Proud Mommy!

So I was going to write this post about what today means to me as a mom. I decided instead that this post and day belongs to my girl. We went to class in a great mood. She warmed up so much today and during songs she was so animated and spoke a few times. They do a hello song and she waved to everyone in the class. She was very into the snow throwing song. She spoke for her teachers a few times and signed at snack time. It was just a great class. Everyone kept telling me that she seemed so much more involved.

The last few days have been really good ones. Last night Ella said "puppy" when I was asking about the little dogs. She says "dog" sometimes but has never said "puppy" and I was really impressed she knew they were the little dogs. She also has a couple of times identified sheep as "baa baa".

I am not sure what has changed but we are definitely going to take advantage of it!

Back on track Day 2

So yesterday was the second day of us sticking to our plan for getting the house organized and cleaned and then staying that way. About a year ago we had a chore list that worked really well for about 2 weeks and then we just let it fall apart again. Last night for an hour we both did our respective chores. It took a little longer than it should because most of those chores hadn't been done in weeks like cleaning off the table. At dinner, we just push everything to the end we don't use. We agreed at 9 pm we would quit. It was 9:15 and I didn't recognize my house :). It felt really good this morning to walk around and not trip over toys. Yesterday was an easy day because we both had a decent schedule. Today will be the real challenge because it's a busy day and Dave has to work 1-10. Just had to share because anyone who knows me knows I hate to clean!

Hoping it keeps rolling

So with our upcoming addition to our family comes a HUGE problem with our house. It's just not big enough. Right now baby will sleep in our room for his entire life :). Nah we would give him a drawer eventually in Ella's room. JK. We have been making great progress in the house as far as just cleaning and getting organized. We even managed to get rid of some stuff to Salvation Army this weekend. If we do this much every weekend we can, we should be done by the time they go to school.

I have been feeling just ok the last few days. I am so uncomfortable but my energy level is better. I get a rush of adrenaline when I am accomplishing things. I am really trying not to over do it. I have a feeling that my lack of comfort comes from baby deciding to use my organs as a punching bag. Ella was always much more considerate of where she kicked or punched me. She was an active but very laid back baby. Yeah not so much this time around. At first I really thought it was just pains in general until I realized they always came with his movements. My prolapse seems to be causing a lot of discomfort as well which stinks cause I thought it was feeling a lot better. Dr said this could be a problem because baby will take up more and more room as we go along. I am just glad he is obviously growing. I just hope he doesn't get too big.

Speaking of big babies- congratulations to our friends' Barb and Paul!! Little Adam came into the world on Tuesday at 9 lbs 4 oz. Baby and family are all doing great and adjusting to life with a newborn again. Barb was so quick with pics :). He is beautiful!

I always have so much to say when I go too long without posting. Last thing!! Ella went to her first movie at a movie theater yesterday!! We had a good time. I started to worry the night before because she never even makes it through a half hour TV show. We were going with our friends, Rachel and Martha, and I knew Rachel would really be into it. Ella did really good considering the length and complex story line. We went to see Tale of Despereaux. It was very cute and beautiful to look at. I had to go to the restroom and would take Ella with me to stretch her legs and let her run a bit before going back. Once I had to take her out because she wasn't listening at all to me asking her to at least stand in front of her seat. It went fine though. She understands so much for one that expresses so little. She understands when I explain why she is in trouble for not listening. This weekend she had a lot to say but again not much we could understand. At one point though, she looked at me and said "mama, what doing?" And I looked at Dave and asked, "did she just ask me what I was doing?" There was a lot of hugs on that one. She is starting to put words together a little more often. Especially when she talks to Gibby for some reason. I hear "Hi ibby", "Bye ibby", and most fun- "IBBY SIT!!" She says that in a very stern voice. I feel bad cuz I know I yell at the dog a lot but the dog has gotten really bad about listening. Funny the paralells between toddlers and dogs. For both Ella and Gibby, they are both smart enough to know that sometimes it is worth getting in trouble :).

To help remind us of better days

So I was browsing through my pics folder to find a pic to someday post on my Etsy and I found this pic of Ella in her really cute 4th of July outfit that we forgot to put on her for the fourth, but we did manage to get it on her on a really warm day down the road. She was so cute and still had her baby face which is going away now. I thought I would share on this below zero day. *sigh* to be warm again.

Turning over a new leaf

Last week was such a series of ups and downs for me. I started the week so worried about the future because the last conversation I had at work suggested I was done at the end of January. On Tuesday when I was working at home, a coworker said my boss wanted to know when I was due exactly. I was baffled. Why would he be asking again? So come back on Wednesday and he lets me know that he found a way for me to stay until the end of March unless I find something else. This was great news because it puts us that much closer to Luke's birth knowing that we at least have this job and benefits. I am going to continue to look but honestly, although they can't say it - who is going to hire a six month pregnant woman? I wouldn't.

Having a date finally for my exit here has really helped us plan. We know what has to be done and are finally starting to chip away. This weekend I got our pantry cleaned out. It wasn't gross really but there were a lot of expired items that I just couldn't believe I missed. We also went and stocked up at Costco which was expensive but we really shouldn't have to do it that often. Our next step has to be getting rid of Stuff. Lots of Stuff. We just don't have the room. We have a decision to make on who will sleep where. I don't want to kick Ella out of her room but I also don't want to paint two rooms. I am thinking of moving her to the room that is the office and painting it all girly and pretty for her. Then they can both use the bigger bedroom as a play room as well as it will be where Luke sleeps. If we keep Ella where she is now- there is blue carpet so we either have to match that or get new floor covering.

Ella has been such a happy, energetic girl lately. We have had our moments but we are learning that Ella just can't be couped up in the house too long. This is hard considering it has been so cold and snowy lately. Example, both Friday and Saturday mornings we had several time outs but once we went out to run errands, she was a happy girl for the rest of the day and napped well on top of it. The talking is going so so. She has days where she is just a chatterbox but most of it is babble. Here and there we get random clear words and even some sentences but she won't repeat it for us. It's very odd. I am just enjoying her extreme silliness and loving every giggle right now. Soon her whole life is going to turn upside down and she has no idea.

Holiday pics finally!

I must have not taken any at Dave's mom's. I thought I did :(. We were always busy there since we had little time together this year. I did get some great ones of Ella on Christmas morning though. Santa brought Ella a Thomas Train that Mama now can't put back together!! I think we are missing a piece. It's ok though because she puts it together her way and is happy. Also Dave's mom got her a Bitty Baby little girl who looks just like her. My mom got Ella the cutest dollhouse which is a perfect size for our tiny house.

So pics of Cookie making, Ella with the train, the dollhouse, one with Grandma at the piano, and one with Grandpa. My favorite though is a pic taken the other night here at home with Bitty baby and Ella in their matching jammies. I wasn't so sure of this American Girl stuff but I have to admit it is all super adorable. She also got a little potty for the baby. I am hoping it will help start up the potty training again because we haven't had much luck since the first time she successfully went poop and decided it was just too gross to go in the potty. Seriously that was it for her :). Ok enough random rambling.