This is Going to be Fun

A year almost to the day since my last post. Oops. There's no other way to do this than to just jump back in. So, we had another baby - another girl - in September. Abigail Rose. There are lots of fun things about having two girls, but I think my favorite is going to be putting them in the same outfits and posing them in the same way and seeing how they're the same and how they're different.

{6 month comparison}

It's funny how little differences add up to a completely different look. If you look at each part, they look very much the same. But put it all together and, to me at least, they don't really look much alike at all. Stay tuned for the next installment.

Randoms

Some random stuff in an attempt to catch up a bit. It's pretty wacky having a 3 year old. Part joy, part absolute frustration, and a whole lot of whining. From everyone.

1. We're getting better at letting Ellie help in the kitchen. She makes a big mess and doesn't listen well, but at least she's enjoying herself.

2. She can make an "E" - for a kid not interested in letters much at all, this is a pretty big deal. This is her first attempt, in February. She can now make them very clearly. She refuses to draw any other letters.

3. After a long hiatus from painting, we pulled them out again. She asked to make a rocket out of her hand print. She made a hand print by painting both her arms up to the elbows, reminding me why we took some time off from painting. Goofy is looking out the window.

4. She's still a funny sleeper.

Oh....The Eleanor Went to the Dentist

And she sat down in the chair...

Ellie had her first visit with the dentist in January and it was a big success. She was so brave, climbed right up in the chair, and listened really well to the hygienist and the dentist. They counted her teeth, "painted" them pink (which she was super excited about), and showed her all the tools. She wasn't scared one bit!

She looked so big sitting in the chair. We like our dentist alright, but it isn't a good place for kids. So we tried out a new one for her, and LOVED it. Glad we got that first visit out of the way at a place we look forward to going back to!

First Big Snow of 2011

I'm just going to pretend that I haven't gone missing for months, and that I'm not more than a year behind in what I want to blog about, and just go ahead like you all know what's going on.

It snowed! Our power was out and the house was cold, so we went out and made a snowman. I haven't made a snowman in a long time, it was really fun!

Ellie helped a little bit, but preferred wandering around and being buried.

And tasting the snow, of course.

I think he's the only snowman in the neighborhood, which is kind of sad. But it does make him the most awesome!

{howdy neighbors!}

Crafty Day

Every once in awhile I see an idea for a simple craft that I think I can handle and I give it a shot, usually with mixed results. This one I figured I could do without too much trouble, and I did! I spray painted some cans and put some art supplies in them. Tada!

{oooooo. ahhhhhh. ohhhhhhh.}

I think they came out pretty cute and will hopefully help us keep these easily strewn supplies contained.

Big Girl Bed Hijinks

We decided it was time to transition Ellie out of her crib and into a big girl bed around New Years. The whole transition went surprisingly well. After all the worrying we did about what the rules would be and how we'd enforce them, she adjusted almost immediately and we've never had to really lay down the law at all. Kind of a let down, almost. I'm not complaining.

At first we found her in all kinds of crazy positions, but eventually she's settled in to sleeping like a regular human, head on the pillow, blanket on, that sort of thing.

What she does do, though, is sneak out of bed and grab things to take back to bed with her. I've caught her in the act. She must plan out what she's going for before getting out of bed because she quickly runs and grabs what she wants, then runs and jumps back into bed. It's hilarious.

She started just grabbing some stuffed animals and an occasional purse or two.

{Muno, Cat in the Hat, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Beeker}

Then she went through a long phase of putting shoes on. Flip flops, crocks, slippers, dress shoes, but always matching pairs (not always on the right feet).

Eventually we moved the shoes out of her room. So, she started grabbing books, we'd find 4 or 5 books in there with her some nights. Then things got really quiet for awhile, and we kind of thought she was over getting up and grabbing random things. Then we found her the other night like this:

Not over it.

However, she does seem to be over "ninny." We told her last night ninny was gone. There were some big tears, but they didn't last long. Tonight she asked for ninny, we told her it was gone, and that was that. Kind of sad to see that vestige of her babyhood go. Again, I'm not complaining.

