Happy Thanksgiving!!
We had a very sweet day, starting with our traditional cinnamon rolls around 9:15 a.m. Britti is house/dog sitting at a neighbor's house, and Chelsea spent the night with her so they arrived around 9 a.m.-- just in time for the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. We watched bits of the show and then went for a walk to allow time for our turkey to finish thawing. (Had it in the fridge since Sunday, and it still needed to dive in cold water for two hours to be ready for the oven!!)
During Ellie-Kate's nap, the rest of us watched about half of The Santa Clause and relaxed on the couch for a bit before she woke up and we prepared for our very late lunch. Ellie-Kate didn't eat much on her first Thanksgiving, but the rest of us certainly made up for it!!
After our "lunch," Roger and I took another walk while the girls worked on cutting links for our annual thankfulness chain. We got back in time for all of us to write the top 10 things for which we are thankful. What a year that this one has been!!! Anyway, Ellie-Kate was helping to pass out the links when we all got quite the shock. Britti was counting out the links, and she hesitated for some reason right before "eight," and Ellie-Kate filled in the blank by saying "eight." We all looked at each other-- Did we really just hear that?? We DID!! She even continued to count by adding "nine" and "ten." WOW!!! How many 22 month old babies can do that?? She just amazes us more and more every day!!
We finished up the movie while eating dessert (brownies and pie) before decorating the upstairs tree and watching Survivor. All in all, a VERY relaxing and peaceful celebration of our many blessings :)
Ellie-Kate just soaked up all of the traditions of the day as well as the gradual transformation of our home into a Christmas wonderland. She offered her handprint for our new Christmas tree skirt, helped with the construction of our thankfulness chain (saying "thank you" as she moved the links from point A to point B in the room), and learned how to put ornaments on the little tree that we set up in our upstairs sitting area. She just smiled the whole day!!
Tomorrow, Britti, Chelsea, Ellie-Kate and I are headed to Parkersburg for some shopping. I'm hoping to give Ellie-Kate a chance to see Santa (likely from afar) before she has lunch with him next Saturday. Emmy and Roger may go to the OU game, depending on the weather. We're also hoping that the live trees will be on sale in the next day or two so that we can buy and decorate our big live tree before Britti leaves for Ireland on Tuesday.
We pray that you had a terrific Thanksgiving and that you're gearing up for a super holiday season!! More soon--
Christie
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Happy Eight Month anniversary, Ellie-Kate!! (11/23/09)
Hi Everyone--
WOW-- has it really been eight months already?? In some ways, it seems as though Ellie-Kate has always been with us. On the other hand, I can't believe that we were celebrating our letter of acceptance from China almost exactly a year ago.
Ellie-Kate is a remarkable, bright, smart, athletic, spirited girl at 21 months. (She'll be 22 months on her first Thanksgiving Day later this week-- how cool is that??) She can say around 100 words, and she's starting to get frustrated when we don't get what she says on the first try. She LOVES to kick, throw, and try to catch soccer balls, basketballs, volleyballs-- ok, balls of all sorts :) She really likes for us to read stories to her, color with her, and singing children's songs (Twinkle, Twinkle, Old MacDonald, etc.). Speaking of which, she has just discovered television, but she really only likes one particular video-- the Baby Einstein video about farm animals. She now says "eieioooo" all of the time, begging to watch the Old MacDonald music video on the tape. Ellie-Kate really enjoys going to "play babies" at the rec center, church, and library-- anywhere that she can find other kids and their toys :)
We're all really enjoying her and looking forward to introducing her to Thanksgiving and Christmas. She already has given us that "my family is really crazy" look, and we're fully expecting it when we drag the tree into our house on Friday!
Roger and I are VERY excited that we're almost done with the quarter. It's been a rough transition back to work, especially given that Chelsea and Emmy both played fall sports and that we all (except Ellie-Kate) struggled with seasonal illnesses. However, December should be much less hectic and much more peaceful as we celebrate the season and the very special gift that God gave to our family last November (but that we got to touch and hold on March 2, 2009).
Have a happy Thanksgiving!!
Christie
WOW-- has it really been eight months already?? In some ways, it seems as though Ellie-Kate has always been with us. On the other hand, I can't believe that we were celebrating our letter of acceptance from China almost exactly a year ago.
