Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve we headed to my parent's house in Clarksdale. We opened gifts, ate a delicious dinner, then headed to church. After church we went back home to Hernando. Ella went straight to her bed from the car. Our sweet, baby girl was exhausted. I left Santa some cookies & milk and threw out some food for his reindeer. Christmas morning was so much fun. Ella woke up in the BEST mood! When she walked into the living room she just froze with her mouth wide open. She was so funny! She had a blast playing with her books, puzzles, blocks, magna doodle, and castle slide! I recorded the whole morning on the camcorder for family to watch. After she played, it was time for breakfast. I made a breakfast casserole and Nick made pancakes. After breakfast we headed to the Pollan's house. We opened gifts, ate a fabulous lunch, and visited with family. Ella loved all of her gifts, especially her little Barbie 4-wheeler. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! I know we sure did! Enjoy the pics :)

2 Santas in 1 Day

Nick & I took Ella to meet Santa for the first time and she reacted just like we thought she would. She was terrified! We had to pick up some Christmas gifts at Bass Pro (Nick's home away from home) for all the hunters in the family and figured we would give it a shot.

About to go see Santa...A.K.A. The scary man in the red suit

Daddy had to make sure my hair was lookin' good for Santa
(I love the look on her face)

Making their way down the red carpet...so far, so good

being introduced to Santa

WE LOVE SANTA!!

We shopped around then came back for round 2.

The 2nd attempt was a little better.

not really

watching the fishies




That same day we went to a Christmas party for one of the doctors Nick calls on for work. We had a great time and Ella loved playing with the big kids. They were so sweet to her. Santa was there too!

On our way to the party

she tried to sit in this chair...too funny

This was as close as she would let me get

Laura's Baby Shower

Thanksgiving weekend a few of us gave Lauranne a baby shower in Cleveland. The food was good and Baby Vance got all kinds of precious things. I am so excited for Laura & Steven and can't wait to meet their little man in March! He will be here before we know it!

Laura & Me

Lesley, Betsy, Maribeth, Me, Heather, and Andrea

Hanging out with friends

A couple of weeks ago Ella & I went to Cleveland to visit Maribeth & Pittman. Ella & Pittman always have so much fun playing together. She played with all of his toys and chased him around trying to give him hugs and kisses.

lunch at Abe's

Ella & The Pitt Man

Friday night we cooked out with the Chittoms. Eddie & Steph have two boys. Will is 4 months older than Ella. There is never a dull moment when these 2 get together. Carter is 6 months old, so he pretty much just observes the chaos.

Steph showed Ella how to scoot down the stairs.

Ella's little boyfriend, Will

the exersaucer never gets old

I would like to thank...

the inventor of the BABY GATE.

We headed to Toys R Us Saturday to get Ella some Christmas presents. #1 on my list was "baby gate". While Nick's parents kept Ella entertained, Nick & I decided on a gate. I'm pretty sure it's the tallest one they make. Ella has become a pretty good climber in the last couple of months, so we couldn't take any chances. Nick and his dad put it up as soon as we got home from shopping. When they finished installing it she of course had to check it out. She did exactly what we thought she would do...stood on the bottom rail and shook it as hard as she could until she was out of breath. It definitely keeps Ella out of the kitchen but Dallas can still jump over it from the standing position. Now I can mop, cook and keep water in the dog bowl all while Ella is on the other side. I can't even begin to tell you how this gate has changed my life!!!! Seriously!

Our new gate!! Merry Christmas to me!!

trying to squeeze through

trying to climb that gate sure does make her thirsty


couldn't you just suck her little face??

Hernando Parade

Last night was the Hernando Christmas Parade. They close the square at 5:30, so we parked our vehicles earlier to make sure we had a perfect seat. When we got to the parade at 6:30 it was PACKED! We had our little kiddo bundled up with snacks and juice on hand. That was the best/longest parade ever...it lasted 90 minutes. My child sat through the ENTIRE parade. She had so much fun! When we got home from the parade, we took some Reindeer Food and "Dear Santa" letters to some of the kids in our cove.

We didn't even try to rough it in the cold. The heat was on full blast.

Samantha & Emerson





Nick, Jennifer, Samantha, & the kiddos






Rudolph nose






Family pic






Quentin & Emerson






Clapping for the Band







She kept leaning over to watch the parade go by

Santa on top of the firetruck

I made these when Ella was taking her morning nap. My paper cutter has been boxed up since I brought my stuff home from school, so I figured I would NEVER find it. Luckily, it was in the first box I opened.

A Christmas Tradition

I love holiday traditions! I bought The Elf on the Shelf for Ella last year but didn't start the tradition until this year. We love reading books to her, even though she won't sit still for longer than a couple of minutes at a time. I just had to get one because it really is the neatest concept. When she gets old enough to fully comprehend what's going on she will definitely have to pick out a name for her little elf. Until then he's just "the elf".

Pictures at the river

A couple of weeks ago I met Nick and my dad for lunch and then we headed to the river to take some pictures of Ella for our Christmas card. We were able to get some great pictures of her just hanging out! We couldn't decide on just one picture, so I sent out a few different ones. The last picture is my fav! Enjoy!

Ella & Pops

Ella & Daddyo