Santa Came!

Santa visited our house, although we were concerned he was going to pass right over based on the tantrums that we endured over the course of December.  Ellie's "big gift" was her new bedroom furniture but Santa left a few presents for her to open Christmas morning.  

I wish I could report that she loved it all and enthusiastically opened each gift with awe and wonder but she just really hasn't been into opening presents quite yet.  In fact, she opened two and then said she was done and that she wanted to eat.  Josh and I looked at each other like what in the WORLD?  What two year old does that?  We obliged and took a halftime break for cinnamon rolls and breakfast casserole.

 Bitty got a new highchair which E has loved feeding her bananas from.

 Probably the best reaction we got from any present was her own baby bjourn.  She thought it was hysterical carrying her baby around.  

 She outgrew her 12 month Widgeon so Santa sized up!  She had to try it on immediately...best coats ever!

 I cannot believe that we will have another baby in front of the tree next Christmas!  We can't wait and are scared to death at the thought all at the same time!!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful, blessed Christmas Eve.  We attended the 5 o'clock children's service at church, complete with candlelight.  We were running late so unfortunately had to sit near the front and near the aisle.  I'm so glad that this is a very relaxed service, filled with other families with other young children--at one point, Ellie was laying in the aisle during the children's moment service.  I have no words.

Tried to get just one good picture in front of the tree after we got home.

and just about to head upstairs for a bubble bath and the annual "night before christmas" reading before Santa comes!

Christmas Eve Eve Eve

We celebrated Christmas with the Vickerys the Sunday before Christmas--they came to our house this year.  Just the stage of life we're in right now where traveling is not easy for us with a very strong willed 2 year old (and probably won't be for years to come).  

 After a dinner of appetizers, Ellie got right to business opening her new treasures.  

Bitty baby got her very own cradle.

 Sweet turkey doesn't LOOK like she can be so rotten in these pictures.

The Polar Express

Grammy treated us to a "real" Polar Express train ride in Bryson City!  The car ride there and back were somewhat of a nightmare (terrible two's in full force) but she loved the majority of the train ride!

 She loved the train museum and would have spent the day there looking at the toy models.

 Her first taste of hot chocolate!  I'll have to post some pictures from my phone where she got whipped cream on her nose--she thought it was hilarious!

She ate a cookie that Mrs. Clause baked, pretended to be a train up and down the train car (and got handed back to the wrong person when returning to her seat...immediate freak out for her), sang Christmas carols and received a very special Christmas bell from Santa himself!  We hope to do it again in a couple of years!

Fountain Inn Carriage Ride

Fountain Inn is one of the cutest little Christmas town's I have come across.  We are blessed to live in this sweet community--the residents do a wonderful job decorating their houses beautifully and we love taking the carriage ride annually to see the lights.

 Our horses name was Jake this year--Ellie looked so confused when she learned his name, as that is her bf's name at school!

 She also rode the merry go round...twice.  She would have just stayed on it all night if we had let her.

Not many pictures from the night--the terrible two's struck her horribly this week and it was all we could do to manhandle her throughout the streets and back to the car!

The Pink Pig

We were in Atlanta for Emily Brooks' first birthday party so we made it by Lenox for Ellie to ride the Pink Pig!  She is in an unfortunate stage where she will NOT smile for the camera and every picture that she is smiling is either candid or because of Gracie.  

 Emily Brooks rode for the first time with us...Mary Alice and Steven rode it with Ellie her first Christmas too!  This year she was obviously able to enjoy it a little more and she was fascinated by the "choo choo" and seeing the pigs (she has a very southern short i sound when she talks, so it comes out as "peeeeeg".)

 Looking terrified for whatever reason--she did NOT love sitting on Priscilla the Pig's lap nearly as much as riding the train

and she was NOT happy about having to tell the train bye bye.  big tears were shed.  

another great Christmas tradition!

The great Christmas tree hunt!

A bit out of order--the Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed to Asheville to find the perfect tree with the Tapps!  We met for breakfast at the Moose Cafe and then headed to the Farmers Market!

 E had a great time running through the trees--hopefully one year we will brave the long drive to Cashiers to actually saw one down ourselves.  

 Trees always seem to appear much smaller on a tree lot than when you get them home.  Our tree was a beast this year--luckily we have tall ceilings and the space for it but it took poor Josh hours to get it in the stand and in the house.  We will definitely be scaling back in the years to come!  We had such fun unpacking our ornaments and placing them on the tree--Grammy takes Ellie every year to pick out 3 or 4 new ones and she hung those on the bottom (this year she chose a dog, a Santa, ballet slippers, and a mouse).

Fun family tradition that I hope we have for years and years to come!

20 Weeks!

I am actually 22 weeks with Baby #2 this week but haven't had a chance to blog about our 20 week "big" scan--and so for memory sake have to document.  It was actually a very uneventful appointment, praise God!  We aren't finding out the gender again this go round--I honestly am DYING to know this time but Josh really wants it to be a surprise again and it truly is the best thing ever for baby's birthday.  I know I will be thankful we didn't find out when the big day arrives.  My gut feeling is a boy--in fact, I'm 99% sure it's a boy for whatever reason.  Josh's gut feeling is a girl--based on the heart rate.  I am SO sure that it is a boy that I think I will faint on the operating table if Dr Mac pulls out a girl--although honestly we don't have a preference--we will be absolutely thrilled with either a boy or a girl.  Having a brother myself, I'd love for Ellie to have one as well--yet I also think a sister relationship would be perfect as well.

