Happy Birthday Marines!

Happy 238th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

I must admit....Marines sure do make the cutest babies ;)

Hello again

I don't know where to begin. A LOT has happened since I last posted a few months ago, and I'm not sure how to catch up on everything. We have traveled across the country and are now living in California! We used our GoPro to record our trip, and I eventually plan on putting together a video to share our cross-country move. We love it here! We are 5 mins from the beach, and the mountains & hills are all around us. The weather is amazing! We have spent so much time outside here, which we were unable to do in SC b/c it was either too hot or the bugs were too bad. Stuart is back to "normal" working hours and it has been a blessing to spend so much time together as a family. We have seen him more in the past few months than we have in the past 3 years! And it's the little things that we cherish, like eating dinner together as a family, having help with our night time routine, and having him home on the weekends. I'll share the video of our move as soon as I finish it, but until then I'll leave you with a few Cali beach pics because it's one of our favorite places to be...

The sunsets are my favorite.

Spoiled Little Girls

A few weeks ago, Stuart and I came across these plans for a house bed and thought it would be fun if we could make one for the girls. When my husband gets an idea for something, he's determined to start right away and get it done! So he did. It has been a project we've been working on the past few weeks, mainly at night when the girls were sleeping. The original plans were to have the bottom bunk enclosed with windows and an opening, but we decided to change that so it would be easier to change the sheets and also better for a 2 year old! I'm happy we changed it, because it's a great place for the kids to play and a place that the whole family can sit together and read bedtime stories. The girls saw it as it was being built, but once we started painting it we thought it would be fun if we kept it a surprise and made a big reveal after it was all put together in their room. Today was the big day! And......they love it!!! 

The stairs have built in bookshelves on the side.

"Are you kidding? The top bunk is mine." -Scarlett

Originally I was hesitant about the whole idea. And then I thought back to the playhouse that my dad built for me and my sister when we were kids. It provided us some of the best childhood memories! I can only hope that this bed does the same for our girls! They won't ever know how much work was put into building it, but that doesn't matter. To see the joy on their faces and someday listen to their stories about the house bed that their dad made them makes it completely worth it! :)

Sick Baby

Poor baby woke up with a 102 fever a couple of nights ago. She has had a nasty cough/cold and I wanted to make sure she didn't have an ear infection so I took her to the dr yesterday. Sure enough, it was a little infected. She's been pretty miserable. Just glad it happened before we started traveling! She's on antibiotics now, so she should be all better by the time we leave!

Daddy's arms make her feel better.

6 Months

I can't keep up with all of these updates! 

I feel like every month, one of the kids either has a birthday or a milestone. 

 Ellie is 6 months already! 

-She is finally sleeping unsaddled! It took her a few days to transition, but now she is sleeping all night again without being swaddled. Although she's not really a fan of being rocked to sleep anymore. She would rather self-soothe herself. Which is good, but makes me kind of sad b/c I love rocking my babies!
-I normally put her to bed around 8 and she sleeps until 7ish! This morning I had to wake her up because she was still sleeping at 8:00 and we had to get ready and leave for PT! Funny how the kids always sleep in when have somewhere to be.
-As of her 6 month well check, she weighs 18lbs 10oz and is 26.5 inches tall. Everyone comments on how big she is, but she's actually just a little above average for a 6 month old :)
-She is rolling and scooting all over now. If I put her down and she sees something nearby, she turns her whole body to try and get to it. She's even trying to get up on her knees! Not so sure I'm ready for a crawling baby yet.
-We started her on solid foods last week. She wasn't too crazy about it, but each day she's getting better and seems to be liking it more now.
-She is OBSESSED with her tongue! She always has her tongue sticking out or is sucking on her tongue. It's so funny, and has now become her classic look.
-She has been doing great at PT, and will be finished with her therapy in the next couple of weeks! She has full range of motion both ways, just has a little tilt left.
-Her nicknames are Ellie Bell, LuLu or Lu, Elles, and in the voice of a 2 year old Scarlett calls her Eddy & WuWu.
-She can sit supported, but not completely by herself yet.
-She's a great baby, and goes with the flow. Not that she has much of a choice ;)

We love you Lu! 

Hoping the next 6 months go by slower than the past 6, but I know they won't :(