...and we're back!

Greg got a new camera as an early Christmas gift this weekend. Wahoo! Here are some pics from today, trying it out. Ella helped Ghee-ma take out the snowmen for the mantel. She was really excited about it, oohing and aahing as she unwrapped them, then gently she would place each one in a particulat spot on the coffee table. In the last photo, she is surveying the whole lot in awe.

Thanksgiving

The first time all 4 grandparents have been together with Ella. We had a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner together at the Jeffries house.

Ella playing with Auntie Gilly in the yard

Riding the ladybug at the park with Granny and Grandpa

Trying to finally get a good picture of Gill with Ella...atleast Gill looks nice!

Ella, Bee, and Paci

I tried to take some stills with the video camera and the quality is pretty bad. But, Ellie sure looks cute cuddling with her 'Bee' and paci.

It's a Girl!

Greg will be even more outnumbered come April, when we welcome our next little girl into the family! Everything looks great so far, growing big already. We saw her fingers and toes, all her organs, 4 chambers of her heart pumping away and the parts of her developing brain. And...her parts. We're so excited!

**Update**

We put Ella to bed about 100 times last night. Let's just say she won. Big time. And today, we put the crib rail back up. Not quite ready to fight that battle. At least not without a bit more preparation, research, and definitely not without a baby gate in her doorway.

Let's just go back a while and remember her in her finest form:

Ah, that's better...

Cookies, Camera and Commotion

I am munching on the most delicious cookie I've had in a long while. My favorite foodie posted a recipe for Chocolate Toffee Cookies a few days ago, which I read and drooled over, but didn't dare consider baking. Then, yesterday, Greg went to open a package of Peppermint Bark given to him for his birthday, only to discover it had melted into a solid block of chocolate in transit. So, instead of hacking off pieces with an ice pick, we decided to make cookies! We substituted chunks of peppermint bark for the toffee and walnuts, and baked them up. Ella tasted the batter and said, "That's nummy chocolate. Uuummm!" Eloquently stated. But, they're even better baked (little does she know).

In other news, our camera got misplaced at school on Friday. Hence the "food post." We're crossing our fingers it ended up in someone else's purse and will find its way back home to us. I'm already missing it desperately. Ella put on my shoes for the first time and walked around the kitchen tonight...I settled for the video camera, but it is just not the same. In still photos you can't hear her whining to "See Ellie."

Ella is a big girl now. She is sleeping in her toddler bed for the third night in a row. Only tonight did she figure out that she can now get out of bed to come find me. And all because I thought she was missing her daddy at nap time today and had a snuggle with her on the twin bed until she fell asleep. She obviously pulled one over on me, because she got up to the same tricks at bedtime. Give her a millimeter, she takes a mile.

The new park

The park down the road from us was recently torn out, and replaced with bigger, better, and most importantly newer playground equipment. We go there to play atleast every-other day. Ella is in a big climbing phase, trying to tackle more challenging climbs on each visit. Only one almost-fall so far, so I think we're all doing pretty well.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween last night. Ella dressed up as a bumblebee, and wore three of five components of her costume. Not bad, huh? She LOVED ringing the doorbells (maybe the first time she has ever done that?) and seeing all the puppies that live in Grandma and Papa's neighborhood. After saying "Trick-or-treat" and "Thank you" at each house, she would say "More doorbell" as we walked down the sidewalk to the next house. We thought that the candy pile building in her pumpkin was of no importance to her until we offered (then suggested, then pleaded) to carry it for her. That girl was NOT going to part with her loot! Poor arm was all red and sore looking, but she didn't seem to care. When we got home, she dumped out the bucket to survey the goods, and choose some random chocolate balls to eat for a treat. So good she clapped her hands as she ate them. What a night!

In case you missed it...

...someone special turned 30 (!!!) a couple weeks ago. Poor thing's birthday was the day after the wedding, and he was on call that night. Nothing like ringing in your 30's in the ICU call room! But, we had a special meal and a delicious cake the day after, that I hope make up for some of the shortcomings!
Happy Birthday Greg

Birdie

At school two weeks ago, Ella fell in love with this little birdie. He chirps when you shake him by the tail. Since she found him, he is the first thing she looks for when we go inside, and he accompanies her on most of her endeavors while there. This is her baking a cake for Birdie. She cracked the eggs into the teapot, stirred it up, popped it in the clothes dryer (behind her in photo, on bottom) to bake, then fed it to him with a spoon.