sayings

tonight elenora came into the kitchen while i was making dinner and she announced "i have a selection of markers."

i bought ella a new swimsuit a week ago because her old one is getting worn out. the night i bought it she wanted to wear it in the tub. once she was in she looked at me and said "it's very unusual to wear a swimsuit in the tubby."

after putting her to bed the other night, i went upstairs and turned on the monitor and she was singing, and then i overheard her say "please god, give us one baby."

one night when j. arrived home just before elenora's bedtime, ella ran up to him and she said "sometimes, daddy, when i see you and i haven't seen you in a long time, i just think you're so cute!"

big girl bed

we're in a new phase.  out with the toddler bed and the tricycle and the changing table.  in with the bunk beds and the bicycle.  it's really hitting me how grown up my little girl is getting as i put away all these baby and toddler items that themselves seemed so grown-up just a couple years ago.

i assembled the beds and shifted elenora's room around late at night while ella slept at her mamaw's, so here is the video of elenora seeing her new beds for the first time:

it was hard to catch her in a photo because she was so excited.

bicycling!

i can't believe i have a kid big enough to ride a bike like this.  momby and i put it together yesterday at noon and i spent the next 3 hours running after elenora as she pedaled around the neighborhood.  it's such good exercise for both of us and helped us meet some more neighbors.

here she is just starting out:

we only had one and a half spills.  the first time i caught her, but the second time she was racing after a neighbor's daughter and turned her wheel too quickly.  over she went.  my greatest fear is to see her mouth smashing into pavement.  thank god she got up shaken, but without a scratch.

office #3

j. finally has an office to begin his private practice!  i'm so proud of him.  he took me to see it on sunday afternoon.

(the sign should read "LMHC"... they'll fix that...)

the couch has been bought, and the other furnishings are in the works.

j.'s lucky/favorite number is 3.  a good sign?

wedding reception for t. and h.

the weekly crew in its entirety:

stone zoo

here's ella watching the gibbons swing from the rafters.

and here we are looking at a flamingo stretch its wings.

here's elenora staring down a bear.

the bear wasn't too intimidated.

we stopped for lunch and rides.

and ice cream sandwiches.

ella loved playing in the wolf caves after watching a pack of wolves run up a hill.

matching rainbow hats

ella and i went to play with grace and h. yesterday.  gracie is over 5 months old now.  she's so cute and so very sweet.  i was lucky enough to get to hold her for the hour we were at their house, and ella was lucky enough to have an auntie who didn't mind getting into a hose spraying contest with a 3-and-a-half-year-old.  (they both ended up soaking wet!)

just before we left, we realized that elenora and grace have the same rainbow hat (practically), so of course we had to take a photo.

look at this kid's pretty hair!

notice little bear?

little bear

elenora has a new favorite stuffed animal.  after carrying violet and lambie around everywhere for a year, she is suddenly enamored of a teddy bear she's named "little bear".  we found him in the bottom of the bin of animals (a present from aunt d. before ella was 1).  as soon as she saw him she announced "you are going to be my new favorite".

why is it sadder for me to see the bubbas and violet and lambie getting left behind than it is for elenora?

happy 4th of July (vermont style)

ella and i shot up to vt to spend 2 of my 4 days off with friends i haven't seen in about 11 months (which was long enough for 2 of them to present me with 8 month old babies this trip up).  i got to go on a long walk with a. and the boys; i got to try my first (and probably 10th) quail egg along with my first pickled egg; i got to see my high school choral teacher; i got to eat at sugar and spice with c. and r. (and kristin); and i got to hike a bit of a mountain and hike down a steep embankment (100 feet down or so and covered with mud) to the falls i used to jump off as a kid.

i also had about as many kids in my car as i ever expect to again.

these 2 are fast friends. they were holding hands seconds after i arrived.

ah, vermont.  i love you.