Taylor's 9 month check up

Our littlest girl turned 9 months today (wow). We had a busy day of doctor's office and then getting pictures taken, but it turned out to be a fun time just me and my little ladies.

Overall, the doctor said that she looks great and it developing just fine. The only negative news was that she heard a heart murmur for the first time. We got a referral to get a chest x-ray and an EKG. Once we do that, we have to make an appointment with a cardiologist just to be on the safe side. We are hoping to get that all done within the next two weeks. She also has an ear infection, but we thought she might as she has been pulling on her ear for the past month!

She is still long and lean:

Weight: 17 pounds, 2 ounces

Height: 28 1/2"

Head Circumference: 17 1/2

More updates to come on the follow up doctor visits.

Playing in the snow

After getting about 9" of snow on Saturday, we decided that today was a perfect day to play outside. This is the first time that Ella has played in the snow and she seemed pretty excited.

All geared up ready to go outside. She wore her fleece pants, two shirts, snow pants, socks and boots, winter coat, her hat, her hood and snow mittens.



Ella and Papa on their way to the back of our house where there is a big open field.



Papa pulling Ella on the new sled:



Mama warm inside since Baby Taylor picked the perfect time to nap:




After a crash down the hill (and a face full of snow), Ella was back inside for hot chocolate and cookies.

Happy Birthday to a special person

With all the presents, Ella's number one question was "Who's birthday is it?" Luckily for us, this was an easy answer and was accompanied by a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday".

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas everyone! We were lucky enough to celebrate Christmas with lots of our family on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we went to Oma and Opa's house and then on to Uncle John and Aunt Deb. Christmas morning was spent with just the four of us and then after nap we headed to the Digangi house for more food and festivities. This was the first time that the great aunts and uncles on the Clinger side were able to meet Taylor. She certainly was in a great mood and enjoyed being passed around without much hesitation at all.

The girls were very good this year so Santa was kind to them. Ella got the Ariel doll and a book as she requested when we visited Santa while Taylor got a ride-on princess toy. The rest of the family was also very generous to our girls, thank you so much. It looks like Toys R Us relocated to our living room!

Cowgirl fun

Ella and Taylor got a cowboy hat and hankercheif from Ellie's 3rd birthday party. Ella also made a pretend horse to ride around the house on. Ella played dress up with it for quite a while and we were able to snap a picture of Taylor wearing the hat as well.

Just a bit easier

Taylor has been holding her bottle for a while now, but only while laying down. Now that she can sit up on her own while holding it, things are a bit easier for us.

The Backyardigans

The Backyardigans was the first cartoon that Ella would sit and watch for more than three minutes. After dinner we went to the basement to watch some TV and play before bed. I put Taylor on the floor and she stopped everything to sit and watch along side her big sister.

Santa Claus 2009

We ventured out to Spring Hill mall on Sunday after nap time to visit Santa. We waited in line for an hour, but both girls were incredibly well behaved that entire time. Ella told me that she was going to tell Santa Claus that she wanted an Ariel doll and that she was going to sit on his lap and take a picture. Low and behold, she followed through for us without any fright. She told him what she wanted and sat on his lap like such a good girl. Taylor was slightly frightened by a little tickle and some clapping cheered her right up.

X-mas tree 2009

While we were up in Wisconsin for Emily's first birthday, Papa put up the x-mas tree. When we got home we decided to try and put the lights on it and hang some ornaments. Ella really got involved with hanging ornaments, but didn't quite understand the concept of spreading them around.

Emily's first birthday

We headed up to Wisconsin on Sunday morning to celebrate Emily's first birthday. Papa stayed back to work on some stuff around the house, so it was just Mama, Ella and Taylor. Luckily we left the house in the morning during Taylor's nap time so she slept almost the entire ride up there while Ella watched a movie. We had a great time playing with new toys, seeing friends and wishing a Emily a very happy birthday in person. Once all of the guests had left, we stayed behind for another 30 minutes so that we could catch up and the girls could play a little more. I headed out when both girls were tired, so both slept for about an hour of the drive home. That left about 40 minutes left of the drive, but Taylor can now hold her own bottle, so it's much more manageable.

The best picture we could get of the four girls:

Ella and Ellie:

The birthday girl:

The girls in concert

This is quite possibly my favorite video yet. Taylor watches Ella like she is the greatest thing on Earth and she pulled this new little trick out of her sleeve today... clapping along with us! Meanwhile Ella is trying to clap and snap in the video, but she definitely has a lot of practice left before she is able to successfully snap her fingers.