some randomness from the past week.

charlie comes back today.  yay!  we actually had a really good week while he was gone.  there was only one day that was sorta hard because i skipped ellie's morning nap and then she cried and refused to eat or sleep the rest of the day.  sorry e.

we had sort of a mix of cold weather and really nice weather.  we had two 'snow days' and a few really nice days where the windows were open and avery was running inside and outside all evening long.  i forgot how good the sun feels.  one of the things that i like about our deck is that there's a gate on it so that you can keep dogs, kids, whatever on or off the deck.  this wasn't really necessary last year since avery never left it to begin with but i think it'll be nice this year when she wants to be outside but i can't be out there with her.  

these kids are getting sort of cute together.  ellie loves avery and a is so sweet to her when she's upset.    ellie was sitting on the couch and sort of fussing and avery climbed up next to her and was telling her that 'it's okay, el'.  avery also calls ellie 'big sister', which i think is pretty funny. 

avery was upset that charlie didn't answer the phone.

we had a lot of FaceTime this week.  charlie called whenever he could and we talked to my parents as well.  in fact avery had a really long conversation the other day with my mom when i was trying to get ellie to sleep.  i'm not sure that my mom understood half of the things that avery was saying but she tried.  

ellie's getting into grabbing toys.  one of her favorite toys is avery's stuffed tiger.  she loves that thing.  unfortunately that is also avery's favorite toy.  she sleeps with bunny and tiger every night and tiger's even traveled with us.  he's a pretty popular dude.  anyway, avery hates when ellie plays with him.  i just got ellie a stuffed tiger for her easter basket and i'm hoping it's as popular as this guy.  

it's the little things ...

...  a dual nap.  no matter how short.

...  eating a hot dinner.

...  a husband who always makes the coffee.

...  sleeping in-between two of my favorite people.

...  watching avery eat cereal. 

...  ibooks.  a book on my phone makes reading possible these days.

...  watching ellie sleep.

...  hearing avery say i love you.

...  a phone conversation without a crying baby in the background or a toddler stealing the phone.

...  FaceTime.

...  cooking on a weeknight.

...  having charlie and my dad here for 5 days!

...  dessert.

...  baking with avery.

...  clean sheets.

...  cloth diapers with a newborn.  they contain all the messes.

...  clean kids.

...  coconut oil.  i've been using it for everything.

...  the crock pot.  it makes dinner possible these days.

...  the hour or so at night after both kids are asleep.  

...  playing blocks and animals. 

...  when avery says "hold you". because i know someday soon she'll be saying "hold me".

...  amazon prime.

...  march!  spring is coming.  someday.

...  reading books with avery.  and ellie, too!

...  avery wearing sunglasses.

...  that moment in the car when everyone is quiet.

...  discussing future house plans.

...  catching up on hulu after the olympics.

...  texts from charlie when he's traveling.
...  watching ellie grow up.  grabbing toys, sitting in the bumbo, and laughing.  it really is just as good the second time around.    

a photo attempt.

it's pretty well known in my family that we take horrible pictures.  any attempt at a group photo is never very successful.  poor charlie is always the one being asked to take the pictures and he always gets frustrated because we're never looking at the camera at the same time.  these pictures were the best of the worst.  but i still appreciate having them.  it was my dad's first time meeting ellie and that had to be documented no matter how awful the pictures.  thanks for the attempt charlie.   

family.

my dad was here for about 5 days last week.  it was wonderful.  lately i've only been able to see him about twice a year and our last few visits were pretty short so it was nice to have him here for a decent chunk of time.  avery was in love with having him here.  she loves to boss people around and grandparents seem to be the only people who will put up with that nonsense.  i always wonder how she'll do with family since we don't see them very often.  i think the last time she saw my dad was about six months ago, which is a long time in the world of toddlers.  but she picked right up where they left off.  when we got home after picking him up it was her nap time and she kicked me out of the room because she wanted grandpa to put her down for her nap.  

one of the positives (there aren't many) to having family live far away is that you don't take the little things for granted when they're around.  watching them read a book together or watching my dad hold ellie is pretty amazing because they never get to do those things.  unloading the dishwasher with two hands is also pretty amazing.     

i can't say we did that much when he was out here.  we never really seem to when people come because we're usually pretty content just to enjoy the company.  they made an airplane, drew a lot, read many, many books, face timed with grandma (which avery always monopolizes), and went to the playground.  i also drank hot coffee and ate a hot dinner every night.  usually charlie and i will take turns with holding ellie and if he's not around then i usually don't even bother with putting food on a plate these days.  but my dad held ellie a few nights, which meant i sat down and ate dinner with charlie and avery.  it's the little things, right? 

