Thomas Tidbits...: Eleanor Turns THREE & Much More

Wow, where to begin. So much has happened in the last two months. High level recap - hopefully the pictures help fill in the gap for my lack of written details. In full disclosure, it's all a blur, and I waited WAY too long to update the blog. My apologies for the photo/video dump - it's a long one!

: Fisher's 1st birthday: such a fun celebration as noted in the last post. I can't believe my baby is 14 moths now. He's battling a double ear infection and new teeth right now, so he's been super needy and not so great in the sleep department. Regardless, he's my sweet mama's boy. He started walking right after his birthday, and he is now a pro running to and fro.

: Eleanor's 3rd birthday: Our daughter talked about her birthday for weeks before the big day. She reveled in all of the attention and gifts. She is as feisty as ever, an incredibly loving girl, and an old soul if I've ever met one. She has many "deep thoughts" on a daily basis. A few recent ones:

... Mom, when brother is older, he'll be able to eat pistachios (she is obsessed with pistachios).

... On our way to school one day, we drove by the trash truck and trash men unloading bins. Eleanor asks, "Mom, why does that man have a black face?" I thought to myself that this would be our serious opportunity to discuss race. So, I responded, "Well, Ellie, everyone has different colored skin, and that's what makes us all special." Her retort, "Huh. My favorite color is pink, and did you know that I have bones in my legs??" Good talk, Eleanor.

... "Why does daddy stand up to pee?"

... We were both wearing tank tops recently, and I pointed out to Eleanor that we were matching. She replies, "Yeah, but you have big nipples, and I just have small nipples. Mine will grow though."

Eleanor loves watching movies, swimming, the beach, puzzles, and spinning dresses.

: Bama and Papa came to visit for Eleanor's birthday. Super fun having them in town, as always!

: The Beadles, our old Villa Court neighbors, moved to Longview, TX in January. They came back for a quick visit so we gathered the old crew at our house for dinner and a play date. The kids and parents caught up with one another and immediately started planning the next visit.

: The Hales came to visit from Chicago. Jack is 5 months older than Eleanor, and Piper is only 5 days older than Fish. We had a ball with them... it was exhausting and amazing at the same time. Watching the kiddos make memories was heart warming, and the adults were able to sneak away for a night out. As you'll see below, we crammed a lot into their 5 day visit - swimming, picnic at Zilker, ride on Zilker Zephyr, Easter egg hunt, bike rides, walks, and slumber parties.

: I had my first Moms' Weekend Away in mid April. Five of us gathered from KC, Austin, and NY and met in Scottsdale. Some girls I've been friends with since first grade - UNREAL. All of us had had a baby in the last year, so we were all in need of a getaway. While we had a super relaxing time at Sanctuary Spa and Resort, we were all anxious to get back to our babies by the end of the weekend.

: We celebrated Mother's Day weekend in Port Aransas. It was our first experience at a TX beach, and we had a great time with our family friends, The Dennises. Eleanor and Nora are only 5 hours apart, and Fisher and Lila are 4 months apart. It was a busy weekend chasing after the kids, but we were in good company. While the beaches weren't as nice as what we're used to in Santa Rosa, it was super convenient to be able to pack up the car and drive 3.5 hours to a beach. We stayed at Cinnamon Shores and were impressed with the accommodations.

: Last but not least, we have some pretty significant family changes in the past 2 months. After much thought and consideration, I've decided to take a sabbatical from work for awhile to focus on the kiddos. It was a difficult decision making this big leap, but one that I think is best for our family given Justin's work travel. I'm lucky enough to still remain PSW's broker of record for Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas - it's work that will pretty much be done behind the scenes (from home) and only about 5-10 hours/week. My first day of sabbatical was 5/1, and I'm still getting used to this new role;)

Grant Hack and Fish on a walk with the nannies.

Eleanor requested blue pancakes for her birthday breakfast. In heaven!

Buddy's crazy hair.

Ice cream birthday treat in the hood after dinner.

Eleanor requested a leotard and umbrella for her birthday. Ah, the simple things in life.

I may or may not sneak into my kids' rooms to capture them sleeping.

Bama and Papa's visit entailed a visit to Gemelli for gelato. Our good friend, Andy, opened shop in March, and we couldn't be prouder of him.

Papa was very generous in his sharing, thus Fish clinging to him during our tasting;)

Eleanor's birthday was at a local bookstore, and the theme was Pete The Cat, one of her favorite book series. Here's she's getting a cat face painted on her face.

Our sweet girl

Pete the Cat puppet show

Pete the Cat coloring activity.

Magic Rock game

Ellie's first trip to the dentist was a breeze. This chick has been obsessed with dental hygiene from an early age - loves to brush and begs us to floss her teeth.

Eleanor talks about her best friend, Audrey, literally every day. Her visit from Longview was a wonderful reunion. In the background is the picnic they set up for all of the stuffed animals.

Meanwhile, the baby boys - Grant Hack and Walker Beadle - are enraptured with Fisher's wild antics.

On a stroll through the hood.

Our little mermaid. She loves swimming and has no fear whatsoever.

Sister loves Uncle Andy and his delicious gelato.

Feeding the goats at the Austin Zoo at Nora's birthday party.

Piper Hale and Fish

Another night stalker

Bath time babies

Story time with Jack and Ellie

Two double wides to accommodate this crew.

Picnic at Zilker

Rock climbing at Zilker

No big deal, just a little nude cycling. Keeping it weird in Austin.

Clearly his father's son

Jack putting the moves on Eleanor during the train ride.

Sweet girl, silly boy

Parent's night out during The Hales' stay.

Two boys hanging

Our Easter best - t-shirts and bike rides.

Out on a bike ride with Daddy.

Fisher adores Mr. Walter, his music teacher. What's not shown in this pic is all of the children nicely sitting in their parents' laps in a circle around Mr. Walter. Fisher insists on zero personal space when it comes to Mr. Walter.

Silly faces at the school bowling party.

Best buds.

Gemelli's biggest cheerleaders.

Lindsey Clancey and me arriving to Sanctuary

Hiking Camelback Mountain before the other 3 girls arrive.

The pool was one of the best I've seen

No kids!

Meanwhile on the homefront, Bama comes in to help wrangle the kids. Here we have a yoga session.

And Fish running from Bama...

Daddy was a brave soul and tackled the splash pad solo after Bama left (and before I returned).

So Fisher's hair is now long enough for a pony tail. I know I need to cut it, but I'm scared because I know he won't look like a baby anymore with a big boy haircut.

Sass!

Buddy hanging at the pool

Bike ride and popsicle with Daddy... shear joy.

Sister helping with one of Fish's last bottles.

Kiki decided to play a prank on me and scare the S#*% out of me. She placed this gem in our pool in the middle of the night, and I woke up with Fish at 6:00 when it was still dark out and about peed my pants when I saw this. It's still an ornament in our pool - great lounger and about the same size as our actual pool.

We went to a Clarksville Family Fun Fest a few weeks ago, and Eleanor was in heaven - bouncy houses, pony rides, and petting zoo.

This chick pooped on Eleanor's lap. Thank goodness for the barrier.

Mr. Walter groupie - we were front row for the show.

Pretty interesting history of Clarksville

One of the best things about sabbatical is being able to be more involved in Ellie's classroom. They were celebrating moms the week of Mother's Day, so I was a guest reader.