Elaine (Ellie) Nicolette Hoffman

What a crazy time. It seems I like making my life difficult. It is usually totally my own fault. I have no one to blame except myself. One would think having a baby would be enough to easy my idealistic productivity attitude. Yet who was it that let me make the decision to move to a new house the day I come home from the hospital? Who can I blame!!!? And yet…two weeks later, we seem to have survived it. We are, mostly, still sane, have found our packed underwear, and have plentiful ice cream in the freezer. Life seems pretty normal. Sorry for the lack of blogs recently. No real good excuse. Pregnant, moving, having a baby, unpacking, nursing, mothering, family…you get the picture. So here are a few pictures of the new little addition to our family. We are in love with her. Aside from her 2 hour night nursing schedule: we don’t love that so much. She has more outfits that she will outgrow in the next two weeks than I think I have ever owned (though I did have roommates that could challenge her clothing supply). She smiles, coos, nurses well, looks just like Jack (except girl style), and is very alert. Granted she is only just over two weeks, but she is a piece of cake. The rest of us are doing well. Danny and I are getting a little sleep here and there. Jack is adjusting—it has been pretty hard on him, but the last few days have seen him settling down a little. I just wonder what is going through his little head sometimes. We are officially a family. Danny and I have KIDS, CHILDREN. Who knew?

Pool=Happiness and Long Naps

Jack LOVES the pool--there is no doubt. This trip was to a friend's pool and we were there for over 2 hours playing hard. Strapped in his car seat with radio AND windows all the way down--OUT before we even got onto the main road. Pool=Happy Mom Time.

Yeah, he is pretty cute.

I know...it has been a while. We are doing well. I am 29 weeks and getting bigger. Things are going well (aside from sleeping...but who needs sleep anyway). Jack is ALMOST in nursery (June 3rd), but loves the time we spend in there on Sundays. He says a lot of words--but rarely on command. (cookie, Jesus, juice, mom, dad, all done, amen, apple, shoes...) He loves being outside and playing in the pool. Also favorites are still stacking cups and books. He has a little piano he loves to play and sing with. He spends a lot of time in the kitchen with me as well--usually making messes. Here are some pictures--just some things he has been up-to.

Ellie's photo shoot

Here she is at 23 weeks.
Opening and closing her mouth.
She is totally cute.

First Ice Cream Cone

DQ has their blizzards buy one get one for 99 cents.
Couldn't pass that deal up.
So Jack got his first ice cream cone.
And liked it (big surprise.).











(and some other random pictures)



My new chair that we recovered.


Preparing for the tornados (he emptied my pantry into his laundry basket)...

Reading

Jack loves books.
I read him books all day long.
But something fun has happened. The usual is him bringing a stack of books to me and we read them (or turn the pages), but occasionally I find him looking through them himself--and sometimes "reading."
Caught this in tape:

Steak and Shake

Yes. We have eaten out waaay too much this past month. And eaten frozen dinners and breakfast foods.
Why?
Because we keep passing a horrible bug around. Well, Jack and Danny pass it--I just keep it the whole time. Add pregnancy on top and wallah! No dinners.

Anyhow. This day wasn't so bad, but I was running arrneds (because I didn't feel well enough to do so other days) and ran out of time. So I picked up sandwiches and shakes. It was Jack's first chocolate shake (I think...).

Enjoy.