This is Eleanor at 16 months.  She is happy, she is sweet, she is a nut.  On the day these were taken, we were playing the sunglasses game.  I would put them on her face, and she would move around, trying to keep them on.  When they fell off, she would attempt to put them back on, have trouble, then hand them to me to start the cycle again.

Eleanor sings and babbles all.  the.  time.  It’s absolutely adorable.  Her vocabulary is also expanding rapidly and she frequently parrots what I say.  For instance, I said “Oh MAN!” the other day and then heard a little echo behind me.  Her favorite words lately are “ball” and “doggie,” but her standard words include mama, dada, kitty, doggie, ball, up, thank you, bubble and cheese.  Some adorable words to watch her form are Stu (one of our cats’ names) and Lola (my sister’s dog).

She has adjusted quite easily to our new life, is sleeping great (at least has been the last week, knock on wood) and loves talking walks down First Street.  She loves seeing my family more frequently and hanging out with her cousins.  She has also taken a liking to Kieran’s tricycle, which is adorable to see.  Her favorite part is ringing the bell (it’s the kind of trike where she gets pushed) and she just sits there with a big grin.  If you stop, she makes it known she would like you to continue forward.

She is a good eater, but I am so painfully uncreative when it comes to feeding her!  Any suggestions for easy and varied meals for a 16 month old are welcome.  She loves cheese, bagels, eggs, yogurt, and her fruit purées.  I’m going to be working on getting her to eat fork mashed fruits/veggies because right now if I try and give her the non-puréed version she is not a happy camper.  I have found the best way to get her to try new things is to be eating them and wait for her to demand a bite–if I try and offer her a bite first she usually refuses.

Well, that’s E in a nutshell!  She is absolutely loving having her daddy home all the time and we love watching her grow and learn.

This photo makes my belly look bigger than I think it is, but it is growing.  Only 8 or nine weeks left now.  And how nice were those warm days we had in the Bay Area a few weeks ago?  Felt so good to sit out for a bit a get some vitamin D.  So I thought I’d compare my life this time around versus last time I was pregnant.

Being pregnant is such an interesting time in life.  The first time it is so unknown and you really don’t know what is going on or what you should be worried about and then there’s the fact that at the end you will be bringing a tiny baby home with nearly zero idea of how to take care of it.

The second time is easier in some respects, and much harder in others.  This is my opinion of course, I’m not sure how families have more than 2 or 3 kids . . . I’m about done with the whole carrying a baby around for 9 months thing.  Maybe it’s just this pregnancy is harder than last time or maybe it’s because I’m a stay at home mom (who also works when I can — which adds another level of awesomeness to the equation) and I have a 2 year old who like me to pick him up all the time.  Plus we just moved so there are things that need to be done, like potting plants and moving them around (definitely paid for that one, ouch.)  So I am on a whole level of movement that I wasn’t at when I was pregnant with Jackson.

Back in those days, I would go get my hot chocolate and chocolate muffin (yes I have a problem — and I did gain 40 lbs with Jax) from the restaurant across the street then get on BART or drive in to work.  Work till I got hungry then go get an egg and cheese sandwich or other snack (what others might call a meal) then work for another couple hours and eat lunch, hopefully it involved a burger or a french dip or something.  Work some more.  And by work I sat in front of a computer and moved a mouse around, sometimes getting up to go ask someone on my team a question.  [I worked (and still do) as an architectural designer, as did (and still does) Brieanne.]  Then I would probably run across the street for a cookie, and have a bag of carrots (and I really would eat a whole bag of baby carrots — I love carrots) then head home around 6pm.  Get home and walk the dog, make dinner, watch TV, go to sleep.  Wake up.  Repeat.

