Days with the Jensens: Stuffing the Weekend

Since Spencer was in Toccoa this weekend I jammed packed the weekend so that we wouldn't be sitting around the house....it worked out well! On Saturday morning we met Megan and her two boys, Luke and Henry, at the zoo. Her husband is also a physician and was working that day so we decided to kill some time and have some fun while doing it. The weather was absolutely perfect so we really enjoyed being outside and were able to take our time and do whatever we wanted. They opened a new parakeet exhibit a while back and we finally went to it. We have avoided it in the past because Ella Ann was too afraid to go inside (the birds are free inside a big "tent" so they could land on you or you could hold out a stick with food on the end and feed them). Well we got inside and Ella Ann didn't want to leave! She loved seeing all the pretty birds and watching them fly around everywhere. Luke and Ella Ann loved running around and eating their picnic lunch together and Rane and Henry entertained themselves in the stroller and never made a peep.

That afternoon I loaded up the kids again and hit the mall for some shopping. A gap coupon was burning a hole in my pocket and absolutely needed to be redeemed so we bought a few things. I forgot that Macy's Pink Pig was up and running this weekend and Santa would be there so I was not prepared at all for the whining and crying that ensued after my slew of "Nos" to Ella Ann. Hey...I didn't bring my camera and she wasn't wearing a cute outfit so we were NOT going to do anything memorable that day. I promised Ella Ann at least 42 times that we would come back another day (less crowded for sure) and ride the pink pig and chat with Jolly Old Saint Nick.

Sunday we went to church and Trader Joe's in the afternoon. It doesn't seem like we did a lot but in between naps, bedtimes and mealtimes we really were not home.

So Rane turned 10 months old on Monday. Now he's in the double digits....sniff, sniff. He has been consistently fighting his 2nd nap for nearly 2 weeks. I have tried everything...pushing the time up, pushing it back, staying in the "middle" of the nap, shortening the first, etc. and absolutely nothing has worked. So today was the day. I kept him up until 11:30 and we are trying one nap today. Can't believe my 10-month-old could possibly only take ONE nap but he is. It was the easiest he's gone down for a nap in weeks and it's the longest he has slept so far. Most babies do not drop to 1 nap until 14/15 months (Ella Ann was the poster child) but a handful do drop early...lovely, mine is one of them. I'm looking for my silver lining....we will eventually get to a good 12:30/1 p.m. nap and he and Ella Ann can go down at the same time and I can, once again, eat my lunch ALONE! Ahhhh.......I can almost see the light!

If you look closely you can see what the kids are looking at....a dead mouse in the buzzard's mouth!

He was either chewing on the strap or the strap to my diaper bag for close to 2 hours.

Leaving the elephant exhibit.

Ella Ann desperately tried numerous times to grab Luke's hand but he wasn't havin' it! At this point she has better luck holding hands with the girlfriends!

Lunch!

Before bed Saturday night I traced Ella Ann's body on a piece of paper. We do this somewhat often and she really likes it. We dress her in different outfits...that night it was a skirt, shirt and a bow. She always "paints" the fingers and toes.