A Mini Reunion

Last weekend my oldest, bestest friend from New Canaan, Alia came to visit.  We met when I moved there in 8th grade and as soon as I saw her, I knew I wanted to be her friend....because she was as tall as me!  Who knew a friendship with such a solid foundation would last so long?  :)  

When the Sox finally won the World Series

We were roommates at BYU and had so much in common; from our love of DDR and the Boston Red Sox, to working out at the RB, and always, always trying to get to bed before 11pm, we were perfectly suited for one another.  Then she traded me in for an even better roommate, her husband Brian, and life started getting a little more complicated.   

Somehow this picture from a camping trip in Moab is the only one I have of Brian!

I married Rob, we moved to Boston, they moved to Tuscon, we moved to England, then here to Houston, and so even though the last time we saw each other neither of us had any kiddies, somehow we both now have 2! (Although, Alia took the more standard route to get there.)

Cameron, her 2-year old stayed home with dad (thank you, Brian!!!!), and Alia brought her 5 month old baby, Jackson, to meet our little girls.  Because you really can never start planning too soon....in about 20+ years wedding bells could be ringing!

Or, maybe, not so much...

While Alia was in town, two of our other New Canaan friends (Hilary and Hilary) who now live in Texas came to visit with their husbands.   Both Hilary's are expecting their first babies so we spent lots of time eating good food, commiserating over morning sickness, expanding waistlines, and all things baby. 

Rob, Christa, Lily, Hilary, Savannah, Hilary, Alia, Steven, Mike

Even though we hadn't seen each other in 4 or 5 years, it felt like no time had passed! It's so great having friends like that. 

And if you ask me, we haven't aged a day  ;)

It was a great mini-reunion, hopefully the first of many to come!

6 Months Old!

Savannah and Lily wanted to do a little post for their 6-month update.  I agreed to be the baby-translator and typist...

Here are our latest stats as of the end of January:

Height:  Savannah 24.5" (8%),   Lily 24.25" (5%)

Weight:  Savannah 15lb 7oz (32%),  Lily 13lb 7oz (5.5%)

Noggin:  Savannah 17.25" (82%),  Lily 17.25" (82%)  <---yep, we take after our Mom and Dad!!

Can you believe we used to be the same size as this tiny teddy-bear?

In other news, Mom is officially in love with us.  She can't hold us for 3 seconds without snuggling our necks, kissing our cheeks, and telling us how cute we are.  Even when we act like this...

...she still feeds us, clothes us, and tries to help us be happy again.

So, as a reward for good behavior, we've finally agreed to sleep through the night for her.  We figured it was the least we could do.  (They also MAY have realized that had this whole "no sleeping" thing gone on much longer, they might have lost their dear mother to the loony-bin...)

Since we're so big now, we've learned a few new tricks!  We sit up, roll all over the place, and are thinking about trying to crawl one of these days.  There are so many exciting nooks and crannies to get into in this house...we can't wait to go exploring!  (Yikes!)

We love our Mommy, but we definitely have a special place in our hearts for Dad.  He's just the funniest guy in the world.  All he has to do is look at us sideways and we break out into stitches.  Mom is a little jealous, but Dad has that affect on her too so she doesn't blame us.  (See above outfits)

We both like to try new foods now, too! 

Lily:

 

My favorite foods are....everything.  I'll eat as fast as Mom can get the spoon to my mouth.  But when I'm done, I purse my lips, wrinkle my nose, and sniff repeatedly.  I think it's hilarious.  

Savannah:

 

I also like to eat, but I prefer to DO IT MYSELF.  Yes, this can get messy, but I'm 6 months old now and definitely have an opinion about these things!  I also think it's really fun to pretend to be an owl while Mom's feeding me.  I twist my head and body as far around as I can and see if Mom can still get the spoon to my mouth.  And in case you're wondering, yes, I usually end up with more food ON me than IN me. 

And on Sunday mornings before church we love to hang out on Mom and Dad's huge bed and allow our parents to bask in the sheer cuteness of their children. 

This is the face I make right before I make a sound like tennis shoes squeaking on a basketball court...yes, my mom is now partially deaf...so what?

How did they get so lucky??

