Jean jacket Long sleeve flower dress Pink boots
Pink boots Red top Hello Kitty vintage skirt
I can’t believe our baby girl is 2! I keep asking myself where this year went. I really feel like it flew by. A few friends and I have talked about how fast time flies after a baby turns one…much faster than the first year of the baby’s life! Many of my friends that already have two have also warned me that once there are two children, it goes by even faster with the second! 🙁 So I am just soaking in this special time with the three of us. My parents arrive tomorrow to celebrate Ella Rosie’s 2nd birthday. We are keeping it small this year and just celebrating with family. I went a little overboard with her first birthday, so I do not mind taking it easy this year. We are all going to go to lunch downtown to celebrate. Then, later in the afternoon we will go get pizza and do cake. Ella Rose specifically asked for a “blue cake” this year. She also requested to help make it. So the morning of her birthday, we are going to bake a vanilla cake with blue sprinkles and put Frozen figurines on top, since she is obsessed with “Fro, Fro” as she calls it. She is so excited for her “birfday.” We got her a Radio Flyer Tricycle to ride around this spring and summer for her birthday present. We are also in the process of looking at swing sets for her as well. I know I will not be able to walk to the park for a while, so I think being able to go right into backyard to play would be wonderful for her! Hopefully we find a good one and can get it up soon!
Ella Rose is talking so much now. She even puts together full sentences at times and can communicate with us very well now. It is so much fun to have a full conversation with her. I love her facial expressions when she talks and she sometimes uses her hands which is so funny! She is also into doing everything all by herself “or “all self” as she says including, getting dressed. She is currently getting her two year molars, which has not been much fun. Luckily, popsicles have been our saving grace. We also just weaned her from her pacifier, which was a big change. A mommy friend at soccer gave me the idea of the “paci fairy” so we used that. A few weeks ago, the “Bubba fairy,” came and took the “bubbas” in a baggie to babies who needed them, and left a note/her picture, with some special presents for Ella Rose. She got a Disney Princess cash register along with jammies for her “special baby doll” that she sleeps with and carries around (the replacement in the crib). She did surprisingly well with the transition. Unfortunately, however, Ella Rose got very sick two weeks ago and we did regress with the paci (warning to all parents- never go back to something after you’ve weaned, even if it is the middle of the night, eeeeek!), and the second weaning of it was not as smooth. But, we have made it now a couple of weeks without it, and hope it will continue now that she is a big girl. Lastly, we are still doing our weekly activities with Soccer and Music, which she absolutely loves. We just went to her two year doctor’s appointment as well. She is very little, like me. 🙂
Cream sweater Coral dress with rope belt Polka dot dress
Let me rewind a bit. A month ago, we took a trip to visit my Dad’s side of the family in Carmel, CA. We had a great trip visiting my Grandma and Aunt and Uncle. We did the 17 mile drive along the coast-gorgeous, went to Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, and explored Carmel by the Sea. We loved it there; the ocean air is so refreshing. Ella Rose especially enjoyed spending time with her Great Grandma. They made homemade cookies with sprinkles together, which she loved! It was really neat to see them bond and interact together. My Grandma was in heaven with Ella Rose, which was so much fun to see. A couple of weeks later, my sister Laura and nephew John came to visit us. We also had a great visit with them. John and Ella Rose really enjoyed being together. We went to Red Rocks, the Nature & Science Museum, and the park. We also took them to two of our favorite restaurants here; True Food and Jelly Cafe. They both loved all of the Gluten Free options that were available to them! John was so excited to have GF pancakes for the first time in a very long time, so that was exciting for him. Poor Ella Rose was so sad when they left. She is such a sensitive soul! Luckily though, we have lots of visitors lined up these next few months with the baby’s arrival, so I know she will enjoy that.
Pink bunny coat Pink sparkle winter hat
I’m starting to get a little anxious for Baby boy’s arrival. We have decided on a first name for the little guy, Owen. We have always loved that name, and it is one of the few boy’s names Brendan and I both agree on. We are still debating a middle name, but have a few in mind. I can’t believe he is going to be here in six weeks! It is now crunch time. We have decided to wait on getting another crib and double stroller for two reasons. First, since he will be sleeping in our room for the first few months and Ella Rose is still in her crib, we want to wait and see where she will be when we decide to transition him. If she’s ready for a big girl bed, then we’ll just do that for her and use her crib for Owen. However if she is not ready for a big girl bed, then we will just get another crib for him. Second of all, I was going to get the Britax B-ready double stroller, however, I found out they are coming out with a newer, better design in June, so I think I am just going to wait the two months so I can get that. It has more features that I want, like an all black frame and bigger basket, so I think it will be worth the wait. Plus, a number of mommy friends have told me that you end up “wearing” the second baby around for the first two months anyways. Other than those two big things, we only have a few other things we need to get before baby Owen’s arrival.
As to where Owen will sleep, we recently had a contractor come and redo Ella Rose’s room. Since her room was fairly large, we had the contractor knock out some unused space in the bedroom and put up a wall with pocket doors. This enabled us to provide Ella Rose and Owen with their own space. It turned out so well, better than I had imagined.
A few weeks ago, my friends here threw me a little “Sprinkle.” My friend Mallory hosted (she was my first Mommy friend in Denver), which was so nice. I am so grateful for the mommy friends I have made here, & it was so special to celebrate the anticipated arrival of Owen with them. It was also nice to get some Blue items:) We cannot wait to meet him! Ella Rose is especially excited. She is already so nurturing and protective of him. My favorite thing she does is she yells at my belly, “I love you Owen!” I can’t wait to see her with him. I know the first few months will be difficult managing the two and the transition, but I know it will all be worth it in the end, and they will be lifelong friends.
