the long-winded-everyone-and-everything-post

i keep having the thought: "oh, i should blog about this..." or "i should blog about that"... and now i have like a bjillion things to blog about...and the list keeps growing.

and so while each of these things could really deserve its own post, for time's sake (and my sanity's sake), and since it's going to be June in less than thirty minutes and i want to be all caught up before a new month starts, you're about to be overwhelmed by an-all-inclusive Chapman family update. my apologies for excessive blabbing in advance.

on the Ellie front:
Ellie had her last day of joy school last week.

time is such a weird thing, because i truly feel like it wasn't more than a couple of weeks ago that i got Ellie all dressed up, complete with her first cute lil backpack on her first day of Joy School.

it truly has been such a wonderful experience for her and i feel so blessed to have had such a fun, sweet little group of kids and moms to work with. Ellie has grown so much and learned so much- i mean, i used to have to sneak away, hoping to not hear sobs when she'd notice that i left...and now, she practically begs to go, and begs me to leave when we get there each week. funny Ellie.

back to her last day-
we threw an adorable little "P is for Party" day at my house.
pizza, pools, popsicles, party-hats...and lots of other fun P things.
the kiddos had a blast.

{i love how the kiddos look genuinely thrilled that it's the last day of school. really?}

such a fun day.
sad it's over.

in other Ellie news...
the crib is G-O-N-E.
i know what you're thinking... isn't Ellie almost three?
shouldn't the crib have been gone long, long ago?
well, my friends.
Ellie has had a dramatic love-affair with her crib.
like, i don't think any kid has ever loved a bed as much as Ellie has loved her crib.
up until a couple of months ago, she had never even tried to climb out.
and the time she did, Mike taught her to do such...and then she hit her chin, and would never try again.
but.
since we're now potty trained during the day 100%, we need to be potty trained in the night...and that just wasn't going to happen in a crib. she needs to be able to get out and go when she needs to.
so we've been looking at garage sales and on craigslist for several weeks...
and finally found a winner...for $10.
you heard me- TEN BUCKS.
so of course we bought it.

and now, let me tell you a little secret about Mr. M.
once we buy something, M cannot put it away for later.
he just can't.
he gets all excited and cannot stop talking/thinking about the purchase.
so waiting to set something up is pure TORTURE for this dude.
well, i was adamant that Ellie didn't need to be in the bed yet...
i had a thousand excuses: 
we need to paint it,
she's not going to nap anymore and i'm not ready for that,
this is going to complicate things, 
what are we going to do with the crib,
and yadda yadda yadda.

well of course my excuses only lasted for about a week.
and M took matters into his own hands and put up the bed, whether i liked it or not.

 {Ellie in her bed on the first night}

Ellie was (and is still) THRILLED about her big-girl-bed (M did an excellent job of hyping it up)...
and hasn't napped since.
i want to die.
i'm still trying to cope with my loss of "me-time" in my day.

today we tried "quiet time," where i tried to explain to Ellie that if she wasn't going to sleep, that she still needed to have some time by herself in her room looking at books and playing with her toys without me.
after coming out of her room about 10 times, i gave up and let her come in the front room where i was doing the thrilling task of laundry. and after she kept ruining my piles to try on every clean skirt of hers, i decided we needed to get out of the house before i got all crazy ballistic. so after Alice woke up from her nap (thank heavens she's not old enough to rebel), we went to the mall (it's raining here...hello, isn't it june tomorrow?) where Ellie showed me hundreds of things she wanted from the Disney Store. at about 4:30, we headed home...and both kids fell asleep in the car. i feel guilty typing it, but the silence was heavenly.
maybe i'll just drive around at naptime everyday for the next few weeks...

on the j-o-b front, M has big news: he is officially no longer an employee at Deloitte. yes, he peaced out of the public accounting world and is now in cahoots with his folks building a Real Estate company. can i get a hallelujah? it's been two full weeks of him being gone from the corporate world and it's been a.w.e.s.o.m.e. FOREALS. M is thrilled. Ellie is thrilled. it's alllll good.

i mean, i've never known what it's like to have a husband home at 6. or to not stress about whether or not i'm going to have to bring the girls to Young Womens on Tuesday nights, or to not worry when my hubby is going to be gone for two weeks to Arizona, or some other random place. heck, we're never going to duke it out with another busy season again. it's wonderful. we're happy. goodbye awkward accounting world.

