Christmas with Grandparents

Grandmama and Pop have been here visiting us up in this very frozen tundra for the past few days. We have had so much fun and are so glad they came!

Ellie Jane has had no lack of attention!

Everytime she has said “play,” someone plays playdough…

Everytime she has said “weed,” (Which has been about 458 times each day), someone reads whatever book she is handing over as she plops into your lap.

Grandmama and Pop have seen more snow than they’ve ever seen in their life, and have handled it quite well!

We all went to the conservatory one day and did lots of this…

Ellie Jane loved the “waawer”…

…but was not so fond of the fish (I think Koi are kinna gross too)

She did sit still long enough for a picture or two though…

She also learned how to plant and water flowers in the little children’s room at the conservatory…

She was quite proud of herself!

We’ve also celebrated Christmas. We loved getting to do our Advent tree each morning with the Williamsons. It is one of Ellie Jane’s favorite things. Every morning after breakfast, she brings Colby his Bible and climbs in his lap and says “bible, bible” until he starts. We read a little and then her favorite part is when we “pway.” She folds her little hands…so sweet. She especially likes our worship time right now because she loves putting the “ornaments” on our tree…

Each morning we go back through each piece of the story of Christmas…

We’re praying she will understand who Jesus really is early in her life.

This morning we opened presents with Grandmama and Pop.

She was so funny and was very intense while she opened each gift – making sure she got off every little piece of paper before she looked at the present.

And she loved her gifts!

She got some stacking blocks. We stacked and knocked them down about 20 times…

She also got a big ABC floor puzzle. Though it took her a good 5 minutes to get all the paper off first…

Her favorite was a set of pots and pans to cook with…

She was kind enough to cook for all of us and serve us each a bite

and Grandmama gave her a pretty dress that she couldn’t wait to try on…

This afternoon, they wanted to go play out in the snow with Ellie Jane. Colby asked her if she wanted to go play in the snow. She did this…

(Remember her traumatic event last time we played in the snow?)

We decided to go anyway…

We videoed instead of took pictures, so I’ll have to post that soon. But let’s just say she had a similar response to the last time.

I guess she is Minnesotan by birth, but still has southern blood!

We had such a fun time with Grandmama and Pop! We know it was a sacrifice to come and we are so grateful you did! What a treat to have you.

We’re sad to see you go…

Come back soon!!!

To the conservatory

Ellie Jane is cuting 4 huge teeth in the back ( 1 year molars?). Anyway, she has had a lovely little cold to go with it.

And, have I mentioned that it is COLD here?

Well, with sub zero temps comes the heater (thank the Lord for the heater!) and with the heater comes really, really dry air that makes colds even worse.

So yesterday, we spent the morning at my favorite winter place in the cities…the Como Conservatory.

I love going here in the winter. It is full of live, green things, sunshine, and – because of those things – warm, humid air. It is wonderful.

So, we (bundled up for 20 minutes to get in the car, un-bundled a little so we wouldn’t get too hot in the car, re-bundled to walk into the conservatory, then un-bundlled again once we got there becuase it is delightfully warm…just want to give a realistic picture of what “we went somewhere” really looks like ) went to the conservatory.

The temp change from outside to inside made my camera a little foggy, but it really is as heavenly as these pictures look.

And, wanna know the best part?

We got hot in there and had to take off some layers!

Ellie Jane ran up and down all the path ways saying “run run run! run run run!”

So beautiful!

The conservatory is also connected to the zoo that we love, so we went to the “Amazon” section of the zoo for a bit.

Look at all that wonderful green, oxygen and humidity making, live plants!

We saw a boa constrictor? python? really large snake…

That’s as close as E would get.

We also saw lots of fish and other sea creatures.

All in all, it was worth all of the bundling and seemed to be just the remedy we needed for all of the dry air.

A long overdue update

Um, has it really been almost 2 months since I’ve blogged?!

I guess I took an unofficial break. Life has been busy.

Where to start?

We’ve had so much fun with Ellie Jane getting ready for Christmas.

We decorated our tree last week. Ellie Jane had her first hot chocolate…

She didn’t put her cup down the whole time we were decorating!

She tried out all of the ornaments before she hung them on the tree…

(she is trying on our “engagement ring” ornament)

(This is a stroller ornament. I found her in the living room this morning pushing baby Jesus from our nativity in this stroller!)

