Starbucks in bed.

Yes, Starbucks in bed. Doesn't it sound amazing? Absolutely heavenly? I know. And this morning I had the wonderful experience of having Starbucks in bed. Ahhhhhhhh.

You might be wondering how such a phenomenal occurrence could happen in our house. Well, the first step to achieve this type of nirvana is for your children to have fabulous grandparents. The kind that when you are visiting earlier in the week and your child is begging not to have to go back to her own house say, "why don't you spend the night this weekend?" and then follow through on their promise.

Then you have to have a very good baby. A baby who after her early morning feeding will go back to sleep for a few more hours. And lastly, you have to have a really nice husband who will sacrifice his time in bed for the greater good and do a Starbucks run at 8:30 am so that you can have your venti carmel macchiato and blueberry scone in the comfort of your own bed while watching the wonderful programming of MTV - you know, ABDC, Taking the Stage, Teen Mom, etc.

So, now that you are all thoroughly jealous I'll go on about my day. Ellie will be back soon, Maddie is due up from her nap any second and we have a lot of stuff that needs to get accomplished today. My peaceful morning was short lived but you can bet I enjoyed every sip of my latte and bite of my scone!

Early Mornings with Ruby Red Slippers

Today was an early morning. Not for Madeline, she slept until after 6 am again! But for Ellie a change in "night night music" made it difficult for her to sleep. She usually listens to the Rolling Stones but last night asked to make a switch to the Beatles (lullaby versions, of course).

When we checked in on her on the video monitor around 8:30 last night she was swaying Stevie Wonder style to "8 Days a Week." Oh boy. So it was no surprise when she was up sometime in the early morning (I'll be honest, I didn't even look at the clock but it was e.a.r.l.y.) and wanted Ryan to go to her room. After a few minutes I check in on them and Ellie is again swaying, this time to "Here Comes the Sun" - unfortunately for us not for three more hours! - and Ryan is passed out next to her. Somewhere around 5 am she finally fell back to sleep, just in time for Ryan's alarm to go off at 6:08 am. Yawn.

So this was our morning...

First we watched cartoons. In Ruby Red Slippers, of course!

Then it was time for a little bit of hide and seek

still in the Ruby Red Slippers.

Watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Everyone who has seen it knows it can be a tad creepy sometimes!

All that fun and it's only 7:45 am! Again, YAWN.

Oh, and a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Granddad and Christian! Granddad is 90 and Christian is now a teenager!

Happy Day! (or Night!)

Madeline Claire slept through the night! And not by those stupid definitions in the sleep books but REALLY slept through the night! Six hours when you put someone to bed at 8 p.m. is NOT sleeping through the night, by the way. No, she went to bed around 8:15-ish and slept straight through until 6:28 a.m. Happy Day! and Night!

The even better part is that I went to bed at 9 p.m. and fell asleep about 15 minutes into "Toddlers and Tiaras -Grandma Edition" (as if the moms aren't crazy enough!) so I got the best night's sleep I've had probably since June. Maybe May, I forget when my achy hips started keeping me awake all night.

I hope we can recreate the exact situation again tonight and every other night that allowed our baby to sleep 10.5 hours straight. Maybe it was keeping her door closed. Or turning the thermostat up 2 degrees. I'll let you know. ;)

Taaaaa-Daaaaa!

That is what I heard in Madeline's room while I was getting the girls ready to go out the door. Ellie came running in to show me that she put her boots on all by herself - on the correct feet and everything. Then she told me I needed to take her picture so she "could look at it often." So I did. Here is Ellie after just putting on her boots all by herself for the first time.

Madeline's Magic Trick

I was changing Madeline in her crib and an amazing thing happened. She reached behind her ear, pulled out a paci and put it in her mouth! All.by.herself! Who knew a 4.5 month old could do a magic trick?

As all moms will understand, I have been wishing for this day since she began taking a pacifier (which didn't happen until she was over 2 months old!). No more going back in twenty times a night to replace the paci. Our baby is a big girl now and she can do it all on her own!

Here are a few pics for proof:

Handling that paci like a pro!

Maddie the Dolphin

Remember the video game Echo the Dolphin? It was on Sega (we were the only household with children in America that never had Nintendo) and you were the dolphin. Echo made these noises...like aaaaaaaaah! aaaaaaaaaah! Well we have Maddie the Dolphin living at our house now. The noises started out small, like a baby dolphin, and are now great big grown up dolphin sounds. If you really want to get her "talking" you can read books to Ellie or talk on the phone. Madeline thinks you are giving her all of your attention and she doesn't want to disappoint.

