Merry Christmas!

We have been super busy lately, but what else would you expect around Christmas? Mark and Ella have been sick pretty much this entire month, and our latest illness has both of them on the nebulizer and Mark on antibiotics and steriods (thanks RSV)! They are feeling better this week now that they no longer have fevers, but we're still feeling the effects.

I took the kiddos to see Santa this morning and you can see how that went! The tears stopped immediately after I picked them up, so no long term trauma.

And the first pic is Mark and Ella every morning after breakfast. They eat their oatmeal, trot off with their drinks to the dog bed, and giggle doing who knows what. The other day I peeked and caught Ella feeding Mark his drink. They will sit there for a good 10 minutes entertaining each other. Too cute!

Happy Thanksgiving

Not a whole lot has been going on lately (just a little crayon eating). We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with colds for the entire family. It really wasn't too bad, just a little annoying. Mark and Ella are still getting over their gunk, so we'll see how long it lasts.

The day after Thanksgiving we got together with all the Meloys (including Matt's sister from KS and his grandpa from AZ) to get some family pictures taken. It was crazy and chaotic with all 5 kids, but I think it turned out pretty well. I only have one picture of Mark and Ella, so I'm waiting on the rest.

Now we are just getting ready for Christmas with lots of fun shopping. The house is decorated (only the tree is left) and I was able to put most everything out. The stockings are sitting on the mantle instead of hanging, but thats about all. Not too bad!

Busy, busy

We've been busy these last few weeks. Mark and Ella got a cold and just as they were getting over that, they caught a stomach bug. Not so bad for them, but it must do something crazy in adults because I caught it and it was awful! Ella is back to her old self, but Mark isn't quite there yet. Poor guy. His appetite hasn't really returned, but hopefully this week.

They had their 15 month checkup last week, too. Ella was 50% on everything (as usual - 22 pounds and 30.5") and Mark was 50% for weight (24 lbs) and 75-90% for height (32.5") and head.

On a fun note, we got some toys for the backyard and moved our tree swing back there and it has been lots of fun! And I hope this video shows up, but Mark had the giggles one day and it was too funny. I'm only nodding my head and making a noise, but he lost it.

Happy Halloween!!

Mark and Ella had a fun Halloween. Our neighbors had a hay ride and then they trick or treated at a few neighbors's homes. They really had no idea what was going on, but they loved playing outside and Ella was particularly amused by the bucket of candy. Mark was completely on the go and did not stop moving until he went to bed.

A few days before we went to a patch to pick out our pumpkin with Michelle and AJ, so she snapped this pic of the 3 of us. It was impossible to get one without Mark's thumb in his mouth since that is its permanent position now.

Halloween Pics

Mark and Ella got their Halloween pictures taken and I think they turned out pretty cute. I was completely WORN OUT after running around after these two and getting in and out of costumes. It was exhausting. My friend Michelle was there with her little boy AJ, who was a complete angel, and I still couldn't handle it!

Green Beans, Lawn Mowers, and Bowls

Mark and Ella have really taken off and running is just around the corner, I just know it. We broke out some of their birthday toys now that they are walking, and Ella loves her lawn mower. Perhaps because it makes about as much noise as a real one!

She has also taken to sticking her food in her ear. She has always messed with food around her ear, but the other night a green bean actually landed in her ear!

And Mark thinks walking around with a bowl on his head is hilarious. Its usually in front of his face, and he promptly walks/falls into something. But he's happy the whole time, so thats fine by me!

Ike - Boo!

Things are finally getting back to normal after Ike. Here are a few pictures of our house the day after Ike hit. Lots and lots of branches, but no big ones on our house. Mark and Ella had so much fun with their cousins while we were waiting for power to come back!

First Day of School

Mark and Ella had their first day of school last week and they did really well. They had early dismissal last week and came home exhausted since they don't get a morning nap there, but they seemed pretty happy. Ella started playing right away, and Mark followed after a few minutes. They lost it when I came to pick them up, but were much better the second day. Here are a few pics in their new backpacks. Neither was very happy that I put them on their backs since they were too heavy and they couldn't stand up. It was pretty funny!

Fun around the house

I snapped a few funny pics of Mark and Ella playing around the house. They went to the doc last week and are doing great. Ella is 50% across the board and Mark is 50% for weight and 80% for head and height. She was 20lbs 8 oz and 29 inches while Mark was 23 lbs 2 oz and 31 inches tall. And just yesterday they both started to take several steps in a row. Ella is very cautious and takes her time. Mark on the other hand just plows from one spot to the next as fast as his legs will go.

Vacation

We've been having some fun the past week and a half. Matt took some time off work and we rented a lake house on Lake Conroe with the Trull's. Mark and Ella had fun with Eva, though all 3 would not cooperate on getting their picture taken. I thought this one captured the chaos the best. After all the babies were asleep, the 4 adults had lots of fun in the pool, cooking, and watching the Olympics.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Believe it or not, but Mark and Ella turned into one year olds yesterday. I don't remember what life was like without them, but its hard to believe its been a whole year already! Ella decided to really make it special by taking her first step! Aunt Valerie came in town for the festivities and I couldn't have done everything without her. I decided to be ambitious and make my own cupcakes for the party (which I won't be doing again), so Valerie and I were extremely busy with that Friday night and Saturday.

Ella didn't really care too much about the cupcakes, which really surprised me. But Mark dove right in! I was expecting to clean up a huge mess, but they were really neat about it. Mark and Ella had so much fun and I hope everyone else did too. Thanks so much for all the fun toys and cute clothes!!

New Toys!

There hasn't been a whole lot going on these past 2 weeks. We've all been sick the past week and Mark has gotten his first ear infection. The doc said it wasn't bad, but he's on antibiotics for the next several days. Mark and Ella's Mimi bought them a walker the other day and they LOVE it. They both just grin as big as can be and are so proud as they walk along, until they hit a wall at least.

Ella has taken to getting inside the tuperware cabinets and its just about the funniest thing. She has a little trouble getting out, so I have to help with that. And the last pick is during their new favorite game right before bath....finding Daddy. Matt ducks behind the crib and then pops out, to a roar of squeels and giggles. Too cute!

Happy 4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. We went to Austin to visit Michelle and her little boy AJ, who is crawling at 7 months!! Mark and Ella had lots of fun playing with their new buddy and can't wait until they get to Houston. Ella and AJ were super cute together and they really like each other. Mark loved Michelle because she fed him some puffs.

We also visited the Trull's and Burns's, but I didn't get any pictures because I was running around after these two. And just to make sure we never get invited back, Ella grabbed the salsa bowl when I wasn't looking and broke it on the floor, which was quickly followed by Mark's meltdown for about an hour. It was great fun. At least Oatmeal wasn't there this time to eat all their dog food and then pee inside (which has happened at their house, too). We just love the Trulls!!! :)