Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - a Trip to the Museum & A Family Date Night

Tuesdays I have piano the most of my piano lessons during the afternoon so I try to get Ellie to take a solid nap in the morning. Corinne agreed to watch Ellie during my first two lessons so we went over to Mom's house before lunch and got some swimming in before I had to leave. Ellie enjoys splashing in the water of the baby pool and actually doesn't last very long in the baby flotations because she can't reach the water. We swam for about an hour and then ate lunch. I had the intention of Ellie taking a nap while I was gone but she was not quite cooperative...she instead got some quality time with her Aunt Rin!
Following the lessons I picked Ellie up from Mimi's and took her to Grandpa and Grandma's house. She hung out with them during my last lesson of the day and they said she behaved herself, which they always say. Tuesday evening Jon and I hung out at home with Ellie since I had been MIA with making Corinne's quilt and hanging out at Mimi's house.
Wednesday Ellie and I ran out and bought peaches and vegetables from a local fruit stand. Then Jon, Ellie and I had a family lunch date at AJ's Pizzeria. It was nice to spend time together  we went wedding shopping with Mimi and Corinne. Corinne had the goal of finding shoes, a swimsuit, and clothes for the honeymoon. Ellie was a trooper while we were out and about and Corinne and I both found shoes for the wedding and Corinne found a suit. We were out until dinnertime. In the evening I had my women's Bible Study and Jon stayed home with Ellie.
Thursday I spent time working on a quilt for my friend Sarah's baby shower. Ellie and I also cleaned up the house in preparation for small group and made some dessert using the peaches I bought Wednesday. I'm not sure what else we did but we hosted small group at our house.
Friday morning I really wanted Ellie to have a solid nap because we had fun plans in the afternoon! Caleb asked us to join him at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Before heading to meet up with Caleb I packed a lunch and then went to Iron Mountains to give my opinion on a future high chair concept. We ran late due to the interview but Caleb said that Brie's lunch schedule was flexible.
Fortunately we didn't hit much traffic on our way into Philadelphia. Brie met us outside of the museum and took us to the cafe for lunch. She had to head back to work after her break so Caleb took over and gave me an educational tour of his favorite galleries. Let me tell you, if you want to get the most out of an art museum, take Caleb! I really enjoyed hearing about the artists and techniques and he was very patient with me in my ignorance and Ellie when she would grumble (which actually was very minimal.
We hung out in the art until 4:30 then I bid Caleb and Brie adieu (Brie got off work at 4:00) since they were staying in the city for an art museum event.
We hit a bit of traffic but made it home by 6:00. Jon was already home and ready to head out for dinner. Jon has now been working at Iron Mountains for five years so we wanted to go out and celebrate. Jon picked Red Robin since he thought we should defer from our usual Mexican joints. Ellie was a champ and I found out that she likes chicken! She ate several pieces of grilled chicken out of my wrap and watched the hustle and bustle coming in and out of the kitchen.
After dinner we made our usual date-night stop at Home Depot. Jon needed to research some prices for his brother Dan's roofing project. Then we headed home and put Ellie to bed before turning out a movie for ourselves to watch before ultimately heading to bed ourselves.

Ellieisms:
Ellie now pulls herself up to the standing position. One negative is that she sometimes uses her teeth when trying to pull herself up with the couch...our little puppy dog.

A picture from Monday

Relaxing while we shop for shoes

Checking for freshness at Walmart

Ajs

Soaking in Caleb's art knowledge

Date night!

Wanting to be like Daddy

Always happy!

Corinne's Shower

Saturday morning I spent sewing on the label to Corinne's quilt and taking it over to Deb's house to fix a couple runs that I had made a mistake on earlier and hadn't realized. Jon graciously took care of Ellie so I could focus on finishing up and getting over to Mom's house for the big event.
We decided to host a "surprise" bridal shower by just not telling Corinne about it. She asked Mom point blank what time her shower would be on Saturday so we knew she knew about it but Mom let her be in the dark until the big day. Our theme was "black&white." I was in charge of invitations, balloons, pasta salad, and praying. It worked out that the hardest part of all that was the invitations (I would not recommend printing your own unless you love spending hours with your printer) so the party was relaxing once it began. About two dozen people were in attendance and I think Corinne enjoyed herself.

Mom-mom participating in the party games

All dressed in black and white

Opened her gift

Jon took care of Ellie while I was at the shower (helping set up, enjoying the shower, then debriefing) from 10:30 until 4:30. Ellie was sick with a snotty nose/head cold and was fussing so Jon put her in the backpack and proceeded to clean the house. He organized the junk drawer, picked up our bedroom, vacuumed, washed the dishes, organized his desk area, and was folding clothes when I came home. I should leave him with a sick baby more often! I took a nap then headed back to Mimi's house for a little lingerie shower we had for Corinne while the sisters were in town. 

The twins got to join us for the lingerie shower.