Back off man, I'm a Scientist!

You may recognize this from Ghostbusters. Ryan said this to Ellie one day when she was climbing all over him after he came home from work. Ellie began running around the house yelling "Back off man! I am a scientist!" until bedtime. Ryan called his brothers on their cell phones and she excitedly yelled her new favorite saying into the phone each time. (she is great at these kinds of tricks)

Fast forward to today. I have a plan. My plan is to get up, shower and get out the door alone and run to Starbucks and do a little shopping. I have a 2-2.5 hour window to be away from Madeline before she needs to eat and I make it back in about an hour and half. I walk in and see M's door is closed, a good sign. I go downstairs and see Ryan and Ellie sitting together. Watching Ghostbusters on Blu-Ray.

Ryan tells me not to worry, it's rated PG and there are only two swear words in the entire movie. Ellie is loving the movie telling me all about Slimer and the "ghost car."

Later we go to our neighbor's first birthday party. Ellie is telling everyone about the Ghostbusters. She is looking under the table for the Ghostbusters and around every corner. We come home and put her to bed and she is still talking about the Ghostbusters. I tell her they are silly and she says "no Mommy. They are silly AND scary." Uh-oh. We are in trouble. Big time.

Before we can turn on the monitor we hear her calling for us. I send Ryan to her room and she tells him "I think I should be a little bit bigger before watching more of the Ghostbusters." Ryan stayed with her and talked her down from her mild panic attack that Slimer was going to visit her with the lights out and reassure her that her books were not going to start flying off the shelf.

She is now peacefully sleeping with a few extra "friends" in her bed to keep her company tonight. Ryan would now suggest that Ghostbusters be put away at least until your child is in preschool.

Madeline's Nest

For Madeline's nursery, because we "recycled" the Dutalier William furniture, Little Castle glider and Serena and Lily Charlotte bedding, we wanted it to have a completely different feel from Elizabeth's room. It was spring when we started to put everything together and we were inspired by birds.

Bird Canvases made from scrap book paper by Nonna

Bird "mobile", art, maternity picture, Dwell Bedding blanket

"William" dresser and hutch with bird details, Tree painted by Nonna (with a little help from Kristin), Pottery Barn Kids drapes with bird tie backs, Little Castle glider

The tree! With a night stand painted pink, Pottery Barn Kids bird lamp

The Bird Mobile close up

Birds and Nest on display in the hutch

Tiny Baby Maddie just home from the hospital in her new room!

Ooh La La! Ellie's second birthday party!

Before she was born, Ellie's aunt and uncle gave her an Angel Dear pink poodle lovie. They had no idea that it would become her absolute favorite thing and begin her obsession with pink poodles. Here it is (looking clean and new, not like the "well loved" ones at our house!):





So naturally when we asked her what she wanted to be for her second Halloween it was a pink poodle. And when asked what she wanted her second birthday party to be it was a pink poodle party!

Here are the highlights:

Ellie dressed up as the pink poodle for Halloween. About 19 months old.

The bone cookies for the "Bone Hunt" ready to be hidden in the playroom.

Every child received a puppy and dog house filled with treats.

Ellie and a friend doing the "Pink Poodle Dance" with their poodle ears on.

Cake decorated by Nonna.

Happy Birthday Dear Ellie!

Much better at eating her cake this year!

First Birthday Flashback

We are in the middle of planning Ellie's third birthday party (I canNOT believe she is going to be 3!) and it made me want to look back at the pictures from her first party.

The Birthday Girl in her Party Hat!

Lamb Cookies made by Nonna

Goodie Bags for the kids which included a lamb finger puppet.

A close up of the delicious cookies!

Lambs were everywhere!

Ellie is 1!

Lamb cake!

Month by Month Banner from Ellie's first year.

The Thank You card which had all of her cake pictures in progression. :)

I remember thinking she was so big and all grown up! How silly was I?!

Madeline Claire Month by Month

Madeline Claire month by month...

4 months old

3 months old

2 months old

1 month old


Madeline Claire born September 6, 2009

Elizabeth Grace Month by Month (birth-1year)

Here are Elizabeths pictures month by month...

One!

11 months old

10 months old

9 months old

8 months old

7 months old

6 months old

5 Months Old

4 Months Old

3 Months Old

2 Months Old

1 Month Old

Elizabeth Grace born March 2, 2007