Ellie wore the same silk dress that her older sisters wore for their blessings. I'm hoping someday a granddaughter will wear it as well.
Lizzie slept through her blessing, Alaina smiled through hers. Gabrielle fussed--so much so that Drew had to pause for her. She finally fell asleep at about his last sentence.
My brother, Scott, and his family graciously came to town for the event. Living so far from our families we have felt pretty fortunate to have had family members at all of our children's blessings.
During the blessing I worried for a moment that I would have to slip out with Alaina. She got upset when Andrew left our bench and at one point she even wandered around the outside of the circle looking for him.
I really wanted to get a picture of the cousins together especially since we had inadvertantly dressed the girls as if for a planned picture, what with Codi's girls in red and mine in white.
It was a lot harder to get a shot than I thought it would be.
This was the only sho with Alaina in it. Obviously we didn't get organized enough to toss Gabby in there.
After Sacrement meeting I switched Gabrielle into her white dress, a.k.a. her backup blessing dress (I didn't know if main dress would fit since I didn't get around to trying it on her until a few minutes before the meeting started).
We finally got some smile shots. 
Last weekend I was sick so I spent pretty much every moment I could in bed. Of course when you're a mom (and your hubbie isn't at home) life goes on and you have to haul your butt out of bed and schlep the kids around to things such as a back-to-school fiesta, bi-annual Baptist church consignment sale, and i-hop birthday breakfast.
Both babies cried at my feet while I prepped things, I didn't have time to let them cool properly before icing them, and Alaina refused to walk down the stairs so I had to carry both girls down two flights of stairs whilst simulataneously balancing 20+ cupcakes on a makeshift cardboard tray.
It was worth it when we got to school. Liz lit up when she saw us and all the kiddies exclaimed over the rainbow cupcakes instead of noticing the flaws (uneven icing, crumbling bottoms, inconsistency in size) as I did. 
Lainey enjoyed sitting with the kids and eating popcorn (a surprise gift from Liz). After eating she also lined up with the kids to go back to class. I loved seeing them so happy to be together.
It's not what I would have picked for her, but it wasn't worth the fight. Liz started caring (I mean, really caring) about what she wore at age 2. I guess Alaina's going the same route.
Since we had the uncommon luxury of family in town we had a "family birthday party" for Liz at Chuck E. Cheese last Saturday night. Note to self: never go to Chuck E Cheese on a Saturday night again. It was crazy busy and, after a day at Mt. Vernon/Mt Vernon's parking lots and the swimming pool, the adults were pooped (the kids were pretty cranky by the time we left as well). Scott noticed that Chuck E Cheese sells beer and I bet a lot of the parents there had one or two to make it through the evening (and I don't blame them). 
I didn't get around to making the birthday cake in time to take it to Chuck E Cheese so we had it for brunch Sunday morning. Liz asked if she could decorate it herself. The green border is meant to cover up the places where she and Iris swiped frosting while the grown-ups visited. Needless to say all the adults ate slices from the center of the cake.
Olive was really into into Gabrielle.
She kept "hugging" the baby which pretty much meant laying on her.
Common phrases: "Where my daddy/binki/Lizzie," "Nook! I did it!" "I want daddy" "I want waugger (water=any drink)," "my jammies (jammies=clothing)".
Likes: her green minky blanket (sleeps with it nightly), her binki (we've totally regressed on this and she wants it all the time), her red house slippers (pictured above, she wears them everywhere), fancy dress-up skirts, brushing her hair, dancing, skeleton pajamas, copying her sister, and rocks and leaves (always collecting them when we walk outside).
Dislikes: reading time (she still isn't excited about us reading to her), having her teeth brushed (totally hates this), me singing in the van (she yells "quiet mama!" when I sing along to the radio), and being quiet (though she whispered to me for maybe the first time this week).
Hair situation: She has a rats nest in back pretty much all the time. I'm not sure what to do with it. Andrew wants to trim it, thinking it's caused, or at least exacerbated by split ends. I kind of want to wait it out, thinking longer hair won't do it.
Transisitions: We just turned Lainey's carseat to forward facing last month. She was pretty excited. Also, we are trying to transition Alaina to a big-kid bed (her "bottom bunk" is a mattress on the ground). Some nights go better than others and she often ends up back in the pack-n-play because she won't stay put. Two nights ago I found her sleeping in middle of the bedroom floor. I left her there and by morning she had pretty much made it back to her bed (half on, half off). 
In other news: Gabrielle rolled over for the first time today.
