A Bunch of Carrots

So, a local supermarket has awesome deals on produce every Wednesday. This Wednesday they had carrots for .25 cents/pound! I couldn't pass it up and bought 21 pounds and canned them yesterday. Crazy of me, I know, but it was worth it and really was not difficult to do. It just took a lot of time. :)

The end result ended up costing less that .25 cents per pint! (including seals) Worth it in my book!

Here are a few pics from today! I'm so glad that the kids went down for naps at the same time - I definitely needed one too and everyone cooperated today! We're all, in particular me, much happier than we were this morning. :)

I'm excited to have the weekend to spend with James! We don't get to spend enough time with him lately. Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day. Maybe a picnic will work out? I'll try to keep posting pictures so those who aren't close can watch Ella grow and change.

Addison is reminding me of Audrie (Tara's little girl) lately. I think it's probably b/c of the huge, beautiful eyes and the age.

Miss Ella

Little Ella joined our family on Thursday, March 5th around 7:30pm. I actually went into labor on my own this time and didn't have to be induced! She was even two days early. I can't say that the few days before she came were so pleasant though. :) I started having regular contractions every night, starting Monday, that would be hard enough to keep me awake, but would just stop in the morning. :) So, I've been sleep deprived for quite awhile now. Oh well, it goes with the territory, right?

Everything went well with the labor, no complications whatsoever. Addison is having a bit of a hard time adjusting, but seems to be doing better now that we are a little bit closer to our normal routine. She is having a day out with Grandma Harward today! She'll have a blast.

My mother was able to come out last week and help. I don't think I would have survived without all of her help, Thanks Mom!

Ella is a really sweet baby, not colicky like Addie was, and is easy to take care of. We are happy to have her in our family and look forward to her growth and development. I'm curious to see what her personality is going to be like.

Wish me luck as I adjust to being a mother of two!

Baby Clothes

Can you tell I'm trying to catch up on my blog? Crunch time before the baby's born I guess. :)
Yesterday Addison waltzed into the room wearing a 3-6 month old baby dress! It was quite funny, I'm amazed she was able to pull it over her head and arms. I had been organizing the clothes on my bed and they were all in piles in the laundry basket just calling to her. Here are a few pictures.

Broken Ring

James called me from work today and told me that his ring had a chunk broken out of it when he dropped it at work that day! I was quite astonished that could happen and immediately searched for the receipt. I'm so glad that I found it and we were able to exchange it for a new one without any hassle.

If you are deciding on a ring to purchase for your fiancee (Ali) I would recommend thinking twice about a Tungsten ring, they don't scratch, but they can break! We really have liked it overall, but if we have to replace it every four years then it wouldn't be worth it!

Little Helper

Addison loves to help in the kitchen and these pictures show just how helpful she can be.

This was taken on a Saturday morning so Addison wasn't dressed yet. She was "helping" me in the kitchen and had to experiment with the measuring cup!

Please note that Addison is wearing not one, but three aprons. They were all necessary in order to help!

Genuine Smile

It is so hard to get Addison to hold still and smile for pictures lately. I was so pleased to see how this picture turned out, so cute!

Valentine's Day - a bit late

As I mentioned below, we took Addie to build-a-bear for V-day and she got to spend the rest of the evening with Aunt Ali. She loves her and although she was a bit groggy from being woken up from a nap, (bawled being put in the car!) I'm sure she had a great time.

James and I spent the rest of the evening deciding what to do. :) We thought about going to see a movie, but they all looked crappy. Then we looked into renting a movie, but the only one that appealed to both of us wasn't out on video yet and wasn't in theaters anymore. So, we looked into going out to eat, but all of the restaurants had around a 2 hour wait. Instead, we decided to head to the grocery store and made a delicious meal of Steaks, Pasta, and asparagus. It was yummy!

I made some scrumptious treats for my Valentines and they are pictured below. I found the recipe for the chocolate covered cakes (similar to bon bons) here.
They were a bit sweet for me, but everyone else seemed to like them. The cupcakes with candy cane hearts were for Addison because she LOVES candy canes, and they needed to be used.

Here is a picture of James and Addison while Addie enjoys her cupcake.

A trip to Build-A-Bear

On Valentine's Day we took a trip to the mall and Addison got to choose an animal to build. (Thank you Tara!) She chose a pink monkey that she named Emily Elizabeth (after the show Clifford of course!).

Naptime Terror

Here is a glimpse into what goes on in Addison's room when she's supposed to be taking a nap. Thank goodness it only happens occasionally!
She's wearing some random pajama pants, the lamp is knocked over, clothes and blankets everywhere . . . and that's just this corner of the room! It's worth the time I get to myself though b/c most of the time she does fall asleep after terrorizing the room. :)