Winter Is On The Way

Uggggghh. Yuck, I hate winter. Luckily we live far enough south that it's really not THAT bad. It's still cold, though, a couple of months. Ella Ann has outgrown most of her clothes from last winter, including her coat, and I have minimal items for Rane, sans coat as well. My pocket book, a.k.a. Spencer, is just thrilled about it all. I, on the other hand, will take any excuse necessary to hit the mall, Atlantic Station, consignment stores, Target, etc. to buy anything! Although shopping with two now has been a challenge. I can usually only go to once place between naps and/or after naps so that has put me behind and made me rush. I went to a consignment store by our house and it was full of good (maybe) items but I had to hold Rane the entire time because there weren't any carts and there was a huge, hairy dog in the store. If I put him down, which I did twice, I had to chase after him because he was chasing the dog and when I picked him back up he was as hairy as the dog. Gross. Yeah and the dog kept licking my legs because, according to the owner, "He likes lotion." Have I mentioned before that I'm not a dog lover? I did leave with a couple of things for Rane, shoes for Ella Ann but no coats. That's my delimma.

So I have a funny story. When do I not? It was high time for us to purchase some pumpkins for our front porch so off Ella Ann, Rane and I went to Fresh Market on Monday, a grocery store next to our church. They had a beautiful pumpkin pyramid display on top of several produce stands inside the store. Of course Ella Ann wanted the big pumpkin on the bottom ("It is the prettiest, Mommy!") so as I start disassembling the pyramid they ALL started to shuffle and shake and before I could get my arms wrapped around one of them they went tumbling down. It was like a scene out of a cartoon. Ella Ann just stood there and said, "Uh oh Mommy." When it was all said and done, I had busted one pumpkin and a couple of glass jars of minced garlic...all over the floor. After apologizing profusely to the employees cleaning up the mess I turned to Ella Ann and said very sternly, "Pick out a pumpkin NOW. We are leaving." It will be a while before I show my face in there again!

In other news, Rane has another gross cold and Spencer caught it as well. At least we haven't been stricken with the H1N1 virus, which I'm sure will be knocking on our door soon...I'm just waiting. He started cruising the furniture earlier this week and he is loving his new-found independence. He also started standing in his crib this week. He can get down any time from a standing position except for in the crib. I don't know why. So he screams until I go in and lay him back down only to have him stand back up again before I'm out the door. I think he's milking it. I could swear he says "Mama" now, and Spencer can vouch for me. I took him to his 9-month checkup on Wednesday and he now weighs 19 1/2 pounds (25th percentile still), 80th percentile for height and 50th percentile for head circumference. He will be tall and skinny. Surprise, surprise.

Ella Ann has been doing great at school and she is loving it, especially ballet. She comes home on Wednesdays and shows me all her new dance steps. I get so excited to watch her! She's almost 4 and I can hardly believe it. She is quite a challenge at times but boy is she a fun kid to be around. I've started really planning her birthday party this week. I'm super excited about it...should be a good time for all! After last year's cooking party I decided that I can no longer do parties alone so we will start having them on Saturdays so Spencer can help. I think his job will be to just keep up with Rane!

I got hats at the consignment store. I love babies in hats!

Before I buy anything I now have to ask Ella Ann, "Okay, if I buy this will you wear it? Promise?" She is not fun to dress. If she finds one single thing wrong with anything (like a string hanging down or something random like that) forget it. The outfit is done and she will refuse to wear it again without a fight. She did agree to wear the hat, though!


Rane pulled up to the kitchen for the first time and he loves terrorizing Ella Ann by getting into all of it!