Morning walk

We went out for a walk this morning. It felt so nice compared to the deathly humid weather we've had all summer. The girls were both up to it....so we strapped Ella in and put sunglasses on Suz and off we went. Suz loves sitting next to Ella, she always peaks over to see if "Baby Ella okay?"....so sweet!We also wanted to try out our great Ebay find, this MacLaren Double Stroller. I LOVE it! Part of the great price was that the right seat has a broken mechanism on one side. It slides when any weight is put on it. So, being the jerry-rigger I am....I just put those mini black paper clips on it so it doesn't slide back. If the seat needs to be reclined, I just remove a paper clip or two. :) Now it works perfectly! Suz can't even tell the difference and we got it for a fourth of the price it should be listed.

The little fingers to the left are counting how old this little toddler is. I love her little body.

Our wee lass

I've noticed that I am spending a lot of blog time on Suz, and not so much of our wee-est lass. So, as Suz napped I had some one-on-one time with Ella. She had just eaten and I was trying to get her to smile.

Suz's feet seemed so small until Ella came home with us. I can't believe how small Ella's feet really are...they are so tiny and edible. Anyone up for a nibble?
What a brow little one....do you think it was all the piggie nippling?

Vying for Daddy's attention....

As I finished vacuuming I saw Suz race into Ella's room with her bubbles. I knew Casey was trying to soothe Ella and wondered what everyone was doing. This is what I found.
Ella so out of it her little arms were relaxed across Casey's chest. And there was Suz...not wanting to feel left out, she wanted to have some Daddy snuggles too. Why is it all of us girls love him so much?

Due to popular request...

Due to popular request, here is a new video.

Suzanna at 2 years old.

Ella is 2 months old

Saturday Ella turned 2 months! She's given me a full 9 hour stretch of sleep (on our anniversary)...good timing baby girl! She goes on average every 6 hours and a few nights she has reverted back to every 4 hours of feeding at night. I must say this little one has a very laid back personality (like her Daddy) and is very content. It takes a lot to rile her up. I love how she is full of smiles. Ella la bella.
This weekend our Tennessee kin will be able to enjoy her, and soon we'll be homeward bound to Washington! (Notice the count down??)

What makes me happy is to see how much Suzanna loves her baby sister. She is very protective and can't give enough kisses and hugs to her. I've found her trying to console her by giving her a pacifier too....nice thought but it's always upside down.

The Beloved Boots

I must say of all her worldly possessions she currently has, these are the most prized to her....her Marine Corps boots.
We have a no-shoe rule in the house, so when she sneaks past me and wears the boots outside, I have to wash them to make them once again "indoor shoes" or "indoor boots"....because every day she pulls them out and makes us all laugh with her creativity.
Here she is trying to maneuver onto a chair with the boots.....it took some time, but she did it!

Ring-around-a-Rosie is a popular dance she does around the boots these days....

Ode to the Boots.

No Okay....

Our newest conversation piece with Suz is "Are you okay?" and she'll respond in an affirmative or negative. Next we'll ask if she is sure and positive. Lately she's answered in this cute way...

Fireplace Dance

If you notice at the end she realizes I have the camera on her....she must not have realized she had an audience, maybe that's why she has the mean eyes in the end.

wee lass

Couldn't pass up the moment....her little yawn is contagious.
Have you noticed the little hair in the back? It is always sticking straight up. When I had my last ultrasound at 9 months, the tech asked if I could see her hair. It was amazing to be able to see her little hair moving back and forth in the ultrasound.
Red you ask? I'm not sure if it is still looking red or not, I think when it needs a wash it looks more brown than red....I don't think it's because I am in denial or anything (for those of you thinking that)! It will be fun to see what color of hair our little lass has....or if it turns out curly like Suzanna's.

4 year Anniversary

It's our Anniversary!

