More new words

Ava's favorite word

Ava loves to walk around saying, "dubba dubba dubba" and it's SO cute!!

Ellie's first piano lesson

Here is Ellie playing her song after her very first piano lesson.
I played piano growing up, so I'm teaching her instead of taking her somewhere and it's so fun!!

SNOW!!

Ellie and Ashley

Ava and Emily - we call her Emmy, and Ava says, "Memmy"

Ellie girl making a snow angel

Ava going for a quick ride - she didn't stay on long. We use this sled inside and I pull them up and down the hall and Ava says "ride" over and over again, so I thought she would love it, but she just wasn't sure what to think about it.

All the kiddos

It snowed here today - and it is such a pretty snow!! We bundled the girls up and went outside. Surprisingly, Ellie loved it and Ava didn't know what to think about it. She wanted to be held most of the time and Ellie was right in the middle of it all. We played with our neighbors and it was so fun - nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air - even if it was cold air!! Makes me want to go snow skiing.

Rembering

Ellie has the best memory!! I don't know how she remembers details like she does, but it's one of her strong points! My Nannie always asks if I think she remembers my Grand-daddy, who a lot of people referred to as "Red". I tell her yes, that I really think she remembers him, but sometimes I wonder if she really does or if she just knows the stories we tell about him and the pictures she sees of him. Anyway, the other night, I needed to do some reports for work, so Jeff got out his laptop so I could work in the living room while we all watched Wall-E. When Jeff brought in the TV tray (which we never use because our living room and dining room are in the same space, so we don't have a reason to eat in front of the tv - because our table is pretty much in front of the tv), Ellie's light bulb clicked on. She said, "Hey. Do you remember Grand-daddy Red? (her own version of his name - we didn't put the 2 together) He used this table and ate his supper (it was lunch, but Ellie gets lunch and supper confused all the time, so she calls everything supper) and sitted in this chair." I could not believe it?!? I would have never remembered that, but the last time he was at our house (probably for my birthday in August of last year), he sat in the recliner and ate his lunch using the TV tray. What a great memory!! Ellie was very fond of Grand-daddy and when he passed, we were all gathered around his hospital bed saying our goodbyes. He was so sick and really didn't acknowledge anyone and was pretty well non-responsive, but when Ellie walked in the room, he raised his hand to wave at her and smiled. It was absolutely precious.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown

So, my week started by me getting strep. It knocked me on my rear!!! It was horrible! 103.4 temp for over 24 hours, sore throat...blah, blah, blah. I'm not the only one that has ever had strep, but I am so thankful it's not something I get often - actually, I don't think I've ever had it before. So, Monday I started an antibiotic, but as of this morning, still couldn't eat or drink anything because my throat was absolutely raw!!! Back to the dr. I go, this time without Jeff's amazing help (he's done it ALL this week), so I had both girls with me. I had to get a shot of antibiotic to try to kick the strep, plus I have a virus that has caused ulcers in my throat?!?!?!? When they brought out that shot, Ava started crying!! Poor girl - she's had so many shots lately that she's petrified! Ellie was nervous and kept saying she didn't want me to get a shot. I had to explain that it wouldn't hurt her!! Anyway, the nurse was great. I stood on one leg, held Ava in my arms on that side, propped my other leg up, Ellie held my shirt out of the way, the nurse unfastened my pants and pulled them down, gave me the shot, and helped me get back together. It was the weirdest, but most pleasant shot experience I think I've ever had. I was talking to Ava and Ellie, they were both there with me, and it took my mind off of what was going on. I almost immediately felt better - within like 2 hours?!?!? I get so frustrated because we try to do everything right - eat healthy, keep things clean, wash our hands often, exercise, I breastfed both girls...and we still continue to get sick. It could be so much worse, though! Hopefully, we are all well now and will stay that way for a long time!! I have some great pictures to post, but my computer won't read my card right now, so I'll have to reboot and try again tomorrow.

silly pants

My mom and dad got Ava some markers for Christmas. She loves to color and they are easy to hold. They also make fun sounds when you put the top back on. Anyway, here is one of my favorite shots of her "enjoying" and "using" her markers. I got the cutest video of her attempting to say, "color, color", but I'm not having any luck uploading videos tonight.

TEA PARTY!
I didn't think Ava would have a clue...
but she was pretending to make drinking sounds and was sharing with everyone!!

We had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family today. We waited until today because the baby, JD, had RSV and some of the other kiddos have been sick, too. Anyway, here are some pics from the day.

Elizabeth (aka Dizzy or Lizzy)
(she's the cool, popular one - especially in Ellie's eyes!!)

My Aunt Karen (dad's sister) holding JD

Issy being Issy, silly as ever!

You won't find much better friends than Ellie and her Diz!


On a side note:

Ava is hillarious!! She is a ham and she knows it. Our kids are complete opposites. One big way is that Ellie cries before she gets in trouble because she knows she did something wrong...Ava laughs and does it again!! Tonight, Ava was throwing food on the floor when she was finished eating. I smacked the back of her hand and said "No, No!"
SHE LOOKED AT ME, LAUGHED, HANDED ME HER OTHER HAND AND SAID, "A-NUH-NUH"
(which is how she says ANOTHER)?!?!?!?!?!?!? It was impossible to not laugh!

Christmas Pictures

The girls with Nonee and Papa

Little girls' dream house

Ellie and Ava's "playhouse" from Nonee and Papa

Christmas with my family

Visiting with friends

Nana reading to the grandkids

Christmas Eve

silly sisters

What did Santa bring??


We had a great Christmas with family and friends! I had a hard time deciding on which pictures to post. I had several good ones. Ellie was incredibly worried about Santa coming in to her house, so she slept with Jeff and me. She also made me move the stockings into the living room because they were at the end of the hall!! :-) She had so much fun making cookies for Santa and leaving water, carrots, and sprinkling oats and glitter for the reindeer to know which house was hers. Ava was clueless, but had fun opening gifts. Santa brought them some books and a talking disney nursery and we gave them babydolls (Ellie a doll dressed as MinnieMouse and Ava got a Lucy baby!!), and we got them a wiggle racer - really cool, but it didn't have all the parts, so we have to call about it. The list goes on and on - we are incredibly blessed and were reminded of our blessings while spending time with family, which I think is always the best part of celebrating Christmas!! Jeff's family did a great job of providing "entertainment" during our get together and the kids were really involved. We're still trying to figure out what kind of family traditions we are going to have within our family of 4. One thing we did this year was fixed a big meal of breakfast food the night before Santa came, but we want to have more "traditions", so I'll be thinking of ideas throughout the year.

Hope you had a great Christmas and that you remembered the reason for the season!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!