Happy Birthday, Ellie!

One of my friends once told me that the last couple of weeks before the third birthday are the worst--she said it is like they have to get out all of their tantrums before they turn three. I laughed, but I have to admit the last couple of weeks have been a little rough with a lot of whining and crying and then miraculously the last couple of days have been blissful. We have not had one whining or crying incident--I certainly hope this bliss continues.

Today, we had a wonderful day celebrating Ellie's birth. Both girls woke up at 6am so we all climbed in bed with Steve--which I'm sure he loved being awakened at that hour, but his girls loved it. Then we made some delicious pancakes (picture below). Followed by present opening which we video taped and I had the still camera by me the whole time and didn't take one picture, at least we captured it one way. She loved the presents from both sets of grandparents and insisted on wearing the dress Grandpa and Grandma Moore gave her today and then the Lightening McQueen t-shirt Grampy & Mimi gave her (notice the wardrobe change between dinner and dessert). She also keeps reminding us that she is going to get bigger. She has been looking forward to being a big sister and turning 3 for so long that I think now that it has happened she wants to reassure us that she is still growing.

Happy Birthday! We look forward to seeing what you accomplish this year . We love you, ELLIE!

What would a birthday be without batter eating? But not cake batter this time . . . pancake batter. We borrowed a pan that made these cute pancakes with bugs on them. She loved it and refused to let Daddy eat the last pancake even though she was full--she wanted to save it for later and she did eat it later that morning.

Birthday dinner was a hamburger, cheese, and watermelon at the request of Ellie.
Don't you like my Gatorade mustache?

She really got to blow the candles out this time and she enjoyed eating the butterfly's face I saved from the party. She kept saying, "We get to have cake because it's my birthday."

Grandpa & Grandma Moore's Visit

We enjoy having Grandpa & Grandma Moore visit! They brought Lexi with them which was wonderful--Ellie had a constant playmate. During their visit we managed to do a lot of activities: we went to the zoo, Steve & I had a date to the movies to see the new Star Trek movie (guessed who picked that :) but I enjoyed it too), Grandpa & Steve went to a car show at DMB, Ellie's Birthday party, we took the girls to see Monsters vs Aliens in 3-D, and don't forget all the loving Lila received. Here are some pictures from their trip:

Pictures from the zoo:



























Left: Grandpa had an accident or rather Lila had an accident on Grandpa.
Right: Lila loved cuddling Grandma.

Ellie's Birthday Party

Ellie has so many wonderful friends that we do activities with here in Tucson so I decided that since we don't know where we will be next year, upon Steve's graduation, and with Ellie being so patient with us and Lila that she deserved to have her friends over to celebrate her birthday. Here are the highlights:

Invitation:

Cake (which is actually all cupcakes-nice for kids):

Birthday-Butterfly and Proud Parents:

We decorated bug boxes:

Then we read a book about a "Bug Safari" while bugs (plastic rings, edible gummy, and eraser bugs) were being hid in the yard for the kids to collect and put in their bug boxes.

Cake and Ice Cream . . . We had a little trouble keeping the candles lit with the breeze, but I think she was close to blowing them out this time and I love the picture on the right that shows how much she LOVES cake.

Last, but not least, Present Opening:
(everyone was very generous and knew just what a little girl would like:) )

I think we managed to keep the kids entertained, but most importantly Ellie had so much fun with all of her friends. A big THANK YOU to everyone involved!

Adventures of the Night

Last night in an attempt to get more sleep, I pumped and left a bottle for Steve to give to Lila. I went to bed at 9:30 p.m. and was unconscious by 9:35 p.m. When Steve brought Lila to me at 1:30 a.m. he said I missed quite the adventure that night. Here is his story. He had just settled onto the couch to sleep around 11 p.m. when he heard crying. He went down the hall to check on the girls and found Ellie holding Sushi's fish bowl sideways with only a small amount of water left (the picture above has double the amount of water found in the bowl--poor Sushi probably thought she was going to suffocate from air). Steve says it took him a while to process the scene, but he knew he needed to grab the bowl before all of it's contents were lost. He then found that all of the water had been dumped onto Ellie's bed and blankets and she had thrown her big blanket, dripping wet over her headboard. Steve kept asking Ellie what happened and she kept saying, "I don't know." He then came into our room to see if I was even remotely awake because he wanted another witness to the crazy events, but I did not budge as he hovered over me (what did you expect from a sleep deprived Mom with a month old baby). He then changed Ellie's sheets, got her new blankets, filled Sushi's bowl to the level you see it at now, and got Ellie settled back into bed. Even this morning Ellie is not for sure what happened last night. My attempt in explaining the events is that she fed Sushi right before bed last night which we usually do during the day and I think she was dreaming about Sushi and something happened because she was asleep when I checked in on her before going to bed at 9:30 p.m. The good news is Sushi II is okay (we don't need a Sushi III) and Steve was not too traumatized by the experience.

