Snow Cone and Oatmeal

8 Months Side-by-Side

Who knew sisters could be so different but both so beautiful?! :)

Mommy, Please Take This Cheerio Out of My Nose.

That's what Marlee just said to me. I asked if she was sure there was a Cheerio in her nose...I couldn't even see it. She said, "Yes, Mommy. I'm sure because I put it there." Sigh. So I pinched the unclogged nostril shut and told her to BLOW! On the first blow the little bugger became visable; The second blow propelled it into my waiting palm.

I totally thought my kid was smarter than that. Sigh.

Playroom

The past couple of weeks, I have been working on a playroom for the girls. I never thought we'd have a designated playroom because our house is so small. But the older Eloise got, the more clear it became that the nursery was a waste of space...a cute one, but a waste none the less. We cosleep at night and Eloise often naps in her swing, so she was using her crib about three hours a week...or less. The only thing I use the nursery for is diaper changes. Meanwhile, toys were taking over our little house, and I was frustrated with the lack of a designated safe place to play.

[This change comes just a few weeks after I redid our dining room. I'm awakening to the fact that half my family is comprised of children, and my house should reflect that, rather than hiding it :) I'm still love to decorate, but I want family-functional rooms.]

So I sent out an email saying I was selling our nursery furniture and bedding. The furniture was sold to a client within an hour. I'm about to put the bedding on Craigslist. We bought Eloise a very inexpensive Ikea crib that matches Marlee's bunkbeds and put it in Marlee's room. We debated even doing this. I was just going to use our Pack N Play for a few months until we can put E in a bed, but it's so darn uncomfortable! The crib converts to a toddler bed, which may or may not come in handy. I have a feeling the girls will end up sharing the bottom bunk for a while...they love the sleep together.

A trip to the antique store, one to Ikea, and one to pick up a Craigslist find, and I had some pieces for our new playroom. It's about halfway done now. The girl's room now holds only books--no toys. It's a space for relaxing and sleeping. The playroom is an organized fun zone. I think it's going to work out well for us! I need to do a bit more storage-wise, and I plan to paint it a cheery color and make some curtains.

Oh, and the playroom is now home to all my "toys," my sewing and craft stuff!

Here are a couple of pictures of the room in progress. I'll be sure to post more when it's completely finished!

At Least I'm Good For Something

Me: Marlee, I'm tired. Can I take a nap?

MJ: No way, Mommy!

Me: Well, why not? I'm so sleepy!

MJ: Hmmm. Well, I can play with Weezy, but I can't nurse her!

Mother's Day Weekend

I had such a wonderful weekend with my family! On Saturday, we met my mom, Alexander, Jenna, and JD for breakfast. When we got home, we spent some time working in our yard and on our new gardens. After lunch, we went out to get one of my gifts...a clean car! My car got the VIP treatment inside and out. It's SO NICE. While we waited for the car we visited a nearby toy store. Marlee fell in love with a doll car seat, so my eyes are now peeled for one while I consignment shop. We got home in time for me to take a quick shower and head out to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. I so rarely go out on my own...it was wonderful to be able to have a couple of drinks and hang out knowing my girls were happily spending time with their daddy.

On Sunday we went out the breakfast again, this time just our little family. Then I went to see a movie by myself. I saw the documentary "Babies." I'd been looking forward to its release for months, and it lived up to my expectations! I got home during rest time, so Michael and I got to watch a movie and eat some lunch together. After that, my wonderful husband sent me out of the house and cleaned a bit for me! All in all, it was a great weekend with the perfect balance of family time and me time.

I hope all the moms out there had a wonderful weekend too!

At the Playground

Photos taken May 5, after our Cinco de Mayo dinner at La Parilla :)

E-L-O-I-S-E!

The past two weeks have been pretty big for Eloise!

• April 30- Coordinated crawling
• May 1- First word...MAMA!
• May 2- Pulls up on furniture
  
• May 8- First tooth pops through
• May 9- Second tooth follows

That's a lot of firsts in just a few days! We love you, Sweet Weezy!

Blogging

I'm going to state the obvious. Sometimes, I have major blogging dry spells. I used to be so good about blogging, but I've gotten a bit slack. I blame 99% of the problem on facebook. What used to be blog worthy is now just a status update. It takes so much less time, and time is something I could use more of. But in my latest dry spell, I missed a bunch of Eloise "first" posts, and that makes me really sad. So I'm vowing to be better about blogging. I was going to say I would try to be better, but in the immortal words of Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."