Goodbye November, Hello December!

Here are some pictures from our weekend! We were very busy but had the best holiday break. Our neighborhood is fully lit up (I have never seen anything like it!) and Ellie is thrilled by all the holiday hoopla. I absolutely love this time of year and it is SO fun with Ellie because everything is new to her again (she doesn't remember any of it from last year). Family traditions are really important to Dan and I and we are truly enjoying sharing them with our daughter. Enjoy!

Ballet Practice...

Dan putting up the lights. Our neighborhood has a competition and every one really gets into it! It is so much fun (unless you are the one on the ladder!). We decided to do red and white lights. Great job Babe!

Picture with Pops at the annual McDonald Christmas party...Doesn't he look awesome?!

Ellie's list for Santa on the cookie plate...of course we are done shopping for her and she didn't get two of the things on the list. Do you think she will notice? :}

Ellie with picnic basket for our tree chopping adventure...hot apple cider, homemade cookies, and turkey sandwiches. MMMMM!

Ready to go!

Ellie picked the tree...it is over 10 feet tall! It didn't look that big at the tree farm but you should see it at our house!

Ellie helped Dan chop the tree

Exhausted...Ellie crashed in our bed for the night. Look how she fell asleep. :)

Taking Orders

(And yes, Ellie clearly needs to use the potty! She has a major case of the wiggles!)

Two Little Girls

What I want most for my daughter is that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be.-- Helen Claes

It's a girl! Wahoo! We are SO ecstatic to learn that we are getting another little daughter to fill our world with love, beauty, and sweetness! It is awesome to know that our little baby is a "she" so we can now think of her more specifically and plan for her arrival! I know our little lady will be her own person but so far, she looks like she is taking after her big sister! Her ultra sound picture (profile) is so similar to Ellie's and she is also VERY active in the womb...constantly squirming, kicking, punching, crossing her legs etc. She also had her left hand snuggled up by her head, just like Ellie did at 19 weeks! Our doctor said she is perfectly healthy and measuring right on target. We are beyond relieved and overjoyed at that good news. So, here she is...our soon to be baby girl! :) I just love her so much already!

So now we are a Daddy, Mommy and two little girls family. Crazy! Hope all is well and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I know we have MUCH to be thankful for this holiday! :) Love, Ang

Ellie's Thankful Heart

This year, we are spending our Thanksgiving holiday with Nana and Papa (Dan's parents). We all bring something to contribute (I'm making rolls, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole) and Ellie is no exception. Ellie has taken it upon herself to make the "decorations" which I think is so cute and thoughtful. Here are some pictures of the placemats she is making. We are going to laminate them so we can actually use them on Thanksgiving. Obviously, I traced her hand for her and wrote down her list of things she was thankful for but she did EVERYTHING else all by herself! She wrote her name so well and most importantly, she came up with her gratitude list (it was her idea to record what she was thankful for...what a little love). I am so proud of her heart. Her preschool teacher said she is the most mature three year old she has ever known and her fine motor skills (writing esp.), creativity, and observation skills are unparalled. I am just ridiculously proud of her. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for Monday's blog...we find out if Baby is a boy or a girl! :)

Mommy and Ellie at our craft/learning table

Ellie's masterpiece...LOOK AT HER NAME! WHAT A GREAT JOB!

We gals have too much fun together! Here we are baking cookies.

Ellie explains to me how the mixer works

Love to All, Ang

Disney on Ice

Saturday, we went to the Disney on Ice show with our great friends, the Pine Family and the Williams Family. Without a doubt, everyone had a great time! I just looked at these pictures again and realized how smiley Ellie always is! She is such a happy gal! :)

Recession

Lately, the world seems all doom and gloom, right? Recession, mass shootings, war, etc. But I must say that I am really enjoying the way life is leading us right back to what matters most. I know we are in a recession but I have never felt so rich as I do today. I cannot express it with the intensity to which I feel it: I can only show you what I mean...

