Yosemite Vacation

As promised here are the rest of the Yosemite pics.  We had a great time.  I feel like we could have spent two weeks in the park and still not been able to see everything we wanted too. Yosemite is HUGE! Ben and I had an over ambitious itinerary of things we wanted to see and do. We stayed about 40 mins outside of the park in a small town Groveland, where we rented a house.  Once we got into the park it took another 30-40 mins to drive to the main hiking trails and sites we wanted to see. By the time we parked everyone had to use the bathroom again.  Then we would unload the stroller, grab all the cameras, snacks and water. So add another 10 mins to our prep time.  So you see it was turning out to be a time consuming process.   We could only fit in one good "hike" a day with all this driving and prepping and pregnancy related stops to the bathroom and to eat.  I put hike it quotation marks because hiking takes on a whole new meaning when you have a toddler. We stuck to mostly paved trails since we had the stroller.  We tried to let Ella out of the stroller as much as possible.  She had a few spills but I guess she has to start learning to watch where she walks.  Don't take this as complaining about our trip. It's not.  It just stuck me as amazing the differences between our PRE-baby vacations to state parks vs Now.   Before Ella Ben and I would get up early, eat a quick breakfast and find a trail off the beaten path. We were typically the first ones out on the trails in the morning.  Afterwards we were physically exhausted but felt great that we mastered the woods.  Now, it doesn't matter what time we get up or which trail we take we end up exhausted just from change of routine and taking care of someone elses needs.  

As much as taking a vacation with a toddler can be tiring, it's exciting to see Ella's face when she sees something for the first time.  We talked about the animals in the park.  We even saw several deer. One of which we feed from our back yard. She loved looking up at the huge waterfalls and feeling the rush of water under her feet as we stood on the bridge for a photo opportunity.  She picked up every rock, leaf and stick she could find.  She got dirty several times and even dipped her feet in a cold stream that was fed by one of the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen.  Mommy even dipped her feet in the water too.  It felt amazing on my tired  feet.  Ella on the other hand was not thrilled.  Guess she doesn't like her feet being cold.  But she ended up finding plenty of rocks to throw into the stream which is her favorite activity.   I always joke that she might turn out to be like her Aunt Julie and become a geologist.  She can't resist picking up rocks, and digging in the dirty with her shovel.  Although, she can't stand to get dirty.  So I'm not sure how that is going to work out.

The last night there we made a quick stop at the store and grabbed some marshmallows for roasting, or in Bens case, burning.  Ella wasn't fond of toasting her marshmallow but she liked eating it off of the stick anyways.  The last morning we were in Groveland after eating breakfast out, we packed up and found some stable where we fed the horses. (Pics to come) Ella wasn't thrilled with their massive size but I think she liked seeing them up close.  She talked about the horses all the way home.   Overall it was a pretty amazing trip.  I hope to go back some day when the kids are better hikers and really get some miles under our feet.

Yosemite Pics

Just a few Yosemite pics. Will post and write more later.   We took over 400 pics while we were in the park!!!  It has been a chore to pic the best pictures to share.  The park was so beautiful I wish I could post all of the pictures.

Another beautiful day in CA!

Thursdays are our playgroup days. So today we met up at Breck's house and walked over to her community pool. Here are the older girls holding hands while we crossed the street. Left to right, yours truly, Ella , Amelie and Kate. Too cute. Little girls can be so sweet;-) Pretty soon two more will be added. Breck is expecting her second in june, then two short months later it will be time for me to deliver. That will make 7 girls and 1 boy!! Yikes! That's alot of kids.

Ella's new sand box

Even though this wasn't my idea I feel very proud of myself for creating this for Ella. I found this on Pinterest and I couldn't wait for the weather to warm up so she could enjoy it. Instead of purchasing a sand table or a large wooden sand box that cost at least $50-100 I bought a large rubber maid container($13) and a bag of sand ($5) and thats it! When we are done playing we just snap the lid shut. If I don't want her playing in the sun I can wheel it into the shade. It's perfect. Everyone knows Ella doesn't like getting dirty anyways so she doesn't mind sitting outside of the box. Now I just have to convince her it's ok to get her hands dirty. As soon as she gets sand on her fingers she wants to wipe them off just to put her fingers back into the box. Oh well...I guess she will have to figure that one out for herself.

24 Weeks!

Well, we are a little more then half way there to meeting baby girl #2.  Ella has been very attentive to my belly.  She asks to hug the baby and give her kisses, and at times she just sits next to me while we watch TV and will rub my belly.  It's nice that she is getting to experience this pregnancy with us.  It's one of the perks of being pregnant with a toddler.  But there has been a lot of difficulties too.  Some days I just don't have the patience or energy for the toddler tantrums, and struggles that Ella has been displaying.  I definitely feel more tired this pregnancy, but I guess I have under estimated how exhausting it can be to take care of toddler while trying to keep up with the house, and take care of myself.   But overall the pregnancy has been going well, other then the wicked sweet tooth I have developed.   I am guilty of indulging more this pregnancy then I did with Ella.  Lets hope all the walking we do in Yosemite next week will help take care of those extra calories. 

