Christmas Day

Christmas was a fantastic day. We had a big family day with Mom and Glenn, Dad and Donna, Erin and Josh, and Mom's sister Pam, her husband Greg and their 2 sweet little girls.

Ella woke up around 7:45 am and Steve stayed upstairs with her in the playroom. I was working on getting the ham in the crockpot (which I realized at 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve that it was too big to fit the lid - eeek!! luckily Steve thought of a foil tent duct-taped to the crockpot, which worked very well :)! Mom, Glenn, Erin and Josh came over in time to go up and get Ella so we could all see her excited face when she came downstairs.

Tree and presents


Ella was very excited by her presents from Santa


We had lots of fun opening presents and Ella needed to play with everything along the way!!

Teaset


Dance mat from Aunt Erin and Uncle Josh


Opening her stocking with Daddy


Enjoying a round of tea with Aunt Erin


Potato heads from Grandma and Grandad


Climbing on the box


Steve


Mom


Sleepy Chico


Dad


Glenn and Josh


Erin


Mom and Glenn


Ella and Donna


Then we unveiled Ella's big present, which has been patiently waiting in the garage for several months!!

She was quite impressed and hopped right in!


Checking things out


Looking under the hood


Then she scurried off to find her new baby and bring her back for a ride


Getting a push from Daddy


We had planned on making a big breakfast but got so wrapped up in opening gifts and playing that it was noon before we knew it so Mom made crab cakes and deviled eggs so we enjoyed delicious appetizers for a brunch...and Ella played some more.

Enjoying her new craft table from Grammy


Helping herself to her thousandth cup of tea for the day


Ella and Daddy


Erin and I cooked, and we had ham, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and rice casserole, asparagus, and baked apples - it was very good if I do say so myself :).

With Aunt Erin



Playing with Grandad


Chocolate-y kiss for Grandma


Chico LOVED this toy puppy


Ella ready for bed after such a big day!


We had such a great day, it was so good to have everyone here to celebrate together. Christmas sure is a lot more fun with a child, especially this year because she was a lot more aware of everything. So, another good holiday and very hard to believe that 2009 is quickly coming to a close!

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas at our house this year, Mom and Glenn arrived last Tuesday and Erin and Josh came in after work on Wednesday.

A few pics from the day before Christmas Eve -

Ella with Mom and Glenn


Being silly with Erin


On Christmas Eve we took Ella to see Santa at the mall with Mom, Glenn and Erin. Santa was going to arrive at 10am so we got there around 9:30am to get in line and still had a while to wait.

For an almost-two-year-old, waiting in lines is on her list of "least favorite things"...luckily there were several of us there and we were able to keep her relatively entertained throughout the wait.



getting antsy...


Being silly


Eating a pretzel (the best distraction!)


We were really hyping Santa and how fun it would be to meet him and she looked at him, waved, and seemed to be getting really excited. When it was close to her turn she was more and more eager to see him and then when it was finally her turn she opened the little gate and headed right toward the big guy - then, she must have realized what she was doing and when she was about 3 feet away, did a complete about-face and started heading in the opposite direction!

Steve took her up to get on his lap and she did pretty well - she definitely was not crazy about the whole thing and she certainly didn't smile, but she did not cry either!



And here is the "official Santa picture of 2009"


Santa did give Ella a little coloring book that she was very pleased with, so I'd say she'd consider the visit a success!

After meeting Santa we wanted to let her ride the merry-go-round that she's been on once before and absolutely loved it. Mom and Erin rode it with her and although she did not have temporary insanity overtake her like the last time, she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Ready to go


Waving!


Here's a video clip of the carousel starting up and the first time around.



We went to church on Christmas Eve and it was quite an experience. It was a "family-friendly" service which means there was no childcare, so it was primarily focused on watching our active little one.

Here she is before church started, looking quite sweet and calm (do not be fooled!!)


We had 7 chairs altogether so that Ella would have a seat too, and she spent almost the entire time on the floor wandering among all of us, hopping from lap to lap for 30 seconds or so, collecting pens and pieces of paper, yelling "no, no, no" at me when I tried to keep her from lunging on the burning candle Steve was holding, etc...
it definitely made me extra grateful for the nursery program!

We went to Mom and Glenn's after for a big dinner that Glenn made, then we got Ella home and in bed so that Santa could come visit and do his work!

I'm so proud!

Ella went #1 in the potty tonight!!

I haven't put her on the potty in several days but tonight asked her if she wanted to sit on it before bathtime and she said yes. She sat right down and went right in the potty - you would've thought she discovered the cure for cancer with all the praise that we gave her.

She was SO proud of herself and was beaming and kept saying "pee-pee" and "potty"...which is not the word I initially intended to teach her but it's easy for her to say and for purposes of telling us that she needs to go, will probably be the easiest thing.

I'm in no hurry whatsoever for Ella to potty-train and in fact think it's probably easier for her to be in diapers, and I want her to do it in her own time, but I'm so very proud of that little nuggie's first potty success!

December Photo Roundup

The last few weeks have been so busy, I've missed my blogging time...here are lots of December photos I haven't posted yet.

Eating a Christmas cookie - I baked 6 dozen of them for a cookie exchange, Ella was my assistant chef and needed a taste of our hard work


In her winter hat


Smiling in front of the tree


Sitting on the potty - note that I said sitting - she has not actually "gone" yet...


Looking cute


Video clip of her helping me wrap gifts for Christmas


Drinking out of a cup like a big girl (Which is now her favorite way to drink.)


Bundled up and wanting to help Steve scrape the ice off the car


Playing in her sand table




Investigating a tree


Snuggling with Grammy


Many, many more Christmas photos to come!