Due Date

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Elise

T-minus one hour until the end of Baby Bob’s due date and so far he’s a no show. So in the absence of newborn photos, here are a few recent favorites of the girls.

Alethea had her first piano recital a few weeks ago. She was really nervous and expressed a lot of concerns ranging from playing the wrong notes to, “What if I forget how to sit at the piano and I sit on my knees and my legs fall asleep?!!” However, her fears turned out to be unnecessary, since she played wonderfully and amused everyone with her enthusiastic bowing and adjusting of the bench.

Lydia has been learning new skills too. She knows how to spell her name, likes to draw pictures of princesses, and can put on clothes and shoes by herself, although the shoes don’t always end up on the right feet. We might need to do a little work on measurements with both girls though. The other day, Alethea and Lydia were playing with my tape measure, checking out the kitchen wall when Alethea asked, “How many inches does this weigh?” Very seriously, Lydia replied, “That inches is three dollars.”

Both girls continue to be good eaters, although Lydia is the more adventurous of the two. Alethea adores raw fruits and vegetables though. In fact, tonight she ate her whole dinner and then asked for some watermelon and proceeded to devour 10 slices!

Alethea’s favorite activities currently include drawing, singing, dancing, and playing princesses. She sometimes combines the the singing, dancing and princesses by belting out tunes from “Frozen” with great gusto. I’m thinking she might end up on Broadway someday. Although the weather has taken a major turn for the better lately, she’s not a huge fan of being outside now since she doesn’t like the mosquitoes and is absolutely terrified of bees and wasps.

Lydia also enjoys drawing, singing, and princesses to some degree, but she loves being outside and has an affinity for nearly every living creature. She enjoys helping me in my garden, most especially if we dig up earthworms. You should hear her giggle in delight whenever we discover one. You’d think we were unearthing kittens. She always insists on holding and talking to them.

My favorite part about being mom to these two beautiful girls is that they are truly the best of friends. I know having a baby brother around is going to shake things up, but I hope nothing will ever change the fact that, despite the occasional squabble, these two would rather be with each other than with anyone else.

We are all excited to become a family of five. Alethea and Lydia agreed today that they want their brother to come so they can see what he looks like. I promised them that he’s coming soon. You hear that, Baby Boy? Soon!

Will be updating as soon as there is anything to report. Stay tuned!

A Birthday Baseball Game

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Elise

Yesterday was Peter’s birthday, so we had people over for a joint Mother’s Day/Birthday celebration. It was a nice time spent with our families. However, since it’s a bummer to always share your birthday, we went to a Twins game last weekend, just the five of us (Bob was there too even if he couldn’t see what was going on), for a Birthday Only celebration.

The girls were really excited at the prospect of going to a game, and even reluctantly consented to wearing pants. (They almost always wear dresses or skirts, because they insist that’s what princesses wear.)

It was a 1:10 game, so we got them a each a kids meal for lunch on our way in. The hot dog, chips and small drink bought us 2.5 innings in our seats.

I knew the girls would be excited to see T.C. I was hoping he would show up on our side of the stadium about mid-game so we’d have a distraction to look forward to. Unfortunately he came at the bottom of the 1st, which means we spent eight innings answering the question, “Where did T.C. go?!?” We couldn’t have asked for better weather though. It was actually a little hot sitting in the sun.

A bag of kettle corn bought us another inning and a half, after which we took the girls up to the concourse to get out of the sun and walk around a little bit. We spent several innings in the shade, during which time the girls found themselves in need of the family restroom multiple times. Twins runs scored when each parent was in the bathroom with the girls… Elise 4, Peter 0. Apparently me not seeing the good parts is key to the Twins winning. But at least they did win, and we were back in our seats to watch the fireworks go off.

Then there was taking the obligatory down-by-the-field photo. (They are smiling so nicely because a lady heard me trying to coax them to smile and told them that she bet their Mommy would give them a dollar if they smiled. Clearly she doesn’t know their Mommy.)

Since it was kids day, they were invited onto the field to run the bases. They were excited about it at first, but much less so when they realized they weren’t going to be allowed to run all over the grass.

Then it was time for the long walk back to the parking garage, which proved to be a bit too long for one little fan.

But that’s okay. With no major melt-downs we are calling the outing a success.

