Playin in the snow

It finally snowed yesterday- although you can still see our grass.It was super cold - but we made a Hawaiian snowman in a grass skirt anyway.

A Mahley Family Christmas

The week leading up to Christmas was very busy.- We did a lot to prepare- including trying to make some homemade gifts. We started out ok...
But we quickly got covered in craft supplies and made a big mess- so we switching to decorating cookies-Ella really liked the red frosting.

On Christmas eve we headed over to my moms- Before presents we had a great dinner and took a cousin picture. For some reason Ella clapped every time a flash went off :)

And then it was time to open the mountain of presents..

Ella got a bunch of cool stuff- like a Barbie big wheel, a gift card to a music class for kids- but her favorite gift of all was an Elmo doll. He holds a pizza and sings about it- and then the pizza sings- and Ella is in love. She doesn't hug many of her toys- but she will gladly hug this one.

After all the sugar and excitement - there was wrestling. I'm pretty sure the boys won.

Christmas morning at home was really fun- it was the first one that Ella could really participate in.

Santa brought her some good stuff too! She got a little riding toy for in the house- a microphone- bath crayons- and a magnadoodle.

Joe got an xbox- he has been in this position for the last 3 days straight.

I got a bunch of cool Chiropractic books and medical stuff- and a waffle iron with some Bisquick- Ella and I have had more waffles then the average person should have in the last few days.

Oh- and Joe got me a snuggie- its pink for supporting breast cancer- so- I guess that makes it ok? Well the cat loves it- and so does Ella.
Its pretty much like wearing a tent- Really if your snuggie is snug- you are in serious trouble.

We spent Christmas dinner with Joe's family in Knowelsville. Ella and Nathan got a few extra Christmas presents.

Ella got a plate set from Nathan and a crying doll from grandma-

The best part about all the Christmas craziness is that Ella has slept in the last 4 days! Like till almost 8am. We are still ridiculously tired - but 8 am...merry Christmas to me :)

Cookin!

Over the past few weeks we have kept busy. We had a bunch of family in town for Aunt Toni's funeral. It was really sad- but we had a great time reconnecting with each other.

Over the past few days- Ella and I have had a lot of fun making cookies and perogies. Joe even made a bunch of cookies all by himself for his cookie exchange at work. Ella helped in every way possible. She is the only kid I know that will refuse to eat a cookie though- she is really just into the decorating.

We also got back into our old hat bin. Ella wasn't really into the bear hat-

But she was in love with this pink hat. She would wear it for a super long time and dance around the house in it. Its a little small but I told her she looked very pretty in it.

The biggest undertaking of the week was the homemade perogies.

We made 2 kinds- cheese and sauerkraut. We did it super old fashion because we didn't have the molds for the noodles- so just like in the old days- we had to use the lid to the sour cream- it really was the perfect size!

And as usual- Ella helped!

Thanksgiving!

We drove out to Michigan this thanksgiving to have a fun time with Joe's mom and the rest of the family up there. Before we left- Joe climbed the silo at our house and shot some aerial views of our barns.

Then we all hopped in the car for the all night drive out there. Joe's mom will kill me for this pic because it is first thing in the morning- but that was the only time we remembered to take pics at her house.

When we got there- Ella found out that she got a pony for Christmas! It rocks and moves and makes fun sounds while it wiggles its tail and moves its head. She absolutely loves it.

Ella finally got to meet Aunt Loretta and Uncle Travis! We had so much fun at their house- and playing with the cousins. This is Anthony and Uncle Travis.

This is Ella, Anthony and Renee- Renee is eating cheese because when we asked her to say "cheese" - she realized that she really wanted some cheese :)

The trip was really fun and thanksgiving was great. Ella got pretty sick with and upper respiratory thing as soon as we got there- so because it was thanksgiving and my pediatricians answering service was unavailable- we did take a short trip to an ER just to find out that they can't help with anything until she is 4- decongestant wise. But they did suction her all out- so it was worth it- she/we did get some sleep that night because she wasn't gasping all night for air- so I felt a lot better about having gone. Whatever- shes my first kid- I'm allowed to freak out at colds :)

What is sad is that Joe's Aunt had a heart attack the day after Thanksgiving- She is still unconscious in a hospital in Rochester, NY - its almost been 3 days - but we are hoping and praying for the best.

First call to poison control :(

So this morning ella found and tried to eat some Gentian Violet- its a dye used in gram staining for microbiology and it can also be used as an treatment for thrush- either way it is very very purple.

Of course I called poison control right away- they said that all she would have was a tummy ache- but if you ask ella she thinks it great that she is purple. She giggled when she saw her hands, feet- and the floor.

So she will be purple for about the next week- How am I going to explain this a the day care?

Its a bad day when its only 9 am and I have already had the poison control lady laugh at me.

Halloween 09

Well we started out for tricker-treating just before nap time ended- Ella was a pink fluffy bunny- and here she is taking a pre-candy snooze. Joe was a farmer-complete with weird/creepy southern accent. We hung out at my moms since she is in a development of houses-

Here is an action shot of Ella's very first house-

We only went to 4 houses- and lucky she got a sucker and some pretzels- the rest of the stuff was candy she couldn't really handle yet- but she had a really great time taking the candy in and out of her bucket over and over again!

Ella and Joe also had fun answering the door for other kids- Ella even put candy in some of the kids baskets.

Here is Ella and the milleville kids- 2 ballerinas and a pirate!

Nose kisses from Emily <3

Joe caught Ella under the kitchen table swiping the older kids candy- We taught her to go for the chocolate first!

Here are all the cousins-

The next day we hung out with my friend amy and her family for her little sisters b-day-

Fun week!