Eleanor starts pre-school

It is back to school season pretty much everywhere it seems. Summer schedules (or lack there-of) have been winding down and the routines of fall have been picking back up. I have noticed this more astutely this year as Eleanor started pre-school for the first time. She is at a local church for pre-school 3 days a week from 9 until noon. Last week was her first week and she absolutely loved it. Eleanor has been so eager to start school and has always been fairly good with change and transition so we had no doubt that she would. Her teachers told us that she doesn't seem to be struggling to make friends, which is great as most of these kids have been in school together for a year or two already (including all summer in summer camps).

Here is Eleanor at her "meet the teachers" meeting the week before school started:

And Eleanor on her first day of the 2017 - 2018 school year, September 12th.

Jane's 2nd birthday

This year I didn't have the energy this year to plan a big birthday party for Jane, but we still had fun and she got to hang out with some of her friends. That morning she helped me bake her cake.

We went on a woods walk with our neighborhood friends that morning, which was definitely a bit taxing for me as it's about a three mile loop. I don't think I'll be making that journey again until after the twins are born. 

After our woods walk, we met a bunch of Jane's friends for lunch at a local hot dog place! Hot dogs are right up the girls' alley and they had a blast. I had texted her friends the day before and there ended up being 17 kids (4 and under) that were able to come. Thankfully this place had a room in the back which happened to be empty and we basically took it over. The kids sang "Happy Birthday" to Jane and she loved it.

HappyBirthdayJane2 from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

When Chris got home that night we did Jane's birthday string (which Eleanor helped with quite a bit) and then Jane got to open a few presents. Jane chose to watch Frozen for pizza-movie night (since it was Friday, after all) and then we had cake. Overall, this girl had a very sweet birthday and we had a lot of fun celebrating her!

Happy 2nd birthday, sweet Jane!

Twenty-eight weeks with TWO!

With both babies being breech at this point, it seems a c-section is very likely in our future. There is still technically time for them to flip, but there is a considerable lack of space in my abdomen, so it is seeming fairly unlikely. Otherwise there are no complications so far and everyone is looking good. I am tired and pretty uncomfortable. I am working once or twice a week now and will continue to try through this month and next depending on how things go.

And at 28 weeks, here is baby A on the left and B on the right, then baby A's foot, and lastly, baby B's foot:

Jane is two years old!

Wow, sweet Jane is two years old now! I still remember being surprised when she arrived two weeks earlier than her due date. Her stats will come soon as her doctor's appointment isn't for a couple more weeks, but we know she is a big girl! She has the best smile and perfect curls in her hair that I don't want to cut lest they disappear!

Over the last month or so, Jane has gotten three of her four canines in and one of her two-year molars...so only four more teeth to go! Like her big sister, Jane naps about 2 - 2 1/2 hours per day and sleeps about 10.5 -11 hours at night, going down around 7:30 pm and waking up around 6:30 am. For most of the past year, Jane has barely spoken a word, but over the last three months her speech has exploded. Jane now says two and three word sentences and particularly likes trying to explain herself or tell you in detail something that happened by telling you one word at a time. Now that her speech has picked up, she and her sister play together a lot more, though they also fight more too now that Jane is able to speak for herself. Jane just loves to dance and has since she was a baby. Her dance moves are getting much more impressive the older she gets, though! She also has been attempting to sing recently, which is very adorable. She likes to play with babies, likes to carry around purses, loves to take walks in the stroller, and adamantly loves her crib. She almost panics if we try to lay her down on anything that doesn't have walls. She loves to swing and go to the "kay-gown" (playground). She eats pretty much anything and has recently been expressing interest in potty training (though I am trying to quell that until after the babies come). Her tantrums are starting to become quite regular and loud! She also still loves her elephant blankie (or "wickie" as she calls it) to sleep with. Our girl, who was never a snuggly baby, has decided over the last couple months that she now likes to be snuggled and held, just in time for her to be displaced as the baby of the family. I am trying to let her enjoy these last couple months while she can!

Eleanor at two for comparison:

Jane at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Emerald Isle - the rest of the week

Our M.O. for pretty much the entire week was to get up, let the girls watch a little TV in the morning while we ate breakfast, head to the beach until it was time to eat lunch, come back for naps, and then hang out at the pool in the afternoon before dinner. It was a great schedule!

Naps were even taken in a variety of locales...

Eleanor wanted to be buried in the sand again and did her sand monster routine...

The girls and Chris boogie boarded (no laying on my belly on a board this year for me)...

Cornhole and Kanjam were played...

There was a lot of just sitting at the beach, or playing in the sand...

And even a little bit of work being done...

Ashleigh's boyfriend went to work creating a castle for the girls, complete with thrones and their initials in the sand made from shells!

We took the girls out in the ocean (Chris mainly took one at a time or both in the boat).

We celebrated Ashleigh and Jessie's birthdays the day after Eleanor's.

And we spent lots of time in the pool (my favorite location as the girls can swim independently with floaties on and I didn't feel quite the full weight of gravity).

S'mores were made...

And lots of family pictures were taken...

(The original Stratton siblings)

We each took turns making (a mostly prepared) dinner...

...spent lots of lovely time with family...

...and enjoyed some delicious beverages (lemonade slushies for me).

It was a great week with family, relaxing, and enjoying life together!