Ellie-Kate is a remarkable, bright, smart, athletic, spirited girl at 21 months. (She'll be 22 months on her first Thanksgiving Day later this week-- how cool is that??) She can say around 100 words, and she's starting to get frustrated when we don't get what she says on the first try. She LOVES to kick, throw, and try to catch soccer balls, basketballs, volleyballs-- ok, balls of all sorts :) She really likes for us to read stories to her, color with her, and singing children's songs (Twinkle, Twinkle, Old MacDonald, etc.). Speaking of which, she has just discovered television, but she really only likes one particular video-- the Baby Einstein video about farm animals. She now says "eieioooo" all of the time, begging to watch the Old MacDonald music video on the tape. Ellie-Kate really enjoys going to "play babies" at the rec center, church, and library-- anywhere that she can find other kids and their toys :)
We're all really enjoying her and looking forward to introducing her to Thanksgiving and Christmas. She already has given us that "my family is really crazy" look, and we're fully expecting it when we drag the tree into our house on Friday!
Roger and I are VERY excited that we're almost done with the quarter. It's been a rough transition back to work, especially given that Chelsea and Emmy both played fall sports and that we all (except Ellie-Kate) struggled with seasonal illnesses. However, December should be much less hectic and much more peaceful as we celebrate the season and the very special gift that God gave to our family last November (but that we got to touch and hold on March 2, 2009).
Have a happy Thanksgiving!!
Christie
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
NCA trip-- 2009 (see pictures below as well)
Hi Everyone--
Just a quick update about our trip to South Bend/Chicago. Roger, Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and I left last Tuesday (11/10/09) for the annual NCA conference in Chicago. We stayed in the Inn at Saint Mary' s along the way, and we were treated as "Guests of the Night," receiving a free room upgrade as well as some small gifts. We went over to University Park Mall, had dinner in the food court, and bought a few items of clothing for Emmy. Wow-- how odd to be in SB w/o Britti!!
On Wednesday morning, we took Ellie-Kate through the SMC campus for the first time, stopping to take a pic in front of the Marion McCandless statue by McCandless Hall (Britti's home for four years). After driving up to Chicago, we checked into our room at the Chicago Hilton (praise God for Roger's Hilton Honors membership so that we could upgrade into a larger room).
During Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Roger and I juggled professional commitments with caring for the girls and treating them to trips to various museums (including the Field Museum, the Children's Museum, Shedd's Aquarium, and the Planetarium). The girls also had a BLAST with playing ball on the lower level of the Chicago Hilton by the book display area-- something that we got to do almost every night. We had a super time with visiting with old friends from other schools and attending events at the conference.
On Sunday, we made the 10 1/2 hour trip back to Athens, stopping at Ponderosa in South Bend for lunch with the grandmas. We had a great time as we celebrated Great-Grandma's birthday, chatted about the trip, and gave Grandma B. and Great-Grandma a chance to catch up with the girls.
Although Chelsea and Britti couldn't come due to school commitments and Chelsea's engagement with the Symphonic Choir to sing the National Anthem at the OU basketball game, they bonded at home and managed to keep all of our pets alive and well in our absence. We were all glad to see each other upon our return to Athens on Sunday, November 15, around 10 p.m.
Hope that everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season! We listened to Christmas music for the first time yesterday, and we're ready to start decorating right after Thanksgiving, if not before.
More very soon--
Christie
Just a quick update about our trip to South Bend/Chicago. Roger, Emmy, Ellie-Kate, and I left last Tuesday (11/10/09) for the annual NCA conference in Chicago. We stayed in the Inn at Saint Mary' s along the way, and we were treated as "Guests of the Night," receiving a free room upgrade as well as some small gifts. We went over to University Park Mall, had dinner in the food court, and bought a few items of clothing for Emmy. Wow-- how odd to be in SB w/o Britti!!
On Wednesday morning, we took Ellie-Kate through the SMC campus for the first time, stopping to take a pic in front of the Marion McCandless statue by McCandless Hall (Britti's home for four years). After driving up to Chicago, we checked into our room at the Chicago Hilton (praise God for Roger's Hilton Honors membership so that we could upgrade into a larger room).
During Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Roger and I juggled professional commitments with caring for the girls and treating them to trips to various museums (including the Field Museum, the Children's Museum, Shedd's Aquarium, and the Planetarium). The girls also had a BLAST with playing ball on the lower level of the Chicago Hilton by the book display area-- something that we got to do almost every night. We had a super time with visiting with old friends from other schools and attending events at the conference.
On Sunday, we made the 10 1/2 hour trip back to Athens, stopping at Ponderosa in South Bend for lunch with the grandmas. We had a great time as we celebrated Great-Grandma's birthday, chatted about the trip, and gave Grandma B. and Great-Grandma a chance to catch up with the girls.
Although Chelsea and Britti couldn't come due to school commitments and Chelsea's engagement with the Symphonic Choir to sing the National Anthem at the OU basketball game, they bonded at home and managed to keep all of our pets alive and well in our absence. We were all glad to see each other upon our return to Athens on Sunday, November 15, around 10 p.m.
Hope that everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season! We listened to Christmas music for the first time yesterday, and we're ready to start decorating right after Thanksgiving, if not before.
More very soon--
Christie
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