A Summer in Snapshots

Now that the summer has come to a close and fall has officially descended, I think it is a great time to look back at all the things I wanted to blog about and never had time to.  A summer in snapshots...

The summer of the tractor.  The new neighborhood is the perfect place for Elliott to ride his John Deere tractor and man, oh man, did he!  This is right before we had Lily on an 80+ degree day that Elliott thought it would be fun to ride his tractor in his chicken suit.

Lily, about a week old.

Another picture of Lily, about a week or so old.  We were actually at an outdoor concert, and Lily slept through the whole thing.

Brother checks out the new arrival

Lily's first bath

The family at Aunt Kelly's wedding.  Elliott was the ring bearer and Lily was the flower girl (one month old - that has to be the youngest flower girl ever!)

Building sand castles with Daddy in Ocean City

Posing after the wedding with Mr. Frog

Being flower girl is hard work

Surrounded by ocean and sand and fun, and all Elliott wants to do is play with Mommy's iPhone.  Seriously??

At Ocean City.  Elliott was pretty much miserable, but I made him take this picture with me.  How can a kid hate the beach????

After Lily's first photo shoot.  Love this dress, and doesn't Elliott look so handsome in pink?!?!

Holds rattle successfully for the first time

Although Elliott refused to take a pacifer, Lily is a big fan of hers

We sometimes lovingly refer to Lily as Baby Pterodactyl.  Caw, Caw!  Guess you have to be there...

Elliott equates fun with screaming at the top of your lungs, much to our neighbors' delight.

Chunky Monkey

The girl can rock a bow

Siblings, and already best buds.  Elliott is such a loving and affectionate big brother.  My favorite is when he talks baby talk to her.

Elliott helps Daddy build his big boy bed!!

Lily at play

Peek A Boo!

Pumpkin Picking 2011

Our family loves Fall!  Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch and found ourselves a couple of goodies.  We can't wait for Halloween!

Elliott finds a pumpkin, just his size!

Not sure why he makes this face when we ask him to smile for the camera... he looks like he is in agony.  He was pretty concerned that we weren't going to be able to find the car.

Off to find the best pumpkin ever!  Bringing the wagon was a great idea.

Lily enjoyed the beautiful day, just looking around and taking it all in.

My pick of the patch

Lily at 5 months

At 5 months old, Lily is utterly lovable.  So squishy and round, I just want to eat her up.  Lily is a very laid-back baby - very go-with-the-flow, much like her Daddy.  She loves to cuddle and to laugh at her brother's crazy antics. 

Other things she loves: her paci, putting EVERYTHING in her mouth, including up to 3 fingers at a time, Mommy's iPhone, Taylor Swift, music class, her bouncy chair, being outside.

Things she dislikes: cold weather, wind, being fed with a spoon, other people sneezing, socks, waiting (Princesses do not wait!!)

Back to School, aka Mommy Left in the Dust

Elliott started his second year of preschool a couple of weeks back, and everything has been going swimmingly!  Perhaps a little too good?  Sometimes another mom offers to take Elliott to the room so that I don't have to drag Lily out of the car.  On the drive to school this morning Elliott wouldn't talk about anything other than how he wanted "another Mommy" to take him to preschool and as soon as he got out of the car, he points to his classmate's mom, who was walking our way and said, "There's another mommy!  I want to go with her!!"  In similar news, Elliott no longer wants me to accompany him in soccer class ("You sit on the bench!"), so I am the only Mommy left sitting on the bleachers.  If I didn't have a degree in psychology and knew this was a sign of secure attachment I would be a blubbering mess of goo.  So, I guess, yea! for attachment... right?

Elliott at his preschool open house.  Art must be way more fun at preschool, because I can't bribe this kid to do crafts with me at home.



Circle time at open house

First day!  What a goof!

A little nervous on the first day, but he hasn't looked back since.  Literally.  As in, when he left with that other mommy I waited in the parking lot for him to turn around, wave, etc.  But I got nothing.  Nada.

On the flip side, I might actually have time to do something now?!?!  Once Elliott was out of eyesight, I jumped in the car, giddy as a schoolgirl myself, and began to contemplate what I would do with 3 hours of free time (well, as free as it gets with a 4 month old).  Cleaning?  Sleep?  A shower?  A moment devoid of endless commentary?  Elliott is not the only fan of preschool.  Yea for preschool!!!

