Grins!

Miss Elaina has been developing more of a personality every day and I LOVE IT!

Being back at work the past 3 days has been really tough, because this is the time when she's getting really fun! Lots of smiles and grins, and I think yesterday we might have gotten a little chuckle out of her!

She's been good for Daddy while I'm at work. I guess she thinks he paid his dues, because she's graced him with 8 hour nights since I went back to work on Friday. Let's just hope the trend continues tonight, so I can soak up some of those sleepy zzzz's!

Have a great night!
I'll leave you with a few snippets of goofy Lila-girl!

Independance Day!

Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful, safe, FUN 4th of July!
Fly your flags PROUDLY!!!

Just showing off our girls

**Disclaimer** This contains a ton of pictures!

So I have had a few really great days! The weather has been great, the girls have been great (and sleeping great), I saw a great movie (Eclipse), and I feel great! Just Greatness, all around!


Took a trip to the zoo on Tuesday with my friend Chelsie and her little girl, Elise. Her and Lila are the same age and it's fun to see them together! I gotta say Chelsie... you got your hands full girl! Whew! I thought Lila was busy! Elise is just so darn cute though, you can't help but want to scoop her up and snuggle her!!! It was a fun day!















Yesterday, I indulged in one of my guilty pleasures and took Ellie to see the new Twilight movie, Eclipse! Yes, I took my 2 month old baby to a vampire movie!!! And much to my suprise and delight, she was perfect! "Talked" and "coo'd" through all the previews, then ate and fell asleep through the whole thing! The movie was AWESOME, they just keep getting better! I'm already excited for the 4th installment, probably cause that was my favorite book!!


Today, I'm going to take every opportunity to enjoy my last day off before the week of hell begins. Tomorrow will start my first stretch of 6 shifts in 7 days since I went on maternity leave. It's always hell to begin with, but adding the stress of all this "strike" stuff, is just making it worse. Tension is so high at that place you can just feel it. Ick. I'm going to post a bunch of pictures of my girls, then if I need a little "get-away" I can pull it up and look at their gorgeous faces and remember why I'm there!!!


Now, a quick moment of sap, then I'll be done...
This morning Lila had to get up early, so Ryan could take her to daycare and as usual when she's woken up early, she was a little whiny. Ok, a LOT whiny. But when she is content, just to sit in my lap, snuggled into my chest and eat her Eggo, I feel like I'm queen of the world! Then when they left, I got to just sit and cuddle my little Elaina and she just stared at me. So intent. It made me just wonder how the heck could I be so lucky as to have created these two amazing little girls?! They both are miraculous! I try hard to be a good mom, somedays it's easier than others, but I must be doing something right, because God has blessed me with 2 of the greatest gifts in the whole world! Thanks be to GOD!






























This is true relaxation!




















Ellie's little smirk!








































So serious!

Hello Monday

Hmmmm.... Okay, well, let's see....

It's one of those days were I just can't seem to get everything quite together. Not a bad day, not a great day... you know, just one of those days. I will apologize for my lack of quick wit or any sense of creativity in this post.


I survived my first week back, although it was really tough. It was tough on BOTH me and Ryan. Elaina really gave him a run for his money, but each night got progressively better and she has again settled into a decent pattern. Not the 8 hours I was LOVING, but 5-6, and that's pretty good.

The weekend was rather uneventful, other than Belle Plaine making the news for our "Hurricane Force winds"! Seriously, I'm quoting good ole' Sven from Kare 11! Winds reached a whopping 72 mph down here in Emma Krumbee land! What were we doing during this wild storm.... not chilling out in our basement like we should have... nope. We were watching some show on DVR, oblivious to the weather alerts and tornado warnings. I just kept thinking... "Wow, it's REALLY windy out there!". It wasn't until the sirens started going off that we even took a hint! Ha! Oh well, other than some branches down in the streets, doesn't appear to be much damage!







I did attend my friends Bridal shower on Saturday and was DELIGHTED to come home to a clean house!!! I'm talking clean kitchen, vacuumed floors, folded laundry kind of clean!!! What an AWESOME treat for me, thank you Ryan, I love you so much!!!
















This week has little to no plans and I'm quite happy about that. I just might take Ellie and treat myself to a movie on Wednesday. Yeah, I'll admit I'm a huge Twilight dork and Eclipse comes out that day. How many people think I'm nuts to try and take a 2 month old to a movie??? Wait.. don't answer that.



I heart Edward!














Anyway, have a great week, we're supposed to have some great weather! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!




Lila "helping" dad put together a lawn mower
































Sweet little tootsies!

Triple-Boo and a Big Hooray!

