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!