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."

Our Weekend Without Daddy

Saturday morning mom and I met up (with Ellie in tow) to go to a consignment sale she had heard about in Guthriesville. We found some good items, Ellie's favorite find was a toy cell phone. 

After we spent way too much on other people's old clothes and toys, we went to Home Goods to return some items. Ellie was super cranky in the store. We decided she must be as hungry as we felt so we ate at a nearby restaurant called Nudy's. Our pre-lunch entertainment was stacking creamers. Ellie was really good at it! (I didn't notice until Mom pointed out her skill).

We made one more stop at a furniture sale then I took Ellie home for a much needed nap. She fought sleep for close to three hours before I gave up and just took her to Pop's house for dinner. Mom invited us over along with Kelly and her kids since Caleb was home from school. The kids got busy with Dad building trains as we waited for dinner.

Somehow I neglected to take a picture with Caleb! Caleb and Brie were off to a dinner with friends before we left to go home for bed. The time was changing that night so I really should have gone home earlier since Ellie didn't get to bed until 8:30 - which felt like 9:30! 

Ellie woke up after I was ready for church, which was a blessing. I dressed her and packed some breakfast. We picked up Dorothy on our way to church since her husband was at the retreat with Jon in their only car. I went to first service then had hall monitor during the second hour, which means I really just do my Bible Study work in the hallway and help kids go to the bathroom periodically. 

After church the Culberts had us over for lunch. Nate and Deb Saint were there with their two grandkids, Cameron and Hannah. Hannah and Ellie are six weeks apart but Hannah doesn't walk. At least she likes dogs! Ellie was looking at the dogs outside and saying "dog" and "uhoh" while Hannah wanted them to come inside and play.  

We stayed at Culberts until 3:00. I put Ellie down for a nap and she slept 2 1/2 hours - which she hasn't done for a while! I took my Sunday nap (I love getting a nap Sundays!) and Jon came home shortly after I went to sleep.
Dad was sharing at church in the evening so we went to prayer meeting and heard stories and saw pictures from his trip to Uganda. It made me really miss Corinne and Daniel! I hope that we can visit them. We are praying for you, Iyas.

Praying

Wednesday morning Ellie and I made it to Precepts in time for me to grab a cup of tea before class began. This is a rare occurrence! Kelly and her kids are in the childcare room so Ellie has all the motivation she needs to get out the door. Kelly gave Ellie a good report.
Directly after Precepts Ellie and I went to Brooke Stoltzfus' house for her flute lesson. She sat on my lap or nearby while I taught, which is a first since she doesn't really like the flute. When we are home and I try to practice she usually cries. Not very encouraging for me. Let's just say I don't practice much anymore.
We went home for lunch and naps. I have a piano lesson at 3:00 following which we make dinner. Ellie generally gazes at the magnet of Corinne and Daniel while I cook.
In the evening we had a seminar through our financial advisor on saving for college. Ellie hung out with Mom and Dad. They were having dinner at Grandpa and Grandma's house so we dropped her off at their house. She received a good report and was sleeping when we arrived. Ben Brust's final home game was starting soon on the TV so we stayed until the game began and took Ellie home to sleep in her crib.

We still have a lot of snow around here!

Thursday morning Katie and I went to Grandma's house for breakfast. She made delicious blueberry baked oatmeal. Then we left our two kids with them while we ran to the Flower and Home Marketplace (it's the new store that replaced Flower and Craft Warehouse). We wanted to see what the new store had and I needed a few things for a baby shower I'm helping plan. We were back in Elverson around 10:30 and the kids were playing busily with Grandpa and Grandma.
I went down and helped Grandpa with his computer briefly then we stopped by Kelly's house for a bit while she ran to Walmart. Then I took Ellie home for her nap. I have a couple lessons on Thursday afternoons at home then I take Ellie to Culbert's house down the road where she stays until Jon grabs her on his way home from work. I teach a family up near Weaver's Orchard then come home in time for dinner.
This week we had small group in Reading, though, so I packed Ellie some dinner and we took her to Mimi and Pop's house. Jon and I made a date of the evening and ate at Chickfila before going to small group. We stayed out pretty late with the thirty minute drive back to Elverson but Ellie was zonked out in Mimi's crib. Pops said that she played with the marble roller for a solid 45 minutes after dinner. She loves Mimi and Pop's house!

Friday morning Ellie and I were up and dressed early enough to go to the Reading Farmers Market for breakfast. We stopped by the meat counter and then grabbed some fruit before making a pitstop for an iced coffee and boston creme donut. After lugging the merchandise to the car Ellie and I chowed down on the donut. She's my daughter because as she took her first bite a long "MmmmMmmm" sounded. I agreed.