4 Years (of marriage)

4 Extra pounds (here and there)

4 Part-Time Jobs

3 Moves

2 Apartments (in Federal Way)

2 G.I. Bill's

2 Derees (University of Washington...GO HUSKIES!)

2 States (Washington and Illinois)

2 Girls (Cute as can be!)

1 Career

1 House

1 Love

0 Military Service (Yipeee, we're done!)

Our Day

Suz's favorite snack.....at the moment....apples!

She loves her blanket....she sleeps with it, runs around house with it and even bites it!Here is Ella and I. I am amazed at how fast she is growing. Now if we can only work on sleeping longer at night...she's given me a few 5 hour nights, mostly 4 hour and last night only 3 hour break. We are working on it. Saturday she will be 2 months old!

Twinkle Twinkle

Bangs?

Suzanna's hair is getting to the point where I have to put little rubber bands at the top in order to keep her bangs from falling in her face. We are at a point of either letting them grow or cutting them.
My question is should we give her bangs??

This might give you an idea of what she would look like with bangs. I'm not sure, she doesn't have an itty bitty forehead or a big one....it's kind of just a normal sized one.

Fireplace Nemesis

No, we don't have stairs thank goodness but if you ask what my nemesis has been in this O'Fallon house, I'd say the fireplace. So, here we started one year ago, Suz at 13 months old just sitting on the fireplace as cute as can be. Perfect for a photo shot, right? Wrong....it got out of control...she would not only climb onto it but bring her popcorn push toy as well!

It got even worse, she began bringing her stroller to walk across the fireplace.

One year later, I'd say I am less worried about her falling off it or hurting herself on it....so what might you ask does she do these days on the fireplace?

DANCE!

She dances....songs from "Scotland the Brave" to "Step-in-Time" off Mary Poppins.

I wonder how long it will take Ella to discover this nemesis of mine. Next summer do you think?

little smiles

Ella is such a little smiler....she flashes us with smiles all the time now. I can't believe how much Ella and Suzanna look alike, it wasn't until I was looking back at Suzanna's 2 month photos.
Is it just me or do these two look like they can pass as twins? Can you tell which is Ella and which is Suz? This is kind of a fun game!?

Guesses anyone?

"My Baby"

Before I forget, I just have to add that the other day Suzanna started saying "my baby" with regards to Ella. Maybe we shouldn't have laughed, but we both busted up laughing when we first heard that.
Suzanna is piecing together 3 letter words, here are some examples we've heard this week:

"See baby Ella" (yes she says the phoneme /s/, WOW!)
"No Sue poo-poo" (sometimes she omits the /z/ in her name and it comes out "Sue")
"No, my baby" (possessive little thing)
"Dadt's mine Mama" (okay, she's a toddler)
"I yuv you" ("yuv" is love)
"Mama, Daddy home?" (her favorite part of the day)
"Ice cream ummm ummm good"
"Hug baby Ella" (she consistently hugs and kisses her)

After Nana left, I was very emotional (postpartum stuff, struggling with sleep, nursing, you name it). I cried when she left...cried before she left...cried thinking about her too. Suz kept teasing me and would point saying, "Mama, look....Nana!" I would start balling my eyes out....every time! Suz didn't understand when every time she said "Nana" I would cry. The very thought of little Bitsy would out put me in a tail spin. I look back and laugh about it, but I'm sure it really confused Suz as to why Mama would cry every time she said such a sweet name as "Nana".

Close attention to detail

I am amazed by how detailed oriented this little 2 year old can be. Each day she plays by herself for hours on end (that has been a wonderful thing, especially for as often as Ella eats). In the Army we call it "close attention to detail". She will carefully pick her little figurines and place them "dress right dress" (another saying in the military that means they are all in line with the same positioning). Window sills, bookshelves and the fire place are her favorite places to set up her Little People, Smurfs, Hello Kitty's or Care Bears.

Inside Fun

Okay, I haven't been so adventurous with the girls by myself. It took a lot for me to take them to the library (Monday) for the first time since Ella was born, and it didn't go too well. We haven't had an adventures to the park, library, Target, Goodwill or take them on daily walks in 7 weeks. It is because of two reasons: 1) it's really hard for me to time everything with feeding Ella and finding room in the cart for everyone and 2) It is so hot outside...I think I'll wait for the Fall time when it cools off.