avery went down the BIG slide at the park for the first time.  i was pretty impressed. 

i've had people ask if it's hard to not have family around us while we have kids.  and i always say yes it's really, really, really hard.  it's hard because i don't feel comfortable leaving my kids with strangers and i would love to enjoy a brunch with charlie every once in a while and it's hard because i love our families and i wish they could be a bigger part of our kids lives.  it's also hard because avery (and ellie soon, i'm sure) loves her grandparents and aunts and uncle.  and every time we drop them off at the airport after a visit she cries.  that part is very, very hard.  but i am so thankful for FaceTime which really has allowed her to know each of them better than what she would if we were just talking on the phone.  and i really cherish each day that we get to spend with these people.

thanks for coming dad.  can't wait to see you again soon.  and i think that house is still for sale.  

project 52:5

being a family means that you are part of something wonderful.  

it means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life.
no matter what.

i love when we have family come and visit.  my kids are so lucky to have these people in their lives. 

project 52: 4

let whatever you do today be enough.

today we read books, we built towers for our monkeys, we all napped, we played and imagined, we danced, we FaceTimed with the people we love, we ate cookies, we all rocked and read books tonight, we spilled cereal all over ourselves and ran around without clothes on, we showered and pretended the shampoo bottles were babies, we colored and stuck stickers everywhere, we hugged dogs and chased cats, we smiled at the baby a lot, we had macaroni and cheese for dinner, we sang songs, we hugged and kissed each other and said i love you for no reason, we learned to make a heart with our hands, and we practiced counting to five with our fingers.  today was a good day.

ellie: three months.

wow, three months!  that always feels like we're almost out of newborn territory.  for me that milestone seems to be around four months but i've noticed that there have been a lot of changes this month, too. 

... the biggest thing is that you no longer scream your way through the evenings.  this has been huge.  i love to see those smiles all day long now and i no longer dread the 5 o'clock hour. 

...  you still are sleeping in the rock 'n play and our bed at night.  i have a feeling i'll attempt to move you to either your crib or the cosleeper for that first stretch at night in the next month or so.  i would love to get our bedroom back for that first nighttime hour so i can read books in bed.  

...  you're still spending a large amount of time in our bed after that first wake up.  whatever.  it seems to be where we all sleep best for right now.

...  you got sick for the first time.  your sister came down with an upper respiratory virus and you got it about a week and a half after she did.  considering she was coughing and sneezing all over you, despite my best attempts to keep you both separated, i'm not at all surprised that you got sick.  i took you to the doctor to make sure that you were okay.  you were really stuffy, miserable, coughing a ton, and had a low grade fever.  but he didn't seem concerned.  

...  you just took your first ride in the stroller without your carseat.  you seemed to like it a lot better and slept most of our walk.  

...  you have really bad cradle cap on your eyes. it looks terrible and i think is pretty itchy and painful for you.  you rub your eyes all the time and this makes things even worse.  i've been putting coconut oil on it to help but i'm hoping this goes away for you soon. 

...  you weigh about 11.5 pounds and are wearing almost all 3-6 month clothing.  you feel huge to me but you're around the 25% for weight.

...  you're still napping in the moby.  as much as i like having you close to me and i don't mind you napping there i think we'll need to start getting you to nap in your crib soonish.  i think you'd sleep a lot longer stretches if you weren't being woken up by avery's screams or my constant movement.  if you fall asleep in your carseat then you can sleep for hours and then wake up much happier then you do from a 45 minute nap in the moby.

...  you smile all the time.  anytime anyone looks at you they're rewarded with a big smile.  you and avery spent a good amount of time separated this month because at least one of you was sick most of the time but even though you're still sick i've started to let you guys hang out together more and you're definitely a fan of your big sister.  she loves you a lot, too and is always telling you that.  she'll try and comfort you when you cry, pat your head and squeeze your thighs saying "chunky, chunky".  she calls you elle belle all the time and is really into you having "tummy time" (something we are terrible about doing), and helping you roll over.  

...  you're beginning to laugh.  we're not really at the belly laugh point yet but we get a lot of little laughs.  i love to see you happy.  

...  you're eating about every 2-3 hours during the day and will go longer at night.  you've had several nights of 7 hour stretches but your norm is probably 5-6 hours for that first stretch.  you've also had several nights of just waking up once to eat, which was amazing.  but you normally wake up at least 2-3 times during the night to eat.  this isn't usually too bad since you're right next to me but i could get used to the once a night wake ups.  :)

happy three months, elle.  i love watching you grow up and learn new things.  i cannot wait to watch you explore your world as you get older.  and i'm really looking forward to all of the outside time that we'll get once the weather warms up this spring.