Our next stop was Redner's where we grabbed the rest of our groceries. Then we headed home. Ellie played with trains and napped in the afternoon. We also packed for Jon since he was going to Skyview for the weekend on the Man Maker retreat with church. At 3:45 we went to Elverson to hang out with Grandma Mountz, since we hadn't seen her for a while (it seemed). We stayed there until 5:00 when we headed to Kelly's house for dinner.

Ellie made her first track! 

I helped with this one.

Playing kitchen at Nana's

Kelly had tickets to the Conestoga Christian School Spaghetti dinner fundraiser. Brittany Mountz and Henry joined us and we ate and chatted until 8:00. Babies make evenings end sooner! (Ellie was cranky, not Henry). Ellie did respond really well to Henry, which was nice. Brittany was changing his diaper and she went over and kept saying "baby" and petted his hair. We went home and Ellie went straight to bed. I browsed the internet and went to bed by 10:00 since we had some fun things planned on Saturday.

waiting for dinner 

playing around the coffee table

Ellieisms: 

When Jon was praying for dinner, he prayed for Corinne and Daniel. As soon as he said their names Ellie looked over at their magnet on the fridge (yes, I had my eyes opened).
When we pray at home we hold hands. When we pray anywhere else Ellie has started holding her hands under her chin, just like Clark. She started doing this after seeing him do it at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

The first weekend in March

I'll catch up by loading up pictures from February but if I don't start in March now I'll never recall what's going on now.
March 1st was a Saturday. In the morning I went to a seminar by Jere Scott on the Westminster Catechism. Mom had put it together for some of the women in leadership positions at church and I somehow got invited, too. It was definitely worth while.
As soon as I arrived home Ryan Frey came over and helped Jon chop a huge pile of wood we have in our backyard. They worked together for two hours and completed the entire pile, which was impressive.
While Ellie napped I cleaned up the house a bit and prepped dinner. Dan, Amanda, and their three kids came over at 5:00 for dinner. We enjoyed spending time with them and Ellie thought their three kids were there to entertain her the entire time.

Cecelia is Jay's age - so 12 months older than Ellie!

Check out the stark contrast in their hair. Cece has so much!

Sunday we didn't have anything on the schedule, which was nice! Then a snow storm was on the horizon so they cancelled evening prayer. We invited Omar over for lunch and to play FIFA (with Jon) before the snow arrived. I hung out with Ellie and sewed in my free time, finishing up Henry's quilt. By dinner there wasn't any snow in sight so we invited Omar to stay for dinner. We watched a movie then I went to bed while the boys played a couple more rounds of FIFA.

Henry's quilt

Monday morning we started our day slowly. Without the snow to hold us back we ended up going to Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch. Ellie is hesitant to get dressed in the morning unless I tell her we are going somewhere fun - like Grandma's. When I tell her where we are going and she wants to go (for instance, I'll say we are going to Grandma's to play with Clark and Maya) she'll say "May-may!" and run to the bedroom for her clothes. She can't quite manage to squeak out "Clark" yet.
Ellie and Clark run around Grandma's house as though they are at an amusement park. They love it! Ellie also sometimes follows Maya, crawling behind her like she's also a baby. It's a lot of fun how much they get along.

Buds

We went home for Ellie's nap following lunch and Ellie napped. I had a piano lesson at 4:30 and then we ate dinner when Jon arrived home. Generally speaking our Monday evenings are slow and uneventful, a good way to start the week.

 Tuesday morning Kelly texted and asked if she could drop her kids off for a bit while she deep-cleaned her bathroom. I said sure! Ellie helped me vacuum to prepare for crawling Maya.

The three of them played for a long time with the trains and kitchen. Hunter arrived at 11:00, which was when Kelly came to take her two kiddos home. Hunter and Ellie played until lunch at noon then bedtime at 1:00. While they nap I usually do my Bible Study and catch up on laundry. Since I'm stuck at home on Tuesdays I generally try to make that laundry day. 

 Hunter is picked up by 4:00 and then Ellie and I rush off to piano lessons in Elverson. I drop her off at Grandma's house, teach lessons at two different homes, then pick her up and head home. Grandpa and Grandma so generously take care of her and Ellie loves it so much! She usually walks right in and waves, saying "bye" to me. I get the hint.
After our long day it's nice to have another free evening on Tuesday. We eat a relatively late dinner then I cram in my Bible Study that is due on Wednesdays. This evening Jon finished up our taxes, which felt great.

Ellie talking to Daddy while drinking her tea

 When Daddy leaves and Ellie wants to go with him, she runs to the coat closet and grabs a hat. Then she holds it out for me to put on her, crying as though he has just deserted her with a mean old lady.

chores: putting dirty clothes down the chute

Ellieisms:
Ellie says "Nah-meh-nay" all the time. I do not know what it means!
She clearly enunciates "no" and "bye." Most of her other words are harder to understand. But her list now includes eat, juice, Maya (may-may), book, and tea.