New Year's Noon

Last time we went to the Children's Museum, we made the mistake of going on Family Free Night. I blogged about how crowded it was and how we would never make that mistake again. Well, Tom and I had the bright idea to take Ellie today not realizing that the Children's Museum was celebrating New Year's Noon. We even managed to show up right at noon. It was crowded and crazy, but Ellie had a blast. I took no less than 77 pictures, but don't worry....I will only blog about 50 of them. ;)

A day of grandmas

This morning, my mom and I got our ears pierced. Over the years, I have pierced my ears multiple times only to let them close up again. My mom, however, has never once pierced her ears. After 59 years of being piercing free, she finally decided she wanted to wear "real" earrings. It was a momentous occasion and I, of course, forgot my camera. We had a fabulous day together, shopping and going to lunch in our matching earrings.
Today is also my mother in law's birthday! We had the big birthday celebration tonight where Ellie naturally took over and acted like it was her party. She insisted on helping Nana ("Banana") blow out her candles and open all her presents. I told Aunt Tara that she needs to hurry and have her baby so Ellie can learn to share the spotlight.
Happy birthday, Banana!

Roses

Tom brought me home some roses yesterday. "These are for you, Mommy," he said. Before I could reply, Ellie turned around and said, "Oh, thank you. My flowers." Tom tried to tell her they were for me, but she was having none of it as she walked away with her beautiful roses.

Christmas 2008

Whew, Christmas went by so fast! We spent Christmas Eve over at Tom's dad's house. It was really nice just visiting with everyone, eating good food, and listening to music. Ellie got a wooden doll that came with lots of magnetic outfits. That kept her occupied much of the evening (I think it kept her Uncle Mike occupied, too!).
We couldn't stay too late Christmas Eve because we had to get home to assemble the kitchen. Oh. My. Gosh. That kitchen was a nightmare. We worked straight from 9:00pm to 1:00am. But it was worth it to see Ellie's face Christmas morning. She LOVED her little wooden kitchen.
She even cooked me breakfast.
So did her daddy. I am one lucky woman.
After a relaxing morning at home where Tom and I napped and Ellie played, we headed over to Tom's mom's house. Ellie had mounds and mounds of presents to open. It got to the point where she was more excited about opening the presents than the actual presents. She kept saying, "I want some more presents!" Other rude and embarrassing things she did? Tom's mom had gotten her this gigantic stuffed doll. Ellie took one look at it and started yelling, "I don't like that doll!" She would freak out when anyone brought it near her. Next year before Christmas I am going to have to talk to her about gift etiquette!

Later, Ellie went out on the dock to fish. By the expression on her face, you'd think she had just caught a big fish, but I am pretty sure all the fireworks her uncles were lighting were scaring away the fish.
And look at Uncle Mike in action here as he leaps from the deck to prevent Ellie (and/or her fishing pole) from falling in.
And here is Brannon, Tom, and Grandma Judy trying to convince our tired, grumpy child that she can't sit so close to the water. What can I say? She really wanted to catch a fish.
And finally, here is my favorite picture from Ellie last Christmas:
I cannot believe how much she has grown in just a year. I mean, what happened to those adorable elbow dimples?
Happy holidays!

Christmas presents!

I officially finished my Christmas shopping on Wednesday. As someone who has been known to shop on the 24th, I was very proud of myself. This year I told Tom that he had to do all of his own shopping, so he is still in doing it, but I am done, done, done! I am most excited for Ellie's present this year. We bought her the red, retro kitchen from Costco. I also got her the pots and pans, dishes, and utensils from Ikea to go with it. The problem is, I keep thinking of more and more things I want to give her. Like the adjustable skates she always wants to wear at Rosie's house. And board games like Sequence for Kids. And a little watch since she always insists on wearing mine. I can see how easy it would be to spoil your kids if you had a lot of money, because it is just so fun to see them get so excited!

So, for my fellow mommy bloggers with toddlers, what was on your shopping list this year?

Sunday Best: Christmas edition

Dianna reminded me yesterday that this Sunday was the last Sunday before Christmas and thus the Sunday to do the fancy Christmas dress. I love fancy Christmas dress Sunday. Except I didn't realize until this morning that Ellie no longer owns a pair of black tights. Also, the kid is impossible to get to pose for pictures. Anyway, the big news for today...Ellie went to Nursery all by herself and I was actually able to attend Sunday School and R.S. Although, I guess I have now just lost my excuse for cutting out after Sacrament meeting.

