Being Cute

We haven't been up to a whole lot lately. Mark and Ella were healthy for almost the entire month of January, so that was a treat. They weren't feeling so great the other day and I caught a cute pic of the two of them watching tv on the couch with their puppies (their absolute favorite thing to lay on). The other two are just goofin' around the house.

Ouch!

We had a bit of an accident on Monday. Mark fell in the street and broke his tooth. We went to the dentist yesterday and there was no hope of saving the tooth, so Mark is toothless until the permanent one comes in.....in about 5 years! Poor guy. He was very brave and I really don't know how he wasn't in more pain since you could see the nerve in between the gap where his tooth split. But luckily all three pieces came out in one chunk so it was over as quickly as possible. Mark had a pretty rough day, but is doing great today and back to his normal happy self!

Here are the before (you can see the nerve if you enlarge the 1st pic) and after pics. And a really sweet one of Ella and Mark kissing! I think she knew her big brother needed some extra loving since that is a first for either of them. In my rush to get a pic, I didn't have time to center the photo, but at least I got something!

Happy New Year!

What have we been up to lately? Well, Matt got sick, then I got sick, then he got sick again, and then Ella got sick, and now Mark's sick. Super fun stuff around our house. Mark and Ella are getting better, but so much for my plan of 3 weeks of no school to get everyone well.

Despite, the illness, we had a great Christmas with the babies. Mark and Ella love their new kitchen and tv watchin' chairs. Aunt Val and Uncle Steve came and spent New Year's Eve with us and Mark really liked Steve's games. It was really funny to see him sit so still with an electronic device within reach. That never happens!!

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.