i don't think there's any way to start this post other than what i'm hot off the heels of.

last night.

jon's traveling [he gets home this evening, hooray!] for a little back-story, my friend christina & i took our 4 girls to this little indoor jungle gym earlier this week. literally as i was leaving the parking lot, i got a text message from my friend kim [who had no idea where we'd just been], saying that her kids had gotten horrible colds after playing at this place the week before, and were having trouble sleeping. jon had just left town that morning, so thinking about the week ahead on my own with my kids, we immediately went home & got some good scrubbings & a change of clothes. 

well- wouldn't you know...

4am last night, eloise wakes up screaming. sometimes she does this in her sleep- i've mentioned before that she's a loud sleeper, which took some getting accustomed to on my end, as i used to run to her the minute she'd make a noise, always resulting in me actually waking her up, etc etc etc. well i could tell that she was really awake last night [*this morning...*], and so i went into her room, hoping to be able to pat her back for a minute & head back to sleep. when i got to her crib, it was obvious she wasn't feeling well. i got her out, and about this time, lucy starts screaming my name. seeming like lucy was just hollering out in a dream, i stayed with eloise, who is AWAKE at this point & asking to nurse. grrr! i've learned that if she nurses during the night, she'll wake up the following night at that exact time wanting to nurse again. [she nursed one time during the night in june, and prior to that, hadn't nursed during the night since march or april]. after several minutes of her asking to nurse, and me weighing my options of having to break this habit the next night while also standing there is a sleepy stupor, i decided it was best to go ahead & nurse her, then get her back in her crib for the sake of all of us getting a bit more sleep. 

welp, literally the minute i sat down to nurse, lucy starts screaming again "MOOOOMMY!!!"

with eloise in tow [& latched], i go into lucy's room who proceeds to tell me, "i'm awake! i'm ready to get up, mommy!" 

this hasn't happened in at least a year with this child, who prefers sleeping in until 8 the other 364 mornings of the year. 

there was literally nothing i could do at this point but A] get up for the day at 430am with both girls or B] bring both girls into bed with my pregnant-self & attempt to get a little more sleep. & what followed was quite possibly the worst couple hours sleep of my life. 

& this is why i'm beyond thrilled that my husband will be home in 4 hours [& counting...]

these gals may interrupt my sleep here & there, but what i'm lacking in sleep, they sure make up in cuteness! :)

backing up to last weekend- we had so much fun seeing shrek the musical! the production was one of the best i've seen at this theatre, and we sat in a spot where lucy could run & dance to the music the entire show. she stayed awake & engaged, and was able to meet the cast afterwards!

she went to sleep 4 hours past her normal bedtime with NO whining! & slept in the next day [until after 9!]. she woke up in the best spirits & requested to be princess fiona the entire next day :) we had to settle for a rapunzel dress [that jon wants to make sure i mention he got for her on a daddy/daughter date:)]

my doll baby on a mission to smother charlie in smooches-

monday at the library-

tuesday at the infamous jungle gym with the brewers :)

followed by eloise discovering the aurora wig- the 3 of us were laughing for 30 minutes or more over this!

i am really soaking up this last school year having lucy home full-time. we opted for her to stay home, rather than go to a children's day out program a day or 2 a week [since she missed the preschool cut-off by 25 days with a september 25th birthday]. this will be my only year with all 3 of my baby girls at home full-time!

getting out of the house is so worth the hassle these days, as eloise is in the "into EVERYthing" stage & lucy finds too much joy in instigating this :)

schoolwork with mama during eloise's nap :) lucy constantly surprises me with how well she does in these age 3-5 workbooks. we do a few pages a week & the cutting book is her absolute favorite, followed by anything that has to do with letters. she's so proud that she knows how to spell "lucille" now [along with lucy & eloise] & we're working on baby sister's name :)

& in other news around here, i'll be 16 weeks on monday! baby is the size of a pear :) this pregnancy is FLYING. i really don't have much time to think about the fact that i'm pregnant because life is so constant with 2 littles keeping me busy. each week-to-week shocks me with how fast it goes! i've started feeling small kicks here & there [the best!], and we're planning lucy's new room! lots of work ahead- we'll be moving lucy to the guest bedroom across the hall with it's own bath attached, eloise will move to lucy's room & the baby will get the nursery. lucy & eloise's rooms are a jack & jill suite. i'm excited to really start tackling this task in the next few weeks! we had initially planned a mermaid theme for lucy, but we're now leaning towards something less "themey" and more soft & feminine that she can grow with. we're thinking vintage victorian undertones. lots of pictures to follow, including possibly re-doing her new bathroom that is currently just a shower. we'd like to turn it into a tub/shower & re-do the cabinets/mirror/vanity. over the next year, we're also wanting to change out our wooden spindles for iron & do something with our backyard living area [stamped concrete, fire pit, etc.]. excited to post the progress of these exciting projects!

how is it already MID-august?!?

xoxo,

-ivy

ps- jon starts his new job on monday! i am so proud of him & his drive to push himself. it's a great move for him & our family [although he did love his previous company & co-workers]. he'll probably be traveling a little bit more, especially initially, but it's just part of the deal. he finds so much fulfillment in traveling. & i'm able to stay home & find fulfillment as a stay-at-home mom because of it! positive thoughts his way!