south facing and it get's so hot back there.  we have an awning that we use a lot in the summer months but it's a pain because we can't use it if it gets too windy.  so we've talked about building a permanent covering for the deck.  we've also talked about tearing the deck down.  i'm really not into the constant maintenance that decks require and i would much rather have a larger patio area.  obviously none of this stuff will be done in the near future, we've talked about getting a quote for the fourth bedroom just to see what ballpark it would be in.  our big project for this year will be painting the outside.  we want to change the color scheme of the house to something lighter with dark shutters and trim, but we'll have to see what the 'approved colors' are.  

happy twenty-fourteen.

happy 2014 from our family to yours.  

2013 in review.

in january

... we recovered from the holidays and took lots of trips to barnes and noble to play with legos and trains.

in february

... we celebrated valentines day.

in march

... we found out that we were going to be a family of 4!

...  we had a million snow storms.

... we took avery to the butterfly pavilion and aquarium and bought season passes to the aquarium.  still one of the best purchases of the year!

... we built a firepit in our backyard and then watched the snow pile on top.

in april

... i attempted to survive being pregnant in the first trimester

... we celebrated easter with church and ham.  and i will now never eat baked ham again.

...  we started to do a few more house projects.  we replaced the window in our family room and the backsplash in our kitchen and we painted the soon-to-be nursery.

...  we had a million more snow storms and i began to research moving places like texas and florida.

in may

... it snowed for the last time and the weather slowly started to warm up. 

...  i began to recover from being pregnant and slowly started feeling better.  we took avery to the pool on memorial day weekend and did a lot of work in the yard.

in june 

... we went back to maryland for two weeks!  we visited friends and family, took avery to the beach, and celebrated at a wonderful wedding.

...  we did every summer activity imaginable and enjoyed warm weather, flip flops, popsicles, front porch sitting, the pool, and open windows.  

in july

... we celebrated the fourth on a boat with avery and dunkin

...  we had grandma and alex out for a visit.

...  we made fires in our fire pit, ate ice cream, took the dogs to the reservoir, ate lunch outside, and discovered lamar's donuts, and bought a new car.

... avery started walking!!!

in august

... i told my boss about my decision to be a stay at home mom after baby number two.

... we took avery to heritage square and the county fair.

...  my dad came out for a long weekend.

in september

...  we celebrated my 30th birthday!
... we took our first real family vacation in southern california.  and then we came back to the floods in colorado.  

...  we enjoyed the last of some warm weather.  we took avery to climb on red rocks in boulder and squeezed in a few more evenings with the firepit. 

in october

... we went pumpkin picking 

...  we continued our annual tradition of pumpkin carving and cooking rice balls

...  we also took avery to a halloween party and then celebrated on halloween by dressing up and handing out candy

in november

... i had my last day of work, we finished the last of the preparations before ellie's arrival, and planning a lot of versions and inductions. 

... we counted all of the things we're thankful for right now.

...  my mom came out to visit and take care of avery during ellie's birth.

...  ellie alex was born on the 25th!

...  we celebrated thanksgiving.

in december

... we enjoyed all of our time as a family four.

...  we decorated for christmas and really enjoyed the season.

...  we celebrated charlie's birthday and avery's birthday.

... alex came out to visit and we had a relaxing christmas eve and christmas.  and then we took down our decorations and got ready for 2014!

christmas 2013.

this christmas was cinnamon rolls for breakfast, a toddler who woke up at 5:30 am, a play kitchen for avery's big present, FaceTime with family, alex celebrating with us, a very sleepy baby, a long afternoon nap for everyone, christmas music on iTunes, pork and mashed potatoes for dinner, a glass of wine (the first in a long time), too many cups of coffee, spending the day watching avery play with her toys and holding a sleepy ellie, and attempting family pictures before bed (never a good idea).  

happy christmas eve.

right now we have turkey soup simmering on the stove for dinner, a second pot of coffee was just brewed, christmas music is playing constantly, my sister is in town and has been playing with avery since the second she ran down the stairs to wake her up this morning, and we have plans to take the kids to the playground and watch elf later today.  and we promised avery we'd drive around again tonight to look at christmas lights.

after avery's in bed tonight we'll be wrapping a few presents and assembling her big gift and then tomorrow we get to spend the morning watching her open presents.  our christmas (new years) cards have been sent, our presents have been bought, and all we have left to do is enjoy these few days together.  i have loved the christmas season this year.  it's been slow and sweet and amazing to watch through avery's eyes.  i've loved that her excitement has been over the christmas lights and buddy the elf's mysterious appearances and drawing snowmen and santas and getting christmas cards in the mail.  she doesn't really get the present thing yet, which has made this christmas about the season itself and not a list of things that she wants to play with.  

