We are slowly but surely settling into a new routine with baby Elizabeth. Just in time for Jon's work schedule to be overhauled and changed in March, ha ha! Supposedly the new schedule will be better in the long run and not burn everyone out so much, but it means more evenings, so here's to hoping that's true! The sunsets here in Colorado are gorgeous-- let's start the week with that.
Here's Leah practicing making all different kinds of faces. Angry, Happy, Scared, and Silly. She is SUCH a character and cracks us all up on a daily basis. She's been much happier and more "settled" since Elizabeth arrived. Maybe it's just knowing she's not the baby anymore, and there's another kid in the house while Lucy and Zach are at school.
I got home from meeting Jon for lunch one afternoon and found the baby sleeping like this in her car seat. I'm not sure what horrors she was attempting to shield her eyes from-- but Leah said it looked like she was trying to play Peek-A-Boo.
And here she is all duded up in her pretty Valentine's dress that Grandma Joanie bought her. She looked like the sweetest Valentine ever! She is still just tiny. For all the time she spends eating, at her 2 week check-up she was only back up to her birth weight and exactly 6 lbs. 15 oz. We need to break that 7 pound barrier!
Jon had a half day on Wednesday, so that morning we went on an impromptu early Valentine's date for brekky. We found a little French bakery and patisserie called Le Baguette de Normandy in Parker, which is run by a French couple and has won all sorts of "Best of" awards. Jon got a delicious berry tart.
I went all out and actually got breakfast-- an egg, cheese, and ham baguette with french potatoes. It was really good, but the baguette was to die for! I wonder why Americans never figured out how to make European bread?!?
Leah got to tag along and ordered a raspberry cream cake-- she picked it mainly because it was the only pink thing, but it was sure yummy too!
Thursday afternoon we got to go collect Auntie Whitney from downtown Denver so she could spend the weekend with us. We were SO excited!! We hadn't seen her since this summer, which feels like a long time ago. Friday morning (after she ran 10 MILES in preparation for her half marathon) we took her to the Denver Science Museum, and checked out this cool new chocolate exhibit.
Leah was pretty disappointed those chocolates on the wall weren't real, but we loved showing Whitney all the neat exhibits.
I think Leah's new favorite (since Snow White is gone) are the dinosaurs. She loves the little baby ones. Lucy was pretending to be terrified of these two fighting dinosaurs!
We tried Elizabeth in the front pack for the first time ever, and she did pretty good! I'm not sure she liked it all that much-- but she slept most of the time, and only got super ticked off right at the end. She was sure cute to peek down at though while we walked around, and I had the best view!
We decided to expose Whitney to lunch at Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs (from last summer) and it didn't disappoint! She got a beef dog with caramelized onions and cream cheese, which was pretty tame, considering their menu, but Jon was adventurous and tried reindeer. So really, J-Man ate Rudolph, but who's keeping track?? Jon had a Scout camp-out that night, so Whitney helped me hold the fort down and get the kids to bed.
Saturday morning she helped me run errands at Costco once Jon got home, and then they went to Castle Rock to fix some dental work that afternoon. That night I took Whitney out for a belated birthday dinner. After a few failed attempts (most places were PACKED due to Valentine's Day and Jon was babysitting Elizabeth so we didn't have time to wait), we finally ended up at Mellow Mushroom for some Saturday night pizza. Yum! Sister time is the best.
Sunday was of course, Valentine's Day, so Whitney helped me make a special breakfast of red velvet pancakes with cream cheese icing, yogurt parfaits, and scrambled eggs. So I guess sometimes having 1 p.m. church is okay so we can have breakfast feasts like this!
With baby Elizabeth on the way, I didn't pull out very many Valentine's decorations, but here is the most festive part of the house, ha ha.
This is the cute Valentine from our Zach-O, isn't his handwriting the best??
Whitney and I and the kids went to Sacrament meeting while Jon stayed home with the baby. Then we switched for the last two hours. It was sure nice to have an extra set of hands all weekend to hold the baby, play princesses with Leah, play the Wii with Zach, and help cook meals. I could really get used to that!
All too soon it was time for Whitney to fly back home to Arizona. She and I got to have lunch one last time at Kneaders and then it was time for her to leave for the airport. I sure hated seeing her go! She's so fun to be around, and even though we weren't very fun hosts (we had the Bohnanza game out all weekend and never played once), she was so good to help out and sweet with my kids. Baby Elizabeth was so glad to meet her and so thankful she took the time to come visit!! This is her sad, serious face because Whitney left. But isn't she looking very grown up?? It was her 3 week birthday yesterday and I just can't get enough of that sweet little face!! We love you Auntie Whitney!
