Christmas Fun

We had a great Christmas this year Celebrating JESUS with lots of house hopping, partying with friends, and being blessed beyond comprehension by our awesome families! This in turn caused a massive clearing out of old toys, clothes, and other household stuff to make room for the new goods! Glad to have the Community Storehouse and CityView church to pass off our excess.

Below are a few of my fave photos from our celebrations at home Christmas morning with SNOW outside!

2 of my fun gifts... The PEACE sign will stay up year round on the mantel! And, my 2009 snow globe- Justin has given me one every year since we began dating in 2002!

Lizzie was first to rise, but very patient waiting for Lainie to open stockings together!

Elaine LOVED her orange lifesaver candy cane:)

Lizzie's bride costume- scary that someday this will be for real! Precious girl!

Elizabeth got a LeapFrog Tag pen- she enjoys it greatly and feels like such a big girl!

Lainie's drum- yup, her parents purchased it for her!

Daddy and his girls (and Jazzy- this baby doll has become part of our family!)

Elaine's first chapstick... delicious, it is to eat, right?

Silly girls primping with their Tinkerbell chapsticks!

The aftermath!

Our hula cowgirl snow lady! Look closely and you will note that we had no carrots or coal. Leftover JuJuBes from the uneaten Halloween candy made a great mouth and eyes, and a head of broccoli halved provided perfect arms! Her wardrobe was directly from our dress up closet. Isn't she lovely?! She lasted several days in our shady backyard!

Final fun tidbit... My girls are going to have a COUSIN! My precious sis in law and bro in law are expecting Baby Stiko in late July or early August! We are THRILLED!

Elaine 19 months

She LOVED the little "Lainie sized" nativity scene!

Don't look back for an 18 month update, because I totally missed it, and this one is a bit late as well. Oh well, I will try to get in the highlights.

Elaine remains our spunky, full of life, yet clingy little gal! Her determination is quite incredible. Because of her fight to do things all by herself, she is now able to get herself dressed- always does her pants, but occasionally requests help with her shirt. I have learned though that unsolicited help will be REJECTED! She has discovered how to get up into our bar height chairs at the table and would prefer to eat like a big girl. While I allow her to sit there for snacks, I require her booster at meal time- I do have my limits! She has started to tell me "tee tee" as well as "pooh pooh" soon after she goes and has requested to sit on the potty a few times. I am not sure if I am ready to potty train, but we'll see where that aspect goes. Her verbal skills are beginning to grow, and I am getting better at deciphering what she wants. She now refers to herself as Laine or Laine Laine, which is really fun! Her ability to make associations is growing, as she will point to every article of laundry as I fold it and tell me to whom it belongs. (My camo pjs throw her off- she insists they are Daddy's!) Also, if Lizzie is talking about her friend Addie, Elaine will begin talking about Jett, Addie's little brother and Lainie's good friend. While she is growing, she is still on the smaller side of things. At her 18 month check up, she weighed 22lb 10 oz and was 30" tall, putting her in the 24th and 16th percentiles respectively. She continues to be a really good eater, for example, she ate more lasagna than I did at dinner tonight! Her sleep is excellent as well- 12-13 hours at night and a good 2 hour nap in the afternoon:) We will see how that changes when her big girl bed is introduced in Lizzie's room in the near future... Somehow I am thinking she will not be quite as easy as Lizzie was with this transition! Elaine LOVES taking care of her babies, dancing, building towers, and playing with balls. Her hand eye coordination is fantastic, so coupled with her determination... she just may be our little athlete- she certainly has the energy part covered! We love our little fireball and are so thankful for her place in our family!

The look on Elaine's face shows pretty well how she felt about the snow...

ehhh- not thrilled but not hating it either:)