NC state fair

I am going to attempt to get caught up on my picture editing and blogging.....we'll see how far I can get! lol

While my mom was here we went on our annual trip to the NC state fair. I look forward to the fair every year and was happy that even with the baby's arrival on the 7th we were still going to be able to so. Turns out that it was probably not the best idea and maybe we should have just stayed home, but hey.....you live and learn. It was really crowded, it was as it always is, expensive, the cows were being judged so we couldn't see them up close (the cows are my fav!) and of course, we had an infant in tow. It was chaotic, it was HOT and we learned that our kids are not quite ready to blow through nap time.....can you say melt downs?!?

I had a really yummy gyro and got to see the baby chicks and ducks and I did get to listen to cows being judged while I nursed the baby. Never thought I'd hear so much talk of lovely udders! The girls got to ride some carnival rides and we all got to see lot's of interesting North Carolina folks. I'm glad that we went mostly just because I'm big on tradition and the fair is something we do every year, but I was glad when it was time to go home! It was more than enough....until next year!

I didn't get very many pictures this year since I was wearing Eleanor in the mei tai the whole time, so I stole some off my mom's camera. Thanks mom!

week four

Week four hasn't brought us any closer to a schedule, but Eleanor has stopped being awake in the middle of the night other than to eat, which is nice! I got to see her first smile the day my mom and dad flew home to CA which really lifted my spirits. Since then there have been only a couple more smiles, but Eleanor is becoming more alert, staying awake for longer periods of time and seems to be more interested in the world around her. Maddie and Charlotte are still very interested in her and have proven to be excellent helpers! Charlotte changed her first, second and third diapers this week......she LOVES to help change diapers, she'll go get her step stool and set it right next to the changing table. Charlotte actually does a really good job diapering the baby! Baby Ellie still sleeps a majority of the day, but I am getting to the point where I put her down while she's awake and she falls asleep on her own....which frees up my arms a bit more. She nurses a lot, but we're trying to push her feedings back, she burps on her own most of the time and I can count on one hand how many times she has spit up since birth. She does seem to have gas almost daily, but I'm starting to believe that is just a condition of babyhood as they break in their new digestive systems. Life has calmed down since my parents left and we haven't been toting the baby around as much mostly because she is getting less portable.....gone are the days of her sleeping 22 hours a day! :o) Overall Eleanor is getting bigger, cuter and starting to develop the teeniest of personalities! And I love her more and more every day!!

Being loved to death

Just call her cheeks!

Diaper changer

My Maddie is so lovely

week three

This child is growing at a rapid pace! I can not believe how big she is getting already. Newborn clothes stopped fitting her in the middle of week 2 and she is growing into her 3 month clothes! It's so surprising when you stick an outfit on a baby and it either doesn't fit at all anymore, or used to be way too big and has all of a sudden started to fit. Eleanor has begun to spend larger chunks of the day awake.....most of the time she is happy and content, but occasionally she is mad and only wants to nurse. We still have yet to get ourselves into any kind of routine but we have started trying to push her night feeding to every 3 hours just so that eventually we'll be able to get some sleep. We've had a few nights where Eleanor wakes up to nurse and then decides to stay awake for a while and that is super frustrating for sleep deprived parents, but it doesn't happen all that often and for the most part she nurses and then goes right back to sleep at night.....there's just a lot of that!

I was really worried while I was pregnant that Eleanor was going to be like Charlotte was during the first months (colicky and never slept during the day) but so far that is not the case and at this point......almost 4 weeks old I doubt she will have a complete change in personality and start non stop crying. Phew! One of the biggest complaints that I have about this baby is that she seems to always nurse, poop and then immediately falls asleep. Which is excellent in the sense that she isn't having trouble pooping, or falling asleep, but it's not fun to have to wake her up to change her diaper after she has already fallen sleep, and then usually I have to start all over again and nurse her and then put her to sleep. It's not really a bad thing, I just wish she would get the pooping done before the sleeping! :o)

Overall things are going really well! Eleanor is a great baby and she seems to fit right in. We've been pretty busy since she was born and she really has a go with the flow attitude. I can tell that her first smile is getting close and I'm really excited for when she becomes a little more responsive and can interact with the girls.....I know they are looking forward to that as well. Dan and I are tired, but that is to be expected and in the long run doesn't last very long. It has been really nice having my parents here, they have been such an amazing help to us. I am really bummed that they leave tomorrow and if I'm honest I'm a little bit terrified of having to do this all on my own! I know it will be fine and we will adapt, but I don't doubt it will be a bit hairy for a while. If anyone wants to come and visit/stay with us, you are more than welcome! :o)

Eleanor never gets left alone unless I put her in her bed

Mad face

Sisterly love

SO awake

I LOVE this picture!

I was wearing her at the pumpkin patch
She seems to really like the 2 wraps I've had her in!

Tummy time
I really don't like tummy time when they are so little!
It makes me sad to see them face planted.

A little fairy dust

Maddie had decided this summer that she wanted to be a butterfly for halloween. She also decided that grandma was going to make her costume. :o) And of course Charlotte wants to do whatever Maddie wants to do, so we had two little girls who wanted to wear wings. Well costume ideas changed over the last few weeks and Maddie decided she wanted to be a tooth fairy (she was obsessed with the tooth fairy and losing her teeth for a while) and then after watching the new Tinkerbell movie she decided she wanted to be a fairy. Good thing grandma is adaptable!

We had some major halloween excitement around here.....YMCA trunk or treating on Thursday, Lake Benson halloween festival on Friday, Hill Ridge Farms pumpkin patch on Sunday and we closed out the night with trick or treating around our block. The girls had so much fun dressing up and eating way too much candy. I was really strict with the candy consumption up until Sunday night, but after we got home from treating I told them they could eat as much candy as they wanted until bedtime (30 minutes). Maddie's response was "Oh thank you mama, thank you!" They didn't actually eat very much but neither has asked for candy at all since that night! lol I remember trick or treating as a kid and my parents let us eat whatever candy we wanted on halloween night and then it was rationed after that. I think our candy will be around for another week or so and then it will get thrown out or donated to their preschool.

I think the girls were super cute in their costumes this year and I'm glad that we made some fun memories while grandma and papa were visiting!