Just hanging out at home!

Now that the last of our company has come and gone, life had finally started to get back into a routine. Elle's now out of our bedroom (horray) and sleeping in her cradle in the office. Aside from starting sleep training, it's pretty much been an uneventful week over here. I've tried to stay at home as much as possible with hopes of getting Elle on a better sleeping schedule. For some reason she really has a hard time falling asleep. When we're out, she'll fight it as long as she can. And when she does finally fall asleep, it's just short little cat naps. Then she becomes overly tired and fussy and it drives us crazy! Its during these times that Madi will frankly remind me: "Mommy, you need to help Elle." This my friends, is what I do- I spend a good portion of my day "helping Elle". Between trying to get her to fall asleep and/or listening to her crying, it's a full time job! Sticking around home has worked though- the last 2 or 3 days have been better. Being able to catch her tired signs, I've been able to time her naps perfectly- getting her to fall asleep on her own, with no crying (well, ok- it's really only happened a few times, but at least it's a start). A good nap will last anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 1/2 hours. The best part about her actually sleeping is that when she's awake she's happy- we've gotten lots of cute smiles and coos out of her this week (sorry, no pics of the smile though)!  Instead I captured.....

1) Exhausted Elle NOT going to sleep. 

2) Sleepy Elle taking a relaxing bath.

3) Content Elle chillin in her gym.

4) And of course, naked Elle- right after a blow-out!

All the above pics were taken today or yesterday- so at 8 weeks old!

Staying at home all day can only last for so long though. I started to go a little crazy today. Luckily Madi's been good about it. As much as she needs outings, she's been happy to stick around home. She's watched a few more movies than I'd like to admit, but we've also had fun reading, painting, baking, singing, going on walks (short ones- still no double stroller), cleaning, and organizing (I've finally been able to tackle my piles). 

Out on a walk- Madi doing some exploring!

Madi takes all her art work very seriously. I kept asking for a smile- she remained concentrated.

Sweeping and mopping floors are one of Madi's obsessions. Hmmm... wonder where she gets it from?

The hardest part about all of this is not having Spencer around. His schedule this semester is probably worse than if he were just working full-time. Not only does he have a full school load, but the firm asked him to work more hours (again a blessing, but I can't say I don't miss having him around). When Spencer's actually home he's either studying or working on something for church. Of course he still manages to make time to hang out with his girls, but it's definitely not like it used to be. 

New Favorite Song

My dad got Madi a gospel art book  awhile ago and one day I decided to show Madi the prophets in the back. Of course I couldn't help busting into song, so I ended up singing "Latter-Day Prophets" while we looked at the pictures. It instantly became a favorite and Madi asked to sing it every night for the next week. By the end of the week she was singing the majority of the song by herself and then, just a week later, she had the entire song memorized. It's hard not to be proud of her for knowing all the prophets! 

You won't be able to hear the video very well, but it's the only proof we have of her singing it. If you want to hear it better, give Madi a call. She loves singing songs to everyone that calls!

Sisters

Oh how I love my sisters (that includes all sister-in-laws). Sometimes it's hard living so far from family. I'd love to have a sister close by to hang out with, go on walks with (or runs- Tisha and Jo), have lunch with, chat about life- knowing that no matter what I say or do, they love me for exactly who I am. That's what this past week with Karlee was like. It was such a treat having her here. Not only did I love her company, but she was incredibly helpful. From consoling Elle, to giving baths, getting kids dressed, and babysitting while I made Metro runs, I started thinking maybe I could get her to drop out of BYU- Idaho and move out here. It was great being able to get out of the house and do some things that I'm not brave enough to do alone yet (i.e. the zoo and city). So you can probably imagine how hard it was for me to drop her off at the airport yesterday afternoon. I'm definitely going to miss her company. We love you Karlee! 

Taken by Karlee while having some bonding time with Elle. 

Madi and Elle LOVE their Aunt Karlee!

