Celebrating Christmas with the Ellis family

Now it's time to catch up on the celebrating of Christmas we did over the course of a couple weeks. My mom & dad decided to book a weekend trip for December when they booked their trip for November. We NEVER mind seeing them two months in a row especially when it is around a holiday or two : ) 

It was also perfectly timed following my 22 week ultrasound where we decided that I needed to do a lot more resting than in previous weeks. We had some fun "Christmassy" things planned but canceled it all & spent the majority of our time at home. I lived on the couch for the 4 days while Mom, Dad & Rob took care of everything else....kinda wonderful if you ask me ; ) 

Here are the lovely grandparents with the little ladies, and Bennett, our couch dog. 

So happy I have this one....Bennett liked to snuggle up to my Dad when he visited. 

My parents came bearing gifts, two of which are very helpful for this mama.  I have my own little cleaning team now with a vacuum cleaner & a broom to clean up behind themselves ; ) 

They were really excited & got right to work! Eloise is ALWAYS opening the pantry door & thinking that she can sneak out the regular sized broom while we can't see her from the other side of the counter. Little does she know that the broom stick is just high enough that we can track her all over the house ; ) I was excited for her to have one just her size. The vacuum cleaner is actually pretty impressive sucking up anything in its path.  It got clogged up by dog hair in the first 24 hours.  Thankfully it has a removable canister that we could clean out to get it back in working order. 

The greatest surprise gift was an Accordion for Charlotte.  Since she is 1/8th Polish, my parents figured she needed one. It will definitely add to the fun on Pierogi Day! We talked to Rob's Grandma Virginia later that weekend & she said that her father played the accordion very well when he was young.  I think that is pretty neat that we can start Charlotte off at such an early age...we can sign her up to perform at the Polish Tent at the Dearborn Homecoming in a couple years ; )

Daddy liked it too!

Eloise liked climbing on the boxes & letting Gaga rescue her off.  Pawpaw worked with Charlotte on her Accordion skills & spent plenty of time brushing up on his own skills too.

Rob got a really neat speaker system that connects to the Bluetooth on our phones so we can play music without actually docking. We have used it every single day....always have music playing around here!

My parents picked out a couple maternity tops & scarves for me which I loved.  It is so nice to get a couple new maternity items with each pregnancy. This little mama also got a very adult gift that I was SO excited about! A Rowenta Iron! I hate ironing & probably only iron something once every few months but this thing makes me want to iron my socks & undies! It is actually most desired for sewing projects since it steams seams so well.  My Grandmother, Aunt & Mom have all had this iron & I have dreamed about having my own one day...just didn't think it would be this year!

Better than all gifts they could ever purchase, the greatest gift was just having them here with us during a time where my body is wearing out on me, when I need encouragement to continue trusting the Lord, & when I need multiple good laughs a day.  They also watched the girls Sunday evening while we went out to Cantina Laredo for an early anniversary date.  It was wonderful!

I wish that we would have had a picture taken with my parents but oh well, we are sure to have many more opportunities for that in the coming months as we entice them back to the Sunshine State with more grandchildren.