Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we woke up at our house.  Paul and I got up extra early, showered, and were ready when the twinkies woke up. We fed them and then got Ella up around 7:15am.  You never know when Ella will sleep until...sometimes 7:00 and sometimes 9:00.  H&H nap around 9:00, so we had to get Ella up with hope that all three girls would be in somewhat of a good mood for gifts.  Ella was so excited when I got her up and said that Santa had come.

"Come on big sis, wake up!  We are ready to play!"

This pretty much sums up gift opening...Hailee and Hannah climbing and crawling all over the gifts that Ella was opening. 


Christmas Love

Hailee

I tried to get all three girls in for a photo with their presents. 
Wow, what a surprise..guess who wouldn't cooperate??!

When I did get Miss Ella in the photo she, of course, was extra photogenic!

Hannah

After gifts and breakfast at home, we headed to my mom and dad's where the fun continued!

Ella and Auntie Leah

Hailee and Uncle Ryan

Ella was so excited...and probably a bit overwhelmed!

I LOVE pajamas with animals on the butt and on the feet!  These reindeer ones were the cutest!

Ella got Dora dress up outfits from Uncle Ryan.  Of course, she had to put one on right away :)

Uncle Ryan got H&H this music table.  They love it!

Hailee checking out her new band instruments...

Ella eating a little pizza...

And Hannah still playing with the music table.  I'd definitely say it was her favorite new toy :)

Ella also got a Minnie Mouse dress up outfit.  Goodbye Dora...hello Minnie!

Paul got this helicopter.  Actually, my dad got them for himself, Ryan, and Paul.  They all flew them all weekend....and crashed them into things all weekend too!  I swear, they are like the three stooges.  Now Paul's helicopter hasn't been put down since we have been home. When I asked him to get them (somehow he has two now) off the kitchen counter, he said the counter is his airport.  The garbage is about to be his airport here in a few days!  :)

Minnie is so motherly :)

Daddy and Hannah

Thanks for our Christmas bibs KK!

Exhausting day!

Ryan and dad
Ella got this doggy sleeping bag from my parents.  It is my favorite gift that she got.  It has a fuzzy face and she calls it Chloe.  It is the cutest sleeping bag ever!
Ella looks mad here, but she is actually pretending to sleep.  She does this pretend snoring thing now.  It is just halarious!  She also pretend sneezes which is even funnier!
We went to my Uncle and Aunt's house later in the evening on Christmas Day.  This is Ella and her cousin Julia.  Ella loves playing with her!! (Not that you could tell by her expression:)
Erika, Hannah, and Brett.  Hannah would not stop staring Brett down for his food.  It was so funny.
Ella and her buddy :)

We had a fantastic Christmas. I was so glad to be able to be with our families, but also with just my little family for part of the holiday. I was also so happy to be able to attend Christmas Eve service. I talked to Ella a lot this year about it being Jesus' birthday.  I want my kids to all know the meaning of Christmas from a young age.  I hope next year to make an even bigger deal of Jesus' birthday.  I have heard of people making him a cake, which I think is a cute idea.  Next year we will also be starting the tradition of the Elf on the Shelf.  I am hoping Ella will be old enough to understand it by then.  I love little family traditions and am so happy that I have my family to start traditions with now.  

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent this year at our house with Paul's parents.  They came down on Friday and stayed until Saturday.  They went to Christmas Eve service with us at our church and then headed home.  It was so nice that they came down to Columbus instead of us traveling all around the state of Ohio like we normally do (well, besides last year when I was on bed rest for Christmas and everyone rearranged plans to be at our house).  This also made it easier for us to be home on Christmas morning, just the five of us. 
Ella and I on Christmas Eve

H&H playing with their "old" toys one more time before the family room got bombarded with new toys!

All three girls were very curious about the gifts.

Ella wanted Hannah and Hailee's gifts and Hannah and Hailee wanted Ella's. 
I figured it would turn out this way.

Ella loved her Minnie Mouse.  She is gearing up for Disney in only a little over a month!

H&H playing with Poppin Dino....and Hailee pulling off Hannah's headband.
The very first Christmas Eve dinner that I prepared :) 
I must say, I was somewhat proud!
Hailee eating her after dinner dessert...a bow.
Family photo before church.
Ella loved setting out cookies for Santa. 

All ready for Santa to come! Bed time!

Chloe got her Christmas present after the kiddos went to bed. 
She enjoyed her little gingerbread men :)

Santa must have known that the kids love Sesame Street! Cookie, Big Bird, and Elmo
were puppets peeking out of the kid's stockings.

All three girls must have been very good this year!
 

Sunday, December 18, 2011

11 Month old twins and a 27 Month old toddler

Hailee and Hannah will be 11 months old on the 27th of this month.  Yes, 11 months old!  I cannot believe it!  They won't have an 11 month doctor appointment and since I just did the milestone post, I figure I would post some photos now before the holidays hit and I completely forget!  These are from last week.
Hannah and Hailee playing the piano. 
This is Hannah's new favorite toy...well, it was Ella's but it's new to them :)

Hannah is starting to stand up to things now. 
She may have had a little bit of help from mama on this one :)

This one she did get up to all on her own!

Hails isn't quite to the standing stage yet.  She's more the belly flopper,
like we used to call Ella before she could crawl.

Hannah is SO active all the time. This was right before she took off crawling away. 
You can tell by her big smile that she was pretty excited about it.

And there she goes, leaving Hailee sitting behind!  This is a usual occurence these days.

Here comes Hailee, trying to catch up!

My favorite photo of the two of them of all time <3

I came upstairs from being down in the basement with the twins,
and this is where I found Ella.  Ornery little girl.

Then she started eating part of the ornament centerpiece. 
Really Ella?!  You aren't 11 months old, you are 2! :)

Ella with some mini pancakes.  Breakfast of champions.

I told Ella we were heading out to Firefly Play Cafe a bit too early in the morning. 
She stood by the garage door until we left...like an hour later. 

Does bunny's sweater look familiar?  When we got home later that afternoon,
Ella thought bunny was cold and needed her sweater.  How thoughtful!