She had lots of fun and we loved getting to watch her.

(This is what she does when we say “smile”)

We’ve also done a little Christmas baking. This year, I have had a great little “helper”…

She did lots of this…

and this…

And the whole time looking at me, as if to say, “Are you sure this is ok?!”

And when I affirmed her, this is what she did…

Oh no.

After the cookies come out of the oven, I let her try one. They were little sandies that are rolled in powdered sugar. She wasn’t quite sure what to do about the mess…

She caught on pretty quickly though.

and when I walked back into the kitchen a few minutes later, this is what I found…

Smart cookie.

I know I complained about the weather in my last post (surprise, surprise.) But, honestly we had had a relatively mild November. No snow to speak of and temperatures mostly above 35.

Well, Tuesday the winter arrived and I’m afraid it is here to stay. We woke up to this on Wednesday morning…

That is about 6-8 inches of snow. That is also Colby and one of our neighbors shoveling our driveways. (Which is quite a job. I offered to help Colby only because I knew he wouldn’t let me since I’m about-to-pop-pregnant )

What you don’t see is the temperature. Yesterday it got up to about 9 degrees. Today I think we have reached 5. The windchill is between -15 and -25. For those of you who have never experienced that, what that means is IT IS COLD.

Yesterday morning, I got Ellie Jane and I all bundled up so we could go outside and take a few pictures for the grandparents.

(Have I ever mentioned how much work it is to get dressed to go out? How will I do this with 2?!?)

So, we went outside – Ellie Jane very reminiscent of “A Christmas Story” – and I stood her up in the snow then let go to take a picture.

She fell face first, flat into the snow.

This is the only picture we got…

Needless to say, she is done playing in the “noow” as she calls it.

So, besides the face plant, we are having a wonderful Christmas season so far!

and I promise to be a better blogger…

That ain’t cotton, cont’d

So, we arrived home on Sunday, October 11th and woke up on Monday, October 12th -

let me make that clear – OCTOBER 12th. not December, or even November…

to, you guessed it.

SNOW.

And not just a few fluries. That would be okay in the beginning of October.

We got a good 3-4 inches. And not to mention, it was like 29 degrees.

So, what are we to do but make the most of it?!

It probably took 15 minutes to get E all bundled up. And poor thing could hardly move, but she was bound and determined (note her tongue ) to play with those darn books while I got my self bundled up. (How am I going to do this with 2 babies?)

Finally ready to play. Ellie Jane could barely even smile. We might need to get a bigger hat or something.

I set her down, and she stood just like this for a good 3 minutes. Didn’t (or maybe couldn’t?) move till I moved her!

“So Mom, what exactly am I supposed to do with this stuff?”

We are really going to have to work on keeping gloves on her hand. She just won’t do it. But her poor little fingers got so cold!

She couldn’t figure out why all the flowers were covered up. I was wondering the same thing.

After about 10 minutes, she had had enough.

We decided that Starbucks and the Library sounded like a better option!

Wedding Weekend

Well, I guess I win the “bad blogger of the year” award. Life has just been busy, and this little blog keeps getting put last on my to do list. But, I sure do have a lot to catch up on…

Last weekend, my little brother got married. Wow! It was a really fun weekend – especially getting to spend so much time with my family. Not to mention the 85 degree weather.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures, but we had a ton of fun.

Ellie Jane had no lack of attention (aka Spoiling)

And she loved getting to (skip naps, eat sugar, get whatever she wanted) hang out with the big girls all weekend!

The best part was all of us getting to be together – first time since Christmas!

We also loved getting to see my Nana and Pop!

I have no pictures from the Wedding. Christine was stunning, and I loved watching my little brother marry her. The whole ceremony and reception were just beautiful! However, the only pictures I have from the whole day are of Ellie Jane dancing at the reception after her DaddyGrand let her eat about 30 strawberries that he rolled in powder sugar! So much for her pretty while dress.

It was a great weekend, but the 85 degree weather made it even harder to come back to this…

…and that ain’t cotton.

The cold has arrived…

After having the most wonderful, warmest September in the history of MN – temperatures in the 70’s and even 80’s most days! – we had a drastic turn of events last night.

Winter arrived.

Well, Fall actually. But we all know what fall means…winter is just around the corner.