Lila One Month Old

Ellie's "Valentines"

Ellie loves to color, cut, and do crafts. Last Friday she got to pick out some new stickers and I had just finished cutting out coupons so she took my scraps and her stickers and made "valentines" that she left in the window sills all over the house for us to find (I think she combined valentine cards and easter egg hunting).

Today while we were getting ready for a nap I told her to put her milk in the fridge and then on her way back she could pick out a couple of books to read with her 'free' hands. She laughed and said, "Mom you are so silly. I don't have 'three' hands, but I think I can get books with my two hands."

Oh how I love Ellie and her patience with me as I learn to parent two terrific girls.

Look Alike . . .

 Lila - day she was born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellie - day she was born

baby Britney

Lila - 4 weeks old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellie - 6 weeks old
















young Stephen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ellie

Big Sister Anecdotes

When Ellie woke up on the 7th of April she was a little upset because she had an accident during the night and her sheets were wet. I told her it was okay and we could put on some clean sheets and then to cheer her up I told her that Mimi was on her way to visit us because I think the baby is coming today. She got the biggest smile on her face, clapped her hands and said, "Yay, the baby told you she is coming today." I guess in her own way she did with the contractions I had been having since 1 a.m. Ellie then spent a few hours at her friend Ben's house and all she talked about was Mimi and the baby coming today.

After we came home Mimi noticed that Lila might have a small dimple on her right side and she asked, "where did she get that from?" Ellie responded, "I think maybe Jesus."

Last night Ellie was laying in bed waiting to fall asleep and Mimi went by to change Lila's diaper. Ellie asked what she was doing and after finding out that Lila had pooped in her diaper again she exclaimed, "AGAIN!?!? Oh my goodness."

We love our girls!!

Lila Update and More Pictures

Lila went to the doctor today for a weight check and she is doing really well. She has good color and is still 7lbs which is less than the average 10% weight loss--we think she likes the idea of the umbilical cord because if she had her way she would still be permanently attached to me just in a different location, she is a chomper.

The whole family looking at the new addition.

Is she more interested in the baby or the equipment? Ellie was a little hesitant during her first visit and a little more excited during her second visit. She is a very patient and loving big sister--Lila is very fortunate to have her looking out for her.

Mimi and Lila--we are so glad Mimi came to help us.

One Moore . . .

Lila Jane Moore
April 7, 2009
6:39 p.m.
7lbs 7oz
20 inches

Nesting and Decorating

Thanks to a patient and loving husband, today we finished my nesting/decorating projects. I don't know if it is because I'm not working and around the house more, but the nesting urge was sure a lot stronger this time around. It started about a month ago when Steve came home to find me on my hands and knees scrubbing our tile and grout--I then wrangled him in to helping finish the kitchen, the largest tiled area in our house, but hey I did two bathrooms and an entry way all by myself 7.5 months pregnant that counts for something right. The following Saturday we had the carpets cleaned and then I made him climb into the attic 2 or 3 times to get down baby stuff so I could wash it and organize.

At Christmas we had my family help us move the weight machine out of the guest bedroom and refinish a toddler bed Carole gave us and move it in with the guest bed. Then I decided to begin decorating the nursery and Ellie's room. I've always had ideas of what I wanted to do and had been purchasing things here and there, but never really finalized anything so with Ellie settled into her new room and the baby coming I was determined to complete the decorating. Today we hung the last items. Below are pictures of the nursery and Ellie's room.










I need to thank my friend Lori for letting us use her tools to complete some of the projects and for helping me with the lettering--THANKS!

Now let's play a game, one of these is not like the other. I bought these animals, but needed one more to complete my decorating so I drew a pattern, Steve cut it and I painted it. Can you guess which one? I'll give you a hint: it's green. Not bad, eh?


Ellie's Room:

She picked the color of the bed and loves her polka-dot sheets and Strawberry Shortcake pillowcase. (P.S. Steve taught me how to stitch these photos together in Photoshop. Click on them to enlarge--they look better bigger. Pretty cool!)

Independent Stool

Ellie realized a few weeks ago the stool that came with the art station Santa Claus brought is very portable and makes her tall enough to reach things or climb things. Steve and I have nicked-named it the "Independent Stool" and now we have to pay a little closer attention to what we leave around on the counters and within her+stool's reach (I don't think Santa Claus knew about this added feature).

Family Picture w/8 Weeks Left

I thought we should take a few pictures of me pregnant with our second girl. Do you have any idea how hard it is to coordinate a 2 year old and a dog? Not much more to say, but enjoy the picture.