Last night was my first night back to work.... boo

Last night the MN nurses association voted "yes" to an open-ended strike... double boo

Last night Ryan called me at 4am with Ellie screaming in the background at his wits end because she won't go to sleep... triple boo


Last night my big girl Lila slept all night in her big girl bed!!! Hooray!
This one actually makes me a little sad, Ryan said she kept saying "bed" "bed", so he took her out of her crib, put her in bed, and she didn't wake up till 8am!






















I came home a little early from work, distraught from the 4am phone call. Of course, the house was quiet and everyone was sleeping when I came in. I snuck in a quick hour "nap", then got up to get the girls ready so Ryan could have another wink of sleep. I guess Ellie just wasn't too sure about Mama being gone and her and Ryan made "conversation" most of the night. Oh well, he managed, as I knew he would, and this morning he "man-ed" up and took the girls to the zoo with a friend of ours who's a stay-at-home Dad. Yup, 2 grown men, 3 little girls, stollers, diaper bags and baby carriers! What's more manly that that???!!! I love my husband!

I'm off to sleep, good night!

Oh, and I threw in a pic to prove Elaina isn't always such a bear!

Elaina is 2 Months

Our little peanut is 2 months old!






















I'm back to work for the first time tonight and because the thought of leaving her for the next 3 nights brings me to tears, I'm just not going to think about it right now. So...

She is now a happy, smiling, cooing baby that sleeps like a DREAM!
Really, she is back to her easy-going self. The baby we knew at the beginning!
Elaina is obviously feeling much better as evidenced by her mood and sleep patterns,

and Happy Baby = Happy Mom and Daddy!

She is so tiny compared to her big sister, it still surprises me! Lila always ran in the 90th % or above and sweet little Ellie is only in the 25th% for her head and weight. Length is 75%, so I guess she's just long and lean (like Daddy!) I was stunned when they weighed her and she was 9lb 14oz. What? She is 2 months old and hasn't even broke the 10lb mark! Ha! What a little runt!


She makes all kinds of funny little noises, lots of "hoo" and "goo" sounds. She actually sounds quite a bit like a little owl! Ha! The other little thing I'm amused by is how often she sneezes and the fact that they always come in 3's! I've never heard this child only sneeze once!

Anyway, we are really enjoying her (and how much she sleeps!) and I'm so excited to watch this little person grow up! I just know she's going to be amazing and beautiful, just like her big sister!!!
















(Seriously, can you BELIEVE these feet??? She could climb trees with those toes! HA!)

The countdown to Monday

This is my last weekend of maternity leave.

BOO :(

I go back to work on Monday after 8 weeks home and I want to cry just thinking about it. We are very lucky that Ryan has some vacation time left, so he's going to stay home a few days to help me transition. Also, this means Elaina doesn't have to start daycare for another 2 weeks, which makes me REALLY happy. Much easier to leave the girls with Daddy, than someone else!























The weird thing is, I'm also HOPING to go back to work.... with all this chaotic nursing strike mess, I just want a job to go back to!

I know there are many strong, opinionated, nurses out there fighting for the union and it's not that I don't agree with their principals, but ultimately... at the end of the day, my family comes first! Hands down, no questions asked. There is a reason I work full time. There is a reason I'm returning from maternity leave after only 8 weeks instead of 12. I love my co-workers, and I want to support them, but I have to do what I have to do to take care of the ones I love the most!
On Monday I will go and vote against an open-ended strike, and until then I will continue to pray that both sides of this can be reasonable and come to some middle ground. As one of my co-workers put it... "lets just put on our big girl panties and get to work!" Moving on....


Ryan and I were visited by my mom and step-dad unexpectedly on Wednesday evening! They brought dinner and we grilled delicious tenderloin steaks (on sale at Cub this week!), peppers, onions, potatoes, and mushrooms!!! YUMMY! Then my sister came to visit yesterday, it was so great! I love the fact that now that my mom is easing out of the studio and Alex is finished (almost) with school, they can see the girls more! It was so fun!

Although the week has been up and down, weather-wise (weren't those storms crazy last night?!), today looks like a great day to break out the kiddie pool with Lila and sit and enjoy a PB&J, an apple, and probably some white cheddar popcorn outside! If I'm really motivated, I might even take a walk with the girls to the post-office to get a few baby gifts off to some friends of mine! Baby Iyla and Baby Pricilla, don't worry, it's coming!!
The whole family slept great last night (another 8 hour night for Ellie, that's 3 in a row for those keeping track), so we're all feeling great and looking forward to a GREAT weekend! Ryan and I have a planned date night tomorrow and the girls will spend the night with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Rich!!! SO excited!

Have a good weekend, I plan to!
Check out the cute video snippets at the bottom!

My mom and Alan with the girls!

























Alex snuggling with Ellie!

















After the storm photos!

I love storm season, so beautiful!