Well, 2011 is here. Currently, I'm sitting on Nana's couch watching Ellie and Nana play on the floor. We are in Wausau, Wisconsin where we have a couple feet of snow and it currently feels like -18 degrees outside with the wind blowing. Everyone else is asleep, even though it's almost 10 a.m. They have good reason to, considering that we didn't go to bed until almost 4 a.m. Why? Well, we stayed up to celebrate the New Year until Will's sister, Luci, got home from work, which ended up being around 12:30 a.m. Then I, Will, Nana, Denise and Luci sat down with some good food and played over 2 hours of Last Night on Earth: the Zombie board game. Will got it for Christmas, and since then we've played it almost every day. It was pretty fun, the main dampener being that we were all really tired and most of us are sick. Including Ellie, who (naughty baby) woke up to greet the New Year with us by stuffing her face, and then later (naughtier baby) got up again while we were playing the game. She'll probably be in a better mood than any of the rest of us though. Which is good because Will, Ellie and I are leaving this evening to drive all night to Indiana.
We started our trip by driving all night (10 hours) to Indiana, where Will's brother, Lloyd, and his family live. They just adopted a new baby, Gabriel William. We were lucky enough to get to stay in a home that was empty for the holidays, which even had a crib for Ellie. We hung out for a couple days and played with Grace (3 1/2) and Gabe (1 month) and Lloyd (child at heart) and Lisa (due to have another baby in a couple months). Then we packed up quick and drove all night again (8 1/2 hours) to arrive in Wisconsin early Christmas Eve morning.
Christmas was fun and I got to spend a lot of time with Will's family and extended family. Ellie, despite teething and having a cold, has been amazingly good. She got to be spoiled by her Aunts, Uncle, Nana and cousin, Connor (12). Our biggest Christmas presents: for Ellie, a booster seat and some rice and oatmeal cereal; for Will, the zombie board game; for me, a sewing machine! For our family: being able to spend Christmas with Will's family. Needless to say, Ellie has gotten a lot of use out of the seat and cereal (see photos), we've played the zombie game more times than I'll admit, and I've already made 2 pieces of Ellie clothing. :)
So we've been hanging out all this week and are ready to head back home. I've spent this morning (in the hour I've been awake) finding all our random stuff, picking up lost socks, organizing all our presents, suctioning out Ellie's nose and trying not to eat all the good food still laying around.
I would like to say now, no matter what the trip home is like, Ellie has been AMAZING. And now for some (meaning lots of) pictures :)
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| our little tree |
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| Ellie in her Christmas dress and a bow I made with ribbons and staples |
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| baby Gabe |
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| Christmas cookies! Notice Will's zombie bite/infected Santa Claus and man with his head stitched back on. |
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| Nana's tree |
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| Ellie and Luci playing with new toys |
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| Ellie's presents |
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| playing with toys |
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| playing with Denise |
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| Two-Axe Willy fighting the zombies |
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| yum! |
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| snuggling with Nana |
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| playing with Connor |
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| Gotcha! Ellie wearing the pants I made her! |
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| big girl in Nana's chair |
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| Ellie in the jumper I made her |
So awesome, Mary. =) I really do feel a little pathetic now, seeing all you do. But I'll just use you as a model. I love the pants, jumper, and bow. Did you take a sewing class in high school or college? I got a sewing machine to use, too. It used to be my grandma's (she passed on a few years ago...) and my mom is reluctantly letting me use it, since it's one of the few things I asked for from her house. I have to learn how to use it first, since it's really high-tech.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that Ellie got sick, but so did Ashlynne. It was probably just a mix of the crazy cold and being with so many people.
Jenni, I touched a sewing machine once as a Beehive... that's about it. But I got a beginners one and Will's mom has been sewing for longer than I've been alive, so she helped quite a bit. BUT I made a skirt all by myself since we've been back. I'll have to put up pictures.
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