Now, life is a bit more complicated.  As it is for most parents.  There isn’t really a routine day anymore.  It usually involves me waking up at 5:45 or 6am, which is still after my husband who gets up at 4:45 and is often gone before 5:30, but still it’s early when you consider in my previous life I could get up at 7:00 and make it to work nearly on time.  I am NOT a morning person.  Never have been, and most likely never will be.  I will usually turn on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (best show ever for teaching kids about pre-school, washing hands, brushing teeth, going to bed, etc.) and get some breakfast ready.  Then it’s off to Grandma’s house for the day if it’s monday, or preschool for a few hours if it’s Tuesday or Thursday, or maybe off to Bloom for a yoga class if I’m lucky on a Wednesday.  When Jackson is at Grandma’s or at pre-school I can go in to the architecture office I work at that is right near downtown Walnut Creek (where we live), or get home and work on Etsy orders, and maybe clean the house a bit.  The rest of the afternoons are hit or miss with a nap after we get home and have lunch.  He sleeps better and longer at night if he doesn’t have a nap . . . but I will seriously go insane if he gives up his naps all together so we still try.  When he does get a nap in I can work on more Etsy orders (We have had two very good months in a row!  And lots of custom orders!), research products for remodeling our kitchen and bath, clean (usually lowest on my list), write a blog post (you can see how often that has been happening), pay bills, basically all the stuff that needs to get done.  THen I will hear that ‘Mama’ from Jackson’s room — he’s still in a crib (I have no idea how people get them to stay in bed if they are not in a crib — Jackson resists sleep at nearly every cost) so I go get him and we have a little quiet time in his room while he transitions from sleep mode to play mode.  Then it’s a waiting game for Dad to get home.  ’I want Daddy home,’ he says for the rest of the afternoon.  Which is actually quiet nice as there was a time not too long ago that he refused to let his dad pick him up, talk to him, basically didn’t want his Dad to be near him.  That was rough.  And how we got through that is the topic of another post if you want my advice on it.  Fortunately Dad is between projects right now (he is in commercial concrete construction) so he is able to come home by 5 every night.  I am really not looking forward to when his next project starts up again and he’s gone at 5 am and not back till 8 or 9.

Dad, will play with Jackson and Maddie (who as you can see is left out of the equation a bit) and I make dinner.  Then it’s a little more play time, bath, and Dad does the bedtime routine of pj’s, books, and sleep.  Which was part of how we broke Jackson of his previously noted Dad dislike.

If I don’t have any deadlines to get to I will clean up the house while they are doing the bedtime thing.  Then Mike and I (funny how he turns to Mike after the kid is in bed) will settle in for a couple shows.  We become obsessed with a series and can’t wait to sit and watch it.  Earlier in the month it was Sons of Anarchy, which we are OBSESSED with, it is way better than what we thought and originally only watched it because the main character was named Jax and we wanted to see the character that our son shared a nickname with.  Quickly we became engrossed and watched all four seasons on Netflix (via the Roku) in two weeks.  You will start to think that everyone is out to get you if you watch too many episodes in a short amount of time.  Now we are on to Downton Abby, which is basically a 180 but is strangely addicting too.  We are open for suggestions of new series’ so let me know in the comments.

Then I try and shut my brain off, but usually peruse pinterest or search for a product we need while laying in bed.  I will try and find the absolute best price with free shipping for the sink we want, or compare reviews on kitchen faucets that are in our budget and are not ugly (there is a lot of ugly out there), or research the best methods and products to paint our kitchen cabinets, or . . . . hopefully by the I have eased my mind into rest and have floated off to sleep.

When we hear, ‘No, no, no, no!  Mama!’ coming from the other room.  Jackson is up from a nightmare (I had nightmares when I was young, and still can remember some of the recurring ones to this day.) and needs a bit of reassurance that all is well.  I would love to be the one to go in but if I do I just rile him up more because he will insist I stay and sleep on the floor, if his Dad goes in he’s back to sleep in 30sec so I hate having Mike get up a couple times in the middle of the night but in the end we all get more sleep.  And Jackson has been a good sleeper this week and gets back to sleep on his own when he wakes up.  I think my body clock still wakes up every couple hours but that won’t be a bad thing once the baby girl arrives!

And so that is our day.  I’m looking forward to meeting our little girl and getting her involved in our routines as well.  I know it will be an adjustment for the first few months but hopefully Jackson will take to being a big brother somewhat easily.