The scan itself went so well.  I had my favorite u/s tech who is thorough, quick, and also reassuring throughout the scan that everything is ok.  The baby was in the exact position that Ellie was in throughout the entire pregnancy--frank breech, feet in its face, hands up near its head.  I'm anxious to see if this baby stays that way or will move.  The placenta is also in the front like it was with Ellie, which I was surprised about due to the fact that I have been feeling this baby kicking since 16 weeks and it took forever to feel E (around 24 weeks).  Everything looked great--no bright spots on the heart this time and no frantic trip to maternal fetal that afternoon.  Truly, just a blessing that having lived through it NOT being easy,  we cannot be more thankful that it has been so far.  

They are doing another scan at 24 weeks to get a better look at the heart--Andrea was able to see that the heart had 4 chambers and no bright spots but due to the position of the baby, couldn't get a good look at the ventricles.  I'll also have another scan at 28 weeks to check the growth, based solely on my history of IUGR with E.  This baby was measuring 4 days behind which isn't a concern (and certainly much better than Ellie at this point measuring 2 weeks behind).  

This pregnancy is absolutely flying by--I know that once it is past Christmas, we will blink and it will be time!  We are working on Ellie's new room and will hopefully be transitioning her soon out of her crib!  Thank you again to our family and friends that have kept us in your prayers!  

Fountain Inn Parade

Our little community truly does Christmas--and they do it well.  This is the only parade that we got to this Christmas--the weather did not cooperate with any of the others that we were hoping to go to.  It did not fail though and Ellie absolutely loved it.  I would say that it has been one of her favorite Christmas activities we have done this season.

I'm pretty sure that she got more candy during the parade than she did on Halloween.  She was in candy cane heaven.

 The marching bands were her favorite--she danced and marched along to the music.  She also loved waving to anyone who would look her way!

This season has absolutely flown by.  I had a very magical Christmas planned for Ellie in my head--wanting it to be extra special as her last as an only child--and as the days in December went by, I just had to let go of the expectations.  We have had fun but have dealt with illness all around, exhaustion all around, crankiness all around and needless to say the activity list that I had made Dec 1st has not all happened.  With all that being said, my favorite night of all is tomorrow when we celebrate Jesus' birth at our church's Candlelight service.  I am looking forward to that special time with Josh and Ellie and re-focusing for Wednesday and being with family and the ones I love the most.

Santa 2013

Don't let the smile fool you--it lasted approximately 2 seconds--but the photographer snapped it just in time!  

Baby "Esus"

Ellie was so proud of the dress she wore to church on Sunday.  She wanted everyone to know that Baby Esus was on it.  She doesn't pronounce the "J" at the beginning of words so we have heard a LOT about Baby Esus this Christmas season.

 We have read a lot of books on the nativity and it has also been their focus at school the past several weeks. She loves to name Mary, Joseph, the Kings, angel and the shepherd boy.  and the animals of course are her favorites.

What a sweet season we are having celebrating Christmas with her!

PJ's with Santa

Holiday Market was last weekend--mom and I go Thursday night for Ladies Night and PJ's with Santa was Friday night.  This is me and mom's 6th year attending and Ellie's 3rd year.  We have more fun as each year passes!

 We talked about Santa for several days before the main event.  We definitely "pumped her up" about it and I think she felt quite obligated to do it once we were there.  She had nervous chatter as soon as we walked in, saying "Ellie no cry.  Ellie be brave.  Ellie no tears.  Ellie see Ho Ho."  and on and on and on.  Bless her.  She made me SO proud though and didn't shed one tear once she was plopped up there.    

 She had no interest in lingering up there though.  She smiled for one picture for the photographer and then gave this very serious and stoic face for the rest of them.  She looked up at him once and looked at me with a stricken face and then never would look at him again.  It WAS an experience to say the least.   She did tell him that she wanted "babies" for Christmas.  {She has approximately 10 at home...no more babies in this house!}

 After Santa she listened to the Polar Express, watched the Polar Express with popcorn, and decorated a cookie!  I think the cookie decorating was her favorite part--she was really into the sprinkles!

 and an Ellie funny....

we hosted our sunday school christmas party sunday night and she had on a santa dress.  someone asked her who was on her dress and she told her "ho ho".  I told her to tell her the "long name" for him and she responded with "Hooooooo".  She's very literal, that one.

Tiger Cheerleader

So maybe one day Ellie will be able to wake up Sunday morning and us be able to tell her that her tigers beat the gamecocks.  This year was not that year.  Regardless, couldn't help but post her pictures in her super official uniform that she sported Saturday night!

 We told her to put her hands on her hips--and she puts them under her armpits?

Maybe one day we'll be watching her on the field cheering for Clemson!