merry christmas eve.  and we miss you mom & dad. 

christmas 2013.

i knew that this holiday season was going to be a little different than in years past both because we were going to have a very new newborn with us and because avery is actually at an age where she can understand and get really excited about christmas.  i am loving the 'almost two' age (usually) because she just gets things now that she hasn't in the past and it makes things a lot more fun.  we knew that we definitely wanted to make the season fun for avery but i also knew that running around and doing a lot of activities wasn't going to happen because ellie was so new and honestly both charlie and i are still adjusting to the lack of sleep.  but because avery is old enough to get the holidays it's also made us think a lot more about how we want to celebrate and what traditions we want to establish.  

avery's really into the christmas decorations this year, which has been really fun.  we tried to involve her as much as possible in decorating since she gets so excited about it.  we broke our previous tradition of decorating for christmas the day after thanksgiving since we were planning on having ellie prior to thanksgiving.  we both knew that decorating with a newborn would be a lot less fun than enjoying the decorations while sitting on a couch with a newborn.  so charlie hung the outside lights at the beginning of november and we put up our inside decorations a week or so before thanksgiving. we've always kept it pretty simple inside (and even with that the clutter of the decorations is beginning to drive me nuts).  avery helped with the tree, although she was in a terrible mood that day so wasn't as into it as she might have been.  she's so cute because every time she sees the outside lights she'll say "daddy hang christmas lights.  thanks dad." and every time she sees the inside lights, like the ones i hung in the playroom she'll say "mommy hang christmas lights.  thanks mom".  it definitely makes decorating worth it to see how excited she still is over these things.  i got her a mini tree for her room and she's still really into holding the ornaments during diaper changes and turning the lights on and off of the tree.

charlie got a train for around the tree this year and she's liked it almost as much as he does.  it's the polar express and it came with the book (now we have two copies) and the bell.  

one of the christmas ideas that seems to be everywhere is the idea of wrapping up 25 christmas books and unwrapping one each day and reading it.  i love that idea but i also love the idea of having all of our christmas books available to read during december.  we read all the time and she's really liked some of the christmas books.  some of her favorites that we read every day are the bearenstein bears christmas tree, the sights and smells of christmas, the polar express, and 'twas the night before christmas.  i think her favorite out of all of them is the bearenstein bears and i've been pretty impressed that she'll sit through the whole book because it's long! and sometimes even ask for it to be read multiple times.  

we sort of do the elf on the shelf tradition.  neither charlie and i are sure if we're going to do the whole santa thing with avery.  i mean she knows who he is but we haven't done the whole concept of santa bringing you presents on christmas.  both of us hate the idea that santa brings you presents if you're good.  mostly, i just don't like the idea of using santa as a bribe or a threat and i don't want her behavior to be tied to some imaginary figure that brings presents.  also, i think that christmas can be pretty magical with or without the big guy in the red suit.  anyway, charlie told her that the elf comes during the holiday season and that he's there to watch over us and make sure that we're safe.  we do attempt to move him once a day although we've both been pretty bad at that but she does look for him and gets excited when he shows up in a different place.  charlie named him buddy last year and she'll tell you that buddy's the elf and he makes sure we're safe.














a few other things that we've done are baking christmas cookies.  avery was really into this and also really, really into eating them in front of the christmas tree.  i love how she gets so excited about little things like that.  we also made a christmas tree out of painters tape and then cut out ornaments for her to put on the tree.  i wasn't sure about this but it was actually a pretty big hit.  my mom did a few crafts with her when she was in town.  they did a foam christmas tree, a rudolph face that had to be glued together, we made another rudolph one day at barnes and noble when they had crafts, and we made snowmen out of foam balls.  avery's really into crafts so all of these were fun, easy activities that made the really cold weather that we've been having not seem so terrible.  

we also watched a christmas movie.  avery's never actually watched a movie before so this was sort of extra special.  we started the grinch for her one night and then she finished it the next morning.  she really liked it and snuggled up with charlie during most of the movie.  i also found the bearenstein bears christmas tree (the book that we read all the time) on youtube and we watched that.  it's a short one (about 20 minutes) and she liked it but it didn't hold her attention nearly as well as the grinch did.  when she gets older i'd love to have friday's during advent be christmas movie nights because there are so many good christmas movies to pick from.





















