Andrew's First Roadtrip

The girls didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday so I decided to take the kiddos up to visit Mimi and Grandpa and for Andrew to meet the Great Grandparents. At first, Steve and I were going on Saturday and spending the day visiting the great grandparents and then leaving the girls for the weekend, but Ellie got invited to Isaac Wright's birthday party and he is one of her new best friends in her class this year and really wanted to go so we then began discussing several versions of the trip--the problem was I had ward council Sunday morning, was asked to giving the opening prayer in sacrament, and doing sharing time, then Steve's work scheduled pictures and other appointments on Monday that Steve couldn't get out of so we decided the kiddos and I would leave Sunday after church and stay through Tuesday.  Steve was a little nervous to send us off because Andrew had never been in his car seat for that long, but he was a great traveler. I nursed him right before we left and he never fussed. Ellie sat next to him and gave him the binkie and he dozed off to sleep. It was a nice break for all.

Picture soon after we arrived and Andrew was fed. We were visiting with Uncle Kirk & Aunt Brenda.

 

The girls received their first valentine from Great Grandma & Grandpa Merrell-they were so excited!

The girls loved telling all the great grandparents stories and were trying to teach Great Grandpa Olenslager a new game on his tablet--it was pretty humorous to watch. :)


Dad took the girls to Zumba and it was quite fun to watch. Then he took them to dinner. Good relaxing times for everyone! :)

Ellie & Mom's First Date

Today Ellie and I had our first date. I have to admit it was kind of hard to get myself out and going, but once we got in the car and Ellie started talking and talking--I thought you know what I can just listen and not worry about having to do something like cook dinner, change a diaper etc. It was nice! We had several ideas for our first date, but Mommy really wanted to get a pedicure so Ellie agreed to try it and I think she liked it. :) They served us hot cocoa and peppermint bark with water in these fancy glasses. She was silly and burped a couple of times--she never does that and here we were at the spa and it was a bit ironic. After the pedicure, I told her I would take her to get a hamburger or something, but she just wanted a special donut so we went to Krispy Kreme and she picked out any donut she wanted. It was a fun afternoon. We've already decided on our next date in March we'll go shopping for a white dress for her baptism and get lunch.

Getting in a Groove

I feel like we are finally settling into a routine. Don't know if I mentioned that Steve was really busy in November. Right before the baby came he had 3 clients give him new projects with a 10-14 day turn around. With those deadlines Steve took the 2 days off we were in the hospital and then went right back to work. I'm glad he could spend the time with us in the hospital--there is something wonderful about having just the three of you for a bit and Steve really is comforting during the whole delivery and recovery process. So life felt like a little bit of survival during November, then the holidays came and schedules were just a bit crazier than usual. Steve did manage to work from home a lot during December allowing me the flexibility to leave sleeping Andrew home while I ran the girls around etc. which was so nice and I am so grateful.

Last week started a new year and I managed to do carpool for Ellie's school, get Lila to school, and carpool for Lila's dance class last week while taking Andrew--granted it was only a 2 day week, but it was a nice ease back into life giving me the confidence that I can do it. I managed to make good dinners, do homework, and finish preparing for primary (the first Sunday of the year is always a little crazy). I think we are now a confident family of 5. ;)

Andrew continues to grow; he weighed 11lbs 8oz at his two month check-up. He also received a round of immunizations and all I can say is we have heard a lot of screaming from him, but we have never heard his hurt or scared scream--it was a whole new level. He has dropped a feeding at night and is sleeping pretty good most of the time. As a matter of fact, he slept all night Saturday. Of course I didn't because my body is used to getting up between 2&3 a.m. so I was awake and did a bit of cleaning which woke up Steve--oops. Yesterday he was really good with his naps. I would lay him down awake and he wouldn't fuss much if at all before falling asleep and he would sleep soundly until the next feeding (Steve thinks it may be due to the shots) and he had a rougher night last night. I tease that he can only have a good day or night, but I'm sure we'll eventually work it out. Until then we'll just keeping loving on him. :)

Dangerously Close

to sucking his thumb