Ella and Paige | Week 20

I can sum up this past week in one word... EXHAUSTING! The four month sleep regression is a real thing. Who knew!? My wonderfully sweet child that has been a really good sleeper since the day she was born has been keeping me up at night!  She has been waking up at least once sometimes even two times a night, and she will be wide awake for an hour or two. This is not ok! This picture below was me every morning last week. 

Two different days Ella woke up with growing pains and needed motrin, and then an hour or two later Paige would need to be fed. Once I was finally able to lay back down and get to sleep my alarm would go off at 5:50am to get up and get Ella ready for school so I basically never get caught up on sleep. To say I was tired and grumpy last week is probably an understatement. One of these days I will get good sleep again, but it's not looking like anytime soon.  She obviously has no clue the havoc she is causing. You can't be mad at that sweet face though. 

On 9.23.15 Paige finally rolled from belly to back. This is her in action which is why the picture is a little blurry. I could die over those arm rolls!

Paige had her second week of Mom's morning out. It wore her out. She only took a 20 minute nap while she was there and was already exhausted when I took her in. She took the best nap that afternoon. I'm loving the artwork they are sending home each week!

My mom and I got this little dress for Paige last February before we even knew her, and she can now wear it. I'm hoping to get a few pictures of her in it when we get our fall pictures taken in a couple of weeks if she will cooperate. 

 Ella's school had fall family fun night Friday night. It's their big fundraiser for the year. Ella is all about it and had the best time. 

Saturday, Ella and I met up with some of her friends from school at the zoo. She loves hanging out with them at school and outside of school!

It was a fun, exhausting week. Fingers crossed this coming week brings about lots of great sleep!

Ella and Paige | Week 19

Is it bad I have been staring at this screen for 20 minutes with a million thoughts running through my head but no idea how to get them out in words? I am super unorganized these days. I am STILL trying to figure out how to juggle everything. 

After having Paige I was dead set on trying to keep up with how my life was before her. I wanted to get back into running as much as I could. I wanted to lose the baby weight as fast as I could. I still wanted to see friends as much as I did before Paige.  I wanted to keep my house as clean as possible. I wanted to volunteer at school as much as I could. As great as all that sounds, I couldn't do it. Do I feel like a failure? Definitely not! I have found that things I used to think were a priority aren't as important to me as they used to be. I still enjoy running, but I don't like to feel like I HAVE to run. I don't like to feel like I have to get up at the crack of dawn to go run after getting up once or twice to feed Paige.  I want to run, because I want to run. 

I lost the majority of my baby weight, but I'm still not where I want to be. I'm not going to stress and obsess about it. I will get to where I want to be, someday. That day is definitely not today though. 

My house is still clean, but it's probably not as perfect as I would like it to be. I know once Paige starts walking it will probably be destroyed most of the time. I know there will come a day when I will have tons of time to clean again, but I just don't have the time right now.

I also haven't been able to volunteer as much as I used to at school. I still do lunch duty, just not every week like I did last year.  

I am extremely thankful for friends who understand what I am going through, because they have been through the same. I go weeks and sometimes months without seeing some of them, and we always pick up where we left off. We still talk often, but we just don't see each other as much as we would like. 

This is just a season of life. There will come a day when things will calm down, and life will get easier. Right now, I'm just going to enjoy the crazy.

Ella and Paige are both growing up way too fast. Ella has settled into her first grade role. She is doing really well. Most days I know she enjoys the work, but some days she is just wore out. First grade is a big jump from kindergarten. I am so proud of how well she is doing. Ella also lost another tooth and look adorable. She lost this one at the lunch table at school. I about died when she came home with her tooth in a little tooth treasure box. Fingers crossed the other one comes out before our fall pictures in a couple of weeks. 

Paige is changing daily. I have said many times that I want to bottle her up and keep her a baby. Preferably, a baby that sleeps all night but beggars can't be choosers.  She is so sweet and happy. I forgot how fun a baby can be. I can't even stand the thought of Paige not being a baby anymore. 

Ella is training (as in she ran 1 mile) for the kids half marathon next Friday night. She will be running one mile and receiving a medal at the end. Hopefully she will still want to do it. She says running wears her out. 

She is full of joy!

Her smile kills me! 

Adam carved our first pumpkin of the season. I was really impressed. 

Paige is SO close to rolling over. She grunts and kicks but has not mastered rolling from back to belly but has belly to back down pat! 

Pumpkin Patch 2015

This past Sunday we did our yearly trip to the pumpkin patch. I was hoping to take Paige with us this year, but Ella asked my parents if they would watch her. I am glad we ended up not taking her, because it was hot by the time we left. Sometimes she is happier at home, and she definitely was that day. She slept almost the whole time we were gone. 

This was opening weekend for the pumpkin patch. It was much less crowded going the weekend they opened which was so nice. There were also plenty of pumpkins to choose from. 

We did all of our usual stuff. Ella made sure she did every single activity they offered. 

The rat race

Jumping Pillow

Zip line and tractor

Pumpkin sling shot

Rat race....again 

Hayride to the patch

Ella had to have the biggest pumpkin at the patch, and I think they found it. I can't even pick this pumpkin up!

Pony Ride

Corn field slide

I take this picture every year. I can't believe she is almost 4ft tall. That is only a foot shorter than my mom. She is coming for you mom! :) 

It was another fun trip to the pumpkin patch! I can't wait for more fall activities and cooler weather! 

Grandparents Day Celebration

Friday was all about grandparent's at Ella's school! 

Ella loves grandparent's day, because she enjoying having us all at school with her. She especially LOVES grandparent's day because of the book fair. How smart are they to have the book fair the week of grandparent's day?! 

After singing a song together first and second graders had speaking parts. I never thought I would see the day Ella would confidently speak in front of a crowd on a microphone, but she did yesterday. I am so proud of her and how far she has come. Her teachers have invested a lot of time into her, and it shows with how confident and comfortable she is. 

After the program we were invited to her room for snacks and a trip to the book fair! 

Ella has been blessed with wonderful grandparents that love to play with her, teach her things, and are there in the good, bad and ugly. 

This is our attempt as a family picture. Ha! I swear Adam and I like each other. :) It's not easy to get everyone to cooperate for a picture.  

Ella and her bestest buds, Kasen and Kole. They are twins, and Ella thinks they hung the moon. 

Thanks grandparents for taking time to come support Ella on this special day!