Dr. Ella, reporting for duty

Ella’s playing so good in the playroom that I thought I’d blog, although I don’t really have anything great to say.

I was actually looking online to see if cramping during the second trimester is normal. And it is. More of your uterus stretching out to make room. I wonder if the baby is going to have a growth spurt. My belly does suddenly look larger today.

We’ve stayed home all day today, which is rare. My husband had no conference calls (which we need to be gone or quiet for) and he’s actually out of the house for a few hours. So, I decided I could use a day with stretch pants and no mascara on.

Ella’s doing well with potty training. Accidents here and there, but none today, and she’s actually gone three times in her potty today. Now the biggest mess is cleaning up the mile-stretch of toilet paper she thinks she needs or the gallon of soap she dispenses out to wash her hands. This is how I found her yesterday while washing her hands.

I thought maybe she was prepping for surgery or something.

Date night

Steve and I had a great datenight Saturday night. Grandma picked up Ella around 2 p.m. at our house, giving us almost the whole day to relax. Is she awesome or what?

We took our time, perusing Barnes and Nobles for like an hour, we went to a few other shops, we ate some delicious Japanese food, then saw the movie “The Ugly Truth,” which was OK. Not great.

Anyway, it was very nice to have a little break, and what’s great is that Ella no longer cries when we leave. Instead, she’s psyched to go to Grandma’s. So I don’t even really have any guilt about it all.

So I think I’ve realized how very important date night is. I’m relaxed. Steve’s relaxed. We had a break from all Ella all the time, despite the deliciousness that she is.

We need to do it MORE. Once a month would be awesome. I know one mom who has one with her husband every single Tuesday night. I think that’s great. The whole family is still together all weekend, so it doesn’t cut into that time. But that would be pretty costly. Once a month would be good for us.

Baby bump – 17 weeks

I finally thought of having a baby bump photo taken and wasn’t wearing sweat pants and glasses and sporting air-dried afro hair. So, here you are, at approximately 17.5 weeks along.

Random post

I haven’t written a lot lately, and not for lack of topics. I mean I am potty training – that could be several posts on it’s own. Although I’m not sure if older Ella would appreciate the gory details shared on the world wide web. So, anyway I’ll just share some random bullet points.

1. I just ordered two books from Amazon and I can’t wait to have something to read: My Booky Wook by Russel Brand, and Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. (I read the later one years ago and LOVED it. I would still say she is my favorite author, but I haven’t read one of her books for years. Should be fun.) The other one is one of those juicy autobiographies we love in the Trashy Book Club. And this man is also a very funny comedian. Should be a good read.

2. We payed off our car not too long ago. This means BOTH of our vehicles are PAYED OFF! Awesome. I’m quite proud of us. Now we need to just really fight the urge of considering new cars for a few years, so we can tackle my student loan. But not bad considering we payed off my hubby’s big student loan, all our credit cards and both cars … I think this is a good accomplishment.

3. Steve and I have a datenight this weekend. I’m ready. We haven’t had one in a while … I hope to try out new resaurant in town – Baker’s Street.

4. I let Ella pick out something at ToysRUs today for doing so great with the potty. She picked out a stamp set and bought a few animals for a collection of hers. She’s doing such a good job!

5. We’re going on a little trip next month to Nashville and staying at the Opryland Hotel. I’m really excited. The hotel looks awesome. Steve will have to work a little bit while we’re there – hence the trip, but we’ll still have plenty of time. I’m excited to stay somewhere really nice, eat awesome food that I don’t have to cook or clean up after and do some fun touristy stuff. Not to mention there is a ton to do right at the hotel, and lots of stuff for kids. Here are some pics.

Yeah, that’s the hotel. Quaint isn’t it?