Sunday morning we went to first service and I had second service hall monitor duty. Ellie was crying in nursery and I didn't even want to try to put her to sleep at church (we've been unsuccessful these last few months) so I took Ellie to Mimi and Pop's house and left Jon doing hall monitor duty (he's a gem). She took an hour nap and woke up right before everyone came back from church. Jon walked to his parents house for lunch while Ellie and I spent lunch with the Brusts, Canches, and everyone else at Mimi's. We left as Ellie began cranky and everyone was trying to get into the minivan to head home to Chicago. It was sad to see them leave but exciting since we will see them at Daniel and Corinne's wedding!
Monday morning Mimi, Corinne, Ellie and I went wedding dress shopping. We stopped by Eagle Formalwear the other day (Mom and I, before Corinne was home) and they had a few good options. Corinne tried one on and really liked it but we wanted to make sure so we went to David's Bridal in Delaware. Ellie was a champ and even crawled up her first step while Corinne was trying on dresses. Corinne found a few she liked but decided that she should wait and try on the one at Eagle again. We ended up taking that dress home with us (she bought it, we didn't steal it) and determined the day was successful.
I had to rush home but I made it in time for my 5:00 piano lesson. At 5:30 Jon came home and we packed up the car and headed to French Creek to picnic with Jon's running buddies and their families. It was Mark DiAddezio, Rob Hamm, and another guy with their wives and kids. We grilled burgers and hot dogs and Jon and I brought brownies and ice cream. We went for a walk around the lake after dinner and Jon and I headed out early since Ellie was starting to fuss after her napless day.

Ellieisms:
Ellie loves Mimi's baby bouncer chair. Just a few months late, but she loves it now.

Lounging

Ellie stopped nursing on Monday. She just stopped, refused, cried until I brought her a bottle.

A Week in Review: I Make a Quilt and Corinne Returns!

The Brusts came to town while we were on vacation and Carly and the kids were still around when we arrived home on Saturday. We didn't come back until the evening so we unpacked the car and I got busy working on the quilt for Corinne's shower. Sunday morning I was playing for worship so Jon was in charge of bringing Ellie to church.

The quilt took up the entire living room

Following church we went home for lunch and naps. When Ellie woke up I took her to Mimi's pool where the Brusts, Freys, and Mimi were swimming. The water was so warm and the air so hot that I actually got in the pool (usually I consider sitting next to the pool as swimming). We were there an hour or two before we had to head to church. Jon and I were in charge of Pre-K and Kindergarten which meant that we had Calla and Kelsey in our class! It had been storming when we first arrived but we decided to risk going to the playground. Once we made the slow journey down to the park it started raining. We stood under the Community building roof playing a game until it slowed down then we headed back to the classroom. Jon told the kids to be on the lookout for a rainbow but we didn't see any while we were outside until kids were being picked up from the classroom and Jon saw a huge rainbow out the window! We went outside to get a better look.
Monday I spent the majority of the day on Corinne's quilt face. I realize I'm unrealistically optimistic about my abilities when I told Deb Saint I would meet up with her on Tuesday. Tuesday evening I really wanted to finish the face of Corinne's quilt. Jon went to bed at midnight and I showed him my work before he went to sleep. As I looked at the quilt I realized I had pieced together the entire middle two rows completely wrong. I spent the next ninety minutes ripping seems. Although I kind of wanted to cry I decided to just laugh and learn to be more meticulous with the planning process.

Playing with Cameron Grosso. She likes Duplos!

Due to the setback with the quilt face I spent all day Tuesday sewing. Wednesday morning I stopped by Mom's house to say hi to the Canche's and everyone was going to the outlets. I decided to tag along and help watch the kids since the sisters needed to find dresses to wear to Corinne's wedding. Everyone left empty handed but I think good ideas were discovered. Later in the afternoon I went over to Deb Saint's house and we finished sandwiching the quilt and I started sewing.

Babies ganging up on Jay

Calla liked how Ellie's stroller could be adjusted so it was
perfect for her to push

These two are trouble. They are sharing with Tigger.

Thursday I spent the entire day at Deb's working on sewing but Ellie was not behaving. She took a really short nap and was just clingy. Finally Deb said that Ellie would probably do better at home so I took Ellie and all of Deb's equipment (brave soul letting me borrow it) home and worked until dinner at Grandma's house. We ate and then went to the airport to welcome Corinne home.

They would steal this weird toy from each other

Ellie doesn't get TV yet.
I love how Hannah is lounging on the basket in front of the TV

Katelyn and Carly and their kids drove in Carly's van and Mom, Dad, Caleb, Ellie and I drove in Dad's van. We arrived in plenty of time and waited for about twenty minutes before we spotted Corinne coming through the doors (this was after a few false alarms). Tears were shed and babies were introduced. It was so exciting to have Corinne home!

Part of the welcoming committee

Being patriotic. Welcome to the USA.

Keeping these two in line is like herding cats.

Showing off their new dresses from Aunt Corinne

After I returned from the airport I spent a few more hours on the quilt (midnight until 3:00). Friday morning I was up at 9:00 and quilted until 3:00. Deb Saint came over then and we cut off the excess and sewed on the binding. I proceeded to hand-stitch the binding from 5:30-7:30.

