Christmas 2011

Hi everyone! As this December comes to a close, let's look back at all the FUN the Mitchens had in December... Here are some of the highlights!

Dec 3: Xmas Party at the Wollenburgs. My amazing group of friends got together over $800 and purchased presents for a family at the Julian Center (women escaping domestic abuse situations). We went shopping and came back to their house to wrap--all while celebrating w/ a few adult beverages of course!

Dec 8: My 35th B-day! I'm old! I had a great day... My friend Matt took me to lunch at Seasons 52 and we went to dinner w/ my family that evening! (Craig and I decided not to get each other b-day presents this year since we got a new HOUSE!)

Dec 10: Our friend Matt hosted a "Haunted Holiday Party". He lives in a restored 1880's home downtown Indy. The home itself is gorgeous and a good excuse to party, but he hired a medium to "read" the ghosts of the house. It was a blast.

Dec 15: Went downtown to look at Christmas lights & have hot chocolate on the circle.

Dec 17: Patterson (my mom's side) Christmas party! We spent the whole day in Madison at my Aunt Sue's house and of course, had a blast. Ellie is really getting into playing w/ her cousins and I didn't have to hold Evelyn all day :)

Dec 18: Aimee's Christmas Concert! We went to watch Aimee sing in a concert at the Rathskeller. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was seriously the BEST Christmas show ever! The event included singers from a bunch of local bands (everything from pop, blues, gospel, rock, etc) who were all so talented. Aimee was the only teenager asked to perform in the concert and she was amazing as always.

Dec 22: Matt took Jiffy to the IU game in Bloomington!!!! 12-0 baby!

Dec 23: The Hutchersons came over to visit & the kids had a blast making cookies and destroying my house!

Dec 24: Dinner w/ Grandpa, church w/ my family & home to feed Santa and the Reindeer!

Dec 25: Ellie & Evelyn must have been really good because they made out like bandits from Santa! Including a "Jumpy House", dolls, books, makeup, etc.... Grandma, Grandpa, JuJu & Bob came over later to give them MORE presents (including a play house!), then Doug, Janine, David & Pam came by to celebrate! Little did Pam know she would spend her evening playing Little People Zoo :) We had a wonderful day.

So far this week, it has been so nice out... we have played outside, had a visit from Aunt Sue, played in the snow (it snowed, but it's not too cold), visited friends... and now we are looking forward to the Skinner Christmas at Aunt Patty's on Friday!

Here are some pictures:

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5145861015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Ellie and Ethan's Christmas Play

Ellie is in a one day a week pre-school class at Old Bethel, with her BFF "Effie"-- Ethan is Emily's youngest. For those that don't know, Emily is my BFF who lived across the street from us growing up. We are still close friends today, as are our kiddos!

Anyway, their class put on a "Christmas Play"... and when I say "Christmas Play" I mean 2 year olds half way paying attention to their teacher while the teacher reads a very condensed version of the first christmas. Then they sing two songs. And then I say "sing songs" I mean, the teachers sing the songs and a couple of the kids do a few of the motions!

And it's your lucky day! We got it on video! If you are wondering where Ethan is for most of the presentation, he is off playing in the corner :).

Ellie and Ethan Xmas from Jennifer Skinner on Vimeo.

November Pics

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4984184015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Patterson

Happy Veterans Day! These are my Grandparents (mom's parents). My Grandma Wilma was an Officer in the Army Nurse Corps during WW2 (she met my Grandpa in France). She is almost 90 and still an inspiration to me today! I couldn't have asked for a better female role-model in my life. Whether she meant to or not, she taught us that women have no limitations in the world! And that you can have a successful career, be a good wife and great mom! Ellie shares her middle name, Blanche.

Korean Tacos

YUM

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-shredded-korean-beef-tacos.html

From my fave Crockpot Recipe Website/Cookbook! See the bottom for a few of my changes...

Korean Beef Tacos

The Ingredients.
serves 6-8

3-4 pounds beef roast (I used a trimmed chuck roast)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari Wheat-Free are gluten free)
1 head garlic (peeled, but leave cloves intact--approx 10 cloves)
1/2 onion, diced
1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 whole jalapeno, diced (be careful! use gloves!)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Okay. This truly can't be any easier. I didn't brown my meat, but I did trim off the visible fat. I can make these directions complicated and tell you to add this or that first,
but it honestly doesn't matter. This is going to cook on low all day long, and the ingredients will distribute just fine all on their own. Throw everything in however you'd like.

Cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat has fully shredded--- you can help it out by cutting the meat into pieces an hour or so before serving time. Serve in soft corn or flour tortillas (we are gluten free, and used tiny corn tortillas that are labeled gluten free) with shredded cabbage salad and white or brown rice.


this is how I made my shredded cabbage:


1 bag shredded coleslaw from the grocery store's produce section
1 tablespoon soy sauce (la choy or tamari wheat-free)
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
toss together and serve immediately (it gets too wilty if you make it early in the day)

J's notes: I actually used boneless pork loin chops (the costco ones) instead of beef. I also used Soyaki (basically Teryaki sauce) from Trader Joe's instead of the soy sauce, brown sugar & ginger... just since I didn't have bs and ginger. I used jarred jalepenos too. Also for the slaw, I just had green cabbage, so I used that instead of coleslaw mix.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!!!!!! Craig really liked it too. I served it with some Japanese noodles.

LOTSA Recent Pics!

Pumpkin Show
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4838850015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Random Sept & Oct
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4838731015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Halloween
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4839127015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Parenthood

This post COMPLETELY sums up my exact feelings on parenthood:

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/10/on-parenthood.html

I came across the link from Dooce.com.

Here is one of my favorite exerpts:

Well, having children changes you. Jonathan Coulton likens it to becoming a vampire.


I was having a conversation with a friend who had recently become a parent, and she reminded me of something I had forgotten about since my daughter was born. She was describing this what-have-I-done feeling – I just got everything perfect in my life, and then I went and messed it all up by having a baby. I don’t feel that way anymore, but the thought certainly crossed my mind a few times at the beginning. Eventually you just fall in love and forget about everything else, but it’s not a very comfortable transition. I compare the process to becoming a vampire, your old self dies in a sad and painful way, but then you come out the other side with immortality, super strength and a taste for human blood. At least that’s how it was for me. At any rate, it’s complicated

This was especially funny to me, because I have said since Evelyn was born that she has the ability to "glamour" me! You have to watch HBO's True Blood to understand that reference...

Then of course, the best pie chart ever:

IU Game!

Last weekend, my mom babysat & Craig and I headed to Bloomington (or B-town as the kids call it these days!) for a tailgate with my IU friends! We had a blast, of course. Weather was gorgeous.

My friend Jade wrote a great blog post on it & posted some pics! So, since I am swamped as usual, I'll just link to her page :)

http://wethemanns.blogspot.com/2011/10/cream-and-crimson.html

Ellie 2 Year & Evelyn 3 Month Photos

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4718089015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

I took the girls to Target a couple of weeks ago to get their photos taken. We wanted to do a fun photo shoot w/ Jenny Wood again, but I was having a hard time getting it coordinated AND we just put an offer in on a house, so I am REALLY penny pinching!!!

In true 2 year old fashion, Ellie was excited to get her pictures taken all morning, but as soon as we walked in the studio, she freaked out and wanted NOTHING to do with it. We managed to get a few though. It looks like the little lamb she is holding in the pics is one of hers, but nope! it belongs to the studio, she just would not put it down.

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for sponsoring this photo shoot! You rock!

Click on the link above for the whole album. Here's my favorite:

Is is Really September 20th Already?????

Where does the time go???

We have been having a great End-of-Summer/Beginning-of-Fall here. We are in the thick of our wedding season. My cousin Hannah was married to Marcus on Sept. 10th. Gorgeous & fun family wedding! My step-niece Gina was married to Steve on Sept 17th. This one was slightly more monumental, since Ellie was a flower girl :) OR I should say a pseudo-flower girl. She refused to walk down the aisle (mommy had to carry her) and would not take any pictures w/ the bridal party. BUT she looked really cute, and of course eventually her shy-ness wore off and she TORE UP the dance floor. She even joined Uncle Bob as he said a prayer in front of 200+ people. Like I've said before, 2 year olds are BI-POLAR!!!!

Some other fun things we've done... gone to the farmers market, rented a boat on Geist Reservoir w/ the Hutchersons (took the kids in the morning and adult time in the afternoon!), watched my other step-niece Aimee sing on stage at RibFest, girls trip w/ my college roommates... I've really been trying to exercise. I have GOT to lose some weight! I love doing it, so that is not a problem. It's just finding the time! Excuses, Excuses...

We are busy pretty much through Halloween. Pumpkin Show is this weekend! Iu game w/ my college friends, Jesse & Lori's wedding, chili cookoff, claire bear's bday party, AAAAND a visit from Aunt Kim, Tate & Mema!!!! YAY!

OH AND to top it all off, we put an offer in on a house!!!! Send some prayers our way on that. It's a short sale, so we are still waiting to hear from the Seller's bank and the process can get a little sticky I hear, so keep those fingers crossed!

Here are some fun pics from the last few weeks:

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4697798015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

And an album from Gina & Steve's wedding rehearsal and wedding day! (more to come of that--these are just the ones from my camera)

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4696384015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

IU Gang Pics

So, I am still besties with my roommates from IU. Sara, Becca, Kim, Jade & I all lived together at 720 N. Grant our Senior Year at IU. Definitely one of the most fun years of my life! Our house was nicknamed the Tacklebox at one point. I probably won't share the reason here, but we do need to think of a new name for our group of friends!


We are all still close friends--plus the Kelkers. We didn't live w/ Craig and Nicole that year, but I'm pretty sure they passed out on our couches more than once. We all still get together as much as we can, even go on girls trips (Check out my friend Jade's blog post for that re-cap) Between the group, there are 15 kiddos! The oldest is 7... so 15 kids 7 and under. When we get together it is a little nutty to say the least. We are all counting down the years/days until we can all sit on someone's patio and drink a beer while the kids go play. We are getting there, though!

Becca has always been the best at remembering to take pictures AND sending them out to share with everyone.

I thought I would share an album from our recent labor day cookout at Sara and Ian's.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=3780399030103%3A763616434&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Top

Slow Cooker

My good friend Kim recently asked me to send her a couple of our favorite crockpot recipes. Thought I would share! I seriously cook in my crock pot at least 3 nights a week. Even in the summer--that way you don't get your kitchen all hot w/ the oven!

My recent favorite--SO YUMMY in corn tortillas & so easy... also cheap:
Pork Carnitas
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/02/slow-cooker-carnitas-recipe.html

Craig's favorite lately:
Chicken Parm
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/chicken-parmesan-crockpot-recipe.html

A sort of different stew/soup (kinda like Becca's taco soup):
Cowboy Stew
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-cowboy-stew-recipe.html

GREAT cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/Make-Fast-Cook-Slow-Everyday/dp/1401310044

They are all available online but I keep this one out on my countertop!

Of course my ALWAYS go to favorite is roast. If you make a roast (ANY recipe), buy a bigger one. You can make yummy french dip sandwiches w/ the left over meat the next night. Let me know if you want my french dip recipe... which I made up :) If you have leftover potatoes from the roast, too, you can throw those on a baking sheet the next night and roast them (just get them a little crispy) and have french dips & roasted potatoes.

Tip: Always buy red or yellow potatoes--you don't have to peel them!!!

MY OTHER go-to is to just throw frozen chicken breasts in there w/ ANY sauce. BBQ (makes awesome shredded bbq sandwiches), Marinara (shred the chicken in the sauce & serve over pasta), or really any kind of salad dressing or marinade! You can always serve it with pasta or rice :)

Evelyn Smiling & Kicking

Untitled from Jennifer Skinner on Vimeo.

August 2011 (65 photos), by jennifer skinner

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

album 08\03\2011 (46 photos), by jennifer skinner

Here are some pics from this summer & Ellie's little family get together!


I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Feathers

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THIS NEW FEATHER IN THE HAIR TREND IS ALL ABOUT!!!

Apparently, it is very en vogue these days (again) to put feather extensions in one's hair. I am not totally opposed to the trend, but must say it is one of many that is making me feel old. Here is a picture from the blog Tipsy Society:





I know that fashions are always being recycled... or so my MOM has always told me that. Yes, when we started wearing bell bottoms in high school in the 90's we were told that our parents had worn the same thing in the 70's. When we started wearing platform shoes a few years later, same thing.

When VESTS offically came back in style recently I knew I was in trouble. I AM NOW OLD ENOUGH TO BE LIVING THROUGH A TREND COMING BACK IN STYLE! How sad is that!?!?!?

Anyway, back to the feathers. I TOTALLY forgot about this trend, but now I remember going to various fairs (Marion County Fair, Holy Spirit Festival to name a few) circa 1984ish and spending ALL of my allowance money in attempts to win feathers attached to roach clips (not that I had any idea what a roach clip was at the time) to put in my hair! Do you remember that!!!????

Ellie is TWO

Dear Ellie,

Really? Honestly? I can not believe this day is finally here. You are turning two years old. TWO WHOLE YEARS. You have been alive and a blessing in our lives for 730 days. We are so lucky!

You are one of the funniest, cutest and spunkiest people I have ever met! The other day you said to me, “Chill Mama, Chill!” Seriously one of the cutest things ever. You definitely have a bossy side, but this time you said it with a grin on your face.

You definitely know what you want. At least 20 times a day you tell me what you want. Or should I say DEMAND. “MY DO IT!” “MY HAB-IT!” “MIIIINE!” These are all commands we hear daily. I have no idea where you get this quality. Neither your dad nor I are like that at all! (ha ha) Granted, all toddlers have a bossy side, but I prefer to think that yours is just preparing you for a life of being confident and happy. I also hope this means potty training will be super easy. We are getting close to starting that fun process with you...

In some ways, you are very easy going. You love your bed, you like to stay in there when you wake up and read books to your dolls & Mickey and Minnie. You are a great eater, eating everything from avocados (yay! Healthy!) to hot dogs (yuck!). You refuse to drink milk (or should I say, Nilk), but will eat it on your cereal… weird! You don’t like getting in the bath tub, but once you are in there, would stay for an hour if we’d let you. I was really worried about how you were going to act when we brought your sissy home from the hospital, but you have been a dream, my dear! You are so sweet and gentle with her and generally, you seem to like having her around! She is already fascinated by you and grins whenever you are near her (I mean, all up in her face). I’m so glad I get to be your mommy and watch the two of you grow up together.

You love ife-pream and pockiles (ice cream and popsicles). You REALLY LOVE pickles. Seriously, pickles are probably your favorite food. You love to eat watermelon outside with daddy. You love to go fishing (almost every day) with daddy. I don’t know how you have the attention span to fish for that long with him! Even mommy gets bored fishing for that long! We can’t wait for the day you catch your first fish.

It is so cute how you are really starting to remember things. Like people and places. I love picking you up from Emmy’s on Wednesdays and asking you what you did that day! You absolutely ADORE Effie (Ethan, Emmy’s son) and talk about him constantly… even though I recently saw you haul off and hit him for pushing your stroller, but we are going to chalk that one up to the “two’s”. You did get a time out for it though. It’s so nice to bribe you to take a nap by saying things like, “If you take a nap now, JuJu will come play with you when you get up!”

Grammy, Grandma, JuJu, Mema and Papa (just to name a few) are some of your favorite people! But I think you would kick all of them to the curb for Roto (Rosco) and Lola… You love watching Dora, Ni Hao, Olivia, Bubble Guppies, Diego, etc. DoWA, of course, is your VERY favorite and has been a fabulous babysitter for mommy on many occasions. Mema, Papa, Tate, Terri, Macy & Kaden are coming to visit in a couple of weeks—I can’t even imagine how much fun you are going to have with them. Auntie Kim is coming this fall and I can’t wait for you to finally get to spend some time with her too. Maybe she will take you shopping!

You love playing outside. As long as it’s not too hot. If it’s really hot, you get really red in the face and are asking to come inside to play! Otherwise, you would be outdoors 24/7 if we let you. We recently found out that you are very allergic to mosquitoes, so THAT’S fun to deal with! You have a tricycle and bicycle that you would love to ride—if you could reach the pedals--so you will have to settle for car and wagon rides for now. Swimming is not your favorite thing (ask Daddy someday about swimming lessons), but you are starting to get the hang of it. You also love to go “shopping” with Daddy… he takes you to Lowes almost every weekend to play on the tractors and see Bop (Bob)!

We are so lucky to have you in our lives. I hope you have a fun two year old birthday party and have a blast opening all of your presents. You love to say “Cheers!” with your sippy cup, popsicle or anything you are eating—and touch the other person’s. So, here’s to your Second Birthday! WE LOVE YOU ELEANOR BLANCHE!

CHEERS!

Love,
Mama



PS Here's the slide show I made for you!

Ellie's Two Year Old Slide Show

Can you believe it??? She's turning two this weekend! (sniff sniff!)

In honor of my boo's birthday, I created a slide show using windows movie maker. This was my first attempt, so a few of the pictures fly by too fast, but overall I'm pretty happy. It was so hard to fit two years of adorableness into just a couple minutes.

Hi all! Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks... As you can imagine, it's a little nutty around here. Stay tuned as I get more organized!

Evelyn's Newborn Photo Shoot

We had a wonderful experience shooting Evie's newborn photos w/ Jennie from One Tree Photography! Jennie is a mommy so we were very comfortable with her... and of course she has done pics for us before. She came to our house when Evelyn was about 4 days old and set up a make shift studio, so we didn't have to take our baby anywhere :) We are so happy w/ the results... Our only problem was that Ellie was NOT in the mood to pose w/ her sissy. We will get some more done in a few months.

We also did Ellie's pics when she was 4 days old. TOO FUNNY how much different I felt this time. I was in tears the entire time we were doing Ellie's pics... No idea why (HORMONES! FIRST TIME MOM!), but I really had fun this time. Jennie had a few tricks up her sleeve on how to get Evelyn to willingly participate! I would highly recommend her!

Here is the link to the rest of the pics:

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4366190015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

E, E, C

Evelyn

Ellie
Craig

MeMa

MeMa left yesterday to go back to Texas... We had a great visit with her. Ellie loved playing with her & the baby loved being held by her :) Terri called once and said, "have you done ANYTHING but hold that baby since you've been there?" It was great having her here for a long visit. She spoiled us helping out around the house, shopping & of course, helping with everything with the girls. We miss her terribly already!

New pics of the girls

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4334227015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Happy Monday!

Update to Eveyln's Birth Story

I realized that I left out one more important THANK YOU in my last post... To Aunt JuJu! She worked her butt off playing with and taking care of Ellie while we were at the hospital! Ellie just adores her to pieces... Thanks JuJu for all you do! We really appreciate it and Ellie just adores you. Evelyn will too :)

Evelyn's Birth Story

Evelyn’s Birth Story

Much like Ellie’s birth, nothing really went to plan. But of course, there was a happy ending! The entire pregnancy, I thought that Evelyn would come early—that’s what all second children do, right? Mommy was very uncomfortable (read: LARGE) for most of the last tri-mester, summer was heating up and we were just ready to meet this little girl! But, no sign of her at Mommy’s 39 week checkup. That is when Dr. Denman basically said that we were scheduling the induction! She said I had gone long enough and the baby was ready. Since it was my second child and the first birth went pretty smoothly, I had very little to risk with getting induced, so I decided to do it! That was after a lot of encouraging from my husband, family & friends …

Saturday morning, May 28th, 5:30 AM: Mommy and Daddy arrive at the hospital. Daddy thought it was too early, but mommy was ready to get going! They both got what would probably be their last decent night’s sleep for a while and headed out. Grandma and Grandpa were here to watch Ellie! Grandma and Grandpa took us all to Outback the night before for the “last supper”.

Around 6:30-7:00 AM they started me on the Pitocin. Although I didn’t really feel anything, I did start feeling regular contractions. The only thing I really didn’t like was being hooked to an IV and several monitors around my belly to check the baby’s heartbeat. I felt like I was stuck in the bed (which I was). The morning seemed to DRAG on endlessly! Time was just ticking by. While Mommy sat and twiddled her thumbs, Daddy went to eat twice! In the cafeteria and took SEVERAL naps (see pictures). Finally around 12:30, I was dilated to 5 and they decided to break my water.

Keep in mind, the Doctor and Nurses had asked me no less than 20 times already if I wanted my epidural. I kept on saying no. Not because I was being brave, but honestly my contractions just didn’t hurt at all yet! Yeah…………….. that all changed QUICKLY as soon as they broke my water!! Within about 15-20 minutes of breaking my water, my contractions really ramped up and started getting more and more painful with each one. I promptly called the Anesthesiologist. She did a great job. I guess the better job they do, the more you can feel in your legs—I honestly could feel and move my legs the whole time—I just couldn’t feel the really painful stuff!

Next thing I know (maybe another 20 min later?), there is INTENSE pain in what I would describe as my left side groin. I was pushing that nurse button frantically wanting them to increase my epidural… the nurse called the Dr. in to check me and she said, “Ok, are you ready to push?” I say, “Ummm I really think my epidural isn’t working!!!!!” She says (something like), “Yeah, that is not your epidural wearing off—that is the baby!” We looked in the mirror and there she was! At this point, it was time to push!! I only had to push through four contractions and there she was!!! The NICU nurses whisked her away and got her all suctioned and cleaned—in the meantime my Dr. had Craig and I checking out my placenta and they brought Evelyn to us!!! She looked JUST like Ellie!!!

Back up a few minutes. I left one important detail out! During the pretty gruesome part of the pushing and delivering, I look over at Craig and he is turning sort of white… he says, “Ummm I’m gonna have to sit down for a minute!” He says he wasn’t going to pass out—he just felt a little nauseous J

We had a great stay at Clarian North (IU Medical Center is the official name now). The nurses there were all SUPER fabulous… I can’t say enough great things about it. We had lots of fun visitors including our dear Ellie. She was so sweet wanting to see the baby (beebee as she says) and give her kisses! As a matter of fact, she has been SO sweet to the baby since we brought her home! We’ve only had a couple of jealousy incidents where she really just wants mama to hold her, but I can’t because I’m feeding the baby.

We are all adjusting well. Poor little Evelyn is struggling a bit with Reflux, but we started her on medication this week, so keep us in your prayers that it works as well as it did with Ellie! Other than the fact that she will not sleep on her back (because of the reflux), she really is a GREAT baby. She is so sweet and is already spending a couple of hours a day with her eyes peeping wide open.

Mema is here staying with us (spoiling us!) now and when she leaves, Grammy will be back! Grandpa was able to be here when we brought Evelyn home and he will be back several more times this summer… as well as Papa, Kim & Tate! They are coming to visit in August.

All of our family and friends have been SO AMAZINGLY helpful throughout my pregnancy and these first few crazy weeks. We are so blessed to have two healthy baby girls and wonderful family & friends!!!!

Welcome Evelyn Belle Mitchen!

We did it! We did it! We did it! YAY! Los hicimos!

One week ago today, our precious little daughter Evelyn was born. I'm working on typing up the birth story, so stay tuned for that.

Here are some pics of our first few days.

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4275635015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Evelyn is doing great... She wants to eat ALL OF THE TIME... and in fact is probably already back up to her birth weight. She's starting to sleep a little more at night time and we are somewhat starting to get a routine down.

Ellie has been AMAZING with the baby! She loves her and we think understands that she is here to stay. She is really sweet but doesn't seem to mind too much that she's here :) She really hasn't been jealous at all.

Thanks to everyone, especially Craig and my mom for putting up w/ me during my pregnancy!

Sweetness!

Rocking Ellie tonight and her looking up at me saying, "mommy sing"! Meaning she wanted me to hum to her. I went with Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Hey Jude.

Also cute how EVERY creature is either a mommy, daddy or baby. Her mommy and daddy fish in the bathtub tonight were kissing...

Grandpa is in town and he is the man of the hour!

Baby Update--38+ Weeks!

Well, she's still not here... I know I was FREAKING out at this point last time with Ellie... Craig and I had NO patience and we were so ready. It's definitely not like that this time, since we have an adorable, fun almost 2 year old around, but we are getting pretty antsy.

I want to go on record saying that although my girlfriends pretty much don't hold ANYTHING back when it comes to being pregnant, childbirth, raising kids, etc... ONE detail they forgot to tell me was how HARD it is to be pregnant the second time!!!! Well, actually I felt really good for probably the first 6+ months. I had nothing to complain about. THEN at probably 8 months, that ALL changed. HOLY MOLY!!!!! Since I love lists, let's list it out.

1) I started off just being a little uncomfortable with THE PRESSURE--if you don't know what I'm talking about, ask a prego--preferably someone not pregnant for the first time. If we were talking in person, I'd be happy to give you the explicit description, but I better not type it out for the Internet. This continued to get a little worse each day. It also gets a little worse and worse throughout the day. By the time I try to get out of bed to pee for the first time at night I seriously can hardly walk, let alone stand up!!!

2) Then THE MOODINESS. Ya'll I'm the first to admit that I am not the most stable and sane person on the planet, but I have been BONKERS in the past 8 or so weeks. Like stab my husband with a knife bonkers!!!!! Crying ALL of the time... for no reason in particular except feeling guilty about the fact that I really didn't have anything to cry about. I actually talked to my Dr. about this a few weeks ago and considered starting on an anti-depressant. The mood was really effecting EVERYTHING I did... I decided not to and in the last week or 2 the moodiness seems to MOSTLY have subsided but WOW.

3) The TIREDNESS. It is not even a question or option that I HAVE to lay down in the afternoons. Most days I fall asleep so soundly that I snore and drool. Only a few days have I just been able to relax and lay there.

4) This one is not as important, but THE LARGENESS. I just feel SO much bigger than I did at this time with Ellie and I'm almost the exact same size. Actually a few lbs less... I feel gross, too. I can NOT WAIT to start being able to exercise!!!!!

5) CONTRACTIONS. I had very few Braxton Hicks contractions w/ Ellie. This time I have been having them for months now! This week I have been having real contractions too. To the point of waking me up from sleeping and me truly thinking, "this is it!" and starting to time them... only for them to stop!!

I am sure most of this is normal and I truly don't have a REAL medical condition to complain of like so many of my friends have, so I do still consider myself to be lucky. BUT DANG!!!!!!!!

Everyone keeps saying it is all due to the fact that this time I'm chasing around an almost 2 year old and I know that has a lot to do with it, but I think that one HUGE factor is just that these girlies are so close. I only had a break between nursing Ellie and getting pregnant again of 3 months. I was in a LOT better shape physically when I got pregnant w/ Ellie. I was not skinny by any means, but I was hiking a TON and still working out at that time... I still had a good 20 lbs of baby weight to lose from Ellie before I got pregnant this time, so I started off a lot bigger. I also never found a pre-natal yoga class to go to! There are some around town but they are all at NIGHT... NIGHT TIME WHEN I must sleep!!! I did do a pre-natal yoga dvd religiously until a few weeks ago (at least 3 times a week), but it just wasn't the same as a real class.

So, for the update. As of Wednesday afternoon, I am still 1 cm dialated, but 80% effaced.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Hopefully I'll have a baby but I'm not convinced that will happen :) My Dr. says she'll induce next week at 39 weeks, but I'll probably try to wait it out and avoid the Pitocin as much as possible (I would only get induced if it were for a medical reason like the baby is too big or something).

In other news, everything else is good! Ellie has been pretty clingy to Mommy this week. I guess she can sense something is up. Her and daddy still go out fishing every night, but this week they have been going out to feed the baby ducks in our pond! They are so trained now that when they see Craig they come RUNNING! Which is adorable, for now anyway :)

Pics: Baby's Room, Children's Museum, Playing Outside & A Large Woman

Here are a few pics of the baby's room! I'm addicted to turquoise, so I was excited to have another reason to paint something a pretty turquoise color. We got the furniture from some friends of mine from IU... bedding I got from Craig's list... curtain from lowes... swag light from lowes... lamp from target... chair from babies r us (the one we used in Ellie's room)... still need to add a few details but I am really happy with it!

It is back down in the 50's today (YAY FOR ME!!!) but it got really hot and humid last week. So hot that mom and I took Ellie to the Children's Museum one day!

See how she is blurry? That is because she RUNS all over the Dora exhibit not knowing what to do with all of the awesomeness.

Loves the tractor in the Playscape.

Playscape.

Eating her popsicle (yes, she likes them cut up!) she got from the Ice Cream Truck the other night! When she heard the music she stopped and said, "Shh! Listen!!!" It was so cute--of course she knew what it was because there is a Dora episode about an ice cream truck. Too bad the ice cream man was probably selling other items out of his truck (think: the movie Friday)! He only had about 3 things available... Ellie didn't care. We thought it was humorous.

Ellie still has trouble w/ "C's" and "G's", so sometimes she calls her FREE-MA.

At Jade's last weekend.

Craig actually playing football w/ Aidan and Taylor! Look how lush their grass is! Good job Todd.

36 Weeks!

Playing!

Life Lessons from a Four Year Old by Chris Jordan (on AlphaMom)

HILARIOUS, yet so insightful!! (I so wish I could write like her)

From AlphaMom: http://alphamom.com/parenting/life-lessons-from-a-four-year-old/


Sometimes I look at my younger children and think that I can learn from them. Sometimes they do things which make me look at them and wonder what exactly is going on in their little heads. If my son was able to write, I think that these would be the rules by which he lives his life.

1: Peeling a banana is an accomplishment worthy of cheering for yourself and jumping up and down. Only don’t jump that vigorously or the banana will break in half and fall on the ground rendering it inedible. Also leading to…

2: Crying when you are sad about anything at all is perfectly acceptable. And the level of your sadness and wailing does not have to be at all in synch with the event itself. Crying for the sake of crying often makes things seem better.

3: Don’t commit to any answer. “I don’t know” is a perfectly acceptable answer for any question that you might be asked.

