ellie: one month

happy one month, ellie!  

...  you had your first thanksgiving and christmas.  

...  you met your grandma niki, and your grandma and grandpa L, and your aunt alex. 

... you passed your hearing test.  yay!

...  you smile a lot more now and spend a decent amount of time awake and actually making eye contact with us.

... you love your big sister.

... you helped us celebrate avery's birthday and daddy's birthday.

...  i'm guessing you weigh around 10 pounds.  you're wearing size one diapers and 0-3 month clothes.

...  you not on a schedule and i have no idea how often you sleep or eat.  i feed you when you're hungry and you nap when you're tired.  i'm guessing you eat every 3 hours on average although you cluster feed in the evenings.  

...  you sleep in the rock 'n play and our bed.  

...  you saw the zoo lights and are usually pretty happy in the moby when you're out.  

i have loved the squishy newborn stage that you're in. i love snuggling with you whenever your big sister is sleeping.  and i love watching you and your sister hang out together.      

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).  

pre-christmas 2013 and a very special birthday

it's the christmas season! which in our house is also the season of birthdays.  we celebrated charlie's and avery's birthdays last week and somehow i managed to make it through without feeling too stressed.

avery loved dinner!

charlie turned 31 on tuesday and we kept things pretty low-key.  just the way he likes them apparently.  he bought himself his gift a few weeks ago so i didn't have to stress about finding him the perfect present or even something acceptable enough that he wouldn't return.  he actually took the day off and started it off by letting me sleep in with ellie and making french toast for us & his parents who were visiting.  have i mentioned he's a good guy?  we hung out, took avery to the playground, and ate dinner at a japanese steakhouse.  we had plans to do the zoo lights after dinner but it ended up running pretty late and so instead we headed home for cake and presents before avery's bedtime.  every year he asks for a carvel cake, which makes things even easier for me.  i got him the game cards against humanity, which we played for a bit with his parents that night.  definitely not a game to play with anyone who you don't know too well!  

avery's second birthday was also pretty tame.  ellie was pretty fussy that whole day so i had to spend a lot of time just taking care of her.  we took avery to barnes and noble to play with the legos, had macaroni and cheese for dinner, FaceTimed with everyone by the end of the day, and opened a few presents.  when i asked her what kind of cake she wanted she told me chocolate with chocolate icing so that's what she got! the icing was a little stiff but overall the cake was pretty good.

and here's just some random pictures of us and the kids as of late.  i can't get over how big ellie is getting!  at her two week appointment she was just about 8 pounds but i'm guessing she's gained at least a pound or two since then based on the fact that she's outgrowing all of her clothes.  avery is slightly obsessed with her sister and is really helpful with taking care of her throughout the day.

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. 

two!

two years.  i still can't believe it.  how is it possible that you've already been a part of this family for two years?  mostly, it feels like you were born just yesterday but i also can't imagine a day when you weren't a part of our family. 

avery, here's you at two:  

you're funny.  

you make us laugh all.the.time.  you repeat things we say back to us all the time which is both hilarious and terrifying.   

you love your baby sister.  

i'll admit it isn't always easy and you don't love her 24 hours a day but things have gotten a lot easier in the past week and you really are the sweetest with her.  you constantly want to hold her, you always come and comfort her when you hear her crying, you show her your toys, help with her diaper changes and baths, and hug and kiss her all the time.  

you're a big talker.  

your dad was making fun of me because just the other day i said that i felt like your vocabulary has just exploded, but really it has.  everything is a part of your vocabulary now and you are constantly saying words and phrases that i didn't think you knew.  you're talking in full sentences, using pronouns correctly about half of the time, and having conversations with anyone you decide is worthy of one.  the other day we were coloring and you said to charlie "look dad, i made a circle on the table".  last month you hadn't figured out that avery = i or me but now you use it all the time.  one funny thing that you say all the time is "i do", which means yes.  sometimes you use it correctly like when we ask you if you want to go take a bath but other times it's just a substitute for the word "yes".  

you love books.  

you read to your sister, to yourself, you ask your dad and i to read you books all the time.  you've really liked our christmas books this month and you're still a pretty big fan of dr. seuss.  i love watching you read and reading to you and i hope that your love for reading doesn't end any time soon.  you have a great memory and have memorized a few of the books that we read pretty frequently.  fox in socks is one of your favorites that you ask your dad to read just about every night (apparently i don't read this one fast enough or without mistakes because you never want me to read it unless he's out of town).  you also like to read this one on your own and you know what's happening in each of the pages.  you'll say "fox socks box" and "sue sews" and "slow joe crow comes" and on and on.  i think i actually enjoy watching you read the book more than your dad.  :)

you love being outside. 

you love going to the playground, going on runs in the stroller with your dad, and playing with the snow.  it's been really, really cold lately but we try and get you outside to play as often as we can.  

you love animals.  

you play with your animals all the time and are really good at identifying them.  you can tell the difference between an elk and a moose, a big horn sheep and a ram, a lizard and an alligator, a monkey and a gorilla, and many others that i won't name here.  you love to make up games and songs with your animals and had a really fun time playing with your grandma when she was out here visiting.  you're less into our animals these days and are currently in a phase where dunkin seems to annoy you a lot and you're always pushing him and saying "dunkin move".  but then you'll climb on top of him and pet his ears and grab his tail.  you're pretty lucky he's such a good dog.  you're always trying to get the cats in trouble and will tell us "toby get down" (your way of telling us that toby is on the counter) even if he's not even around.  you still love going to the aquarium and will get pretty excited if we talk about going.

you're a great helper.

you help to clean.  usually the appliances are a favorite although the other day you helped me out with cleaning the bathrooms.  you'll get out a diaper, changing pad, and wipes if i need to change ellie and will actually get upset if anyone else tries to help.  you hand us wipes while we're changing her and you love to pretend to change your animals.  

you're a great sleeper.

you sleep about 11-12 hours at night and put yourself to sleep.  you demand that i put your blankets on you when i put you in your crib.  you're also (finally) successfully napping in your crib.  we have the same routine for naps as we to for bedtime:  books, a review of our day, and then you climb into your crib.  your daddy started singing the wheels on the bus to you at nap time so you now request that during naps.  
   

aaand ....
you play imaginary games all the time with your animals, stuffed animals, the dogs and cats, and just about anything else.  you give kisses and hugs all the time and demand that we give them back.  you also will ask for a kiss if you see your daddy and i kissing.  you love the broncos and assume that every football team on tv is them.  you ask to wear your broncos shirt every day and get so excited when you wear it on game days and your daddy wears his, too.  you're cautious about new people and situations and prefer to hang back with your dad or i until you're really comfortable with new people. you love to draw and are really good at holding pens, markers, and crayons.  you're still a bit ambidextrous.  you write with your right hand but eat with your left.  you love your grandparents even though we don't see anyone as often as we would like.  you love to meet new dogs and are fearless about petting other people's animals.  you smile and laugh all the time.  even though you've started throwing some epic tantrums you usually bounce back pretty quickly.  you wake up grumpy from naps just like i do.  you take care of your bunny the way that i take care of ellie.  you hold her, dress her, cover her in blankets, feed her, and change her diaper.  you LOVE christmas: the lights, the trees, the decorations, the cookies,

  

happy birthday to the best sunday morning pancake maker, fox in socks reader, 3 am diaper changer, wheels on the bus singer, halloween decorator, baby carrier, house cleaner, dinner partner, grocery shopper, bath giver, hiking partner, ikea furniture assembler, christmas light hanger, dad, and friend.  can't think of anyone i'd rather do life with.  happy 31st.