emerald city diaries

{On Friday mornings we have dance class, so Eloise always wants to wear her tutu skirt. And she also picked out the rest of her outfit! That yellow sweatshirt is mine from when I was three and she loves it!}

{This is about half of the packages we got on Friday… seriously, it felt like Christmas with USPS, UPS, and FedEx! Between last-minute stuff for Baby Foot and my upcoming birthday – I think that is why Aaron is getting so many packages! – we had a lot coming in.}

{Eloise is obsessed with the Ergo – it’s the sweetest and means lots of snuggle time with Papa since I can’t wear the Ergo with my belly at the moment. So imagine her excitement when we got this Tula carrier which is super similar from Aaron’s sister. Sheer delight!}

{We worked on moving Eloise to her new room and got far enough by Saturday’s nap time to try out her new bed. This is how well it went… we pretty quickly figured out we needed to move her sound machine and lamp to the other side of the dresser! She eventually went down after over an hour and in her crib. It has been MUCH better for the rest of the weekend and she is officially in her new room! I will share more details soon.}

{We spent all morning moving the rest of Eloise’s room, including her closet. Eloise was amused by all of the fun new things that we uncovered, like this playmat, while insisting on being dressed in her turkey costume!}

{A post-barre trip to TJ’s was nice since I was alone but maybe not the best since I had just worked out and it was nearly dinnertime! But I mostly managed to stick to my list and pretty quickly realized I had to be able to carry everything a few blocks to the car, so I didn’t go crazy!}

This weekend was amazing for me because I got to full-on nest! We cleaned and organized and got Eloise into her new room which means that I now have full access to the nursery to prep for Baby Foot’s arrival! It is crazy to have Eloise in her new big kid room though and have the nursery empty… we are going to have two kids soon! It is starting to feel like I need more time but I am thankful I still have four weeks since last time around we were prepping the nursery two days before Eloise was born!

How was your weekend?

M

{I am so thankful that this kid loves reading as much as she does! Reading to Stella on the car ride home. She didn’t want to get out of the car until she finished the book…}

{When you are eight months pregnant, putting your napkin in your lap takes on an entirely new form!}

{On Saturday morning we had our monthly PEPS playdate! Eloise and Eli enjoyed a breakfast of fruit and homemade bagels – they were amazing!}

{Cuddles with Eloise and the bump post-nap.}

{So I may or may not have broken the sink sprayer (that black one) which made our sink pretty useless. This is all “original” to about the 70s so we’ve sort of been dying to replace it!}

{And then you have to make a decision about which one you want out of what seems like a million faucets. Seriously, why does it have to be so complicated?}

{And then your awesome husband spends most of Saturday night installing the new faucet. The actual install took him hardly any time, it was getting the old faucet out since it was rusted in! Eloise was, obviously, super helpful too!}

{And there you go, new faucet! It makes a HUGE difference already since we have a super shallow sink. At some point in the next few years we will do a complete kitchen gut and remodel, but this should hold us off for now.}

{Sunday was spent almost entirely in Eloise’s new room getting it ready for her big transition in a few weeks. Walls are painted (thanks to our neighbor a few weekends ago!), chandelier is up, bed is assembled and painted, webcam is up, dresser was delivered, bookshelves hung.}

{I am so excited to see this space come together! Also, trash cans. We may have to build a little fence for those or something…}

{Bump post-barre which looks WAY bigger from a bird’s eye view than it actually is!}

{This morning Eloise and I headed over to Land of Nod to see Caspar Babypants in concert. She was having such a good time clapping, singing, and dancing (I promise) but as soon as I tried to take a picture, stoic. This is the best I got!}

{It was so (so) crowded, but we got there a little early and snagged a bean bag chair! Eloise had a great time at her very first concert and even snagged a signed CD!}

{I set up the new diaper shipment for Baby Foot which seemed surreal since it seems like so long ago that Eloise was in diapers full time. I can’t wait to see these tiny newborn diapers! And even though we pay a premium above other diaper brands, I love not having to go to the store to get diapers and wipes and instead have them delivered. We may also try Parasol which is a similar diaper delivery since I have heard good things!}

