Christmas Part 1

We started our 2008 Christmas with a Christmas Eve tamale dinner at our house. Our parents and siblings joined us for a delicious dinner and then stayed to watch the girls unwrap 2 gifts--their Christmas pajamas and new ornaments. Ella looked so cute, even sans pants, while unwrapping her gifts. Grace helped her get started and she took it from there. Aren't the ornaments cute?

And, check them out on their pink Christmas pjs!Ella wasn't interested in staying up after she got her pjs on, so we put her to bed before we got things ready for Santa. Grace was so excited to put out the cookies and milk and the carrots for the reindeer.

We went through our usual bedtime routine, but after our prayer, Grace said, "You don't have to stay for 5 minutes because I want Santa to come!" We took the hint and let her go to bed :) Then, Travis and I got everything ready for the next morning, and Dori prepared the breakfast casserole so that it could set overnight. I was so excited because we were going to do the "big reveal" for our families. I must say that it was harder than I thought it would be to keep the secret, especially since everyone kept prodding us to tell them. But, we held fast, and it made for a great Christmas surprise!

The girls woke up at their usual time on Christmas morning, and we went upstairs to get them so we could all walk down together to see what Santa brought. Poppy, Dori and Chachi had spent the night, so they got to witness all the excitement. Bubba slept a little late, but joined us later that morning. The girls were overwhelmed at the amount of gifts they received, and I've now vowed to scale it back next year. We're so blessed to have families that spoil them, but the combination of their gifts, with ours and Santa's made for toy overload! Grace was very excited that Santa to see that Santa had cleared his plate and that he'd actually brought her everything on her list. Travis and I quickly directed her to the baby crib Santa left because we'd placed a bag with the baby stuff in it. Grace tore into it, and revealed all the baby boy stuff. Our families were surprised and excited, but Grace really wasn't because she'd been saying all along that it was a boy!

Ella's favorite gift? This cute tent and the puffs Santa brought her. It was hard to coax her out of there all morning!

She also loved this vacuum cleaner and playing peek-a-boo with tissue paper.I just love the look on Grace's face as she opened her new Etch-A-Sketch. Other favorites include her Hello Kitty CD player and this red nightgown I found at the last minute.

Sweet Ella couldn't wait any longer for her breakfast. The girl LOVES to eat. Shortly after this, she went down for her morning nap, and the rest of us enjoyed breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls. What a wonderful way to spend Christmas morning!

Merry Christmas

Much love,

Travis, Michele, Grace, Ella and Baby ___________

Pre-Christmas Fun

Even after she started walking, Ella was great about staying out of the Christmas tree. But, she did like to take a closer look and exclaimed "ball!" at the round ornaments!

Grace and I spent Christmas Eve afternoon baking--cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies for Santa, and chocolate peppermint cookies. These last ones were definitely her favorite ones to help with, although I think she ate at least half a bag of crushed peppermints before we were done.

Today's the Day!

In approximately 2 hours, I'm having an ultrasound that will hopefully reveal the gender of baby #3! Please pray that it also reveals a healthy, perfectly formed baby. That's really all we want, although Travis and I have placed our bets- I'm saying BOY, and he's saying GIRL. But, just like everyone else, you'll have to wait until Christmas Day for the big reveal. Stay tuned...

Christmas Cookies

Two years ago, Grace and I started baking and decorating Christmas sugar cookies. She was only 13 months old at the time, but we had a blast and she loved eating them. Yesterday, we continued the tradition. She was very particular about doing things by herself this year, as she is most days now. She wanted things done just so, but was a great help. And, as always, she tasted everything along the way (cookie dough, icing, sprinkles out of the jar). Here's the final result!

Now, let me explain something about her outfit. When I bought it, I wasn't sure if she'd like it because it does not contain a speck of pink. But, it's super soft and I thought it would make a good play outfit. Wow--did I ever underestimate myself! Not only does she like it, she loves it. She calls it "the black one" and would seriously wear it everyday if we let her. In fact, she wore it on Saturday and Sunday and even threw a fit on Saturday because Travis had forgotten to take it out of the washing machine. Sometimes, Gabby even purposefully doesn't wash it, so that Grace won't be able to wear it several times a week. She even says, "When it gets too small for me, you can give it to Ella and buy me a bigger one." I'm not so sure Ella will ever be able to wear it because it will be so faded and worn out by then!

Here's Ella tasting her first sugar cookie...Do you think she liked it?Sure enough! What a perfect smile! Yes, I realize my child is topless, but she'd just eaten 5 bowls of turkey noodle soup (yes, FIVE bowls), a good amount of which escaped her bib and ended up under her shirt. And, since it was almost bedtime, she spent the rest of the evening letting her skin air out :)

Christmas Trimmings

Oh, how I love a home decorated for Christmas! Everything is ready at our house, and I'm finally done wrapping presents. I'm a little obsessive about this, but every year, I scour several stores to find the perfect wrapping paper that matches our tree. I love what I found this year. The girls' gifts are in the snowman paper, and everyone else gets gold.

