Just us two

As Ellie's due date is drawing near, I am trying to soak up the last
moments of "just Hadley and I". I mustered up the strength to take
her on a little nature walk before lunch today. Sounds easy enough,
but makes me feel pretty accomplished. Our newest nature walk fav-
collecting rocks along the way to toss into the creek.

Sweet memories

Growing up, my mom and/or grandma made most of my Halloween costumes.
I remember it so well. Going to the fabric store, picking out the
pattern and the most tacky pink shimmering fabric I can find. I
remember the halloween movies on tv, drinking instant hot apple cider,
and watching my mom sewing away at this amazing little machine. It is
a simple antique singer. Now I am sitting at this very machine,
stitching away on my daughter's costume. I hope to build the same
wonderful memories for hadley year after year. In my book, there is
nothing like a homemade costume. Looking forward to next year, I am
certain Hadley will have an opinion on what she would like her costume
to be. Hopefully nothing to complicated!

thirty nine weeks

dear little ellie,

you have been inside, baking to perfection for thirty nine whole weeks. we have prepared for you in every way we could think of. you have a lovely little nursery all your own. you have a closet and dresser filled with freshly laundered sweet little clothes and cozy blankets. our hospital bags are packed, the car is washed, and the kitchen is stocked. we think your big sister is starting to understand that concept of, well, you! she is almost as excited to meet you as we are! we can't want to hold you in our arms and see what you look like! will you come out looking like your sister? with you have dark hair or light? ...maybe no hair at all? will you have green eyes like your daddy, or brownish like your momma? all we know is you will be beautiful, our beautiful little girl.

now, please stop pretending you are on your way, and come meet us already!

love,

momma and dada

more fun at the pumpkin patch!

auntie sarah invited us to meet her, bella, and judah at the pumpkin patch this morning. we had a great time running around and playing with cousins! after my weekend on and off labor, i was hoping all that activity would get things moving again... no such luck!

Last night was a long night

a harvest party

today we celebrated the end of harvest! i have been looking forward to saying those words for the last few long months, wondering if it would be over before baby eleanor arrived. we enjoyed authentic (i.e. simmered in lard for hours) carnitas, salsas, guacamole, beans, rice, and various spicy pickled vegetables with the crew and their families. hadley had a ball! she payed with rosie, the bernese mountain dog; and pinto, the teacup chihuahua. there were lots of older kids who welcomed hadley.. with open arms, literally. she loved making new friends and running around on the lawn with the pups.

i had contractions the whole ride to and from, but things seem to be settling down. maybe tomorrow will be the day? we snuggled hadley extra close this evening, and read her extra books. our current favorites are "big sister, little sister"; "sisters"; and "baby dear"- a very old fashioned story about a little girl who takes care of her baby doll in the same ways her mommy takes care of her new baby. we are trying to prepare you for this huge change in your life, hadley. i hope and pray this will be an easy transition for you. we love you dearly, and know you will be the best big sister.

practically tradition!

we love to go out to eat, and so do jon and alyssia. so, we have started a lovely tradition of taking one another out for our birthdays. last night it was our turn (way overdue for alyssia, and a little early for jon). we chose angle, a french restaurant downtown on the river. we enjoyed a lovely evening of delicious food, wine (for those who were not pregnant) and time together. hadley stayed the night with gramma and poppy- a good practice run for the many sleepovers she will encounter in the next week or two.

family day!

chris stayed home today!! hadley is beside herself.. so much so that she protested nap time more than usual. chris made breakfast burritos for us, then the three of us went to the "me and my shadow" class at gymnastics. chris loved seeing hadley shine with her stretches, dance moves, and confidence. next stop, nana's house to work on hadley's halloween costume! she loved modeling the costume for us she thought is was very "prebby". nana made some amazing zucchini bread, hadley said it was "mmm nummy!" now we are home, my two loves napping peacefully. great family day so far!!

p.s.- i have been having irregular contractions for a few days now! little girl is making her way down down.

pumpkin patch- take two!

the first time we went to the pumpkin patch was really just a trial run- no pumpkins were purchased. today we meant business! hadley, my mom, and i went out to larry's produce (caffeine in hand, de-caf for me) to buy our pumpkins! hadley was so adorable, on a mission with her little red wagon!!

date!

gramma offered to watch hadley for us last night so we could enjoy some time together. we went out on a lovely little date to pizza azzurro. it was so nice to catch up on life with my love over a delicious meal. we even went for desert, panna cotta and an affagoto! so good!!

we spoke of hopes and dreams for the next year; including very exciting career opportunities for chris, plans for vacations with our growing little family, meeting our brand new baby girl, spending the chilly winter as a family cuddled up in our home with a warm fire in the woodstove, christmas gifts we want to get our girls, and future date nights as soon as little ellie allows us to leave her for a few hours- or even a weekend. simple date nights like this mean the world to me. taking time for just the two of us, not worried about hadley's behavior, or appetite, or anything. i am so thankful to have this wonderful guy as my husband!

homecoming parade!

yesterday afternoon hadley and i met natalia and her boyfriend, nate downtown to watch the napa homecoming parade. we had fun watching the different floats, the marching band, our friend presley, and collecting candy.