So, here are the fun things we do in the house to keep each other occupied. Suz loves to push Ella in the swing. Well, we try telling Suz that Ella doesn't like to be pushed as high as she does....so now and then we have to ask Suz to push "softly". She also likes to regulate the music on the swing. Nana has taught Suz the "No buttons" and the "Yes buttons" ("No" being the speed of the swing and "Yes" being the music). I do wish we could just turn off the music all in all. I sometimes can't sleep at night, I hear the songs in my head.

Thanks Alisha for your Bee Store steal...Suz loved it and so does Ella!

I love this little face.....so sweet.

Of course while I feed Ella is the time Suz wants to show me new tricks. Her latest is doing something like this, falling down and waiting for me to ask if she is okay. If I don't ask, she will prompt me "okay?" until I ask "Are you okay?"....it's become a game now.

Under the weather

We've all been under the weather these last few days (all but me thank goodness). Thankfully it has not progressed so much that it effects the girls sleeping patterns. (Well, Ella doesn't really have one yet other than doing a 5 hour stretch in the middle of the night and back to a 3 hour). I was trying to get some laundry done and also play with Suz. I had to put her down. (See the little pink around the eyes?) She didn't like it....
Although, she is very even tempered....even she has her moments of frustration (I think she is hungry again).

We love Little People here

We just love the Little People. At first it was really hard to find any at the D.I. or any thrift shop, then we scored! We hit 2 garage sales on one Saturday when we first moved to O'Fallon and found both families getting rid of their Little People! We now have a huge family of people, pets, camping gear and a doll house. Who could ask for more??
She'll first dump them out and then organize them according to her preference. Lately it has been in a uni circle with their backs to her.

Suzanna recently discovered the Little People house has a toilet seat that makes a flushing sound. She has been making sure all the folks go on the potty at least once in a play period. Can you tell we're gearing her for the big girl potty? (Well, that's another picture....)

Cutie on Duty

"Cutie on Duty".....Lizzy did you pick these out yourself or did Maddy help?? We love them, thanks!

Oh, did you notice Ella's big muscle pose? I think she likes that one. ;)

Tea Party Anyone?

Anyone up for a Tea Party? Liz....Maddy....Allison...Nana....Mimi??
Cheers!

I gave in and let her also play with these in the bath. But don't worry, we've sterilized them in the mean time.

Don't think it's gas...

Each time I've gone to see the Pediatrician, he's said "Well, if you see her smile, it's not really to you but it's gas". Well, la bella is now 6 weeks old and there have been a few occasions (especially after her tummy is full) that we've called her by name (with a sweet voice of course) and she smiles. Her big sis can also get some smiles out of her....so I'm thinking it's not gas....it's her sweet little happy face.

While I was making dinner....

We've got a week with just us girls. Casey is TDY to D.C. I guess it will prepare us for a long deployment that we face in just a few weeks. So here is how I left Ella as I began to make dinner.
I heard laughter from Suz and wondered why she kept going back and forth from the fridge to the family room. I soon found out...

And this was the end result. Every time Ella tried to fall asleep, she would wake herself up with the tinkering of Suzs' fridge magnets.

Thanks Aunt Kristy, these fridge magnets are a hit! Suzanna can identify half a dozen phonemes by their symbol....I am amazed!

So glad when Daddy comes home!

Who isn't so glad when Daddy comes home?!

I know of a little cutie who LOVES her Daddy...and when he comes home....it's PARTY TIME!

WEEEEEE!

Peak-a-boo!

Those Army Boots

Even in the heat of heat...there is a little toddler who wants to play outside with her Army Boots.
Maybe she's doing it for Cadet Peter......we're so proud of you! We know you can beat the heat in Alabama and do well in your Air Force Training!! Hoorah Peter!!

Outside our home....