Meanwhile, I will keep on going each day as this belly grows and it’s harder and harder to do the things I am used to doing.  I feel like I have every symptom in the book, except swelling, stretch marks  and varicose veins.  But heartburn — Check. I will look at a bottle of ketchup and get heartburn.  Yep, there it is.  Ugh.  Braxton Hicks — Check.  I didn’t mind these with Jackson but this time they come so much more often and frequently that it starts to bother me.  Sciatic pain — Check.  I attribute this to picking up a 26 lbs kid all day and I think she is lower than Jackson was.  Leg Cramps — Check.  Holy hell, these babies will last so long that I eventually have to cry out in pain and have Mike massage them out.  With Jackson I could lie quietly and relax enough to get them to go way.  Belly Button is OUT — Check.  I really wasn’t expecting this one.  Didn’t happen with Jax and here we are at 30 or 31 weeks and it is poking on out.

I have read a couple articles or blog posts about working moms vs. stay at home moms and which is harder.  I think that being a stay at home mom who works from home is the hardest . . . but that is just me.  It is a tough job being a mom regardless of where you are every day.  When I am in the office that I work at I think that working has got to be easier (as long as you can also pay someone to clean your house and do your yard work).  It’s so refreshing to have some time without screaming, or someone garnering for your absolute love and attention 100% of the time (although your boss might be crazy so you could feel like you work for or with a 2 year old), or demanding cookies when he knows that he is not going to get cookies, or . . . I could go on but I won’t.  Then when I am home with Jackson and he is being his sweet funny self or he just starts doing something for the first time I think this is the easier than rushing off to work every day and rushing back home in time to get my kid in bed.  So I think we have to admit that either way there are benefits and challenges to both.  As long as we respect each other and give our kids the love they need and teach them to respect that everyone has a different way of doing things then I think we will be ok.

This got a little long and maybe you didn’t make it this far.  Probably my mom did and now she is going to email me and tell me to stop stressing out, and if I want a job I should get one, or that being a stay at home mom actually is the best.  But, hey, Mom, don’t worry, I’ve got this.  I love my life, heartburn, remodel, demanding toddler and all!  I simply wanted to go through a day in the life and give my two cents hopefully I’m not sounding negative because I’m not.  Mike and I have always said that nobody has it better than us, and I’m not sure that they do.

(I paint it!  The next morning he was telling us ‘I painted that!’, and every day after he has reminded me that he painted that wall and daddy painted the other wall.)

Now he’s not speaking shakespeare or anything but he has started to differentiate between what is a ‘this’ and what is a ‘that’ and what is an ‘it’.  When he learns a new word he will repeat it a few times then want to hear it in context again.  Not sure when his baby words will fade away, he still loves to watch his ‘real toot toots’ on the iPad, which is simply steam engine videos on you tube and will fascinate him for long periods of time.  You have to be watching him though because YouTube will offer some really strange suggestions as he works his way through the suggested videos.  Really weird stuff out there.  Really weird.

Also enter the phrase: ‘I wanna [insert anything that I probably don't want him to have/do, cookie, cake, drive the car]!’ followed by, ‘Peease! Mommy!’

This phrase is driving me crazy, now with his new found communication abilities he can let me know exactly what he does and doesn’t want to do.  There have already been some time outs, and more in the foreseeable future.  He is stubborn so far and it really takes some dedication to win a battle with him.  But if I don’t stay strong he will use my past history against me.  It’s like he’s a judge and if there has already been a precedent ruling to determine a case then it should stand true at all times.  And if he gets to watch tv, or have a cookie, or anything really then it should always be that way.  Although this precedent type behavior does not work well with brushing teeth, cutting nails, brushing hair, eating vegetables or other civilized behaviors.

He also has been taught, by us so we have no excuse, a quote from Wedding Crashers, ‘Mom! Meatloaf!’ which is something Will Ferrell’s character says.  Pretty hilarious coming from Will Ferrell or a 2 year old.  I must post video evidence.

He had been sleeping horribly for the few weeks leading up to this explosion of words and has since began sleeping much more soundly at night (and taking a nap right now, thus a bit of time for a post!!) [Literally as I typed that he woke up.] So I better sign off and get that little boy up.

Here’s to better sleep, more conversations and happy days!