Tucson Spring Gardening

For those of you who live in a colder climate, I hope this post does not upset you, but maybe encourage you to come and visit. :) We have had a pretty mild winter with next week's forecast in the lower 80s and when we went to Costco yesterday they had this beautiful lemon tree on sale. We have been needing to plant a new tree since we lost the peach tree last year, but never really got around to it so we decided now is the time. We planted the lemon tree and cut-back our bushes getting ready for spring growth. I even got so into the gardening mood that I determined in a couple of weeks I may plant some vegetables and fruit. Here are a couple of pictures of my gardening team.

Valentine's Day

Thanks to my parents always celebrating Valentine's Day as a family event, I have grown up thinking of Valentine's Day more as a day to show love for all of those around us rather than a romantic holiday (don't think Steve is completely off the hook-I still like flowers and chocolates). With this in mind we started a new family tradition this year--fondue! I thought it would be a fun and flirty dinner/dessert and yet family friendly. Note, I have never had fondue myself and here I was going to attempt to make it. Well I did some research and determined to combine a couple of recipes I found for a cheese fondue. We had cubed ham steak, asparagus, potatoes, cauliflower, and french bread for dipping and it was delicious! So good we had to take it over to the neighbors and let them try it and they raved about it and almost licked the bowl clean. We then had a chocolate fondue with bananas, strawberries, and angel food cake for dessert. YUM! YUM!

Ellie Growing

You can probably tell by the pictures being posted that Ellie is growing so fast. I keep squeezing her tight and telling her that she needs to stop growing so fast, but she then resoundly replies, "I'm going to be a big sister and I need to grow big." What can you say to that. :)

Tucson Snow

So believe it or not Tucson is home to the most southern ski resort in the Northern Hemisphere. I have been wanting to take Ellie up Mount Lemon to play in the snow, but with the 80 degree weather we have been having there hasn't really been an opportunity. Well today's weather provided an almost snow like experience with a hailstorm which Ellie thought was snow when she saw it all over the grass outside. So we bundled her up in our Tucson Winter clothes and let her go outside to play in the "snow". She loved it and didn't want to come in an hour later to take a bath. I think Ellie has seen more snow here in Tucson than at Grandpa and Mimi's in Idaho. And who says Tucson doesn't have seasons?



























January 2007 we received over 2 inches of snow at our house. This was Ellie's first encounter with snow. I love that the snowman has oranges off of our tree for his buttons and is scratching his head like what is happening here. And look at the cactus in the background with the snow on top. CRAZY!

Ellie's Park and Rec Classes

Since I have been staying home with Ellie we have been taking classes through the local Park and Recreation Program with our friends. We took a Tumble class in the fall that all the kids loved because they got to run around and climb and Ellie learned to do somersaults and to jump like a frog. Starting a couple of weeks ago we started and Art class. The first week they beaded necklaces and snakes. This week they painted--and it was a hit. To quote my friend Lori, "Ellie painting...WOW does that girl know how to paint. She doesn't leave one inch of the paper white. Got to love it!!!" It's true she knows how to make good use of her resources. :)
She started off using her fingers which was fun, but then when the other kids got paint brushes she needed one too.

One of the final masterpieces:

 .

Ellie's friends Ben and Megan.

Pizza Making

Ellie always loves to help me make cookies. She cracks the eggs and stirs for a little while and then becomes distracted with the task of eating the dough. After we made cookies this afternoon for 'Family Movie Night' I started rolling out dough for pizza and she wanted to make her own so I gave her a piece of dough and she rolled it with her little rolling pin and then folded it like Mommy to put it on the pan (she had her own pan) and then we began adding toppings. It started out beautifully a little sauce, three pepperonis perfectly placed and some cheese--I thought she was a pro. Then the craze began more of everything and before I knew it her pizza was more of a tower of cheese and toppings. It all melted and cooked pretty evenly and she ate most of it. Here is my little chef and her creation. :)

Happy New Year!

As many of you may know, Britney is not a late night person so we tend to celebrate New Year's on January 1st. We have started a tradition of making Aebleskivers (a Danish pancake in the shape of a sphere. They are cooked in a special cast iron pan as pictured below). Steve's family has been making them for years and his sister Debbie gave us a pan when we got married so we enjoy them from time-to-time, but are certain to make them on New Year's Day. They are usually cooked and then coated with powdered sugar and then you can spread jam or honeybutter in the middle--delicious! This year I made a few with sweetened cinamon apples cooked into the center--also delicious (they tasted like a mini apple pie)! Ellie wanted to have a picnic so we made a transportable lunch and enjoyed the lovely wheather in our backyard. We wish you all the best this 2009!