Happy 3rd Birthday Ellia!

so the 5th Christmas wasn't exactly the last of our celebrating! three years ago on Christmas morning, I went into labor and the next morning I had a beautiful & sweet little girl. So yesterday, the day after Christmas wasn't a day for resting or clean-up... it was a day to celebrate Ellia - her 3rd birthday! We promised her we'd take her to see the zoo lights again because its what she reallllly wanted to do. We opted out of any sort of party this year and decided to have our own little celebration. With little preparation because of all the Christmas craziness, I just made-do with whatever I could find around the house. I tried setting up the room like a party and making it special for her. Instead of a cake, I made a huge chocolate chip cookie pizza and decorated it with little to no tools on hand :/ When the girls got up from their naps I showed Ellia her little party and all the work was worth that little smiling excited face.
We realized yet another reason you make things a surprise for kids and don't promise things too much in advance: It was 25 degrees with a wind chill around 10 - YIKES. not the best stroll-around-the-zoo weather. but we had committed...so we BUNDLED and BUNDLED and went off to the zoo. As we pulled in the lot we realized we left the double stroller in our garage - DOUBLE YIKES! now what??? I mean you are talkin Parents-of-the-Year-award here. So peter held remae and I slathered blankets all over them, and I carried Ellia. We made a run for it - stopping at the first store inside the gate to warm up, then running to the reptiles (trying to point out all the lights on the way there), then running back to the car. Fun. Relaxing. Comfortable. But let me just say - she LOVED it. She had so much fun AND couldn't wait to get back home to her "party."
Anyway, we made it a pizza party! picked up pizza for dinner then had a cookie pizza for dessert. Then present time. By this time Remae was already in bed so it was just the three of us - it was a special time to just be with her.
So I certainly didn't "have it all together" for this one - BUT she was none the wiser and no less thrilled so I guess I'd dub it a success!
















Ellia, I couldn’t love you more. Although you weren’t planned by mommy and daddy, God knew your days before time. He has a PERFECT plan for you and I am so thankful you are here with us and we can watch that plan unfold.
I love your cautious Spirit and pray it stays with you as you age.
I pray your incredible memory and smarts will be used for HIS glory someday.
I pray your gentle independence will be an opportunity for you to stand for Truth.
I pray that someday your unbelievable beauty would be nothing compared to the beauty of your heart.
And that smile and laugh are a contagious joy. I LOVE being with you and I LOVE being your mommy. Thank you Jesus for the wonderful blessing of my 3 year old little Ellia.

Merry Christmas!

and just like that... the Christmas fun and craziness is done. whew! bittersweet.
We started our celebration with Christmas at nana & papa's house on Thursday evening. It was a WONDERFUL Christmas with them. We had such a fun and relaxing evening. Mom made her famous and delicious Chicken Breast Supreme with mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls, etc. etc. and we finished the meal off with some yummy tiramisu & fudge. All of us got tons of really nice stuff (liiiike a melting pot gift card - YUM and crate & barrel and lots of baking goodies :) - but it was just fun being together. The girls had a great time too... here are some pics from the night:


Ellia loved passing out the gifts and making everyone their own little pile (that's so me):



so i told my parents they would know if Ellia REALLY liked something by a shrill shreek she does when she gets really excited. first and most substantial shreek of the night.... a dum dum sucker. classic. :


and Remae liked the wrapping the best of course :) :

Pete LOVED his new fancy flashlight:



ellia, nana, and el's new dora doll:

Remae mostly liked just chillin with Papa on his chair with her new remote:

and yes... these are the faces of sheer delight at the sight of giftcards to melting pot, cheesecake factory and crate and barrel (ok so mine is quite a bit more delighted than petes, but still) YAY! cant wait:

remae and nana.... uh, im not sure... singing christmas songs maybe??:

just some of the aftermath mess!:

the girlies in their new cupcake pjs:





