The big girl bed

As a part of our transition from one baby to two, we've been working on a lot of big girl things with Ellie, like saying goodbye to binky (a slow process that we're still in the midst of), potty training, and walking more instead of being carried. Today Ellie took a great leap into the big girl world by taking a nap in her new toddler bed. We have had the bed sitting in her room in pieces for a couple of weeks and finally today after two trips to Home Depot, we put it together. We moved all her furniture around to accommodate the addition to her room so now we're ready for two little girls to share it!

Ellie was very excited to take her nap in the new bed. We had no problems at all getting her to sleep there this afternoon. She was so quiet that I checked on her after 20 minutes and she was in the same position we had left her in, sound asleep. When she woke up, she called for me and was so proud of her accomplishment. She'll still be sleeping in the crib at night for a couple weeks more until we can get all of her furniture bolted to the wall.

It's so fun to see her growing up before our eyes but also a little sad as she moves from being a baby to a big girl. Lucky for me, she still wanted to sit on my lap and snuggle for 20 minutes after she woke up!

"I really like my new bed!"

Mama explaining to Ellie at nap time how the big girl bed works... "You don't get out of the bed. When you wake up or if you need something, just call me and I'll come get you."

Night night, big girl!

Engagement party

(By JPC)

Our family has had very happy news recently - my sister and her boyfriend got engaged! While they were visiting this weekend, my parents threw them an engagement party. We also had a very fun (and successful) weekend of wedding dress shopping!

The happy couple

With two of my parents' neighbors, who have known my sister and me since we were 15 and 17, respectively.

Celebrating with Mimi

Pretty party girl

Cutting the cake

Ellie toasts the happy couple (with non-alcoholic sparkling juice of course!)

Opening the generous gifts

Welcome to the family, Ty!

What could be better....

on a Saturday morning after a long night with a 104 fever than chocolate chip pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse? They work better than Motrin for our sick little girl!

Elmo's World

All toddlers love Elmo and Ellie is no exception! Thanks to two of her special aunties, Ellie now has a very cute outfit to celebrate the red furry monster. She loves it and couldn't wait to wear it to school last week. She took off her coat as soon as we walked in the door so that she could show Miss Dee.

Thank you, Robyn and Mary!

Burns, bruises, and bumps

It's been a tough few days for the P-C household. On Thursday, I spilled a cup of very hot tea down my arm, belly, and leg at dinner time. The pain was shocking but fortunately it is only a first degree burn. It made for a very uncomfortable night but when I woke up the next morning, what I thought were going to be blisters were gone. Now my arm just looks like it is very badly sunburned.

(Why, you ask, was I drinking hot tea with dinner? The tea was my dinner. The good news this week is that my nausea is much improved so I have stopped taking medication for it. The only problem is that I am still somewhat nauseous throughout the day so tea for dinner sounded good. It's lost its appeal now.)

Tonight as we were heading upstairs for Ellie's bedtime, she was doing her usual nighttime practice of running around the living room. She was going so fast that she tripped on her own feet and fell into the book case. She hit her forehead on the corner and has a huge bruise and bump already growing. She has been quite a trouper though about putting the ice pack on so we are hopeful that it will not be terrible tomorrow. She cried and cried when it happened and then 5 minutes later, she jumped off my lap and wanted to do something else. Kids are so resilient!

Ellie holding her special kids' cold pack on her boo boo. I don't know what these packs are called but they are fantastic (we got it as a gift). You keep them in the fridge so that they are cold all the time and ready for a night like this. Ellie liked it because it's a silly character that she got to hold.

For now, we are all laying in bed together recuperating - Ellie from the fall and her parents from the heart attacks we had when she fell. Now Mommy is just worried that it's her turn for an injury tomorrow!

N is for noodle necklace

Pizza!

Yesterday, Ellie had her first slice of pizza. She summarized it best - when we put the plate on her high chair tray, she just looked up and said, "Happy". We were lucky to find a pizza place near Mimi and Boppa's house that is completely egg-free (the owner's daughter has severe food allergies, we learned yesterday). We will plan to have their pizza again the next time we're there!

Whenever we're at Mimi and Boppa's house, Ellie loves to wear Mimi's glasses. In these pictures, she's also wearing her apron and pretending to be Mimi cooking in the kitchen.

Today's dairy introduction was vanilla ice cream. She loved that, too!