The weather man said that today it was 50 degrees, but I beg to differ. It was cold outside! Even Ellie Jane would bury her head into my neck everytime we walked out the door. This is not a good sign considering it will likely get 60-70 degrees colder over the next 7 months. Better toughen up little girl!

But, no worries. We were prepared…

1. With new “Uggs” from Mimi. (note: this is the mark of a true Minnesotan. I, apparently, have not reached that status yet. Though, I might cave this winter because my southern-blooded friend Samm told me her Uggs changed her life last winter.)

2. Some new fleece footy pjs (Doesn’t get much cuter! She was very proud, but kept trying to get her toes out)

3. And her very own pair of gloves. (She literally pulls things our of her drawers and wants me to put them on her, hence this “outfit!”)

And we tried out the first on my list I have been making entitled “Winter Activities” (AKA: “Help me! I have a very active 1 year old and we must get out of this house!”)

I realize we are not quite stuck in the house yet, but after I turned my head for about 3 seconds and turned around to this…

(yes, that is an entire box of spaghetti)

and later walked into this…

I decided it was time to get out.

We went to story time at the Libary. It was so fun! We read and sang and played with other kids – all of whom were Ellie Jane’s age and she loved it! I think we will make this a habit.

So, inspite of the nip in the air, we had quite a fun day.

And, I actually really love the fall in MN. So, here is my commitment to enjoy it and try to not let my dread of the impending winter ruin it…

Red Shoes

Well, do I have a lot to catch up on!

But, first things first…

I got Ellie Jane a pair of RED shoes at a consignment sale yesterday. (I love red shoes!)

Problem is, we can’t get them off of her!

As soon as she woke up this morning, she brough them over to me saying “Dis! Dis!” while patting her chest (Translation : This, this. PLEASE!)

And as soon as she stopped admiring herself, she ran through the house saying “Dada dada dada dada…”

She was so proud to show him her new shoes!

(more updates to come soon!)

It’s a…

Well, the polls were WRONG!

It’s a BOY!

Baby boy and mama are both really healthy.

We are so grateful!

So, what do you think?

We go Thursday for our ultrasound of the new baby. Do you think its a boy or a girl?

Random pictures from the week

Ellie Jane and I went and picked out a new toy this week with some of her birthday money. She really likes balls, so we got this.

Ellie Jane is a big fan. We brought it home and she played with it for – no lie – 30 minutes straight!

The only other toy that has gotten that much attention are those ABC books…

Look at that concentration! Tongue and everything…

Now, we just have to keep up with all 12 balls!

On to the next random topic…I haven’t had any really intense cravings this pregnancy like I did with Ellie Jane. But recently (the last 2-3 weeks) all I have wanted to eat is good Tomato Basil soup. With good sourdough bread. And so, in the last 2-3 weeks, I have made 2 batches of soup (of which Colby won’t touch, it has no meat in it ) and had it for breakfast and lunch just about every day. I’ve also been baking all of our bread for the past month, so now I have added Sourdough to our repertoire.

For anyone interested, here is one of my favorite Tomato Basil soup recipes. This is my variation of the Tomato Soup in my favorite cookbook – Tables of Content (from Birmingham Junior League).

2 T butter

1 onion, chopped

2-4 cloves garlic ( I like lots)

4 cups milk

3 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes (I had lots of fresh tomatoes from the farmers market this week, so I used those and it was even better)

1/4 c flour

2 T tomato paste

salt and pepper ( i use lots of pepper)

Saute onion and garlic in butter til it smells good. Heat milk in pot, but don’t boil. Put onions, garlic, tomatoes, flour, tomato paste, s/p in food processor and blend til smooth. Add tomatoes to hot milk and let simmer 15 minutes

The first time I made it, I added fresh basil. The second time, I made pesto and it was even better. I made the pesto with a bunch of fresh basil, a few garlic cloves, some pecans ( i didn’t have pine nuts), some Parmesan cheese, salt pepper and then streamed in some olive oil. YUM. I also made some croutons out of sourdough that was getting a little stale. I just sauted them in some garlic infused olive oil. It was great (6 times this past week )

On to more random news…

College Football started this weekend (does anyone not know that?!) Colby has been anticipating this since last December when college football ended.

Remember last year when it started?

Well, Ellie Jane is still cheering on Bama with her Daddy!

They were both quite excited about the game!

Okay, enough random posting for tonight. We find out what the new baby is on Thursday. I think I’ll put up a poll and see if there are any guesses!