The saga of the hat

Ellie's school Christmas party was today. Or Holiday party or whatever PC term they used. Anyway, I didn't realize it was today until they reminded me yesterday when I picked her up to make sure she had a Santa hat. I, of course, forgot. So today during my conference period I snuck out to Target to look for one. Unfortunately, they only had really large adult hats. I was really upset about the whole hat thing. I know how much Ellie loves hats and I could just imagine her disappointment (and subsequent tantrum) when everyone except her was wearing a Santa hat. Plus, I felt like her lack of hat would scream "bad mother!" Luckily for me, the CVS on the corner saved the day and Ellie had her hat (and I did not look like a bad mother).Last year at Ellie's party, she would not decorate the ginger bread house. She was too focused on eating all the candy. This year, however, she decorated like a pro.
And then ate all the candy.

All Ellie

This one's for my father in law who mentioned that I haven't been posting much about Ellie lately. Here are 5 little things Ellie does/says that I just love:

1. "So much." - Ellie will say, "I missed you so much!" or "I love you so much!" Adding the so much seems to make it all the more adorable.
2. Feelings - Ellie is into sharing her feelings lately. For example, today she told me, "I am so sad." I asked her why and she said she missed her Daddy. Tom had left like 10 minutes earlier to go work out, but from the plaintive sound of her voice and the expression on her face, you would think he had been gone for months.
3. "One more time" - Ellie always insists on one more time, whether it is on the slides or watching a show or reading a book. Unfortunately, one more time means like 50 more times.
4. Bathroom humor - Whenever we are in a public bathroom, Ellie insists on grunting and letting everyone know she is going poo poo. This week we were at the library and she loudly announces that she is going poo poo. Then she yells, "Anyone go poo poo?" Pause. "No???" I didn't know whether to laugh or be totally embarrassed. I laughed.

Hmmm, did I say five? I meant four. And perhaps I should have just stopped at three.

Oh, Christmas Tree

I finally stopped resisting the spirit of Christmas and had Tom haul out the decorations today. If I had realized how much fun decorating a tree with a toddler would be, I totally would have done it right after Thanksgiving! Ellie was in heaven. At first, all the decorations were getting clustered together at the bottom of the tree, but she soon realized that her daddy could lift her to new heights. What I liked about it? This year my messily decorated tree can be blamed on my child instead of me.

Renovations

I thought I'd post some pics of the house. I still have a lot left to do, but it is a far cry from this.Two views of the living room. I need something more on the clock wall. Thinking candle sconces.
Ellie's former playroom. As I clean out our computer room, I am slowly moving Ellie's stuff into it. Hope to turn this into a dining room eventually.
My bathroom. I have done no decorating in there and it was a mess, but I just wanted to show the new color and tile.
My bedroom. It is even more of a mess than the bathroom, thus the limited view. Just wanted to show the new wall color. Chocolate brown...love it. Hmmm, maybe I could have done a nicer job making the bed.
So, now that all is said and done, maybe the hurricane hitting us wasn't the most horrible thing. I mean, we really did need to replace the carpet and I am loving the new paint!

Photography practice

I finally formatted a memory card and took my new Nikon D40 out for a spin today. The only available subjects were Kali and Ellie so I quickly snapped about 30 shots. I didn't mess with any settings, just did the ol' point and shoot tactic. I loved that I could shoot back to back pictures without waiting for my camera to reload or whatever it does. And the color and detail are a lot better with the Nikon. I can't wait to learn how to really use it!
Ellie's hair seems to get more and more red every day. And Kali seems sad. Probably because I keep leaving her alone with Ellie who likes to make mud soup in Kali's water bowl. Poor, poor Kali.

Awesome birthday present

I turn big 3-0 today! Tom was too excited to hold off on my present so he gave it to me last night...a Nikon D40. I have been lusting after one of those for so long, but I just couldn't justify the purchase when my other digital camera was still working (even though the lens cap thingy won't close). I really like my old Canon Powershot, but it can't compare to the quality of pictures taken with an SLR. Anyway, Tom totally surprised me with it last night. I had told him not to get me anything because when you share a bank account it is kind of like you are just buying something for yourself. But Tom knew I wouldn't be able to turn it down if I actually got it. He is awesome. Now I just need to figure out how to work the thing!

