Late Night Ramble

It is 1am. I have stayed up painting my garage - be it noted that painting white paint over white primer feels like the most redundant and worthless task ever- washing my 6786474 dishes and watching the trashy reality television series Bachelor in Paradise. I will regret this, I'm sure.

Ella started her first dance class today. It was darling. Until she fell down and started crying uncontrollably, the sweet sensitive little doll. I had to take her out (thankfully it was right near the end) and it took a long time for her to calm down, maybe 45 min, poor thing. Emotionally charged event I guess? First ballet class at a new place? I dunno.

This is a horrible photo behind the shaded window, but there you go. It was funny to see how she reacted to the teachers- she's never been in a formal class setting before. Sometimes the teacher would tell her to do something and I could see she would kinda talk back to the teacher in what I assume was a made up reason not to do what she was being asked (she does that to me. saying like, "but my tiger doesn't want me to put my shoes on. she's scared and wants me to stay with her." adorable, but, eye roll.) But then, after a few min, she would do it.

Also, I've been wearing my glasses, no contacts at all, since Friday. It's been rough. Lucy thinks shes so hilarious when she pulls em off all the time and does a little giggle. Anyway, I'm having an eye assessment done on Wednesday to see if I can get lasik. !!! the lasik surgery scares me, but waking up to clear vision?!? sounds like a crystal clear dream. Brent had it done about 2 years ago and I've been jealous.

also i have a cavity being filled tomorrow. bummer.

I haven't taken a photo of these girls together for a while. Lately, they've been acting more like sisters- Lucy will giggle endlessly at Ella's bath time splashing, and it really is so heart warming.

My dad so sweetly took us out on this fishing boat he's fixing up for a neighbor. I posted some of these on instagram so I'm sorry if this is repeat... but it was funny to me Eleanor requested no waves and no spashing and don't go fast! Grandpa and I were happy to oblige. And you can see her haircut that she gave herself. It's a bit crazy.

um, how cute are they! ps i didn't realize how big of a soft spot my dad has for kids and babies- it is precious. Also, if something is broken at our house Eleanor always says, Papa can fix it. She knows.

She always calls him papa, which is sweet because I always have, and still do, call him Grandpa, never papa, so she came up with that on her own- not that its real original- but it is for her! ha.

I saw this cool girls hiking trip in alaska online. how cool would that be?! I always think that's something I would love... but when actually hiking... would I love it? I don't know.

I am really excited for Brent and my Hawaii vacation in November.
xo

Parenting differences, Lake-ing

Brent and I are an amazing couple, obviously. ;) We were friends for ages before dating, and when we did date, we got along wonderfully. Yet, we fought a lot when we were engaged, somehow. I think its because he had a big family, and I wanted a smaller wedding, and those things just can't go together while making everyone feel included.

I don't think we ever fought the first 2 years of marriage. People say the first year of marriage is hard, but it wasn't at all. It was awesome.

But after having kids? ...

Soup, Crying Tip, & Ella

photo from thehousewifeintrainingfiles.com

I found this healthy version of Cheddar Broccoli soup, and it is delightful. I was pretty worried about using almond milk at first... but its delicious regardless, and it cuts down the calories quite a bit to use it instead of regular milk.  I also used reduced fat cheddar cheese- still delicious.

On to 9 month old Ella...

Ella: 8 Months

Girlfriend is 8 months old tomorrow, on Jan 19th.

She doesn't have any teeth yet! which is a little unusual from what I read. But, she does:
-sit up real well, only sometimes falling over
-pick up cheerios to eat with her thumb and sweet little finger
-army crawls
-goes from laying down to sitting up on her own
-claps her little hands
-pulls herself up to stand every now and again
-takes two naps a day, and for the last week or so, they've been a bit longer, sometimes 2 hours. Which always feels like an unprecedented luxury. But, unfortunately, she still wakes up once or twice a night.

She is moving a ton. Its a tricky business to change her diaper, she'll roll over in a hot second. I try to convince her to stay still with a toy, but its about 50-50.

She seems to rather like her "Pat the Bunny" book Brent's mom got her for Christmas. It has a fuzzy little bunny for her to touch, buttons for her to rattle, you know, blah blah. For toys, car keys and my watch are a no-fail.

We shared a moment the other day. I was feeding her peaches and telling her how delicious they were, and she was just laaaughing, and then I was laughing at her, and then she was laughing at me- you know, real bonding time. It felt like we were real friends for a minute.

The last few days she seems to get a bit slap happy when she's tired. She'll kind of cry, and then laugh real hard at something, and then cry again. Quite cute stuff.

The other day, I finally weighed 145 lbs., which is what I weighed pre-Eleanor. It was an excellent moment. But of course, I ate some pizza the other day at a friends house and now I weigh 149... but it'll go back down I'm sure... right? right?!

Also, I recently realized Ballet West holds adult ballet classes closer to my house so maybe I'll wander over there some time.

"Crawling"

Ella started army crawling over Christmas. My life just got 10x harder. No more leaving her on the bed or on the hall floor while I do the laundry- she could fall down the stairs! yeep.