Wordless Wednesday: Sibling love

Elle likes it when Wesley and I cuddle with her before bed. Normally, he's not completely zonked out like he is in these photos, but it was fun and sweet while it lasted!

Wordless Wednesday: Family/maternity snapshots

About a month ago, I had this sudden urge to have maternity photos taken. I went back and forth, in true indecisive pregnant lady fashion, and finally decided that I didn't really want to pay a lot of money to have my huge belly photographed. I did, however, want to capture my pregnancy. I didn't take a ton of photos during my pregnancy with Elle except for my weekly bump photos, and while I've taken weekly bump photos with this pregnancy, I wanted some photos that were a little more artistic and posed. I also wanted to capture Tim and Elle in some of the photos.

Although it was already super Florida hot, we asked one of our babysitters (hi Ashley!) to watch Elle for a few hours while we ran some errands together and went out for dinner. Then we came home and went to the river to take some photos - Ashley helped by taking some photos of the three of us and also keeping Elle safe and happy during the rest of the shoot.

I'm glad we did it, and I'm glad we didn't spend a lot of time and money on the photos. I managed to jam my wedding ring on my swollen fingers for the pictures, although I had to wear different shoes than originally planned because my feet were too swollen. My hair didn't appreciate the humidity, and Elle and I were both sweaty messes within five minutes. In 10 years, though, I think I'll be happy to see how close I was to meeting our son and how we were preparing for Wesley as a a family, but I don't think we need to plaster the walls with photos of my giganticness :)

Here are some of my favorite photos:

She's going to be an amazing big sister.

We actually bought Wesley's little shoes about two hours before these photos were taken.
Props for the win!

Love Elle's face in this one.

Tim is convinced this pose is going to explode on Pinterest.
I call it "pregnant woman split in half by lamp post."
He calls it "brilliant."

Yup, that's our kid.

We promised Elle some playground time if she cooperated in the photos.

Wordless Wednesday: Father's Day

As a pregnant person, I am a ball of emotions in general. Anger, exasperation, joy, sadness, love - you name it, it's me, at some point and at some ridiculous level. (Feel bad for people who are around me on a regular basis.). This means I have lots of sniffly posts I could be sharing. Lots of mad posts I could be sharing.

And lots of gushy and nostalgic posts I do plan on sharing. You're welcome.

Here's one that won't go in to ton of words, but I think the photos do the talking pretty well ... I am thankful every day that I married such a great guy - one who is smart, hard-working, funny, caring, dedicated, patient and loving, among other stellar qualities. I am even more grateful that he's the father of my children and that they have such a strong man to look up to and learn from, every day. Elle adores him, and I know that Wesley will, too.

Even though Elle was convinced that Father's Day meant that it was also Tim's birthday, we had a nice day celebrating Daddy and spending some coveted family time together, including gifting him with his annual photo present:

Elle's last chance to be the sole star of Tim's Father's Day photo gift (2013).

Daddy's Day, Diva-style (2012).

"What is this green stuff I'm sitting on?" (2011).

We let Daddy sleep in, spent some time at the beach and went out for dinner - I'm not sure who enjoyed the day more, Elle or Tim :)

And two bonus photos ... I was staring at this one all day at work with my heart all melty and my eyes all teary:

Quite possibly my favorite photo ever (Nov. 2011). LOVE these two.
[Photo by Jodi Wells Photography.]

And this one, which makes me smile every time I see it - and we're just weeks away from another tiny person getting to know his daddy (and I'm guessing that while Elle was sleeping on him, Tim was watching the Reds, which will happen a lot with Wesley, too):

Wordless Wednesday: Little aquarium lover

I've got a lot of posts I'd like to get up in the next week or so, so fingers crossed I get my act together and catch up on weekly baby bump updates, general goings on and deep thoughts from a pregnant lady (is that possible? they're certainly scattered but emotional, so I guess that works) ...

Anyway, we went to the aquarium on Sunday. We have a membership to this aquarium, and while it isn't the flashiest, biggest or nicest I've been to (I'm a bit of an aquarium snob), I love it.

We've had a membership for three years now, and we certainly go enough that it always pays for itself. It's extremely educational and a good size for us. We can show up an hour before the place closes and see all of the exhibits without being rushed. There are new animals there every time. I love that the volunteers always teach us something new, and they've made a ton of improvements and changes in the last 12 months that make me glad our membership money is going to them.

This is one of the first visits that Elle really "got" it ... she had been obsessed with a sea creatures book we got from the library the week before, and she's been on a Finding Nemo kick lately, too. She was PUMPED for this trip. And as she dashed from tank to tank to see the eels, the sea dragons AND sea horses, the jelly fish and the "Nemos and Dorys," she amazed the volunteers with random bits of sea creature information.

It was a nice, relaxed family afternoon. When we arrived, though, I was struck by the rememberance of a scene nearly three years earlier when we took 10-day-old Elle out for one of her first outings:

On that hot summer day, I insisted we get a photo of her at the aquarium's entrance. We went to the aquarium with my visiting mom and brother. I nursed Elle in front of the manatee tank - one of the first times I nursed her in a public place - and Elle had a major blowout that had me wondering how one little person could create so much smelly poo.

