Busy but beautiful weekend

Whew! No rest for the weary (those who get up with the baby) this weekend!

We were out, about and all over.

First, a little food and friends with Dawson.

Then we headed to the lake to see both grandparents and great- grandparents!

There is always so much to see, discover, and do!

Lillianna quickly found hickory nuts could be "Ladybug Boats" and...

launched them into the water.

Then watched them float away.

Bon voyage Ladybug!

(Which is what her BOATS book says at the end)

A beautiful day with a beautiful little girl.

So much to do...

So very much to do! Ellenie found many arms to cuddle up in and was so very happy.

Lillianna eating? Of course! We filled our bellies and headed back home!

The next day...

she was eating again as we all headed out to enjoy the incredible weather with a picnic at the park. The whole family came...

even Boone!

Wonder baby Ellenie sleeping again.

Lillianna just struck this pose while sippin' her juice during a break from the swings.

It's a tough life kid.

Jesus the student

While fixing lunch for Lillianna, I tried to talk with her about her morning at school. She is walking in circles in the kitchen, holding a stuffed animal.

Me: Did you go to Chapel today?

Lillianna: Uh-huh.

Me: What did you learn in Chapel?

Lillianna: JESUS!

Me: You learned about Jesus?

Lillianna: Uh-huh.

Me: What did you learn about him?

Lillianna: Ummmmm.......

Me: What was he doing?

Lillianna: He was walking in circles. He was going to school with his son God.

Me: Jesus went to school?

Lillianna: Uh-huh. And played with his friends. He played with Bibby.

Me: Of course.

Best Big Sis

So it seems Lillianna has really taken to being a big sister.

She has truly exceeded our expectations of how sweet, gentle, and considerate she is to Ellenie.

Now that doesn't mean she's perfect. But close.

Every morning when I go into Lillianna's room to get her, she asks,"Can Ellenie lay here on my pillow?"
And whenever we talk about the next activity we're going to do like, "Okay, let's get our shoes on and go downstairs and play." Lillianna always reminds me to bring Ellenie. "Let's bring Ellenie downstairs Mom." or "Ellenie wants to play with Thomas the train too."

She also wants to share with her little sister. She shares her toys, her blankie, and even her Mom. I'm amazed at how easily Lillianna has transitioned into sharing us with Ellenie. She often tells us to "kiss her cheek. Now kiss her head, like this." or "Mom, can you pick her up please" or "Daddy, say 'Agoo' to her." She loves for us to love Ellenie and that makes me so proud of my sweet little girl.

Sometimes she shares too much...

"Here you go Ellenie. Have some of my marbles." or "Ellenie wants my cheese crackers too Mom."

Her favorite question ( 22 times a day) is, "Can I look at Ellenie?" And she gets VERY close to her and smiles ...and pokes. We always remind her that we can touch, not poke, and that we never touch eyes. So far, Ellenie still has vision in both so I guess it's working.

I know the blessing of having sisters. There is nothing in the world like it.

It makes me so happy to know my little girls will know it too.

All by 9 am...

Talk about a bad hair day....

Lillianna's beloved "Lady" train is a battery-powered train that moves around the track you see in the background of the picture. Six tiny wheels go around and around at a pretty good speed when she has a new battery. Who wouldn't want her to choo-choo through their hair?

It took some real tears, a handful of hair, and quite a while for me to untangle "Lady" from Lilliannna's head. I couldn't help but laugh. Someday she'll think it's funny too...and be so glad that I made her wait with "Lady" sitting on her head so I could go get the camera.

Once we recovered from the minor surgery, we were on to a very organized tea party. One where everyone was served "delicious tea, chickenandfrench fries, and chocolate cake." Atleast that was the first course, served in our tea cups. Then we moved on to bananas and tacos.

I told Lillianna she was the best hostess I had ever seen. I heard her repeating that to her guests a few mintues later. "I'm the best hostess in the whole world for my tea party."

Ellenie was just shocked she wasn't invited.

All dressed up...

Sometimes it's a feat just to get dressed, let alone dressed up.

But last Sunday we all did it.

Here are the girls in all their sweet glory:

Edible baby gowns? I love that idea!

Lillianna calls these black shoes inherited from her cousins her "clip clop" shoes. She loves them! She totally associates them with her green Christmas dress that she always wants to wear with them. I had to really talk up the cuteness of the kitty cat to get her to wear this dress instead.

Then she quickly went back to getting "busy" (dizzy) in the kitchen with her purple valentines balloon.

Sweetest sharing of LOVE

lillianna: Does she need my blankie on her ear?

(Lillianna always holds her blankie to her own ear anytime she holds it. Ellenie was crying.)

Two little cupids

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

We are so grateful and full of love today for all our many, many blessings!

Theatre 101

To pass some time on this snowy cold day, we had a drama class.

We each had to take turns making faces of different emotions or moods.

Here are some of the results:

HAPPY:

FUNNY:

SAD/ BORED:

STARTLED/ SCARED:

Ellenie really took off with the last one.

Overall, she shows great potential in her dramatic facial expressions which is not surprising since it runs in the family.

Lillianna has also been showing her "sassy" and "bossy" moods this week which we don't have pictures of but we do have lots of stories about. They might be discussed in a post entitled

"Two going on Twelve"

He's here!

We are so proud and excited to welcome Dominic Christopher Carubba to our family!

I can't wait to love on my beautiful new nephew!

happy b-day!

ellenie is one month old!!

SICK IN THE WINTER WITH A NEWBORN

So right now we are faced with 3 obstacles to having busy, fun-packed, run-around outside, imagination stimulating, full of learning, exciting days:

1) the weather - while we did enjoy some creepily 70 degree weather earlier this week and took several walks, most of the time its been too cold to get out and do much except get the mail.

2) Ellenie, the newborn, should be inside, not outside.

3) Mommy doesn't feel well. cold, crud, whatever it is - let's hope it leaves soon!

So sometimes moments in our days look fun like this:

or this:

while other moments look sleepy, bored, or grumpy like this:

then there are those precious moments like this:

this:

or this:

that make the rest all so very bearable.

L-O-V-E

(Sing the words to the Nat King Cole favorite)

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extra-ordinary,

E is even more than anyone that you adore

Love is all that I can give to you, Love is more than just a game for two. Two in love can make it, Take my heart and please don't break it, Love was made for me and you.

Ellenie is nothing but love.

She is so greatly loved especially by her sweet big sister who shared all her toys and blankie in the second picture with her.

We are all busy and tired but so very , very good.

Love to each of you!