One week until Christmas!!

We have been very busy getting ready for Christmas. There always seems to be one more trip to Target to get something or other. Considering we were zombies for Christmas last year, we are thoroughly enjoying every second of this one!

Last Friday we went to see Santa Claus at the mall. After waiting in line for over an hour it was finally our turn. Ethan just looked very confused at Santa and had a look as if to say "You are one wierd dude!" on his face the whole time. Ella didn't care for Santa one bit! She cried and cried hard. She quit for a second so we could take a picture of both of them with him. When se was put in his lap for her individual picture, she started again. I let them take a couple, then ran to get her. The only words Santa said to us was "Take her she is about to hyperventilate!!" I think Ella scared Santa Claus! So next year Mommy may be sitting on Santa's lap with Ella : )

On Sunday we went to Eric's extended family's Christmas party in Waverly. We had a great time catching up with them. This was the first time Ethan and Ella got to spend much time with some of them. Ethan really enjoyed crawling around and chasing his 2nd cousin Cameron. And Ella was happy as can be being carried around everywhere by her cousin Lydia. Here are a few pictures.

Ethan, Ella, Nana & Papa

Daddy & Ethan drinking some boiled custard. (Ethan really liked it!)

On the way home......

Ella still partying - Why won't these socks come off?

Ethan crashes from his boiled custard high

A Walker and a Talker!

Every day my precious little babies take a step further and further away from being babies. It is so exciting to watch them grow but makes me a little sad too. Oh how I miss the hours I would hold them and just rock. Now there are too many things to do and see! They both have so much curiosity!

For a few weeks now, Ethan has been getting so close to walking. Finally when we got back from our trip, he took 1.....2.....then 3 steps! He isn't walking all around now. His favorite mode of transportation is still crawling since he is so fast at it. Sometimes he will take a couple of steps and you can see him think "Man if I just plop down I can get ther so much faster!" Ella is still perfectly happy crawling at 100 mph and cruising along holding on to furniture. I joke that she will start skipping instead of walking because she is always jumping about. I swear she will hold on to the ottoman and jump for 20 minutes solid. If I had her energy, I wouldn't need to work out!

Ethan and Ella have always been very verbal babies. They may not have a long list of words that they say clearly, but they definitely have their own language and communicate very clearly with us.

Ethan
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Hey
4. Uh - Oh! This is a new one for this week. I was wondering why mine haven't said this yet when I realized I was saying "Oopsie Daisey!" to them instead of Uh-Oh! That is a pretty tall order!

Ella
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Dada (Doggie)
4. Geegan (Ethan)
5. Hi-Ya! (As in karate chop)
6. Papa
7. Tree (she says this everytime she sees the Christmas tree......or with a sweet smile any time she wants attention)

This week we are working with them to say "Mistletoe" and "Saviour." : )