Sleep and stuff

I'll apologize up front for the million pictures in this post, but I can't help but share...

hey... you voluntarily checked us out...


This week was a good one!

I'm refraining from discussing the increasing amount of tantrums from Lila which result in time-outs, and deep breaths on mom's part; and the fits of gas and colic from Ellie which also bring on the "take a deep breath"s on mom's part. Moving on...

Good things that happened this week.... (in no particular order...)
~Lots and lots of sunshine
~Ellie slept MUCH better, even once through the night (hallelujah!)
~Sloppy kisses from Lila
~Coffee with my best girl, Sarah
~A movie and adult beverages with my hubby!
~A visit from my sister (who just took her boards, and I'm sure passed with flying colors!)
~Playing in the kiddie pool with naked Lila
~Snuggling sweet Elaina and getting a smile for it
~Did I mention the sunshine?
~Reading a new book outside while BOTH girls napped
~Did I mention adult beverages?
~Got the house cleaned and vacuumed (took 12 hours, but got it done!)

Okay, here come the pictures... (hey, I'm enjoying my maternity leave alright...)
















My beautiful girls!































Pretty view of our backyard





























Rio trying to soothe a fussy Elaina






























Hey, whatever works for ya, right?






















































Sunkissed sweetie












































Hint of a smile


















A smile for Daddy (not the best quality pic... but special to me!
















Did I mention she gets a lot of gas?

The weekend stuff

It was a good weekend

As all weekends should be

Lots of friends, and family, and fun.

Our little Lila girl has been a bit of a handful, well... a lot of a handful. Still sweet, still funny, and we love her OH-SO-Much, but we are truly getting a taste of her "strong" personality! Even after all her meltdowns and tantrums, when she gets right in your face and plants a sloppy smooch on ya... you can't help but melt (in a good way!), and when she wakes up all warm and snuggly, oh how you forget all that other stuff. Mmmmm, little girl snuggles are just delicious!

Miss Elaina has also decided that mom and dad should have the "true newborn experience"! She went from sleeping 4-6 hour stretches at night, to more like 2-3. I guess I'll just be thankful that for most of the first month, I avoided that newborn mommy-haze most women go through. I felt like a million bucks, now... it's just more like $500,000 ;) She's giving us tiny smirks and smiles and I'm impatiently waiting for that big ole' grin I know she'll have! Sweet baby!!!



Not to be forgotten, our other "baby" in the house, is becoming a little more independant. Eins is growing every day, quite the little chubba-wumba! The other night we actually heard the little stinker give a tiny bark... pretty cute. (At least I think so now, we'll see when she's making all sorts of racket in a week or two!) Ha!
Check out the video of Lila taking Eins for a stroll!














Today the girls and I ran some errands, then stopped at Ryan's work and had lunch outside with him! Was actually really nice and we all enjoyed it. I however, did not so much enjoy the ride home as Lila cried for Daddy for 40 minutes :( Oh well!
Now, both girls are sleeping, I'm going to scramble clean up (have to give Ryan the idea I can somewhat manage a house and the kids, right?), then try to sneak in 15 minutes of quiet outside before Ry gets home from work!
Happy Monday to all!
Lila cruising with her cousin Calli!

Ellie, just being cute!

Elaina is 1 Month old!

I can't believe it!

Our sweet baby was born a whole month ago, where does the time go? She's just starting to give us little grins, but they're fleeting and of course I never have my camera ready. Doesn't matter, she's still so precious!

Enjoy the pics of our peanut!

What a day

Yesterday started out great!

Lila woke up happy and her and Daddy got out the door on time!

Mommy got in a shower and her and Elaina got out the door on time!!
(I'm learning this is a HUGE accomplishment... don't judge me.)

Ellie and I met my dear friend Gina, who happened to be my WONDERFUL labor nurse, and her sweet little girl Gabby at Caribou for coffee! We haven't had the chance to visit since Elaina's birth and it was so great to see her! Funny thing... as thank you's, we both gave each other gift cards to Caribou! (Great minds think alike! At least night-shift RN, mommy-minds do!) Gina, I love you!



After coffee, I jetted up to the River Center to cast my vote regarding the MN Nurses Union strike. I'm going to keep this part brief, I'm a little sour about this.... but what's done is done, lets just see how it all turns out.

www.mnnurses.org

Either way, it was a nice day for a walk in St. Paul (I had to park a few blocks away).

On the way home, I made a last minute decision to pop in and see my sister at her apt. It was a short visit (she's studying for boards) but a nice one nonetheless! Great to see you Lix!