Here are the girls' personalized ornaments from last year. I can't wait for them to open their new ones on Christmas Eve.

And, Grace insisted on taking pictures of her favorite ornaments. These first two are ornaments she "bought" for herself. Not what I would have chosen, but they match the tree perfectly.

This is Grace and Ella's girly tree upstairs, and they have these pink stockings on their bedroom doors.

More details...

Only 3 more days!

We've Got Another Walker

Ella's walking! She's been practicing all week, taking more steps each time. This weekend, she decided to go for it and just took off. She's still a little unsure of herself and prefers crawling, but she can definitely do it! I was hoping to get a video of it to post--maybe later this week!

Grace's 1st Christmas Party

Grace's 1st school Christmas party was a hit, but unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries right after I took this one picture. Notice the icing on her face. My girl loves sweets! We made some cute ornaments for our tree, and she loved passing out gifts to all her friends. Their mothers were very impressed with the homemade hot chocolate and even accused me of having too much time on my hands...Really? My husband and I work full time; we have 2 kids, and I'm 4 months pregnant! Honestly, the gifts were easy to make and gave me something to do while watching a Cowboys' game with Travis. But, I'm glad that I've started getting in touch with my creative side.

Counting Down the Days...

until we find out Baby #3's gender! Only 1 more week! Grace is still pulling for a boy, and now calls the baby, Baby Brother. Last night, she told Uncle Lindsey, "Mama doesn't want a baby brother. She only wants another girl!" Surprised, I replied, "That's not true. I just don't want you to call it Baby Brother yet because we don't know what it is. Maybe Jesus wants you to have another baby sister." Grace then turned back to Lindsey and said, "See? She doesn't want a baby brother."

*Don't forget to cast your vote in the gender poll on the right!

Grace's 1st Chrismas Program

I went to Grace's school today to watch her first Christmas program. It wasn't supposed to be a performance, but just a demonstration of all the things she's learning in BodyRythmics--her movement and music class. It was the first time the kids had "demonstrated" anything in front of an audience before, and although Grace was nervous, she did great! I know she was nervous because she made her nervous face the entire time. I can't explain it well, but she moves her tongue along her bottom teeth from side to side. But, considering that many of the kids didn't make it through the whole demonstration without crying and/or running to their moms, I think she did really well! These pictures aren't the best because Grace was too busy participating to smile at the camera, and for some reason, they came out very dark.

She has her first school Christmas party on Thursday, and I made these special treats for her classmates and teacher. It's homemade hot chocolate mix, and it is so yummy!

Getting Into the Christmas Spirit

We've been so busy around here getting ready for Christmas, and we're having so much fun! We kicked things off on Sunday, December 7 when I took Grace to see The Nutcracker for the very first time. We got all fancied up, and Grace wore one of her precious Christmas dresses from last year. However, she would NOT let me take a picture of her. This is all I got, but at least you can see how cute her dress is... Grace and I have been reading The Nutcracker before bedtime, so it was nice that she was able to follow along. We had great seats, and she snuggled on my lap (even though I paid for her to have a seat). The ballet was beautiful, but my favorite part was watching her wide eyes and answering her questions, "Where's the Mouse King? Did he die yet?" She loved the beautiful ballerinas and said she wants to be one someday. It was great to have some "mommy and me" time with her, and I hope we can make this a yearly tradition. I'm thinking Ella might be up for it next year, although we're going to need to work on her attention span. That baby can't sit still for 5 minutes!

I also finished getting the house decorated. Here are some shots of our trees, although I forgot to take a picture of the girls' pink tree upstairs. The first tree is the one in our living room. It's more for decoration, although none of the ornaments are breakable. As curious as she is about everything, I was sure that I'd have a hard time keeping Ella out of it, but so far she's not interested in anything except the lights. The other tree is the one in our office that you can see from the street. It's decorated in fun colors with an assortment of ornaments we've collected each Christmas. When Travis and I got married, one of the gifts we received was an old fashioned glass ornament shaped like a chapel. That year, we started a collection of ornaments, adding a bride and groom and a new house for our first Christmas together. Then, we added a baby buggy when Grace was born, and we've continued with this tradition every year. This year, Grace got a ballerina because she started ballet lessons and Cinderella's carriage because that is her favorite movie. Ella got a little girl on a rocking horse because she loves to ride the rocking horse in her room. Last year, I also started buying personalized ornaments for the girls, and I can't wait to buy 3 next year!

