Christmas in January

Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as "Christmas in July," but we were thrilled to get down to St. Louis this past weekend for a late holiday celebration with Brian's family. Here Ellie crowded in with some of the many stuffed animals she got as gifts this year. She's having a great time with them, carrying them around the house by their ears or arms or neck. So loving :)

Ellie also got new books from her great-grandparents.

And a new musical instrument!

It was nice having a long weekend to spend down there, hanging out around the house and visiting some friends. Ellie is still working on saying "grandma," but Linda earned plenty of points by sharing her hot cocoa!

And Ellie impressed grandpa Bob by learning to say "paw-paw" and showing off her new elephant noise (complete with using her hand/arm as a trunk!)... video to come.

Ellie dutifully checked everyone's noses throughout the weekend to make sure they made a proper "beep"-ing noise. What a relief.

She also got a new tricycle from Brian's dad, grandpa Wallheimer.
Ellie got some very cool wooden blocks from the Wallheimers, too. Her fave game is dumping them out :)
And she let me have a hair-styling party on her one day. This was the result... lots of pigtails and braids!

Darth baby

This is actually from last week, so it's the precursor to my "sick bay" post. We all still sound like we're coughing up a lung, but I'm sure we'll get through. Ellie's mood is much better. Maybe we shouldn't make her sit on the floor and clean all the time. Hmmm...

Sick bay

Coming off our long weekend, Ellie is still fighting her lingering cold and Brian has picked up some sort of bug. After feeling bad yesterday, he woke up this morning feeling worse and running a fever. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can avoid the worst of this and just stick with the minor head cold I've got!
I always forget from one time to the next how awfully hard it is to have a sick household. When it was just me and Brian, we didn't enjoy getting sick but it seemed more manageable. On days like today, with Brian seriously down-for-the-count, I had to jump into action taking care of Ellie while still making it into work as close to 6 a.m. as possible. And, of course, I was worried about Brian and trying to make sure he got some medicine and food... but with Ellie on the scene these days there's less time for doting on the spouse.
We left Brian under a warm blanket at 5:55 a.m. and trekked out to the car — in the rain — with me balancing Ellie in one arm and my lunch, coffee, work papers, purse and car keys in the other. Her teacher was surprised to see us roll into the classroom so early, but I was happy to have the option since our day care opens at 6 a.m. I know it's hard for Brian to send Ellie off to daycare when he's at home, but he needs to get better and not risk giving Ellie whatever germs he's got (even though he probably got them from her in the first place!)
I'm feeling stressed and somewhat like things are being held together with Scotch tape today. But I'm trying to remind myself that we'll all feel better soon. This too shall pass.

Bath bonanza

On our trip to St. Louis this past weekend for a late Christmas celebration with Brian's family, Linda documented some of the craziness that is Ellie's bath time these days. She is a total nut in the tub!
Here she looks relatively harmless... but don't be fooled. OK, so mom might contribute to the silliness by dousing Ellie once in awhile... but she asks for it!

Look at those eyelashes!

And the real cause of "trouble" in the bath is Ellie's signature splash technique. You can see below that it requires a major wind-up. She has to get her whole upper body into it to ensure maximum splash. Lets just say that those of us wearing clothes during the bath had to towel off and change at the end. Totally worth it!

Ready to shovel

Brian did the heavy lifting on the shoveling front this week, but Ellie and I went out yesterday to clean up the additional dusting that fell on the driveway and walk.
Ellie is a huge fan of being outside, going bye-bye, etc. As soon as I asked if she wanted to put her pink boots on, Ellie rushed to find them. And after I put on each piece of outside clothes (which were numerous, as you can see!) she excitedly said "bye-bye!" I had to explain to her the merits of having two boots on, instead of one, and a coat and hat and scarf...
While I did a quick sweep with the shovel, Ellie explored the snowy terrain. I'm not sure what happened but at one point I heard her crying. I turned around and her head was covered in snow! She must have tipped over into the lawn where the snow was deeper, but it looked for all the world like she had had a major skiing wipe-out. I tried not to laugh as I wiped the cold stuff off her face and hat and scarf. She recovered quickly and immediately struck out for more exploring.

Wedding memories...

Ben and Candice got their professional wedding photos back recently, and here are a few that included Ellie. These are from last October when they were married over Halloween weekend.
Ellie was Brian's date during the ceremony since I was up front with the bridesmaids. And then she wasn't entirely pleased during the family photo shoot.... I promise this is not her endorsement (or lack thereof) of the marriage!

Finally I let her play with the flower top she had already ripped out of my bouquet. Anything to keep her happy and looking somewhat in the direction of the camera while the photographer tried to focus the attention of the 14 different Schneider family members! Happy we got at least one great shot of the crew :)

Getting ready

Ellie decided to accessorize this morning with a purse and shawl (?) as dad was getting her ready for school. What a pretty girl!
- Dorothy

The shawl is actually Dorothy's running tights.
- Brian