Ellie Turns Two!!

Thanksgiving brought a very full day for us. It was Ellie's 2nd Birthday, so we decided to host our first Thanksgiving dinner for both of our families. Amanda and Sara and their families were with the in-laws this year, so are numbers weren't quite as big. Then we also lost Matthew and Kristin because they were just released from the hospital with Ashlyn on Thanksgiving day-I imagine relaxing at their own home sounded pretty good to them. But we were able to send home some leftovers. So we ended up having 15 adults and 4 kids. Andrew took the kids out to his parents in the early afternoon for lunch, while I had the house to myself to clean and prepare everything. Andrew's parents and my parents brought some of the sides and we were in charge of the turkeys, noodles, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to decorate for Thanksgiving and a little girls birthday party, but I ended up using tissue paper pom-poms hanging from the chandeliers along with letters of Ellie's initials. I also made smaller tissue paper pom-poms into flowers for the tables and put them in some old flower pots I had in storage. Overall, things went pretty smoothly. My parents came a little early and helped finalize everything. The food turned out good and we definitely had enough. Andrew thinks we may need to do this every year because he has enjoyed the leftovers.

After dinner, the birthday celebration started. I was trying to clean dishes when Ellie decided it was time to open presents. She had a lot of help from her brother and cousins. She was going right through them until she opened her stroller and then that was all she wanted to play with. I think Jackson opened the rest of the presents while Ellie tried to fend off Lauren and Briley from her stroller. It was definitely a favorite. Until we went to the garage and Ellie got her Barbie jeep. She was in love. Briley and Lauren both took turns riding with Ellie, but quickly wanted out. It didn't bother Jackson though. As of today, Ellie has gotten better with the steering. Thankfully it hasn't been too cold and she has been able to take it outside a little. Now she is just waiting to take her other cousins on a ride. I don't think Carson would care, but Bella and Ashlyn should be a little worried. Up next was cake (Ellie thought we should have had the cake for dinner) and then it was time for Andy, Autumn, and Briley to head home. Everyone else stuck around for a little while and it was nice having everyone over. I am glad to get my first Thanksgiving dinner out of the way and I feel confident I know what I am doing now-I had some good teachers. By the end of the night and the next day, Ellie had discovered the rest of her presents and has enjoyed each one. She is a very happy girl.

Friday was spent decorating the house for Christmas. It took all day. I actually woke up around 3:30am that morning thinking about where I was going to put everything and couldn't go back to sleep for a couple hours. I like the way it all turned out though. I still have a couple little things to do, then I'll take some pictures. We also went out to Fouch's Tree Farm and found a pretty good tree. We were able to get a little taller tree this year, but it probably could have been a little more narrow. They always look a little smaller out there. Jackson and Ellie had a great time running around. Jackson had me take a picture of him by a tree "that was just for him." Then Ellie was very excited to get up on this old tractor they have sitting out in the middle of the field. She didn't want to get down. We finally got them back in the car and back home. Bringing the tree in was pretty easy. Andrew just brought it around back and through the french doors and then it was just a couple feet to where we wanted to put it. Then I spent the next four hours decorating it. I had new decorations for our new house, so everything took a little longer. What I didn't have was new lights and most of ours weren't working. Andrew was at the office and Ellie was down for a nap, so I was stuck at home. So I called my parents and said if someone wanted to get me some lights, I would pay them back and also give them some noodles for their troubles. Lissy showed up a 1/2 hour later. So, we have had some long, busy days, but it was worth it. I loved having everyone over and I love gearing up for the exciting holiday season.