It's been a good couple of weeks here--normal as we get. We've had some big fun at the beach with our playgroup buddies--Elena LOVED the water. She would run around and throw herself down in the surf. :) She also enjoyed shoveling sand and smashing people's sand castles, sadly. We're looking forward to going again soon, we hope!
She's been enjoying strawberry season! She will eat 5 or 6 sometimes! Her favorite fruits are bananas, strawberries and grapes; she also likes oranges and apples, though much of the apple gets spit out. She likes eggs--hard boiled are her fav, but she also likes scrambled and she will sometimes eat a fried egg. For lunch she still eats cheese (although she likes to switch it up from the string cheese to slices or chunk cheese now and again). A dinner classic, spaghetti with oil and parmesean cheese, is one she likes to eat with a fork--it's so cute to see her eating like a big girl! She just started actually eating cereal for breakfast--she decided that she wanted some too since that is what Mommy and Daddy eat. The first few times she just played with it, but when we tried corn chex with a little honey, we had a breakthrough. :) She also prefers her yogurt plain now, instead of mixed with nut butter. Elena loves snacks--she eats graham crackers, animal crackers, cheerios, goldfish, Ritz crackers, Wasa crackers, and just about any other type of cracker! Although sometimes she has a strong opinion about which one she wants! She is a pretty good eater, although we are getting to the stage of having attitudes about food sometimes.
Elena is finally becoming a proficient climber! She just started getting up onto chairs by herself, and now she can climb up to slides with ladder-like bars. She is gaining confidence in climbing--she was never very quick to try it, but now she will. She is also getting to be a great stair climber. She can stay upright while going up and down now, though sometimes she resorts to the safer way, which I always appreciate. Sometimes she doesn't even want to hold my hand going down the stairs! That freaks me out, but she is usually fine! Also in the physical skills department, she is a great walker. We take walks in the apartment complex regularly--we have a little circuit that she likes to follow. :) To the mailbox, to the office (for a cookie if Mommy is in a nice mood), see the turtles at the pond, run on the tennis courts and back home. She loves to run, but she wants me to "run" too--which is pretty funny now that I'm so pregnant! I usually just pump my arms and make my step bounce a little and that makes her happy. :) She still loves to dance, and she LOVES when Andrew does his Insanity workout videos. She stands in front of the TV and bounces, "exercising" with them. It's adorable! Andrew is not such a fan of her running in between his legs, but she is so sincere, it's so sweet.
Now that it's getting warmer, we've been doing lots of swimming! Elena loves the pool, and she likes her new float, too. She's finally figuring out that she can't let go! It's nice for me to get in the pool--the buoyancy feels great and it keeps swelling down--and I'm sure as I get more pregnant it's going to be even better. She loves to climb up and down the stairs and get in and out of the pool by herself.
I am now 32 weeks along with Olivia. These pictures are 31 weeks. Olivia is getting bigger and less active, although when she is active I can feel it more! She stretches a lot, putting pressure on my lungs, which Elena didn't really do. I have felt a little part move along my belly a few times--that is the best! When that happens, it seems so real that a little person is in there, growing, getting ready to meet us. We are getting ready to meet her, too--I got my list of supplies for the home birth, and I've been getting things together. They usually don't give the list this early, but since we are moving, I thought I'd work on it ahead of time so I have one less thing to worry about later. Plus I just love getting "the list"--I always have, since I would get school supply lists as a little kid. I guess knowing I have everything on the list makes me feel secure and prepared... something like that. :)
Speaking of moving, we are planning to do it May 15! We should be able to close on the house by the first week of May or so--as soon as our loan is ready. Which should move a little faster this time, since we have everything together from last time. It all happened so fast, and we are skating in under the tax credit deadline, and just on my "drop dead" date that I made for moving before the baby. God is so good! We are still not counting our chickens until they are hatched--we won't be truly thrilled until we have the keys in our hand! But we are really looking forward to this working out. :) We do like the house as much, definitely more in some ways, than the Moonlit house. I like the neighborhood pool and playground, the backyard, and how very clean the house is! The only big things we will do before we move in (most likely) are to regrout the master shower and replace the living room carpet with laminate flooring. We don't even have to paint that much! This whole thing happened pretty fast, and I am just floored by how God has answered my prayers and blessed us.
These are the keys to our very own house!!! We closed today, from 3:45-6, with a small snag that, praise the Lord, didn't prevent us from finishing today! Everything worked out great, and we are so thankful. We had Elena in tow, which made it more interesting! But she was a champ, especially when we let her "sign" her own papers. :) The seller was a very nice lady who came with a quart-sized bag full of clickers and keys--to the gate, the pool, the garage door, the house and the inside doors! Apparently we were her third contract since July, so she was very happy to finally sell. And, of course, we were very happy to finally buy!!
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