Best year

I think this has been the best year ever!  I can't even imagine life without my little family. I used to pray to God that I would get to experience life before my time was up. I am so happy that I am doing just exactly what I always wanted!  We celebrated this evening with my mom and dad. We had junk food and champagne. The girls were really happy and were even dancing. We did a countdown at 6 pm. Tate seemed excited.

So Big

Ellie started clapping on 12/17. Today she started putting her arms up to say she was SO BIG. Tate and I went to town to get my tire fixed and to get some groceries. He loves being able to pick out his own snacks. I enjoyed having some alone time with him. My mom watched the girls. 

Wish

We went on a road trip to Grandma Joan and Grandpa Mike's house to celebrate Christmas. We left around 7 this morning. Poor Tate had a cough last night and when we gave him medicine at 2 he never went back to sleep. So, all three kids managed to sleep the whole trip. It was a Christmas miracle. When Tate opened his new tractor set he shouted out, "My new tractor set. I wished for this!"  He had fun playing with Henry. 

Visitors

My Uncle Bill and Aunt Becky came out to visit today. It was really nice to see them and they hadn't seen the girls yet. Tate had a lot of fun with all of his toys today. He is a big fan of the game Hungry, Hungry Hippos. The girls want to play with all of his stuff too. I supposed to meet some friends this evening but my plans got cancelled. We already told Tate that Brett was going to put him to bed and he went with it. The boys took a bath together. I got to snuggle with Ellie!

Christmas Eve

We opted to stay home this year for Christmas Eve since our kids (usually) go to bed super early. I have to say that it was nice to not go anywhere but church. We opened our family gifts right after lunch and went to church at 4. Tate has been super excited and had a hard time sitting still in church and then absolutely could not wind down for bed. He can't wait to see what Santa brought for him. Audrey is sick and is not sleeping well. She wants to be held but keeps tensing up and won't snuggle in and rest. I hope it is just a cold and nothing more. 

Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my immediate family last weekend. It was fun. Tate and Owen enjoyed making gingerbread trains and opening gifts. The girls had to open gifts late because they were napping. Tate has suddenly turned into a super nasty kid who hits and says mean things. He absolutely refuses to do as he is told. Ellie is cutting another tooth. Audrey wants to climb anything. I caught her on the 2nd step of Tate's bathroom stool tonight while Ellie was in the tub. She also likes to try to put her hand in toilet water. 

Steal

Tate said he wanted to steal his friend Luke and take him home so we could have two boys at our house. 

Phone

I finally did a reset on my phone so hopefully blogging goes better. Tate hands pretty good day. He caught a good nap on the way home from school and was a good helper when I was cleaning this afternoon. He did try to sweep the mirror and the kitchen table with his broom.  I stopped at the liquor store to get some wine for Christmas. First, a lady told me about her twins that died at birth and then the owner lady told me that she could tell one was definitely a girl but she wasn't sure about the other one!

Smack

Ellie was smacking her lips today!

Weather

We had 2.5 inches of rain by this evening at it was still raining. The temperature was above freezing all day. Poor Ellie cried all day and nothing seemed to help. 

Tooth

I had the day off yesterday and went in a road trip. My friend's husband received his masters degree and he had a little reception. My awesome friends from college were there and it was so nice to see them. I also visited my old roommate and met her new baby. Grandma Joan came and took Tate to school and Brett watched the girls.  Ellie had a fever yesterday and woke up today with a tiny bit of tooth through her gums. She still had a fever all day today. 

Santa

We took the kids to see Santa this morning at the library.  Tate seemed excited at the idea of seeing Santa but told us before we got there he didn't want to sit on his lap. He was not willing to stand next to him for a picture either. The girls thought his beard was interesting and distracted them long enough for a picture. Tate asked if Tim the elf was a beanie. I tried to play it off that he was magical but he asked again so I said yes. Then he wondered why Tim is not in the tub with the rest of the beanies. 

Elf

Our elf on the shelf, Tim, made his first appearance today. Tate managed to touch him during an airplane ride with Brett and when I told Tate that Tim's magic was gone he assured me that it was just a pretend elf. You can't get much past him.