Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

Since we stayed in Arizona this year, we celebrated Christmas Eve at my folks house with our traditional crab dinner and presents over dessert and coffee/cocktails.

Auntie Lindsay helping Cameron to fall asleep.

Daddy and Ella enjoying hours d'ouvres. She seems to enjoy shrimp but definitely chose to pass on crab.

Auntie Lindsay, Cameron and Great Grandma Norma enjoying the Christmas music before dinner.

This freakishly large pull-toy was meant to be Cameron's, but Ella has claimed it as hers for the time being.
Dinner consisted of Alaskan king crab, burnt butter brussle sprouts, a wild rice-mushroom-sausage bake and a wedge salad. Tasty, tasty! Dessert consisted of cookies, cookies and more cookies!

If it's true that "you are what you eat", then Ella is definitely a cookie! I'm not sure exactly how many she had, and I think I'm thankful I don't know. :)

Cam enjoying the noise, action and laughter.

Miss Ella definitely enjoyed opening presents this year. "Open it" has probably been her most-used phrase in the past week. She emphatically says "ooooh" as soon as she can see underneath the wrapping paper, but if she's playing with one gift and is presented with another she'll quickly tell you "no want it".

Helping daddy to open cards.

Our first Christmas as a family of four. Aww.

Ah, what we won't do to make our child smile for the camera.

Christmas Morning..... after Santa visited, of course!

Having a ball on baby's first Christmas! He's also four months old today, and I can't believe how quickly these past four months have flown by!

Digging into her stocking....

My folks, sister and grandma came over Christmas Day around 11am. Papa Steve made delicious burritos with all of our leftovers from last night, Ella has played with all of her new toys, we watched Four Christmases, the kids (and Papa) took a nap, and we've enjoyed a turkey dinner that Ryan has been tending to for the better part of the day. It was very good!

Ella has enjoyed pushing her new baby around the house in the stroller Santa brought her. She's even got her purses!

I actually got Ella to hold Cameron for a few moments, so we can add this to a very short collection of photos that contain both kiddos.

Cameron is actually starting to play with toys now, which is pretty amusing to watch. He gets frustrated rather quickly, since he can't hold onto anything very well and has poor control of his hands, but he's definitely taking pleasure in his new discoveries, and so are we!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We hope everyone has had a wonderful celebration with their loved ones this year!

Here comes Santa Clause...

The family I nanny for invited us and their friends over Monday evening to meet Santa Clause! Most of the kids were quite leery at first, but as soon as St. Nick started pulling presents out of his bag, they seemed to warm up real quick. Nana Jan wasn't feeling so hot, so she stayed home, but we got to enjoy the pleasure of Papa Steve's company. It was very cute and lots of fun!

Ella Sophia at Two Years Old

LIKES

waffles with syrup
repeating just about anything we say
going outside to play("I da go outside" is a request we hear many times a day.)
Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa
the song "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear"
going to see her buddy, Raine, on Wednesdays and Fridays
Cameron
Buckles
doll strollers and carseats
Goodnight Moon and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
just about any kind of bread with a little butter on it
Juice ("App Juice" is another frequent request.)
Alana's dollhouse and its contents (Good thing I talked Santa into bringing her her own smaller version for Christmas.)
Sitting in her booster chair
Trying to dress herself
Saying "no"

DISLIKES

Hearing "no"
PB&J sandwiches
transitioning from one activity to the next
sand
"Jam" between her toes.

I could easily go on and on with "likes" but am having a hard time coming up with "dislikes", which I am very grateful for! She is such a sweet-natured, affectionate, bright and happy child, and we are so lucky to have such an awesome little girl!

Now n' Then

It's amazing how much change a year can bring when you see it through a small child!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

It's a little hard to believe, but our baby girl is two years old today! Her birthday party was this past Sunday, and we had a wonderful turnout! Next year, we'll definitely have to celebrate at a park, since our house was busting at the seems with just 20 adults and 12 toddlers. It was, however, lots of fun, and I'm so glad all went off without a hitch!

Ryan grilled hotdogs for the kiddos and burgers for the adults, and I made veggie pasta salad and put out lots of snacks for everyone to nibble on. There was, of course, a ginormous cake to top off the festivities!

Papa Steve and Cameron watching football.

Great Grandma Norma enjoying her meal.

Nom nom nom.

