More Charlotte Photos

More from our trip to Charlotte -

Erin and Josh got Ella a microphone for Christmas and I told Ella we couldn't set it up until everyone was awake for the day so here she is singing on it battery-free early the next morning :)




Tummy time for Cameron





Ella is SO SWEET with Cameron. She is so gentle with him, very interested in him, and tries to take care of him in any way that she can.

Helping Grammy burp him


Holding his hand to comfort him


Giving him his pacifier


Grammy and Cameron


Erin reading a book to Ella


Fast asleep after a busy day!


Cameron holding Steve's finger


All curled up on Erin



Ella can't think of anything better than going to "Grammy's apartment" as she calls it, and I think it's because she literally plays all day from the minute she wakes up until she goes to bed, with some breaks in there for eating and maybe a nap (although she even manages to turn nap time into an adventure there!) Well add that plus all her new toys from Christmas, and she was in heaven.

Playing with her new Barbie castle from Aunt Teresa


Aunt Jackie, Uncle Craig and Cayla, Cammi, and Gavin gave Ella a Cinderella doll, accessories and many princesses, which quickly moved into the barbie castle. For some reason Ella calls Cinderella "the old lady", my guess is it's because she's much bigger than the other princesses.



Princesses at the party


Mom got Ella a cash register, wallet and toys to set-up a grocery store, and Ella wants to play "shopping" all the time. Aunt Michelle sent her a computer (which she loves saying "I have a 'puter too!") and Ella wants the computer right by her store set-up. She insists on wearing her shopkeeper's apron - which has a nametag that says "My Name is Ella" and likes to help her customers -




More cute ones of Cameron -

Playing in the Snow

We hardly get any snow here in the winter, and Charlotte gets even less than we do, but as luck would have it, it started snowing on Christmas night and snowed into the morning the day after Christmas. Of course we had to take Ella out for some fun in the snow!

All bundled up








Laughing with Grammy




Grampy G showed her how to make a snow angel


She's got the hang of it!


Taking Cory to the dog park to run around in the snow


Being silly with Daddy


The snow was a really neat surprise and a fun addition to our trip!

Christmas Day

Ella slept until about 7:30 am on Christmas morning and was excited to see what Santa had brought, but seemed kind of disturbed by the idea that he had actually been in Grammy's apartment and left presents. She actually stopped short after following the candy-cane trail and dropped the stuffed animal she had been holding. Although she didn't seem too crazy about the fact that Santa had visited, she still wanted to play with all of her new toys right away.

After she fully checked out all of her gifts from Santa, she had many, many gifts to unwrap! She wanted to help everyone unwrap their gifts and wanted to play with everything as she went. I took so many pictures during the day, here are just a few of them -











Erin, Josh and Cameron came over a little later in the morning -





I don't think Cameron quite grasped the concept of Christmas...


But Ella did her best to explain it to him!


Big hug for Uncle Josh


Chatting on the phone


Ella's Grocery Store, open for business!


Mom, Glenn, Ella and Cameron


Steve, Cameron and I


Erin, Josh and Cameron








Making whipped cream after dinner with Grampy G


It was a great day. Each holiday with Ella is more special than the last, and days like Christmas are a really nice time to stop and reflect on how blessed we are, not just with the loved ones we were able to celebrate with, but the rest of our families as well. Ella is one very loved little girl, and I couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Christmas Eve

We went to Charlotte for Christmas to celebrate with Mom and Glenn, and Erin, Josh and Cameron. Ella was incredibly excited for our trip. She kept saying "is it time to go to Charlotte?" and was just so happy and excited. We went on the Thursday before Christmas and stayed until Tuesday, so it was a nice long trip and we had a great time.

Some pics from Christmas Eve, check out this adorable little Santa!

Sleepy Santa


Cranky Santa


Some pictures before church












We went to the 6pm church service based on schedules and nap time, and it worked out so well. Cameron slept through the entire church service, but got lots of oohs and aahs from people walking by. Ella is not used to sitting with us during church because she goes to nursery at our church, but she did great. There was a moment when she suddenly broke out in to singing "Old MacDonald" during a relatively silent part, but I actually thought that was pretty darn cute :).

Me and my silly girl


Mom cooked a great meal that we enjoyed after church and then we got prepared for Christmas!

Stockings over the fireplace


All ready for Christmas morning!