Week in Pictures {May 19 - May 23, 2014}

This was a busy, fun week!  Lane had his very last day at Noah's Ark Preschool on Tuesday, May 20th.  They had "Splash Day" that day, so he got to wear his swim suit to school.  We took our last day of school pictures when we got there that morning.

 

Here he is on the first day of school and his last day.  He grew a whole brick!  It's amazing how much he changes each year.  From a baby face to a big boy!

 

Ellis and I played together at home while Lane was at school.  I got some cute pics of her in the swing!

Lane had a great last day!  They splashed outside all morning and then changed into dry clothes and had pizza and dessert inside.  Last year, the parents were always invited to their holiday parties, but this year we never were.  I hated to miss out on events, but his teachers were good about posting pictures on the class website!  Overall, Lane had a great year!  I was so happy with his teachers, Ms. Michelle and Ms. Leticia.  They were patient but firm, and very loving and complimentary of Lane!  We will miss them! 

I had my 6 week post partum checkup that week and both kids had to come along.  Lane was really well behaved and Ellis slept!  It was a long, long wait to see the Dr., but thankfully they were well behaved!

Lane drew this picture while we waited.  That's Ellis on the left and me on the right.  He said she was crying and I was running to get her!  A pretty accurate description of what I have been up to lately!  He even added a bow on Ellis' head.  (See the two circles??)

 

Ellis with Dr. Schneider, who delivered her.  After she was born, Dr. S had to rush to another patient, so I never got to take a pic with her!

Since Lane was so well behaved at the appointment, we went to lunch at one of his favorite Austin restaurants, Mama Fu's.  This kid can scarf some Ninja Noodles with carrots!

Another day that week, we were running some errands near Firehouse Subs, and I took Lane there thinking he would love it!!  He loved the decor and free hat, but didn't like his sandwich.  (Of course...)

Popsicles on a hot day!  Kicking off his summer right!

Ellis getting in a little tummy time.  We finally got out some of Lane's old toys for her to look at!  He always loved this rainforest crib toy!

Trying to make sister smile!

Looking super cute after her bath!

We met Kyle for lunch downtown one day this week.  We sure ate out a lot this week!  I blame it on my lack of time with two kiddos.  It gets better, right??

Lunch at Wahoo's.  I love this place!

He actually begged to take a picture!  Wanted to stand next to this huge surf board.

He sure loves his Daddy!

 

After lunch, we drove to North Austin to a camera store to get a replacement lens for the one I broke the week before.  There was a really cool toy store next door that I never knew about.  Lane had birthday money left over from Paw and Nonna and decided to make a big purchase.  A real guitar!!  He was so excited when he saw the sample one and kept strumming it and saying "It's just perfect!"  Mommy chipped in a little extra cash to get a carrying case for it, and he went home a very happy little boy!

Ellis is growing, growing, growing!

We were planning on having a garage sale that weekend, so we spent all day Friday preparing for it.  Since the move to Chicago required a significant down sizing in home size, we had to get rid of quite a bit of our belongings!  It was a CHORE getting things organized and ready to sell!  Lane and I took a break from sorting to play in the garage.  He kept finding things he forgot he had and would say "WE CAN'T GET RID OF THIS!!!"  He found a Santa hat that provided hours of fun.  He told me to wear the bucket on his head so I could be his elf!  We sat on my third row seat of my Tahoe, which he said was our sleigh.  Such an imagination, this one!

Week in Pictures {May 12 - May 16, 2014}

Just some quick iphone pictures from this week that I didn't want to leave out!

Ellis has some major blowouts!  Way more than Lane ever did.  I moved up a size in diapers each time they got bad and that seems to help a little bit!  The poop goes up the front, side, back...wherever it can get out!  Good thing this little girl has an endless supply of outfits to change into!

Loves to suck her fingers.  She isn't skilled enough to get the same one in each time, but will take whatever she can get.  Sometimes it's the first two, sometimes the middle two, and every now and then she can get her thumb in.  She sucks on them so loudly and drools everywhere!  I always try to replace those sticky fingers for a pacifier.

