Too quiet, too long

Sorry. No real excuse. But we haven't been sitting around ignoring the blog, either. I'll present, over the next few days, a photo summary of the last month.

-ED

By the way...

...we went, as a family, for the sonogram this past week. Ellie's gonna have a baby brother. She's very excited. Now for a name....

-ED

Happy Birthday!!!

I'm disappointed in myself... for the first time, I failed to make this post on the appropriate day. In all fairness though, yesterday was jammed busy.

The day started with a special birthday breakfast treat for me and my girl. Then she got to enjoy breakfast with Nanny and Pa. I can't recall how Ellie and Nans spent the morning, but they joined me for lunch. After doing who knows what during the afternoon, EM and I took Ellie out to dinner at her favorite restaurant. This was followed by ice cream and shopping.

Today, we spent the morning preparing for her birthday party. Her party featured Aunt Katie, Kinsey and Jack, among others. Nanny and Pa got Ellie her first big girl bike. Ellie was well-behaved and did her best to show affection and appreciation to all.

As if this weren't enough, we've also been prepping for our annual trip to the beach... we leave tomorrow. So, again, while I'm disappointed, I'm gonna try and cut myself some slack.

Happy Birthday, Ellie Rose! Mommy and I love you so much!!!

-ED

Little reader

Ellie is trying her best to read. Obviously, she's got a way to go but the effort is clearly there. Today, she was trying to read Nanny's mug. The mug reads "Life is a bitch." She spelled b-i-t-c-h and asked Nanny what word that is. Try as she might, Nanny could not fool her with alternate words (I'm envisioning Nanny saying "witch" and Ellie responding "that doesn't start with a B" and so on). Anyhow, Nanny broke down and told her it's a bad word and she need not worry about it (or she need not know what it is). Suffice it to say, Nanny will be drinking from a new mug tomorrow.

-ED

Summertime!

I meant to post this sooner than I did, but life got in the way.... Anyhow, this year of preschool came to an end last week for Ellie. The director hosted a pool party. EM and Nans were in attendance. By all accounts Ellie had fun, and did well. I know she's looking forward to returning in the fall, but for now I'm sure her and Nans will keep each other entertained.

-ED

Jealous

Last night Ellie nearly cried herself to sleep. She insisted she was excited about the new baby, but she was very, very sad that EM might not be able to hold her and the new baby. We did our best to explain how perhaps I could hold the baby while EM holds her (or vice versa); and, we did our best to emphasize how much we love her and how that won't change. I think we might need to spend more time reinforcing that concept.

-ED

Breaking the news....

So as you know, we are expecting baby #2. Ellie did not know this, not til Easter anyhow. We took a trip, with Nanny, to meet EM's first nephew (Ellie's first cousin on that side of the family), Jacob. Jacob is about three months old.

After Ellie spent some time with him, and started to grasp the concept of what a little baby is all about, we told her. Her response, "that's awesome!" So we spent the rest of that visit trying to reinforce the concept.

Ever since we delivered the news, she's been very upbeat about it. She is constantly touching EM's belly and talking to the baby. Our little one has a great deal of love to offer, and we are confident she'll make a great big sister.

-ED