Bah humbug

Normally I love Christmas time. Hello, my name is HOLLY...of course I love Christmas! But this year I just can't bear the thought of dragging out the tree and the lights and the decorations. Just thinking about it makes me want to go hide under my covers until January. Part of the problem is that I am in the process of decluttering my home. I have thrown out several huge, black garbage bags of junk. Well, a lot of it was just shredded paper. I really wish I had purchased an industrial sized shredder. Also? Tom has saved all evidence of his life since kindergarten. His 3rd grade spelling award, ticket stubs, every single note I ever wrote him in high school (this was a huge box full), notes from other girls (I just tossed those), and random items that even he could not remember the meaning of. I am just throwing most of my stuff away, even things like my carefully preserved wedding bouquet (um, why am I saving dried roses in a box?), but Tom is very reluctant to part with anything. Which is why I am doing a lot of my de-junking when he is not around. I figure he won't miss what he doesn't know about. Wow, that was a very long rambling explanation for why I don't want to get out my Christmas stuff. Anyway, if I didn't have a kid, I doubt I would even pull out the tree. As it is, I am trying to think of how I can sweet talk Tom into doing all of the Christmas stuff for me, including the shopping.

Edit to add: Since there was some concern voiced (cough, Alex, cough), I just want to clarify that I kept all the letters I wrote Tom (hello, loved reading them! plus, I still have all mine from him) and any other stuff I know he would miss. I did throw away the ticket stubs, though. And the progress reports. And the letters from other girls.

Ending Thanksgiving on a somber note

I am so sad to see the end of Thanksgiving break. I dread the thought of waking up early tomorrow and going back to school. I had a great time with my family. One day, I went shopping with two of my sisters and bought a ton of stuff to decorate my newly renovated house. Then my third sister came over yesterday to help me get started on the organization and declutter process. We made a dent, but I still have a long way to go.

Ellie has been great. I guess Thanksgiving Day was just too overwhelming for her with all those people around. She played really well with her cousins on Friday and Saturday. She did tell me that she wanted to go to the store tomorrow and not to school. I believe her exact words were, "No school. Go to store. I don't like school."

I am most worried tonight about my little nephew. Dianna's 3 month old started getting really ill on Friday. She took him to the Urgent Care and then to the ER on Saturday. He is now in the hospital with pneumonia and RSV. They were supposed to be back in North Carolina tomorrow for work, but it looks like Dianna and the little ones will be here til Sunday. I am just praying little Levi has a quick recovery. Not a fun vacation for my lil' sis.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving at my parent's house in Beaumont. I don't have any pictures because I was too busy dealing with Ellie all day. She was in rare form. Normally she would be having a blast playing with all her little cousins, but yesterday she didn't want any of them to come near her. She would scream and cry whenever they approached her. And she wouldn't cooperate with anything I wanted her to do either. It was like one big tantrum after another. I have no idea what her deal was. Tom left at 5:00 to go watch the A&M game and I made him take her home with him so I could at least spend a few uninterrupted hours with my family. The boys all left to go see a movie and my sisters, SILs, mom, and I all played the world's longest game of Phase 10. We had fun just visiting and hanging out together.

I felt frustrated that Ellie was so awful yesterday. Some of my family hadn't seen her in almost a year so I hated that she made such a bad impression. Plus, I wanted her to enjoy her time with her cousins since she rarely gets to see most of them. But this morning she woke up her usual sweet self and we had a great time making a breakfast casserole together. And now she is lying on the floor, happily coloring me a picture, and I can't help but feel so very thankful for my little girl.

Photo fest

My parents hired a photographer to do a huge family photo tonight, but before the real photo session, I asked Rosie to snap a few pics of my little family on her front porch. Rosie is awesome.

Sea World

We went to Sea World yesterday with a few of my family members (a few means 18...as opposed to all 35). It was the best Sea World excursion I have had. The weather was beautiful and the crowds were nonexistent. Ellie LOVED it. She is still on her underwater creatures kick, so you can imagine how excited she was for the Beluga whale show and the Shamu show. She also went on the little carnival ride and played on the climbing ropes. We wore that kid out.