Eleanor's Last Few Weeks

She is growing so fast.  She talks so much.  She was so in love with Christmas.  She has started fighting to get out of carts and car seats. 

She was just under 25 pounds and 31 inches. I took her out to breakfast a couple of times. She surprised me by eating eggs.  She loves it.  Goes right for a table. 

Every morning straight to the tree.  

She's transformed from baby to toddler and has been showing her temper.  

She got sick. Poor baby gets sooo sick. B

And grabbed the merry oake microphone and sang la la la.  

Yesterday.  Oh that smile.  See how she's accessorizing already???   She already has such strong opinions.  When she's sad she crawls in the chair and sniffs 'doo' for scooby doo and blank for blanket.   

Snow Days

A couple weeks ago Adam had a snow day and we ended up at IHOP after getting Abbey to school late on crappy roads.  

Syracuse can not remove snow.  But it was on our way home.  And then abbey had a snow day the next day and we had to get Adam to school!  They certainly call them quicker here but after driving the roads I see why.  They need tips from Oswego!!

Sunday

We started off last Sunday with our first trip to Costco.  We loved it!  Giant things at discount way better than Sam's and we're kind of a big family now!  Boots for the kids for $16!

Ellie was done after that so I ended up taking the other two to a tree lot as they were going to explode if we didn't get one.  A little different than heading to Ontario Orchards where you paid extra fir trimming and strapping it to your cat.  Part of the price in the 'burbs. The same price by the way!

They even had a fancy tree wrapping machine. Kids were thrilled.

After Ellie woke up, we headed to Lights on the Lake and switched her to a big girl seat. Sniff. They loved it!  Hearing Ellie say 'wow'! Was so cute.  And it was Sunday so no traffic.  My favorite was the Oz part.

Ellie is 18 Months

Somehow my adorable and sweet infant has overnight turned into an impish and incredibly independent toddler. Two weeks ago, we went to her well check. Twenty-four pounds and 31 inches.  Low on height and exactly average on weight.  After having her underweight as a baby, that's exactly how I want her.  

She had definite ideas about what she was happy about there. Doctor laughed and said I had another independent kid. Yup.  

She loves her Daddy and her Adam, who she loves to snuggle with while watching 'doo'.  Don't ask me how, but Scooby Doo is her favorite show. 

She talks a lot. And she always knows what's going on.  Off to get her shoes to take the big kids to school. 

She has started taking off.  Sigh.  Another one to catch all the time. She looks so grown up here!!!

Once in a while she checks that I'm still there.  We were walking around the yard and she was holding the umbrella.  

No intetest in baby toys anymore but has developed an intetest in hugging her baby dolls in bed. 'Bebe' she says. 

She was having a blast being a 'punk in'.  This was Adams costume when he just turned one.  The hat was too small for him. Oh I love this face and the way she steals stuff and runs, laughing.  The way she laughs.  And when she cries, it's still so heartbreaking.  Time has flown.  

Old House Change

We aren't going to get any money for our old house so we're going to rent it out.  We accidentally key out rental permits lapse, but got it fixed so Kevin's working on it.  Last week he started painting. 

The dining room sponge paint finally covered.  

He took the living room border down. 

And yesterday it was shocking to see Adam's room not Shrek colored. 

And the living room, dining room and Abbey's room.   Looks good.  Looks different.   Onward and forward.  

Kitchen Backsplash

The latest project a couple weeks ago was the backsplash.  

But the conversation about what to put there has been going on for months.  Originally we thought we wanted pressed tin but it just didn't feel right.  It took me a long time to convince Todd of natural stone. Then we had to agree on which one. Originally I preferred a lighter main mosiac but he thought there'd be too much going on.  But as this one went up, I decided it was the better choice.  It turned out beautiful.  

Whole messy kitchen shot.  Now I have to cover that window....   And keep it clean.  Love this kitchen!

Black Friday

I didn't shop.  Well, I didn't go anywhere. I played with Ellie on the hamper. 

