Mr. Snowman

With the first snow of the winter season, Ellie and Jason were quickly outside. Jason decided to teach Ellie how to make a snowman, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Her previous snow adventures mainly included trying to remain upright in her many layers of thick snow clothes (remember Randy in The Christmas Story) and eating the snow. She much preferred being able to move more easily and creating the snowman.

Her fingers were completely frozen when I finally was able to force her to come inside. Isn't it amazing how kids can play in the snow, with their fingers and toes freezing, and they don't even seem to notice. I hustle as quickly as I can from my car into my office on cold days, and I don't even have to leave the parking garage. Maybe I'm just a wimp.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Ellie enjoyed helping me get the Christmas decorations out. She especially liked wearing the tree skirt, since she and Jason have been pretending to be "Supers" a lot lately. Ellie will often refer to Jason as "Super Boy" and she is "Super Girl." She'll put her arms in the air and run from one room to the next, then she'll pretend to be in trouble and yell, "Super Boy, rescue me!" The tree skirt fit in perfectly with her make believe, since it makes a rather nice cape.

She also liked to play with the nativity scene. She would ask me to get it down for her (its normal residence is safely on a table out of her reach), then would lay in the floor, rearrange the figures, and talk to them. Very sweet!

Happy Halloween

Can you believe our sweet, little angel dressed up like a witch for Halloween? It was a bit of a struggle to get her to put on the costume -- she had just woken up from a nap, and she's 2. But once she got the gist of what the night would be, and that every door she knocked on would give her candy, she had a good time. And no, that isn't Jason's normal outfit....he dressed up like a cowboy for his office festivities.

It's a BOY!!!

So, we realized that we hadn't announced our newest addition on this blog, so we thought it was probably time. We're expecting baby #2 on March 22. We just had the big ultrasound and found out it will be a boy. We're very excited, and Jason will finally have some help evening out the estrogen in the house.

Ultrasounds are so amazing! He was moving around quite a bit and then started sucking his thumb (you can see it in the top picture). He was really enjoying his thumb, so much so that we could see his little tongue moving and him swallowing. So cool!!

We're talking about the baby a lot to Ellie to prepare her as much as possible. When asked where the baby is, she'll answer, "In Mommy's tummy." But we don't think she quite grasps the concept. Case in point -- Ellie likes to climb and jump on me, but we've been telling her how gentle she needs to be because of the baby in Mommy's tummy. So, she'll then go over to Jason and climb and jump on him, then stops and asks, "Daddy, you have baby in your tummy too?"

We can't wait for the little guy to arrive, and we're sure Ellie will be a great big sister. She's very excited for the baby, and will usually say she wants to name him 'Dora' whenever she's asked. We'll add it to the name list, but I don't think it stands much of a chance.

At the Pumpkin Patch

We had such a good time at the pumpkin patch. We went on a Monday evening, so the place was pretty much deserted (which was nice since this farm is usually packed during October). The kids were able to run around and climb on anything they chose, without having to wait in lines. We bought a number of pumpkins with big plans of carving or painting. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened this year, but we still had fun and got some cute pictures.

Fun with Cousins

Our cousins from Phoenix came in for a visit at the beginning of October. Since we don't get to see them very often, we tried to squeeze in as much fun as possible while they were here. We went to the zoo, Old Iron Works day at Meramec Springs Park, the pumpkin patch, and had a get together at Granny & Papi's. Ellie is still talking about it. If it is a weekend day, and we're all heading out to do something, she'll ask, "Ian & Hannah coming too?"

Miss Manners

Ellie's personality is really starting to shine, and she's constantly cracking us up with the things she says. Her latest thing is to say "no thank you." Yes, this does sound like it is a good thing, but she doesn't just say "no thank you" when you offer her something that she doesn't want, but will also say it when you've asked her to do something. For example, we'll say, "Ellie, it's time to pick up your toys," to which she replies, "No, thank you." Or she and Daddy will be outside playing, until Daddy says it's time to go inside, and she'll say "No, thank you." And if you argue with her that yes, we must go inside now, she'll yell, "NO, THANK YOU!" enunciating every syllable. We crack up every time, which may not be the best way to get her to cooperate.

Happy 2nd Birthday

On August 30, we celebrated Ellie's second birthday. What a big girl she is becoming. We were so pleased that so many friends and family were able to join us. Ellie loved her Dora cake and blowing out the candles. And she got tons of great gifts, including identical tricycles from her grandparents, so she was able to share with friends at the party.

Happy, happy birthday, our sweet girl!!!

Vail, CO

After spending some time with Family in Evergreen, we went on up the mountain and spent a couple of days in Vail. Vail is such a scenic mountain town. We had a great time looking at all the sites, riding the gondolas up the mountain, digging for dinosaur bones in the sand pit, and enjoying the wonderful weather.

Do you notice the princess camera in any of the pics?

Playing

After the wedding, we spent a few extra days in Colorado visiting with family. Ellie and Paige are becoming such good buddies, and I hope they will get to grow up with as good of memories as I have of growing up with my cousin, Stephanie. It's such a huge benefit to have a cousin so close to your age, so every holiday and family gathering you have your friend with you.

Ellie also landed a great princess camera, that talks and flashes. It rarely left her hand during the Colorado vacation, and I'm sure you'll see it in other pictures.

I Do!

Jason's cousin, Ryan, got married this year. He married a great girl, Danelle, and we're thrilled to have her in the family. Ryan and Danelle were kind enough to include both Jason (usher) and Ellie (flower girl) in the wedding. Jason's younger brother, Nick, sang and accompanied himself on guitar during the wedding and did a great job. I'm sure one day we'll all be saying we knew him when. Jason's Aunt Sherry made the flower girl dresses, and she did an amazing job! Ellie and Paige looked absolutely adorable.

We all had some slight reservations as to whether Ellie and Paige would actually walk down the aisle, but they all did a great job (maybe it was attributable in part to the practice runs we did as well as the Reese's Pieces reward that was waiting for them at the alter)! It was a very long day for Miss Ellie, since we had to get up at 4:30 am to catch our flight to Colorado, so she couldn't last for more than one dance with Daddy at the reception. But they had bubble favors, so she was a happy camper.

Singin' in the Rain

When you have such a cute raincoat and Dora umbrella, of course you can't wait till it actually rains to use them. You have to take every opportunity to look adorable, rain or shine.

Happy 4th of July

We had a small BBQ on the 4th, and enjoyed the day with some family and friends. The kids enjoyed playing in the sprinkler and the pool before we headed out to the front yard to shoot off some very small fireworks in the street. Our own little fireworks show didn't last long though, and soon we were cleaning up and getting ready to head out to watch O'Fallon's City fireworks.

Just about that time, the local police pulled up in front of the house. Apparently, O'Fallon issued new city regulations that went into effect this year, that prohibit any fireworks in the city limits. This is quite a change from prior years, especially since our neighborhood does a rather large display in the cul-de-sac in front of our house. But needless to say, one particular neighbor does not enjoy the 4th, and I'm sure was chomping at the bit to be able to call the police on anyone that was not in compliance with the new regulation this year. The police officer that visited our house was very nice, but some of the kids were still rather concerned for their fathers, running in the house calling, "Mom, are they going to arrest Daddy?" The kids' fears didn't last long though, when they heard all the dads outside cracking jokes and laughing with the police officer.