Trip to the Zoo

This afternoon I made a last-minute decision to run to the zoo--Eliana took an early nap, I didn't have any hip or back pain, we didn't have any obligations after lunch, and the weather was absolutely perfect!

 This tiger kept pacing back and forth right along the glass and it was amazing to have such a close-up view of the amazing beast, but apparently Hylie wasn't impressed!

 A hippo swimming right by Eliana

 We took a spin on the zoo's carousel--Hylie looks terrified in this pic because she truly was at first, but once the ride actually started, she loved it and wanted to go again!

I'm so glad the stars aligned for us to take this impromptu outing--the only thing that would have made it better is if all that walking induced some labor!

Eliana's Physical Therapy

Today Eliana had her last session of physical therapy!  We are so thrilled with the progress she made these past 6 months and that she is loving her mobility.  Thank you to her physical therapist, Alyce, for her expertise, encouragement, and help!

Happy Birthday, Geoff!

Last week Geoff celebrated his 40th birthday.  We kept things simple on his actual birthday with a family breakfast in the morning and then saved the celebration for the weekend.  On Saturday, we decided to try out an "Escape Room" with some friends and had a blast.  We had an hour to figure out all the clues to get us out of the room and conquered in 45 minutes!

We had another pic taken when we saw Damon had his eyes closed, but they sent us the wrong one...sorry Damon!

On Sunday we had some friends over to have some tacos and french silk pie.

Geoff is an amazing man, husband, and father.  We are so blessed to have him in our lives.  The girls are always extremely excited when Geoff comes home from work and Saturdays are now called "Daddy Days" because the girls love all the extra time with Dad.  Geoff keeps me grounded and shows me endless patience and love.  We sure love you, Geoff, and look forward to what this year will bring!

Geoff dancing to "Happy Birthday"

First Day of Pre-K!

Hylie was bouncing off the walls today knowing we were finally starting Pre-School again!  (I hope the enthusiasm lasts all year long!)

I'm hopeful to be able to keep up with everything especially when our little one arrives.  The biggest thing I need to remember is that she pretty much knows what is needed before starting kindergarten, so the main focus is to make sure I keep nurturing her love of learning.  Here's to a fun-filled and definitely action-packed year!

36 Weeks...and counting!

Okay, it's official, I'm getting to that point where I am done with being pregnant! I have been extremely fortunate to have had a very easy pregnancy--but recently I've been experiencing back pain, hip pain, numb legs, shortness of breath, five million trips to the bathroom in one hour, more and more people asking if I'm having twins, the inability to walk long distances...and then there's the whole bending over thing!  My, oh my!  But, if the truth be told, I wouldn't have it any. other. way.  I am so grateful to be carrying our third child and am getting so very anxious to meet our little bundle of joy.

And, of course, I had to compare what my 36 week bump looked like with all my pregnancies:

Yep. I'm ready.

Master Bedroom

I honestly thought we wouldn't get around to painting the master bedroom until it was a necessity--like we had to put our house up on the market or something...but, when we moved Eliana and Hylie together it created an extra room to move our bedroom stuff out to make room to paint!  Geoff surprised me by being on board with my crazy nesting plan and he prepped the room for a much needed makeover.  Not only that, he even painted the ceiling which was the hardest part of the entire project!

Here are the lovely "BEFORE PICTURES":

Please note all the stains on the wall beneath the pictures and the cables running along the baseboards.  Geoff sorted through all the cables and found we only needed to keep two feet of cable for our internet connection--he tossed close to 40 feet of all the extra stuff that has been there for who knows how long!

And during:

This project involved many late nights, early mornings, working during nap time, having our sweet neighbor take our kiddos for a couple of hours on two separate days, and Geoff and I camping out in the living room at night.

But, looking at these "AFTER PICS" just reminds me it was all worth it:

Yes, that's right, I painted the room purple--it's the 'new neutral' ;)

Can I just say I hope this 'gallery wall' trend never goes away?  It is so much easier to hang pictures when you're not trying to keep them lined up perfectly with each other!

 This was my first attempt at recovering a seat cushion and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

 And a painting project of mine isn't complete unless there's stenciling involved, right?  I stenciled some designs with high-gloss paint in the corners--this detail is only noticeable in certain light/angles and it makes me smile every time they pop out.

Thanks, Geoff, for putting up with my crazy!  I think my nesting phase is slowing down...no promises though.

Hylie's First Daddy Daugther Date

Now that Hylie is 4, we decided it would be a fun time to set aside some special one-on-one time with Mom and Dad each month.  This month, she went out with Dad to breakfast and then on to the local Farmer's Market.  It was cute because when we told her about her special day, she kept talking about how fun the activities will be with everyone and when I kept clarifying it was just her and Dad ,she would get a little sad that Mom and Eliana would be missing out.  But, in the end, Hylie had a wonderful time with just Dad and enjoyed telling us about her adventures.

 And yes, she ate ALL of her breakfast and even helped Dad take a few bites of his!

Eliana's Milestones

So Eliana has finally decided that walking isn't so bad after all!  Last Tuesday, August 30th, Eliana woke up and WALKED out of her room and hasn't crawled much since!  It has been wonderful seeing her put forth so much effort to walk most everywhere and see how proud she is of herself as well!

We also moved Eliana and Hylie into the same room and they are LOVING it!  Hylie is so excited to not 'be alone anymore' and Eliana is basking in her big girl bed and bump up in independence.  For the most part, she does a great job sleeping in her bed, but there have been quite a few nights lately that it takes quite a bit of convincing to get her to stay put so she can actually fall asleep.

Don't let this little, innocent video fool you.  Yes, sometimes she listens when we tell her to go back to bed, but there have also been hours of tears and struggles when it comes to staying in bed.  We'll get there!  (Oh, and for the record, she is crawling in this clip, but most of the time she is upright!)

Eliana has also shown a big interest in songs--she won't sing along, but if there are motions involved, Eliana is ON IT.  She lights up anytime someone starts "The Wheels on the Bus", "Pat-a-cake", "Skinamarinky Dinky Dink", and especially "Five Little Monkeys"!