More Christmas Pictures

My little brother, another budding photographer, was also busy taking pictures during our Christmas holiday.  For those of you who are interested, here are some of his:

Our 1st Santa picture, Anselmi style

Eating Christmas Dinner?? I have no idea why I'm making such an awesome face...

Out for a walk: my go-to, entertain-both-babies-at-the-same-time activity

Dad trying to potty-train Lily.  She's not so sure!

Snuggles with Savannah

The babies were excellent helpers in the kitchen

Lily playing in her new Johnny-Jump-Up.  She does more leaning and drooling than jumping at this point.

Christmas morning trying to catch marshmallows fired from the boys' marshmallow crossbows

Waiting patiently to talk with Syster Jacqueline after church

All the way from Sweden, Jacqueline is doing so well!

And that's the last of our Christmas wrap-up (punny?)  It's hard to believe that next Christmas, Jacqueline will be home from her mission and the babies will be walking and talking! 

A Houston Christmas

We just finished our first Christmas in Houston!  The house looked spectacular, thanks to Rob's decorating skills (he's a man of many, many talents). 

The Upstairs Tree

We're still living in Rob's parent's home (built to fit a family of 11...), so we have plenty of extra room, and decided to host Christmas for my family this year. 

The Monster Tree

My parents, sister, brother, and Grandma drove/flew in from around the country to spend the holiday with us. 

Family Room

It was SO NICE to have all of those extra arms to hold and entertain babies!  A few days into the week I was having a hard time remembering how I managed to do this all by myself.  Savannah, Lily and I are all going to go through some serious withdrawals when everyone is gone.  :)

Somehow this is the only "group" picture I have...Grandma, Erik, Katie, me

On Christmas morning Santa left two of his littlest elves behind!  We decided they could stay.   Forever. 

And with more people to coax smiles out of the babies, here are some more pictures of our cute little girls.  They are 5 months old now!!

Hamming it up for their Grandma

Life is good.  2011 was a GREAT year, and I have a feeling 2012 is going to be even better. 

Sassy Savannah

How cute is she??

Too bad her sister was crying during this photo shoot. We'll have to redo it sometime before they grow out of these dresses!

Grandma Turtle turns 95

In an effort to get half-way caught up with blogging, here are some pictures of our trip to CA for Rob's Grandma Turtle's 95th birthday extravaganza.  

The trip was a quick one for us; we flew into LAX Saturday morning, the party was Saturday night, and we were at the airport again Sunday afternoon.  Even though traveling with two little ones turned out to be quite the production, we couldn't miss being in this picture:

All of Grandma Turtle's descendents: 4 kids, 12 grandkids, and 22 great-grandkids

KK did an amazing job organizing everyone.  Super efficient and organized Grandma + group photo = ZERO crying kiddies!  The picture-taking was over before anyone had time to get cranky!  She's got serious skillz.  

Some other pictures of the dinner, awesome talent show, and dancing:

Grandma Turtle (Marguerite) with Joy and Mauri (also Marguerite)

The Park Family comedy troupe

The Linkous Family singers

The Mark & Aup Family actors

The John & Brian Song & Dance routine

Christa & Rachel enjoying their role as spectators

A happy Grandma KK with Baby Tennyson

The Star of the evening: Grandma Turtle being presented with 2 turtle birthday cakes

95 years young! 

It was a busy 48 hours, but we were so so so happy to have been there. We love you Grandma!

All Hail, All Hail to Old Klein High

All 3 of the Ellis girls (me and the babies) experienced a first when Rob's boss invited us to the last Klein High School football game of the season. 

Me w/ Lily & Patti

We had a great time watching the football game, the cheerleaders, the marching band, the stand leaders, and the flag girls - TX high school football is big-time - in the (finally) cool November weather. 

No wonder Rob thought my CT high school stadium was tiny--he was comparing it to this!

The babies did great during the game, and Patti and Paul just laughed at the "Oh, your little grandchildren are so sweet!" comments they kept getting.  I told them the surrogate-grandparent spot was wide open if they were interested, but I think they want to focus on getting their own kids out of high school first!  :) 

Paul, Savannah, Rob

Unfortunately the Bearcats got demolished by Klein Oak Panthers, but the Ellises had a great time and can't wait for next season.