Happy birthday, Peter! There’s no one with whom I’d rather spend my all my Twins games (which roughly translated means, I love you very very much!)

Three Weeks and Counting

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Elise

Today I am 37 weeks pregnant. Just three weeks left until my due date, May 29th. Of course, I can’t know if Baby Boy will show up early or not. I’m 1-2cm dilated, but my midwife says that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. In any case, I’m physically ready to be done, but my to-do list is still quite long, so I’ve been trying to knock out as many things as I can before returning to those sleep deprived newborn days.

Of course, it’s harder to knock things off a to-do list when you’re nine months pregnant and your belly closely resembles that of a giant teddy bear…I shouldn’t complain. I feel very blessed to be expecting a healthy full-term baby boy. I’ve gained less than thirty pounds and can still wear my wedding ring, which was not the case at this point with either of the girls. This pregnancy still feels harder to me though. I don’t know if it’s because I’m over 30 now, because it’s the third time around, or because I’ve got two other kids to keep up with, but yeah, I’m exhausted.

Alethea and Lydia seem more or less ready to make the transition to a family of five. They enjoy giving my belly kisses, and telling perfect strangers about their baby brother who is coming. Alethea has really been on board from the start. I think she’s so confident in managing her sister that she figures it can’t be much more work to be in charge of two. She seems very eager to be Mommy’s helper.

Lydia on the other hand, up until about a month ago, kept telling me that she did not in fact want a baby brother, she wanted another sister. Fortunately, that has ended and more recently she has started saying things about helping her brother walk and discussing where his car seat will go in our new-to-us larger vehicle that we purchased to accommodate three car seats.

Besides the new vehicle, we’ve also managed to acquire a fairly complete first year’s wardrobe for our little guy. We have a couple wonderful neighbors who were getting rid of their baby boy clothes and gave me first dibs on them. Between that, the things we already owned that were gender neutral, some gifts, and a few Target clearance finds, other than getting a few more 0-3 month sleepers, I’m about done with the “Find Boy Clothes” item on my to-do list. And everything is even washed and put away! Sweet little hats that probably will never fit my baby’s head… awwww…

As far as the nursery update goes, I’m not as far along as I’d hoped I’d be, but we have made some progress. I bought the airplane fabric I was eyeing and my mom came over and helped me turn it into drapes, or rather, I helped her turn it into drapes. (Let’s just be honest about who did more of the work.) I also went to Home Depot and bought galvanized pipe to make a curtain rod, which I spray painted last weekend (never fear, while wearing an OSHA approved respirator). Now we just need to get the rod and curtains up, then pin the curtains at the correct length, take them down to do the hem and put them back up again. Sounds fun, right?

So not too much has changed in the nursery. I have gotten most of the girly accessories out, although I still haven’t made any decisions on the artwork situation, hence the continued presence of that bit of pink.

I did find bookends on eBay to fit the new theme. I love them, but I just can’t decide if I leave the current paint job or do something else. Spray paint them a solid color, perhaps bronze? Paint just the red parts with a color that better matches the rest of the room? Maybe go bold with a fun green to liven things up?

So that’s where things stand at 37 weeks. Just for fun, and because I’m running out of mental decision making energy, leave me a comment and let me know whether I should paint the bookends and if so, what color. Opinions please!

Happy Easter!

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Elise

Our Easter weekend was quite nice. Saturday included a little egg dyeing. Once again, the wire whisk trick worked like a charm, not one cracked egg.

After the girls finished their eggs, they rushed down to the playroom to gather some coffee mugs, a carton of eggs, whisks and bottles of dye. Apparently their stuffed friends wanted in on the egg dyeing action.

Sunday started with getting dressed up for church. The girls were unbelievably excited to finally don their special outfits. They’ve been begging for days to wear these dresses!

After church we had a little egg hunt in the backyard.

And then was our feast (ham and all the fixings), after which the girls eagerly dove into their Easter baskets.

To top it all off, the girls spent the rest of the evening outside playing, because the weather, at long last, was absolutely perfect.

Hope your Easter was wonderful too!

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Vacation!

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Elise

Sorry for the long silence. March came in like a lion in more ways than one around here. Not only was the weather horrible, but all four of us managed to come down with Influenza A during week one of March. Week two found Peter and the girls feeling better, but the flu morphed into a sinus infection and bronchitis for me. The coughing and headaches might have even been worse than the initial flu. So forgive me for not posting. I’ve been in a bit of a fog.