This time, though, 2.75-year-old Elle gasped in delight as she saw the fountain. The stroller was unnecessary, and she barely stood in one place long enough for me to get a decent photo. She ran ahead of us almost the entire time. Now potty-trained, she didn't use the restroom at all.

Hard to believe that was "only" 2.75 years ago. And hard to believe how much she's grown and changed!

Wordless Wednesday: Bookworm

Elle has always loved books, but I love that she loves to read them to us now, too. There are several that we have read over and over, and she knows by heart. But there are also a lot of newer ones, like the books we check out from the library, that we'll read to her two or three times and then she repeats parts of them back to us with varying accuracy.

Also? Why is she growing up so fast?!

Wordless Wednesday: Big Girl Elle

This past weekend, we headed out for our first spring training game of the year. Since it was a hot day (February in Florida is a joke) and Elle inherited her mother's sweat genes (I could be in a blizzard, see a photo of the sun and break out in an intense sweat), I decided to pull her hair back in to a ponytail. I've been trying to get Tim to style Elle's hair more (since he gets up with her and spends the first part of the day with her, Monday through Friday), but I fear that I may have just dealt a blow to my cause.

You see, Elle With A Ponytail looks much, much older than Elle With No Ponytail. As we finished getting ready for the game, Tim would only refer to Elle as "Big Girl Elle." And if our baby girl is gone when we pull her hair back, perhaps we shouldn't pull her hair back until she's 18, right? Tim and I are on opposite sides of the "Elle needs a haircut" debate - he claims she desperately needs one. I say that she doesn't, especially since her "bangs" have grown out to the side and the length makes it easier to pull back. As a female, I think I will probably always win this argument, but Tim never fails to make his opposition known. Her hair is thin and has a natural curl, so it takes a minimal amount of detangling and maintenance.

 I've been pulling her hair back for dinner lately, too, because I like to minimize the chances for toddler mess whenever possible. The less hair hanging in her face equals the less food that might get in it, so I feel like my efforts are worth it.

Anyway, here are some photos of Big Girl Elle to file away in the "My Baby Isn't A Baby Anymore" department:

Wordless Wednesday: Princess time

Elle got a complete princess outfit from "Aunt" Traci as part of her Christmas gift. Elle typically asks to be put in the wings and skirt approximately 2.5 times a day and sometimes dons one of the princess headpieces as well. And always - ALWAYS - carries her wand. Today she asked me to put the ensemble on her as I was fixing dinner, and she pranced around shouting "I'm Princess Elle Belle!" (and singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in a high-pitched voice). Highly entertaining, this one. She also allowed me to capture some cheesy smiles.

This was a pretty entertaining 10 minutes of the evening, but she also followed it up by speaking whale (like Dory does in "Finding Nemo") to my belly and "kissing the baby," which entailed chasing me around the kitchen and lifting up my shirt to blow air kisses near my belt.

But back to her royal highness ...

Pretending to be a pirate princess.

Um, why does she look like she's five?!

And happy FIFTEENTH birthday to my little brother, Doug - can't believe a) he's 15, b) I'm so old and c) I wrote this two years ago. Love you, Doug! Save some ice cream cake for us!

Wordless Wednesday: Air Elle

As much as this scares me, it makes the two of them extremely happy:

October 2012, age 26 months.

She certainly isn't as aerodynamic as she used to be, and this was likely the last toddler toss. But it certainly does make for some great photo ops. 

April 2011, age 9 months.

I used to worry that she was too floppy for this. Now I worry that she's way too sturdy.

February 2011, age 7 months.

I mean, seriously - she gets some serious air. And she loves it.

Same night as the first photo,
different throw.

Wordless Wednesday: Pounding some pudding

Before: 

After:

 

  

Wordless Wednesday: Little moments

I'm never wordless on these posts. Although really, I've been rather wordless of late, probably most noticeable to me. I've been dealing with some stuff for the last few weeks, and blogging just hasn't been a priority, nor has it been my preferred outlet. I've been crafting, I've been running, and I've been baking, and that's how I've been dealing with the things weighing on my heart and mind.

And although this little one has been pushing buttons and defying limits like it's her job, she's also been a great distraction and reminder for things that are good in my life, for people to be thankful for and appreciate. Tonight, just minutes after she seemed to be launching in to a tantrum of epic proportions (one that I was entirely unprepared for and uninterested in), we had giggles, smiles and precious moments. 

As we played with the photo and video functions on the computer, she was obsessed with the kisses I'd give her on the count of three. She thoughtfully stared at and positioned her hand so that it rested on my cheek. She showed all of her teeth and smiled with her whole face, and she didn't want the fun to end. 

This kid? She's happy. She's pure and curious and full of energy. Although I didn't sleep well last night, I was grateful for an unusual 4 a.m. wakeup that consisted of giggles and play instead of fearful yells and tears. I don't know what woke her up, and I don't know how long she was awake, but when I was having a "moment" at work this afternoon, thinking of her late night (early morning?) laughs made me smile. Much like these photos.