The Ultrasound pics are from our 19 week scan when we found out the gender.  I promised to post them but never got around to scanning them.   I think it's amazing to see her face close up since we never got any Pics of Ella like that but the rest of the pics did not turn out great.  Ellas ultrasound pics were more defined and we got to see her feet, hands and individual bones.
Next post will be of our Yosemite vacation.  We can't wait to leave town for a little bit and get some exercise outside.  
See you next time!!

An Ella brag

Ella has been super sweet the past few days . This week on our way to a friends house, from the back seat of the car Ella said to me " Mommy, you are cute and funny and take care of me and I love you". That just made my week. I don't need anything else for mothers day now. But that's not all.

Then one night I went to a Moms club event and left Ella with Ben. I thought I would be home in enough time to say goodnight to her but had such a good time socializing I lost track of the time. When I got home Ella was asleep but Ben said she had a melt down right before bed time. She was crying because I wasn't home to say good night to her. Even though I felt bad I didn't get to say goodnight to her it was nice that she missed me so much. Since I have been pregnant I have not been the fun parent. When Ben gets home from work he is fresh,exciting and playful. Where as I am tired, achey and irritable. So I have been feeling like Ben is the her favorite. It was nice to hear that she missed me so much.

And these pictures here in the post is of Ella reading to me and the baby. I told her Mommy was tired so she said, "You relax on the couch mommy and I will read you and baby a story. " Then she proceeded to cover me up with one of her blankets. It was by far my favorite week. Ella has been so sweet and affectionate lately. It has been a perfect beginning to a mothers day weekend.

Ella

Her future is so bright she's gotta wear shades!

Spring sunshine

The weather has really gotten nice here. We have had some hot days but for the most part it's been very comfortable. It's my favorite time of year. As long as I can wear flip flops and tank tops I'm happy. And I love doing warm weather activities with Ella.

Yesterday we took our first trip to the pool and today Ella is blowing bubbles,and playing with side walk chalk. But her favorite activity now is playing catch with Baxter. She has so much fun stealing the ball away from him as he chases her from one end of the yard to the next. She cracks up. And ofcourse Bax loves the attention and exercise. It's nice that they can entertain one another. It allows me to clean the kitchen or better yet, enjoy some of the sunshine in peace.

Our big announcment!!!

Today we had our 2 trimester Ultrasound and found out that Ella will have a little sister. She got her wish. We are so excited! Of course we would have been excited with a boy as well but it's great not having to wonder anymore. Now we can start considering names.

All the blood work and the measurements from the Ultrasound looked great. Baby is perfectly healthy and in the 50th percentile. We have some ultrasound pics that we will scan and post later but I wanted to make the announcement first. I couldn't wait. Saturady I will be 20 weeks!! I can't believe Im already half way through the pregnancy. It is going way too fast. I guess we need to start preparing. Muffin #2 will be here before we know it!! ;-)

Easter Sunday

I posted a lot of pictures all at once so hopefully they all make it on the blog. Excuse any duplicate pics or posts.

We had a very relaxing Easter Sunday. First we woke up early and ate breakfast out. Luckily we beat the crowd. Afterwards we went to lake Del Valle and had a nice hike, to burn off all the French toast we ate. Daddy and Ella love sitting beside the lake and throwing stones. It's amazing how something so simple can bring on so much excitement to a toddler. The beginning portion of the walk was pretty slow cause Ella had to stop and collect rock before we got to the lake. Even though there are TONS of rocks at the lake. Either way, she had fun being out of the stroller for a bit. Right around lunch time got back home but we were still pretty full from breakfast. A nap was in order for everyone in the Glanville family this day.

After a restful nap Ella got a surprise from the Easter bunny. She skipped right over the new outfit I bought her and headed straight to the chocolate bunny and new bath toy that she has not stopped obsessing over since she opened her Easter gifts.

While Ella was fully distracted by her goodies I made a ham dinner and followed it with one of the best deserts I have ever made. For the sake of not being embarrassed by it's original name I will call it pineapple bliss cake. We polished it off in 3 nights with a little help from some neighbors but I hated giving some of it away cause it was so good. It was the perfect ending to Easter. Now come on spring and warm up already!!!!!!

Easter

The funny things Ella says.

The great thing about toddlers is that they are always surprising you with the things they say. You may think that they don't know a word and they use it perfectly in a sentence or say something that takes you completely off guard. Here are two of my favorite examples lately.

One day Ella and I were driving to the store and were stopped at a light. Out of no where she says " Mommy, I want lips on my lips." I had to think about what she was saying. Is she asking for a kiss ? She knows the word kiss. Why doesnt she just ask for a kiss? But it doesn't matter. When your little girl asks you for a kiss it doesn't matter how she phrases it. Your heart just melts. So now instead of asking for kisses the whole family asks for "lips on my lips".

Monday morning, right after waking up Ella and I were still in our PJs. We were talking about what we were going to eat for breakfast. While I was getting food ready in the kitchen Ella says "Mommy, when the baby comes out it has to be a girl" I was shocked. We weren't even talking about the baby. Then tonight as Ben and I were putting her to bed she said it again. This time she replaced " has to " with "NEEDs to be". I guess she really wants a little sister. I hope not to disappoint her but I guess we just have to wait and see at our next Ultrasound. She is infatuated with any baby she sees so I'm sure she will love her sibling no matter the gender.