A quick update

I have so many pictures to show and stories to tell from Christmas, but today will be spent packing for our family beach trip. We leave this evening to be gone for nearly a week. I'm hoping it will be incredibly relaxing. John's mom always picks the most beautiful beach houses right on the beach, and they always have a hot tub! I'm really looking forward to the hot tub part of the trip! Although I'm not too excited to put a bikini on for the first time since having a baby. Oh well, everyone can close their eyes until I get into the water!

Some end of the year tidbits:

We were very blessed this Christmas. I am very aware that certain things we received were huge blessings and I'm incredibly thankful.

Nathan is fully walking. He gets better at it each day and it's just amazing. He walked from our TV to our front door this morning, which are about 12 feet apart. I love his smile and his pure love for everything around him. He is affectionate beyond description.

Aiden's vocabulary continues to take leaps and bounds. Everything has jumped into full sentences instead of various single words here and there. He is clear about things that he wants and needs. It's hard to believe that my first little baby has grown up so much. We will be choosing a class for his 2nd year of preschool around the middle of January. He will most likely jump up to three times a week instead of two.

To end on a few prayer points, for those of you who pray, we'd be most grateful:

I seem to be in a slight depression over Nathan's upcoming first birthday. While I remember being so excited for Aiden to turn one, I can't seem to find happiness in Nathan reaching that milestone. I'm not sure if it's just a big reminder as to how draining and awful the labor with him was, or if I'm upset that he may be our last and I'll no longer have a little baby.

My father finds himself in an upcoming legal battle with my mother around the 6th of January. He has gotten himself a lawyer and I believe it will help him immensely. However, my mother will not be pleased over this and she will be even less pleased when she gets nothing from this court battle.

One last thing - I'm beginning the process of looking for some part time employment. We've just reached the point where it will be necessary for some extra income and while I'd prefer to be home at all times with my children, I knew it wouldn't last forever. I'm not rushing into things though and I'm keeping in mind that it will happen when it's meant to. I tend to get discouraged when things don't happen immediately (like I'm doing something wrong), but I need to remember that God is in control.

I hope everyone has a very happy New Year. We've really enjoyed seeing various parts of the extended family over the past few months - up in Seattle, at Twin Rocks, and other family get-togethers. It's been a great reminder that we have such a large and loving family and we feel very blessed. We love you all!

It's Christmas time

Little Aiden with his red, red cheeks and what he calls his "snow stick". He's really had a lot of fun playing in the snow over the past week and a half. It's certainly been interesting having this kind of weather. We currently have between 16-18 inches on the ground and I guess a little more is expected today and tomorrow. The stuff that's on the ground is strange though, as there was a bunch of snowfall, then ice covered it, and then more snow fell on top of that. So you've got this weird ice layer somewhere in the middle. Aiden is light enough that he can stand on top of the snow for a minute before he cracks through the ice layer. We had a fun adventure on Monday, when we walked to the store. It takes a lot of energy to walk through this much snow and even though the store is only 1-2 blocks away, we were exhausted by the time we got home. I ended up with very sore arms as I had Nathan in the front carrier and he fell asleep on the way home. So I was holding his sleeping head in one hand while I had a fairly heavy grocery bag in the other. It was still nice to get out and experience our winter wonderland.

After some snow fall - about 7 inches.

Add another 8-10 on top of that!

I've been keeping my toes very warm - knee socks, fuzzy socks, and slippers. Putting my yoga ball to good use too (as a foot rest!).

When I said it was icy, I wasn't kidding. This was going down the side of our building right out our front door. We're on the 2nd floor and it was like this from the roof, all the way to the walkway below.

Snow fall at night. It's really amazing how bright everything is with any light reflecting off the snow and the clouds. It's been so beautiful.

Nathan didn't like this very much, so we coordinated by John setting him in the snow and me snapping the picture quickly. I felt bad, but it had to be done. Who knows how long it will be before we get this much snow again?

Aiden's been loving this! We don't have gloves in his size, so he's been wearing a pair of mine. This picture was in between big snow falls. This is around 7 inches. The following day, he would step into the snow and it would be up to his knees.

The courtyard outside our apartment. It makes for a great photo background and many people have been coming by and taking pictures in this area.

