Christmas Time!!

We have had a wonderful holiday this week!!! We went to church on Christmas Eve and then we went to Pop and Ma's house for dinner! We got to open presents and exchange gifts with Gordon's extended family. It was so much fun- The girls had a blast and Emmary realized what exactly Christmas entails! The next morning the girls slept late and were so excited that Santa came! Emmary is still very sad that Elfred (her Elf on the Shelf) left and hopes to see him again soon. Her favorite Santa gifts were her washer/dryer, Hannah Montana guitar, Smurfette, the Wonder Pets, and all her books. Ellie's favorite gifts were the purse her FurReal puppy came in (not the dog!!) and all of Emmary's gifts!! We then went to Popsey and Gammy's house and got to eat lunch and open gifts!! Emmary got to ride her big girl bike from Sissy for the first time around the neighborhood and has decided we need to install sidewalks at our house. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. We finally got all the presents put away today!!!

Even with all the excitement and presents, Emmary has still remembered that it was Jesus' birthday. We had cake and balloons on Christmas day and she really enjoyed singing Happy Birthday to Him. Today she said that she was glad we got to celebrate His birthday and hoped He had a great one. I pray that as a family we can continue to make Him the reason for our Christmas celebration.

Opening presents at Gammy and Popsey's house

I love my Big Girl bike from Sissy!!!

I love my stroller from Sissy!!!!

Christmas is great!!!

Yeah!! Santa was here!!!!

Presents From Santa

And our rinky-dink tree that was knocked over twice! We were very glad we decided to use the smallest tree!!

Emmary opening presents at Pop and Ma's on Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas!!!!

We can't believe that Christmas is almost here! Emmary is so excited- she is ready for the balloons and the cake for Jesus! She is still not quite sure about Santa. Sometimes she likes him and sometimes she doesn't. However, she knows about birthday parties and is all for it. I am a little (a lot, actually) behind on Christmas niceties and have not gotten Christmas cards done! I did get the pictures done the other day but they will have to be sent with a "New Year's" card. It has gotten really difficult to get the girls to look and smile at the same time. And Emmary was horrified of the deer so I couldn't even get the picture I wanted. All well.

Nine Months!

Ellie is now nine months old- it is hard to believe. She had her well-check visit at the doctors today and everything was great! She weighed 20 pounds and 14 ounces and was 28 inches long- I thought she had gotten taller! They checked her hemoglobin and it was a 12.8 so that was good. Everybody at the doctor's office was laughing because she carried one of Emmary's purses with her- she has gotten really attached to it and carries it everywhere (even to bed). Emmary got the purse for her birthday and isn't too happy about it becoming Ellie's favorite- so I am going to have to go another one this weekend. We were laughing the other night because she had gotten into Emmary's Hello Kitty purse and found chapstick and a curler. She is going to be a girly girl!!

The Tooth Fairy

Emmary was tucked in to bed tonight and we thought almost asleep when she yelled for Gordon. So he went in to see what the "emergency" was. She needed to tell him that she didn't think that she wanted to sit on Santa's lap but that she did want to sit on the Tooth Fairy's lap. And did the Tooth Fairy have hands? "yes" Did the Tooth Fairy have legs? "yes" Were the Tooth Fairy's legs like people legs? "yes" There was another round of goodnights and she went to sleep.

Boo Hoo

Emmary has started a new thing this week- when she is upset or in time out and crying- she says Boo Hoo over and over and over. And with all the dramatics- there is some loud boo hooing and some quiet boo hooing and some mad boo hooing. It seems like she is really upset but who really says "boo hoo" when they are crying?

Rody!

We have been rearranging and cleaning out Emmary's room to get ready for Christmas gifts. She has very graciously given some of her "baby" stuff to Ellie. As long as she can use it in Ellie's room. One of the items that Emmary is storing in Ellie's room is Rody. And Ellie is thrilled. She loves Rody. I was really suprised but she can sit on it and bounce all by herself. She is going to be another girl of action.

