Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!!

This morning, Ellie woke up and immediately started singing Jingle Bells. Then she started to say, "Its time to get up Daddy...Mommy...time to wake up". Even on Christmas morning she obeyed the rule of staying in her bed until Mommy or Daddy comes to get you.

Ellie was certain Santa had come. And she was right! Under the tree were lots of presents for her, mommy, daddy and even Mallie. Santa brought a shopping cart with some fruit in it, the baby suitcase that she has been asking for, a camera just her size, and lots of other special toys and presents.

She also had a stocking full of fun stuff like chapstick, a magic wand, goldfish, watercolors, a coloring book full of Disney princesses, and a Cinderella Pez dispenser.

Santa remembered mommy and daddy's favorite and traditional stocking stuffers, like Sour Patch Kids for mommy and Spaghetti Os for daddy! Ellie was very helpful as we opened our stockings.

Ellie even helped Mallie with her stocking. Santa brought Mallie some special treats and put them in her stocking.

Ellie was very surprised to see a baby rhinoceros toy. She was so happy that Santa had remembered their little inside joke when she had visited last time and told him what she wanted for Christmas.

She was very happy to see that Santa had eaten most of the cookies she left out. Although he was a little messy and left some crumbs which she wanted to clean up. Santa also left her a note, which thanked her for being a very good girl this year.

After playing with presents for a little bit, we all enjoyed a traditional VanBlaricum Christmas morning breakfast of fried mush.

Ellie's attention has now turned to her vacation to California and Illinois. She has asked if she can bring her shopping cart on the airplane...we told her there wasn't room. She also keeps reminding us that we have to bring her pretty dress that Aunt Susu got her for the "party". She's pretty excited and playing with all her special presents. Just as I'm about to post this...we just noticed that we are having some snow flurries right now. Its just barely a white Christmas in Boston!

Below is the video we took of Ellie finding her presents this morning. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve

This year, our family of three is spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Boston before travelling to Santa Barbara and Chicagoland next week. Today, Christmas Eve, was a fun filled day. This morning we went out to a special breakfast and then to a toy store for some last minute shopping where Ellie picked out a present for her cousin baby Tristan. Our afternoon and evening was jam packed with excitement. Ellie just went to bed and she told me she is going to dream of Santa and can't wait to see the presents he left her tomorrow morning.

Right after she got up, Ellie helped us make some cookies to leave for Santa. She helped cut out and decorate cookies. Doing an even better job than the last time we decorated cookies a couple weeks ago.

Ellie is demonstrating how she has to touch the garbage can when I open the oven

Then, Ellie helped me make a pizza for dinner. She helped spread the sauce and put the cheese on. She definitely enjoyed her pizza dinner.

 

For dessert we each had a sugar cookie (ones not deemed good enough for Santa) and some chocolate covered strawberries which were a present from Aunt Cindy, Uncle Mike, and cousin Tristan.

By now...Ellie was had a belly full of sugar and was super excited to begin opening presents. At first she was a little hesitant to tear the paper, but she got the hang of it. She checked the presents for the letter E. If she saw the E, she knew it was for her. Other presents, she asked us to read for her.

She had so much fun playing with some of her presents after we opened them. The ladybug wings, toaster, and rain boots were a big hit. She even made sure to give Baby a ride in her new baby-sized wagon.

Baby getting a ride in her new wagon



Ladybug wings and antennae to read her new Ladybug Girl books



Um...Mommy...your book doesn't have any pictures!

 

Before bed, Ellie picked out some cookies for Santa and left them on a plate near the tree. She then drew a picture for him as well.

 

Lastly, Ellie asked Nick to check the chimney to make sure Santa could get down to leave her presents.

All is quiet now...we'll see how early she gets up tomorrow morning. Santa knows she has been a very good girl this year..

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for holiday fun. And oh what fun did we have yesterday...

In the morning we headed out to a mall to visit Santa and do a little holiday shopping. We had our first successful Santa visit this year (after he bribed her with candy and made her laugh by saying he was going to bring her a baby rhinoceros).

Ellie asked Santa for a baby suitcase and a camera (both of which I'm sure that Santa will remember to put in the sleigh and bring to our house). Then Nick and I each took Ellie to a store to have her pick out a present for each of us. That was an adventure...

In the evening, Aunt Susie came over and we had an evening of holiday cheer. First we decorated our Christmas tree. Ellie was really helpful decorating, although her attention did wander a bit. We then found Nick's baby shoes and she was so excited to see them and put them on the tree.

Then we made and decorated some cookies, and then we had a fondue dinner (we didn't let Ellie dip into the cheese, we did it for her). And of course...fresh from the oven cookies for dessert. Ellie really surprised me with her decorating skills with the cookies. She did a really good job. And I have to say that the cookies turned out really well. Of course, the more sprikles there are on a cookie...the better they are going to be!

It was a great day and evening. Ellie is very happy that we have our tree up. And although she may not quite grasp the concept of Christmas (she was amazed that you got presents on a day other than your birthday), she does understand that Santa will come to our house and leave her toys. Ellie did ask Nick how Santa got into our house. When he explained that Santa will come down the chimney and out the fireplace, Ellie asked him, "Santa doesn't have keys??"

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Well, we definitely took advantage of the long weekend and the terrific weather that we had out here this past weekend. Of course, Thursday was Thanksgiving. However, before the turkey was in the oven, Ellie and I had some quality time and even were able to head over to the playground for a little bit!

Friday...whoa, what a jam packed day. Nick had to work again (but only in the morning). Ellie and I packed up and headed out to a local toy store on Friday morning. It wasn't too crowded and we were able to pick up a toy for a friend's birthday. In addition, Ellie had fun playing with the babies there. Also, they have a play room with a ball pit, a set of blocks, and other fun things which Ellie enjoyed. Then we headed to a playground and then we went to a special lunch. However, it was after her nap in the car that we had the real excitement.

We went to Plymouth! After picking up Aunt Susie and Nick we drove down to Plymouth. After a late lunch of some fried delicious seafood we toured the Mayflower II and saw the rock. Ellie had a great time, although she was a little upset that the boat didn't move. Some day she will thank us...

Saturday...we spent the morning down at Enchanted Village. This was an elaborate, antique, animatronic holiday display. Ellie wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but enjoyed the faux-snow which occasionally snowed from the ceiling. We also went to a laser light show which was set to holiday music. Ellie really liked that. She has been singing jingle bells since.

Sunday we took a hike. Yes, the weather was nice enough that the weekend after Thanksgiving, we took a hike just outside of Boston. We went to the Blue Hills Reservation and took a walk/hike around a small lake. Now...when 2/3 people in the family aren't really outdoorsy people...the hike really didn't go too smoothly. Ellie didn't want to walk the whole way and so we ended up carrying her. She wasn't that into it. But she did enjoy looking for the trail markers on the trees and picking up pine cones.

What a weekend! We didn't sit still very long. The weather was absolutely perfect and we all were able to enjoy it. I will leave you with a photo of my little model...