Hit by a truck

September was the month of sickness. The second Thursday that I had students I got a phone call just as the bell rang saying that Ella had been throwing up. I picked her up from school and brought her home to rest. In between bouts of vomiting, Ella was awfully chipper. She was crawling, playing, and snuggling. Matt made a trip for some Pedialyte and Ella happily sipped on it all night long. As soon as she was feeling better though (Friday morning) Ella decided to go back to full time nursing. Needless to say, she was not happy to go back to school again and deal with bottles. I was lucky enough to be the next flu victim, which left Matt being a solo parent Saturday afternoon. I thought I was going to die right around my second hour laying on the bathroom floor with Jameson. Of course, Matt's big worry was that he was supposed to go to the Charger game on Sunday ;) Grandma T said she would drive down if she needed to. By 1 am I was doing ok and Matt was able to go to football as planned. The girls were very good all day and let me relax in the playroom while they played and snacked.
By Wednesday, Matt went down and he was just in time to be home with Madeline when she got sick on Thursday. They stayed home together on Friday while Matt worked and Madi played. Of course we thought that we were going to be good to go for the rest of flu season. At least we got it out of the way early, right? Wrong! Within the next week, three of the four of us were sick again. Fevers, sore throats, fatigue, ick. I feel the need to bleach the entire house to make sure no more viruses are lingering in the rugs!
Between the bouts of illness, Madeline had her bi-annual trip to the dentist. For the first time she didn't cry at all! I was so proud of her!! Madi let the dentist touch her teeth, talked to her about brushing and was just amazing. I am actually not afraid of the next visit (for the first time)!

August

August was the month of boxes. Packing, moving, unpacking. It was also my month to to have Eleanor home on Fridays and Madeline home on Tuesdays. As much as I love having both girls together, I adore having them individually. I got the chance to take Madi to the beach, on the trolley to eat downtown, and to Sea World (all with just a purse or small bag, wow!). Madeline made all of the choices about her activities, schedule, etc. She seemed to enjoy running the show (of course) and I liked being able to give her the choices without worrying about what Ella needed. I was also so happy to just relax with Ella, cuddle with her sans interruptions, and enjoy my last few weeks of nursing.

I assume I'll be seeing this look a ton in the teen years

Painting with the stamp she made at the science museum turned into handprints and messy fun

Sleeping Ella - a rare sight

At the science museum

Packing was a long process. I am still a little overwhelmed at how little I could pack once we had sent the garage stuff to storage. It felt like we needed everything regularly to keep Eleanor or Madeline functional. Or I couldn't pack the things that made the condo look nice while we were still showing it to potential buyers. Bleh. Once we finally got to the week before moving, I was so glad to be able to just start at the top of the condo and pack every room one by one. Jameson was NOT happy to have boxes all over then house. I am not sure that he is scared of anything quite as much as cardboard. Madi did like all of the boxes, but preferred to play in them versus pack stuff up.

First time playing in the new house!

Bella came for a visit with Grandkarl and the new laundry machines

Madeline wanted a purple room (and insisted Ella did too). Thanks to the extreme wall texture, this took me all day.

The couch trying to fit through the door. We lost this battle and spent the first month in the house using the glider and camping chairs to sit in.

The fridge, a battle for space

We had this gorgeous gate put in to give us dog separation in the back (and more privacy)

Bye Bye empty condo :(

Box pile post unpacking

Our beautiful (slightly retro) stove and microwave

Yay yard with plumerias moved in

Madeline helped Matt empty the storage unit out

The weekend after we moved, the Sheas happened to be visiting San Diego. What a great excuse for a girls' night and a pool party! I was so glad to get out of the house Friday night, wash my hair for the first day in a week and focus on something else besides kids or boxes. This outing also provided me with a goal for unpacking. Before I left the house, we had emptied all of the boxes inside the house except for one office stuff box that is currently living in Matt's closet. Matt took the girls to the Gross' house to hang with the other dads and enjoy some Daddy-Daughter entertainment. On Saturday, we celebrated Brynn's birthday with a pool party at Miss Rose's house. Madeline hit her very first filled pinata! She was terrible, but it was cute to see!

Madi and Michael lunching together

Exactly one week after moving into our house, I was lucky enough to get to unpack my classroom too! If you can't hear the sarcasm in the text, check your volume :) Matt stayed home with the girls on Friday since they had a teacher day. After spending the morning together, he had enough and came to have lunch with me (and leave the kids behind when he left). The girls were stoked to watch Blues Clues on my giant promethean board and Madi played with all of my science toys! Luckily, my mom came down on Friday night to watch the girls and we headed out to Juniper and Ivy for an adult night out. Matt and I celebrated our birthdays and anniversary with a super yummy dinner at a fun place. I even got to meet Chef Blaise!

The Labor Day weekend was filled with fun. Mostly we enjoyed our house, and got ready to have friends over for the first time. Madeline had her tent up all over the outside (and inside) of the house. She spent three days eating meals in the tent, trying to sleep in her tent, and getting the dogs to go in and play with her! We had so much fun with our friends! We haven't entertained more than one couple at a time in years. With the size of the condo and people having kids, we just didn't have the space for good separation. The house has completely changed that feeling! We have a great space for the dogs outside, they are even doing ok being separated inside the house. We love the outdoor space for the kids to play and grown ups to hang out. The kids go to play in the blow up pool, run in and out of the playroom, and generally just be crazy with very little worries over dangers. Our Sunday BBQ day was awesome even though it was a zillion degrees and the flies were insatiable! I am so looking forward to our next day to have friends over!