Monday, April 27, 2009

Easter
















After a great birthday weekend, we had GG and Pop Pop come to visit (the Tuesday before Easter). They drove all the way from Orlando to bring Scott some of his childhood stuff. I will pause as some of you can anticipate my panic at having more "stuff." This house is almost full of stuff already (how did we ever live in an 1100 square foot apartment?) so I have heart palpitations at the idea of any more. The good news is that most of it was trains passed down in the Evans family and set up as a Christmas tradition so I am super excited for that, since this will be our first Christmas in our own home.

GG and Pop Pop (especially tireless GG) helped a lot in the yard and around the house again. My husband is obsessed with yardwork and is out there daily with new projects and ideas and plans. It is funny and neat at the same time. He is really turning our yard into a work of art. I know that the owner of our house really appreciates it. Bad news is he'll probably get burnt out by the time we buy our own house and have no desire to do any more yard work. Oh well. We really do have the most amazing backyard and the house is our home however long we stay here so we are going to make it beautiful and special for us and the kids to enjoy. Scott put his mom to work pulling weeds, mulching, and transplanting lilies, while Lee dredged the stream. While they were here we had beautiful, chilly weather and the flowers were just starting to bloom. Since it was cherry blossom time, they went and saw the blossoms (there's always next year), took Nathan to an easter egg hunt, and then we all celebrated Easter Sunday with brunch at Scott's club in DC. It was great, especially because both the kids were very well behaved. Another fun time with GG and Pop Pop.

The rest of April has been filled with illness as we are becoming frequent visitors at the doctor's office here. Ellie has had thrush and a couple of colds and Nathan has had an ear infection and colds too. Can't seem to get everyone well as they just seem to pass it back and forth to each other. That's where their sibling love has gone bad...

Hopefully now that warmer weather is here, kids will get well. Today was 90 degrees which is amazing considering it was in the 50's last week. Craziness.

Other than the colds, Ellie is doing well. She has been sitting up for the past couple of weeks all by herself, rode in a shopping cart for the first time sitting up which she loved, and we have been gradually introducing new finger foods (tofu and avocado today) for her to try. She has an amazing pincer grasp and as I said before an insatiable appetite. Unlike Nathan she does not have an inner sensor that says when to stop eating which could mean trouble in the future. She seems to always have an eye on what anyone around her is eating and on her next meal. Hmm actually that sounds familiar. Maybe she is adopting her mommy's "food mood" quirk. She is not moving much otherwise though I think she can do it. She does an army crawl when she really wants something but otherwise prefers to sit up or stand (when we hold her). As with Nathan, her favorite activity is the jumpy which hangs in the kitchen doorway. She is WAY too big for it now but we just can't stop putting her in it because she loves it so much. Also like Nathan she loves being outside. The similarities and differences between the two kids is just so amazing to watch. Between the gender and birth order differences, combined with natural genetic differences, it is fascinating.

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