I guess it's a weekly thing now....

...my blogging, I mean. Hate that! It leaves a lot to be desired when there is such a long span between my posts....I end up having to leave out a bunch of the good stuff...mostly because I can't recall all the details over the course of the week. Maybe I'll have to resort to list-making!

Anyway......what's new, you ask? Wait.....are you even still there? Or have I lost my audience to my lack of posts???? Hope not. Let's see......last week...last week....

Oh yes!! Diana was here Tuesday through Friday morning! What a blessing she was! It was SOOOOO nice to have to here; not only for the great company and companionship during the day, but also because she was so great with Luke and Ellie...it was as if she was just an extension of myself; picking up where I left off when my hands were full with other things. Soooooo nice! I really had a tough time saying goodbye to her on Friday...it was a tearful day for me. I think the emotionality of it all (is emotionality even a word??? It is today, I guess) was a combination of not being sure when I will see her again, and the sense that there really isn't anything else super exciting or out of the ordinary to look forward to in the next several months. Now don't get me wrong here....Ellie and Luke are pure joy for me and I always look forward to my time with them, (and I am certainly kept busy enough with the day to day things) but what I mean is that there is no longer anything else I am gearing up for. I've spent the last several months (dare I say year) preparing for and anticipating Ellie's birth. Everything we did revolved around that one thing...whether is be cramming in as much solo time with Luke as I could, purchasing things we needed, preparing meals or just getting all my ducks in a row for the hospitalization....everything was geared toward one specific goal. And I think now that that phase is over and we have all adjusted to her birth, there is a strange kind of emptiness that lingers. Almost like I'm left wondering "Ok...now what?" Its now time to settle ourselves into a new normal....a routine. Its time to just live life now. And while that still feels a little underwhelming and empty (maybe that is still my post-partum hormonal feelings talking), its also exciting and refreshing too. So, instead of allowing that empty "what now?" feeling to take over, I'm going to focus on getting the kids and I back into a nice routine; making sure to have plenty of play dates and time for Luke to be active (something he hasn't been able to do much of since I was too preggo to move around much and it was WAY too hot to be outdoors!) and getting this body of mine back into some sort of shape. I for see lots of walking with and without friends, as much time as we can afford at My Gym, getting back into our Circle Time at the library and more cooking for me! :) All good things. All positive things. A new normal.....I'm looking forward to it!

As for the weekend, Ty and I worked out in the backyard (he worked WAY more than I did!) shoveling dirt off the slope that remained from the retaining wall being built and using it to grade the rest of the yard in preparation for sprinklers and sod. And yes...I actually did quite a bit of shoveling...all pain-free of-course! Ty was worried about me over-doing it, but I promised not to continue if I had ANY pain. That was our agreement. Surprisingly, I was able to work for a couple of hours (in between nursing and keeping track of Luke) loading the wheel barrel with dirt and grading the piles we made. I can't begin to tell you how good it felt to do some physical exertion!!!! It's been so many months since I've been able to do anything like that! It felt GREAT! After we were done, I had that 'dirty on the outside but clean and refreshed on the inside' feeling that comes with hard exercise! Love that! I've been waiting a LONG time to be outdoors! It was awesome! Combine that with the satisfaction of seeing all the progress we made, and it all made for a great weekend! I'm sure our next few weekends will be much of the same, with the exception of this Saturday when my grandparents, parents, sister Jenn and the girls will be here for a bbq.

And what about Lukey, you ask. He's doing great! Almost 100% back to his normal, pre-Ellie self. Well...almost. He still has his moments, but nothing terrible and abnormal for a two and a half year old! He LOVES to hold his sister and is asking us multiple times a day to "hold Baby Ellie, please?" He still is ending up in front of the TV a little too much, as it has become our 'mommy-needs-to-nurse" activity to keep him occupied. Guess that's just the way it's gonna be for a while. But we're getting outside much more often now that the weather has cooled. Thank goodness!!!! He still love, love, LOVES his starry ceiling and the anticipation of seeing the stars glowing up above every night has made his bedtime routine a breeze! Can't complain about that! In the area of potty training, he's still keeping up well! This week, he's actually added a new skill......'pee-peeing standing up, jus' like Daddy." He thinks he's really cool when he stands up and does the deed....apparently it's a big-boy thing to do. Cute.

And that leaves us with Miss Ellie. Oh my sweet, sweet Ellie Belly. She's doing great too....I can see lots of chubbiness forming on her tiny body, so I'm assuming she is getting enough milk, although sometimes, I'm still not sure how. Oftentimes, it's still two sucks to snoring for her and waking her to continue with the feeding isn't always easy. She had a great week last week with Diana here.....nursing well every 2 1/2 hours during the day and taking longer 3-4 hour stretches at night. But this week, she's a little more sleepy again and not eating quite as well. Maybe she's doing the growing that she prepared for last week???? Who knows. But she tends to go in cycles, so I'm expecting the next few days to be better. And despite how incredibly frustrating her sleepiness at the night feedings is, she makes up for it as I lay her down in her bassinet and I curl up under the covers right next to her. For its like clockwork each night that I lay down facing her, that she invariably offers me the sweetest, most precious little eyes-closed baby smiles that I have ever seen! I know that she is still too young to be smiling socially, but she IS smiling a lot in her sleep and each night after nursing, I'm blessed to fall asleep (if only for a short time) with the image of her little face all lit up in one of those adorable smiles. It makes the sleep deprivation and exhaustion well worth it!

Well my friends...I sense that my blog time is just about up....Ellie is fussing here on my chest in my trusty Moby wrap and Luke is due to wake any time. Here's some photos to tide you over until the next time.......

Before a morning bath while Diana was here....



Not liking being chilly.....


Happy girl.....


What are you lookin' at, Mom?



Luke's first ride on a the ponies at Market Night. We were so proud of him! He rode all by himself, without even needing Ty to walk beside him! That's a big deal for Luke, since the first time we attempted to ride these ponies, he got on and immediately started crying. He never finished that ride. Remember that, Sarah?



Cuddling sister.....


Ellie's first official tummy-time.....


Ok, folks.....that's it for now. More to come.....