Catching up.... January 20, 2011

Hi Everyone--

We've had a very busy start to the year-- possibly evident by the fact that I just packed my last box of Christmas decorations at 9: 45 p.m. tonight! Thus, I thought that I'd do a (hopefully) quick post with updates on what's been going on with us.

Ellie-Kate: Ellie-Kate has had a HUGE start to the year. She had a blast throughout the holidays, continuing to love Santa even though she was a bit timid around the Disney characters back at Thanksgiving. At 35 months, she's speaking in complete sentences, and she's so intuitive. She can look at us and know when we're getting tense. She'll pipe right up and ask "You're frustrated, Daddy?" It's so funny when people ask if she can speak English. We reply-- "YES! All of the time" :)

Ellie-Kate's big news involves potty training. She visited Chelsea and Emmy's old preschool on Tuesday, January 4, and she LOVED it. We peeked inside her future classroom, and the teacher was leading a lesson on creation. The class was making "oceans" out of baby food jars, blue food coloring, and sea shells. Her eyes grew wide, and she exclaimed, "I like oceans!!" I told her that she had to be potty trained to attend, and she was dry from that moment on!! Later that day, she said that she had to poop and headed straight for the bathroom. After MONTHS of trying, I almost cried!! I called Roger, and we went out to Bob Evans to celebrate that night.

Two weeks later, on January 18, Ellie-Kate had her very first morning at preschool. Her teacher said that she did fantastic. She listened attentively, fit right into the group, and even helped the other kids with their "mitten" crafts. She sat in her seat at lunchtime and ate all of her salad and orange while her peers started with their cookies. She had never tried taco salad before, but she ate almost all of it as well. By all accounts, she's going to do great in preschool. For now, she'll go on two mornings per week, but we might increase it next year. For now, we're content to dabble in preschool and still have our time with our precious baby :)

Emmy: Emmy turned 10 back in December, and she's enjoying fifth grade drama. She's in a cool friend group, and she's doing great in school-- all As thus far!! We're getting a kick out of her friend group's foray into boy-girl interactions-- very innocent and sweet at this point :) When she's not caught up in that drama, she's playing basketball. She has been the high scorer for her team thus far this season, and she's enjoying that status :)

Chelsea: Chelsea turned 16 1/2 today, and she is still working on that driver's license. We just don't have time to get out with her to practice. Meanwhile, she's doing super in her AP classes, dancing at Factory Street, and practicing with the indoor track team. She's going to do long jump, and the coaches are trying to talk her into hurdles-- we'll see :) She has a new boyfriend, Tanner, and he seems to be nice, but, other than talking on the phone a lot, they don't have much time to see each other b/c he graduated last year.

Britti: Britti started her new program with Disney on January 14, and she LOVES it!! She moved into a townhouse with three other girls, and she now has her own room and feels much more like a grown up. Her new job at Disney is serving as program facilitator for the YES program (Youth Education Series). When her Girl Scout troop went to Disney, we actually did the YES program so it's kind of full circle. She'll lead school and scout groups around either Magic Kingdom or Epcot and teach them about physics and other scientific principles. Yup, she gets paid to ride on roller coasters with school kids :) She'll finish up that program on June 17, and she's not quite sure what happens then... Until then, though, what an amazing adventure!!

On Sunday, we'll celebrate 22 months with Ellie-Kate. (Actually, we'll enjoy a family day in Columbus on Saturday b/c we're going up to see Disney On Ice.) It seems like yesterday that I was bummed that we wouldn't be with her for her first birthday, but, on Wednesday, January 26, Ellie-Kate will turn three years old. Can you believe it? We're already gearing up for the celebration, and I'll post pictures ASAP from her Walmart photo shoot and the parties.

Thanks much for caring about our family!!

Christie