Eloise at 10 months

So Squishy keeps getting squishier! She has rolls on her thighs & wrists, and does a fabulous job maintaining an extra chin & kissable cheeks!  She is a healthy girl & feels like a chunky monkey when you have to carry her for more than 5 minutes.  The 9 to 10 month stretch has brought many changes into her life (and ours) as she is now mobile!  She had been in crawling position for a few days leading up to the day she decided she would just go for it & that is exactly what she did! In a matter of an afternoon, Elo was crawling all the way from the living room into the kitchen & back. There was NO progression of "learning" to crawl. It was nada & then all out crawling mania!

It is not like she was unhappy while playing before the crawling but she is definitely much happier & more easily entertained when I am cooking or tending to Charlotte & she has to be left alone for a minute. Speaking of being left alone for a minute.....

Splish Splash!

What mom? Is there a problem with this? 

This is really the first time that we are having to tell Eloise "no" on a more frequent basis. It is actually making us laugh a lot because it seems like the things that we are correcting her for are NOTHING in comparison to the things that her older sister has to be corrected for. It also doesn't help the not laughing when you say "Eloise, no no!" and she sits up looks right at you & claps her hands while squealing before repeating the offense. It is pretty adorable ; ) We will get tougher as time goes on. The way it goes around here is that you get away with disobeying (if it's cute) the first time, I snap a few pictures & then get down to business next time it happens. 

What this girlie is up to other than crawling all over the house:

• pulling up
• crawling directly to dogs & trying to climb on them...haha!
• biting my shoulder- this is one offense that has NO cuteness involved!
• says "nigh nigh" & waves when you are taking her to bed
• loves to look at books with pages that have texture
• very easily distracted while nursing during the daytime, we are better off sitting in a room away from the number one distraction in the house: starts with a "Cha", ends with an "arlotte" ; ) 
• super content in the Ergo carrier, likes to lean back and give me a grin in turn, melting my heart
• getting better at the sippy cup
• has done the sign for "more" twice...maybe on accident 
• thinks that it is pure torture to have to be still long enough to get a fresh diaper
• has a second tooth on the bottom & the top 2 front teeth look like they will pop through the surface any day now!
• could be left to splash in the bath tub (or dog bowl)  for hours at a time
• waves at the airplanes (I didn't teach her this but Char did the exact same thing!)
• growls like a tiger in response to one of us growling at her

She is pretty consistent with nursing 4 times a day.  She gets milk around 7:30, 11:30, 3:30 & 7 & then solids around 8, 12 & 5:15.  She also has a snack in the afternoon with Char.  Our new foods added to the list this month were: meatloaf, turkey, watermelon, onion, LOTS of seasonings in some of the meat dishes she has had, rice, noodles, barley, split green peas & some cows milk (thanks to Charlotte who was so kind to share her sippy cup with her! I was relieved to see that there was not an allergic reaction : ) 

Sleepy Elo

She has been one worn out little chickadee since she started crawling & is sleeping 13 hours on some nights going to bed around 7pm & waking at 8am.  Most nights it is 7:30 or 8pm till 7:30am.  She is usually snoozing from 9-11 & 1-3.  She happily sleeps in a stroller if we are out somewhere for the morning which is SO opposite of Charlotte!  She also skips the morning nap on Sundays and on any other day that we are doing something she doesn't want to miss out on.  On these days, I nurse her & feed her lunch early then put her down for a long winter's nap : )  

One hilarious thing going on this week is when we put the girls down at the same time for night time sleep. Elo is really calm in her crib until we walk out of the room. (the rest is viewed from the video monitor) Once we are gone she pulls up on the side of the crib & starts yelling to get Charlotte's attention. Charlotte sits up quickly & points her finger at Eloise and says "no no Elo! It's time to go night night! Lay down!" So Eloise obeys for about 5 seconds than starts up with the yelling again until Charlotte can't take it anymore and comes to her rescue. She is the kind of guard you would want if you were in prison ; ) She slides books through the bars, an extra blanket or two, does some sweet talkin' & then tells you the rules again "Eloise, go night night k?"  One night we never intervened and it took about 30 minutes for things to calm down enough to fall asleep.  Another night Eloise got tired of her night time guard and decided to poke her in the eye.  It made for a great example of a natural consequence of disobedience (being out of your bed with your eyeball in reach of someone else's hand).  We got them settled down and asleep after some tears were shed by the sisters.  Overall, room sharing has worked out very well for our family. 

We have been spending some time poolside in the last few weeks of hot, sunny weather. Elo, our little water baby LOVES it! I have a feeling we will be there quite a bit this summer! Happy 10 months Mellow Elo!

31 Years to Celebrate!

We celebrated Robby's 31st birthday ALL weekend long in multiple ways. Following the big 3-0 birthday week celebration last year, we toned it down to a few fun filled days.

Friday was his actual birthday so we started out the morning with a homemade breakfast of biscuits, sausage, eggs & fruit then sent the birthday boy off to work for a bit. He finished up the day early & we loaded the girls into the car with their overnight bags & headed to Dave & Emily Buck's house. This amazing couple took the girls in for the night & half of the next day so we could enjoy some time alone.  We left there around 4 & Emily snapped a picture of us on our way out....

