Pre Holiday Festivities

Here are some pictures from the days prior to Christmas.  We had lots of fun holiday activities to share pictures and videos from.

This is from a cookie exchange that we went to.  The hostess had a Santa Claus come for the kids.  As you can see, Ellie was a little weary.

She did warm up though.  Santa asked her what she had done that was nice for someone else.  Ellie's answer?  "I am nice to my brother Tommy".  Real cute.

The Kilroys had us over for dinner and cookie baking.  Michael, Jack and Ellie had a grand old time, especially when the sprinkles got broken out.

You can see Ellie starting to eat her green sprinkles (she had a green mouth for the rest of the night).  Please note Jack digging into the pink ones as well.

Further photographic proof, look at Jack down the sprinkles.

Mikey and I had a special night with Ellie.  We took her down to the Plaza for dinner and a carriage ride.  Our horse's name was Bill, and he actually raced another horse down Nichols Road. Ellie's favorite part?  "The blue lights"

 

.

Ellie and I made a gingerbread house.  She was really into it at first...until she realized she could eat the candy that we were putting on the house.  Things fell apart rapidly after that....a lot of our supplies were eaten.

Sip and See for Tommy

My friends threw us a Sip and See - a great party for friends and family to come and meet/greet Tommy, Ellie and I.  We had a wonderful party - lots of fun people, great food, fun drinks, plus tiny and delicious cupcakes!  Here are some shots from the party.  Tommy had lots of admirers, and Ellie spent most of her time admiring Nora's cat Dewey and jumping down the two stairs to Nora's dining room.  Fun had by all!

Burgess Family Photo Shoot

Yup, another photo shoot.  Tommy had been with us for two weeks when he embarked on his second official photo shoot (he is just too cute not to photograph at this point).  This was a fun shoot for us because the whole family got in some pictures.  Although both Tommy and Ellie were reluctant participants at some points, we think we got some great shots.

Keep an eye on your mailboxes...you might see some of these on our Christmas card.

Tommy's Hospital Photo Shoot

Here are some pictures that were taken of Tommy at the hospital on the day after he was born.  He was pretty teeny and awfully cute!

Decorating for Christmas

We spent some time this weekend decorating the house for Christmas.  Mikey took on an ambitious lighting project in the front yard, with several hours worth of work culminating in half of the strands of lights not working.  He kept at it (with his helper Ellie) and now our yard shines very brightly at night.

I also had a good helper along with me to decorate the tree.  Surprisingly, only two ornaments broke - and those were broken by myself and Mikey, not our two year old - go figure!

We are getting excited for the holidays!

Ellie and Maddy helping Dad with the lights outside

Sometimes Ellie helped, other times she walked up and down the bricks

She thought this was as much fun as helping her Dad

Tommy and a stocking; he is a teeny guy

Ellie helping Mom pick out ornaments

She didn't "love" mom helping her hang them

Saying "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" when she saw the KU ornament

Hanging the stockings