We made a trip to the Austin Library this week.  Lane loves visiting the library and picking out books.  His idea of choosing books is to just pull random ones off the shelf and check them out no matter what the book is about.  I try to guide him to age appropriate books I think he will enjoy, but sometimes his way wins out!

Ellis was snug as a bug in the Ergo carrier, which I have been loving so far!  She loves being snuggled in there and it's nice for me to be hands-free!

It was a good day for navy stripes!  

Sweet siblings!

 

Lane continued to nap almost every day at school after Ellis was born.  Being a big brother is exhausting!

Week in Pictures {May 5 - May 9, 2014}

Cinco de Mayo fell on a Monday this year, and though I wasn't out celebrating with margaritas and Mexican food, I did dress up Ellis in her little Senorita dress!  Lane had a Polo that coordinated perfectly, so I went out into our newly fenced and sodded backyard for some photos.  I can tell that family pictures from here on out will be an extreme challenge!  

Poor, Ellis!

 

Kisses from brother and a photo bomb by Scout

Decent!

They looked pretty cute in their blue and yellow!

Holding hands!

Lane is a "one shot, and done" kind of guy, so he smiled perfectly for his alone shot.  Good boy!

And Senorita Ellis gave Mommy a few poses to work with!

Lane has been craving attention ever since Ellis got here, so one morning while Ellis was still asleep, I sat down for breakfast with him while he ate his donut.  I will always remember our alone times together before he became a big brother! 

Ellis got this adorable swimsuit from Kori, and Evin had a matching one.  I decided to try it on, thinking it would fit her perfectly because it was a size NB.  Our sexy girl filled it out a bit too much!  I was so sad when I tried to exchange it for a different size and it was no longer in stock.  

So sad that she will never get to wear it!

One afternoon, we went out to the back porch to draw with sidewalk chalk.  Lane and I got creative and got some cute pics!

Making a chalk tower city!

His favorite part of all was when I let him hose off the chalk.

Lane had a dentist appointment this week and did great as always.  I really love his dentist here in Austin, and so does Lane!

He let them do a full cleaning as well as the flouride treatment.  Big guy!

No cavities again!

This was also the week that our house went on the market.  We had a few showings, as well as an open house planned.  Getting out of the house with a 4 year old, a newborn, AND a dog for 4 hours proved to be pretty tricky.  We camped out in the car for a while, and I fed Ellis while Lane watched Frozen on the car DVD player. 

One big, happy family displaced from their home!

We stopped at P. Terry's for a lemonade and they gave Scout this giant bone.  She is so funny about treats.  Most times she just keeps them in her mouth for the longest time until she is ready to eat them.  Sometimes she hides them in corners or underneath blankets and clothing, and we find them days later. Silly dog!

The current owners of our house were nice enough to invite us over for dinner during the last part of the open house.  They welcomed us to their beautiful home and grilled salmon and chicken with lots of yummy sides.  Lane had fun playing with their little girl, who was just about his age.  When we got home that night, Lane made a BAD choice and turned the lock to our bedroom doorknob, then closed it behind him.  We were then locked out of our bedroom for about 45 minutes while we scrambled to get the lock opened.  We tried everything from paperclips and bobby pins, to clothes hangers and credit cards.  Nothing was working.  Just as we were about to call a locksmith, Kyle jammed the knob down and it magically popped open.  Lane was told to sit in timeout on the stairs during the ordeal, and ended up passing out!  This was actually the 3rd time this has happened.  He locked us out of our hotel bathroom in St. John a few summers ago, locked our master closet door behind him once, and now this.  He can be such a toot sometimes!!  We had a long, long talk about it and Kyle and I both handled it a bit differently!  I was fuming mad, since it had happened twice before and he knew better, (plus my hormones were probably out of whack after giving birth) and Kyle was playing the "understanding parent" role and telling Lane, "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed in you."  To this day, Lane still talks about the incident and says "Daddy wasn't mad, he was just disappointed."