And took the older two outside.  It was pretty cold but somehow I got talked into being a snow monster like on Scooby Doo. 

Then we wrote letters to Santa.  They both wanted to ask for a puppy, but I nixed that.  We are looking for the right one. 

They got much of their list from the toy catalogue that showed up a few weeks ago.  Fortunately, aunt Tammy was able to help with one of the harder items!   After everyone went to bed, I did some Amazon shopping.  Hey, it was Black Friday.  

My 38th Birthday

We went to Delmonico's for my birthday.   It's so nice it's around the corner now.  Birthdays aren't exciting really at this point in my life.  But the few nice things that come with it are there. Adam playing a game. Of course.  

Ellie coloring and being cute.  I had brought her to Barnes and Nobles with me for breakfast for a fattening coffee not the skim ones I've been drinking.  She loved it.  

Abbey loves to color, too.  At intermittent times during the day I requested and received the birthday song from my two oldest.  

They were. Good.  I, however, spilled wine all over Abbey's lap.  Sigh. Poor kid.  Her dollies were there too.  They all smelled like Lambrusco.  I told Todd he didn't need to get me anything as he bought the house but he got us tickets to  Lewis Black.  Yeah!! Love shows and a comic is perfect. 

Some years I go out with all sorts of friends and some years not but always with my birthday buddy Tammy.  

We went to Carreba's as we both hadn't gone in years.  Food was great and asalways so was the company. How many dinners we used to go to once upon a time!?  We are going back for Christmas.  I decided.   

She gave me one of the best gifts I ever got. She made ornaments out of my babies !  I was truly touched and they are gorgeous!!!  Thank you xxoo love you!

Last Two Days

So we decided to redo the foyer floor.  Or have Tom and Debbie do it.  They did our kitchen floor, our shower and our chimneys.  Ellie loves Debbie to pieces.  She's taken me shopping for tile and she's been the only person around to actually help me make decisions!!

Some before shots.  Old outside brick, a slab of wood and commercial tile used in restaurant kitchens.  

It's in that closet and the bathroom.  

This was last night.  So hard keeping the kids away.  Abbey removed the plastic pins and Adam ended up sticking his hand in the wet cement. They are supposed to finish today!  Same tile as kitchen.  

Yesterdsy trying to snap a photo of Abbey in her Thanksgiving dress.  Cutest photo bomb ever!!

This morning, Abbey discovered that marble makes a great place to practice tap!

And Miss Big Girl at Panera.  Growing up too fast!  All she wanted to do was drink water I couldn't get her to eat.  Haven't spent much quality time with Todd lately.  We're going to dinner and a comeiden and his niece Jennifer is babysitting for the first time.... Looking forward to not being 'mom' for a few hours.  

Last Hurrah at the Ghetto Water Park.

Way back right before school started the old pool and slide came out for the last time. For no real reason, I hadn't used it this summer.  We kept busy and went to the spray parks a lot.  (Cute random summer pic of Ellie )

They used it for a couple days. It started raining the last day, but they didn't care.  Clearly too big for this set up, the cheap plastic pool met it's demise!

But they still had a blast.  

And Ellie got introduced to water park fun in the city :)

Toby's Birthday

A few weeks ago we went to the Oswego Theatre for Toby's birthday.  A bit of a time vortex as it was all Trinity families.  I made a connection with Sarah his mom I hope sticks and my kids like her and Toby.  

It was a Pokemon cake.  I'd never been to a party there. They did cake and gifts and then the movie.  When Adam walked in, all the boys were happy to see him.  Max and Toby are best buds now where last year Adam was friends with them both but they weren't. So an adjustment. 

He ended up super excited to see Mikey.  

Abbey observed a lot.  

Love these new seats!! Abbey ended up snuggling with me I didn't mind.  

There's mikey on the far end.  He and Adam were born the same day a year apart.  They had a blast.  I only had to yell and threaten twice.  We saw the Book of Life.  It was pretty good.  Miss the old a little but no regrets.