a few photos from life lately….

we celebrated both eleanor’s and josh’s birthdays over the weekend! it’s such a special time of year for us at our house with these birthdays so close together and celebrations like this sure do help this freezing winter season pass a little easier for me.

eleanor and i had a mommy-daughter date on saturday afternoon to celebrate her fourth birthday, just the two of us. we went ice skating in central park and grabbed some treats together and also shopped for a birthday outfit. i think she had a great time but i probably had the most fun! i was just so proud of how brave and excited she was to get out there on the ice when it can be scary your first time. she kept wanting to do it all by herself! and we managed to only topple over and fall once! we spent a good half hour on the ice and i was feeling pretty done (trying to hold up a toddler on the ice while also holding up myself was doing some awesome things to my back! and i have zero abs anymore since having children, so it was extra painful at times) but when i asked eleanor if she was done, she said “i want to ice skate all day!” so i said, “well, maybe we can take a break so mama can rest her back for a few minutes and then we can go again?” “but mama, i need to skate nowwwww! i need to keep practicing!” so i said, “well how about just a few more times around the ice and then a break?” “how about a lot of times, and then a break.” haha! she was just so happy and convincing i decided to just toughen up and let my back deal with it. ;)

another cute moment was when we walked into a store and i mentioned she could pick out something new to wear for her birthday… she put her hands up to her face and said, “maybe something sparkly?!” with such excitement! i had to laugh, because eleanor is a girl who wants to wear pajamas or comfy sweats everyday and lives for anything that is the color blue! the whole princess stage has yet to even phase her (which to be honest, we don’t mind one bit!), so to hear her request something sparkly was just so different. she ended up picking out this sparkly dress and also this glitter bow headband and before i even woke up on sunday morning, she had already changed out of her pi’s and into her “birthday outfit”. she was very very excited to keep it on all day, too. i just love her so much!

this little dude is getting so big! we enjoyed some time together at a local taco shop while his brother samson napped in the stroller. (for those who have asked, his green puffer is by patagonia. you can get it here.)

just working hard to enjoy the long days stuck inside when the cold is too cold to play in. sometimes i lay conrad beside his older siblings when they are playing because he just loves to be included and watches them in awe. i think he just likes seeing movement, or hearing their voices. he is much more calm and still when he’s beside them on the floor than when i lay him in his crib while we play. it’s cute how he wants to be involved, even at 7 weeks old!

josh and i celebrated his birthday by catching a play he’s been wanting to see you can’t take it with you. i can never seem to keep birthday gifts or surprises from him, he is such a good guesser, but this year i managed to plan something for us to do and he had no idea until we were in the taxi on our way to the theater. i felt cool. ;)

happy birthday to my man and baby girl! i love this little family of mine more than anything. life is good with my people.