Today our sweet little Elise is officially a year-and-a-half old! Time has definitely flown by, but I can’t help but think about the fact that by the time Enzo arrives, Elise will be approximately 6 weeks younger than Ava was when Elise was born. I’m sure no one is more acutely aware of that than Jessica, but I still think about it too. Speaking of Enzo, as of this week Jessica is considered ‘full-term’ in her pregnancy, so he could arrive at any time and there would be nothing to worry about. The sooner the better as far as we’re concerned. Jessica had another checkup today and everything looks perfect, so we couldn’t be happier.
We’ve got an exciting weekend to look forward to. Saturday night is the annual Amazon ‘Post-Holiday Party’ at the Century Link Events Center. Last year we had a lot of fun so I’m sure this year will be the same. We’ve actually got some good music this year, thanks to the fact that Weezer will be performing. I wasn’t sure if Jessica would want to go considering the baby, but she was all for it, so we’re going. The girls are going to be spending the night with Kristy and Madi at their house, which we are extremely thankful for. Kristy says Madi is really excited about having them over, so it works out perfect.
The party doesn’t start until 8:00pm, but I think we’re going to drop the girls off around 3:00, then enjoy having some time to ourselves. The plan is to get a bite to eat, then go see a movie, then go to the party. If there is one thing we’ve learned since becoming parents its that you need to take advantage and make the most of any free time you get. Assuming Enzo doesn’t arrive that night it should be a lot of fun. I guess either way we’d be in for an exciting night.
Grandma Amy is coming back to town on Sunday afternoon, and we already have to go to the south end to pickup the girls at Kristy’s house, so we’re going to hang out there for a while and watch the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game. One more win and we’re going back to the Superbowl! Can’t wait for that. As the game is ending we will head over to SeaTac Airport to pickup Amy, then we can all head home for the evening. It’s hard to believe that we’re so close to the birth of our son, but certainly very exciting. I can’t wait to take Jessica out for a sushi dinner right after he is born. She’s been craving it lately so I’d say it is well deserved.
The girls have been doing really well lately, although bedtime has turned into a nightmare (pardon the pun). Only a couple months ago bedtime was no big deal, but things have taken a drastic turn for the worse. I don’t know exactly what to attribute it to, but its like they take on a different personality when its time to go to bed. Elise, who is normally so happy and sweet, turns into a little demon around 8:00 every night. She suddenly has all this energy and wants to run around like a crazy child. Ava generally just wants to stay up and watch one more episode of Thomas the Train, but unless she falls asleep in the middle of an episode (which is rare), she always gets upset when we turn it off. More often than not we end up having to lay down with them and stay there until they fall asleep. It’s not uncommon these days for bedtime to last 2 hours! Sometimes it takes all I’ve got just to stay up longer than they do. I’m sure its just a phase that they will outgrow, but with another baby getting ready to enter our house, it doesn’t look like anyone is going to be getting extensive amounts of rest anytime soon. The joys of parenting…
Other than bedtime things are great. Ava loves going to school on Mondays, and art class on Tuesdays. Jessica continues to keep them busy with regular outings to museums, parks, etc. Elise is talking up a storm. I remember thinking that Ava spoke a lot at that age but I honestly think Elise talks even more than Ava did. She is getting really good at communicating what she wants, which helps in terms of not getting as frustrated. The other cool thing is that the two of them play a lot more together now. Up until recently Elise was still too young to be able to play with Ava, but now they are much more able to entertain each other, which is a lot of fun to watch.
Jessica and I have been keeping busy at home this week with painting the guest bedroom. I think we’re doing the last of it tonight, so it will be good to have that done before Amy arrives. Next up we’re going to paint our master bedroom. This will be a bigger task, so it’s good that we got some practice on the guest room first. We’ve got several house-related projects planned for this spring, including new floors and painting downstairs. One realization I’ve come to since becoming a home owner is that there is always something to work on. I don’t mean that in the sense of something that always has to be fixed (although that is sometimes the case) but there is always something that you want to upgrade. I don’t mind it though because every time you do something it makes the house that much more personalized, plus its nice that you don’t have to ask permission from anyone to do what you want.
Not sure if there will be another post before Enzo arrives, but I’m sure there will be plenty once he is here. Here are a few recent photos of the girls. Won’t be a family of four much longer…