Just being Mommy to Ellie Popcorn and a movie (and laundry and coupon cutting!) night with our family Little Loves My handsome little nephew Nathan

A play date with good friends

Ellie "reading" me her "I'm sorry" note to me (because she shouted at me in anger)

Playing with my baby girl in front of our cozy fire!

Walking the trail in Bellingham with Dan, Matt, Tara, Jaxie and Ellie

And unfortunately, I have no pictures of my handsome hubby or my growing baby but they are (of course) and integral part of my wealth and happiness. :) Life is life and it is good. Even with all the bad. Hope you all feel the good.

Oh yeah, and I'm a brunette now. :)

Love to all, Ang

Cat out of the Bag

Last night, Dan and I decided to explain to Ellie about the baby. It was quite a moment. I told Ellie that Mommy went to the doctor and he told me that I had something special in my tummy. We let our three year old guess what that might be: guess #1: gummy snacks (We told her no, better than that) guess #2: FRENCH FRIES! After some more good laughs, we gave her one more guess... guess #3: BABY! (and then asked if I would open my tummy and show her :) ) Ellie then told us she thinks she will get a little sister who she would like to name Walkie Talkie. But if it's a boy, then she wants his name to be Toe. We really are not the least bit surprised as Ellie is known for her "unique" names (recall her baby doll is named Hi-Oh-Jina). The rest of the evening was a lot of fun as Ellie described to us how she would care for her baby. She said she would help us rock "her" to sleep and feed "her" and change "her" diaper (with specifics as to how she would lay the diaper on the floor first and then put the baby on it softly). The conversations and questions are ongoing now, and explaining where new babies get milk was a total riot! She will be an INCREDIBLE big sissy because she is such a little nurturer to all her dolls and LOVES LOVES LOVES playing mommy (her favorite book is Little Mommy for goodness sake!). We can't wait. Ellie understands that she gets her baby in the Spring and already tells everyone about her new secret. I'm really enjoying this because I was the youngest and never experienced the excitement of a new baby coming to the family. Again, just more happiness all around. :) Love to All, Ang

Love You!

16 weeks!

Today (Monday) also marks the 16 week mark of our pregnancy! Four months down, 5 to go! I am feeling much better this week (just a little icky really late at night if I don't fall asleep by 9ish) and am really packing on the pounds! YIKES! No, I am not having twins but my tummy really has popped out! I'm carrying very differently than I did with Ellie. We are getting SO excited to find out the gender (November 23rd) and every day I feel more movement! This little one is ACTIVE (a little Dan perhaps?). We are just ridiculously overjoyed. We haven't explained anything to Ellie yet but we might tonight. She is starting to stare at my belly and I KNOW she wants to ask, "Mommy, what is happening to you?" :) I definitely am suffering from pregnancy brain. This weekend, I put matches in the sink with dirty dishes and talked on my cell phone UPSIDE DOWN for a good 5 minutes before I realized why "the reception was bad." So embarrassing! Anyway, it is all worth it so I won't complain too much! OK, so here is the 16 week photo! (not so great...I just got done working out so I look a wee bit disheveled!)

for comparison, here is 12 weeks (four weeks ago)

The end of October, the beginning of November. Where has the time gone? Ellie had a wonderful Halloween this year. Nana and Papa joined us for the neighborhood parade and treats and then Auntie Tara spent the night and got to share in all our evening fun. Dan and I took Ellie out trick or treating for about a block before she wanted to go back home with her Auntie. :) She had more fun handing out the candy with Tara than actually getting candy herself. She did go back out a second time with Tara and Dan and then really called it quits. She accumulated maybe a sandwich baggie worth of candy but deemed it a worthy prize. I think she thought the 11 pieces of candy was a major score which of course was great with us! Also, many of you know about the SPD police officer killed the other night. He was just sitting in his car doing paperwork and his life was taken. Dan and I talked about how much this hits home for us. The officer leaves behind a wife and two small children. Please pray for him and his family and also pray that God watches over Dan and our family never suffers such a loss. Love to All, Angela