Christmas 2009

Hello everyone! Just a quick post-Christmas note and a couple of photos. We had a nice with with Grandma and Grandpa T., Uncle Colin, Aunt Erin and Uncle Kevin in Spokane. The kids received many wonderful Christmas presents (thanks everyone!) We actually had a bit of a second Christmas back in Seattle this morning, opening gifts which we hadn't taken to Spokane. Nate and Ella are having a great time playing with all their presents. Thanks to Aunt Erin who took some of the photos below:

Nate is still fighting a cold but doing better. He continues to walk all over. Ella particularly loves her new baby doll.

Nate checks out the tree in Spokane a few days before Christmas:














Hello dolly: Ella meets her new baby on Christmas:














... and Elmo, who she calls "Melmo":














Nate meets Cookie Monster:














Back in Seattle, Nate plays with his new farm while Ella looks on:

Nate practices walking; more shots from Christmas party ...

Here's a video of Nate taking some steps (sorry for the sideways-ness, again):


And here are more nice shots from the recent family Christmas party, courtesy of Auntie Erin:

Maybe next year.....

The kids and I (along with our friends Sara and Lila) went to UVillage this year for Santa pictures. It didn't go so well.

15-month check-up, family Christmas party

Lots of photos in this one as we've had a lot of fun ones pile up on us. First things first: Nate and Ella got a clean bill of health at their slightly late 15-month check-up last week. Nate is just shy of 25 pounds now, and Ella broke the 20-pound barrier at 20-9. Dr. Nyweide seems very pleased with their progress, which is always reassuring to hear. Nate has been taking some steps! Ella is still cruising but already has about 20 words in vocabulary!

Here are a few shots from a family Christmas party just today!

Nate and Ella share some Christmas cheer with Grandma and Grandpa T.:














Family picture:














Nate gets a boost from Aunt Erin and goes for an ornament:














Still to come: Pictures from last month's Portland trip!

Shots from Thanksgiving and more ...

Hello Nate and Ella fans! We have had a busy couple of weeks, including a fun-but-tiring trip to California for Thanksgiving. It was great to see many family members down there, including Grandpa. H. Here are some shots:

Cousin Rosie with Ella:














Cousin Jake with Ella:














Grandpa H., Nate and Aunt Julie:














Ella shares and Elmo with Grandpa H.:














Nate and cousin Mimi (aka Miriam)














Uncle Tim and cousin Rosie:














First Thanksgiving solids!














Nate, Aunt Mary and cousin Rosie:


And some more recent shots. Cold weather has really hit here, and Nate and Ella have donned winter coats:

November!

Well it is almost Thanksgiving and I haven't been so great about keeping the blog updated. But I've included a few new shots and videos.

Nate and Ella are doing well. Ella is cruising quite a bit and seems to have closed the gap on Nate in this area. Nate now briefly stands on his own and is trying to muster up the courage to take a few steps. Meanwhile, Ella is saying quite a few words. "Cheese" is one of the latest.

We made it to Portland a little over a week ago and had a nice visit with Aunt Karen, Uncle Ron and cousin Jess. Unfortunately we forgot our camera, but hopefully we'll be able to get some pics from our hosts.

In a couple of days we'll be taking the kids on their second plane trip, down to California. Wish us luck!

On the fence:














Ella shows off her touchdown signal. Mmmmm, foot-ball:














Happy kids:














Nate takes Ella for a ride:

Nighttime routines, flu shots, dancing

Happy new week to all. We had a busy weekend which included getting Nate and Ella their first round of H1N1 vaccinations on Saturday -- quite a relief to get that taken care of. Like most people in the country, we have had a tough time finding the vaccine. This afternoon we attended an auction/fundraiser to support Super-Nanny Lindsay, and we had a great time.

Here are some pictures taken just tonight from the evening routine. At the end of this post you'll find a video from a couple of days ago of Nate and Ella mildly dancing (you should see 'em when they really get going.)

Ella in the tub:















Daddy gives Nate a goodnight bottle:














Teeth brushin' ... we actually brush their teeth for them, but sometimes they give it a shot themselves:





























Here's video of Nate and Ella getting down:

Halloween fun ...

A belated happy Halloween to all. Hard to believe this was actually Nate and Ella's second Halloween ... they were definitely more into it this year.

