Despite the fact that Josh really loathed the elf in the beginning, he's the first to admit Scout has been a huge hit around our house this holiday season. For those of you not following along, he's made an appearance in the following places: our Christmas tree, Ella's stocking, the Christmas card tree, a wreath in Ella's room, eating Reese's cups in the kitchen, coloring in the playroom, at Gran's house and multiple places in the bathroom {hence our mega-potty success over the past few days}. She was so enamored with him, that we've been really concerned about how she would react when Santa took him home on Christmas Eve. To ease the pain, we decided maybe it was a good idea for Scout to bid farewell with a gift. Not only would this remind her that Scout was very sweet and looking out ...
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Incremental Christmas
So I just looked at my camera and it says I took 128 pictures Wednesday and Thursday... and I don't really think I took enough. Since there is no way I can paint the perfect picture in the course of one post, I'll be breaking it up a bit over the next several days. Just know we had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you enjoy the recap! Wednesday morning we woke up to presents from Scout {more on those later} and a strong desire to bake Santa some cookies. Since I haven't yet received the recipe for mom's excellent cookies and she didn't send any dough home with us, we were sort of on our own. Instead of slaving away on such a busy day, I bought a sleeve of sugar cookie mix and tested it. It took us several tries to realize that cookie cutters just weren't "cutting it". We ended up ...
Merry Christmas-Eve-Eve
Tonight we're watching Christmas movies. How the Grinch stole Christmas and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas to be exact. These photos were our poor attempt to capture the cuteness of my child in her Christmas 'jamas. In the first photo we have eyes closed, the second one we're swinging bunny and in the third we're squealing "Santa's coming tomorrow!!" Oh well. Tomorrow we're baking cookies for Santa, bidding Scout farewell, sharing Christmas communion and spending time with grandparents. Enjoy your holiday and remember the true gift of the season. God Bless. Although we've had two accidents today, we've more than made up for it over the last three hours. She's used the potty successfully five times since I got home at 6:30. Yeah, Ella! ...
Merry Christmas, Alston
Does it get much sweeter than this? Okay, it does. Below. Look at those cheeks! And those eyes! Oh, and did I mention the princess holding him?! Tonight our great friends Beth & Patrick came by for dinner to celebrate Christmas before life gets hectic and they head out of town. We were so excited to spend several hours visiting with them and snuggling up with that sweet baby boy. He was a dream and let us all hold him, even Ella. We managed to get a few snaps in of the two of them and boy am I impressed when Ella smiles on cue for the camera. I think she's too afraid of being bad at this point... Christmas only being two days away and all. Below is a random picture from last night that I find hilarious. Two girls, wearing polka-dotsies and pony tails, snuggling on the couch ...
Great Job, Ella!
This post is gonna stray far from our usually Silent-Sunday posts, but it's for good reason. Finding the elf here yesterday was a great success. We got squeals of laughter and she was really impressed with my Scout's coloring skills. Putting Scout here would have been a great idea, had I known Josh would bath her in the sink this morning before church. The kitchen sink, however, wouldn't have led to this extreme excitement twice today... ... when we put Scout here!!! That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Having Scout in the TP basket inspired two very successful trips today, both of which were followed up with candy from the stocking stash. I think Scout might have found a new home. Please pray this continues to work!! ...
Cookies for Santa
In case you don't know this, my mom makes the best cookies in the world. Hands down. No exceptions. She makes them for everyone, especially around the holidays. Some people like icing, some don't. I'm not picky, just give me the cookies. Today, she and Ella baked cookies for Heidi and Santa Claus. How adorable are they in matching aprons? AND as if a baking project wasn't cool enough, Scout made a surprise appearance there this afternoon. From what I hear, Ella was beside herself with excitement. It isn't everyday that your magic Elf travels to Gran's house without you knowing it. The story of his amazing appearance was the first thing I heard when I got there to pick her up. Immediately following was the most precious telling of the birth of Christ I've ever heard. "Mommy, Mary named ...
Hissy Fit
Have your children ever pitched a hissy fit? I mean a REAL fit? In case you haven't noticed, Ella is extremely independent. She doesn't want help with anything. Recently she's been wanting to learn to put her clothes on and take them off. We've really been working on socks and shoes and she's been getting quite good. Last week we went over pants and how to get them over her diaper. The last few days, however, she wants to take her entire wardrobe off before her bath every night. I try my best to let her, but I get just as frustrated watching her as she is with her clothes. Here are a few pictures from tonight's pre-bath episode. She was screaming harder and louder than I've ever heard, including birth, colic and gas pains. It was amazingly hysterical. So much so, that I left her screaming ...
Elf Escapades
I promise in a few more days to post more fun and entertaining things than elf escapades and snippets of life at the rock house. I'm still working extra-hard and really late every night and not getting to enjoy life at home, much less take pretty pictures. The highlights of today have been a drop in to my mom's wonderful, annual Christmas party; eating handfuls of Reese's cups after cleaning up after Scout; finally seeing Christmas lights on Lamplight Circle; and sitting here blogging, reading and listening to my little angel make up songs about Jesus. They go something like this, "sing to baby Jesus, the little Lord Jesus." ...