EVB: 5 Years + 2 Months Old!

Christmas 2014

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas season!

We kicked things off a couple of weeks before Christmas with Ellen's preschool Christmas program, which was a lot of fun. (Ellen actually sang this year!). A few days later, Ellen and I went on a special date to see "Rudolph" at the Stages Theater in Hopkins. (We both loved it!) A few days after that, we got together with the Kirchers for an early celebration.

The following week, Adam and I attended his company's holiday party (a 1970s prom theme complete with entertainment by Boogie Wonderland), which was a blast. Next up was the annual Benscoter/Johnson party at our house for the first time, which was lots of fun.

Next, we got together with Omma & Boppa and the Laughlins on the 23rd, had dinner at our house on Christmas Eve (with Omma & Boppa and Uncle Jim), and then it was finally Christmas day! Our family of four celebrated at home in the morning before making our way to Grammy & Grandpa's along with the Luke clan.

Through it all, we remained healthy, mostly crabby-free and were showered with an abundance of extremely nice gifts. Christmas 2014 will be a tough one to beat!

Our tree

 

Ellen's preschool Christmas program

Ellen the sheep

My little elf

My prom date and me

The Benscoter/Johnson clan

The first of June's many gifts this year ...

A new Minnie Mouse blanket from Omma & Boppa

Clothes!

June's Bitty Baby, which she named Lynn

Ellen's Bitty Baby Twins (Clara & Clyde)

Ellen and Santa (aka Gavin)

Christmas Eve jammies!

Descending the stairs on Christmas morning

Ellen discovering her loot from Santa

The "Frozen" dolls Ellen had been hoping for ...

Farm animals for June

An Anna dress ...

to go along with Ellen's Elsa dress

Applying Calico Critters decals (I'm becoming an expert at this)

Christmas smooches from Daddy

A fun gift for Dad since he LOVES the Swedish Chef

An according for June

Another "Frozen" toy for Ellen, naturally

xoxo

JEB: 33 Months Old!

June had another great month of growing, learning and continuing to entertain all of us. Here's what she's been up to:

• Signing Christmas songs. I think June knows every word of every song that Ellen had to learn for her preschool's Christmas program. June also loves "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas," which she likes to remind us is also Boppa's favorite Christmas song.
• Exploring her religious side. We have yet to teach June an official bedtime prayer, but she has taken to insisting we sing "May the Dear Lord Bless You" (a song Ellen's class sings to the tune of "Happy Birthday") each night when we tuck her in. June also continues to love praying before dinner and is starting to get better at making the sign of the cross. (We still mostly have some super adorable shoulder taps going on.)
• Being sympathetic and supportive. Now, whenever one of us drops something or if Ellen gets hurt or sad, June will say, "That's OK. That happens to me sometimes. Don't worry."
• Not being anywhere close to being potty trained. :(

EVB: 5 Years + 1 Month

I know I said I'd likely post only photos for Ellen's monthly updates after she turned 5, and that's likely what I'll do most months since things are pretty status quo in the development/milestone department ... However, I've beenI've been thinking about how even though Ellen is such a young lady and getting bigger and wiser all the time, she has a special collection of words in her vocabulary that remind me she's still my little peanut.

I know I should probably be more diligent about demonstrating the proper pronunciation of these words for Ellen, but often times I just can't bring myself to correct her because it's so darn cute. Here are a few of my favorite Ellen-isms that continue to hold strong at 5 years + 1 month old:

• "granora" (granola) bar
• "ornamen" (ornament)
• Rice "Pipsies" (Krispies)
• "breftest" (breakfast)
• "birfday" (birthday)
• "smoovie" (smoothie)
• "pope" (polk)-a-dot
• "dhere," "dhem," "dhat" (there, them, that)

xoxo

JEB: 32 Months Old!

Junie Bug had another pretty great month of being 2 ... With the exception of a few stubborn outbursts, Miss June has been a mostly easygoing girl lately. Here's what our goofball has been up to in recent weeks:

• Wanting to be treated more and more like a "big girl." June has been insisting on doing more things for herself and asking to use breakable big-girl drinking glasses like her sister uses. We've been telling June over and over again that big girls don't wear diapers, but so far this one isn't sticking.
• Coloring. June has been loving making pictures lately and works very hard at using every single marker/crayon at her disposal to make color-filled pieces of art.
• Bouncing back to good health. June was out of commission for a few days due to a bad cold/cough that destroyed her appetite and interrupted her (and our) sleep. Fingers crossed that we can keep germs at bay through the holiday season.
• Learning the art of hide-and-seek. June's hiding skills are about as developed as Ellen's, which is not saying much. Like her sister, June picks the same hiding spot each time and announces her exact location to the seeker. Nevertheless, June thinks hide-and-seek is the BEST game ever!

Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014 was a huge success for our little Parrot and Unicorn (aka Junicorn). From carving/decorating pumpkins to trick-or-treating, the girls were brimming with excitement. The weather turned a little blustery by dusk, but thankfully their costumes accommodated jackets, hats and gloves. Ellen hit most of the houses in our neighborhood and June did just about as well. They both can't wait until next Halloween!

 

 

EVB: 5 Years Old!

Ellen is 5! ... Halfway to 10! ... Starting Kindergarten within the year! ... 5! I can't believe it! This seemed like a big-deal birthday for our big girl (and for Mom & Dad). Ellen had been counting down the days to this milestone and, thankfully, I think it was everything she hoped it would be.

Ellen celebrated with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins during her party, which we had the day before her actual birthday. It was Muppets all around and Ellen was SO excited to wear her favorite Muppets shirt. She had so much fun playing her cousins (it was a warm enough for the kids to run around outside!) and, of course, opening presents. Ellen did a great job opening the card first and thanking her guests. I think her self-consciousness got the best of her because Ellen was very stoic while unwrapping her gifts even though I know she was bursting with excitement inside. (One dead giveaway was when she'd frantically tap her little feet on the ground when she opened gifts that had been on her wish list!) Ellen received so many nice presents and it was a great day to celebrate our little lady with her most important people.

On Ellen's actual birthday, she was excited to wake up to find five streamers hanging from her bedroom door and loved having a special breakfast (cinnamon rolls per her request). Dad took the day off from work, which was extra special since it meant he could come to Ellen's school with Mom & June to help hand out treat bags to her friends. Ellen's teachers made Ellen a nifty crown, she got to be the "Frog of the Day" and her friends serenaded her with "Happy Birthday" and "May the Dear Lord Bless You."

For dinner, Ellen picked macaroni and cheese from Noodles & Company for her special meal. We all enjoyed some birthday cake that was leftover from her party and then finished the day with presents from Dad, Mom & June. SO MUCH FUN!

We can't wait to see what this next year has in store for Miss EVB! (Also, not sure if we'll stick with monthly updates now that Ellen is 5. Her major milestones seem to be spaced much farther apart at this age, so maybe I'll think about doing bigger updates at the half-year and year marks and/or on an as-needed basis. I think I'll continue with the monthly chair pictures, though, because it's fun to see the physical transformations throughout the year!)

F-I-V-E!

Hehe ...

Ellen-o-saurus

Big helper at the pumpkin patch

 

How is this little nugget already 5?!

 xoxo