First stop- We went to Lowes & wandered around for awhile dreaming about a patio makeover and sharing all my Pinterest ideas for home decor that I need a handyman's assistance with.  Pretty sure he loved that for his birthday ; ) Second stop- I had originally planned to take Robby to a steakhouse for dinner but it just so happened that Fogo de Chao just opened in Orlando last week! 

We LOVED this place in Dallas & got to go with our good friends Andrew & Renata. It is a Brazilian steakhouse & Renata happens to be Brazilian & she along with her family happen to have the hook up with much of the staff at the Dallas location : ) I have been mourning the loss of pao de queijo (a Brazilian cheese bread) since we left Dallas. Renata & her mom Keila made the MOST amazing pao de queijo....it is better than what they serve at Fogo! So to say dinner was absolutely delicious would be an understatement. The best part was that just a few days before his birthday, we received a letter in the mail entitling us to a free dinner for two.  Our original bill was just under $100, after our sweet little letter was given to our waiter, it came down to $10 for the two caipirinhas we ordered.  What a deal!

Once we were home it was still only about 8:30, we dragged our super comfy camping chairs out into the grass behind our house, had some David Gray playing from the back porch and enjoyed some cigars. Just kidding....no cigars for me although Robby was trying to figure out how much he could pay me to take just one puff. Conclusion of that discussion, he could never afford it ; ) We sat out there for a couple hours catching up on life with lots of uninterrupted conversation.

Then my loving & selfless husband pretended like it was my birthday and brought me inside, hooked up the Super Nintendo so we could play some original Mario Bros. Oh yeah, and there were two mugs full of Blue Bell Cookies & Cream. We laughed hard as we pulled out all the old tricks, joked about how we wish we had the cheat book & still continued to push all the buttons while the other person was playing.

We slept soundly until 9am....unheard of these days at the Valentine Nest! We felt recharged & ready to see the girlie pies around lunch time when I picked them up. It was Char's first official sleepover outside of sleeping in a pack n play. She & her pal Olivia who is 6 slept on a pallet on the game room floor. Char loves each person in that family & did great! Thanks Dave & Emily for loving on our girls! 

Saturday consisted of Rob getting some reading done, me getting some cleaning done & celebrating the 1st birthday of one of our neighbors.  We spent the last couple hours of the evening in the camping chairs again. Soooo relaxing!

Here is Rob sporting his birthday gift from his entourage of ladies (me, Char & Elo)....

I sent him the 2003 version of this rain jacket when he was in Australia. He has worn that thing more times than we could count & it pretty much doesn't keep rain out anymore....it was time for a replacement!

Today, we went to church, he took a nap in the afternoon & then we had dinner & cake with the fam. 

Baby Isaac will be a month old in a couple days....he was there to join in the festivities. 

Uncle Chris & Charlee who was delighted to have someone else to read her books.

 

Pretty much the cutest niece in the whole wide world.
 The parents of these two adorable kiddos were there but not photographed. 

 

Char made Daddy a "cake" & came up to him saying "Happy Birthday for you Daddy!"

The four of us with the Valentine family tradition -Triple Chocolate Cake. 

All the helpers to blow out the lone candle which represented the "1" of "31."

Elo all decked out in her beads. 

Char in full princess/Rambo garb ready to dig in with her own fork.

That is pretty much what we all looked like shoveling it in  ....well minus the head pieces ; ) 

Robby said that it was pretty much his favorite birthday ever....he is a simple man, one of the MANY reasons I love him : ) 

We will close with a pic of the birthday cowboy & his sidekick, baby brother Steve-O back in the mid 80s. 

project 365: [days 78-84]

*March 18th- Finally chopped off the long locks (by my standard at least)

March 19th- Grocery shopping at Aldi- all this for $30

March 20th- Finished up these little pretties for our family pictures later in the week

*March 21st- Eloise chowing down on her new favorite combo- avocado & watermelon...& O's

March 22nd- Sisterly love during the photo shoot

March 23rd- Night alone with the birthday boy to celebrate 31!

March 24th- Enjoying our daily glass of "Judy Juice" as Char calls it. The parents of our friend Christi own Ridge Island  Groves & surprise us with a gallon of juice from time to time.  Christi's son is named Jude...hence the name "Judy Juice"

the kitchen- start to finish

It all started over a couple years ago when I came across this blog post...Q's Play Kitchen

I honestly can't remember how I found it the first time but it had been looked at MANY times prior to actually starting the project.  I kept dreaming of the day when Charlotte would be big enough to enjoy a play kitchen. We decided that Christmas 2011 would be a great opportunity to surprise the girls with their own little homemade kitchen. Now we are nearly three months past but hey, better late than never right? Plus I can say with certainty that the kitchen was & is a hit every day at the Valentine Nest.  Charlotte is always cooking up something to feed Eloise : ) Eloise is recently pulling up on the oven so she can touch the knobs or grab the teapot off the stove top. Also, I love to see it when I glance into that room : )

Here is the process in photos...

plans, tools &  soda

supplies with the refrigerator in front

close up of the fridge

my handsome hubby working hard on the oven

hardware installed

I love sewing projects & couldn't wait to make Charlotte an apron to wear in her kitchen!  I spent a bit of time looking at different aprons pinned on Pinterest & then decided to make my own pattern with a combo of my favorite choices. It was super easy and came together in a couple hours much to my delight!

one favorite feature: the waist band goes around & attaches with velcro under the flower so Char can put it on herself

And, the completed kitchen.....

