Christmas

On Christmas Eve (G-ma and Papa were with us, but no good pics of them)

Elmo helped her to open her one present on Christmas Eve

Playing with her kitchen from Santa on Christmas morning

Opening her stocking

We had a great holiday! Greg had off Christmas Eve afternoon and Christmas Day so we were able to get in lots of family time and many good meals with G-ma and Papa Jeffries. This was the first time we 'hosted' a holiday meal and I think we succeeded. We are excited to continue celebrating Christmas with Ella's cousins this week, and her Aunt and Uncle from London after New Years.

23 Weeks

We had an appointment yesterday at the OB~ Baby Sister is looking great, all her organs are developed and functioning and there are no malformations to be seen. She is definitely a girl, weighing in at a whopping 1 pound 5 ounces. Now we just wait and eat and give her time to put some meat on her bones.

Profile and hand above chin, arrow on forehead

Profile and hand at nose

Necessity

I just cannot refuse a Christmas-themed photo op. Only 7 more days of Christmas, hang in there. Or do the 12 days of Christmas begin after Christmas Day?

Dear Santa,

Let me off your lap! I know I was all psyched up to visit with you, but the pressure got to me. And you're scary.
Love, Ella
Oh, p.s., I want presents for Christmas.

I wish I could do this:

Practicing for Portland

The impish grin in the first photo can be explained by her play in the second. Nasty gutter water, fun!

Presents, Part One

While visiting Julie in Seattle, I found a cute Amigurumi book at her neighborhood fabric store. This is my first attempt at crocheting~Mr. Monkey is definitely imperfect, but still perfectly lovable (in my humble opinion). Ella called his head "the bean" when I was making it, so hopefully she won't remember that when she opens up this gift on Christmas. I only have a few years where homemade will be tolerated, so I'm basking in the fun-ness of it while I can.

21 Weeks

I'm officially halfway through this pregnancy~It is hard to believe, the time has (thankfully) gone by so quickly this time around. I am feeling well and having fun feeling "the baby" move around in her personal pool. Things are especially bright today because I finally found a pair of maternity jeans that actually stay up and make me look fairly normal. People have been asking me if Ella knows what is about to happen in our family. There is no clear answer~For now, she loves her "Baby Sister," gives her hugs and kisses, a hat to wear (should have gotten a picture of that one), keeps her covered up. The only point of contention so far is the crib. When we ask her if she is going to give her crib up to the baby, she says, "No, no, no..." So, we'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.




Here I am~ Going for the clothed belly shots this time around on the public blog. Definitely pregnant.
***Ta-Da~We found our star today!***

Christmastime is here

Ella helped us unload the Christmas tree (notice her cool outfit, she's been trying to dress herself, arm-warmers and all)

Our pretty tree. I love the coziness a lit Christmas tree brings to the home. We're still shopping for a star topper~ anyone found a good one somewhere?

Ella loves to play with the ornaments. She makes them swing and jump, and occasionally crash to the floor. Luckily she's not interested in the glass balls, except to exclaim "I see Ellie in there! I see Ellie in there too!"