A failed attempt

I thought Hadley would enjoy shopping with her own little cart while
getting some exercise. It lasted for about 10 minutes.

what i found at 4:30 this morning...

my dear hadley, last night you did not want to go to bed. you ate your dinner like a good little girl (more than usual), you took a long, warm bubble bath, we sang songs and said prayers, and snuggled for a bit. despite this wonderful routine we have in place, it was not working for you last night. you cried. for a while. we snuggled more. you would grab our faces and hold us to your face if we tried to move away. your dad and i took turns. he brought you into our bed to calm you. finally, you felt some peace. you were asleep in your own bed. i am hoping you stayed there most of the night, because when i woke up with my usual pregnancy caused hunger, i took a peek into your room. all of your "babies" were in your bed, and your blankets too. at first, i figured you were under there somewhere, all curled up with your booty high in the air. as my eyes scanned the dimly lit room, i found you, and my heart broke a little.

thankfully, you stayed fast asleep as i scooped up your little body to return you to your proper place.

Jumping!

We met our friends, Abigail and Aubrey at the local jump house.
Hadley had a great time " dumping" with the girls. I am not sure when
she became so fearless and independent, but here she is, sliding down
the huge slide, giggling with glee!

Getting cozy!

The weather is changing. Eleanor is on her way THIS season. Looking
forward to spending her future birthdays sipping hot apple cider,
filling bellies with warm comfort foods, pulling out our boots and
sweaters, and getting "cozy" as Hadley says.

Mama mama mama!!

I guess you could say hadley is a family girl. if she comes across any object/animal/group of people that comes in three different sizes, she deems the large one "dada", medium "mama" and small "baby". her favorite family is the horse family that just moved in across the street from nana and papa's. while we were at the toy store choosing a gift for cousin judah, chris asked that i let hadley pick a little toy for herself (we rarely buy toys). she was drawn to this horse made by schleich. this horse is "mama", so i suppose we will need to add to the family.

37+ week appointment!

things are looking good for baby ellie! my blood pressure is still low, weight gain is normal- almost 30 pounds, i am not dilated (phew!), ellie's heart rate was 45bmp, head is down, measuring on track.

i am starting to feel anxious. the butterflies and excitement are causing sleepless nights. what little sleep i do get is always filled with bizarre dreams.

only two and a half more weeks until the due date!

pumpkin patch!

the shoe obsession continues...

Chris treated me to a new pair of cozy slippers for all the time I
will be spending indoors, nursing a newborn this winter. Hadley had a
ball in the shoe store looking at all the different shoes! She took
off her shoes right away to try on this large pair of uggs...

first fire of the season!

things are better when we're together

spending such little time with her daddy is not easy on this little girl. she woke up at 4 this morning screaming for him... i was the only one here to comfort her and she did not like that. i have noticed a huge change in her mood- especially today. for instance, i have never had to walk out of a place of business twice (never to return) because hadley would not. stop. screaming.

i cried.

she cried.

now he is home for the night and she is feeling some peace.

Good boy

Chris just left for more harvesting after being home for a whole 4 1/2
hours... and only sleeping for two of those hours. Spending all of
this time apart has been pretty rough, more for him than me. It is
times like these that I am so thankful for our family dog, Tucker.
Yes, sometimes he barks in the morning and wakes Hadley. Yes, his
toenails on our wood floors are the most annoying sound known to my
ears. However, I feel so safe with him here on nights like these. He
is a great watchdog!! So, here we are, 11:03 pm, folding mounds of
tiny pink articles of laundry into the night.

Happy 2nd birthday, Aubrey!

Today we celebrated the adorable Aubrey turning two. Her loving
parents hosted such a sweet "under the sea" party. Compleate with a
new sandbox to play with, sea shell mac and cheese, octopus hot dogs,
and cute decorations!
Note: all the girls digging in the sand having a great time and little
Hadley watching from the sidelines because she said the sand was "ew
ew ew!"

Happy October!!

This could be baby girl's birth month! I woke up to this lovely email
yesterday morning. Not a bad way to start the day! :)