Monday, October 29, 2012

Slacker

So, this year I am an official Halloween slacker. I haven't done anything - we have yet to get pumpkins and carve them (Bry and I haven't missed a year since being married), I have no costume and won't, Bry is still costume less, no decorations, no candy ready for the trick-or-treat night. We also skipped the ward Halloween party because I wasn't feeling so hot this last weekend. Also, I just barely picked up a costume for Ellinor this last Saturday (thanks to Aunt Becca). She is going to be a zebra - basically, it was the cutest of the options left at Kohls. Haha. She does look adorable in it though!

Goal today: Pick up Pumpkins and candy. Help Bryan figure out a costume. Maybe watch a scary flick to get in the spirit (although, I hate horror and ghost movies.....). This does require that I pull myself together to leave the house, so it may be harder than it sounds. LOL.

2nd Goal Today: Pick up some regular groceries. Play Outside with Ellinor. Perhaps attempt an art project.

Also, I just have to mention my our new family motto - it came from watching an episode of "Chopped." I LOVE that show - could watch it for hours. Anyhow, a contestant on an old recorded episode I watched yesterday was talking about his ability to remain calm under the pressure. He said, "Basically, I'm too blessed to be stressed." There you have it folks. My new favorite motto - TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED.



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Things!

20 week ultrasound is scheduled for November 12th! Aaaahhhhh - so excited. I cannot wait to see this little one again! Not to mention we are dying to know what the gender is. :)

This last Saturday night we left Ellinor with her first non-family babysitter. I was nervous as heck about it, but she handled it splendidly of course. Not even a tear when we left. I was good too - only called once to check on things. Bry and I are happy to know that we now have an excellent option for date nights - the young woman we picked is a sweetheart. She even got Ellinor down for bed without a binky! We haven't been able to master that one yet. Sheesh. Becca called her our magic babysitter. I think I'll keep her on call. ;)

I subbed in nursery on Sunday. I was happy to be there to play with the kiddos, but my own kid ignored me for most of the 2 hours. Haha - she's just so independent. We came home from church and headed straight to bed - skipping lunch. Early Sunday mornings after no sleep on Saturday will do that to you. Sadly, Ellinor battled with a fever on Sunday afternoon and Monday. Poor girl. I always get so sad whenever she doesn't feel well. I did enjoy the immense amount of cuddling time that she allowed though. ;)

I am reigning myself in from decorating for Christmas already. We scheduled Ellinor's Santa pics with Fotofly for November 12th as well - uh oh. Better make sure they are both (ultrasound and Ellinor pics) in my calendar. The way my mind works I will forget one or the other. Oy. It will be an exciting day! We wanted to do those pictures last year, but all of the appointments filled up before I even knew such a wonderful thing existed. So, this year I was more prepared. Since the sessions are so short I am crossing my fingers that Ellinor will be a good sport - they will let Bry dress up in the Santa outfit so I'm expecting her to be fine. Bring on Christmas - I absolutely love it!


Thursday, October 18, 2012

Autumn Wins

Balloon animals - that's how every dentist appointment should end. Ellinor had her first dentist appointment this last Wed. I've been meaning to get her in, as everyone seems to recommend an appointment at 12 months, but I just couldn't believe that it was necessary at such a young age. Anyhoooo, I took Ellinor to one of our local dentists for her first check up so I could check it off the "good parenting" list. Haha. I was nervous that she would absolutely refuse to cooperate with Mr. Dentist, so I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful she did. Ellinor laid right back on the exam chair (due to a Disney flick playing on the ceiling TV) and settled right in. She let the nice dentist poke around in her mouth, count her teeth and do a quick fluoride treatment (as long as I stayed sitting on the chair right next to her) without making a peep. I was so proud of our little one - what a pro! It did help that the dental hygienist fawned over her the whole time. ;) And at the end of this official 5 minute check up Ellinor was given a balloon animal of her choosing - I used ESP and decided she wanted a blue and pink butterfly. I propose that my dentist provide me with a fun movie and prize at the end of my exams as well.




