Happy New Year!

We bought zoo tickets months ago and just never got around to going. (I'm not a huge fan of stinky zoos...) Well, I didn't want to throw our tickets away, so we decided to ring in the new year at the zoo. They had a bunch of activities planned (most of which were too crowded and too old for Ella), and I was surprised at how many people thought walking around the zoo in the snow and light rain and cold would be a good idea!

Here we are! At the zoo!

Ella in front of the camels. there were two. You can kind of see one behind her head. :)

Mommy and Ella...trying to act like we were having fun. :)

Way, way too cold to be walking around in the cold. For the record though, Ella said she had fun. And that's all that really matters.

William was there too! He was having lots of fun too... :)

Snow Day!

It's finally starting to feel more like winter! (not that I've minded..!) It snowed and Ella had to go out!

Getting all bundled up! It takes a good 15 minutes. :)

Almost ready! And getting excited!

She wasn't that excited to walk in the deep snow. She preferred to take out her summer toys from the garage and push them around the driveway. :)

:)

Who can blame her though? It's cold!!

Time goes by so fast...

How is it that I have an 8 month old and a 2 1/2 year old??

Christmas Candids

I realized that Christmas Day was so hectic that I didn't get any good pictures of the little ones together. So I dressed them back up and took some today. They were in such great moods and so happy! Nana was doing a good job of making them laugh for the pictures. :)


Aww.. my little sweeties...

My little Santa's helpers...

And I caught some nice pictures of Ella as she was being silly with Nana. Doesn't she have such a great smile??


And the little boy...



Now to get back to our schedule and SLEEP in the afternoons! Ella and William have both been up during the night as well as not napping well while Nana and Pa are in town. It must be all the excitement.

It was a nice Christmas. It's still amazing to me that it's come and gone already.

2 1/2 Year Doctor Visit!

Ella is growing well and becoming such a sweet, loving, fun and happy little girl. I love my baby girl so much! Here are her stats from her dr visit today:

Length: 37 1/2" (75th%)
Weight: 33lbs

The doctor says she's the average size of a three year old, but I love that's she's tall...and so perfectly proportioned! Today was the first time she got to stand on the scale too...so that was exciting for her!

I can't believe she's already 2 1/2 years old.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I know it's hard having your birthday on Christmas Eve...it kind of blends together with Christmas. But I hope your day was special and wonderful anyway! Your family loves you so much!! You are an incredible father and husband!

Our Sugar Cookies

Ella loved adding the sprinkles. I think they turned out great! And Ella's touch made them extra mm mm good!

Who Says?????

jumperoo's are meant for babies????

Ella disagrees. :)

She loves this thing! I'm glad she's getting to enjoy it again.

We're certainly getting our money's worth!

Big Blue Eyes

These big eyes just melt my heart!


And chubby little fingers... :)

Cookie Time!

My little helper all ready to help me make Christmas cookies!

She was good at helping me measure the ingredients, dump everything in and stir everything up.

This is fun!

She liked the feel of it... kinda like playdough!

But this is what she decided she wanted to do instead... who doesn't love playing at the sink!?

Ella tasted the cookies after dinner...

...and she approved!

And Mr. Smiley with a full tummy.

Did you notice the three outfit changes? :)

Christmas Necklace

We also worked on stringing some beads and making this necklace from Nana.

Concentrating hard!

Proud of her work!

Christmas Angel

We made an "Ella Angel." I traced her hands and her foot and cut them out. She glued them down, glued down the halo, two eyes and a mouth and glittered her angel.

Pretty!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Ella and I talked about the shapes that made up the tree and after I showed her how the tree should look, she glued them down in the right order.

Ella painted some glitter onto her tree...

Decorating the tree with "ornaments."

Ella's beautiful tree!

Santa Craft

Finally, Ella was in the mood to do some art projects! I was so excited as I'd been looking forward to doing Christmas projects with her.

First she watercolored Santa...

worked on pulling apart some cotton balls...

and stuck them down on Santa's beard.

Ella's Santa!

:)