The good news is March week three brought much improvement to my heath and more interestingly, our family’s spring break vacation to Wisconsin Dells, Waterpark Capital of the World. We enjoyed a three night stay at the Wilderness Resort, which boasts four indoor waterparks, plus a variety of other attractions.

I didn’t get a ton of pictures (because water and cameras don’t mix and because Peter and I were too busy just trying to keep up with the girls), but here are my best shots:

We spent the majority of our time exploring the different waterparks, but we squeezed in a trip downtown to eat at MACS Macaroni and Cheese Shop, which I have to mention because it was sensationally good. Why aren’t there more restaurants whose entire menu is gourmet variations on mac and cheese? One of life’s mysteries, I suppose.

We also spent one evening chilling in our suite, watching Disney’s Frozen and eating popcorn:

Both girls seemed particularly intrigued by the sisterly storyline. After the movie, Alethea was overheard saying to Lydia, “Don’t worry, you won’t turn to ice. You’ll be my sister forever!”

And then there was swimming and more swimming (and lots of water slide riding, of which I could not for the life of me get a decent picture).

Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Ken-Ducky Derby. Every morning at 8:30am they race rubber duckies down the lazy river. We went two mornings and somehow Lydia’s ducks managed to win both mornings, so she ended up with a duck whistle and a water bottle. Alethea’s ducks weren’t quite as fast, but I was super proud of her for being happy just getting to keep the ducks. She was quite cheerful about it and is already talking about doing more duck races “when we go back”.

So that’s where we’ve been. My plan for this coming week is to attempt to get back to a normal schedule. Here’s hoping March week 4 is in fact like a lamb. Come on spring!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Elise

Lydia…

And Alethea…
Want to wish you a very happy Valentine’s Day!

XOXOXO

For more Valentine’s Day fun, here’s last year’s Vday post and the one the year before that.

On Sharing a Room

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Elise

Now that Bobble Head Baby #3 (Bob for short) is on the way, I’ve gotten a lot of questions on what the room situation is going to look like for all the kiddos, how many bedrooms we have, and whether the girls are going to share a room. And the answer is, we have four bedrooms in our house, but only three of them are on the upper level, so yes the girls will be sharing a room and Bob 3.0 is going to have the nursery all to himself.

As to some ways we are trying to make the transition to sharing a room easier for the girls, here’s what we’ve done so far:

You may recall that back in January of 2013 we investigated different bunk bed options and ended up choosing a bunk bed that had a trundle underneath. Since we didn’t think Alethea was ready for navigating a top bunk, we assembled just the bottom bunk and the trundle and let the girls try sleeping in the same room.

Despite the adorable sleeping kids picture, I’ll be the first to admit that Room Sharing Attempt #1 was an unmitigated disaster. The girls kept each other up until 10:30 or 11:00 every night and were unbelievably cranky the next day, every single day, for two weeks, until we abruptly ended the experiment and Lydia resumed sleeping in the crib. We tried again in the spring with similar results and after calling round #2 a failure, we agreed to shelve the whole rooming together idea until the possible future Bob 3.0 was in the works.

Fast forward a few months to after we found out Bob 3.0 was on his way, when Peter said to me, “We need to try moving the girls in together again.” To which I replied in a somewhat whiny voice, “Do we really have to?”

After discussing the pros and cons of bottom-bunk-and-trundle vs. top-bunk-and-bottom-bunk, and consulting with Alethea on whether she was interested in sleeping in a top bunk (she was… VERY) and whether she thought she would fall out (after confirming that there would be a railing on the edge, she observed, “If I’m rolling on my pillow and I roll up to the railing, I just won’t roll and further”), we decided to give the green light to the top bunk option.

One of my preconditions about putting up bunk beds, was that we had to change out the ceiling fan for a non-moving light fixture. Fortunately, I’d bought a fantastic pink chandelier at a second-hand sale months ago, planning on using it in the guest bedroom.

I still think it would have looked great in the guest room, but it’s very cute in the girls’ room too, and I’m pretty sure it’s safer than a fan they can reach from the top bunk. Admittedly, Alethea has asked on more than one occasion if she can swing on it, so there is the possibility that she may one day bring it crashing down in the middle of a trapeze performance, but thus far she has heeded our warnings and refrained from any acts of daring.