This last Monday was my birthday and it was wonderful! I had this brilliant (hehe) idea to paint our formal living room wall over the weekend and my awesome hubby accepted the challenge (full well knowing I wouldn't be much help in my current state). I decided I needed some metallic sheen stripes on the offending wall and laid out my plans. Bry worked hard for me for 3 days, through some tricky paint textures and ladder-over-stairs balancing. I adore him. And I adore my new wall. :)




We've had an unfortunate UPS incident at our house this week. My fabulous mom shipped my birthday box through UPS and told me to prepare for its arrival this last Tuesday. I stayed home all day anxiously awaiting the knock on my door from Mr. UPS himself. At 3ish in the afternoon Ellinor and I were playing the piano in our front room when I heard the familiar roar of a big truck. I looked out our window and sure enough the man himself was parked in the street. I watched him deliver a box to my neighbor then drive away. Hmmm, I was bummed but figured my box would show up at a later delivery and went on with my day. Mom called me a couple hours later to see if I liked the gift -when she checked the tracking number on UPS' website it said the box had been delivered to a woman at my address at 3:23 that afternoon. Weirdness, as I received no box. :( Alas, the mystery has yet to be solved. UPS confirmed they had the correct address on the package and in their system, the driver logged the box as being accepted by a woman, and yet I have no box. It doesn't look like I will be receiving that birthday gift after all. Mistakes happen, I know, but what irks me is that some woman (if the UPS driver is to be believed) accepted a package with my name and address and has kept it. This makes me sad. As a result I went to send my mom her birthday gift and was too gun shy to ship it (oy, lol). Thank goodness a local store in Bonney Lake had the item and I was able to arrange for dad to pick it up instead. Oh the joys of mail.

Fall is in full swing and I couldn't love it any more. My house is pretty much themed around fall colors, so obviously I find outside just gorgeous these days. And there is something about walking through fallen leaves that makes one feel giddy. Ellinor and I have been enjoying some afternoon walks through the leaves as she points out every tree - her favorite walk pastime lately. I am hoping we head out to enjoy a corn maze adventure and pick our pumpkins this weekend. I also need to tackle some baking - I have the itch, now just need the supplies. :)






Thursday, October 11, 2012

Thursday

Sometimes I have entertaining things to blog about, but no energy to actually do it. Then I have tons of energy and cannot summon anything to write about. One of those funny things about life.

Yesterday Ellinor got stuck in our office chair. There are small openings between the arms of the chair and the seat. She took it upon herself to slide through the opening, head first, trying to reach the computer. I was in the kitchen down the hall loading dishes and heard her start to yell for me. I ran in and caught her stuck, looking somewhat alarmed. It was all I could do to keep myself from laughing and taking a picture. But, seeing as how that would have required leaving the room to hunt down  camera I decided it was too cruel. After some careful maneuvering, and some not-so-gentle tugging needed at the end, we freed her head from the chair. I would like to hope she'll learn from this. But past experience tells me otherwise.

We have lots of cute headbands for Ellinor from my friend Brittany. Brittany brought them over months ago, but because Ellinor has stayed relatively small they still fit her pretty well. She, however, refuses to wear them. It's a constant battle to find a way to keep her growing hair out of her eyes. Most of the time she's just running around with a birds nest on her head. The other day she found my wedding garter that I had hanging in my jewelry box. Upon wiggling it free she instantly placed it on her head like the perfect headdress and continued to wear it for hours. Who knew all I needed was a shiny garter to keep her hair in place? ha.

We need to go pick up our pumpkins soon. Hopefully we make it happen this weekend. I'm feeling like the least festive neighbor on our street. I also want to pick up a couple mini pumpkins for Ellinor and I to paint. Hoping she gets a kick out of that. The last time I tried finger painting with her she was totally grossed out by the feel of the paint and wouldn't go for it. Given it's been months, I'm hoping she dives in this time around.



Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Just Happy

Last night Ellinor let me rock her to sleep - all the way, without protest. It was amazing. I do love how easy she goes to bed these days, but I miss her needing me more. Ha, it's bittersweet to watch her grow and become more independent. As I was rocking her I couldn't believe how big she is. I remember holding her in the nursing room back when she was in the hospital nursery for those 9 days. She was was so tiny I could fit her right under my chin and just hold her for ever. Now she takes up my entire upper body, and that's when she's curled up. :) I won't lie, the tears flowed endlessly for awhile. I forget to slow down and truly treasure her every day. We get caught up in just making it through most times, but she's already such a little girl. I am grateful for her spirit in my life. I am in awe that Heavenly Father has entrusted her to me. And I am going to miss the little baby Ellinor that grew so fast. But I am amazed at how wonderful she is - even after she throws a complete meltdown tantrum in Payless. ;)

I am excited for this new little baby, more so every day. I find that with this pregnancy it has taken longer to impact us because our lives are completely focused on Ellinor. But as the time goes by (14 weeks today!) it registers fully that our next little spirit is soon to join us. I can only imagine how happy we will be to have him/her here.

Over the weekend we were blessed to watch General Conference. The older I get the more I appreciate this great opportunity to hear from President Monson and our other leaders. They are undeniably called of God and I naturally love them to pieces. I do not know how anyone could listen to their words and not feel the same way. Conference always has a way of lifting my spirits and energizing me - spiritually, mentally and even physically. Not to be cliche in any way, but I really do feel so much more optimistic about life. I have felt so incredibly grateful these last few months for my amazing life. I recognize every day how extremely blessed I am. And conference always highlights blessings that I sometimes forget to recognize. It is overwhelming to try to thank my Heavenly Father for all that He does for me. My goal is try to live in such a way that He knows how grateful I am. I can try a little (or a lot, if I really think about it) harder and do a little more for Him each day. As Elder Holland asked, "do I love Him?" Of course I do. But do I show it enough in my every day choices? I hope to answer yes soon enough.

On a lighter note, my birthday is coming up. :) For some reason turning 25 has been difficult on me. I feel old. Haha. I know, I know. 25 is not old. But, Bry and I are celebrating 5 years of marriage this Dec, we have a 19 month old daughter and a new baby on the way. I just feel old. Or should I say, 'established.' LOL. This will be a great birthday as I get to spend the day with my cute little family. And I will be over these doldrums in 2 seconds. Excited for what this next year will bring!


Friday, October 5, 2012

Dreaming of Sandwiches

Today Ellinor and I trekked up to IKEA and met Bryan for a adventure. I love walking through IKEA - always so many cute things to check out. We walked out with a crawl tunnel for Ellinor and some TV lighting for Bryan. Unfortunately there wasn't anything that I just couldn't walk away without today. Perhaps next trip. :)

On my way home I decided that a Subway sandwich would fit the lunch bill quite nicely. And, since Ellinor was asleep in her seat, the drive thru was extra appealing. I pulled into the line, a large truck right behind me, and prepared to order some deliciousness. And then I saw it! A handwritten note taped to the menu - "We can not accept any credit or debit cards at this time. Our card readers are down. Cash required." Who doesn't ever carry cash? This Gal! Yays! I was trapped in the subway line (it was longish and always pretty slow) and wasn't allowed to partake of the goodness. In the large scheme of things this was just a blip in my day, but as a starving pregnant woman who had locked on a sandwich for her prey, this was awful. Haha. Always a good time when I attempt a drive thru it seems...hmmm.

When I finally escaped the sad situation I happened to get stuck behind a driver (refraining from the adjectives I silently used in my head at the time) who paid no attention and wasted the green light by not moving. Even when I honked. So, I sat through 2 lights because he was oblivious. I know this happens to most people at some time in their lives, but after being denied lunch I was darn grumpy. I have decided that it may be best for me to stay home at all times. LOL.

