September wrap-up

September was a huge month for us as we added a new member to our family! We were expecting her at the end of the month and she surprised us early so the end of our month was a bit more relaxed than the beginning.

Eleanor started a program at church called Mom's Morning Out this month. It is kind of like the equivalent of pre-school, but for kids that are too young to actually go to pre-school. She loves it and asks every day that we head towards church if we are going to Mom's Morning Out. They make little crafts and she gets the chance to play with her friends.

Both my friends at work and my friends in our community threw me showers before Jane arrived. It was so sweet and I had a great time at both! They both happened to be just days before Jane came, so it's good she at least waited until she did!

Eleanor got this magnadoodle style toy from a friend and she has been calling it her "iPad." When she erases what she draws, she calls it "turning off my iPad." The other day she brought me this picture and told me she drew an umbrella!

Here is just a cute picture of Eleanor and Chris wearing ties before he had to head to work one morning.

I grew tomatoes this year, but instead of using my earth box, I planted them in the ground. Unfortunately, the spot I picked ended up being a hot bed for squirrels, so I never got any tomatoes off the plant. On a more fortunate note, the tomatoes I grew last year re-seeded, so I ended up with a third plant in a less squirrel-infested area that I actually did get tomatoes from!

Because my doctor's appointments got more and more frequent at the beginning of this month, we ended up having to get more and more creative with childcare for Eleanor so I could make the appointments. Eleanor went to visit Chris at work once or twice so I could go, and friends offered to come over and have playdates with Eleanor while I went to the doctor. She loved both options :)

One of our friends from college came to visit from Washington state earlier this month, too. We had actually just seen her when we went out to Seattle and Bend in March, but it was great to see her again and on our home turf!

As I mentioned earlier, about halfway through the month our world changed and things slowed down significantly with the arrival of Jane. We ended up doing a lot more laying around sleeping and napping.

Eleanor has loved holding and kissing baby Jane, and we have tried to teach her to be as gentle as she can.

We've had several visitors come including Uncle Robert and Auntie Joanna, Auntie Erika, Auntie Lauren and Auntie Ashleigh (as well as all the grandparents).

Eleanor also wants to copy everything baby Jane does, including getting swaddled in her blanket.

I took a picture days after Jane was born to compare to Eleanor and they look remarkably similar when they were each a couple days old!

All of our visitors did their best to help keep Eleanor entertained while I took care of Jane, including baking cookies.

We also went to the park a few times to let her get her energy out.

We went to Kidsburg one day, which is a bigger park than our local neighborhood one, and that was a huge hit for Eleanor, especially because Chris took her on the zipline!

Zipline from Katie Stratton on Vimeo.

Another fairly regular outing was trips to Colonial Williamsburg.

Despite these outings, Eleanor was a little stir crazy after a couple weeks of being home, so when Jane was 12 days old, he headed back to church so she could play with her friends again. We also made it to a story time on that Friday!

The next day was my first day alone with both girls and despite Eleanor not napping, we made it to Mom's Morning Out on time, with bows in her hair, though Jane was not dressed or fed and was crying the entire time.

Overall, we are adjusting pretty well. We are getting into a routine (kind of) and are figuring out life with two. Everyone is fed and clothed (even if it is pjs) and sometimes clean. We are making progress!

Welcome, October!