{And, Happy Valentine’s Day! We are less than a month away from that big celebration, so I figured I should get my wreath up since other festive Valentine’s Day décor is not likely to go up this year. And that is mostly because I am worried that it won’t get taken down until this summer because, newborns and toddlers!}

It was a fun long weekend and, as usual, ended too quickly! I can’t believe we are into the second part of January already. But, we got SO many projects done around the house which makes this nesting mama so happy! Rain is forecasted for this week (bummer!) but it’s a short one at least!

How was your weekend?

M

{So naptime went super well on Friday afternoon… She eventually went to sleep but there was definitely a dance party beforehand!}

{I know why so many pregnant women wear head-to-toe black: the bump disappears!}

{Enjoying some snuggles with Eloise.}

{The only way to end the year is with Snappy Dragon delivered!}

{Eloise was dying to get in on a game of Catan!}

{With family in town, we must have played at least five games of Catan!}

{Eloise loves her Paga! Isn’t it so fun when kids make up the names for grandparents? This one is definitely sticking around.}

{Eloise was all about the funny faces to entertain everyone at dinnertime.}

{And she loves her Grammie (or Mimi) so much too!}

{Eloise the jellyfish!}

{We took a family trip to the Aquarium on Sunday and it was so fun. Eloise and my sister loved the sea otters!}

{Thankful for these two as we started the New Year: Eloise and the bump. Also Sonnet James dresses are awesome as maternity dresses and absolutely work after the baby is born too!}

{Post-dinner shenanigans with Papa and Paga.}

Happy happy 2017! We were lucky enough to have my family – Paga, Mimi, and Aunt Yaya – come up to visit for a few days for a post-Christmas celebration. It was SO cold, but we had a good time staying in and watching football, and even venturing out a bit!

We (Eloise and I) were also so lucky to have Aaron home almost the entire holiday season (these past two weeks) even if we were sick for the first bit. It felt like a weekend every day which is much easier on this Mama! But, we are back to the daily grind starting tomorrow with Eloise headed back to school and resuming our normal weekly activities.

It is so crazy that the New Year is upon us since it has felt so far away for the past few months. Now we are kicking it into high gear and I will be ferociously hitting my to-do list before Baby Foot joins us in about 50 (50!) days!

How was your New Year’s weekend?

M

{And thanks to my sister for some of the pics!}

Not a huge weekend update, but here are a smattering of photos from our Christmas weekend!

{This kid! Eloise wants to wear her sunglasses all the time, even when it’s dark outside. And if there is even the slightest bit of light, she covers her eyes and says “too bright mama!” This is definitely a PNW kid and a true Seattleite!}

{We opened stockings and presents from Santa first thing on Christmas morning. Eloise was so sweet, and wanted to open and play with everything before moving onto the next present. This stretched Christmas out all day long which was fine with us!}

{This year’s Christmas table. It was so fun to use my late grandmother’s brass candlesticks, chargers, and crystal. We brunched with Aaron’s brother and some close friends, but Christmas dinner was just the three of us! It was fun to start creating our own traditions; thus far it is Chinese food for Christmas Eve and lobster for Christmas!}

{Feeling so blessed this Christmas with my little family!}

{Cheese! Eloise and Sadie were pretty excited about heading out for a post-Christmas dinner walk to see the lights around the neighborhood.}

{And today Aaron and I spent most of our day cleaning out the pantry. Nesting in full effect!}

We laid-low this weekend since we were all a little under the weather with nasty colds, but by Christmas we were all feeling pretty good! Celebrating Christmas this year was so fun since Eloise mostly understood what was going on and had a ton of Christmas spirit! She replaced her normal “happy birthday” which she says all the time with “Merry Christmas!” And we have a few days to recover before my family heads into town for a belated Christmas celebration!

How was your holiday weekend?

M