MayDays

I don't know about anyone else, but I've really enjoyed the Spring so far.  I kind of liked how it was slow to start - there are too many years where it just goes from freezing to hot and for whatever reason, I feel like we are having a proper Spring this year.

I've been able to pick up with my running again, though not that seriously since it usually involves pushing a double stroller.

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  I give myself little goals to jog to a certain point and then reward myself with walking.  But hey, with the stroller and kids combined, I'm pushing just shy of 80lbs., so I don't feel too bad when I walk it a bit.

We've done LOTS of the park...

 and the aquarium with friends,...

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...and dress up!  Adalyn LOVES playing dress up, and here, instead of her usual tutu and wand in hand, she told me that she was being Mary.

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On rainy days, we sometime just hang out and color or have picnics in the living room.

Potty training is going pretty well as of today, but the biggest milestone of the last few weeks is Adalyn giving up her pacifiers for good.  And since Eloise never took to one, we are officially a PACI FREE HOUSE!!  This is Penny, Adalyn's new lovey friend that she got to pick out at the store for being a big girl without her babas:

I also took the liberty of throwing out all of our bottles, which in hindsight was pretty wasteful, but I know it will be a bit before we need bottles in the house again and they were kind of gross looking since they were the ones from Adalyn's babyhood.

It's been pretty exhausting working over 30 hours a week with only 15hrs of childcare, but I'm not willing to give up on time with girls and would rather stay up late editing then miss getting to take them someone fun.  Plus, we are saving money to hopefully be able to buy a house next year, and childcare is expensive!   While we are not 100% sure that we are staying in the NYC area, most of the restructuring companies that Andrew is looking at are based out of NYC.  The good thing about these jobs is that he doesn't have to go into the city everyday, so we aren't married to the towns with a convenient train station.  Our beloved town is out of our range for now, but maybe one day we can drop a million on a house!  haha.  Even with our new playroom, we could really use a 3rd bedroom.  The girls have to now be separated at night, which means that Adalyn is back in our room for now.  This is the only way that everyone gets to sleep through the night, so for now, we aren't changing a thing!

The bad news about the jobs that Andrew is looking at, is that he would be traveling Monday-Thursday almost every week.  That is the reason why we won't be seeing baby bottles in here for a while.  It's already hard doing dinner and bedtime with 2 all by yourself, 5 days a week.  My mom went back to work and so there is absolutely NO help outside of my working hours.  Dinner is just shenanigans most nights.

I cannot picture adding a third into this unless we could somehow afford to pay someone to help me in these off hours.  And there is no way I would have the energy to work after putting 3 kids down for bed by my lonesome.  So, for now, we are a pretty happy family of four and sort of waiting for God to nudge us when He thinks it's the right time (I still feel strongly that we will have more children).

Anyway, last weekend we celebrated my Dad's birthday with dinner at my parents house and a walk by the river.

Mother's Day weekend was really special for me.  I celebrated my first weekend of not being pregnant or nursing since November 2010!!  I meant to get out and buy new bras, but that didn't happen, so I bought a new dress instead.  I could never wear dresses like this since they are impossible to nurse in.  

Mom and I got matching mani/pedis on Saturday and then we headed out to our favorite Mexican place in town to celebrate her birthday.

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In case you were worried if Ellie has been eating enough to not be nursing, just watch this video:

After church on Mothers Day, we did family lunch at the local park.

Then we came home and the girls took THREE HOUR NAPS!!! Andrew and I painted and did some projects around the house and for my studio.

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When the girls woke up, went out for a family run, stopped at our favorite burger place in town, and finished it off with yummy ice cream.

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Andrew then took over dinner and bedtime routine where he even had to deal with poop in the tub by Princess Eloise, and I headed out to a sun-soaked maternity session with a couple that traveled 90 minutes to be photographed by ME.

I'm just feeling grateful tonight for our girls, for Andrew, for our supportive and loving families and friends, and for my business, which most of the time doesn't feel like work and is 100% supporting us until Andrew commits to a new job.

And there you have it.  You're now caught up with our May days.  :)