Just a few things in Dec.

I think that my kids are so stinkin' cute that sometimes I just can't help but get out my phone and snap a quick pic of them in regular life. :)

In the mornings when Eli wakes up, we usually turn in the TV and let him sleep next to us in bed in hopes of getting maybe an extra 1/2 hour (or even 15 minutes) of sleep.  Yes, I know that this makes us awful parents, and yes, we did do this with Ella too.  Pretty soon, Ella toddles in, and I tell her to get up in bed with us too (again in hopes of getting more sleep, but this rarely happens b/c now we have 4 people in a queen size bed).  (Which by the way, 3 people seem to be crammed into my side, and every time I ask Nick to move over, he claims he's on the edge of the bed....except I can CLEARLY see at least 6" of space [maybe not "clearly" since I have terrible eyesight without the aid of glasses or contacts, but I digress....] !)  Anyway, this picture was taken in all of their adorableness one morning while we were trying to sleep through it.

This is Snowflake, one of Ella's favorite Christmas presents.  Yes, I realize I haven't blogged about Christmas.  I'll try to get to that soon.....Anyway, this present is from Aunt Kristin & Uncle Tony, and Reagan has a matching puppy.  They both love them.  The dogs have a purse carrier too, so that Ella can really show off in true diva-fashion. :)  (Oh, she's also a HUGE fan of the Little Mermaid jammies that she insisted I wash immediately for her to wear to bed.)

Lately, Ella keeps saying she has a baby in her belly.  But then she takes it a step further and says she's having a baby and needs to go to the hospital.  I'm not sure where this is coming from suddenly, although it could be thanks in part to Baby Jesus, as she has been requesting we start calling her Mary occasionally....Tonight she said, "Before Eli was in your belly, I stayed there for a little bit.  And then you went to the hospital and you laid down like a mother-dude and had me."  I was a little nervous at how she was saying that I went to a hospital and laid down to have a baby....I mean, where is she getting that (along with the term "mother-dude")????  I asked her to show me what it looks like to "lay down like a mother-dude" and have a baby.  This is what she showed me.

Last week, Kristin and I took the kids to the zoo to see the Wild Lights display.  It was SO cold.  Aunt Nancy sent these hats for the kids (Eli wore a reindeer, Reagan is the kitty, Ella is a puppy, and Brady is an owl), so we thought that this was the perfect occasion to use them.  I barely had any sensation in my fingers to take pictures, so these are the best that we got.  Still though, I think they show what a good time we had.

 This was Ella's first trip to the zoo.  I feel bad about it.  I always want to take her, but Nick wants to take her too, but never when it's hot, and it's a whole mess.  So anyway, there obviously aren't many animals out on a cold, winter's night.  She did get to see the penguins though....and she was amazed at the smelly penguins house.  Aunt Kristin bought us a membership for next season though, so I will be SURE to use it for our family.  Here are some more pics: