A Shared Cupcake

 

The other day we had some girls over to make cupcakes (they are all in the background) and afterwards I let the girls share a cupcake (or 2 or 3...I might have lost track which is very unlike me because I really hate giving them sugar but I was so impressed with their sisterly spirit in sharing!)  And, yes, Ella is wearing her pajamas.  She had on a really pretty dress but after my friends arrived she snuck her pjs back on!

Little Helpers

 

 

 

Last week Adelaide grew into a little helper.  The first thing she did was help me unload the groceries.  It was so sweet to see her happily pulling things out to hand to me.  Another time she helped was when we had been unpacking a box and she found a bit of trash on the floor.  She toddled over to the trash can and threw it away.  On a different day she found some of Ella's pants on the ground and took them to the laundry basket.  Its hard for me to believe that my baby is this big!

Pics for Nan's Picture Frames

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to the Grocery Store

 Christmas Decorations...the girls were fascinated!

 

 Addy's first big girl juice box.

 Its a little hard to tell from this picture but all of the employees are wearing Santa hats!

Gingerbread Pancakes

I think gingerbread pancakes breakfast for dinner (suggested by a fb post from my friend Kelli) will have to become a part of every Christmas season in our family!   

Adelaide's "Ho Thing" Hat

 

 

 

Adelaide found this hat in the Christmas boxes and immediately wanted to put it on.  Ella exclaimed, "It's a ho thing!  Ho ho ho!"  And, then they actually wanted to take pictures together! 

Decorating for Christmas

 

 

 

 

Ella the Photographer

On Skype the other day Ella promised my parents that she would take a picture of the Christmas tree for them. 

Thanksgiving Day

 

 

 Ella and L's Amazing Domino Tower

 Ella Helping Me Make Deviled Eggs

 Quick Trip to the Playground Before Friends Arrived

 The Kids' Table (Ella asked if we could have a kids' table and I thought that was a great idea.  She had SO MUCH FUN with these super fun friends!)

 

 

Adelaide loved the mashed potatoes! 

Potty Training!

Wow.  Not sure I was quite prepared for the emotional roller coaster (for both mother and child) potty training would be!  Really proud of all the success Ella has had in the last few months (although we do still have a ways to go...).  Really thankful for my mom who agreed to help me start this process when she arrived.  (Potty training when jet-lagged and never saying a word of complaint?  My mom is stinkin' awesome.)  Really looking forward to the day I don't have to say peepee, poopoo or big girl panties a thousand times.

 

While my mom was here (this happened in September), the water went off in the apartment one afternoon.  When we inquired at the gate we were told that something was broken and our apartment complex wouldn't have water for 3-4 days.  I totally and completely freaked out.  In the past the city has turned the water off for a day at a time (and once even up to four days) but we had advance warning so I could collect water in buckets and emotionally get myself ready (in writing this out I realize what a total pansy I am!).

The fire station that is outside the gate of our complex was giving out water so I (being the crazy foreigner I am) took two humongous barrels to fill up with water.  As I lugged my barrels down to the fire station I watched how all of my neighbors were handling this inconvenience...they were calm, caring (everyone was stopping to make sure that I knew what was going on and where I could get the water) and all in all having a great little block party...they were also carrying little teapots to collect water in...I felt so dramatic with my big barrels!  By the end of my own water collection I was able to collect my thoughts enough to only freak out a little and get the girls ready to go out so that they could go back with me and see the fire truck and meet the firemen.

The rest of the story is that the water was turned back on at 8 that night!   

Just Like Her Daddy

We have a massive construction project going on next door to our apartment building and I cannot count the number of times I have gone into the study and found L intently watching all of the progress so I thought it was cute when I found Ella doing exactly the same thing.

Daddy Time

 

These girls love their Daddy! 

I Love Dressing the Girls in Matching PJs!

Teaching School

 

These pictures are from the first time Ella pretended that she was a teacher (now its an almost daily occurrence).  In her class at school there are two teachers: Aurora 老师 (word for teacher) and Esther 老师.  Ella was pretending to be Aurora 老师 when Adelaide came over to see what was going on.  Ella immediately (and very sweetly) said to her students, "And here is Esther 老师!" and they both sat down together to read to the class.  I think it will be one of my favorite memories of my little girls. 

First Taste of Dr. Pepper

 

A few weeks ago I ordered three Dr. Pepper's from an import store here.  Ella is now a huge fan!  In fact, when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas this year she immediately said, "Dr. Pepper!"