April 1-13 (A brief overview)

On April 1st I announced to our siblings that we were expecting baby #2. I decided to do it on a memorable date because I had told everyone about our pregnancy with Ellie on Valentine's Day and I thought this way it'd be easier to remember.

Apparently it was a bit confusing because Carly felt the need to call Mimi and make sure it wasn't an April Fool's joke. Now that would have been cruel!
During the morning of April 1st I took some videos of Ellie playing with her doll and spent the next two hours (almost) trying to figure out how to piece it into a movie clip. This is what I came up with (I obviously skipped watching the tutorials on how to do it...bad idea):

It was nice to have the news finally out. Although I didn't throw up with this pregnancy, I definitely felt nauseous and tired. I had actually told Mom and Dad a few weeks earlier since I wanted Mom to watch Ellie while we had our first doctor's appointment. Remind me never to go to the doctor before ten weeks - it felt like a waste of time.

While I worked on the video Ellie looked for ants

Over the next few days Kelly and Josh went on a "business trip" to the Caymen Islands. it sounded like a wonderful trip! Mimi kept Clark and Maya for most of the time but Ellie and I helped out when Mom prepared for the Mom's Together breakfast and went to a shower. Ellie and Clark get along really well and Maya is such a pleasant child! It was not hard to keep the three of them, just to transport them! It's amazing how long it takes to round up three kids under three to go somewhere. Like herding cats, really. Fortunately Clark is a very patient boy and would wait quietly in the car while I smashed the other two car seats in next to him.

Playing at Fenton's

Breakfast Friday morning

 We had enough time for a cousins photo shoot

 The Fentons arrived home on Sunday and Jon chopped trees down at Mom and Dad's house. Ellie and I were bored after naps so we went and watched him work until evening church. We pulled out some of Mimi's riding toys to pass the time.

Kelly turned thirty on April 8! I had Hunter all day so Ellie and I were home with him from eleven to four then I took her to Grandma's house while I taught piano lessons. 

It was warm enough to play outside

At naptime Ellie ran and cried on Hunter's "bed"
She didn't want to sleep in her crib

Mom invited us all over to a DELICIOUS dinner in honor of Kelly. It was so good! I made the dessert and Grandma made mashed potatoes. Kelly was given a cedar chest for her big gift. It's beautiful. 

Somehow I didn't take any pictures of the birthday girl, but Clark and Ellie 

did give a lot of love to Maya

 Over the upcoming weekend we had the women's retreat. We had a great speaker - Barbara Duguid. She spoke four times over the course of the weekend and Aunt Esther closed the weekend with a talk on Sunday. It was wonderful. Mom really knows how to throw a retreat.

The Stoltzfus representatives (we missed you Carly, Katelyn, & Corinne!)

Lunch at Woody's, of course.

When  I came home Ellie hardly reacted. She loves to spend time with her Daddy! Jon was busy splitting wood with our neighbor's wood splitter.

 It was good to be home! 

A picture from when Jon had Ellie on Saturday. Pop-pop made them eggs for breakfast.

 Ellieisms:
Ellie still loves to watch for birds. She points them out and calls for them all the time.

The end of March Picture Overload

Once again I am so far behind it's not worth writing in all the details. Instead I'll bombard you with pictures and give a brief overview of what went on.

Ellie still loves to spend time outside. We go out as
early as 9:00 if it's warm enough (over freezing)

Jon and Ellie were in charge of getting rid of the
last of the snow in the driveway.

Ellie's favorite nook.

We picked up some furniture at Ikea for my sewing supplies. 

Ellie took charge when she thought Jon was moving too slowly

Pretending she's a baby

Sweet tooth

Morning cup of tea.

Ellie's new friends: birds

Hunter and Ellie playing a duet

Ellie loves playing with her trains, her "choo-choo"

A new favorite: BBQ sauce. No nugget needed.

They were unimpressed by their first taste of summer. 

Getting silly as we fold laundry

yardwork!

We celebrated Grandpop's birthday on March 20. He turned 90.
Grandpop is Donna's Dad.

Ellie enjoying the porch swing with her second cousin

We still eat lunch at grandma's house every Monday! Ellie LOVES jello.
Grandma couldn't feed her fast enough so Ellie used her hand in between spoonfuls. 

More trains

We like to hang out with the Fentons.

Her favorite spot at their house.

Watching Dad play FIFA with Omar.

Eating ranch dressing.

Ellie's word list in March included (but was not limited to): 

two, three, bird, horse, play, yes, Pop-pop, Momma, bus, Mimi, Maya, all right, hello, tea.

Last week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Monday morning I had a meeting at Mom's house concerning a baby shower that we are helping plan. We only had to be there at 10:00 so before the meeting I gave Ellie a bath and we ate a leisurely breakfast. Ellie played with Wyeth and the marble roller during the meeting. She loves Mimi's house.
For lunch Jon hadn't taken any food into work so I ordered a stromboli from Giovanni's and took it to his office. Ellie was getting tired but she held it together to eat lunch with him in their lunchroom. She sat in a chair like a big kid.

Post-bath pose

We went home for naps (well, Ellie's nap) then played until Jon came home from work. Right now Ellie likes to play trains, stack her block house, and "help" in the kitchen. When Jon came home he wanted to take advantage of the warmer weather and he and Ellie washed the cars before dark. After dinner and once Ellie was in bed Jon and I watched The Amazing Race.

She doesn't really understand playdough yet

Washing the cars! She begged to wear Josh's old coat

Tuesday Ellie and I did our usual routine of cleaning the house up for Hunter's arrival. Kelly texted and asked if I wanted to meet up at the gym. I had enough time so we met up with Kelly and we ran on the treadmills for two miles then Ellie and I had to head home for Hunter's arrival. 

Every time Hunter is here it's the same routine: arrives at 11, lunch at noon, naps at 1:00. He naps in a sleeping bag on my bedroom floor. Ellie is infatuated with his sleeping bag and has cried when I put it away before. I should pull out Jon's sleeping bag next week to let Ellie have her own while Hunter's here. Ellie and Hunter interact well. He's generally quiet and calm but every so often gets really excited and runs around. Nothing crazy, though. 

After nap time we eat a snack and Elisha comes and picks Hunter up at 4:00. Then Ellie and I quickly hop into the car and I drop her off at Grandma's house while I teach piano lessons in Elverson. We are home for dinner by six. 

Walking in Mom's shoes 

Ellie's morning cup of tea

Wednesday morning we had Precepts. Ellie usually is really tired by the time I pick her up so we headed straight home for lunch and naps. Sometimes we skip right to the naps since she gets a lot of snacks at church (I am completely fine with that. Feeding a cranky kid is not fun). At 3:00 I have a piano lesson. Ellie generally wakes up right before their arrival or during the first ten minutes. Therefore she spends the lesson cuddling on my lap and smiling shyly at the Mom and older sister. 

We made dinner then waited for Dad to get home. I have women's Bible Study at 7:00 so Jon gets Ellie duty. He had Omar come over after Ellie was in bed and the two of them once again played their FIFA tournament. They really enjoy playing on the same team against the computer. I came home around 9:30 and Jon said that Ellie went down without a fuss. 

She plays with her blocks a couple times a day

We call Daddy probably every day per Ellie's request

Elliesms:
Ellie still loves to be outside and cries when we bring her inside if she's not finished playing.
Jon says Ellie sounds like me when she's on the phone. She says the same things. "Ahuh, ahuh, ummmm, no." Stuff like that. I guess it's a step up from "WHAT?" Like she used to say when pretending to talk to Daddy on her "cell phone."