The Incredible Hulk

Emmary had a big fit on Sunday- we didn't even get to church as a result of the craziness. I am not even sure what the tantrum was about- except that she didn't get her way. She woke up extra early so tiredness did not help either. Well, she was hurting my ears so she had to go to her room until she could calm down. That made her really mad. I heard her throwing things and kicking and banging and acting crazy. When she finally calmed down I went to her room and told her if she could be calm for two minutes she could come out. However, when I opened her door- I was floored. She had somehow transformed during her fit into a hulk and had flung her mattress off her bed, knocked everything out of her kitchen, and threw toys all over. I could not believe it- so I told Gordon to go tell her that her two minutes were up and look at her room. (I got the camera- she will want this picture when she has children.) He made her clean it up before she could come out. When she was done she said she needed help with the mattress- "I am not strong enough"- Okay- how did you get it off the bed????

Jingle Bells

We have been practicing a few weeks for Emmary's first Christmas show. We have been singing Jingle Bells and Happy Birthday Jesus every night and several times during the day. Last Wednesday was the big performance. I, of course, forgot my camera after I spent an hour the night before looking for the charger. Thankfully, Aunt Pam took some pics so we will have some of the great event. I took one of her Christmas outfit before we went to school. Emmary looked so cute and was so excited. I heard she didn't sing in the dress rehearsal but she sang a little in the show. By the time they got to Happy Birthday Jesus she was a little more into the performance. Afterwards, I found out the issue was that she didn't have a microphone.

Where is Ellie now????!!!

In another installment of Where is Ellie?- She escaped down the hallway to where Emmary's princess chairs were waiting to be put in the attic. And she found one of Emmary's headbands.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

At school they have been focusing on Christmas as the day Jesus was born- which I am very very glad about. This week they wrote not what they wanted for Christmas, but what they would give Jesus for His birthday and drew a picture. Emmary, like usual, traced her hands. However, she would give Jesus a new marker and a racetrack. ( I am sure she is thinking about the new Little People racetrack- she thinks it is "really cool- but just for boys")

My First French Fry!!!

Need I say more!!!!

Cheerio Girl!!!

Ellie's new favorite snack is Cheerios!! She snacked on Cheerios while Daddy was shopping on Friday and kept getting them stuck to her chin!! I tried to take a picture but everytime I clicked the Cheerio fell off!!! I am so glad that she is getting old enough to try snacks- it makes stroller time so much easier!

Shopping!!!!

Emmary had one plan for where she wanted to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving- Build-a- Bear. So, that is what we did. She had a wonderful time. We were so proud of her- she waited patiently in all the lines and said "please" and "thank you" and "yes, ma'am." She made a cute puppy she named Pinkie. She has been taking her on walks and loves her pink leg warmers.

Thanksgiving Fun!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year- It was Ellie's first Thanksgiving and she napped all afternoon! We had lunch at the Old House and then went to Gammy and Popsy's for dessert! Emmary got her Elf on the Shelf on Thanksgiving and she named him Elfred. She looks for him every morning when she gets up. He fell over yesterday afternoon and landed behind a picture frame. Emmary got very upset because she couldn't find him and he wasn't supposed to go back to Santa until she went to bed. Thankfully, I was able to locate him and picked him up after I asked if it was okay to touch him. Since I asked, he did not loose his Christmas magic.

Where is Ellie?

We have been asking each other "where is Ellie?" alot lately. She has gotten to be a really fast mover and quite the adventurer. We have had to clear off our coffee table and move several pieces that were just too interesting. She is very brave and will venture under anywhere she can fit (not always get out off) and will pull up on anything bigger than she is when sitting. Ellie's new favorite play place is under the kitchen table.

Just a Hiccup

Emmary was having a really bad morning Saturday. She must have been tired because she had little tantrums over everything. Well, I finally had enough and told her that if she had another tantrum she would have to take a nap. It was 10 a.m. so she was not thrilled with that idea. Well, about five minutes later she got mad over something and threw herself down to have another fit when she remembered. She stood up very quickly and said "that was not a tantrum, that was a hiccup."

Turkey Fun!

Yesterday was our last day of school before Thanksgiving, so we all did some fun little Thanksgiving activities. We made little turkey hats for our babies class and took their pictures. Ellie loved having her picture made.

Emmary's class had a little party and made pumpkin pictures of everything they are thankful for. Emmary's list was the following:

Mommy

Daddy

Ellie

Pop

Gammy

Grandma

Kitty Cats Hannah and Tyrone (named after Hannah Montana and Tyrone from Backyardigans)

Silverbells (Hershey's Kisses- Pop calls them silverbells though)

Hannah Montana!!!

