Our Merry Christmas

We had a very Merry Christmas this year! The festivities began at Grandpa and Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. We had such beautiful weather and we were all able to enjoy being outside. The neighbors gave Grandma their old slide/clubhouse and it was a big hit with the girls. We enjoyed lots of yummy food and great company. Elise was going in waves of being very tired/very hyper and made it pretty late into the night. We discovered that all we had to get her for Christmas was a candy cane and she would have been perfectly happy. Here are some pictures and videos of the day. It was a great night and we were all wiped out by the time we made it home.

 The first video is Mia and Ellie playing outside on the slide.  The second and third video is of the girls enjoying their food. Notice Ellie's table manners and how Mia looks at her. The last video is of Elise opening a present from the Carusos. 

 

   

Christmas morning was spent at our home with our family. Just the 3 of us. It was nice and relaxing. Ellie had to take a nap in the middle of opening presents because of her late night. She would open one present and want to play with it for a while. She could care less that there was more under the tree.  We actually put some unopened presents away for next year! We spent Christmas afternoon over at the Caruso's house. It took Ellie a few days to recouperate from all the excitement. When we started to put Christmas away today, she was sad. She kept taking the things back out of the boxes that I had put away. We had to say bye to some of her favorite things and she made some sad moans as we said "bye bye."  Ellie is sure going to miss Christmas. So will we! 

Reverse Slide

This video of Elise makes us laugh because of the facial expressions and the heavy breathing as she climbs the slide. MomMom and Poppy, you have no idea how entertaining this slide has been!

Busy with Playdates

Ellie has been busy having fun with her pals. She spent an afternoon with RJ at the Children's Museum. The two of them had a great time cruising around the museum.  There are lots of fun things in there, unfortunately Ellie wants to taste it all.  When we went outside we noticed the beautiful "Fall" leaves.  This doesn't happen everywhere in AZ so we decided to take some cute pics of the two of them.

Ellie also had a fun playdate decorating and eating some yummy cookies.  Ellie got to know these buddies through cousin Mia. We have been getting together pretty much every Wednesday. Angie met the other moms through the mom's group at the hospital after Mia was born and she stayed good friends with a few of them. They started to invite Ellie and I along and now it is a fun group of 7 kiddos and 4 mommies.  

We also hosted a little cookie exchange at our house a few days before Christmas and my friends from college came over. It is always a good time hanging out with the girls and the babies.



It seems like yesterday they looked like this.

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P.S. Here is some more proof of the "little stinker" we discussed below.

Little Stinker

Ellie is starting to be a little stinker these days. Big time. I know it is pretty typical of one year olds to explore around and get into mischief but sometimes it drives us a little bazerk. She loves to get into the kitchen drawers and just throw stuff to the floor. She doesn't even look at what she grabs, she just takes what she can get her little fingers on and throws it as fast as she can.  She also likes knocking things over. If something is sitting where she can reach, she will just take a swipe at it. If we are reading a magazine or newspaper she just comes right up and steals and rips it.  She likes to go into the pantry and pull out as much food as possible. She can have endless entertainment pulling the roll of toilet paper and trying to climb into the dishwasher.  It is surprising how much mischief she can get into in the 15 seconds we look away! 

On the other hand, her sweetness is coming through too. She has been very good at giving kisses lately. She kisses the tree, her mommy, daddy, stuffed animals and books.  

But back to the stinker side...Ellie has been eyeing the presents under the tree for a while. Last week she ripped open one that MomMom sent. We should have learned our lesson and taken all the presents and hid them in the closet but we didn't. The other night while Elise was snooping under the tree. She pulled out a present that she couldn't get open because of the ribbon. She threw a fit when we wouldn't let her rip it open. Who knew you had to hide presents from a one year old? 

We never knew how much you could possibly love one little stinker. 

Chomper

Elise has 4 beautiful chompers now and she is good at using them. I am pretty sure every toddler goes through a biting stage but I am ready for hers to be done. She gets all cozy and snugs right into you and then chomp. Yesterday she thought a freckle on my collarbone was a chocolate chip or something and she tried to bite it.  Ouch! 

ASU Basketball

Last weekend one of Greg's buddies gave us tickets to an ASU basketball game.  They were very good seats, close to the court and exciting enough to keep Elise entertained.  She certainly loved the fun music, being with Grandma and Chloe, Christmas Sparky, and all the action and cheering all around. Grandpa and Cannon were sitting in the section next to us and she could hear them cheering. Every time Grandpa let out a cheer (he is loud) Elise would immediately look around for him. It was cute. I was a little nervous taking her, wondering if she would sit through a whole game. No need to be nervous, she was totally into it. She even had enough ASU spirit to star on the jumbotron for a bit! 

  

Phoenix Symphony Hall

This past weekend we went to a family christmas concert at Phoenix Symphony Hall. Thanks to Mike and Angie for the fabulous tickets!  It was a really fun day in the city. Grandma, Cannon and Chloe met us at a light rail station in Tempe and we rode down to the city together. It was Cannon, Chloe and Ellie's first time on the light rail. Very exciting! Phoenix Symphony Hall  was a holiday extravaganza. A balloon man was making fun holiday balloon characters. There was an instrument petting zoo that Mia went to check out. It was decorated beautifully and of course Santa Clause was there.  Judging by the pictures below, you would think Santa Claus is the scariest man in the world! We all enjoyed the concert, it was perfect. After the concert we took a little walk downtown to get some treats before taking the light rail home.

What a fun day!

Let the Festivities Begin!

We put up all of our decorations and got ready for the holiday season this week! Even though Ellie doesn't understand much of what is going on, having her around makes everything so exciting again. She does understand a few things though. She understands that the tree lights up so when it is unplugged she picks up the plug and stands there looking at us until we plug it in. And then of course she gives a big YAY when we plug it in. She understands that if she throws an ornament on the ground it bounces and rolls around like a ball (shatterproof). She loves doing that again and again and again. She understands that the Dora wrapping paper on the gift MomMom and Poppy sent is supposed to be ripped off. She understands some other mischievous things too...she is learning pretty fast!

We also kicked off the holiday season by going to Zoo Lights. It was so much fun and Elise was definitely in awe of the lights and music. She was also in awe of the puff on Mia's hat and tried to take it a few times. Mia was so excited about all the Christmas everywhere. 

Thanks Mike and Angie for treating us to a wonderful night!