Christmas a la Edwards.

We celebrated Christmas with our Edwards clan on Saturday. Ella really got the hang of opening presents this year and was kind enough to lend a helping hand to anyone who asked for her assistance!

She got some lovely presents this year, including new clothes for her American Girl dolls at Gramma's, a wardrobe to keep the clothes in, a potty doll complete with working bathroom, and a precious Madame Alexander doll that she loves and calls "Alex."

The presents are great, but the boxes are even better!

Great Uncle Frank and Uncle Matt open their gifts.

Aunt Angel opens her presents.

Ella helps Daddy open his gifts.

You're a Mean One...

Mr. Grinch! I, along with Mom and Grandmother, took Ella and cousin Kalynn to see an ice exhibit over the weekend. This year's theme was The Grinch and I can't even explain how much ice was colored and carved into fantastical creations to tell the story of The Grinch.

Kalynn loved it. Ella must have said, "Sceowed de de Gwinch" (Scared of the Grinch) 500 times, and insisted upon being carried through the entire thing. Can't say I blame her. He is a bit scary.

Here Kalynn sits on a block of ice, just out of the Grinch's cold grasp!

This was Ella's expression each time I put her down for a moment.

NO! Sceowed! No like it!

She must've liked it a little, though, because the moment we stepped outside she was yelling, "Again! Go again!"

Holiday Spectacular.

This past Saturday Ella had her first big recital, the annual Holiday Spectacular of her gymnastics school. All of the preschoolers showed their skills on a route that required climbing, jumping, flipping, and walking on a balance beam.

I must say that even though Ella was the smallest kid there, she did quite well, only running off the route a couple of times.

We had quite the crowd there, with Daddy, Mimi, Grandmother, Gramma, G, and cousing Kalynn coming out to show their support!

Here Ella races to the foam triangle ahead of me. Once she climbs aboard, she flips down the slope with a little help from me.

Here Ella and I wait for the next event with our classmates Ms. Emily and Kaitlyn.

Ella had to climb all the way up this double rainbow, turn around, and slide down on her tummy. Such a feat.

At the end all of the kids got four ribbons, one per event: floor, beam, bars, and vault. My little gymnast is SO proud of her accomplishment and loves holding her ribbons!

Picture Us.

We had a wonderful photographer come to the house to take some family shots of us. I thought it might be nice to pretend to be a good mother and have a few pics taken of Ella at two, even though it was clearly way past that birthday!

I will be happy to pass along the photographer's info to anyone who is interested as I highly recommend her!

Thanksgiving.

As I tend to forget to take pictures during actual events, I make sure to take them coming and going. Thanksgiving was no exception.

Coming: Ella licks her chops in anticipation of Uncle Pit's famous fried turkey.

Going: Ella rides home in a tryptophan-induced coma, baby snoring all the way!

A Hatfield Halloween.

We Edwards spent Halloween '08 with our pals Andy, Jessica, and Abe. It was the longest car ride Russ had been on with Ella, and I must say that both did very well!

We started the weekend by trick-or-treating at both of Abe's grandparents' homes and Ella got special treats at both! While Russ and Andy joined some other guys for a football game on Saturday, Jess and I took the kids to a wonderful hands-on museum and to her parents' for a delicious dinner.

Ella and Abe had quite the adventure playing together all weekend, and he was kind enough to let her sleep in his bed. We all had a fantastic time!

Ella as Dorothy. Fun fact: I actually played Dorothy in a summer camp once. This fact is fun because I CANNOT act. Singing and dancing scenery I can do. Acting? Nada.

Abe as a golfer. Andy and Jess as Andy and Jess.

Ella as Dorothy. Russ as Russ. Sara as... a liger?

Ella and Abe share a giggle on Gram Cookie's stairs. This one is going to be great in their wedding slideshow!

Baby's Birthday.

We had a wonderful time at Ella's second birthday party. It was a couple of weeks after the actual day-- because I procrastinate, but many of our fantastic friends came out to celebrate her big day and hang out with us for an evening of crazy kid chaos.

Cake. Always a good idea to get the kids moving at light speed, right?

The crown lasted all of two minutes...

The girls! Jamie, Marta, and Chrysty.
Best buds Allison and Emily, keeping it real.
Happy family! John, Michelle, Anna, and foreign exchange student Madeleine.

Wendi, Alexandria, Lee, Jayne, and Laura dine al fresco.
Terri and Ben looking oh so cute!
Note to self: bouncy houses keep kids entertained FOREVER.
Us with our special birthday baby.
Anne and precious Lillybeth.
Ella loves her new stuff!
Our friend Jean Francois took these of Ella and her friend Addison. He is so talented with that camera of his!

El-phant.

Ella took Russ to the zoo for the first time and showed him the el-phants and all her other critter friends. Her favorite is the one she gets to ride... the carousel.

Along the way, Russ and Ella discovered a tent with a nice shady spot to sit. They discussed what we'd seen so far, and Ella climbed back into her stylin' zoo stroller. I decided that while the stroller is Ella's natural habitat, Russ's natural habitat is the shaded cabana. Mine happens to be the snack bar.