Catch-up

So... things have been a little crazy around here, and the last two weeks have been pretty chaotic. No time to blog! We decided about 3 weeks before, that we WERE going to drive home for Christmas, and the last week before that, we were trying hard to get ready to go. I had been feeling a lot better pregnancy-wise, but then the last few weeks I've been sick again. It's kind of going back and forth at this point. I haven't decided if that's nice or frustrating yet. Anyway, I'm going to try to get our blog caught up in the next week or two, at least, so here's the first installment!

December 12th: Jaina's Birthday and Snow!
Two years ago, we took this picture:















And last year at this time, we took this one:
Jaina has grown so much in this last year! She has transitioned completely from a non-walking, non-talking baby to a little girl with lots of personality and opinions. She wants to do everything her big brother does, and lets us know when she's not happy with something. She is talking more every day, and her comprehension level has gone up a lot in the last few months as well.
She wasn't very happy most of her birthday-day. She had a nasty cold and didn't feel well at all. We almost canceled her little party, knowing the last thing she needed was cake, but we went ahead, and it was the happiest she was all day! Here she is with some of her presents and her birthday cake. It was a last-minute creation...
(This was the look we saw most of the morning...)
Both kids also finally got the aprons I made for them.

When Jaina went down for her nap, Jeremy took Reilly out "to go snowin'!" (as he'd been asking) finally. It had snowed several days before, but the combination of Jeremy being too busy, everyone being a little sick, and the weather being FAR too cold had put this exciting day off. Reilly had a blast playing in the snow and going sledding down the little hill in our back yard for the first time. Here he is going down all by himself!

When Jaina woke up, she could tell they were outside, and was NOT happy about it. She really shouldn't have gone out, because of her cold, but Jeremy took pity on her because of her cold and asked me to get her dressed too. She enjoyed it a lot, especially when Daddy finally let her swing. He pretty much spoiled her all day because it was her birthday...

Early December: Christmas Card Fun

Here are some of the many pictures we took in an attempt to get a decent Christmas card picture. Sometimes our children are more cooperative than other times...

And the finished result: