Happy Thanksgiving

I am SO incredibly behind with my pictures. It makes me sad, but I just don't have the time to edit right now. I have a ton of really great pictures to get up too. Sad. I have also run out of time.....at least for a week. I am headed out to California tomorrow afternoon and will be there until next Wednesday! I am super excited to spend some time with my family, but bummed to be traveling on Thanksgiving.....all of the delicious food I will be missing out on. Eleanor is of course coming with me, so I will be able to capture her 8th week while we are in California. And then of course it will take me forever to get them edited and posted to my blog. lol

I hope that all my readers have a very happy Thanksgiving, filled with family and tasty food. And for those brave shoppers.....good luck on black Friday! I'll keep you in my thoughts as I slumber in my bed......well, more than likely I'll be sleeping on an air mattress, but you get the idea.

Until I return, here is a little something to tide you over.

Gobble gobble

A walk in the park

If you know me even a little, you know that fall is my most favorite time of the year! I was really afraid that we weren't going to have a pretty fall this year because it seemed like the leaves just weren't changing.......well, fall finally showed up last week! The trees are lovely and colorful and make me so happy. It's a shame that it lasts for such a short time and that what we're left with is stark, naked trees. I wish that fall would last as long as summer does! I took the girls for a nature walk at Lake Benson and then we played on the playground. It was nice and crisp outside and we enjoyed the fresh air and throwing rocks in the lake! Pretty soon the weather will be frigid and we won't be able to enjoy the outdoors as much.....for now though, I'm trying to soak in as much loveliness as I can.

Ready for our nature walk

Beautiful fall trees

Eleanor did this the entire time

I LOVE these shots!
I got a lot of them....it was hard choosing, so you get 3.

I think this one totally depicts their individual personalities

They actually listened when I told them
NO GOING IN THE WATER

Man, she's getting so big.....unacceptable!

This is our new stroller
His name is Bob
I got an amazing deal on ebay!
But that is another blog...stay tuned

Comparing: 6 weeks

When Eleanor was born one of the first thoughts I had was that she did not look like Dan. Not in the way that Maddie and Charlotte looked like Dan. So, that must mean that she looked like me! Right? Well, as it turns out, babies do a lot of changing when they are little. I also thought that Eleanor looked more like Charlotte than she did Maddie and when I look at pictures of both of them from their first couple weeks I think they look a lot alike. But as each week passes I think Eleanor looks more and more like Maddie. She has smaller features (eyes, ears, mouth) than Maddie, but generally a similar look. Sometimes I'll glance down at Ellie while she's nursing and she will look just like Maddie did as an infant. Isn't it strange how different babies look after just a few short weeks? I think that all 3 of my girls look very similar.....not identical, but you can definitely tell that they are sisters. Seeing as how I'm adopted and don't really look like anyone in my family (although no one else really looks like each other either) it's fun to see my children growing to look alike. And I know I've posted this in another blog, but it's amazing and oh so cool to see how Dan and my genes morph together to create different and unique looking babies. Such a great surprise!

So, here are my gals each at 6 weeks old. I'll try and do this on a semi regular basis just for fun! I shouldn't have to label them because it should be obvious.....I think they look just the same! But they are in birth order. :o)




P.S. I know Eleanor has been wearing a lot of "boy" clothes recently, but after 2 other girls I'm kinda sick of pink. People ask me all the time what his name is. I just smile and say Eleanor and tell them I don't like pink. I don't think she minds wearing neutral/boyish colors.....she knows she looks good!

Caterpillar discovery and play

I've been trying to get outside everyday to enjoy this lovely fall weather and get some of our wiggles out. It seems like I feel better and the girls are happier when we get outdoors. The other day we were in the front yard riding scooters and bikes when I noticed a caterpillar scooting it's way across our driveway. I pointed it out to the girls who immediately needed to investigate.....they do love a good bug. While they were poking and prodding the poor defenseless creepy crawly I noticed another one, and another one and another one. There were caterpillars ALL over the place. And for whatever weird caterpillar reason they were traveling back and forth across our driveway. I checked out our trees and berry bushes to see if maybe they were eating them, or trying to make a home in them, but nope....just crossing the driveway. Makes me wanna break out in some, why did the caterpillar cross the road jokes. lol We spent a good long time outside enjoying our great caterpillar fortune, oh....and riding scooters and bikes too! :o)

Go, Maddie go!

