Random thoughts

I can't believe it is already Sunday night.  We've had such a good weekend, but why do weekends fly by?

There was an Open Book event at the library that we decided to go to on Saturday.  It was basically a day with all kinds of event for kiddos, but the BIG attraction was people dressed up as Curious George, Llama Llama, Cat in the Hat, Clifford, etc.  Life with kids...this is how we spend our weekends. :) It actually was really fun, but I wasn't sure what Miss E would think of the characters.  We talked a lot about them before hand, and she was really excited...before she saw them.  Then she was absolutely, completely petrified.  She liked looking at them from a distance, but don't even THINK about trying to get a picture of her with them.  Instead we got a hilarious video of her avoiding them.  Oh our sweet little girl.

We were able to go with our BFFs, M and Kate, and in true form, the girls could not have been any more different.  M was a HUGE fan of George and Llama Llama and gave them multiple hugs.  When we got home, Elliott wouldn't quit talking about how Llama Llama was "so big" and "M so little."  After staring at the characters, we went to a banjo/singing/dancing show.  Side note...who in their right mind would want to be a children's performer?  I was exhausted just watching the guy, and even more tired from all the "dances" (and we left halfway through the show).  Elliott loved the singing/clapping/jumping/craziness, while M was less than impressed.  Thankful the girls love each other even though they're so different!

Waiting for the show.

"Cheese"

We also got some MAJOR work done on the whole room swappage.  You thought we'd be done by now?  That makes two of us.  I'm not sure why, but I was assuming we could get this whole switcheroo done in an afternoon.  Boy was I wrong.  We got the major furniture moved that afternoon, but all the clothes, book shelves, toys, etc have been switched in stages.  It's REALLY hard accomplishing pretty much anything with small children.  So the good news is we've basically gotten everything switched, gone through all the toys to organize/de-clutter the room, but we still don't have anything on the wall.  I'm just thankful I won't have to creep into the kids' room to get my shoes while they're sleeping.  As far as how the room sharing is going, they actually haven't done a lot of room sharing yet.  We still have Mason sleeping in the pack n play in the office connected to our room.  He has been sleeping SO good and has been sleeping until 7 almost every morning.  And my last feeding is not 7 or 8!!  Major accomplishment!!  

I have let them take several naps together in the same room which has worked out okay, not great.  The first time I laid them both down awake, E cried for a while, then crawled our her crib, and I found her climbed on Mason's crib talking to him.  Sweet, but not good for sleeping.  She hasn't crawled out again, but I have really been unsure on whether or not I should switch her to a toddler bed.  I'm sure she would love the freedom, but I'm pretty sure it would be a battle to keep her in her bed.  I could be wrong, but it seems like pretty much everything is a battle with this little firecracker.  I guess for now we'll just continue working on naps together.  Not sure I'm ready to give up a full nights rest yet. :)

 Drawing in her baby's stroller.  Good thing this thing is sturdy enough to hold a 30+ pound child.

 We don't have cable so we watch shows on Netflix.  Gotta love Curious George!

 Elliott LOVES being in the crib together.

She's been so sweet to Mason lately.  She always asks, "Where Masey go?" if he's not with me.  Such a change from when he was first born!

8 month update

Little man is 8 months (or 8 and a half months but who's counting)!  I've definitely had moments recently where I realize he's not a tiny baby anymore (even though I sometimes want him to stay that way) and he's looking more and more like a little boy.  Sigh.  They grow up so fast.

I did not get a chance to have a "photo shoot" with my little guy this month, so you get to enjoy all my instagram pics.

 He is wearing size 4 diapers and 9 month clothes or 6-12 months.  I'm actually still able to squeeze him into some smaller onesies.  Buying new clothes for these growing kiddos (not to mention changing seasons) gets expensive!

He still eats 5 times a day, with first feeding around 7 and last feeding around 10 (although he goes to bed between 7 and 8).  His milk intake has really increased this month, and he now takes anywhere between 7 and 9 ounces from a bottle (when I'm working).  I CANNOT keep up and pump enough for this hungry guy.