Sewing on the binding

Dad turned 60 on July 5th. Kelly and I were both on our family vacations with our husbands' families and Corinne and Katelyn were out of town so we waited to celebrate his birthday until the following Friday, July 12th. All the "originals" went to eat at the Golf Club. It was a really enjoyable dinner in our own private room. We decided to eat at 8:00 so that the kids would already be in bed (Ellie did not quite behave...). We presented Dad with his big surprise gift - a trip to Israel in March. I hope it's a good trip!

Dad's other gift - a painting by Caleb

Opening his "other" gift option

Dinner ended and I was back home around 11:15. I spent from 11:30 until 3:00 closing up the binding. I finished the binding before bed and fell asleep with a feeling of relief.

Elliesms:
Ellie will crawl up to the piano and try to climb onto the bench and fail. She then fusses until I come and put her on the bench to play the piano. She'll play until I get bored and distract her with something else.
Ellie started crawling like a typical baby this week. I think she saw Emily and Hannah crawling and realized there is an easier way than the army crawl.

Tickling the ivories. 

When she needed a break while I was quilting I
put her in the kitchen sink for a bath

Mountz Family Vacation

Sunday morning Jon and I woke up early to try to pack the car and clean up the house before church. We decided to go for the first service and skip Sunday School in order to arrive at the house in the early afternoon. Ellie was up early so I had a nice start to the day but we still did not get packed up in time for church. We went to church and then came back and I put Ellie down for a nap while we finished packing and cleaned up. Jon packed the car well enough that I could bring along my sewing stuff - he's the best! We did fill up both seats next to Ellie so she had to go into her carseat from the front seats. After Ellie had slept for forty-five minutes I took her from the crib and put her in the car and hoped she'd fall back to sleep...fat chance.
The drive to Harvey Cedars was about two and a half hours. We stopped on our way at an Arby's since we had a coupon. We arrived at the house around 3:00 and I unpacked our suitcases while Jon unpacked the car and Ellie hung out with Cecelia and Aunt Amanda.
After Jon finished the car I brought Ellie upstairs for a possible nap. Although Ellie did not nap she did notice her reflection in the mirrors. Our closet doors were big mirrors and Ellie loved looking at herself. She even waved for the first time (well, the first time that it actually seemed intentional). Later Jon came up (after I announced that the nap was a failure) and Ellie clapped. Slow down, baby girl!
We had a great time on vacation. It took Ellie a while to fall asleep the first few days but by the end she was getting the hang of nap time. Poppop and Nana frequently offered to stay at the house while Ellie napped so that Jon and I could spend more time at the beach - it was wonderful! Pop-pop would make us all breakfast each morning (eggs, blueberry pancakes, sausage, etc), we would head to the beach and then all do our own thing for lunch, then eat dinner all together. It was similar to how we did things at Myrtle Beach and it worked out well.
Ellie started the week out by waking up at 5:30 in the morning. Although the times became later (the latest was 7:15, I believe) we did take the opportunity to run on a couple occasions. Once we went for a bike ride with Ellie in the baby seat on the back. Our second run we brought Ellie along in the jogging stroller - a stroller makes running a lot more taxing! The coast is a wonderful place to run because there aren't any hills.
Harvey Cedars is a great beach. It wasn't busy at all and we were there over the Fourth of July! One day a friend from college approached me on the beach and said hi - small world. Ellie came with us to the beach a few times (the first three days it wasn't very nice so we didn't spend a lot of time on the beach) but she didn't like the sand. It's hard to keep a baby happy when she doesn't like sand! The people who owned the beach house had a kiddy pool that we could take to the beach and Ellie loved that. We would set it up in front of us and she would spend almost an hour splashing around. Once I didn't bring the pool and I just gave her a bucket of water and that kept her happy for a while. I tried to convince her to like the sand by sitting her in it where it was slightly hard from the water but she would not be persuaded.
One of my favorite aspects of the beach is reading books. Jon read a book I bought him two years ago for his birthday and I read a book Kelly lent to me (Sparkly Green Earrings - a fantastic read) and a book Donna brought (A Room with a View, another good read for different reasons). I forgot how enjoyable it is to read until I have time to actually start and finish a book before I forget the story line.
Instead of going into the nitty gritty details of what we did each day (eat, go to the beach, read, eat, go to the beach, read, try to put a baby to bed, eat) I'll post the pictures I took.

Ready for her first vacation!!

Our room. To the right there are doors that lead to a deck.

Early morning bike ride

Ellie didn't have the best view...

Chillin' on the beach (it was a bit chilly)

Private pool

Going on a run

Daddy & Daughter

Reading before naptime

Splashing in her bucket

Out for lunch our last meal on the island

Owen & Uncle Jon (notice the sky - it was foggy/hazy the first three days)

Lotioning up

I saw Doug on the beach once or twice. He is not a fan of the sun or sand 

On Friday we went to a market to see a fishing presentation 

Waiting for the presentation to begin

Do they look alike? Some think so!

Fish are friends, not food.

Ellie (10mo.), Cecelia (22mo.), Layla, Owen

Mountz cousins