Happy Birthday Elanor!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Elanor.

I love this little girl. She is so full of spirit and fun. Her expressions say a thousand words and so does she. Elanor is such a chatterbox, I think some days she must have a quota of words cause she goes on and on and on. Her birth into this world says a lot of who this little girl is.
"My labor went so quick, I had cramps off and on most of the day and they got stronger around 3pm. Andrew came home at 4, we dropped Sophie off at a friends house and made it to the hospital around 5pm. I was admitted to the hospital around 5:30 and was at 4/5 cm. We got to the labor and delivery room and I was getting my IVs put in and the nurses had to stop because I felt like pushing, they checked and I was at a 10 and ready to push. Ellie was born with very little effort on my part. She is a beautiful and healthy little girl. We were in shock and still are a little. I was hoping to go early, just not this early but she is healthy and very "vigorous" as the pediatrician put it. We left the hospital on Sunday and are now home just getting use to being a family of four."(my words 2 years ago)

I am so thankful for this child in our life today. She makes us smile and laugh. She brings a little spunk into our lives. I can't believe she is already 2. What will she be doing next? Some of her favorite things to do now are talk (and she talks in sentences), read (almost more than Sophie), draw, play outside and play dress-up. Happy Birthday Elanor!

Dress-up

Mirror, Mirror leaned up against the wall, will my prince come and dance with with me, or not?
And who is the best dressed of us all?

Could it be Iz-liver, dressed so awesomely.

Or is Princess El the best dressed, maybe if she was a kid of the 80s.

Cinder-Liv or maybe Prince Chef Benny? There he is. Maybe he will still dance with our Snow White Sophie.

Well, look here a dance (or death grip). Decide for yourself. And if you take a quick little peek Fairy Red is showing herself.

Dressing up has been a favorite lately and it is even more fun when friends can come and join in the fun.

Spring, is that you?

Dear Spring,
Please don't tease us too much. Stay for a long time so we can play, outside.
Sincerely,
Me, a mom with 2 kids who want to play outside and not be cold.


How to spend a beautiful Spring-ish day
One day on our way to playgroup at the church we passed the farm. Sophie wanted to stop but it was just a so-so day and we already had plans. I told her on the next really nice day we would go. And so Frying Pan farm here we came. On the way to the farm Elanor was serenading us with "Old Macdonald had a farm," mostly just the cow saying moo. It was a crowded day to go, mostly families with kids 0-5. There were piglets, lambs, calves and a peacock with its feathers opened up (I of course was too slow with the camera to take a picture). No pictures were taken of animals, I'm sure you've all seen farm animals before.

Here are the girls walking down the lane, hand in hand.

Riding the tractors.

After the farm, we went home for lunch and then a fun painting project outside.

The girls painting.

Masterpiece

Sunday the weather people were calling for a nice little weather storm. I wasn't sure if I believed them, as weather people are often wrong. But as we were going to bed, I looked out the window to see the most beautiful sight. White snow covering everything and it was bright. I thought about going back downstairs, getting the camera and taking a picture but it was just a thought, no action was taken. So you will just have to imagine the beautiful sight. It reminded me of times of old, back when I was a kid and knew that school was canceled at 8:30pm. I remember going outside and playing by the light of the snow with my sister Sarah. I think that was my favorite time to play, the night brought peace and it was just fun being out in the dark but it not being dark due to the reflection of the moon off the snow.

Now back to the present of a couple of days ago. Andrew stayed home on Monday, no point in going in to work when you don't know when the bus will arrive. He was the one to play in the snow this time, I'm not much of a snow player anymore.

Here they are, stopping for a quick picture.

Andrew spent the first time outside clearing the sidewalk and the car. Sophie came in cold and Andrew dragged Elanor inside with frozen fingers (she didn't want to keep her mittens on, said they were broken). After they were warmed up, the girls participated in one of their favorite activities, reading.

Sophie is pointing to words and Elanor is checking it out.

After Elanor's nap, the girls got ready to play outside again.

It was really bright, so both of them needed their shades.

Make-shift sled #1, the lid to a plastic bin and rope.

Make-shift sled #2, laundry basket and rope.

I would say it was a fun day. I spent the day adding to my freezer meals, this time breakfast burritos. Now we are watching the snow melt away quickly while the temperatures rise.