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The answers to the previous blog are below, but I added a new baby face to guess.  Who is this cutie? Check out those rolls!!!  Chris (started out cute and stayed strong) Me My sister Amy My brother Jeremy My sister Tiffani My mom, Debra Davin Rowan Ellie of course! 

One of the inevitable elements of a new baby is the "who does she look like?" game (one of my dad's favorites!). Chris and I would always laugh about this game; never fail, whoever was holding Davin got the comment "he looks just like you!" As silly as it can be sometimes, there is something about human nature that wants to find connection and organization, and also wants to fit into the group. It's almost of rite of passage to say, "yes, you do fit into our family and look like we share the same genes rather than the milkman's genes instead." Ellie fits in, whether she likes it or not, and we are so glad to have her!  Here is the guessing game! Who is who? Do you know who these babies are?  Baby 1 Baby 2 Baby 3 Baby 4 Baby 5 Baby 6 Baby 7 Baby 8 Baby 9

The other night we were putting up glow in the dark stars in the boys' bedroom and they decided to use the stars to make letters. Davin wrote "BYU vs WF" to symbolize a BYU versus Wake Forest game. Davin has become quite the sports team aficionado these days and is really into football teams. Rowan wrote "I Love Mom, Happy" which means loving mom makes me happy. I'm really hoping that Rowan never gets a tattoo but if he does, don't be surprised if it is a big heart with the word "Mom" in the middle. Love that boy! As for other bedtime avoidance events, the boys found LED finger lights in their stockings this year and we decided to play with them and with my camera. Check out the fun result!

There are things that I wish I could preserve and put away in storage so that one day when I'm old and tired, I can open them up again and have a moment awash with the effervescence of bliss. Some of my canned moments would include a walk on the streets of Rome with Chris or standing on the beach of Capri, having Davin ask if he could cuddle with me, or listening to Rowan talk. I haven't known Ellie for too long though there have been many moments so far that I'm storing up. While photographs and video are somewhat inadequate for truly capturing a moment, it is the best we have and I was excited to capture one of Ellie's first laughs. She laughed for the first time with Grandpa Rees as he bounced her up and down, but this was her first good giggle session and she had it with Chris. So delicious! I could listen to this forever! Love this girl!!!

We got to extend Christmas a little as we saved some of our gifts to open with Grandma and Grandpa Rees came to visit. We opened a big box that Aunt Amy and Scott sent as well, which was a lot of fun. Having Grandpa and Grandma here was the best gift of all! I had the misfortune of breaking out with shingles while they were here; they overlooked the fact that I wasn't being the best hostess and instead pitched in to help with holding Ellie and playing with the boys. Grandma loved feeding Ellie and putting her to sleep while Grandpa helped the boys build their Pinewood Derby cars and do all kinds of science experiments. It was so fun to have them visit! We still managed to have some fun, though. We took Grandma and Grandpa to a gingerbread exhibit and to a few movies as well.  Thanks for putting up with me and for all of the help! We love you!!! 

As I have mentioned earlier, our boys don't have too much trouble sleeping on Christmas. In fact, we usually have to wake them up to get them going. Davin woke up ready to go but it took a few shakes to get Rowan to wake up and realize what day it was. It didn't take long to get him down the stairs and ready to see what was under the tree.  He came! It is amazing! Santa actually came! There are no cookies left on the plate! The boys helped to pass out the gifts. They looked through their stockings and then we opened our gifts to each other. Finally we started the rounds of Santa gifts. Even Ellie got some packages this year! She was a good girl this year, though she didn't have a full year to prove herself.  Christmas morning extends into the afternoon as we wait to open gifts with family through "hangouts" or web chats with multiple families at once. It was so fun to see our families and be able to share ...