I am happy that we will get a rare white Christmas, but I can't say that I'm looking forward to chaining up to make our way over to John's parents' house. For a drive that would normally take us 20 minutes, I think we'll need to give ourselves twice that much time, if not more. I suppose it depends on the road conditions tomorrow morning.
For now though, I'm looking forward to tonight (even though our church canceled the Christmas Eve service!). After we put the boys to bed, John will get to join me in a Christmas tradition that I've personally had for many years: wrapping presents by the tree while watching A Christmas Story. I finally bought the DVD this year and so I'll be able to start my tradition up again after a few years of not being able to watch it (we've not had the DVD and we only have basic cable, so no 24 hours of a Christmas Story on TBS for us). It's my favorite Christmas movie and I'm so excited to finally watch it with my husband.

Tomorrow morning, I get to wake my children up and open presents with my family in our own home for the very first time. This may sound strange, but oddly enough, we've never spent Christmas morning at our own place. We've always just gathered up the gifts and opened them with John's family. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed it, but there's something about being here with just us on Christmas morning that I've been missing. I will be armed with the video camera first thing tomorrow morning!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. And for those of you traveling, I hope you have a safe journey - snow or not! Merry Christmas!

Still going strong

The snow, that is. I am currently watching the news at noon (thank goodness for laptops) and I can only shake my head in disbelief. We have at least a foot on the ground, covered in ice (making it very crunchy!), and they are expecting another 4 inches by this evening. We should get a mild break tomorrow, but another storm is heading in for Wednesday and Thursday. We may top 20 inches. This really isn't Northwest weather!

John called his boss this morning to see what he wanted him to do. He offered to put on chains and get going, but his boss informed him that no one in the company was going into work today and to not even bother. Even his boss was checking his messages from home and was still in his pjs! One of the co-owners of the company had tried to head into work earlier, but his SUV got stuck at the bottom of a hill and was currently getting yelled at by some firefighters, as he was blocking the path for the firetruck. So John is enjoying a snow day today.

I began to get a little bit of cabin fever yesterday and I think the boys are as well, so our plan for this afternoon is to bundle up the kiddos and take a walk over to Rite-Aid about two blocks away. I know Aiden will love it!

I took some photos yesterday and hopefully I'll get them on here today. They are definitely interesting to see. We are expecting to have a very, VERY white Christmas.

A few snowy day thoughts

I'm having a day where I'm really enjoying my family. I feel so blessed to have my children and a husband who truly loves me. I'm doing a lot of cleaning around the apartment, but as I'm doing so, I'm watching my boys have so much playing with each other. Watching them connect is so amazing. Aiden asked to watch Jungle Book, so I put it in for him and he and Nathan have been dancing to the songs and crawling around like the animals. As they've been doing so together, they have been laughing and laughing. It really puts a smile on my face.

John and I took the boys on a trip to the store last night while it was still clear to gather some snowy weekend foods. After the boys went to bed, we watched a movie and snacked on some imported French cheese and crackers. We spent a long time talking and had a great evening to reconnect. As we prepare to be fully snowed in for the weekend, I look forward to spending another evening like that again. Maybe another movie, some Saturday Night Live, or another game of Monopoly (we've been enjoying it a lot lately).

As of right now, we have quite a few inches of snow and the heavy part of the storm hasn't even started yet. The snow is deep enough that we can't see where the grass on the lawn ends and the walkway begins. It's just all a thick white blanket. I really do need to get some pictures of this later, as this really isn't typical Oregon weather and we may not get this again for a few years. It's so beautiful and looks very Christmas-like. I have yet to tire of watching the snow fall.

As the snow continues to cover us, there is a lady who lives across the courtyard in another building and she is apparently very concerned with keeping her stairs and walkway clear of all snow. In the past 2 1/2 hours, she has been out there 3-4 times, madly sweeping it away. John and I can't help but wonder what she hopes to accomplish, as her stairs and walkway become completely covered 15 minutes after she finishes. I'm not exaggerating when I say she sweeps as though her life depends on it. As someone who has mild OCD, I have to say that she seems to have the worst case of it that I've ever personally witnessed. The first time she was out there, it was a little funny, but now I just feel very badly for her. She is seeming to become increasingly agitated with each trip out to sweep the snow away. I think I feel so badly for her because I can understand the feeling the urgency she must feel each time, even though I probably don't experience it to the same extent. Either that or she just really hates snow!

Well, it's time for Nathan to have a nap, so I must return to my children. I look forward to getting some very snowy pictures to show you all later!