Char taking a peek in the freezer on Christmas morning. Uncle Scott bought her the ice cream set for her birthday last year & it fits perfectly in there!

It really only took Rob a couple afternoons to finish the woodworking & painting...I was pretty impressed, as usual! If you are interested in seeing a couple other of his projects click on: Our bed, Charlotte's bed. Or, if you want to see more pictures of Christmas morning when the girls got the kitchen click on: Christmas kitchen. 

All in all, we spent about $130 but could have done it for cheaper had we planned ahead and bought the knobs, drawer pulls & faucet on sale. We were pretty happy with what we spent though & look forward to having Char & Elo's play kitchen for years to come!

project 365: [days 71-77]

March 11th-  Grammy & Pop Pop got into town!

March 12th- Charlee & Pop Pop checking out some sea lions at Sea World.

March 13th- Gaga has been doing some sewing! Got a super fun package in the mail with some new dresses.

March 14th- Picnic lunch with the cutest girls in town.

March 15th-  Spent Grammy & Pop Pop's last evening with us in Celebration. 

March 16th- Lovely day of delivering babies at Winnie Palmer...wish I could post a picture of the babies ; ) 

March 17th- Celebrated Bennett & Bella's 7th birthday with some face lickin' fun!

Happy 7 years Benny boy & Bella girl!

Bennett & Bella have hit the 7 year mark this St. Patty's Day! It's hard to believe that we have had them almost our entire marriage : ) They continue to make us laugh & attempt to consume all socks in the Valentine household....well,  at least one of them named Bennett does. 

Life with two mutts at 7 years:

• These doggies are sweet, rarely cause trouble & are loved in this house.  
• Char & Elo don't know life without getting licked daily.  
• Recently we watched Charlotte playing with Bennett. The game went like this....Bennett would spin & chase his tail until Char told him to stop. She then screamed "my turn" and she would spin until stopping & then yell "your turn!" when she was ready for Bennett to take over the spinning again.  
• Bennett & Bella are delighted once again to have a small baby in the high chair that passes food to them throughout any meal & snack time. I think Elo likes how their tongues feel....gross I know.   
• Bennett still has a sock fetish & anyone who glances at our grass can tell....also gross. 
• Bella has not required us to spend ANY money on medical bills this year.  We hope she is not saving it for a double whammy between her 7th & 8th birthdays. 
• If their leashes are left on after being taken out, Charlotte is quick to grab them & take them on a "walk" around the house.  She is a tough dog handler & they obey her more than me sometimes.  
• Bella still loves her kennel & will run full speed into it when you give her the command. Bennett on the other hand, oh my, you would think we were sending him to die! Robby sometimes has to carry the 80 pound dog like a baby & set him inside his kennel! This means that if Robby is ever away overnight, Bennett gets to be a couch dog because I don't have the strength or energy for that matter to get him to go in.  
• Charlotte has become very defensive of both dogs & will tell you "Be nice to my Bennett/Bella!" if she catches you correcting them.  
• Eloise is obsessed with trying to touch their paws & tails. The dogs don't tolerate this for long & leave the room. 
• We still turn the TV down at night when we can tell they are dreaming & doing their "sleep barking & running." It makes us laugh every time!

In honor of their birthday, we made some cupcakes & since it is St. Paddy's Day, Rob put some green sprinkles on top. Here is Char with them...

The dogs got to split an un-iced cupcake & thought the celebration was over.  Charlotte then began sticking her face in the icing & leaning down to let them give her a lick, or two or a million. This went on for quite sometime. I couldn't help but laugh : ) The dogs & Char were SO happy! The following two pictures will bring us smiles for years to come

Eloise was munching on Cheerios & observing the fun from her high chair. Today was the first day she wore a bow in her hair without a headband...a feat Charlotte could not master until she was 18 months old!

I looked though some pictures from the early years with the pups today & can't believe how old they look only 7 years later! 

Benners at 9 months old

Ol' Man Benito at 7 years

Bella Bella Blue Dog at 9 months old

Bella girl at 7 years

These two have been together since they were in Drama Mama's womb.  It will be a sad day if one goes before the other....they can't stand being apart!

2005- roly & cute as could be!

2012- no rolls left but still pretty darn cute!

I have definitely complained about these dogs & on days when I feel like I am ready to be a no dog family, I force myself to re-read these posts. Bennett & Bella. I then laugh and snuggle up on the couch with both little pups, give them a good scratch & think about how many more years we all have together : )