Merry Christmas

Every year, Paul and I have the same old conversation: do we open gifts on Christmas Eve as was my family's tradition or on Christmas morning as was his family's tradition. This year, we compromised and spent Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's house, had finger foods and opened gifts we got for each other. Then, on Christmas morning, we opened our own family gifts and those from Grandma and Grandad (and Santa), and Paul and I did a nice big Christmas dinner later on for the rest of the family. I think it worked out rather nice- we got to spend time with the whole family and also some quality time with just the five of us. I think this is the model that we will keep. So, the kiddies looked darling and Christmasy and I wanted to take some nice photos... yeah well, judge for yourself... I love how I caught this just as Lily was about to crash land... ...just slightly worse than last year's attempt I think. Can you believe how much they've all grown in a year? You would expect it from the twins, but just look at Abby! Christmas morning, they were all wearing gingerbread man themed jammies, but we banned the camera in favor of making some nice family memories. I hope everyone had a very happy holiday this year.

But, seriously...

... could these recent photos be any cuter? There really is such joy and happiness (mixed in with the stress) of everyday, normal life. Today, I am so grateful for such a wonderful family.

Wobbly Walkers

We're Hoping THIS Will End Soon...

Liam is now on 4 medications for asthma and seasonal allergies and Lily is suspected of allergies as well... They were able to get their H1N1 Swine Flu vaccinations last week. I really hope THIS will end soon! They are playing together more and more... Lily LOVES to act silly and make faces to make Liam crack up. Also, they are both walking all over. Three weeks ago, it was a step here and there and now it is multiple, wobbly baby-steps all over the room. Lily is good until she starts cracking herself up and then she just falls to the ground, but she can get straight back up from the floor without holding on to anything. Liam walks with a bit more coordination, and can go further without falling, but he has to pull up on something. I'll get a video up soon. We just attended Abby's first parent-teacher conference. We love her teacher who is really helpful in providing opportunities for Abby's reading (she has grown by leaps and bounds in her reading ability and is a couple of grades ahead). Also, she is doing really well in math. We are obviously so proud of her. She is such a light in our home and the babies ADORE her.

Halloween

We had fun this Halloween. My mom came with us and we went to the school's trunk or treat followed by the neighborhood. Liam was a chicken (what Abby was a few years ago), Lily was a flower (appropriate) and Abby went as "the girl who couldn't make up her mind what she wanted to be for Halloween". Sooooooo funny. I love my silly, funny, amazing children.