May 17

I can't begin to express how content I am in life these days. Today, our fourth wedding anniversary, was a beautiful, fulfilling day.
I woke up early to relieve the nurse, and when I came downstairs, Ellie was already awake. Some mornings, she sleeps until 9am, this morning she decided that 6am was time. I unhooked her from her oximeter, took off her bipap mask, and carted her upstairs for a snuggle.
Our house is presently "staged", and as such I have no intention of moving anything, at least until after our first real open house. This puts my oh-so-comfy couch out of commission until early next week, at the earliest. Ellie was happy to lay on my pillow, pulling out my hair, poking my eyes, and trying to eat my cheeks. By chance, and quite the rare occasion, Jakob needed to be woken up at 8:30am to get ready for school. My alone time with Ellie, while both boys were sleeping, was such a nice way to start the day.
The four of us had breakfast, got dressed, and headed off to pre-school. Jakob's class went on a field trip to a local blueberry farm, and DH agreed to come with us. We had a BLAST! The farm is just a few minutes down the road from us (that's a bonus to living in the country), and completely picturesque. Gorgeous farm house, sprawling lawns, and blueberry bushes as far as you could see. We were treated to a hay ride around the fields, a lesson on how blueberries are grown, and a frozen blueberry treat. It was a lot windy, and a bit chilly, so we bundled Ellie in Jakob's winter jacket. She was so happy to come along for the ride, she beamed the entire time.
Jakob is obsessed with blueberries. They are his all time favourite food, and last year he went through upwards of thirty pounds of them, all on his own. This field trip was so amazing for him. He chatted the whole ride back to school about how fun it was, and told us everything he remembered about how blueberries are grown.
We dropped him off at school, and had an hour to ourselves before the end of class. We decided to head over to our local nursery, and discovered that they have a "Grown Your Own Pie" promotion going on, and their little blueberry bushes were 50% off! We bought two bushes, along with a pair of little gardening gloves for Jakob.

When he came home, he was still excited about the field trip, and we took him out back to show him his surprise. Ah, I wish I had been able to capture the look on his face. I was absolutely thrilled that we had bought the bushes, he recognized them immediately, by their little white bell flowers. He spent the next couple hours in the garden with DH, planting them into pots, watering them, weeding the flower beds, and tending to our little strawberry plants. He is a little green thumb.

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to my inlaw's, so that Jakob could really run around. He LOVES to be outside. I swear he would stay out forever, if we let him. Ellie got a little sun, and it's so nice to see her little cheeks all rosy. She's such a beautiful little babe, with her bright blonde hair that shines in the sun, and her big blue eyes. She's completely stolen my heart.
Carrying her around for the better part of the day, I am so grateful that she's little. She is definitely our last baby, and I love the baby stage. At a year, Jakob was 25lbs, running, and had no time for snuggles. He grew so quickly, it was hard to keep him in pants that fit! At a year, Ellie is barely 13lbs, and still such a baby. She snuggles, she cuddles, she loves to be loved upon. I sorted through some clothes from my niece, and Ellie still doesn`t fit most of what was given to us at my baby shower! Clothes that were intended for last summer, are still too big! I'm really in no hurry for her to grow up, although it is the most amazing feeling to see her succeed a things.
She had a session today with our IDP worker, and every session she improves. We got a little walker today, just one of those little activity centers on wheels, that she holds on to and toodles around with. Last week, she wouldn't hold on, and fell right away. Today, she held on with no complaint, and took steps as long as I provided a little support around her hips. She's progressing quickly outside of the hospital. Whoever it was that told me babies don`t progress in hospitals was very right.
So, now it`s late, and my day is almost through. Jakob is sleeping, DH is sleeping because he has work tomorrow morning, and Ellie is snoozing on her bipap machine. She was so tired when we got home, that in the few minutes it took between my hooking up her oximeter, and turning on the bipap, she had a serious desat to 63, which wasn`t fun for me to watch. That was all the proof I needed that she most certainly still needs this loud machine.
Our nurse should be here within the hour, and I will go to bed. I am exhausted, but so happy with how the day went.