MERRY CHRISTMAS

This year we were able to make arrangements with Santa to have Christmas a couple days early. Santa was in Seattle picking up a new shipment of Xbox 360 and games and such, and was able to drop by last night and leave presents and fill stockings for our family. Here's a photo summation of our good times and acquisitions.


We began the festivities by opening
some new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve.





Christmas morning we got up and saw some great new toys that had been left by Santa.


Lizzy was the more excited of the children as she received a shiny new red tricycle. She ran over to it and started trying to ride it. Ervin got a nice Belly Boppy with some toys attached to it. He seems to like playing on his tummy, so it seems like something he'll like. The stockings had candy and movies from Santa as well as some little toys. Lizzy got a Lightning McQueen car that goes when you shake it (she's played with it more than any other toy so far), and a new Little Einsteins adventure movie. Ervin got a baby Cookie Monster who is wearing a diaper and holding a rubber 'teething cookie' and a 'Bob the Builder' movie. Mommy got the new Harry Potter movie and Star Dust. Daddy got Bourne Ultimatum, Simpsons Movie, and a Blue Man Group DVD.



Both the kids also got toys from mommy and daddy as well as grandmas, grandpas, aunt and uncles. Ervin gave his big sister a big can full of Lincoln Logs. Lizzy also got a kitchen set, rain coat, tricycle helmet, some games, books, and lots of clothes. Ervin received a new rattle from his sister and a baby monitor from mommy and daddy. Pretty much everyone else gave him some really great new clothes. The kids were even lucky enough to receive an autographed first edition of Mr. Beeson's new book.



Baby Ervin gave mommy a new pair of slippers to wear in the new house, and mommy gets to pick out a new set of kitchen knives from all of us.



Daddy got a shop-vac and a Maguires auto detailing set (incentive to finally clean the car), some bike parts, and a really great multi meter.

Uncle David gave the family a brand new receiver for our surround sound. We've already taken it to our new house and will hook it up as soon as we get moved in.

We went to our new house today for a little while. We took Lizzy's trike so she could ride it there. We also took a few other thing over in preparation for the big move that'll be happening Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We love our new place and are getting very excited to move. As soon as we're in and somewhat settled we'll take some pictures and post them.

Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks for all the support and love you've given us over the last while. We love you all and hope that you have a great Christmas season.

Happy Horsey Time

Tonight while we were watching Jeopardy, Julianne found a way to make Ervin laugh so hard that he didn't even notice daddy had the camera out.

Giggles

Here is a short video of Ervin kicking. He was laughing lots and lots but he doesn't like the camera with the same enthusiasm as his sister, so when he saw me trying to take a video he stopped laughing.

Here's another picture of Lizzy in her smock. Mommy usually just puts Lizzy in the smock then puts her in the chair. Daddy didn't know what he was doing so he put Lizzy in the chair then put the smock over both of them. It has plenty of room so Lizzy didn't mind. That's why there's a hump. . .

Update...

It's been a long time since we've written, and a lot has happened since we last wrote. Thanksgiving was... well, a learning experience, to say the least. Zak did a great job on the turkey but we realized that all that we did was just too much work to be worth the trouble to feed the two of us, as Lizzy didn't eat much. But now she seems to be turning a new leaf as she has eaten sourdough bread and about 10 slices of pepperoni this week.


Even after we learned our Thanksgiving lesson, we decided to make sugar cookie ornaments to decorate our Christmas tree. It was fun making a mess, but in the end, our cookies were just too heavy to stay on the tree. Lizzy is really excited about Christmastime. She loves talking about Christmas trees, snowmen, and Santa. She listens for those words on the radio or t.v. and promptly repeats them as loud and as excited as she can.



Lizzy, mommy, and Ervin keep busy during the day. We love to read stories, play with toys, paint/color, and watch t.v.






In these pictures Lizzy is wearing a temporary smock which is a very, very large shirt. When we put it on, she called herself a ghost and paraded around the room making ghostly sounds and movements.

Greatest Day of My Life!!!

Today was by far the greatest day of Lizzy's life (that didn't involve playing in Grandpa's truck). Lizzy and Daddy went to the Gateway Mall (www.gatewaymall.com) and were hosted by Elmo in a welcome party for Santa Claus. We arrived at about 9:20 and were number 52 in line. We waited for about 10 minutes before the line started moving. Our first stop was to check in and get our goody bag. Inside was a coupon allowing us to have a spin on the prize wheel where we won a snowman bookmark, a form to write our letter to Santa, a small stocking we could decorate (but decided not to because that's not daddy's thing), and some other things that are not of consequence. We also received our ticket stating our place among the first 150 people under the age of 12. This was the most important part as that ticket could be redeemed for a free plush Elmo doll (to add to our collection). While we were standing in the first line we got to see a giant bee and talk to several other children (most of whom weren't to interested in talking to Lizzy).

Next we stood in another line for our balloon animal. Lizzy chose a blue elephant. We went from there to the cookie table for our first of many trips. After the cookie we took our spin on the prize wheel. While we were in that line we got our first real shock of the day when Lizzy saw Elmo for the first time. She took off on a dead run and attacked him. I finally got the camera out and she was still latched onto his leg.

After we did the prize wheel we went to stand in line to see Santa but were told by several other people that he wouldn't be there for almost another hour. We went and walked around the mall (until today daddy had only been to Sears, so Lizzy gave him a nice tour) until we saw that Santa was in his seat. After this we stood in line to see Santa. The wait was fairly long but Lizzy was a good girl. The line went right past the cookie table so Lizzy had a good lunch consisting of a variety of cookies. We eventually made it into Santa's Village where we saw Santa's big green house, a reindeer who had a light up nose and moved it's head, and lots of trees with snow on them. We finally got the the front of the line where Santa's assistants helped daddy keep Lizzy behind the rope until it was her turn. As soon as permission was given she ran under the rope carrying her letter to Santa (which she filled out herself with daddy's pen while she waited in one of the lines). No one knew exactly how she would respond to Santa, but she loved him. She ran up yelling "Santa, Santa," and started climbing onto his lap. Santa helped her up and was given a great big hug. She told him her name and gave him her letter. Santa then gave her a candy cane and a new Elmo doll and said good bye. We didn't get any pictures with Santa today because we wanted to wait until Baby Ervin could be there with us. As soon as we finished seeing Santa we walked over to see Elmo again. For a $2 donation to Habitat for Humanity she was able to sit on his lap and have her picture taken.
After this we decided it was time to go home and find mommy. There was so much to tell she didn't know where to begin. The whole ride home Lizzy told daddy what she was going to tell mommy and what she wanted to tell Baby Ervin. She got home about a half hour before nap time and didn't waste any of it. She told mommy and Ervin about everything that had happened. She even let Baby Ervin see her new Elmo toy. She took a nap with her Elmo and the picture of her with Elmo, and when she went to bed tonight she had an Elmo in each hand and her balloon elephant on her dresser. It was a great day!