I did take a shower but failed to dry my hair, and possibly didn’t brush it.  I did manage a pony tail and eventually a hat when I realized I should shield my face.  I could only bring myself to some yoga pants, and not lululemon, no these are from Ross or something, not that I don’t like Ross, but they are just not lululemon.  You know what I mean.  I grabbed the first shirt that appeared clean — fortunately it was black and was in fact clean.  Couldn’t find one of my standard zip up athletic looking jackets anywhere (until I cleaned out the back of the car and there were three) so I grabbed a teal sweater wrap thing.  Pulled on my baby blue nikes to complete the look basic amount of clothing I need to be accepted in society.

I also rubbed a small amount of foundation and a swipe of mascara before getting Jackson ready in what turned into a rather cute outfit actually.  Normally he’s the slub who is not coordinated but he was fully coordinated.

So this day where I feel like crap and know I look a little worse than I even feel is the day that I run into people.

First it was at pre-school daycare, a sorority sister who also has her son in the same school.  I haven’t seen Michelle since I was in college, and of course she looked put together and had obviously used a blow dryer.  Crap.  I just need to make it home.  Straight home.

Well.  I really need to deposit some checks and I need to get my coffee ground (long story) so I’ll just hit up the B of A ATM and the Peet’s Coffee in Pleasant Hill.  So off we went.  Bank of America went fine.  It was on our way to the Peet’s coffee that the Jamba Juice smoothies caught Jackson’s eye.  ’I want that,’ he says. And since he hadn’t really eaten much lunch and I wanted some too we went in to get the kids Strawberry and Banana smoothie.  And while we were waiting a woman from my wednesday yoga class comes in.  Me disheveled and her not disheveled.  She is the woman in class who is glowing and looks like she’s fake pregnant because she doesn’t look like she has really gained a pound besides the adorable bump perfectly popping out.  She’s also probably only a few weeks from her due date and obviously handling herself better than I am.

And then I realized what went wrong with today.  We were out of coffee.  And coffee, even my small cup I allow myself, is as vital as water to my functioning as a mom/human being.

And now as my caffeine headache is kicking in I’m about to brew myself a cup of my freshly ground Peet’s Coffee.

First up, the yogurt container.  Eleanor loves yogurt, so I buy the big containers instead of the individual servings to save money, plastic, and so I can easily mix her yogurt with fruit purées.  Anyway, she’s deep into the fill-and-dump phase, so putting things in and taking them back out of this container provide endless entertainment.

Next, the cat toys.  All on her own she started putting those jingle balls (there’s a bell in the middle) on those little springs.  Then she shake shake shakes her little jingle ball lollipop contraption and giggles like a school girl (if you follow me on Vine, you can see evidence of this.  I’m brieanne_m).

Lastly, straws.  Why do kids love straws so much?  I love giving them to Eleanor when we are out and about because if she drops one, it’s not a big deal (unlike things like her lovie that I had to walk back and find on the streets of San Francisco).  I usually stash about 5 in my purse before we head out the door just in case.  We love the Ikea straws because they are cheap and colorful (each pack comes with 4 colors, and they have different color packs).  I mean, $1.49 for 200 straws?  Yes, please.

So, what non-toy toys does your little one love?

Well well well.  Look at this–a blog post!  From Brieanne!  Can you believe it?  Life has been a whirlwind with a whole lot of nothing in particular, but it has kept me busy.  That whole part time work/full time stay-at-home mom thing finally caught up to me.  This, however, is neither here nor there.  What is important is we are all here and healthy, just needed a bit of a break from blogging (and the computer in general, if we’re honest).

The photos in this post are from a trip to the beach this weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather.  We drove south to Half Moon Bay on Saturday to enjoy the sunshine and load up on some vitamin D with my parents, grandmother, and my sister’s family.

Couldn’t Eleanor and Kieran pass as twins?  They don’t really look alike, but they have the same coloring and are about the same size.

We were cracking up at the difference between Eleanor and my sister’s kids.  The older two couldn’t get enough of playing in the water and the sand, and Kieran was walking/crawling all over the place, rolling in the sand, eating the sand, etc.  Eleanor, on the other hand, spent 90% of her time sitting on the edge of the beach blanket, patting the sand with a shovel in one hand and a bucket in the other.  Occasionally she would be brave enough to touch the sand, but she quickly would recoil her hand and go back to just tapping it with the shovel.  At the end of our time, Claire was able to coax her into playing in the sand a bit more (of course–get all sandy right before it’s time to get in the car) but overall she barely touched the beach.  Such a little proper lady.