And, here's the mantle with our stockings. Notice the one for baby #3, just waiting to be embroidered.

Finally, my favorite decoration is this nativity set my parents bought for us two Christmases ago. Isn't it gorgeous? And, I love that it's a constant reminder of what the season is really about.

Ella is 13 Months Old!

Wow! This baby loves to go go go! She's still not walking, although she's THIS close (I think I said that last month) and will take 5-6 steps unassisted. She spends most of her free time pushing around a shopping cart, baby stroller or the "new car" as Grace calls it. She also likes to climb into the car by herself and yell until someone pushes her. She definitely does not like to sit still, but occasionally will crawl up into her chair and "read" a book. She's cutting another tooth on the bottom (total of 8 now, 4 on top and 4 on bottom). She's learning body parts, and can identify her belly button, eyes, nose, mouth and teeth. A true dentist's daughter, she loves brushing her teeth and makes the "ahhhh" sound as if she has a Sonicare like we do. Good girl! She also likes to pretend that she's talking on the phone and often holds her hand or a toy up to her ear and says, "Heh-yo! Heh-yo!" Other new words in her vocabulary include "shoes" and "tank-u" (thank you). She's getting really good at waving and blowing kisses and will show her belly button to just about anyone. More people, including strangers, are starting to say, "She looks just like you!" which Travis has thought all along. She's such a sweet girl and we love her tons!

Baby #3 Update

I had my 16-week checkup for Baby #3 today. Dr. B said everything looks good--weight, blood pressure, etc. And, all my blood work came back normal. We also listened to the baby's heartbeat, which is always so reassuring. The exhaustion is finally starting to ease up, but I'm still as pukey as I was with the girls. Thank goodness for Zofran! I go back in 3 weeks on December 23 for an ultrasound that will hopefully reveal this baby's gender. Grace is convinced it's a boy, and one of the things on her Christmas list is "a boy crib for the new baby." Travis isn't taking her word for it, though because she also thought Ella was a boy (as did I). We've decided to keep it a secret until Christmas morning, but you can vote in the poll on the right to give us your prediction!

Everyday Fun

The favorite part of my day is always walking through the door when I get home from work. I love hearing, "Mommy! I missed you!" and being showered with hugs and kisses. I also enjoy this little peanut as she plays at my feet while I'm cooking dinner. This is her new favorite pose, showing us that she's "so big!" On Monday evening, Grace informed us that she wasn't feeling well, but that "Maybe some hot chocolate would make me feel better." It was so cute that I couldn't help but oblige this wish. Here she is enjoying a tasty cup of cocoa. Seems like it worked!

Grace is determined to get Ella to start walking, so they've been dancing around the house like this for the past week. They both giggle the whole time, and Ella is getting pretty quick. She'll take two steps on her own, but then plop right down and crawl. I guess she knows what works best for her right now. (Notice the chocolate on Grace's face in the 2nd picture). We've been finishing our evenings with bathtime, but not just any old bathtime. Nope, bathtime in mommy's tub with the fireplace going. Grace would stay in there for hours if we let her. Ella knows when she's had enough. She'll stand up and proclaim, "Out!" It's fun to watch them playing together more now that Ella is more able to do things. I can't imagine the trouble we're in for when Ella starts walking. Yikes!

Thanksgiving Happenings

We spent Thanksgiving day in Rockwall with Travis' family, enjoying delicious food and the Cowboys game. I forgot to bring my camera, but I did manage just one pic before we left the house...

On Friday, we headed to Austin to spend time with the Cramers- my grandparents, parents, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, great aunt and uncle and cousins. The girls loved climbing the carpeted stairs at my grandparents' house, especially Ella because she doesn't get to "play" on the stairs at home.

Our weekend revolved around food. We ate yummy, creative turkey leftovers- turkey noodle soup and King Ranch turkey and plenty of desserts, and even stopped by the Magnolia Cafe for lunch. It was great to spend time with family, especially while bonding over food. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery life on Friday night, so I'm without pictures of the festivities.

We were all exhausted when we got home on Sunday, but we put the girls down for their naps and got right to work with taking down our fall decorations and replacing them with Christmas stuff. Travis worked on the outside decor and got both trees up for me. I finished trimming one tree, but haven't gotten around to the other one yet. Hopefully, everything will be done this weekend. I also put up our stockings, including the "extra" one that I ordered last year for a future baby. Little did I know that we'd have a #3 so soon! I guess I'll have to wait to have it monogrammed. Grace and Ella awoke to a house full of Christmas, and Grace was especially excited about the Christmas tree in our front room (the finished one). Ella just exclaimed, "Ights! Ights!" when she saw it. How fun to have two babies to celebrate the season with this year!