Christmas Eve we gathered for my dad's side at Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Karen's house. Tons of people, food, gifts, fun! Although we definitely missed having joy, john, judah, jadan & kaylee :( Lots of laughs & the girls were absolutely showered with gifts!



remae LOVED this box - just in kid-like fashion:

my two already-pooped christmasers:

i think chris & cara liked the game we gave them - Clue, The Office version (I wanna play it so bad - looks hilarious):

Pete... tryin to look like a fancy french chef in my new totally outrageous chef-hat gag gift-haha:


Straight from there, we went to Uncle Steve & Aunt Linda's house for my mom's side. Carrie & Paul were able to come from New York - making it extra special. We stuffed ourselves to the brim and again had tons of great gifts and laughs with the family (best of all, i walked away with a new Magnolia Bakery cookbook :). Definitely missed dave bein there though :(

ellia... getting into position:

remae workin on her steps... she'll be walkin SOON!

carrie & paul... aww christmas love ;)

me and my mr.:

carrie scored some points with this present to ellia:

see?? :

remae.... ya know, just sendin some christmas texts on her new celly:

gotta get these new yorkers properly outfitted ;)


petes feet up... just as they should be :)



When we got home, ellia and remae got to open their two Christmas Eve gifts from mommy & daddy (christmas pj's to wear that night and a special ornament to put on the tree)





We woke up Chrismas morning for our own family christmas (the best one for sure). What a great time we had, just the four of us! the girls slept in a little because of the night before which gave us a little extra time to get ready. we got them up and started the morning with stockings by the fire. it was nice to just take our time and relax while we exchanged gifts. peter and i decided that we would make it our plan/tradition to every year open stockings, then have a nice big breakfast together before starting on presents under the tree. that way we could really enjoy our time together and make sure the focus wasnt all about the gifts. I know it will be harder to do that as they get older, but we're gonna try to stick to it. It worked out GREAT! I made a french toast breakfast with fresh fruit and it was yummy and fun! Then we mosied our way over to the tree for our presents. Lots of good stuff & it was fun watching Ellia be at an age where she really enjoys and gets excited about each little thing.



















While Remae slept, Ellia & daddy played with new toys while I got things ready for our next Christmas event: Gram & Poppis house (Pete's side). We went over there around 2 and got home about 9:30. Long day but lots of fun with the family. Had a wonderful meal together around their new dining room table (we can now all fit together around one table!). The kids all played really good together and us adults got some games in too :) (camera died before i could get any good pics... boo!)
ellia & remae totally crashed when we got home.

With all the craziness of 5 christmas events, it is easy to get wrapped up in it all. But we did our best this year to take a step back, relax and enjoy being together - and most importantly, focus on what its all about anyway.
Here is one of Ellia's favorite books to read - I think it says it pretty good!:
"Just what is Christmas anyway? Why do we celebrate? Why is December 25th a very special date?
Is it about the Christmas tree with all the twinkling lights? Is it about the Christmas cards, the ones my mommy writes?
Is it about the mistletoe where mom and daddy kiss? Is it about the Christmas play, the one we never miss?
Is Christmas about santa claus? His beard is fun to touch. Is Christmas about christmas gifts? I like them very much.
Is Christmas about candy canes? I think they taste quite nice. Is Christmas about santa's list? They say he checks it twice.
Or maybe its about the food - Moms Christmas cookies rule! Or maybe its about the snow - white christmases are cool!
Is Christmas about christmas songs, the ones we sing each year? Is Christmas about a sleigh and santas eight reindeer?
Nooooo.... thats not what Christmas is about. All of these things are really nice and super duper fun. But Christmas is much more than that - its all about God's Son.
God sent His Son Jesus the Christ from heaven up above. He came to earth to save the world - God's greatest gift of love.
So Christmas is the Lord's birthday, the day he came to earth. Forever we will celebrate His very special birth.
OKAY, now I get it! Santa claus and christmas trees and presents are okay.... but JESUS is the real reason we have a Christmas day!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2010!