outside

wednesday was gorgeous. k. came over after ella's lunch and we took a long stroll around the neighborhood. on our way back to the house i said "are you ready to go home and take a nap, ella?" and she said "no, no, no." and k. said "are you having too much fun outside?" and elenora answered "yeah." k. brought her a little white bunny ("silky") that ella has taken to. she took a nap with silky and didn't even throw her out of the crib! usually if we put anything other than bubba, her blanket, and a binky in there it winds up on the floor. but she kept this bunny.

after ella's nap, we headed out with the stroller and met up with h. and took a really long walk around town. we walked past the townhouse i am in love with, and realized that it is on the other side of a line of trees at the back of a beautiful playground/park. so we took elenora to the park. ella has discovered the slide, and spent most of our time there climbing up and sliding down. every now and then she would say "home." and i would say "do you want to go home?" and she would pat the slide and say "stay. park."

it's felt so wonderful to be outside and walking. yesterday afternoon ella and i played in the yard for an hour, and every time i said "do you want to go inside?" she would say "outside. outside."

the last few nights she's started crying really hard at bedtime for no apparent reason. i keep checking to make sure she's fine and has everybody (binky, bubba), and she really seems to be fine. so last night i had to just tell her she was fine and i wasn't coming back in if she cried again. and then she did cry again and i had to let her work through it. which didn't take more than a few minutes, but it is so sad to hear her crying so hard. i just don't know what is wrong. all i can think is that it is too bright in her room now that the sun goes down so much later.

tonight we're leaving ella with momby for an overnight, and j. and i are going out to dinner somewhere. then tomorrow morning we are meeting with the realtor to go view a few houses. we're thinking that this year might be the year to buy since this is when the government is offering to give us $8000 towards a down payment. if i can borrow $8000 from a grandparent this year and somehow scrounge together the rest that is needed towards a down payment and closing fees, we could possibly end up in a place. which makes me so excited, but also afraid of wasting my time dreaming of something that seems so impossible. i am absolutely in love with that townhouse. i've realized that there is third-bedroom potential, which means we could stay there for a long time and have another child without being overcrowded.

work has been stressful this week. i have supervisors who are getting involved in my work without including me in the process, which is extremely frustrating. but the girl who replaced e. is actually doing really well, and i have t. to help with checking her work and training her. i can't wait until she is completely trained and i can take a little time off!

i got a referral bonus today. i'm going to give some to ella's savings and then put the rest into our savings towards a down payment.