It's about time to take that handle bar off the back

Our first caterpillar friend

Maddie: lover of all creepy crawlies

Charlie is a mean scootin' mama

I think she's ready for a big girl bike!

Maddie took this picture of Eleanor and me.
I wish I had time to do something with my hair, but Eleanor looks good! :o)

Week five

Eleanor will be 6 weeks old tomorrow which means that I am a good week behind on posting her 5 week pictures. I have been pretty diligent about taking pictures.....it's the editing that I can't seem to find time for! I finally got around to messing with these shots, but here I am typing and uploading pictures with one hand as I soothe my babe to sleep. It's a slow process I tell ya!

Things have been going really well with baby Eleanor. She is still an excellent baby, so I think I'm going to stop holding my breath and just accept that this time around I lucked out!! She is so sweet and she's turning into a squeezable chunky monkey. She is ridiculously quiet! Every once in a while when she's really mad we'll get a holler out of her, but most of the time I can hardly hear her crying or fussing from the next room. I guess a household can only have one Charlotte and the LOUD that follows her, so Eleanor needed to be a quiet baby. She is so go with the flow and really puts up with a lot of sisterly love. I have seen a little bit of frustration come out of her when she gets prodded too much, but I think that she likes the action that comes with her sisters. Her awake times are getting longer and she has completely stopped waking at night and wanting to stay awake. Her feedings have naturally spaced out which means that her poops have spaced out as well which makes me happy because it's a pain having to change tiny poopy diapers all day long. 4-5 a day is a lot more manageable. Eleanor seriously does not ever spit up! I'm sure it's normal.....I just haven't experienced it with a baby before and find it a bit odd. I'm not complaining, it's nice not having throw up all over my clothes and stained baby clothes, but it's kinda weird.

I've been having challenges getting everything that needs to be done around the house completed, but I think that's pretty normal after having a baby. I find that things are go-go-go from the time I wake up until I go to sleep, and even then I have night feeds that I get to do. When I was pregnant with Charlotte, people told me I wouldn't have time to myself anymore, but often times I did. Now that I have baby number 3 and Maddie has stopped napping, I REALLY don't have time to myself. Most of the time I don't mind, but sometimes I wish I could just be alone for a little while, not taking care of everyone elses needs. I know things will level out as Eleanor gets older and I'll have more opportunities to do things I enjoy. For now, my goal is to shower more than once or twice a week! :o) I'll let ya know how that goes.

Without further ado......Miss Eleanor Irene, week 5!

CHUB!

Hill Ridge Farms

After our trip to the fair this year I was pretty much dreading going to Hill Ridge Farms. I mean I love this trip, but having to brave another long outing didn't seem all that appealing. I had actually talked about not going at all this year, but boy and I glad that we did! We had SO much fun. This is another one of those adventures that we do every year and I love that my parents have been able to go with us the last 2 years. Making memories! We lucked out because we went on Halloween day and it was basically empty which makes life a lot easier! We didn't have to wait in line for the slide or the train and the kids got to spend as long as they wanted in the corn box which every other year has ended in tears because they have the kiddos on a 5 minute rotation. By the end of the day Charlotte was breaking down, but it was to be expected on a busy day. I think that we'll try and go back next year on Halloween because it really makes a difference on the level of fun we have! All in all an excellent day with lots of photo opportunities!

Charlotte wanted to wear her pumpkin costume.....
So we let her!
She looked pretty cute if you ask me! :o)

She worked up a sweat in the bounce house in her costume!

Both girls really enjoyed the pony ride.
Thanks grandma and papa!

A little unsure at first
(this was her first pony ride)

She LOVED it!

Eleanor was there too!

I would love to build a corn box in our yard

Mama did not ride the slide this year.....but grandma and papa did! :o)

Choo choo

Duck races
I think this silly thing was Maddie's favorite thing of all!

An attempt at a family picture

Pumpkin picking

On our way back to the car