He eats solids morning and evening, and has tried all kinds of new food this month.  No reactions so far.  I've been seriously limiting his cereal intake because...well...poor guy is constipated all.the.time.  He will not drink juice, so he eats prunes a lot.  Like a lot.  His new thing when he eats solids is take a bite, hand in the mouth, touch every other part of his face/head/tray, repeat.  Needless to say, he's a dirty boy when we're done.

 I think he's teething (top 2 teeth) so he has been a little fussy lately.  Definitely a little more needy.

He is in a serious grabbing phase and he's super fast.  He keeps his arm extended constantly when you're carrying him, waiting for you to get close enough to something he can grab.  Coffee cup, picture, cups, etc.  The other day he grabbed Kev's frozen yogurt, spilling it all over the floor.  We're always "those" people in restaurants with multiple spills, screaming children.  You know, the ones you want to sit by. :)

 He's not crawling, but he rolls all over the place and can scoot to about anything he wants.  Speaking of wants, he gets REALLY sad when you take something away from him.  And cries the saddest cry ever so you feel really guilty.  He also gets sad when you leave him in a room by himself.  He's a little people person.

 He still thinks sister is the BEST!  He loves to watch her and grab at whatever she has.  So far she has been pretty patient.

He is still really ticklish...especially under his arms and on his legs.  Can't get enough of his sweet laughter.

 This was his first time swinging.  He thought it was AWESOME...well the swing itself was awesome. So many yummy (and germy) parts to chew on.

I think he's becoming more aware of strangers vs friends/family.  He will still smile and strangers but not as readily.  And he will definitely cry if you get into his face and he doesn't know you.

He's a keeper!

So we have a major development in our household.  We are putting the kids in the same room!!!  We painted their room while my parents were here, but finally moved the beds and furniture today.  If you don't remember, Mason has been in our room since he was born (our house is only 2 bedrooms and our room is really big so he has his section of the room), and it was getting old.  Really old.  We may be totally regretting our decision when they're both up in the middle of the night screaming, but hopefully they will get used to each others' noise.  Anybody else have any experience with this?

Lately

Back to life.  Back to reality.

I feel like I've said this before but this line is always running through my mind as we return to reality...aka life without Momo (my mom).  We were blessed to have my mom come stay with us for a week and a half and my dad for 4 days.  We feel SO blessed that they would take time out of their busy schedules to come stay with us, especially for such a long period of time.  I've probably said this before, but Momo is Elliott's favorite person.  Hands down.  No question.  When Momo is here, she wants nothing to do with Mommy or Daddy, she wants Momo.  One thing about E is she does NOTHING half-hearted, so those she loves, she REALLY loves.  Thankfully, my mom had the energy and stamina to keep up with an extremely energetic 2 year-old.

Of course, I did a terrible job of taking pictures, but here are smattering (hmmm...did I just make that word up?) of iphone pics.

We did lots of duck watching/duck feeding.

I seriously love this action shot.  It took Miss E a while to realize that she needed to THROW the food. She started by chasing after the ducks saying, "[Here] go duck."





Teaching the bean how to shave.

She's a fast learner. :)

Of course, Miss E has been talking about Momo and Papa ever since they left, and every time we see an airplane, she's convinced they're on it.  Funny little girl.  She's been seriously cracking us up lately.  She has started talking so much more, and although a lot of it is still jibberish, more and more is making sense.  I love to see how her little mind works.

Nothing that warms my heart more than seeing my little girl love her daddy.

Totally random fact...while I was on my blogging break, I also completed a triathalon.  I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of myself.  It was really fun, and I'm so glad my friend convinced me to do it.


So I just realized I didn't post any pics of Little Man.  I will soon.  Promise.  Because I totally missed his 8 month post (is he really 8 months old???) but I definitely plan to still do it.  Hopefully I'm back blogging for good.  Famous last words.