but mostly we've spent this time just hanging out as a family and wearing a lot of christmas pj's.  avery's been playing a lot, we've been coloring and drawing santas and snowmen, we've been taking turing holding ellie, and just spending this time just enjoying being a family of four.  we'll have visitors the last 2 weeks of december and this time with just the four of us has been really, really nice.  in the future, especially as the kids get older i know we'll be doing more activities, but i hope that we don't get too busy during this season, that we learn to say no to certain things, enjoy time as a family, and focus on family and friends and the time that we spend together.  i feel so incredibly fortunate to have had this time with my family, without charlie traveling, and to have had so much family come and visit us.  it's really been the perfect christmas season. 

thanksgiving, a new baby, and some family time.

so much to write.  so little time to write.  makes for one big, random post.  

... my mom was out here for 9 days.  9 days.  it was awesome.  avery had such a great time with her grandma and it was so nice to just spend some time with my mom.  she was originally coming out because i had a version and induction scheduled for the 20.  but when i went to my regular appointment on the 18th we found out that ellie was head down again and so ended up canceling both.  we scheduled an induction for the 25th (although i was really hoping that she would come on her own before that) so that my mom could take care of avery and charlie could be at the hospital with me.  we had a great time in the few days before ellie showed up just hanging out.  avery was spoiled with all of the attention and my mom was such a help to have around.  especially when we were in the hospital and after we came home.  we were all sad to see her leave.  especially avery who cried when they said goodbye and who keeps saying "grandma have to go home" and "grandma come back christmas".  thankfully grandma will be back for christmas.  and this time she's bringing grandpa and alex, too!

...   ellie was a full pound and a half bigger than avery was when she was born.  i still can't really believe that and ellie still seems so big to me when now since i was used to my tiny 6 pound avery.  it makes me glad we didn't wait 2 extra weeks with her as she would have been really big if we waited that long!  although i actually think i would have gone into labor that week if i wasn't induced on monday.  this time the induction was fast and really easy.  it was pretty much everything i could have asked for from a labor and delivery standpoint.  i was induced at 8 am and she was born at 3:30 pm after less than 5 minutes of pushing.  much easier and with much less drama than avery's birth.  my midwife was great and so was the hospital staff.  we pushed pretty hard to go home 24 hours after her birth and i'm so glad we did.  sleeping in my own bed that night without nurses waking me up was amazing.  breastfeeding is going really well and i forgot how amazing and fun newborns are in those first few days before they start crying much.  :)  she was unnamed until a few hours after she was born and so all the paperwork we have from the hospital says "baby girl L".








...  we broke all the rules and decorated for christmas before thanksgiving.  i'm so glad we did because i did want to decorate this year because i knew avery would be super into it but i didn't want to be trying to recover from having a baby and attempting to juggle a newborn and a toddler and worried about putting up a christmas tree.  plus, i wanted avery to be able to really enjoy everything and not feel like it was rushed or something we had to do.  i'm so glad we did it before because it was not only something to do to distract myself before ellie was born but also avery really did enjoy it and it was nice to come home to a decorated house.  i usually get sick of christmas decorations and am ready to rip them down by the 26th because i can't stand all of the clutter but we'll see how motivated i am this year to take them down.





...  avery has been charlie's little buddy since we got home from the hospital.  she has quickly moved on from me and is all about daddy helping her do things and hanging out with charlie.  i'm so glad that she moved out of the mommy phase that she was in before ellie was born and i'm glad that she's enjoying all of her time with charlie.  i'm still really scared of the day when charlie starts to travel and i'm left to take care of the both of them all day and night by myself.









...  we crafted!  i was slightly impressed with myself for actually doing a real activity with avery instead of just playing with her toys.  not that she was neglected as grandma did lots of activities with her but i felt bad for not spending as much time with her and she's definitely been a little jealous of the time that i've had to spend taking care of ellie.  anyway, we made little snowmen.  she was really only interested in making a mess and stabbing the foam balls over and over with toothpicks but she did have a good time and now whenever she sees the snowmen she gets excited and says "snowmen so cute!".  so i guess it was a hit.  charlie even joined in on the fun and made one himself.



...  we spent thanksgiving at home, which was so, so nice.  charlie made rice balls and stuffed mushrooms and my mom made turkey breast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and caramel pie.  and i sat on the couch with ellie during most of the day and even snuck a nap in the afternoon.  very low key but i was very thankful to be home and even more thankful for all of the work that they did in the kitchen and taking care of avery.  dinner was delicious!