Tea Time

Last week, Elina and I had a girls' night out. We got a little dressed up and went to a restaurant called Madhatters Tea House and Cafe. Elina always loves a good tea party, so I wanted to take Elina here for their Kids' Tea Party for two, which includes peanut butter and jelly, turkey and cheese, and ham and cheese sandwiches. It also includes tea and a dessert.

We had wanted to get really dressed up, but the weather did not cooperate because a cold front came in. Elina was sad that she could not wear a short-sleeved dress without tights. I had to make her wear a long-sleeved dress with tights and she wasn't too happy about it. She even suggested we wait until summertime to go so that we could be "more fancy." To make matters worse, since I'm so pregnant, I don't really have any fancy clothes that fit. So I had to wear jeans with a semi-fancy top. Elina really wanted me to wear a skirt, but it was just too cold to wear one. To make it up to her, I let her put fancy jewelry on me instead. She gave me a few bracelets and made sure that I wore my wedding ring (which counted as a fancy item). See, my fingers have been getting swollen at random times so I don't even wear my wedding band that much these days. (Yes, I realize that I appear to be "that" lady with the 2 little kids and one on the way whenever I'm out and about...but I seriously can't wear a ring when my fingers are swollen!) Elina wore a pink flower ring, a pretty green necklace, and a flower hairclip to be super fancy. She was in heaven.
We had a great time at the tea house. She loved sipping tea from a fancy tea cup. She didn't eat all that much, but we had fun. I told her stories about the day she was born and about the day Eli was born. We talked about school, friends, and what life would be like after the new baby arrives. Here was something cute that she said--

Me: Elina, remember when Eli was a little baby and how he cried all the time?
Elina: Yeah.
Me: You didn't really like that, remember? Sometimes it would make you cry because you were so upset about it.
Elina: I know.
Me: So, when this new baby comes, there might be a lot of crying, too. Are you ok with that?
Elina: Yeah. It's ok, Mommy, because now I'm older...and I'm taller. So it won't bother me. I'll help calm the baby down...the way I calm Eli down.
Me: [holding back some tears] You're a great big sister, Elina.

Elina is so sweet, isn't she? She's just so excited to have a new baby that she's convinced the crying won't bother her at all. I also love that she mentions her height as a factor in why she's more mature now. Kids are so cute. I just hope she still feels the same when the actual crying begins. I'm sure she will help me with the new baby. She's already really good at calming Eli down whenever he cries. She'll just sit next to him, hold or rub his hand, and tell him to calm down....and usually, within a few minutes he's calm. It's really sweet.

So what were the boys up to while we were on our little girls' night out? Actually, B and the Eli were on their own little date. B also took Eli out to eat at Cracker Barrel and he said that they had a good time, too. He said the conversation wasn't quite as riveting, but that they had fun regardless. And notice in the picture how "dressed up" Eli got, too. What a fun night for all of us!