Examples include:“Who dropped an entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet?”“Why are there snack wrappers in your bed?”“Did you even stand close to the water when you bathed today?”“What did you think was going to happen when you threw that rock at the window?”
If you keep answering “I don’t know,” eventually your parents will give up questioning you or die of old age.

4: A cape makes any outfit better. So do swim goggles, tutus, or crowns. There is no such thing as costumes or dress-up clothes. They are all simply clothes.

5: There are only two options when it comes to toilet paper usage. Ignore the toilet paper completely, just pull up your pants and go on with your day. Or use the entire roll. There are no options in between.

6: It is always an appropriate time to sing as loudly as possible. Better yet to sing only one or two lines of a song over and over again. Dance moves are optional, but highly recommended.

7: If you feel tired, just lie down. Where ever you are. The sidewalk, the grocery store, the middle of the street are all examples of acceptable places. Should your parents try to get you up and insist that you walk, make your body go completely limp. They will be forced to carry you. Oh sure, they may threaten to leave you behind, but they won’t. You have a little thing called Child Protective Services on your side.

8: Related to the above, any room which contains a bed is completely out of the question for any sort of laying down and in fact you should avoid rooms like this at all cost, any time of the day or night.

9: Under no circumstance should your ride in the seat in the front of the grocery cart. You are far too old for that. In fact, you should be the one pushing the cart even though you can’t see where you are going. Insist on this. Should you crash into the back of people’s legs and be forced to relinquish your control of the cart remember number 7 above.

10: Utensils are optional. All food is really just finger food.

11: Life is fun. Life is an adventure. Jump out of bed every morning excited to see what the day will bring.

If your child had a book of their personal life lessons, what do you think would be in it?

Baby Update - 36 Weeks!, Sleep Issues & Happy Mother's Day!

Went to the Doctor yesterday!

I'm 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced. Which is good (progress is good!), but essentially does not mean anything yet.

Let's talk about the fact that I am dumb and decided it would be a good idea to take Ellie with me to the Dr... even though my friend Jade volunteered to babysit. YEAH that act alone SHOULD have put me into labor! She's not a bad toddler... but she's an almost2year old and it was close to nap time. It was not too fun. Luckily, she was pretty good while the doctor was in there w/ me -- even during the exam, so that's what matters.

Let's also talk about the fact that my kid does not want to sleep anymore?! What the hell????? All of the sudden, she is up screaming after we lay her down at night or for nap and is waking up in the middle of night doing the same thing! I mean SCREAMING for hours. We are trying the "going in there to rock her" routine about every 30 minutes and eventually she just passes out, but it's extremely stressful and exhausting. In fact, I'm too tired to go into any more detail about it right now, but OMG please pray for us that it's a short phase...

In case I don't post again for a few days: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!! All I want is 7-8 hrs of sleep... HA HA HA HA HA HA good joke... I don't think that will be a gift I'll be getting. maybe next year I'll get myself a hotel room by myself.

Symmetry

I am up at 1:19 am checking email, etc. and playing online and came across this way cool short video on dooce.com. In case you want to know why I'm up at 1:19 am, it's because I had trouble falling asleep tonight (even with a dr. prescribed sleep aid). Then Rosco (our dog) woke me up wanting to go out to the bathroom... only to realize he had already done so on the floor. Finally laid back down and Ellie started crying. Let her cry for 20 min, went in and rocked her. Craig is sleeping in the other room. Now I'm laying here wide awake stressing about the two important meetings that I have tomorrow...

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

Easter 2011

Here are a few pics of Ellie on Easter! Plus a tiny sneak preview of the baby's room (which isn't done yet)... I don't think there is ONE picture of her looking at the camera smiling. I can't seem to get one these days! She really had a BLAST. Candy and toys worth less than $1 are RIGHT up her alley these days! She has been carrying one of her four easter baskets around 24/7 since Sunday! She calls them her purses :)



Here's the link on Snapfish:




http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4152664015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/




Here's a couple of them:

Some recent pics!

Hi all! Here are some recent pics of us! Is this my child? I am personally not a fan of holding fish! But she loves to let them go swimming! Fishing w/ Daddy--almost every night LARGE AND IN CHARGE at 33 weeks! Just a cute one of Ellie waking up in the morning w/ her 80's hair! Oh there's so much to this picture. We were recently handed down this GIANT Dora. Ellie is not really sure what to do w/ her but Grammy took them on a walk together... Wonder what our neighbors thought? Here are a few updates of Ellie's re-decorated room... pics of the baby's room to come!