On Thursday, we hosted our good friends Kym and Aaron and their son Lucas for pumpkin-carving. Nate and Ella made their trick-or-treating debut at Daddy's office building on Friday. Then Saturday night, we took them to a few houses in the neighborhood for the real deal. They seemed to enjoy it pretty well. When presented with a candy bowl, they reached right in and grabbed some! Nate was a zebra, and Ella was a lion. Here are some pictures from the last few days ...

Pumpkin hats knit by Grandma T.:














Ella with Aaron:














Kym and Lucas carve:



















Karin and Ella the Lion, Halloween night:














Nate in his zebra suit:



















Roar!



















All dressed up ...














... and ready to roll:

Portland trip on hold

We ended up not making it to Portland this past weekend because Nate got pretty sick. Thankfully he seems to be doing better. Ella also got sniffly, but we're hoping she won't get hit as badly as Nate did. So it was kind of a challenging weekend, but we're hoping for better things this week. More pics to come soon.

Creeping Cuties

With Halloween approaching, Nate and Ella are occasionally dressing the part. Here's a new video:



And some pics!

Weekend in Spokane

Here are pics of Nate and Ella snapped at Grandma and Grandpa T.'s house. It was a quick but great visit. We drove over Friday night and the new Mazda did great. On Saturday, Dave and Grandpa T. went to Pullman to watch WSU lose another one, while Karin and Grandma T. took the kids to Greenbluff. On the way home today, Nate was fussy so Karin gave him her cell phone to play with. Within minutes, he had managed to get an NFL V-cast going and call Karin's uncle.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Yo Baby

Nate and Ella are big fans of Yo Baby yogurt. Lately Ella has become especially excited (obsessed) with the babies on the side of the container. We can't get through eating our yogurt without screams of delight "Baby! Baby!"

Wagon Trainin'

Beautiful October Day here today. As some of you know, Karin and I LOVE this time of year. I've managed to fight off a cold and have a reasonably productive weekend, which included putting together Nate and Ella's first Radio Flyer wagon -- a generous birthday gift from Aunt Mary and Uncle Tim (thanks guys).

Nate and Ella really love it, and I know we'll get a ton of use out of it. I've included a couple of shots below.

Nate continues to push Ella in her Little Mermaid car while walking behind her. Ella made it up on her feet in her crib the other day, so I have lowering her crib on my list of things to do soon. Ella is also getting pretty good at smacking her lips for a kiss!

Hope you are all well!

We're back, with a cute pic and a new car ...

Hello everyone ... it has been a while but I've got some time to get the blog updated. The kids are doing great. Nate is cruising and I wouldn't be surprised is he is walking soon. He's actually pushing Ella around on her Little Mermaid car (hope to get some pics of that soon.) Ella is crawling up a storm and pulling herself up to her knees at least, so Daddy will be lowering her crib soon. Her favorite word these days is "baby." Nate is partial to "go."

Here's a pic our friend Sara took of the kids in the park!

In other news, we got a new car! Well, new to us at least. My dear departed '95 Civic has been replaced by an '06 Mazda5! Brought it home yesterday, the new car seats are installed and the kids seemed to enjoy their first ride today:

Ella crawls; Nate loves the camera

Ella recently joined the ranks of the crawling. Here she is with her brother, checking out some of his favorite spots. Nate wasn't sure what to make of Ella's new-found mobility at first, but now they are playing more together and chasing each other around the room.



Another recent shot. Rub-a-dub-dub.

Daddy coming home today

I've been out of town for a few days, lending a hand to my sister Mary and her gang in Southern California. Will be back Sunday though and hope to get new pics on the blog soon. Miss those babies and Karin too of course!

The Progress of Roo

Ella Philanise (aka "Roo") has taken some big leaps this past week. She did a lot of rocking back and forth on on all fours (lead-in to crawling), then did some actual scooting across the floor last night. Here she is standing on the side of her crib (she got a little help on that, but was very proud.)

Happy First Birthday!

Amazingly, Ella and Nate officially turned 1 year old today. It has been an amazing year and Karin and I are so grateful.

Our heroes celebrated with an early morning photo shoot with Daddy, a trip to the zoo and some more present-opening (thanks everyone). Here are a few shots from the day ...

The birthday kiddos:

Ella plays with a birthday balloon:


For the cover of their next album, Nate channels Sting in the "Every Breath You Take" video:

Below: Goofing off on the drums at Zoomasium, Nate meets a goat at the petting zoo