Elves and Firemen.

Ella was excited to find this morning that Jessie had left her a little picture

She immediately had to get her drawing stuff and make a picture for Jessie

And talk to her about what she wants for Christmas

Grandma Joyce watched Claire this morning while Ella and I headed to a The Loveland Fire Station for a field trip with the half day kids. Ella was a bit shy and timid at the station. She thought they were going to make a fire like at Iron Chef and was not too happy about that. LOL! Of course I wasn't able to get too many smiles from her for pictures

Wearing the strap to her hat in a strange place and looking like she had facial surgery or something

Fei-Fei Connor (first name only) is in Ella's class. As soon as he saw me taking pics he asked to join in and immediately put his arm around Ella. How cute

Traditions Continue.

 

Jessie made her return this morning! Ella found her in Barbie car in her room. 

 

 

If you remember this post from last year, http://ellarosegrows.blogspot.com/2011/11/elf-of-shelf.html, you'll see the purpose of The Elf on The Shelf. Ella didn't really understand the elf last year but is really excited this year. When she saw Jessie she made several comments and had several questions. Such as "if she can fly, where are her wings?" or "I can't see her magic" or "her puffed up cheeks means she's really happy to be home". She had cried after recess today and before I picked her up from school so on the way home she asks "is crying behaving?" I said no and she bust out sobbing! I also think she may be a bit afraid of Jessie as each time she goes up to look at her she makes me go along!

I also cannot wait to start another tradition you might remember from my posts last year, the countdown to Christmas, book advent calendar. We will begin this again on December 1. We also have lots of fun Christmas/winter events planned for the month of December which start this coming weekend. Oh to see Christmas through the eyes of a child.

And since I completely forgot to take a pic of Claire yesterday for Wednesday Weekly, here it is today

Let's Get Real.

The blog has been fairly quiet lately. Part of it has been the little time I have with meeting the needs of both the girls, and part of it has been intentional. I try to keep this blog pretty positive and for a few weeks nothing felt positive. I want this blog to be a reflection of our real life and with keeping things real, life is real, and life isn't always easy. It doesn't matter how good you have it, there are times when it feels like it down right sucks. All of you parents have had rough patches at one time or another, and if you say you haven't, well then you're lying. Claire was sick for a couple weeks. I have gone weeks, if not months, without more than a hour of straight sleep at a time. Claire used to sleep for up to six hours straight and now she is up at least once an hour. Sometimes twenty times an hour. I have come to the conclusion a pacifier is the devil. We will soon be getting rid of it. I can't seem to keep a clean house any longer. I have not had more than one hour away from the kids since the end of September and there have been periods of 72 hours or more where Claire literally has not left my side. My list of negative things those few weeks could go on an on. When you're in a funk pretty much eveything sucks. I think sleep is what got me the most. There were days I was so out of it I put chicken broth in my coffee in place of almond milk! I remember things being rough when Ella was around three to five months. Sleep sucked during that time to. I am trying not to wish the time away with Claire as she will more than likely be our last. I know though that better sleep is right on the horizon so at times I do wish she was a bit older. I have to say though that aside from the multiple wakings at night, I have been blessed with a beautiful baby with the most infectious smile and personality.

It has been two months since I left my job. Some days I love it and some days I miss having a career. I do not regret my decision and know that there was no way I could have ever stayed at the job I was at. Two days ago I snapped out of my funk. I am hoping for good. It's time to put on my big girl panties and truly enjoy this gift I have been given. Just this week I realized how I have witnessed, with my own eyes, the development of Claire's hand/eye coordination. Like minute by minute seen the progression and development of it. Like almost so closely that I can almost see neurons developing, firing, and making connections. Some may say so? Well, I say that's pretty damn amazing. And there are a million more moments like that with both Ella and Claire. And I get to sit here and watch them all, be a part of them all. And that is pretty damn amazing.





 

 

And who wouldn't love spending time with these beauties

 

 



Beginning the Holiday Season.

I am way behind on blogging so I will go all the way back to last week!

Last Tuesday I volunteered to help out in Ella's classroom during their fall celebration. The theme was "coneucopia" as well as having several different craft stations where each one had to do with one of the five senses. The class did their usual circle time then each child moved through each craft station at their own pace. I was assigned to a station and I worried that I would be a distraction for Ella and she would want to stay at my station. I was SO proud of her in the classroom. She sat through circle perfectly and sang each word to each song and contributed to a Thanksgiving word, "jello", LOL. She moved through each station independently and didn't make a fuss about me being there. She is growing up! For one of the crafts each child said what they were thankful for which was then written on a leaf and hung on a tree. Ella said she was "thankful for baby Claire". So stinkin sweet. At the end, each child made a snack of a waffle cone that you could stuff with things such as mini marshmallows, teddy grahams, pretzels, dried fruit, etc. Hence, coneucopia. And of course before we left the school, Ella had to do some of her poses.

Thanksgiving Day turned out really nice this year. The four of us relaxed in the morning and watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Ella and I made a pumpkin dessert and I made a turkey. Tom's mom, her boyfriend Steve, his daughter Amber, my mom and Paul came over later in the afternoon. We had a ton of food! Shrimp cocktail, veggie pizza, cheese, salami, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, green beans, 2 desserts, and homemade ice cream. Tony Steinke, Paul's son and owner of Alpha Cafe, whipped us up a batch of the Alpha's famous Tom and Jerry's to end the night with. It was a really nice and relaxing Thanksgiving.

Thankful.

Today, just like everyday I am thankful. Every moment of life is not easy but I am just as thankful for the difficult moments in life as I am the amazing moments. Every day that I wake up, there is something to be thankful for. I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful for my husband who works his butt off so that I am able to stay home with my children. I am thankful I can stay home with my children. I am thankful for my beautiful and wonderful daughters. I am thankful we have just what we need. I am thankful for a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in. I am thankful I have breath in my body. Today is Thanksgiving and just like every Thanksgiving and every single day that came before and will follow,  I am thankful to be me.

Wednesday Weekly

And I wanted to share this pic of Ella because I absolutely love it. She looks gorgeous and I love when you unexpectedly get an amazing shot. This was just us goofing off in the house the other day

Wednesday Weekly

Weekend.

 

We took it easy this last weekend and stayed at home. The girls and I were all recovering from a sinus infection and Tom spends Saturdays at the library. We did a little baking, playing outside, and Grandma Jo Jo came on Sunday.

 

Ella is always asking to help me cook. Leslie used to bake with Ella quite frequently so Ella has really been asking to bake since she stopped going to Leslie's. I am not a baker! But I decided to give it a shot this weekend and make some carrot cake cupcakes. Out of the box of course! I of course took way to many pictures of baking, but hey she looks super cute!

 

I had no clue what mad skills my daughter has with cracking eggs! She cracked all three eggs, all on her own, without getting a single shell in the bowl.

No surprise, her main interest was the icing

I was shocked that something I baked actually turned out moist and tasty!

Of course eating more icing

Ella played outside while Tom raked leaves and enjoyed what will probably be the last warm day of the year

Loved catching them staring at the sky together. Could they be any cuter?

Checking out a plane

 

And this would've been a lot cuter if Tom would have let me know that she had puke on her mouth and shirt