The lovely Katherine and sweet baby Brody.

My favorite little buddies, Raine and Alana.

Miss Addison being silly.

The lovely Taylor Family.

Mama and Ella waiting to sing "Happy Birthday".

Miss Alana turned four the day we celebrated Ella's birthday, so we all sung "Happy Birthday" a second time just for her.

Blowing out the candle.

There was no hesitation when it came to trying cake this year. Thanks to Nana Janet's somewhat frequent Sprinkles Cupcakes deliveries, she's now well acquainted with cakes of all kinds.

Finger-lickin' good.

I can't hear you.

The aftermath.

The after party.

The morning after. She looks so grown up!

Thank you so much not only to everyone who celebrated with us but also to everyone who wanted to but couldn't be with us but sent their love and best wishes in other ways!

It's a special milestone for us, to see our baby turn into a little girl, and you all have made it that much more special!

Thanksgiving in KC, MO

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Kansas City/Independence, Missouri, and I have to say that it was an incredibly nice trip. As far as air travel goes, we could not have gotten luckier when it came to seating arrangements or the dispositions of Cameron and Ella. On the way there, the flight was only about half full, so we each had 3 seats to stretch out with our designated little one. Cameron slept the entire time (lucky me, I got to read a magazine from cover to cover! If you're a mom, you know that's a pretty big deal.) And while Ella didn't sleep a wink, she was happy to play with Ryan and explore her corner of the aircraft. On the way home, Cameron, again, slept much of the flight, and though Ella was a bit less agreeable, we had an empty seat for her, as well as floor space for her to move about, since we were in the first row. I am so thankful that all went smoothly.

We stayed with Grandma Donna and Grandpa Dave and were, as always, treated as if in a five-star hotel..... that even offers child care! Thanks, guys, you always make traveling and being out of our element so much easier and pleasant!

Cameron with Great Grandma Bratton and Great Aunt Cheryl.

Grandpa Dave and Cam.

Story time.

Thanksgiving was hosted by Dave and Donna. The entire KC Schulze Clan was there which, if I had to guess, is about 30 people. Donna handles the Turkey and stuffing, along with many of the other details that go into a Thanksgiving meal, and the guests brought dishes of food to share, as well. There was an insane amount of food, lots of laughter, tons of pictures, great memories, and even a cute little craft project. So nice, so, relaxing, so filling and so very much something to be thankful for!Great Grandpa Hans and Cameron.

Cameron meeting Great Grandma Aldine and Great Grandpa Hans for the first time.

While back in MO, Ryan was able to get in several rounds of Disc Golf, which is always a huge treat for him since the courses here are pretty crummy in comparison. He and I were also able to get together with some of his longtime (and my newer, but just as much liked!) friends, which was tons of fun and, for me, even a little therapeutic! I don't necessarily want to live in Missouri, but I sure do love the people there and very much wish we lived closer to them.(My new favorite picture. Love, love, love it.)

The kids didn't venture out too much, but they had tons of visitors, and certainly were not lacking in company or fun. Grandma Donna and Grandpa Dave were very eager to spend quality time with their only grand babies, but they did a nice job of sharing with the great grandparents, other relatives, and our friends! Cameron was happy as a clam being held from sunrise to sunset, and Ella was showered with new toys (for early birthday and christmas), fun experiences like cooking with Grandma and Grandpa, going for walks, playing with her four boy cousins, watching the dogs, going up and down stairs, and spending time with all of the company.Having a ball with the tunnel and tent Grandma picked up on Black Friday.

Washing pumpkin seeds with Grandma Donna.

"Cooking" with Grandpa Dave.

It was such a nice trip, and we were all sad to see it end. Fortunately, we've got us a little wedding coming up, so we'll get to see all of our family and friends again before we know it!Ella likes to join Cameron for 'tummy time' now.

Our little guy has begun to roll over more consistently in the past few days.

Chillin' in the bumbo chair for the first time. Ella called it a potty the entire time we were there. Thankfully, she's not yet 'trained', so we didn't have to worry about finding any surprises.

The Old Switcheroo

While still a month shy of her second birthday, Ella has officially, and completely, embraced her 'terrible two's', complete with full-blown tantrums, yelling, screaming, screeching, testing us on just about everything, and just generally being difficult. I've seen many a toddler enter, and eventually exit, this stage, so I know that someday I'll have my little darling back, but that day can't come soon enough! There haven't been many opportune moments when it comes to taking pictures of her lately, so this update only includes photos of the little guy.