I did promise Karlee that I'd include a brief write up of our third and final outing into the city- mostly just as a reminder NOT to do it again! Our goal for Friday was to visit the Smithsonians- and I'm happy to report that we actually made it to all three we wanted to visit (Air and Space, Natural History, and American History). It definitely wasn't a long visit at each place, but it was a visit nonetheless. However, along with seeing airplanes, mammals, ocean life, and lots of hands on exhibits, we also experienced a LOT of crying, whining, getting spit up on, and metro confusion- with an especially rude Metro attendant (now that I've had a few days to cool off it doesn't seem as bad as it did in the moment). I didn't get many pics from our outing- probably due to having a screaming baby, two strollers, and a toddler who had her own agenda. 

The picture below was taken while Elle was crying hysterically (hence the fuzziness). People kept walking by making comments, asking me if I needed help. I continued to assure them that "she's just tired." Ya, it was overall a pretty stressful day.

At least all the days leading up to our crazy outing were mostly fun, relaxing, and very enjoyable!

I think Karlee got tired of all the "photo shoots". She's just so beautiful and tons of fun to take pictures of!

ZOO

On Monday Karlee, Madi, Elle, and I headed off to the ZOO. I love the zoo, but with having 2 kids now and not having purchased a double stroller yet, it's a task I'm not willing to do alone. I figured Karlee's visit was the perfect time to go! We've been having amazingly gorgeous weather this week and couldn't have picked a better day! 

We didn't get very far before Elle started screaming for food- so while she ate, Madi enjoyed a banana muffin and Karlee used it as a chance to fix Madi's hair.

Funny how a 6 week old can be more work than a 2 year old on a trip to the zoo. While Elle kept spitting out her binky, and crying for attention, Madi was completely in awe with everything- from the elephants. . . 

to the hippo. . .

the cute little. . . 
Prairie Dog (this guy just cracked me up)

the llama

and the gorillas. . . she loved it all and was an angel the entire day (no nap and everything)!

Of course Karlee's favorite was the lion, but Madi's was the Orangutang! Sorry about all the duplicate pictures, but the progression of our Orangutang siting was hilarious! Madi went onto Karlee's back- to get a better look.

Seeing that it was too bright, she begged for her sunglasses.

MUCH better!

Oh, there he is!

WOW- look at him go!

He put on a great show for us!

Gotta love ZOO entertainment! 

After 2 hours we were beat and headed back home. 

Photo Overload!

My sister Karlee has been here for 4 days now. She flew in on Friday and heads off to school on Saturday. I was planning on doing one long post for our week of fun, but after heading into the city Sunday afternoon, and then hitting up the zoo yesterday, I realized we'd have WAY too many pictures to put into one post. Karlee and I both love taking pictures and making sure every moment of fun is documented! So, I guess I'm going to have to break her visit down into outings. 

Outing #1: 

I'm pretty proud of our first outing because it was my first time driving into the city (usually Spencer drives and I don't pay much attention to where we're going- I just like to enjoy the scenery). I totally feel like an experienced metropolitan citizen now. It was a piece of cake too (aside from the $30 parking ticket I found on my windshield when we got back to the car- ugh)! 

Karlee really wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum, and we figured Sunday (the only day we could leave Madi home with Spencer) would be the perfect day to go. 

We stayed until closing (5:20pm) and then headed over to the Washington Monument.

From there we hit up the rest of the monuments and memorials, enjoying a nice relaxing, not to mention- gorgeous Sunday afternoon! Like I said before, we took a LOT of pictures! I gotta say- I have one photogenic sister! I had way too much fun snapping pics of her in front of all the sites!

She insisted on taking some pics of me too (keep scrolling)!

And of course - one together!

Not only was this Karlee's first DC experience, but I can't forget to mention that it was also Elle's first trip into the city. I'm happy to report that she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Her favorite part- some yummy dinner. . .

A good burp. . . 

And a little bit of lovin!

Stay tuned for lots more pictures from all of our outings with Karlee!