Ella and Luke are growing up so fast and learning new things every day. Their minds are like sponges–soaking everything up.

They still love to "read" and "write."

And they like to ride their stick horses like wild cowboys/girls.

Ella adores jewelry and shoes. She can't get enough of them. "Accessorize" should be her middle name.

Luke loves anything electronic–like his little laptop. But he prefers the real thing in Daddy's office.

Luke has become my little parrot. I've come to realize the phrases that I overuse. My overused phrases are his new phrases. Here's a sample:

'scuse ooo (translation: excuse you)
Explanation: that's what he says when he burps, I guess because that's what I've said so many times when he burps.

'old jew (translation: hold you)
Explanation: when he wants me to hold him. Again, because that's what I've said for months now when he comes and holds on to my leg, Do you want me to hold you?

daddyzat wuk (translation: daddy's at work)
Explanation: he really got used to Clifton being home (with his bad back) and cried the first few mornings Clifton went back to work. Now, the first thing he says when I get him out of his crib, is not, Hi Mommy, but Daddyzat wuk, because he knows Clifton has already gone to work.

notton yur handz (translation: not on your hands)
Explanation: they love to color, but they always try to color on their hands instead of the paper, so what do I say? Not on your hands. They've probably heard it a thousand times.

its white (translation: that's right)
Explanation: When I tell them "no" they often repeat it back and tell me, "No!" So then I say, "That's right!"

elwa's ka-wy-ing (translation: Ella's crying)
Explanation: none. :)

Ella's got some of her own tricks these days. She's become a whiz at removing her shoes, socks, bows, and hair ties while in the car. So by the time we get where we're going, I have to spend a couple minutes finding where she threw the items in the car and then put her back together. I won't be surprised if one of these days she gets her shirt and pants off too!

She still loves to dance. Anytime she hears music, she starts wiggling. We play the demos on our player piano and she gets down. She's got Luke into it too.

I just taught them how to hold hands and dance together. Luke loves it. He's always chasing Ella to get her hands, mostly so he can pull her around. Sometimes Ella goes with it, and sometimes she wants to do her own thing. It's pretty funny though. They have a good time. I love that they're finally starting to enjoy playing together, instead of just enjoying taking toys from the other one, though they still do that too.

Still no new teeth and Luke's had all his for months!

The best part about January was Luke and Ella got another cousin! Hannah Teleysha Smith was born to my brother, Jason, and his wife, Teleysha. She's a sweetie! Ella will have someone to drag around and dress up in a couple years. And, Mark and his wife announced that they will be having their first boy in June! So, Luke will have another little cousin, along with Royal and Jared, to play cars with soon. I can't believe how much the family is growing. It's such fun to see all the little cousins grow up together!

I know nobody is surprised (I'm sure not), but December has also come and gone without a single post. Again, here are some of the highlights (and lowlights). Prepare for picture overload.

Clifton's back "went out" the day after Thanksgiving and has still yet to return. He was down on the couch or in bed for about 2 weeks straight, some days crawling just to get around. I knew he was going a little stir crazy from being cooped up at home when he asked if I could drive him to Wal-mart. He usually hates Wal-mart and shopping in general. I asked him how he planned on getting around the store. And he said he planned to drive their little scooters with the tiny basket in front. It was a pretty pitiful situation. We went to a couple doctors, got an MRI, and found out his back was as messed up as we thought. He's had a little bit of improvement, but not back to normal at all. He still limps quite a bit and feels pretty crappy by the end of the day. Walking around for more than 15 or 20 minutes just about does him in. He started going to physical therapy. From what I hear, it's not fun. It's hard to tell if it's helping right now. But, he faithfully does his stretches every day. We're keeping our fingers crossed. (FYI, this was the aforementioned lowlight with no pictures to document his pathetic state. So, I thought I'd throw in some cute pictures of Luke and Ella.)

I hefted our Christmas tree into place in the living room and decorated it. Of course Luke and Ella helped to un-decorate pretty much every day after. Whenever I would catch them in the act, they always tried to play it very casual. Well, I wasn't born yesterday. The ornaments got higher and higher each time I put them back on.

We didn't know if we would be going to AZ for Christmas since Clifton's back was so bad and the trip would be hard for him. But, he made the sacrifice for me since I hadn't seen my family for about 6 months. And, he kinda likes them too. Luke and Ella had a wonderful time being escorted around by all of their older cousins. Luke and Ella are numbers 16 and 17 in the line up of 19 grandchildren my parents have, and they were all there. Every night Luke and Ella were so exhausted. It was great!

One night before Christmas, Santa came to visit. All the kids loved it. Luke was persuaded to sit on his lap. Ella wouldn't even get close. But after Santa left, that's all Ella and Luke talked about. "Santa bye-bye." And "Ho, ho, ho!"

It's a tradition in my family to act out the nativity story. The adults are all relieved there are plenty of grandchildren to fill the parts. My dad reads the story and my mom gets the kids in costumes and cues them for their entrances.

We saw Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. Played by Jason, Ashley and baby Jared.

We heard the angels proclaim and sing of Jesus' birth (played by Brock, Hailey, Emily and Kaylee).

We saw the shepherds with their flocks (played by Sariah and Nathan; Luke was a shepherd, Ella opted-out).

And we watched as the wise men presented gifts to the baby Jesus.

Some were a little more excited about the performance than others.

Then my sister-in-law and her daughters sang a song she wrote. It was beautiful. My niece, Kaylee, was mesmerized.

Christmas morning was exciting and thrilling for everyone, from what I hear. We slept through it. I was sick during the night and kept Clifton up. So, we passed on the early morning present opening since our kids were still asleep and wouldn't care anyway. By the time we got up with the kids, the cousins were ready to help us open our presents. It was a little crazy. We didn't get many good pictures, but we have the memories, right?

When we got back home, we had a belated Christmas with Clifton's family. Luke and Ella got a wagon from Grandpa and Grandma. They love it, although we didn't really capture their enthusiasm on film. Aunt Stephanie pulled then around and around. I think Luke would have slept in it that first night if we hadn't hidden it in the basement when we got home which is where it will stay until the weather improves. We're looking forward to that!