Fortunately, Cameron has become much more mellow and happy in the past month, and he's now smiling and interacting on a very frequent basis. It's so wonderful to see that he is happy, and it makes me melt every time i see that toothless grin and those big eyes twinkling!

Talking to Mama.

This is his tired, dough-eyed look. I love it.

Halloween

Well, Halloween didn't turn out exactly like we had planned, but we managed to have some fun anyway. Originally, we were planning to have have our friends Katherine and Jordan and their little ones, Addison and Brody, over for dinner, trick or treating and passing out candy to all the little ghouls and gobblins. However, Katherine came down with the flu on Friday, and Ella woke up Halloween morning miserable and sick, too. So, with our plans canceled and a sick toddler, I stayed home with the little ones, and Ryan played the Disc Golf tournament he'd been looking forward to. That evening, Ella had perked up a bit, so Nana and Papa came over for pizza and a little trick or treating.

Ella was a bit timid with the candy-givers, but she did get the hang of the whole "i open my bag, you put fun stuff in it" thing pretty quickly. Many of the houses in our neighborhood were dark, but we were able to hit up about 10 on our little block, and that was just enough for everyone.

I'm looking forward to next year's Halloween when Ella will be a little older, Cameron will be able to participate a bit, we'll hopefully have health on our side, and we can get together with friends in a fun, kid-friendly neighborhood!

He wasn't particularly fond of his hooded getup.

Thanks for the farmer idea, Grandma Donna!

Aww!

Oink Oink goes the pig.

Gotta love socially acceptable begging :)

And the decorations some people go to great lengths to put up.

On our way home and feeling good about the loot she scored!

Pumpkin Fun

This past Saturday we went to Tolmachoff Farms to pick out pumpkins and visit the animals. It was quite hot, so we didn't stay for nearly as long as we would have liked to, but it was fun, nonetheless. Ella enjoyed seeing the live animals up close, and she was especially intrigued by the ostrich (there's one in her Curious George book, but that's the only time she's ever seen one). She picked out a nice little pumpkin, and tonight we had fun painting them.

Ryan's pumpkins include the Chief's logo (big surprise, right?), and the goofy face, which he claims is my likeness. Thanks, honey. I painted mine for Cameron, and you can all guess which one is Ella's. Next year, we'll introduce them to the joys of pumpkin carving!

Checking out the ducklings.

For some reason, there was a stray goat roaming the property.

Cameron really enjoyed himself. Can't you tell?

Pretty in pink.

Roasty toasty.

Everyone paints shirtless, right?

She kept saying 'all wet' and showing me her paint covered hand. Not long after this, she decided she'd had enough. Mommy's little neat freak. She most certainly does not get this from me. ;-)

Ta-da!

Little Miss Sunshine

Ella is 22 months and SO much fun these days! Sure, she has her share of annoying toddler behavior (think moodiness, stubbornness, emotional outbursts), but most of the time she is such a happy little kid.
Her language has become increasingly clear and complex, and I'm pretty sure she's on the brink of another language explosion, since she's begun to talk in 'stings of words' but we're having a hard time understanding them. She gets a bit incoherent every time her language is about to take off again, almost as if her brain is there but her tongue hasn't quite caught up. She puts many two-word combinations together, like teddy bear and help you, and she's even able to say harder words like "cinnamon", quite well.
She knows all of her colors, and she recognizes and can say many of her numbers and some of the alphabet. She has a harder time saying her shapes, but she knows almost all of them. Yesterday, she was coloring in a circular motion and said 'circle', which I though was pretty good, considering I was minding my own business and had never taught her to do that. She's not really into coloring just yet, but she does dig play dough.


Occasionally, when a meal isn't very messy, I'll let her sit at the table to eat, and she really enjoys this. We're holding off on a booster seat until her 2nd birthday, since her highchair is perfectly functional and Cameron doesn't need it yet, but soon enough she'll be taking yet another step towards being a big girl.

I'm in no rush to potty train, but we've pulled out the potty chair to help her get acquainted with the idea. So far, Mona (her monkey) and all of Mona's "fends" really enjoy using the potty. Occasionally, Ella enjoys sitting on it, too, while mommy and daddy are, um, "demonstrating" proper potty protocol.