Tired

I thought once January would hit, things would slow down to a normal pace and I could recover from all the excitement of January but no, nothing has really slowed down and at 34 weeks pregnant, I find myself tired a lot of the time. Not to mention I haven't slept the past 4 nights but more on that later. I am also in full nesting mode and Mike has caught the bug as well, we are trying to clean up and organize before the new little one comes. Mike was very busy this weekend building me new shelves in the garage to try and squeeze every last little bit of storage we can out of the garage. But before we get too far into 2012, I want to share some last images of 2011 and first ones of 2012.

New Year's Eve was pretty low key this year and that's just fine with me. When you are pregnant and have a 2 year old, New Year's Eve seems to take on a different meaning. So, our best buddies hosted couple families over to their house for a party. It was perfect, low key, the kids all running around and the big hit was the new dance game for the Wii. Our neighbor got it for Christmas and couldn't wait to show it off and the kids thought it was pretty fun as well!

This picture cracks me up, not sure what move Ella is doing, but she is really into it!
After all the dancing, these two had to dress the part for the fancy night by wearing their princess dresses. Still a little bit big for them but that didn't slow them down.
Happy New Year!
2012 looks so bright, I need to wear shades.
The next day, Mike's Dad and his grandparents stopped and stayed with us for the night on their drive down to Florida. They live in Connecticut but spend the winter in Florida and this was a great meeting spot. We had not seen them in a year and half but Ella immediately took to them. She loved playing with Great Grandpa who by the way is about to turn 91 and still sharp as a whip and just got himself a new iPhone!
Guess who's hair is finally long enough for a ponytail? Ok, the front and sides still fall so I have to put a clip in it but the back will go up. After waiting nearly 2 years for any hair to sprout, these are big moments for us. I need to start thinking about getting her a first haircut but I just can't bring myself to do it yet.
Santa wasn't able to deliver all the presents down to Seabrook so he left a couple back in Charlotte like this trampoline. Ella loves to jump and bounce non stop so instead of doing it on a bed or couch, we now have our own trampoline!
Future gymnast perhaps?
Santa also left this new princess scooter. All the kids in the neighborhood have one and is perfect since she is still a little too young for a bike. At first, she just wanted to stand on it and have us push her but then she got the hang of it!
So back to the sleepless nights. Something we have known was coming for awhile and maybe putting off was moving Ella from the crib and nursery to her new room but we finally did it. She "helped" Daddy take apart the old bed.
Someone likes using a screwdriver, future builder perhaps?
And we converted the room into Ella's new room with her new bed! She was really excited, helping me put on her new purple sheets and butterfly blanket.
She couldn't wait to climb in but of course that all changed once it finally came time to sleep in it. There have been lots of tears (both hers and mine) about the new bed. The thing is, she was the best sleeper in her crib. Put her in at nap time and night wide awake, she might play for a minute and then sleep for almost 12 hours at night and wake up and play until we came and got her. That's why we were reluctant to move her but wanted to get her adjusted before the new baby comes so last Friday night, we did the big switch. Let's just say, the past 4 nights have been rough. She wants us to lay with her and not leave or she will get up at all hours of the night and come find us and not want to go back to bed. Last night was much better so I am crossing my fingers, we have turned the corner but at a low point Sunday at 4am when she wouldn't sleep, I would have given anything to have her back in the crib. So, we will give it a couple more nights and hopefully she will do better. And hopefully, we will all start sleeping a little more since we only have six more weeks of good sleep anyway!
Happy 2012 everyone!