Let me just say it now, Christmas is so much fun with a toddler. Ellie loved everything about Christmas. I don't think she really got the whole Santa Claus bit of Christmas, but every morning she would walk out of her bedroom and see the Christmas tree at the end of the hallway and would just kinda crouch down and whisper "Christmas tree!" or "Christmas lights!" in a very excited and awed tone. She loved Christmas trees and lights. I think the Christmas lights were how she first started learning her colors. Now that Christmas is all done and put away, she reminds us frequently that the Christmas tree is in the ceiling. Temple Square was another fun event of Christmas. She loved the "bubbles" on the reflection pond. She tried to blow them. She loved seeing the nativities from different cultures. She thought the Eskimos were Mr. Potato heads, and the red Japanese figure was definitely Minnie Mouse.
The Potato Head Nativity
Yes, in Ellie's eyes, that red figure just had to be Minnie Mouse
She had so much fun with her nativity sets at home too, she loved "Baby Jesus" and the "twinkle little star" the most. Even now, when we sing a song before bedtime she always says that she wants to sing a "Baby Jesus" song. Stories about "ho ho ho" were fun to read too. She also had fun with anything related to a jingle bell or with anything that remotely even sounded like a jingle bell. Christmas morning she slept in. Ooo, that was difficult for two parents full of anticipation for Christmas morning. We waited a whole hour after waking up before we went in a got Ellie up. She had fun opening presents, but didn't exactly tear into them like we were kind of hoping. She did well though, and enjoyed all of her gifts. Her surprise favorite was her potty. We bought her the potty because we were out and about doing shopping, and decided we should just get one, and since it was all boxed up, we wrapped it. Well, after opening up that potty, she would not open another present unless she was sitting on her thrown. Then she carried the thing around the house wherever she went. We let her drag it around on Christmas, but the next day I established it's place in the bathroom after many tears and screams on Ellie's part. Besides the potty (which really hasn't been used yet for it's rightful purpose, sadly) some of Ellie's favorite presents were her "rocky giraffe" from PaGa Winter, her "dishes toys," and she loves to say "hi" to Grandma on the cool cell phone she got.the living room on Christmas Even after the Ellie was dreaming of sugar plums. You can see the "rocky giraffe" on the left.
What every good parent does before wrapping presents.... make sure they work well, and are safe to play with. This was Brad's creation the night we wrapped all the presents.
The silly little potty chair
Brad and I also had a great Christmas. It was so lovely having Brad around a little bit more than usual over the school break. We loved not having to think about school despite the increase in work hours that still kept him away at times. He did get to have a few days off the week before school started up again, so he threw all of his energies into this....
tada! He finished the piano! Wahoo! It's hard to believe that it isn't sitting in the garage anymore. It's been a permanet fixture down there for more than 6 months, and our faithful little Saturn has had to endure the elements outside on the driveway the whole time. We bought that old, beat-up, so-called instrument last February (see before pic here), so its about time it took it's rightful place in the living room. I love having a piano, despite the fact that it is desperately out of tune. I still enjoy it on a daily basis. Hopefully we'll be able to remedy it's unique sounds after it acclimates to its more permanent home in the living room. And if anyone just happens to have a piano bench sitting around that they don't want, we'll be glad to take it off your hands.
As far as preggy and baby news goes, all is well. The belly is still acting as a pin cushion, and it never has really learned to enjoy it's new calling in life. Geez! Those stupid shots HURT! But, I am way more than half done with the pregnancy standing at 27 weeks tomorrow, and I can't wait to stop the pin cushion gig. "Baby Brother," as Ellie calls him, is doing well, and is always right on target at our appointments. He is sitting a lot lower than Ellie ever did and he definitely favors the right side of my belly. Despite him sitting lower, my poor ribs still hurt. I just have a small torso, I guess. This guy is a very active little fellow. I started feeling him around Thanksgiving, at about 18 weeks (?) or maybe even earlier. I don't think I felt Ellie until well after 20 weeks. I am loving all the movement. Maybe not the blows to my bladder, but I'll just have to endure them because the rest of his little jabs are just so fun. I told myself that I would be better at taking preggy pics this time around. Well, I haven't. That is the end of that. I don't think I have a single one yet.
Oh, one other thing that Ellie got for Christmas was a way-too-big pair of Snow White plastic shoes from her Great Grandma Frandsen. Today she was clomping around the house in them, and I got this cute little video of her. I just had to share it. Sorry it is sideways, I don't know how to fix that.
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