Tidbit

Despite the earth literally rolling under our feet, Elliott was pretty much oblivious to his first earthquake.  I had to point out that the TVs hanging from the ceiling in the restaurant were swaying before he understood something had happened.  However, he then somehow made a connection between earthquakes and tornadoes, which he refers to as "corn-a-does," and talked the whole way home about how we would have to hide in the basement WHEN (not if) the corn-a-do comes.  Hopefully this is not a toddler premonition with Irene's imminent landfall this weekend!

Because parenting is a dangerous job

Elliott loves his baby sister so much, he likes to pretend with his own baby (aptly named Baby Lily).  Don't ask why he is wearing Bret's bike helmet... 

Feeding the baby a bottle.  Afterwards, he "burped" her by banging her on the back of the head.

Taking the baby on a stroll.  Shortly after this picture was taken, he sent the stroller flying across to the other side of the room.

Uh oh!  Baby spit up!  Elliott ran upstairs to get the baby a burp cloth.

What a good big brother!!  But maybe we'll wait a while before we let him babysit.

Lily, 3 Months Old

The lovely Lily is officially 3 months old.  The last 2 nights she has slept through the night (!!!) and is overall such a happy baby.  She laughs easily and loves kisses.  She adores her brother and loves to watch his antics.  And, of course, Elliott enjoys the audience.  Truly, we are so blessed.

Lily loves to mouth her toys and is starting to learn to hold things up to her mouth herself.  I love dressing her in blue - it brings out those gorgeous eyes of hers!

Lily is a pro at tummy time!

She loves to sleep outside with the breeze rolling over her.

Lily has picked out her lovey.  Meet Miss Hippo.  Mr. Frog was already taken.

Literary Lily

Sometimes pictures can't say it all, and a video is needed. Who knew watching someone read could be so much fun?

The screaming IS necessary

Here is a video of Elliott riding his roller coaster. You might want to make sure your volume is turned down...

... because everyone screams on roller coasters, right?

Meet Lily

Lily was born May 16, 2011, weighing in at 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 21 inches in length.  Elliott has been a very proud big brother, often telling us, "I love my baby sister!"

The day Lily was born



Little princess



On her way home from the hospital



Proud big brother

Even prouder Daddy

If at first you don't succeed...

So, your faith in my blogging might be forever wilted.  But alas, I am willing to give it the good ole try, try, again.  So come back.  Read about us.  I dare you not to smile at least a little.

In the last year, we have tried (unsuccessfully) to sell a house, built a house, moved into a house, grew into the size of a house, and finally birthed what felt like a house.  Fast forward a couple of months, and I am (finally) starting to feel like my good ole human self.  Now if only I could find the energy to decorate the house... or for that matter, just clean it.

Answering the Phone

While playing with my cell phone, Elliott answers it with, "Hi. Yes, this is Mommy's Elliott." Too cute!

Money, Money, Money!!

Conversation between Bret and Elliott upon waking up from his nap:

Elliott: Where's Mommy?

Bret: Mommy's at work.

Elliott: Why?

Bret: Mommy goes to work to make money.

Elliott: Ooooh, I LOVE money.

I had a pretty good laugh at this one. He did tell Santa Claus that he wanted a cash register for Christmas.

New Year, New Blog

The last few months of last year are best described as my cup brimmeth over. As a result, my poor, neglected blog has not had a posting since September. Whoops. My bad.

With all the changes going on in my life, and my family's life, perhaps this is serendipitous. A fresh start, a fresh blog, a whole new angle.

So, an update in a paragraph. My precociously adorable (read: completely exhausting and all-consuming) son will turn 3 in March. He's currently potty-training. I am 20 1/2 weeks preggers. When we found out we had a bun in the oven, we decided that perhaps a baby and a toddler in our matchbox of a house was a less than ideal situation. So... we decided to build a new one. And put our current one on the market (in the worst possible housing climate). At the same time, my DH Bret decided that he would finally accept the fact that he is at the very least gluten intolerant... so I'm learning how to cook in a whole new way. Did I mention, I went into business as a (very) part-time consultant for myself 6 months ago? It's been a whirlwind, but in a very good way.

So, as you can see, "Elliott's World" is perhaps no longer an appropriate title for a blog about this family. Don't get me wrong. I know who still rules this roost! But perhaps this is a good time to incorporate all the wonderful goings-on we're experiencing. If we survive... it's a jungle out there.