Days of Christmas

Some new December pictures from the days leading up to Christmas! Enjoy!

Ready to go caroling....

Ellie's class at the senior assisted living home. Ellie is standing center/right. Ellie and her teacher Ms. Christie

Ellie and Kate love to be together

This is actually a picture of Ellie making sure Kate doesn't crawl toward something she isn't supposed to play with. Interesting method there Ellie!

Mommy getting ready to put Kate to bed for the evening

On a "walk" though apparently that only means me! These two are NOT easy to push!

More playtime at home...

I love this little dress from Mini Boden. Kate looks like a doll!

Hmmm...this looks like a good tunnel....

Our little wonder-woman!

Another day inside and LITERALLY my children are climbing up the walls!

At the annual Christmas party with all of our old Gymboree friends (Ellie looks like my cousin Laura here)

(The original crew...Ellie, Liam, Ava, Gabby, Matthew, Mary and Jacob...and good friend Sawyer too!)

The fire department came to our neighborhood late one night with Santa in tow. Ellie was SO EXCITED...it was past bedtime, raining, and all the moms and dads and kids were in the street in their jammies...TOO COOL! A memory she will have forever! Recently, Ellie's preschool class put on their Christmas program. Ellie was chosen to be Mary in the nativity story and let me just tell you that is no small deal! It was a very special part and a huge compliment to Ellie that she was chosen for such a role. She did so great and sang and danced her little heart out! Needless to say, we were (are) SO PROUD of her!

Ellie's number one fan gives her a round of applause :)

Auntie Tara and Nana and Papa of course came to support Ellie!(Look at Tara's cute bump! Baby boy will be here soon!)

Happy Holidays!

Kate is 8 months Old

WOW! These posts are just coming TOO quickly! I can't believe I'm posting pictures of Kate at 8 months old! Hopefully, these pictures will give you all a better sense of our sweet and spunky little Kate. She loves to say "bop bop bop bop" over and over again. She can point to a picture of a strawberry on cue. She creep/crawls EVERYWHERE and is DEFINITELY a mischief baby! Clapping is her favorite trick. She also knows how to "give Mama a kiss." We are so in love with our little Kate Bug. :)

O Christmas Tree...

Our annual trip to the "forest" to cut down the perfect Christmas tree. Here I am with my girls:

And Dan with Ellie and Kate in front of our tree:

Our first terrible attempt at a family picture. Now that there are four of us, I can't do the old "stick my arm out and take the picture myself" maneuver!

The second terrible attempt. I don't know why, but I like these pictures better every time I see them. I am cracking up even as I type this caption. Talk about a Kodak moment! :)

I am the world's most retarded photographer!

OK, this one is great. I love their personalities! And you gotta love snow hats!

Ellie took this for us. We have so few pictures of just Dan and I as of late. Now I know why! We look so old and tired! Oh well. We are totally happy and in love. Just a little sleep deprived (and cold!) :)

Cocoa and cookies to warm us up of course!

The finished product. I am so pleased that Ellie chose THESE pajamas. They really don't distract from the Christmas tree at all...!

O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree, how lovely are your branches! Happy Holidays!

Sisters and Santa

It is so much fun to watch the girls "be sisters." They have so much love for one another and their smiles are always brightest when they are together. Ellie is such a "keeper" of her sister Kate. She is always finding little ways to look out for her. I like these two photos because they really show how the girls interact. Notice the love Ellie has for Kate. It's just so endearing.

I also thought I would share a picture of Ellie's Christmas list. This is her list for Santa and she kindly thought to write one on behalf of her little sister too. :) It always cracks me up how Ellie thinks to spell words and what she thinks to ask for from Santa! :)

(Dear Santa, What I really want is... PILLOW PET/ BIG TRAMPOLINE [heart] Ellie...TOYS/BIG CRAWL TOY [heart] Kate)

Happy December!