A Big Ol' Update

Marlee June has taken to her role as big sister like a pro. Eloise adores her, and she's a big help to me. She's so sweet to the baby and genuinely loves her. It brings tears to my eyes daily!

We've been working on potty training for the past couple of days. We had been back and forth with it for months, so I finally decided to go for it and say, "No more diapers!" It's going to be a rough week, but hopefully we'll have success in the end!

Marlee continues to impress us with her smarts. :) She's very into astronomy right now and can correctly identify all the phases of the moon and find Jupiter in the night sky. Grandma Cathy visited last week, and Marlee said, "Look at all the beautiful stars. See the bright one? That's Jupiter." Granted, Jupiter isn't a star, but it is the brightest object in the sky right now. Her pre-reading skills are continuing to develop as well. She can tell you the first letter of words and spell simple ones when we help her sound them out.

In the past two weeks or so, she's become obsessed with her pacifier. She was really good about only having it at bed time or in the car, but somewhere (I suspect Disney World) she fell off the wagon. So now we're having to work on that. She comes up with any excuse she can to get it. "I need to settle down." "I want to get in the car." "Mommy! I'm cryyyy-iiing!"

On to Eloise....

Sweet Weezy is growing and changing before our very eyes. It's amazing how much little babies develop each day. She's full of smiles and coos and loves to "tell stories." She's sleeping pretty well at night and giving me at least a four hour stretch...sometimes six! She is settling into a routine and is pretty predicable, just like her big sister was. I've been lucky to have two easy babies! Eloise is totally laid-back and go-with-the-flow. I suppose it's because she has to be to be a part of this wacky family!

Michael's job search continues after a bit of a heartbreak last week. He has several things in the works, and we're hoping one pans out before Christmas. It would be nice to go into the holidays knowing that things are better on the other side. Despite all the stress of unemployment, we're focusing on having a meaningful holiday with our girls.