Tonight during dinner...

Daddy: Who likes delicious things?

Ellie: Uhm...

Charlie: Daddy!

They already know when he's setting them up to try something new (and therefore disgusting and terrifying).

Best performance review ever

Last week, the kids and I met two of my ex-coworkers for lunch. Neither of these ladies are "kid people," nor are they touchy-feely or warm-and-fuzzy, but it's always nice to catch up with them and hear the latest news from the firm. The next day, I got the nicest email from one of them. I can't overstate how out of character this type of email is, which is big part of why it meant so much! Here it is:

Just wanted to let you know...I was so impressed with Ellie! She was very polite and always said “Thank you” and even remembered my name when I had only told it to her one time. I imagine being a mom can be a pretty thankless job sometimes. You don’t get a year-end review with a bonus for good performance. I’m not even qualified to “evaluate” you, but to me it looks like you are doing a great job!

I'm so proud of the amazing little girl that Ellie is becoming -- it's an honor to be her mama and I feel so lucky that her sweet nature reflects on me. :-)

Movin' on up

At the tender age of 23 months, Charlie has moved into his own room. Sniff, sniff. I love his new room (I'll post better pictures soon) and I know, with my head, that he's more than old enough to be in his own room, but I will miss having him in the nursery. It's the first big step in dethroning him as the baby of the family and if the Grand Finale wasn't on his/her way, I would be quite happy to have Charlie in the nursery indefinitely. I guess that means that the GF will probably be waking up on his/her sixteenth birthday in the nursery.

Mr. Mom, Part II

The little man is continuing his mommy training. He likes carrying "Melmo" around in a sling. Sweet boy.

Ellie’s new(ish) room

Well, it’s taken me almost as long to post these pictures and it took us to finish Ellie-Belly’s new room!  We literally started working on the room almost two years ago – in September 2009, while Dad was here to meet Charlie, we went to Home Depot and bought some supplies; in November 2009, Ed helped me prep the supplies – cutting the flower pot in half and mounting the pieces on the wall, cutting the rain gutter, etc.; in June 2010, I finally put paint on the walls – I did the flowers in the rain gutter; in July 2010, while the kids and I were in Colorado, Damian made huge progress, painting the land and water mural; and finally, in January 2011, we finished up the room.  Phew!  We didn’t do it quickly, but we’re thrilled with the results – it’s such a happy room for our happy little girl!

The ocean and hills

The rain gutter book shelves.  I love seeing Ellie’s little handprints everyday!

One of the flower pot toy chests with Damian’s awesome beanstalk and the brick wall that I’m pretty proud of

Both flower pot toy chests with my first attempt at curtains

  I made the flowers and love the way they look on the wall, but I’m having a hard time keeping them attached to the wall – thank goodness for the glue gun!

This weekend, Damian and the kiddos were in the playroom.  Damian glanced over at the chalkboard and found that Ellie had written her name.  Such a big girl!

The Cinderella Story, According to Ellie

Tonight, while I was reading Cinderella to Ellie, she pointed to a picture of a mouse and asked “what does he turn into?”  I said, “I don’t know, we’ll have to read and find out.”  Ellie didn’t wait – she had it all figured out:

“The mouse turns into a cow.”

“The cow turns into poop.”

“The poop turns into a horse.”

  Of course.