The girls began Room Sharing Experiment #3 in November, and it has been the most successful try thus far. Not completely without bumps, but it seems to have helped Alethea to have a space of her own, since Lydia is not allowed to climb up to the top bunk. Lydia herself is quite pleased to be a Big Girl who sleeps in a Big Girl Bed and will happily inform anyone who will listen that, “I don’t sleep in a crib, because cribs are for babies. I’m not a baby anymore.” She shows no inclination to return to the nursery and seems unbothered by the fact that another little occupant will shortly be residing there.

Having successfully arranged a bed solution, last week I moved on to the clothes. Fortunately the closet was big enough to handle both of the girls’ hanging wardrobes without any adjustments. For the dresser I found these nifty extra-deep spring-loaded drawer dividers on Amazon.

Installation was a breeze. I think it took me longer to get them out of the packaging than it did to get them into the drawers. And when I was finished each girl ended up with two dresser drawers, each divided in half, which is how I managed to condense the contents of two four-drawer dressers into just one.

We have a few other orders of business to attend to, like getting the lamp on the bookcase fixed, moving some of the girly accessories in from the nursery, and come summer, finding some sort of solution to the lack of fan since the room does get a bit warm, even with the air conditioning on, during the warmer months.

But the good news is, I can cross off “Get Girls’ Room Organized” from my before baby arrives to-do list and move on to “Revamp Nursery Decor”. Goodbye pink… hello planes, trains and other things that go! Should be fun!

A Princess Party!

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Elise

Our little Lydia just turned three years old and, as requested by the birthday girl, we had a princess party to celebrate! As I’ve mentioned before, we haven’t necessarily encouraged the love of princesses at our house, so I kind of surprised myself in how much I enjoyed preparing for this party.

Hear ye, hear ye, this was the invitation (which is displaying really washed out for some reason, grrrr):

The cake table was my favorite part, with dipped pretzels, cake batter flavored easy gourmet popcorn and gorgeous cupcakes made by my friend Erica. I recycled the pink fringed streamers from Alethea’s Frances the Badger party and added some smaller silver streamers for a contrasting backdrop.

What do you get when you combine repainted autumn pumpkins with a glass slipper and snowy trees? I’d like to think I achieved a Cinderella-meets-Enchanted-Forest theme, but maybe it just looks like I’m too lazy to take down all of my Christmas decorations. Either way, this is how the mantel ended up looking:

As noted by the party guests, the pumpkin coach could have been improved if it had four wheels instead of only two and if I’d actually carved out the door and windows instead of drawing them with a Sharpie, but I was trying for fast decor on a “use what you’ve got” budget, and as a bonus, the girls got to participate by each painting a “wheel” silver and were they ever thrilled to get in on the decorating.

There were a few other details like the chalkboard in the dining room, the birthday girl photo display on the console table, and of course something fabulous for the guest of honor to wear.

When it was time for the party to begin, Lydia accessorized the dress with her frog slippers to everyone’s amusement. Speaking of amusement, Lydia thought it was so funny that her cousins gave her 18 big packages of fruit snacks, which she unpacked from the gift bag and carefully placed in a pile…. one…. by…. one….

Other gifts included a bunch of great clothes, some cute accessories including a new crown, craft supplies, a couple books, a vet bag with a puppy that makes various doggy sounds (Lydia was in LOVE), a hula-hoop that makes for great twirling and a blue rubber bouncy horse named Rody (because every princess needs a equine companion).

After presents, it was time for cake. Lydia picked one with a crown, a chocolate one naturally, because she is her mother’s daughter, and then proceeded to blow out the candles all by herself.

Then there was nothing left to do, but eat the cupcake and try on the mini tiara… while still wearing a crown. Too much bling, some might say, but really, is there such a thing?

So there you go, Lydia’s Princess Party for her third birthday, which means I am now officially the mother of two preschoolers! Yikes!

To view more BobbleHeadBaby celebrations, visit my Parties Page!

It’s a ….

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Elise

Also happy to report that all signs are indicating a perfectly healthy little one arriving in late May!

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Elise

Unforgettable, that’s what you are, Unforgettable, though near or far,
Like a song of love that clings to me,
How the thought of you does things to me,
Never before, has someone been more…