Christmas 2009

Well, a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! As you can see, I've become a bit behind in my blog postings. But after 3 whole weeks in Minnesota, I am back and trying to play catch-up. So here's what the Marcus family was up to over the holidays!

As I mentioned, Ellie and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend 3 weeks in Minnesota over the holidays this year. Nick was able to join us there 3 days after we got there and stayed for about a week. We stayed with my parents and I know they truly enjoyed getting to know Ellie even more now that she is developing quite a little personality. Our trip to MN was so much fun, and although we enjoyed the majority of it, it also came with a few hiccups. After a long day of traveling (first by plane and then by car) and an evening filled with lots of love by both sets of grandparents, our first night was met with a screaming baby (the WHOLE night) with which we discovered the next morning that Ellie was battling a terrible ear infection. Two days later, while celebrating the Hoppe family Christmas, Ellie broke out in hives, itching like crazy, and we discovered that she was allergic to the Amoxicillin. So she got to spend the day doped up on Benedryl - which wasn't all bad, because it made for a VERY tired baby who was willing to be held by everyone.

After recovering from the allergic reaction, Ellie then proceeded to cut tooth #5. Again, very cranky. Thankfully, she was recovered in time for Christmas Eve when we celebrated with the Marcus side! I know Great-Grandma Marcus had fun holding Ellie and the rest of us enjoyed watching her "open" her presents. Despite the blizzard conditions and approx 2 feet of snow that accumulated, we made it to church in Prinsburg where Grandma Bev enjoyed showing Ellie off and holding her in church. Ellie sure did look precious in her Christmas dress!

On Christmas Day, we celebrated again - this time with the Wyffels' family. We were very thankful that despite the heavy snowfall, Amanda, Steve, Heather, & John were all able to make it back to Willmar to celebrate with us. We received a visit from a very handsome Santa, but after about 2 minutes on his lap, Ellie had decided it was naptime and wasn't even interested in opening her gifts. :( Fortunately, Santa didn't take it to heart and promised he would be back again next year. The rest of the day was spent enjoying time together as a family and celebrating Jesus' birth. Oh - and eating... :)

The next day, we all (Amanda, Steve, Heather, John, Nick, and I) headed to the Twin Cities for a "Sibling Date Night". We enjoyed a wonderful night out in downtown Minneapolis at Brit's Pub, eating and playing pool (girls won - twice!), and then caught a show at Acme Comedy Club. It was a wonderful night and I can honestly say hanging out with our siblings and having more date nights with them are something Nick and I are really looking forward to doing more often when we move back to MN!

My parents babysat Ellie that night while Nick and I stayed in the Cities. Then the next day, they drove her to Waconia where we met up with them at the Wyffels Family Christmas. Unfortunately, because of the weather, only about half the family was able to make it, but we still really enjoyed ourselves! Nick had to fly back to Montana that night, so Ellie and I headed back to Willmar with my parents.

I didn't mention this before, but everyday that Nick and I didn't spend celebrating Christmas with family, or taking care of a sick baby, we spent house-hunting for the home that we will move into when Nick's military commitment is done in August. Well, we found the house! So the next few days of our trip (after Nick left) were spent getting the purchase agreement written, finalized, and signed, and the home inspection done. Assuming everything goes smoothly, we hope to close the end of February! We are very excited about becoming home-owners, though we are a bit bummed that we won't be able to move into the house until August, but I guess that's just the way things go sometimes.

So now it's back to a sick baby: Ellie cuts tooth #6! But despite a cranky baby, we were still able to get a few visits in with friends - though certainly not as many as we were hoping! We also made it to Marshall on New Year's Day to visit Great-Grandma Wyffels and Alicia! Then... sick Mommy AND sick Baby. :( Ellie and I both caught colds - which was really only a matter of time, being that it was below zero pretty much our entire trip. And just as we were starting to feel better - it's time to head back to Montana! All I can say is: Thank you, Moms, Dads, and Siblings for all your help! I guess if you ever have to have a sick child on a vacation, the best time to have it is when you have your family around to help! And Ellie didn't mind - she loved all the attention she got. Especially her early morning time with Grandma Vicky and Grandpa Dave before they left for work in the mornings.

So as you can see, we had a VERY eventful holiday season this year! We fought a few illnesses, celebrated several family Christmases, found time to catch up with some friends, and bought a house! As it always does, it went FAR too fast, but we are looking forward to next year when we will no longer have to travel and fit our visits into a certain time-frame! We wish everyone a very Happy Holiday Season!