I Funny, Mommy!

This morning I sat on the couch and fed Ella as Lily sat at the table having one of her favorite breakfast items, yogurt. Lily most likely enjoys yogurt in part because it has the potential to be very messy. And while she does realize this potential from time to time, she has never put as much zeal into it as she did this morning. I was quietly nursing the baby when Lily broke our silence by calling for my attention. I glanced over, and she promptly splatted a handful of yogurt on the side of her head. She laughed and declared "I funny, Mommy." While it is difficult to dispute her claim, I tried at least not to encourage her. Needless to say, we followed breakfast with a very soapy bath.

A Very Merry Christmas

Lily's first peek at the toys



Dorkie surveys the scene



Grandma enjoys holding Ella


Aunt Dana helps Lily open a gift


Lily's new break dancing suit from Uncle Mike

We had a very nice Christmas this year with all of our family. Lily is starting to understand Christmas a little more, but she's still a bit fuzzy. By the end of the day she was very practiced at ripping open giftwrap (which should come in handy on her birthday in about a month), and she was quite excited about each and every gift she received. Ella enjoyed meeting the extended family up north and getting tons of attention from her grandparents. We are really looking forward to next year when Lily fully understands Santa's role. Hopefully, she will be on the nice list...

Our Little Christmas Elves

Ella had her first encounter with Santa Claus today, and thankfully Lily's second encounter with Santa went much better than last year. Both girls posed very nicely with Saint Nick in their cute striped outfits. We were even able to get Lily to give us a small smirk, and Ella pretty much looked like she does in the above pictures.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like...

Please take notice of the awesome 'stache

Most...but not all...of the sweaters

Games, anyone? Ciarra, you don't need to raise your hand.

Classy Clint with is classy wine cube

Unfortunately Clint Kruger left before we could get a picture of his award-winning sweater

...an ugly sweater party. Ugly sweaters and one sweet mustache were the theme of this holiday get together. Some of the main highlights were Bad Clint's light-up socks, Good Clint's sweater and matching purse, and Beth's secretary sweater, complete with a calendar on the butt with "payday" circled. We look forward to seeing what next year's party will bring.

I Stuck!

One of Lily's favorite phrases these days is "I stuck!" She absolutely hates to wear socks and as soon as we get into the car she pulls her hat off. Now that we are in snowsuit weather she is none to happy to be "stuck" in her hat when her hood is up. She yells at me, "mom I stuck, I stuck, I stuck!" over and over from the backseat. After a few minutes she usually gives up and starts singing along to her favorite tunes, but once we are in the house she cannot wait for me to get her out of her getup. The only time she is more than happy to wear her gear is when she gets to go out and play in the snow with daddy.

Christmas Card Bloopers

Well, we had fun...sort of...getting our pictures taken for our Christmas card. Tara was so nice to come over last Sunday and try to capture a few good shots amongst the chaos of two 2-year-olds and two babies. Thankfully, she is a good photographer and an even better friend to put up with us. She did get a couple really nice pictures and even ended up designing our Christmas card for us. Thank you, Tara!

Hide and Hide

Lily's favorite pastime these days is hiding out in her little spaces. However, she does not like to be bothered while in these places. She calls for you, but once you find her she quickly closes the door or window and says, "Bye bye--have good day, mama." The box is still the best toy in our house. Every few days I cut a new little slot or door, and we start a whole new game. One day it was pushing old gift cards through like mail and the next was playing with a flashlight. Pretty much every member of my family including Mimi and Uncle Packie have played in the box with Lily. When Mimi tried to leave, Lily pointed back at the box and insisted that she get back in. While in the box, Lily put her hands over her mouth and quietly giggled as if they had a little secret. She is constantly cracking us up and always has us wondering what she will do next.

Giggles and Grins

Ella Kathryn is now three months old and has already changed so much from her newborn pictures. She is all giggles and grins these days. She loves to smile and laugh at her dad. She will spot him from way across the room and flash him her darling smile. He, of course, can never resist and goes over to talk to her about her day. She coos, babbles, and screeches back at him. She especially loves to have little chats with him in the evening after her big sister goes to bed. She is still really easy going and happy almost all of the time. Thankfully, Lily is still loving being a big sister and is starting to really enjoy listening to Ella babble back at her. Lily gives her lots of hugs, kisses, high fives, and fist pounds (knuckles) throughout the day. I can't wait to see how the girls get along as Ella can start to interact more with Lily.

Play Date

Alms for the poor?

I had the privilege of watching Dalton recently while his mommy went to her Mom-2-Mom group. Lily loves playing with D, and every time we get in the car she asks if we are going to see Dalton and Calem. On the day Dalton came to play, we had a new and exciting toy for the two of them to explore...a cardboard box! They had snacks, toys, and books in there, but what they loved most was opening and closing the windows I cut out for them. They thought it was hilarious, and I was cracking up too. A new dishwasher was something we desperately needed--but perhaps the best part of the transaction was acquiring the box it came in! That's the beauty of kids...a simple box can give a desperate mom hours of respite from active toddlers. Who needs toys?

Sick Little Lily

About 2 weeks ago our sweet little Lily got even smaller. She came down with a terrible first case of the flu. She was sick for about a week and it really took about all of the next week to start to really feel like herself. If you can't tell from the pictures she did lose some weight and her face definitely got thinner. I am happy to report that she has been eating non-stop now that she is feeling better and the cheeks are slowly returning as well as a huge distended belly. Not slow on the return was her energy and non-stop talking. Over the past few weeks her vocabulary has expanded like crazy and she has no problem verbalizing what she wants to tell us.

Her favorite phases at the moment:
I stuck ( in regards to being on the wrong side of the gate)
I funny ( in regards to the fact that she thinks she is funny)
More baba please dada
More cheese please mama
Have good day dada
Later dude
See ya dude
Thank you much
Nice meet you

2 Months Old

Ella Kathryn is now 2 months old and still so sweet. She is super laid back and loves to smile and coo. At her 2 month check up she weighed in at 11 lbs 12 oz. Only 6 more ounces than Lily was at her 2 month check appointment. Dr. Boe was impressed with her over all strength and gave her a clean bill of health.

Last week we went over to Tara's house for a play date and she took a ton of darling pictures of Ella for me. The first three are a few of the ones she took, but I am saving the best ones for later.

The other three are ones I took when Lily was taking a nap. I love our special time together when Lily naps. We sing songs and coo at each other. At night after Lily goes to bed, Jeff and I get more special one on one time with Ella until about 11:00 p.m. when she goes down for the night herself. Jeff and I would probably prefer to go to bed just a little earlier, but her cute smile and sweet little noises are well worth the late night.

Thanks for the great pictures Tara! I can't wait to reveal the rest!