on the baby front: Alice has been a stinker the last couple of weeks with a couple of wicked ear infections- she's almost finished with the pink stuff, so hopefully the faucet nose will clear up soon, and her sleeping cycle will get back on track. i've always known she's a happy baby, but since she's been sick and so clingy and needy and irritable (especially at 2 am), i've come to realize what an awesome baby she really is when she's healthy.

on good Alice news: she's totally crawling now. and can totally prop herself up to sit up anywhere...and is desperately trying to pull herself up to stand in front of things.

i think those top teeth are trying to burst through because she's doing silly tricks with her little tongue... and i can't think of typing anything else other than she's just the cutest little squish on the planet.

on the me front: i just completed my first half-marathon on Saturday. and i feel like a million bucks for doing it! i admit, i definitely was exhausted by the end.
with about a mile left, i really wanted it to be over.
and then, i could finally see the finish line- and M was waiting there with the girls (and the other hubby's/kids), and i felt the happiest feeling come over me. it was so neat to have my family there to cheer me on in something like that.

it was super cheesy, but i got all choked up...(i know! about a race i hadn't even kind of won) and made sure to go grab an orange wedge and a drink of water so no one would notice.

i finished at 2 hrs, 4 minutes, 7 seconds- nothing amazing, but way faster than i was expecting.

but can i just say: no one warns you about the post-race 90-yr-old-lady-body-syndrome that you incur the day(s) after you run... i mean seriously, i have been hobbling around like a feeble old person because my legs are so sore and my toes are bruised. whoa. i was not expecting that. will i ever be able to run again?

running the half-marathon was one of those life-long-goals that i feel so thrilled to cross off of my list. i know i mentioned training for one a couple of years ago here on my blog- but have just never been able to push myself all the way there. well, lucky for me there has been this incredible group of girls out here who have busted my lazy booty out of bed every Saturday morning for the last several weeks to train for this thing. it sounds so weird- but i actually have looked forward to each and every Saturday morning run- because it feels so good to talk and work towards a goal with other fun ladies. thank you to each of you for being so dang awesome- and being so fun to run with! now, bring on RAGNAR!

on other less Chapman-ish updates: i'm thrilled Scotty Mcreery won American Idol. and was even more thrilled to see him singing his little soul out with my dream-boat, Tim McGraw. i guess dreams really do come true.

and if i thought i wasn't before...i'm totally not into Ashley as the bachelorette. she bugs me for some reason. and i'm kind of relieved about it, so that maybe i can free myself from this crazy tv addiction...(though i do admit, the Bentley drama is intriguing...and might possibly still suck me in...this dang show. why does it have to be two hours long!?)

annnnddd, back to us, the rest of our Memorial Day weekend was awesome too.
M and i went on our first date without Alice.
(you heard me right. our FIRST date since Alice was born kids-free. i know. i'm a freak. whatever. get over it.)
we had planned on seeing Pirates- and got there almost an hour early for the show that would work for us, and it was already sold out. seriously? we were so bummed. so we went out exploring and ate at this amazing little hole-in-the wall, Vanessa's in Downtown Walnut Creek. it said it was a Vietnemese Bistro with a French Twist...who knows what that means- because everything we got seemed pretty dang American- but was also pretty dang delicious. and then we walked in the rain to Cheesecake Factory where we had some more deliciousness (and i didn't even feel guilty eating it- burning 1600 calories makes you feel justified in eating whatever the heck you want for at least a week, post-race). it was awesome to go on a date with my man-we really need to do it more.

the girls were cute and sweet all weekend.
they played together and made us, and each other laugh.
and wore adorable matching outfits...(minus the frilly skirts...we do a lot of dressing up over here, remember?)

we BBQ'd. played some bball. hung out with friends.
and woke up way too early...since Ellie is awake and sure to wake us up too by 6:30 am, with her new-found morning freedom.
blast that bed.
cant' they stay in cribs forever?
sigh.
but she's just too dang cute.
so i can't get too mad.

can you believe she's almost three?
but that's a topic for another day.

and that's our May-Chapman-family-update.
sorry to gab your ear off.
i told you i would.

xoxo