Return to blogging

I haven't blogged in two weeks and it seems like so much longer than that! I enjoy blogging, I like having a place to look back and watch my girls grow up in pictures.

Ella took a bath yesterday in her infant tub and Betsy wanted to help bathe her. Betsy thought it was hilarious to get in the 'Allah baby tub' and play with 'stitster'. I love these pictures because I think you can see how much they love each other.

Betsy has been sick since Friday, so she was a little cranky this weekend. At one point I was alone with the girls and couldn't get Betsy happy until I told her "Ella wants to hold your hand." so she sat next to Ella and I and snuggled with us and held her sister's hand. Then she helped me put her to bed and happily went asleep in her big girl bed with her 'dolly' and in about five minutes my house was silent!

When Ella realized she was getting in the tub with Betsy she was so happy!

Family Pictures

Ben needed to submitt a family picture for this year's soccer program, and my sweet sister-in-law Mary came over and took a few for us in our back yard so we would have one to turn in! Prior to these pictures the only family shots I had were the day Ella came home from the hospital. While those pictures documented a wonderful memory of a special day, I was also retaining about 20 pounds of swelling from the pregnancy and we all looked pretty ragged.

So I love these pictures! Betsy looks so grown up with her hair recently trimmed! And Ella looks bigger and more grown up daily!

Quick update

I haven't blogged in ages, we've been pretty busy. Today all four of us are home, snowbound! It's been below freezing for about a week but finally snowed last night and we awoke to the snow this morning!

Ben is in the midst of soccer season. His team has done really well in the last weekends when they've traveled for tournaments. They won or tied all games in their first two tournaments, and won the third tournament.

I've been back to work since last Friday. I forgot how much I enjoy my coworkers, I look forward to going to work in the mornings. It helps that for the first time since I've worked at CTC for 3.5 years my department has a full staff, helping us maintain shorter waits for students come in, and stay up-to-date on our paperwork.

As of Wednesday night Ella is sleeping through the night. She goes to sleep between 9 and 10 pm and waking up at 6 pm. I've noticed in the past week she looks so much less like a newborn, which is appropriate as she turned two months old yesterday!

Betsy has been doing well thought her two year molars are coming in so she's been sick off and on. Her vocabulary is developing by leaps and bounds and she adds words daily such as octopus 'cocopus' and lasagna 'nananya'. She makes very expressive faces, and sound affects and overall she's just the happiest little girl I've ever seen.

So that's it, I'll try to check in again soon!

The Bralley Trolley

The big news in our house is that we've sold our Camry and purchased a Toyota Highlander! We've been talking about moving from the Cam to an SUV for about 9 months but we wanted to see how things went having two kids in the car before we spent the money on something different that will most certainly increase our gasoline bill.

Seven weeks of driving the two kiddos around in my car led me to the conviction that we would be much more comfortable with more room. Then buying a double stroller that barely fit in the trunk (I had to removed the front lap bar which was a big hassle) sealed the deal. We spent a couple weeks looking online and talking about what our preferences were.

We wanted something with a 6 cylinder engine. Something I would get about 20 miles per gallon driving. Something with 50K miles or less. I would prefer something with third row seating that could be put down easily but could be used on those occasions we have family and friends riding with us. I wanted leather interior because I've found it to be super convenient with Betsy. Riding rear-facing she gets mud on the back of the seat and sometimes spears various snack foods and leather wipes clean easily!

We found two listings at a dealership in Austin, one for a Lexus RX 350 and one for the Highlander both in our price range. We test drove the Lexus first and it was fabulous. We drove the Highlander second and I felt like it drove the exact same. And I was pleased to find the Limited Highlander model had almost all the bells and whistles the Lexus did! A 10K dollar difference in price sold me on the Highlander as it meant we wouldn't have to finance. Ben was leaning toward the Lexus, but I was leaning toward the Highlander and as I'm going to be the primary driver we went with the Highlander.

Inside entertainment

We are so happy to have the playroom to give Betsy a place where she can go crazy without worrying about breaking something. She's happy t0 come home lately after school, fix herself a snack, and picks a coloring book to color while she watches Barney or Elmo. She becomes more and more little girl and less baby every day!

Here are a few pictures from one afternoon last week.

"Whoa Mama"

That's what Betsy said upon spying the newest addition to our household, which happens to be a Graco Duo Glider stroller. It's a big-mama double stroller that gave me the confidence to take both girls to Ben's soccer game last night. Other than daycare I've been too intimidated to take both girls places. Betsy had a blast cheering for "Coach Daddy". "Go Bem!" "Go soccer-Daddy!" though she was very confused by all the boys wearing 'Daddy clothes' (red, black and white Adidas attire from head to toe).

The only drawback to the new stroller is that I have to remove the front lap attachment in order to fit this bad-boy in the trunk of the Camry. Our plan was to wait six months to see how the Camry would work having two kids but if last night was any indicator it won't last much longer.

So I sit with my laptop in front of me, and my iPhone beside me with the Kelly Blue Book ap pulled up looking into SUVs, comparing gas mileage, passenger seating, and safety ratings.

I need something with third row seating if you want to give a review on your SUV!

Where does the time go?

You would think being home on maternity leave would give me more time to blog but it doesn't work out that way! Especially weeks like this one having a sick kiddo and a newborn to take care of. Betsy has an ear infection and she's had a fever since Friday night. I called first thing today and she had an appointment at 2 pm. Sure enough, she has one ear infection (ironically in the ear that still has a tube). She's been very attached to me the last few days and Ben and I gladly indulge her need for extra hugs, kisses and time rocking in the chair with us.

Anyways the doctor gave Betsy a shot of antibiotics and an oral prescription and I'm glad she was pretty aggressive with the treatment because it's just so apparent how much pain Betsy is in. I'm sure in another 24 or 48 hours she'll be much better.

In other news Ella is fantastic. She's such a sweetie pie and I really enjoy our time together. She's waking up about once a night to eat, and she's already outgrown her newborn clothes and diapers!

Betsy still adores her 'ister and loves to hold her, kiss her and help feed her. Today at the doctor's office every time Betsy heard a crying baby she would say "Ister is crying? Baby 'Allah crying! Betsy go see Allah?' and she would try to leave the patient room and I would have to stop and remind her "Sister is at Pawpaw's house, she's not crying." I hope this affection lasts for a long time and Betsy and Ella can be best friends!

That's all for today, I have three more weeks of maternity leave so I'll try to check in more often!