Painting!

We decided to risk painting for the first time and why didn't I try this sooner?! A full HOUR of a happy, contained, quiet girl, happily doing her art. So fun!

First solo swim class videos

Swim class changes

In preparation for baby #2, we had to make some adjustments to swim class. After having a baby you can't get in the pool for I believe 6 weeks, which would have made swim class with E tough, but also, I will now be bringing a newborn with us and can't exactly let her hang alone! 

Thankfully our swim school has a sort of in between class for kids who aren't yet 3 (the age required to go into a group class without a parent swimming with them), but are old enough to handle the pool without their parent in a 2 kid class. We searched for awhile but finally found a time slot that worked great with our schedule and so today, Ellie swam by herself for the first time! 

Our last class together was certainly bittersweet but just as parenting always is, those mixed emotions really kicked in! The nostalgia and sadness I felt last week getting out of the pool for the last time with her (we've been in swim class together for 21 of her 28 months of life!) were quickly replaced today by total pride and joy - she was AMAZING! 

I walked her over to her lane, and without so much as a wave goodbye she jumped right in to her new teacher and never looked back. She listened, followed directions, was amazing with back floats, and was even diving for rings off the bottom! 

I love that my girl loves the water so much and I am so insanely proud of her!!

(First few photos below are of our last class together...the bottom photo is right before she went in for her first solo class!)

We bought a house!

Holy cow the home stretch of this second pregnancy has been pretty crazy because we just closed on a new house! We put in the offer back in March, quickly got our house on the market, and thankfully it sold in 2 days. We signed our papers yesterday and got the keys today - we're homeowners! Again! We are thrilled and feel so lucky to be starting this next chapter in a beautiful new home. Awesome features include 5 bedrooms (one of which will be a dedicated playroom - woohoo!), 3 bathrooms, and a totally open concept kitchen/living space. We still have a neighborhood park which just so happens to be right behind our house. (After our final walkthrough last week we tested it out and Ellie gave it two thumbs up :)
We can't wait to create more amazing family memories for many (comfortable) years to come!

Signing our lives away!

We told Ellie if she wanted to live there she should probably sign her name, too. She did, as seen here, then proudly handed me her paper and said, "ELLIE!"

Zoo Date with Zachy and Lolo

We hit up Ellie's fave place once again, this time with friends Zachy and Lolo :) Obviously, darling photos ensued. And just in case you were curious this girl loves a carousel more than just about anything on earth.

Date nights for mom and dad!

When it rains it pours - we got not one but TWO date nights this past weekend! A reception on Friday at the Camelback Inn and a concert on Sunday at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. We were marveling at how lovely it is to actually stand and TALK to each other without a toddler interrupting every 1.7 seconds. So nice to get some quality time together.

Happy 2nd birthday, Olivia!

Ellie's friend Olivia turned 2 back in March, but poor thing got super sick and so her party was rescheduled (sound familiar?!). We had a blast and the kiddos were too cute!

Some recent Ellie funnies

As of 3/30/17 - a few Ellie funnies:

-She calls the pharmacy the "barbacy". This totally cracks me up because there are VERY few words this child can't say perfectly.

-At a recent bedtime, we said goodnight, closed her door and then listened to her on the monitor for about 10 minutes giggle non-stop because she kept tooting and it was totally cracking her up.

-Poor Penny had some warts removed from her head and leg, and so is in the cone of shame. The other day I took it off to give her a break and Ellie looked at her totally calmly and said "You feel better about life, Penny?"

-All the ladies at the gym daycare adore E, but there is one lady in particular (Tami) who is totally smitten. The other day, Tami told Ellie if it was okay with me, she would take her back to the "big kid" area (basically a small basketball court and a huge tunnel system a la a McDonald's play place). I totally trust Tami to keep an eye on E so I told her it was fine. When I took Ellie to the potty before I left to go do my workout, Ellie sat down, then looked up at me with so much excitement in her eyes and said, "Tami is letting me play with the big kids!". "So awesome!" I replied. "I think they're really going to like me, mama!" she said with so much anticipation and joy, and my heart promptly melted into a giant puddle.