Foofa and DJ Lance Rock

Last year at Halloween we put off getting Ellie's costume until the last minute. This year I decided to make one! My mom always made costumes for us and they were so cool. Well, I think they were. Anyway, I think my first effort came out pretty good. I wasn't creative enough to come up with my own ideas, I stole from her favorite tv show, Yo Gabba Gabba.

The body was fairly simple to make. I had a pants pattern and I used a sweater that fit her really well as a template for the shirt. The hat I had to make two of. I learned a lot about the way a hat looks when it's flat vs. when it's actually on someone's head.

It took me forever to make, but in the end it was totally worth it. Mostly because she still drags this thing out and asks to be foofa at least once a week. And it still fits!

Pumpkin Carving

We had a great time last Halloween, so even though it's been awhile I wanted to at least write something official about it.

Our little town (technically a suburb I guess but it doesn't feel like a suburb) had a pumpkin carving event!

They had a bunch of tables set up with carving equipment and a bunch of pumpkins available to carve. You just picked one and tried to find an open spot at a table and carved away. Check out this pumpkin! It's huge!

There were tons of families, they had a little bandstand with local musicians and the kids enjoyed dancing.

Ellie helped decorate, and I used her lines as a guide. I think it turned out pretty cute.

A couple of days later they'd taken all the pumpkins and arranged them along a path in the woods and you could go on a pumpkin hike. It was muddy and a little drizzly and Pete was out of town so I didn't get any pictures and I had to carry Ellie the whole way. But it was so neat to see all the pumpkins and look for ours.

Looking forward to this year!!

Haircut!

After some deliberation I decided Ellie needed a haircut last Semptember.

{wispy crazy}

{we did pigtails before the big chop}

So, I cut it. Yup, me! Came out pretty cute, too, if I do say so myself.

{we miss Grandma}

I've since trimmed it up a couple of times, and taken her to a real hairstylist to fix my mistakes a couple of times. Sometimes I wonder if she'll want to grow it out or if I made the right choice, but I like her little bob and it sure is easy to keep combed out!

It's kind of funny doing this almost a year later because her hair is so much fuller now. You'll see. I'll get there eventually.

Maui is Heaven

Pete's parents, who are always very very generous (as are all of our families, we are very fortunate), flew the three of us and Aunt Su Su to Maui to stay at a resort for a week. A WEEK! Holy smokes, that was a fabulous time.

First of all, the resort was gorgeous. Fabulous pool with awesome slides right out our back door. Beach just a few feet away. It even had an adults only pool that served cocktails. IN THE POOL. You looked out over the pool edge to see the coast and ocean and beauty. And typical Maui weather, 80's and dry all. day. long. For a WEEK.

{resort entrance}


{view from our room}


{beach even a 1.75 year old could walk to from our room}

Then, we went on this awesome bike trip down the side of Haleakala after freezing our behinds off to watch the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen. I'm not even sure how to describe it except to say we were above the clouds. And it was really really really cold, and I hate being cold, and it was absolutely worth it.

I did not want to go on this ride by the way. Getting up ridiculously early (I don't care what time it was back home) to freeze for 30 minutes in the dark and then fly down the side of a very tall mountain on a tiny bike did not sound like fun to me. I was wrong. I can admit that.

Then, they have this really amazing aquarium. Really amazing! Ellie was fascinated. The best part was they had basically a tunnel through a tank with a small portion of the floor that was see-through. The reaction from Ellie running down the tunnel then realizing she was about to cross an "open" pit was hilarious. Wish we'd caught that on video.

{the wind is always blowing on this part of the island}

Then, the grandparents took Ellie for the day and Pete and I just explored the island. We hit the little winery, and then we ventured a bit further south and saw the sights.

The story of the black rocks is these are not tiny pebbles and they make the most amazing rumbling sound in the surf. It was impossible to get a recording of it because the wind is always blowing, but it was definitely worth a trip to hear it.

Otherwise, we just had an amazing time hanging out with the grandparents and relaxing and enjoying everything about this entire trip.

Even the plane ride home wasn't too horrific.