Expecting the Unexpected...

We are pleased to announce that we will be adding Baby Marcus #3 to our growing family at the end of June, 2012!  While very unexpected, we feel very blessed and are excited (and maybe also a little nervous) to be adding another beautiful baby to our family!

Christmas 2011

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated Jesus' birth with Mom and Dad Marcus, and Great-Grandma Marcus.  It was a day filled with gifts, good food, family time, church in the evening, and a drive to see the huge Christmas light display in town.  The pictures really speak for themselves!

On Christmas Day and the day after, we celebrated with Mom and Dad Wyffels, Amanda and Steve, and Heather and John.  It was a two-day celebration with WAY too much food, lots of fun family time, games, and enjoying watching the girls.  Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling the greatest those days, and so my picture selection is limited.  However, I think we are all very excited to have two more babies join us at this time next year - what a crazy house that will be!

A Visit from Santa

Eliana Loving Santa

The holidays aren't complete without a visit from Santa!  Santa made a little visit to our house on the 23rd this year.  He appeared during dinner, complete with reindeer sounds on the roof, and stayed just long enough to make sure the Eliana had been a good girl this year and to find out what she wished for for Christmas.

Eliana Refusing to Kiss Santa

Ellie was in a bit of a shock when she first saw him, but had NO problem telling Santa that she wanted a "Jessie doll" (from Toy Story) for Christmas!  She wasn't scared of him at all... until we asked her if she'd give Santa a kiss goodbye!  As soon as that meltdown started, it was time to see what Victoria thought of Santa.

Victoria Studying Santa

Victoria Hating Santa

That wasn't the greatest idea, either, as it turned out.  Victoria didn't mind watching Santa from afar, but as soon as she was on his lap, she wiggled and squirmed and eventually screamed to get away!  Guess we need to work on talking Santa up over the next year!

Victoria with her stocking stuffers

Eliana opening her stocking

Victoria playing with her baby

After Santa left, we let the girls open their stockings.  Ellie got some alphabet magnets, some coloring books, Wonder-Woman and Batgirl Little People (which Nick actually fell in love with in the store!), and a Cinderella mini-doll.  Victoria received two pair of jammies, Batman and Joker Little People (again, more of a gift for Nick!) and a little doll, which has since been claimed by her big sister.  Sigh...

Loving Arms Christmas Program

Loving Arms, the girls' daycare, put on a Christmas program for all the kids' families this year.  They did it differently than they have done it in the past and instead, this year, they had ALL the children from the whole center participate in one program that included the nativity story, songs, and a few little dances.  I was kind of curious how they planned to incorporate my girls' rooms into the program since they are in the two youngest classrooms in the center, but both girls still had roles that they fulfilled well!

My little sheep, Eliana (furthest to the right)

Eliana's classroom were the sheep in the program and despite a couple straying sheep (meltdowns that had to be rescued by their parents), the toddler room did really well and even loved singing and dancing to some of the songs!

Victoria's classroom (I believe the oldest child in her room is around 12 months) had a much smaller part in the program, but they still made an appearance!  The infant room kids were dressed as stars and were wheeled into the program in a giant wagon when the narrative called for them and then were able to watch the rest of the program in the back of the sanctuary.  Obviously, they didn't "do" much, but they were sure adorable anyway!

Unfortunately, I didn't have the best seat for viewing or photography, so my photos didn't turn out that great, but what can you do?  We are looking forward to seeing the program next year!

Baby Shower for Kenzie

Heather, Amanda, and I at Kenzie's Baby Shower

Susan, Amanda, and Sarah competing in the bottle drinking game.

Enjoying the shower

In mid-December, Heather and I were able to host a baby shower for our sister, Amanda, and her soon-to-be-here daughter, Kenzie.  The day was very successful and the shower went really well!  Amanda had lots of her former co-workers there, a bunch of friends, and a few family members.  We enjoyed playing some games, eating some yummy food, and visiting with each other.  This will be the first time I will become an auntie and I'm very excited!  Looking forward to meeting you, Kenzie Lea!

Oh, yummy food!

Daddy's Little Helper

When we were kids, we used to have a Saturday Cleaning Day every Saturday and it didn't matter how old we were, we were expected to help.  During one of those cleaning days, my mom happened to snap a photo of my sister, Heather, at around 8 months old "helping" my dad mop the kitchen floor.  I still love that photo to this day.

So when Ellie insisted on helping her daddy mop the kitchen floor one day, I had to grab the camera in hopes of capturing the moment as well as my mom did.  It was so adorable to watch her enjoying the work!  We do expect Ellie to pick up her toys everyday, but maybe she's not too young to have her "help" in other ways.  I may have to investigate this thought further...

Victoria's a Mover!

Right around the time she turned 6.5 months, Victoria has been on the move in our house.  Yep, she's a crawling maniac!  This little girl has grown so much in the last few months that I find it hard to believe that she is the same baby!  And not just because of her size, either (she's wearing size 18 month clothes!)...

Her reflux has continuously gotten better and our house is feeling a bit cleaner (though the snot and drool spots are still numerous!).  She has learned that she can wrestle her sister pretty well and they really love to rough-house; though at times, we still have to remind Ellie that she is still a baby.  Most amazingly, Victoria has just turned into the happiest baby you'll find!  Despite having about 2 months of straight ear infections (one more round and she's looking at tubes), she ALWAYS has a smile on her face and has turned into such a delight!  Gone is the cranky, colicky baby that once had us pulling our hair out at 2am.  This little girl is so full of love, cuddles, and joy.  I sometimes wonder if there isn't a fairy somewhere that came and switched the personalities of my two girls... While Eliana can be a little love as well, she has definitely hit the "Terrible Twos" and become a whiny, stubborn two and a half year old.  Nick and I think they are tag-teaming us!  And this too shall pass... right?

Christmas Decorations

Ellie's decorating job on the tree!

In preparation for Christmas this year, I was able to get the tree up without any "help".  However, once the ornaments came out, Eliana decided she knew exactly where the ornaments needed to be placed.  I had every intention of helping her with the top, but since we had gotten new ornaments (shatter-free!), they all needed strings attached to the bulbs yet and Ellie was able to hang them at the same speed as me tying the strings!  She was very proud of her work, and I would have loved to have kept the decor the way she had done it, but with a 8 month old sister crawling around, I was forced to move the ornaments to the taller branches once Eliana was in bed that night.  :(  Didn't she do a great job, though?