Emmary loves Hannah Montana- she runs around the house singing "Hannah- Montana-Hannah-Montana- Best of both worlds!!!!" We went to Wal-mart the other day and they must have found a hidden box of Hannah Montana costumes leftover from Halloween because they had a rack of them for $2.00. Well, we picked out two for Emmary and she has been having a blast!!

The other night she was Hannah Montana and was playing back in her room while Gordon and I were in the living room. She needed Gordon for something and yelled, "Billlllly Raaaayyyy!!!!!! I need you back here. I am in Hannah Montana's room!" We have yet to figure out how she knew that Billy Ray is Hannah Montana's father in real life.

Purple Feet!!!

One of Emmary's favorite new things to do is to color the bottoms of her feet. She then likes to walk on paper to make foot prints. Thankfully, she usually uses washable marker- however, there are many days when it is still possible to see a trace of blue or purple or orange around her toes. Not great on gymnastics days but usually she wears socks!!

Happy Halloween!!

We had a fun Halloween! The girls dressed up for preschool and dressed up on Halloween night! Emmary helped give out candy at Gammy's house and then went trick or treating. She got a "ton" of candy that she has treasured. Her favorite has been the lollipops and the candy corn.

Emmary dressed up as Pinkalicious! The character in her favorite book- pinktails and everything!!

Ellie was a kitty cat!!

Eight Months!

Ellie is eight months now and is growing so fast!! She is crawling all over the house now- so we have to make sure that everything is picked up and away! She pulls up and "walks" around everything. She is very adventurous and will try to reach and stretch to walk between the furniture. Ellie has also surprised us with two new teeth!! She loves to grin and and show them off. Emmary is very concerned about brushing them- so they brush their teeth together now!

The Fair!!

We took the girls to the South Carolina State Fair- and we all had a wonderful time!! Emmary and Gordon rode a ton of rides and Ellie and I loved watching them!! We had fun watching all the people and eating ice cream and corn dogs!! Emmary did not want to leave and still asks when we can go again. She does not understand "next year." But we look at the pictures on the computer every other day and that seems to help! I think she is ready for Disney World!

Ellie's first carousel ride!!!

Gordon and Emmary on the swings!!

Flying High!!!

Riding the Pink Motorcycle!!!

The Pumpkin Patch!

It has been a busy month- The holiday fun has already started!! We went to the Pumpkin Patch with Weekday and we all had so much fun!! Emmary loved the hay ride and the little pony. She has asked both PopPop and Popsy for a pet little pony. It won't take up much room and could stay in her play house. Ellie loved the animals and the hayride also. She wanted to get down and pet the bunny so badly. Maybe next year!!! It was a great way to start our fall holiday season!!

Emmary's New Suit

Emmary wanted to put her pajamas on all by herself tonight. We said sure- go for it. She was apparently reminded of one of her favorite books- Max's New Suit by Rosemary Wells. Emmary loves Max and Ruby and decided to be Max tonight. She went through the whole story, "Max put his pants on, one arm at a time. Max put his shirt on one leg at a time. Now Max is ready for the party." She thought she was hilarious and she was!! Thankfully, I had the camera close by and caught a great picture. We eventually got her pjs on right and went to the "party" in her bed!!

Cookies!!!

Ellie has started experimenting with puffs, wagon wheels, and very recently baby toast!! She does not like the puffs but loves wagon wheels. She gets so excited when I ask her if she wants a "cookie." She also really likes the baby melba toast. However, she can bite it hard enough that she can get pieces to break off. She does not like it when that happens. Ellie has a very sensitive gag reflex and the littlest things make her gag- so we try to be very careful with what we let her try to eat. She tries to get "big girl" food already- she wants whatever Emmary has. She seems to espescially love "Chik-il-a." She makes a mad grab for whatever is close when we eat there!

Achoo!

Emmary and Gordon were playing today and Emmary was playing "Daddy" and Gordon was playing "Emmary." Well, Gordon (aka, Emmary) sneezed so Emmary got a kleenex to help him blow his nose. She put the tissue on his nose and he pretended to blow his nose. She said, "Ohh girl, you blow good!!" And then she wiped his nose and got another kleenex and had him "blow" again. "Ohh girl, that was a good blow!!"

Boo!!

