Play date

Emily had her first official "play date" today. We met Shea & Presley at the park. I think both girls had lots of fun. I remembered the sunscreen for Emily, but my arms got a little red!

I actually remembered her pail, but we don't have a shovel, so she found an old applesauce cup (wow, how ghetto is that?!).
Ellen gave me the shifty eyes whenever I'd try to get her picture in the sling.
Ellen & Presley in the sand
Shea brought bubbles (which Emily promptly stole).
Emily (bubbles still in hand) gladly counted to three so that Presley could slide.
Emily's favorite horse (I'm always afraid she'll break her face/teeth). She's gotten REALLY good at rocking on it.

Roller coaster/war

So, recently I've been accusing the girls of tag-teaming me in the sleep/crying department. Each of them seems to be on their own separate roller coaster. For a couple of nights last week they simply staggered their awake time at night--if Ellen was up from 1-2 to eat, Emily would wake up at 3. Then Ellen would be back up at 4 or 5... Emily generally just wakes up and comes in our room and has to be put back--her "episodes" only require leaving the bed for a couple of minutes (but I'm woken up, nonetheless). Apparently this is retribution for similar crimes that I committed when I was her age. However, there were a few nights when they were really out to get me. One night Emily would have her quick awake period(s), and Ellen would have a marathon awake time of 2+ hours. Then the next night Ellen would be an awesome sleeper with even 5 hours between feedings, but Emily would have a marathon awake time of 2+ hours. Weird. I'm almost hesitant to say that we've had okay nights the last two nights--Emily has been up only once (I think), which I can handle, and Ellen has eaten & returned to bed in a reasonable amount of time. Ellen had a rather colicky day yesterday (she wanted to be held nonstop, and only slept when Jon held her), but again, slept well at night. One day I'll figure it all out, and they'll both sleep all night.

Clarification

In my previous post I neglected to mention that Kim, Jon's sister, is flying down to fly back with me & the girls. So it'll be even--two adults vs. two kids.

We're moving!

Okay, so some of you have known for a while, but we just announced it at church yesterday. We're moving back to Oregon (the Portland area, most likely) in about 5 or 6 weeks. Jon's flying up next Monday for some interviews and to look at some houses. I'll fly up with the girls in early June, and Jon and his mom will bring the U-haul & cars. We're really excited to be closer to family, but we will REALLY miss our friends here.

Awesome presents

My favorite Aunt & Uncle sent the girls an AWESOME package. Ellen and Emily each got a USC beanie bear, and Ellen got her new favorite shirt (she'll grow into it). Emily immediately got to work getting her bear swaddled in a blanket and rocked. Ellen was equally enthused, but kept the blanket to herself.

Sleeping & snuggling

Ellen has had some cranky time the past two days, so sometimes when she is asleep, it's best not to bug her--hence sleeping in the sling in her crib.
Emily has jealous moments, and likes to spend them doing exactly what Ellen is doing. Although for this crib visit (only the second, so far), she wanted her pacifier & ducks and then wanted to watch the mobile.

Cookies & sprinkles

Our friends Bryan & April came by for dinner--they're currently stationed in Germany, so this was a very special visit--and Emily and I made cookies for dessert. She helped with the sprinkles, which I thought was a good idea for a fleeting moment. Oh well--what's a clean kitchen for, anyway?

Ellen's backpack/diaper bag

Monday

Before my parents left, we made them help us with some much-needed yard work in the back. My dad found this toad, and it was fun to show Emily. She had mixed feelings--she liked it, but didn't want to touch it. Later in the day when we went out back she asked for it and we had to go looking, but couldn't find it.


Attempts at family photos, part 2 (my Mom got some better ones which I'll steal from Flickr later).

Preview

Tomorrow we will take pictures when Emily is not focused on wanting the cheese that I promised her. Then we'll have one of the grandparents & girls.

Sunday

These pictures are a bit out of order, but you get the idea...

Park

I love this picture--so contemplative




Papa beat out the stroller in popularity, which is pretty unheard of. Emily usually has to have a ride in the stroller every day, but she opted for walking with Papa instead of riding to the park.
...where he had to push her in the swing for all eternity.

Two weeks

She weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. on Friday, which was a whopping 9 oz. gain in four days!

Saturday

Ellen and Grandma
Jumping from the sand pit at the park

Emily helping with Ellen's first "real" bath (look at those HUGE feet!)

Grandma and Papa! (and more presents)

New Ikea easel--chalkboard on one side, white board on the other (markers will be used MUCH later). We currently have th roll of paper for the white board side.
Grandma & Ellen (with aforementioned awesome blanket)
Grandma & Papa also brought sidewalk paint. We have pretty lame concrete, so the boxes worked a little better.

Cool presents

Sarah made Ellen these AWESOME presents--the blanket has stripes on one side and the flower print on the other side. Emily decided that she needed to use it right away, so I didn't get a very good picture. It has cool scalloped (?) edges that I am in love with (and mystified on how to make, although I think I've figured it out now). The pants are also adorable and super soft, and I can't wait to put them on Ellen.

We (finally) have a swinger

Emily never liked the swing (well, until about a month ago), but Ellen is in love with it. I am so glad that she has a place to hang out and be happy.

To share, or not to share

Not to share...
I had Ellen in the swing while I did some dishes, but Emily was furious (she's been swinging recently), so they had to trade.

Singer

Emily has started using any/everything as a microphone. I'm not sure where she saw it (although we did recently purchase Singstar for the Playstation). Here she's using nail clippers to sing the alphabet song.

All by myself... Day One

The Steeles headed home yesterday after their wonderful, helpful two-week visit, Jon went back to work after a week off, and I was forced to fend for myself. We had a pretty good morning, and were all showered, fed & dressed by 10:30 (Ellen was the late one--she's such an oversleeper!), so we headed to the park.
It's probably impossible to see in this picture, but this guy had a MONKEY! It was a spider monkey (I think--is that what Marcel was on "Friends"?). He didn't really let us get close, which was fine with me, and Emily was thrilled.
Emily got to climb on the big rock for the first time.

Ellen hung out in her new sling.
Emily was a good listener at the park, and was rewarded with a couple of thin mints on the way home. Whoops.
After naps I was feeding Ellen and Emily was playing in her room. I was so proud of her for entertaining herself...and later discovered what it was that she was doing... Oh well, what's a room for if not to mess up?