Keeping Busy

Boy, oh boy, the past few weeks have been keeping us busy. The biggest culprit of our hectic end-of-September was our trip to St. Petersburg for E.J.'s baptism (and lots of other family fun!), but I'll recap that separately as soon as I sort through the photos a little bit. But here is what else we've been up to lately:

We endured the Great Nap Strike of 2014, in which Ellie went 11 very long days without napping. What does that look like, you wonder? A lot like this:

Poor dear, but sadly, only she can prevent forest fires (so to speak).

However, when she did finally break the napless streak, it looked a little more like this:

MUCH BETTER.

We went to a Pirate Party at Treaty Oak Park in honor of National Talk Like A Pirate Day, and the kiddos took turns rocking a pirate hat, then Ellie went digging for buried treasure (the result of which was her toting around a cardboard treasure chest for days after the event):

Ahoy!

Pirate Ellie with her treasure

My mom came for a little overnight visit, which the kids loved and also allowed Eric and me to take a little walk to San Marco Square for ice cream - Without kids. On a weekend. After dark. We are wild and crazy!

Date night in San Marco Square!

Meanwhile, the kids hung around with Grammy!

Ellie was sick for a good week or so with a sinus infection (thanks, Nap Strike!). She was an absolute dream at the pediatrician (I'm totally not saying that sarcastically at all - thanks, Doc McStuffins!), but administering her antibiotics was a godforsaken nightmare and involved much screaming (on her part), pleading with her to swallow (on our part), wailing and gnashing of teeth (for all of us). And that was on top of the heartache of watching your baby be so miserable, so needless to say, we're glad to have put that behind us.

Poor sick sweetheart

We had a lot of rain for seemingly weeks on end, but that has cleared out and we've had some lovely weather. So, we've been enjoying it in the backyard...:

Backyard fun

Batting practice with Daddy (she requested to "wear my orange helmet and play baseball," much to her father's delight)

Looking like an actual kid. Wasn't she just a baby?

....along the riverfront...:

Sunset river views

...and at the local playgrounds:

A couple of cuties in a playground tunnel

Eric ran the Marine Corps Half Marathon:

Way to go, Eric!

Ellie promptly commandeered his medal.

We went to the zoo (because we always go to the zoo):

Hanging out by the elephants

Piggyback!

E.J. and Ellie played, as kids are wont to do:

E.J. was totally into it.

And last night, E.J. laughed his very first laugh (trust me, Operation: Get Baby Laughing On Video is in FULL effect).

This face!

Of course, we've still been working on the house - we have visitors coming for quick visits in the next two weeks, so we're hoping to have things all finished by then. Or, you know, by Christmas. I have also had lots of crafty projects in the works (decorations for E.J.'s baptism party, his cross-stitch Christmas stocking, Halloween costumes), and obviously Eric is quite busy with school and all that comes along with that. Honestly, who do I need to speak to in order to get more hours in a day?