Yesterday, I was sitting in the backseat with the girls on the way to eat dinner and Emmary was tired of the movie she was watching, so we started to sing some rhymes. We were doing the Five Little Pumpkins and at the end, I said "Boo!" to Emmary and then turned and said "Boo!" to Ellie. Well, Emmary loves the song and we found out Ellie does too! She absolutely cracked up- it tickled her where she could not stop giggling. So, we did it again and again and again. With the same results! It it so funny to hear her belly laugh and giggle.

Ice Cream

Emmary has recently started sleeping with a pillow. However, she likes to go to sleep with it over her head. Luckily, her favorite pillow is one of the very expensive foam rubber pillows that supposedly helps you sleep so much better. Basically, it doesn't move and neither does your head. Not too great for sleeping on, but very safe for sleeping under. Well, I went in her room the other night to tell her to go to sleep and saw foam rubber everywhere. She had unzipped her pillow out of the three pillow cases and apparently thought the foam looked like "ice cream." She had gotten all of the cups out of her kitchen and her spoons and made ice cream sundaes with foam rubber. At that point, she only had half a pillow left. Well, I cleaned up as best I could and almost took the pillow but decided that she would have to sleep with half a pillow. Of course, she didn't mind.

The next night, we check on Emmary again- and there is more foam rubber everywhere. Her babies wanted "ice cream." She no longer has a foam pillow but the thinnest pillow we could locate. She was not too happy and wanted Gordon to blow it up to make it bigger.

Waving!!

Ellie started waving this week!! It is so cute- she will do the whole arm wave up and down and she has also perfected the hand wave. When we wave with our hands, she opens and closes her little hand too. She loves how we ooh and ahh when she waves. She is growing so fast!!!

My Favorite...

Emmary went to her My Gym gymnastics class this morning and had a fabulous time, as usual. During mat time, all the children had to tell their name and their favorite sea creature. Well, they started around the circle and there was a dolphin, an elephant (??), a shark, two sea lions, and a whale. Then it was Emmary's turn. "My name is Emmary and my favorite sea creature is a mermaid." Emmary loves mermaids. Gordon painted her a mermaid on her bathroom wall and Emmary named her name Abby. Emmary talks to Abby and tells us all kinds of things that Abby says and does. Abby is her "imaginary" mermaid!!

Up, Up, and almost away!!

Ellie is really, really getting great at pulling up and standing by herself. Unfortunately, she also likes to let go and walk so we have to watch her very carefully!! She tries to pull up on anything that she can get close to. She loves to play with her exersaucer from the outside. Thankfully, she also still really likes it from the inside.

Summer Fun!!

Emmary had a great time the other day on the water slide!!! It is so much fun to be able to have a water slide in the backyard! Gordon and I wanted to be able to slide too!

Shopping!!

Emmary went shopping for me the other day. She even unloaded the groceries!!! She said, "Aren't I your best helper??" And she is my best helper!!!

Emmary's wish "To get to go to gymnastics tommorow!!"

Birthday nails!

Getting a Princess Ballerina Hairdo!

Cricket

The other day I went into mine and Gordon's bathroom to put up towels and I saw a cricket. I really, really hate crickets. There is just something about them. Yuck. So, I called for Gordon to come and get the cricket. Well, Emmary came running after him saying she wanted to get the cricket. She beat him to the bathroom and stepped on the cricket like three times (barefoot, of course). She managed to get a leg off of him but that was it. And of course, I brilliantly said that his leg was gone. Well, she started freaking out and looking for the leg on the floor and then she needed me to check the bottom of her foot. We had to check the bottom of her foot for the cricket leg for the rest of the day. The next day we had to check her foot the cricket leg. She had Pop check her foot for the cricket leg. And, yesterday I had to check her foot for the cricket leg again.

Birthday Time!!!

Emmary turned 3 on August 29th and she had a really big day!!! We had breakfast at Chickfila with Sissy and Gammy. Then we went to Hairdoodles and she requested a "ballerina princess" hairstyle. She also had her nails painted and put on lipstick. We then had lunch at Hooligan's with Popsy and she got to cut her own cake and everything. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my camera at lunchtime!!! That night we had a big party at PopPop and Ma's with "Old House Chicken" and a princess cake!

Emmary was supposed to have a Backyardigan's birthday party for friends on Saturday, but due to incoming Tropical Storm Hanna, I canceled the party on Friday. Of course when we woke up Saturday morning it was a beautiful, dry and non-windy day!!! I think we are going to try to have a Fall Craft Party in the next couple of weeks so her friends can come over to play. She was really upset but Gammy, Popsy, Sissy, Matt, ChaCha, and Lucas came over and she got play on the waterslide that afternoon. So, that helped!!!

