Happy Birthday baby Ellie!

There is a new member of the family! Elizabeth was born this morning via c-section to Dave's sister Jodi and her husband Jeremy. Both mom and baby are doing great! Ellie was 9 1/2 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful! We are so happy for them and can't wait to see their sweet little girl in person. Anyone want to come watch our kiddos so we can go to Pennsylvania?

Here's a picture of her...

Emma's school pic

I just found the cd with Emma's school portrait on it. We didn't order Jackson's (for good reason) so I can't post his. Let's just say hopefully it's not a sign of the future - it looks like a mug shot - chin up, attitude on his face. We kept the proof for memory-sake, but wow. Not something I'd pay money to have. ;-) Luckily we had just gotten professional pics of the kids this summer, so we've got good ones of him that are recent.

Here's Emma's though. Probably the best school pic so far for her.

The House of Ick

Well it finally happened. Our house fell victim to the wonderful world of stomach bugs. It has been a very loooooong 5 days, and I'm not going to say we're done yet, but hopefully we are. Emma and Brian were the main victims, although Brian only got sick a few times and then he was right as rain. Emma on the other hand really struggled, had a trip to the ER, and lovely meds to help her along. Both kids seemed better for a full 48 hours, and then Emma got sick again. This time it was much like Brian - just one more time and then she was good to go. Weird. So far Jackson has escaped it, and I pray it stays that way, but I'm not holding my breath. Dave and I seemed to either skip it, or just have mild symptoms. It started on Wednesday, it's now Sunday, and I'm trying to figure out when I will know we're done. Sarah comes back tomorrow so I'd love to know we're not going to expose her to anything. And my mom is coming for a visit as well. Please, if you would, pray we're all healthy and stay that way for a while - thanks!
In other news, the kiddos wrote their letters to Santa yesterday. What a riot! Both older kids want a pogo stick - huh? Where'd that come from? And they both want Wall-E toys - which I've never seen anywhere. Jackson asked for new choles (clothes) and Emma wants a dress and a necklace. Oh, and she wants an Easy-Bake oven...yikes! How many things can Santa say no to? It was so cute though to watch their little brains at work. Brian sat and drew on his paper. He said "I'm going to write the letter D" - and he did! Dave and I were surprised that he could do it. I have always underestimated my kids though...not sure why. They're all pretty darn smart if I can say that w/o sounding boastful.
I have our christmas cards printed, but no letter to go along with it yet. Trying to decide if I'm going to write one this year. So much to do in so little time. Is it just me or did Christmas show up lightning fast this year? Sheesh! I don't have a singe present bought yet - yikes! Oh well, the kids won't even notice. We're spending christmas with my parents and my brother and his family, so cousins will be a good distraction. I'm really looking forward to our week with them.

So Merry Christmas everybody! Hope everyone has a wonderful, memorable holiday season.