Winter...nuff said

I'm not a huge fan of January & February...

Christmas was great. We stayed busy celebrating with family & friends. I was suprised at how well both kids did with the busy schedules. The week between Christmas & New Years we slept in until 8:00 or later almost every day! Christmas morning we got up & Sean immediately noticed that Santa had eaten most of his cookies & drank all of his milk. He also noticed that only a bite of a carrot was left. He was so excited that Santa & his reindeer enjoyed the snacks. Sean asked who each present was from. He thanked us after each one from Mommy & Daddy. :) We thought Evie would be "boring" this Christmas at her age, but she LOVED opening presents. And, she got mad if you tried to take the wrapping paper out of her hands. Grandma & Puppa came over Christmas morning to hang out & watch the kids open their gifts. After that we went to Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's to have breakfast with them, Grandpa Jim, Uncle Scott & Paiger. We went home to look through and play with our new stuff for awhile, then we had dinner with Grandpa Jim. It was a relaxing Christmas day. The weeks leading up to & the few days after were the busy times! We loved having Daddy home from work. I had to work on Monday, so Sean & Evie hung out with Daddy all day. Grandpa Jim came to "help" Daddy, but he was a regular "Mr. Mom"! ;) We went bowling on Tuesday and then we went to play at Alex's & Nathan's. Sean attempted to stay the night & made it until Uncle Marty got up for work, but then wanted to come home. He said he wasn't scared or anything, he just missed us. On 12/29, we went swimming at Warren Community Center. The water was too cold for Evie, but Sean was a fish! That night we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Susie's house with Uncle Billee, Vinnie & Sam, Grandma, Puppa & Aunt Mary. On 12/30 Evie & I went to Aunt Mary's & Sean stayed the night at Grandma Sue & Grandpa Larry's. He sleeps in the recliner & Paige sleeps on the couch in the tv room. He does great. Probably because he can wake up & watch tv or eat snacks out of their secret snack drawer. ;) On New Year's Eve, Grandma came over to play with Sean & Evie while Daddy & I went to dinner & a movie. I love spending time as a family, but I love date night with Daddy too. Thanks Grandma! Happy Birthday to Connor on 01/02/11. It was so awesome to hear Sean & Connor talking on the phone. Sean told Connor he couldn't wait to see him at school now that he's "bigger" and Connor told Sean that he wouldn't see him at school anymore cause he was going to be in 1st grade now that he's 5. ;) I was so sad to see 01/03/11 come. It was time to go back to our regular schedule. Evie had a rough week. She was really crabby and not sleeping well. On Saturday, 01/08, we took her to the doctor because her eye was draining. Turns out she had a double ear infection. If only babies could talk!!! She didn't show any of the same signs Sean did when his ears hurt. She's been on antibiotics since then & is doing much better. Slept all night on Monday for the first time in a week! She spoiled us by always being such a good sleeper, so this week put our bodies into shock! On Saturday night, Daddy & I went to dinner & to see Brian Regan, so Grandma came over to play with Sean & dance with Evie. Evie was still not feeling good, so good thing Puppa & Grandpa Jim were there at different times for backup. Grandma learned the power of Billy Joel & the ipod at our house! Scott came home from USCG basic training and Sean was so excited to see him. He picked out an airplane for Scott when he was with Grandma. He told her, "Well, Scott's going to work on airplanes & Aunt Mary's on one right now, so...". The kid is too smart. Scott leaves for St. Ignace today. Sean told him we'll go on vacation & come up there to visit him.

Sean was the Featured Four at school last week. He got to fill out a survey about himself and post it on the door along with pictures of his family. He also got to bring in show & tell on Friday. He brought his new "Stinky" the garbage truck & the kids all loved it. Sean's favorite part of being the Featured Four was bringing home Jeffrey, the class pet, for the weekend. What an awesome idea. The kids in the Fishy Fours class take turns bringing home the class pet (one of three - Jeffrey the Octopus, Iffy the Clownfish or Lena the Whale). They journal about their weekend & the journal stays with the class pet. We got to read what all of Sean's friends did on their weekends with Jeffrey, Iffy or Lena. Jeffrey got to come to small group with us on Friday night & meet Chase. Saturday, we went to breakfast with Grandma & Jeffrey got his own menu, crayons, silverware & drink! Sunday, Jeffrey got to go bowling with Sean. They shot an 89! It made Sean happy to have Jeffrey that weekend, especially at bedtime. :) Sean is an amazingly smart & sweet little boy. Can't leave that out, cause I'm sure I've never written it before. ;) Last Wednesday, while we were at breakfast with Amanda & Liam, I overheard Sean telling Liam that he doesn't have to be afraid of anything because God is bigger than everything. Bigger than godzilla, bigger than spiders, etc. My little counselor. :) He does math problems with ease, he's an amazing speller & writer, he blows my mind with how easy he operates the tv & computer. He remembers everything. I'm amazed by him...

Evie weighs 20 lbs now - big girl. Her weight & height fall into the 12 month + category. She changes every day. She waives & claps (does patty-cake). She plays "shy" baby & turns into me when others try to take her. She's starting to eat more solids and she loves food (suprise - she is my kid). She can climb out of her bumbo seat, which is where we put her to feed her. So, we'll have to bring up the highchair soon! She taps her feet on the table while she's eating. She also growls at you if you don't feed her fast enough! She wants to climb & crawl SO bad & she tries really hard to do it. I'm sure that's coming next. For Christmas, she got her two front teeth (the bottom ones ;). She can get anywhere she wants to go by scooting on her butt. A couple days ago, she was laying on her belly, pushed up to her knees & sat up. We're in trouble!! Evie is strong willed & stubborn. I have a feeling we're in for it with her. And, she's so cute...especially when she makes her "snorting" face...trouble!