O Christmas Tree

This weekend we put up our Christmas tree. This was the first year the girls were "aware" of the tree and the process of decorating. At first they werent so sure about this new thing in the living room, but they quickly became active participants!

Nora wants to touch the tree:They watch Daddy put the tree together:
Nora tries to help out
What is this exactly?
Nora carries the branches over to Daddy:
Ella carries the branches around the living room. This is what she did most of the time.
The tree was up. Now on to the lights!
The girls had no problem assisting with the task:





The lights were eventually untangled and wrapped around the tree. Mama pointed out the star to the girls:
Daddy & his girls

Gobble, Gobble.

Another year, another Thanksgiving gorge-fest. This year we joined Joey, Andrea, and Savannah Melton (expats of Tennessee) again to celebrate. The food was yummy, good. Here is a pic of my plate: Tofurkey & gravy, oven roasted veggies, roll, salad, "sausage" and spinach casserole, and--of course--cheesy potatoes. We have a lot of leftovers, for which we are truly thankful.Savannah made some really awesome placemats for Nora & Ella:

2nd annual Tgiving lunch with the Meltons.
Nora eats one of the infamous rolls (made by Mama)
Ella gives her best "cheesy face"
The girls working on some coloring books...well Andrea & Savannah are and Nora & Ella watch intently:Nora really wanted to wear these sunglasses and hat and strut around the living room
Here are some photos from yesterday...
The girls after they fell into a vat of blueberries:

Nora giving Ella kisses. The sweetest thing.


boy, are we thankful for these two...

A little slice

Grandma Gaub got the girls some musical instruments, which they love to play. Here, the girls practice their drum rolls:

Ella, watching television and standing like her mother.
I know, I know. Another video just because I think it's cute. Nora dances, Ella runs, they play nice, Nora sings. Just a little slice of heaven in our home. We love Saturdays.

Bragging Rights

We did a quick count this morning of how many words they know--specifically those they actually say and understand, as they know a lot of others they do not yet say back, such as commands. So far we are up to 80 words. "The books" say toddlers should know about 50 words by the time they turn 2 and "may even" know 50 words by the time they are 18 months. They are 17 months, not taking into account the -2 months accounted for being preemies so I just had to leave a short post remarking how proud we are of our little talkers!!

Where is the Shoe?

Grandma Gaub and I were getting the girls ready to go for a walk today (thrift store shopping, actually). She put one shoe one Ella and went to get the second but could not find it. I couldnt find it anywhere, either. I knew they had both there, but then...one was just *gone*. Luckily, we have TWO pairs of this shoe (go figure!), so I grabbed the right shoe to the other pair and we went about our walk. A couple of hours later, we returned home. Grandma was helping Ella take off her shoes and we found the shoe! Can you find it? (I seriously cant believe we didnt see it for two hours...)
(Nora was not very happy here. Surprise, surprise she wanted Mama to hold her).

Ella Bella

hello update

a hand fell off a baby doll. nora decided to carry it around in her mouth for a good while.

peek-a-boo



nora and her dinner. all over her head.

ella and her finger. all up in her nose.
nora dances. ella walks in a circle. video gold.

What does a cow say?

Is it just me, or are these girls getting older...
This is what happens when I let the girls try to feed themselves:
Ella spent a good hour with this box:
Then Daddy came home and gave them a ride!

I pulled the camera out to get a shot of Nora setting cheese on her head and this is what Ella wanted to do:

I am completely biased about this, but I think my girls are pretty darn smart. Nora likes to give answers and Ella likes to listen. She chimes in when the spirit moves her (she knows a lot more than she lets on...but I think we all know that).