InstaFriday

 1. Crabby kids? Stick 1 in the Ergo and 1 in the sling.  Good to go.

2. Clean. Clean. Clean.  Too bad it never stays that way.

3. Mommy Necklaces are awesome.

4. Feeding ducks.

 1. Sleeping Ellary.  This does not happen often.

2. Karson loves to dump all of his toys out. Not my favorite activity, but he learns by playing.  Right?

3. Fabulous at traveling.  He is awesome in the car.  His sister is another story.

4. Oh how I love her.  Her thumb sucking included.

1. Karson put a sticker on her.  Brotherly love.

2. Napping at a friend's baby shower.

3. Snuggling Mama...and refusing to sleep.

4. Choo-choo!!

1.  Karson does.not.eat. So when he asked for his "nu-nus" while in time out, we gave them to him.  He then proceeded to eat them like a dog.  We let him.  He ate 2 plate fulls. Mother of the year.
2. Good morning sweet babies.
3. Hi Mama...this will not work...I will not fall asleep.
4. Mommy wins.  Ellary sleeps & Mama gets two hands to get stuff done.  If you do not have one, buy an Ergo!

 1. Ellary HATES the car.  She screams that awful, ear piercing baby cry every time she is in the car.  We got her a convertible car seat to see if it would help.  Notice how she isn't screaming?

2.  She is sleeping.  In the car.  HUGE improvement.  She still cries at times, but she also sleeps at times which she didn't used to do in her infant seat.  Any other ideas on helping itty bitty ones in the car?

Linking up with Jeannett with Life.Rearranged for InstaFriday.

Bye-Bye Second Cup of Morning Coffee

This little girl is the most inconsistent sleeper.

Ever.

She has been sleeping well at night.

She usually only gets up once to nurse, and goes right back to sleep.

She has slept through the night 4 times.

She seems to have nights figured out.

But naps.

Three month olds should nap, right?

Right.

Ellary didn't nap.

At all.

No sleeping during the day.

At all.

She.would.not.nap.

This made for a very cranky baby come 7:00.

An over tired Ellary can't fall asleep.

She screams and screams, and fights nursing, and screams some more.

Again, three month olds should nap.

Then 1 day, she napped.  

Twice.  

Two, 2 hour naps.  

Unheard of.

So I went over what I did differently that day.

I only had 1 cup of coffee.

The next day, I enjoyed my 2nd cup of coffee.

Again, no napping.

All day long.

Darn.  

There goes my 2nd cup of coffee.

Apparently I was caffeinating the poor thing.

 

Now, let me tell you.  

I love coffee.

Not just the caffeine in the morning.

I love the taste of coffee.

Strong, black coffee-Heaven!

When I am cold, I crave a strong, hot, cup of coffee.

I used to have a half of a pot in the mornings, before I was pregnant.

I also always had a 2:00 pm half a pot cup of coffee.

Decaf coffee doesn't do it.

It just tastes bad.

Yes, I can tell the difference.

So, the list of foods I have given up grows.

No dairy. 

Very little soy.

{Read: No more Starbucks 'Ellary Proof Decaf-Iced-Soy-Mocha.'  Too much soy...sick Ella.}

No onions.

{She can handle a very little amount, which I reserve for salsa}

No broccoli.

No second cup of coffee in the mornings.

It is ok though.

She is worth it.

Anyone know of a really good decaf coffee?

Silver Lake :: 2012 ::

This was our 5th year for our annual Silver Lake Camping Trip.  

Every year it has rained.

Or was cold.

Freezing cold.

Or I was 6 weeks pregnant with Ellary, and had the stomach flu.

{we skipped that year}

It was beginning to be comical.

Not the sick part...that really stunk!

We started in 2008, but I didn't blog in 2008.

 It is such a fun trip, and for the 1st time ever, we had beautiful weather!!

It rained for all of 5 seconds.

 No sitting around the campfire in the pouring rain; with 10 layers on & umbrellas.

SL 2009

No flooding.

SL 2010

No missing out because of the stomach flu.

SL 2011

Beautiful weather.

Happy kiddos.

Great friends.

A fabulous weekend!

Playing on the beach....

When he sais "1..2..3..jump!" he will jump!

Over, and over, and over again!

 

Oh how my little boy loves the beach!

While Karson jumped of sand castles, Ella slept in the shade.

She loves the beach too!

We spent the afternoons on the beach.  My favorite activity!  

While everyone else laid in the sun, Ellary and I froze in the shade!

I absolutely love snuggling my sleeping baby.

Snuggling my sleeping baby on the beach...Heaven!

In the afternoons & evenings, we played at the campsite.

DJ begged, and begged to take Karson on a go-cart.

I agreed.

He was so excited.

So was Karson.

Until the go-cart started moving.

He freaked...and I couldn't do anything about it.

Bad Mommy moment...don't put your 2 year old on a go-cart.

Just trust me on that one.

Hanging out at the camp site....

Ellary snuggling with Aunt Katie & Karson enjoying a Coffee Cake.

Karson playing with Daddy & the big guys!

The second night, we drove up test (really really big hill in the dunes) to watch the sunset.

I held Ella's head so it didn't bounce around too much.

When we got  to the top, some guy was laughing at me, and told DJ he should have held my hand so I didn't look so scared.

I quickly informed him I had 2 babies in the truck.  

When he saw Ellary he apologized. :)

We all sat in the back of our trucks, to watch the sunset.  Karson loved watching all the dune buggies go up the hill.  His truck noises have gotten quite a bit louder since this trip.   At one point there weren't any trucks going up the hill.  "Mama, where trucks go?  More trucks!!!"

Parked at the beach, watching the dune trucks go by.

Karson was in Heaven.

So was his Daddy. :)

Cool Dude

This year was so much fun!

I love traditions, and camping, and great friends!!

I can not wait for next year!


ps...this is a record!  Ellary is sleeping again today!!  Woohoo!!