Sidenote: how Euro does Conor look in his “Speedo” (swim diaper) and little cap?

Anyway, I just wanted to check in to let you all know we’re alive and well, just been in a little computer hiatus, but I’m hoping to bring that to an end.

In some other news, we are preparing to launch a new website and commerce site (to make it even easier to purchase chalk + dot products!  Yay!) so there are going to be some serious hiccups on the site soon.  Things will be in a bit of a jumble, but then hopefully we’ll have things running smoothly for a new (and hopefully improved) experience.  For now, you can see our new logo, etc. over on our social media sites, so hop on over to Etsy, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to check it out!

How has everyone else out there been???  I feel like I’ve been in a hole…

First off I have to thank Caroline at Coeur de La Photography.  We had an absolutely wonderful time taking these photos a few months ago. I would absolutely recommend her for your family photos, wedding photography, engagement photos . . . if you need a photo I would recommend.  She and her husband (can they be any cuter?) were so great with both Jackson (who was his typical almost 2 year old self) and Maddie (who was surprisingly well behaved) and made the whole experience very fun and not stressful at all.  We took the photos at Lake Temescal in Oakland on an early Saturday morning and it was perfect.  I can’t wait for them to take photos once our baby girl arrives!

We have a little over 10 weeks left till she is due!  In some ways I can’t believe it’s that close, and in others I can’t wait to meet her and not be pregnant anymore.  Carrying around a 26 pound toddler and constantly kneeling down to play with him has made this pregnancy more noticeable than last time.  I am very aware of my belly and all the pains associated.  By the end of the day it feels like she could come out at any time.  My doctor tells me to take it easy . . . but that’s easier said than done.  I now know what all those other pregnant women are complaining about.  Heart burn galore, braxton hicks contractions, very loose hips, sciatic pain, trouble sleeping (no insomnia yet, but she kicks all night long), constant bathroom trips.  I don’t know how people do this anymore than 2 or 3 times.

But, we now will have our girl!  So now we can relax and not have all of the, ‘Are you going to go for another to try for a girl,’ conversations.  Even though we originally, well mostly I, wanted two boys, by late october I was referring to her as a girl even though we didn’t find out till December.  And it feels right to be having a little girl.  I’m slowly getting used to the pink clothes that have begun to enter the house.

So, we owe you guys for the lack of posts in the last month.  I created a mini valentine pdf that you can print back and front, or just use one side if you like.  Some valentine stuff can get a little cheesy so I wanted to create something that was modern, bright, and cute.  Hopefully you like it.

Download here:

download-valentine_front

download-valentine_back

Feel free to pin these!  ;)  We adore a little pinterest love, and valentine’s day is coming up, so share the love!

I have a running list on my iPhone of several posts I want to get to.  Especially if our little bun in the oven is a boy or girl  . . . if you know don’t say anything!  So tomorrow I will share the news!  Here’s our pregnancy reveal post, and I love Brieanne and Brandon’s reveal.  Can you believe that Eleanor is already 14 months?!  And I have a 2 year old?  Me neither.

(Printable gift bingo cards from Etsy)

Baby shower games are always a little up in the air.  Should you do them?  Leave them out?  It’s really based on who is attending.  If it is a close knit group then games could get in the way of conversations.  If it’s a diverse group sometimes a game helps to keep the party going.

The photo above is one of my favorite games, Gift Bingo.  (And available in our Etsy Shop.)  To play gift bingo you start with a grid filled in with possible gifts that the mom-to-be (or parents-to-be at a co-ed shower) might receive.  Leave the middle box blank as a freebie to the players.  As the mom (or couple) opens gifts the guests can check off the appropriate squares and try and get all the gifts in one row, column, or the diagonal filled in.  The winner receives a prize at the end.

I like this game because it makes the often long gift opening time a bit more fun.  Plus it takes some of the pressure off of the mom to entertain as she opens gifts and it can start some debates as to wether that gift really constitutes as stripes or not.

What games do you like to play at showers?  Or, are you strictly no games allowed.