I get to go out for a girl's dinner tonight with my friend Mel. It's always nice to feel like a fun lady again - not to mention getting to eat dinner without having to clean up the leftovers from the kitchen curtains at the end. ;) We are both pregnant and were happily able to agree on Chinese food as the dining of choice. I'm ready to get my lomein on.

Ellinor slept for 20 minutes in the car, which in her mind constitutes enough of a nap for the day. I put her back down in her crib when we got home, but the peace I was hoping for lasted all of 5 minutes (the exact time I've spent so far on this post, as luck may have it). She is calling to me. I better answer.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

"Painting Completed My Life" - well, sorta

Last weekend was a pretty darn busy one for Bryan and myself. We decided to paint our master bedroom, and our 3 dressers (because, why not?). It's something we've been wanting to do for awhile, but we have been putting it off. Finally, we just bought the paint and got to it. We went back and forth a little bit on the color choice but decided on 'Smokey Slate' - it was a paint sample I had brought home months and months ago because I loved it. We decided that 9:30pm on Friday night was a good time to start the project. Haha. I am grateful for a handy husband who just rolls with things. I was able to help prep, tape and paint Friday night but Bryan had to finish the room himself on Saturday (a crazy 19 month old doesn't make it easy for both of us to be occupied with something). Our beautiful, stunning IKEA dressers (tehehehe) were brown/black, so we painted them a better brown color called 'Burle' (which lead to a discussion about naming our child that -cue the redneck accent. I'm sure there ARE people out there named Burle, but it's not for us. Haha). We also brushed on a metallic glaze of the drawer fronts that give the dressers a beautiful shine. Looks pretty dang good, if you ask me. It ended up taking 3 days and we slept on our bed in the middle of the living room those 3 nights. It felt like camping - which is not as fun as I remember it being when I was young. ;) Ellinor's reaction when she woke up Saturday morning to all of mom and dad's bedroom in the living room was priceless. She spent those few days watching 'Lilo and Stitch' while lounging on our bed - girl knows how to get her chill on.

Hard to see the metallic on the drawers, but it's there. Haha. 

This is the corner I need to find some great artwork or decor ideas for. It's pretty empty!

I just LOVE this wall color


Today Ellinor had her little bestie Ellyze come over to play. They are dang adorable together. I just love having Ellyze over - not to mention her mom Sherlyn, who happens to be awesome! :) I did notice that Ellinor was a little bi-polar during the play date. She either wanted to smother her friend with hugs, or steal back all the toys from her. We are going to have practice sharing some more - she seems to do great in nursery, but gets all territorial at home. I wasn't thrilled with her choices today, but we will work on it. I certainly do not want the bratty child in the play group. Haha.

Our morning today :)




A few Ellinor'isms to update about :

* She refuses to keep her shoes on and hair tie in while driving, while strolling through Home Depot, at nursery, etc. She just wants to be free.

* When she wakes up in the morning she will unzip her feetie PJ's after breakfast, but she can't get her feet out of them. So she wanders around the house dragging her PJ's behind her. Too cute.

* Ellinor will seldom keep a bib on these days, and when she does it is immediately taken off and chucked across the room as a signal for being done eating. If it is a non-bib day she tends to just chuck her utensils or something else. As if I won't know she's full unless she throws something at me.

* She is doing extremely well about taking her naps and going to bed at night. We have no fights anymore. The only downside is she won't let me rock her for more than 30 seconds before she's pointing for the bed. I do miss having at least a few minutes of cuddle time with her at night.

* Ellinor loves to brush her teeth. When we are done she turns to the mirror and flashes a huge grin to show off her pearly whites.

* She is able to reach door knobs, the water on the fridge, the dishwasher buttons, and so much more - nothing is safe anymore period. The scariest is when she reaches for the pans while I'm cooking dinner. Wish I could just velcro her to the wall for 5 seconds at times. LOL.

There ARE so many more things I want to write about her, but I can't seem to conjure them up. Blame it on pregnancy brain - I've come to the conclusion that I can't be trusted to remember anything accurately these days. I need to just start jotting them down when they happen.