Elaina was being such a good girl, so I made a few stops on the way home to pick up some mats and frames for some great prints I ordered months ago for the kids' rooms. I'll try to show those off later, once they're up.

We got home, and I was just thrilled about my day and ready to head out for more sun, when I got Ryan's call....

Ryan- "I got in an accident"
Ana- "Are you OK?"
Ryan- "Yeah, I'm fine... trooper's here, gotta go."

All this sounds fine, until you understand that this accident occurred in Ryan's original "baby". Yeah, his pristine Firebird that he RARELY takes out. Literally, I haven't been in that car since the day of our wedding! Of course, this week the weather was said to be perfect, so we called our agent and put insurance on it for the week. Wa wa...
Ryan's OK. That's the most important thing. I have no idea what the estimated damage is, but I think what's hurt the most is Ryan's feelings. He's really tore up about the whole thing. I feel awful for him. Definitely not a great end to the day. Boo.













Today should be better.
How can it not be, when you have this to look at in the morning?!

A day of smiles, sunshine, and owies too

I had a great day!

Complete 180 from yesterday!

Here are my hightlights...

~Being outside in the sunshine with Lila, while she "helps" me water my plants
~Watching her follow the puppy around (not sitting still long enough to get a great picture)
~Quietly nursing Elaina on our porch with coffee in hand, while Lila naps.
~Being awed by how deeply my baby can look into my eyes











~Lila taking a 3 hour nap, then waking up chatty and smiley... no whining!
~Taking some cute pics of the cute little pup














~Watching Lila walk around in her diaper, a tank top, and her winter boots! (Hey, whatever works for ya!)














~Seeing my tough girl brush off her first skinned knees after taking a spill outside, and say nothing more than "owie"!


















~Greeting my hubby in the driveway as he comes home from work (happy wife, happy kids, happy dogs... what a greeting huh?)
~Playing with Lila in the tub, watching her smoosh the cherry scented Elmo foam in her hands!
~Sweet smelling, sun kissed Lila cheeks just before bed!

Indeed a great day!

Hello again Sunshine!

Wow! What a great weekend, eh?!

It was full of all kinds of gatherings, projects and lots of SUNSHINE! That's right people... after almost a week straight of rain and gloom, the sun decided to show it's bright face, oh how I love it!

Friday my sister, Alex, graduated from the U of M with her Bachelors in Dental Hygiene, so the girls and I drove up to watch her ceremony. Sadly, trying to handle 2 kiddos at the Northrop didn't go all that well, and I only got to see her walking back down the ramp after accepting her diploma. Boo. Also, could I be any more lame... I forgot the camera in the car. I suck.
We went to dinner at Ichiban's afterwards (only an hour after our reservations) and met Ryan and Alex's boyfriend Brent there. Dinner was tasty, as usual, but Lila was being a total pill and Ellie had a complete poop explosion. Awesome. Oh well, none of it made me any less proud of my baby sister. I love you Lix! So HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!

That night after getting home, we got some rough news. Our dear neighbor Lisa, who watches Lila frequently and we spend many a Friday night with, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that has spread to her bone. She has 2 kids, ages 9 and 12 and hearing the news just broke our hearts. She is a strong woman and is very optimistic, but prayers are always helpful, so please send a few extra her way!!!

Saturday was spent around the house on projects and the evening was at our friend Jake's for a BBQ with some awesome Brisket. Way to go Jake, you ROCK!
Yesterday was just lovely, minus a few temper tantrums (they seem to happen more frequently lately). The whole family, including Ellie and little Eins got some time in the sun! I enjoyed this weekend and am sad to have it over, however, being on maternity leave, I'm happy to report I still have another 5 weeks off! Woo Hoo! I'm off to go soak up some more Vit. D while Lila is napping! Happy Sunny Day to you!

Here are some pics from the past week!

Another rainy day

So this rain is getting a little old...

I know we need it and all, but c'mon, this is the middle of May... I'm dying for a little sunshine.

In an effort to brighten up the day, I thought I'd share a pic I took of the first (and only) lilacs of the year! We transplanted a few lilac bushes from my sister-in-law's last year and I wasn't too sure they would make it, let alone flower.... but I got a few, and loved them lots!

Enjoy!

I also threw in a pic of me and Ellie.... how could she not brighten your day?!

Lila's dresser and bookshelf

So, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of the dresser and bookshelf that my AWESOME hubby made for Lila! I found these in a catalog, but thought the prices were ridiculous, and Ryan took on the challange of building them from scratch! He did a pretty Amazing job if I do say so myself!








Some start to finish pics!