Time with the Allens

One great thing about living in Phoenix is all the visitors we get! And we just love when friends come to town on vacation. We spent some time with the Allen girls and what a joy to see your kids with your friends kids - especially kids as amazing as theirs. Kate and Emmy loved on Ellie and Ellie just ADORES big girls. It was pretty darn sweet. As Jess noted on her Instagram post of the photo below, "2nd gen girlfriends. Brilliant, bold beauties." And I couldn't agree more.

Hello baby girl!

I had my final ultrasound and am so happy to report that baby girl is continuing to grow beautifully! She is approx 4 pounds, 11 ounces which puts her at 30%. The placenta and amniotic fluid look great and baby girl is getting all the blood she needs. Her belly was big and round and she has a FULL head of hair already! Dr. estimates that she'll end up right about where Ellie did at birth, which was 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Only time will tell!!

Ellie reads to Penny

I adore this. Just adore it. And said a little prayer of thanks that Penny actually stayed put for a few minutes and let her do it - usually the second Ellie sits anywhere near her, Penny takes off running, and it always breaks my girl's heart.

Valentine's Day 2017

We spent Valentine's Day just like we wanted - as a family staying out a little too late and enjoying a few too many treats :) I started the day with a Valentine's plate and heart shaped waffle - lost on E but made me happy - haha! We also had music class so E sported her Valentine's finest.
Ellie got her choice of where we ate dinner (Shake Shack) and was so excited to get her present from mom and dad - a Beanie Boo skunk she'd eye-spied in Walgreen's the week before. So much love to celebrate!

Child Crisis Arizona Gala 2017

For the first time in two years, I just got to ATTEND the gala and not plan it! What a treat! The theme was Motown and it was so fun getting gussied up like the 60s. Baby girl looked darn good being front and center, if I do say so myself! Almost $500K was raised for the kids and we had a blast with friends who have been before (the Beverages) and friends who we brought for the first time (the Bachelders)! Brad and I failed miserably at getting a shot together, so this pic of a pic will have to do!

Family date night with friends

Love having so many fun friends with kids all around the same age - sure makes it easy to have a dinner date! I'm sure our fellow restaurant patrons loved us...oh well! Check the video at the bottom for a glimpse into how these dinners go with three under 2.5!

Celebrating Potty Training!

We decided to celebrate how well E has done with the potty with a cupcake picnic at the park!

"Push ups"

Around our park there is a walking path with stops along the way for stretching and exercises. Ellie has decided that these are for "push ups" and since they're on our walk home, always asks to stop to do one. Never mind it's for sit ups, or that she typically just lays on it and wiggles her legs a bit - it's pretty darn cute.

Trike life

I'm okay, mom!

This is what she tells me when she wants to go outside, but I need to do something inside and can't quite go yet. She tells me she's ok, then proceeds to play, by herself, outside in the backyard for about 15 minutes. Who is this child and when did she get so big?!

A rare moment

It's no secret that Penny's not too fond of Ellie. So moments like these truly melt my heart.

Gorgeous girl

Because sometimes I look down and what I see seriously takes my breath away. I can never do it justice in a photo, but here was my attempt today.

POTTY TRAINING!

And here we go! I read a book called "Oh, Crap!" which is basically a boot camp potty training method and it resonated with me. We went for it. And it WORKED! We started on a Thursday cold turkey - no diapers - no anything for that matter - you keep them naked and watch them like a hawk. What you learn about your kid and their potty habits is fascinating and what I learned about this girl is that she is a CAMEL. Yes, my child can drink water all morning, plus a juice box or two, and hold her pee for SIX HOURS. This made the first day a little challenging in ways I was definitely not anticipating, but we persevered, but by day 3, she was basically potty trained. We had a grand total of 2 accidents, both of which were because she just wasn't quite to the potty in time, but she was on her way. By day 4, we had our first outing (a quick one to the park) and within a week we were running longer errands (with a potty in the back of the car for good measure).
I am so proud of my girl for simply nailing it!
Side note: we are still in diapers for naps and bedtime - we're not quite THAT good :)

The infamous car potty. This thing saved us so many times!