Today we celebrated our first Thanksgiving with James. Ellie and James had fun at their cousins' house and Ellie especially liked having turkey "cakecups" to celebrate her 3rd birthday with her cousins a few days early. There's nothing I'm more thankful for than my two little turkeys. We hope you had a wonderful holiday, Happy Thanksgiving!
Our bouncing baby boy turned 7 months old yesterday. He's doing just great! The best thing about the smiles in the photos above are that they are all directed toward Ellie. He's got nothing but love for his big sis and the feeling is mutual. James did a lot this past month- began sitting up independently, ate table food (bread) and ate more baby food, celebrated his first Halloween and began to talk (he's been saying "dadada" for a few weeks now). James also has two bottom teeth now and I think he'll have two top ones soon, too. He continues to be mild-mannered and a joy to be around. Keep up the good work, James!
Ellie will be three on Saturday. The festivities began yesterday morning when she proudly took turkey cupcakes (or "cakecups") to daycare. She came home to open a gift from Grandma and Grandpa. These birthday celebrations will probably continue for awhile and then mesh into the Christmas holiday celebrations. It's quite an exciting month in our house, I wonder what Ellie will think of January?
Ellie loves her baby dolls. She has a special attachment to Cate. I suppose that she demonstrates her love for Cate by coloring her with purple (thankfully, washable) marker. She was so proud of doing this that she agreed to pose for photos with Cate. Don't worry, Cate is now without body art, Ellie cleaned her up herself. James also likes baby dolls. The photos of James above are of him with Ellie's doll, Erica. 
We went to Ben's third birthday party today at the Y. A great time was had by all. We met Ben on Ellie's first birthday and I can't believe they're three this month. Time flies! Happy Birthday to our Benny Boy.
Ellie's expressed a little more interest in dressing herself lately. The two top photos are of her in her chef's apron, mitt and hat. She was quite pleased with herself and it was very sweet. Yesterday morning, she came up with the outfit shown in the last photo. It's actually a sundress that was Gwyn's that Ellie wears around her hips. She likes to pretend it's a skirt. I think she looks like a child from some Mormon compound in Utah. I'll have to work on guiding her fashion choices in the future.
Adam came to help John with the kids last weekend. Although the photos might not indicate this, Ellie adores "Uncle." She was so excited to have him come, as was James. Thanks, Adam for all your help. Hopefully Ellie will be more cooperative while taking photos next time you visit.
Our next door neighbors got a puppy last weekend. Fitz is half Beagle, half Chihuahua and he's adorable. Ellie had fun playing with him and even walking him on his leash.
We had a great Halloween this year. Ellie dressed up as a bumblebee and James was a pumpkin. We carved our pumpkin outside (which was probably a first in my life) because the weather was so mild and we all had fun trick or treating. Ellie walked up to houses independently and when she came back, she proudly exclaimed, "I said 'thank you', Dad!" I think she really had a good time because when she woke up the next morning, she asked to go trick or treating again.