Back to the Beach

I'm so excited, we just booked a trip to Gulf Shores in July. We are going to back to the same place we went two years ago. It seems like just yesterday when we were there. This time we will have an additional traveler, we had just found out Ellis was on the way right before our trip in 2009. This summer, she will get to join in the fun with Finley and Braden.

More Snow!

Finley and I ventured out this morning to check out the snow. It was hard to get her to come back inside!

FYI, the naked baby you see in all of the pictures is Finley's "Girl Baby". Girl Baby goes everywhere with us, even to school, although she has to stay in Finley's cubby until nap time. Every once in a while, Ellis will see Girl Baby on the floor and pick her up and take off with her with the most mischievous grin on her face because she knows it will get a rise out of Finley. Finley usually doesn't like to share Girl Baby, but sometimes she will "allow" Ellis to play with her! Last year, Finley was weirdly attached to her Little People Goat, this year its Girl Baby!

Bad Hair Days

Poor Ellis, every morning, she wakes up with hair like this!

Snow Days

We have been home with the girls since Tuesday like most everyone else in North Texas. It has been a nice break, but quite challenging to come up with entertainment. Luckily, since Brandon works at a University, he has been home all week too, so I haven't had to entertain the girls all by myself.

After Christmas, we didn't have room for all of the girls' presents, so we stuck everything in an extra bedroom downstairs. Brandon calls this room the "Treasure Room" and it has come in quite handy this week. When boredom sets in, we go to the "Treasure Room" to find a new toy! The "Treasure Room" is now empty!

"The Treasure Room" on Tuesday...

Playing dress-up...

Ellis wants to do everything that Finley does...





During the holiday break, we decided to do some re-arranging. Our house was built in the 1930's and we love it, but the layout is not really set up for a modern family. Our dinning room is in the center of the house and before, it was just a room we walked through to get from our living room to our kitchen. We decided to make it room we use and turned it into a partial play room and it has been great! We folded the table up and pushed it to the side and brought in the toys. I can see the girls from the kitchen and the living room and Finley's play kitchen fits perfectly in the little nook under the stairs. I'm not sure why we didn't do this sooner.

Walking

Ellis has been trying for weeks to get her legs working. Well, yesterday (her 10 month birthday), she finally figured it out...



And she added more steps today...

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Finley and Ellis received so many wonderful gifts, they are two very lucky little girls. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Sherman with Brandon's family. Christmas Eve we went to Austin College to the Candlelight service and during the middle of the service, Finley was ready for her candle so she took off running toward the front. Luckily, JJ (Brandon's cousin) caught her before she interupted the service! We spent Christmas Day opening presents and then had a wonderful dinner with family and friends. We drove to Corsicana to have Christmas with my family on Sunday and Finley and Braden had a ball playing with all of their toys!

Playing dress-up at Mimi's...



Christmas morning...

We waited in line at Neiman's for 45 minutes and when we finally got to the front, Finley told me she didn't want to sit in Santa's lap. Really, you couldn't have told me that 45 minutes ago? The photographer tried his best to talk her into it, but the best picture we got was Santa holding Ellis and Finley standing about 3 feet away, it is hilarious. I didn't pay the $60 for the digital print so I will try to scan it soon!

Christmas Eve Candlelight service...

Susie Snowflake

Finley has a mini dance recital before Christmas. It was just her class at the studio showing everyone what they has learned over the past few months. Her teacher explained what they do in class, how they stretch and warm up and what the expectations are for her class at this age. Finley did great and put on a show for all of us! She loves dance class and we have been so happy with her little studio and teachers.

Meet Susie Snowflake...

When we arrived, I saw everyone had flowers, oops, didn't know that was the protocol. Thanks Aunt Ginger for stopping so Fin wasn't the only one without flowers.