Mountz Memoirs: Carly & Jay Come to Visit!

Friday morning Ellie and I went to the gym. We went home for her nap then went out grocery shopping. Then I spent some time cleaning up the house and preparing dinner. Last Thanksgiving Iron Mountains gave us a turkey and we still had our turkey from the year before, so we threw the old one away because we didn't have room for both. Jon really wanted to prevent that from happening again so we decided to fry the turkey and have a thanksgiving style meal. We enlisted the Bradshaws, Peter and Brittany, and the Freys to help eat the fifteen pound bird. I made rice, a sausage/apple/cranberry stuffing, corn, and broccoli. Brittany brought mashed potatoes and dessert, Dorothy brought sweet potatoes, and Tara brought a strawberry/rhubarb sangria.
I set up the picnic table in the backyard with a table cloth and Grandma Mountz's china. Christmas tree lights helped make the area seem a bit more exciting. I enjoyed myself and I hope everyone else did, too! Ellie behaved pretty well. I tried putting her to sleep after dinner but after several minutes I decided I would rather spend time with my company. The boys started a fire so we hung around that and Ellie sat in her stroller or in my lap until she could not fight sleep any longer and I put her to bed. Our guests stayed until 11:15 (a successful party = eating a lot and staying late).
Jon helped clean up the dishes Friday night but we still did not get to bed until 1:15. I know I was excited because Carly was coming into town!
Carly and Jay flew to Pennsylvania late Friday night to surprise Kelly and meet Maya. They had a late flight in so I expected that we wouldn't see them until mid-morning. Brittany and I met up at Donna's house and went to the Elverson yardsale. I found a children's rocker ($3), dress for Ellie ($6), and an oil lamp ($1). None were items I needed but I have been looking for an oil lamp and the dress is really pretty! The rocking chair will probably be replaced by a future gift from Mimi but we'll get some use out of it until then :)
Nap time quickly approached and I tried to put Ellie down at Grandma and Grandpa's house so that I could continue looking for deals at the yard sale. She didn't want to nap, though, and ended up avoiding sleep all together since Grandma held to her no-cry rule and went in after I left. It was so generous of them to be willing to watch Ellie on their Saturday morning!
I met up with Mimi, Carly, and Jay. We finished up then headed over to Bulltown where Dad was hosting an open house of the new barn/garage they are building. Ulterior motives caused our support of his event since they were handing out free Twin Valley coffees (that's $2.65 I saved!) plus sticky buns and cookies. Jay took a major swig of Carly's coffee and was running in circles thirty seconds later. He was very excited to see Pops drive up in a golf cart and would watch Pop's every move.

Kissing Cousins

Jay shares. He'll make a good big brother!

Sitting down to a feast

Grandma invited us all over for lunch and she made us sandwiches. Ellie ate quite a bit, favoring Grandma's delicious banana nut bread. After lunch we went to Mimi's house where I tried to put Ellie down for a nap while Carly and Mimi went to go surprise Kelly.
I fought with Ellie for almost an hour trying to put her to sleep. Apparently she only likes to sleep in her own bed because we went home after Carly and Mimi returned and she fell asleep immediately after I put her in her own crib (after a few wails). Stinker. While she slept I made two 9x13s of baked macaroni for the welcome lunch our small group is hosting at church.
Mimi hosted dinner which Ellie, me, and the Fentons attended. Jon had to go pick up Omar from the train station in Philadelphia so he missed the dinner. Clark and Jay got along nicely. Jay only became jealous once when Carly was holding Maya. Otherwise he would want to look at her and kiss her little head.

The boys playing with Pops

Gma & Gpa stopped by after dinner

Dancing boys

Diaper babies

Ellie finally fell asleep at Mimi's house when it was late and the room was dark. I hung around late enough that Mimi, Carly, and I went over to the sales office and worked on Corinne's wedding invitations. We spent over an hour and printed thirty invitations. Baby steps.
I pulled Ellie from the crib and took her home. Usually she falls asleep in her crib but this time she stayed awake for an hour and a half after we were home - from 11:00-12:15. Jon helped wrestle her to sleep but ultimately she nursed herself to a comatose state. We decided it was time to work on her sleeping habits since she has become difficult.