All in all- it was a great birthday week!! She can't wait until she turns four!!

Six months!!

Ellasen had her 6 month appointment this morning and she is growing!!! She weighed 18 lbs 14 ounces and was 26.5 inches long. So she has come a long way since February!! It amazes me how fast babies grow and develop. Dr. Cabiness was glad she was sitting by herself and very impressed that she is pulling up and standing by herself also. He gave the okay to try regular formula- so we will see!! I am praying it works and she feels good. I really hope she has grown out of her allergies!!

The coolest!

The other day I was putting up laundry and Emmary came running into my room yelling, "Mommy, come look what I did to Ellasen- she is the coolest." I went running to see how she was "the coolest," praying that "the coolest" wasn't dangerous. Ellasen was "the coolest" because she was wearing a "super cool hat- just like Pop's." Okay- I could see how she was the coolest. And Ellasen thought so too.

On the move!!!

Ellasen has really started figuring out how to scoot and move to get the things that she wants. She is not yet crawling but she can somehow get from point A to point B. I haven't figured it out yet but she is good enough at moving that we are putting up small items. She will be six months next week so I guess she is old enough to begin crawling and moving more. She would like to be able to walk!

I think she is going to be a daredevil and climb and get into things a lot more than Emmary. Emmary was always (and still is) very busy but was not an adventurer. She never climbed out of her crib or tried to get up bookcases and things. But I think Ellasen is another story. She is already pulling up on whatever she can get both hands on and is trying to keep up with big sis.

Who are you??? (for the next 5 minutes, anyway)

Emmary loves to pretend that we are all different characters from television or books or other people that she knows and adores. Our current list of characters include:

Emmary: Herself, Sissy, a baby, Beaver (from Franklin), Annie, June, Shimmer, DeeDee Doodle, Dora, Pinkalicious, Roxydog, Uniqua, Tasha, Ms. Paige, and April

Me: Gammy, Emmary, Bear, Rooney Doodle, Quincy, Leo, Dragon, Benny, Alice the Great, and any of the Backyardigans

Gordon: Fox, Moe Doodle, Holley Spider, Ms. Spider, Quincy, Tico, Little Bill, and any of the Backyardigans

Ellasen: Emmary, Jazz from Doodlebops, Bounce, Annie, Pansy, and Bobby from Little Bill

Pop Pop: Very, very consistently Pablo

Ma: Also very, very consistently Austin

Jessica: Always Tyrone and sometimes Little Bill

Gammy: Rabbit, Emmary, Leo, and Sissy

Popsy: Goose

Sissy: Emmary, Gammy, Roxy, Sarah, Quincy, Ms. Ashley, Mr. Owl, and baby

I am sure there are more I cannot remember right now. Sometimes it gets really confusing- I am Bear one minute and then I morph into Rooney Doodle. And Emmary gets really frustrated when we don't know that she has already changed characters. We are working on mind reading so we can resolve this problem.

Shhh...

On Monday Emmary bit me. I have no idea why- she just randomly bit me very very hard. Left a bruise and drew a little blood. Well, she of course had to sit in time out. I think she was sort of suprised that it happened because she was extremely apologetic and upset. She has been apologizing all week- even twice today. So, I really do not think she meant it.

Well, Pop Pop was taking her to Hardees for dinner on Monday as a special treat. So, we all met Gordon at Hardees after he got off from work. While we were standing in line Emmary said, "Mommy, don't tell Daddy what I did today." I asked her what she meant. "Don't tell Daddy what I did bad today, please, Mommy." I told her that I thought she should tell Daddy what she did today and she said, "Oh no, no, please keep it in your life Mommy- Keep it in your life only!!"

A beautiful cake!

Emmary baked a cake the other day all by herself! She poured the mix, the egg, and the water and mixed it up. Once it cooled, we iced it with purple and white icing. She did the purple icing all by herself! She wanted to take the cake to Ma and Pop Pop's to eat when Daddy got home, so she waited all day so she could share it. When we went over to Ma and Pop Pop's house, Jessica asked her what kind of cake she baked. "It is a beautiful cake with purple and white icing!" And it was a pretty cake!