Christmastime!

I am belated in a number of things, I am going to do my best to keep up.

First off, our little baby had her 2 month doctor check on Dec 1. I thought Lilah was a big baby! Emma weighed in at 13 lbs 10.5 oz, 23 inches long. She is smiling all the time now, but certainly prefers her momma. She has a tendency to stick her bottom lip out and burst into tears when most other people talk to her. She flinches when her sister is nearby, and sometimes cries when she hears Lilah's voice if it catches her by surprise. She is the easiest baby I could have imagined.

My striped girls!



Matteson came out to visit us on Dec 2 for a long weekend. It was so nice to have her around and Lilah loved having a full-time playmate. Matteson and I flew to Charlotte on Sunday, Dec 5. It was our first time back east with both kids, and I am SO glad Matteson was with me. Emma was awesome, as expected. Lilah was a little challenging, especially once we were past naptime and the DVD player had died. We survived though, and it is so good to be back at the Pascal Homestead. The girls are having so much with their Teffeteller cousins! We have been here for over a week, putting the finishing touches on our Christmas shopping (another great reason to get here so early) and relaxing with family. Lilah is particularly fond of the chickens Nana and Papa got this past April. Lucy the hen turned out to be Lucy the rooster, so Ethel and Jesse have a male playmate. He is king of the farm and loves to strut his stuff, literally. Lilah is learning first-hand what a rooster says. (bock-bock-a-doodle! according to Lilah).

We are having so much fun with our cousins! And missing John's family so much!

Dancing with Max and Ben - up in the air!

Birth Announcement

Spoiler alert! You may be receiving this in the mail in the coming weeks.
Check out my latest Shutterfly project below. Cute, eh?

First Scenes Pink Birth Announcement

Customize your own baby announcement at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Time!

I know it is not even quite Thanksgiving, but it is time to begin thinking about the Christmas season! Jonas and I put up the tree yesterday, and tonight we are going to decorate with the help of our favorite toddler. I am also hoping (after the same toddler's bedtime) to start working on my Christmas card list, and choosing which pictures will be the cutest to include. I am going to get cards this year from Shutterfly. I have made several photobooks from them over the last year and have LOVED how they turned out. I think the Christmas cards will be awesome too. Check out the following links to my favorite Shutterfly products:
Christmas cards- http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
Christmas invitations - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations
I am going to try to dress the girls in cute Christmas outfits and take some pictures in the next few days so that I can include them on the cards I'll design. It's so easy and fun to choose the layout and bring in my favorite pictures. So, be sure to keep an eye out for out Christmas card this season. It is sure to be super cute!

Halloween

Trick or treat! Lilah went as a cow and Emma was a little skeleton baby. I tried to get a picture of the two of them, but wasn't very successful. Emma wouldn't stop crying and Lilah wouldn't take her finger out of her nose. Lilah loved trick or treating though, especially when she got M&Ms!

Before trick or treating

After trick or treating

One Month

I can't believe it, but tomorrow Emma will be five weeks old. It just doesn't seem like time should pass that quickly. It has been hard to savor each moment of her newborn-ness, while equally hoping that the time will pass more quickly until Jonas comes home each day. We have been very busy, even on the days where we just stay home. Up to this point, Emma has not required much attention, but now that she is awake more during the day, I feel obligated to entertain her. She is no longer to just sit in the bouncer while Lilah and I play. Emma's a snuggler, which makes it hard, but is so very sweet. Like Lilah, she sleeps well in my arms but not so well once I put her down. The exception to that is at night, where she will sleep on her own in the bassinet (thank goodness!).

So, I have pictures from 6 days and one month for both Lilah and Emma. I think they look very different. Emma makes a lot of the same faces that Lilah made at this age, but when I try to catch it on camera, it just doesn't look the same. Funny. Anyway, Emma at one month is up to 10 lbs 10 oz. (Lilah was right at 11 lbs at one month).

Lilah at 6 days

Emma at 6 days

Lilah at one month

Emma at one month

Emma again at one month

Two Year Check

Lilah had her two year well-check this morning. Jonas couldn't make it to the appointment due to morning meetings, so we had to go it alone. We did very well at the visit! Lilah allowed the doctor to check her out fully with minimal fuss (with the promise of M&Ms to follow). She weighs 29 pounds 2 ounces (80%), and is 35.5 inches tall (90%). Almost three feet! She got two shots and cried for only about 15 seconds. What a big girl!

As for baby sister, a friend let us borrow her baby scale for a little while, and I put Emma on it last night for the first time. Exactly three weeks ago, Emma weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. Last night, Emma weighed 10 lbs 1 oz! What an incredible difference!

New Addition

Things have been a little busy in the Johnson household over the last several weeks. My parents came into town on Sept 25. Dad and Jonas worked on the fireplace the week that Daddy was here (we decided to have a gas fireplace installed the week before they came and Dad and Jonas worked on building up the hearth and area surrounding the FP to get ready for the stone to go over the top). The new baby's due date came and went on Sept 28, and we went to the hospital at 5am on Sept 29 to be induced. They sent us home, of course, because I didn't call ahead of time to find out there weren't enough nurses and they had admitted too many people during the night. Another nurse came on staff at 9am though, so they told us to come back.
We got checked in and the pitocin was started about 10:30. The contractions were uncomfortable enough by about one o'clock that I had an epidural started, and the doctor broke my water at 2pm. I am not sure if it was the best epidural, because I was having a lot of pain with my contractions, especially towards the end, but I could not move or feel my legs. I progressed from 5cm to 10cm in about an hour and a half, and baby was born after two minutes of pushing. (And it only took that long because I had to wait for another contraction to come). Emma Louise arrived at 6:57 pm on Wednesday, Sept 29. She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. Just as Lilah looked exactly like her momma at birth, little Emma looked just like her daddy's hospital picture! She has the cutest little dimple in her left cheek. Lilah came with Nana and Papa to the hospital to meet her little sister and like the rest of us, was instantly in love. I'll try to post the video of them meeting, it's really cute. We came home on Thursday at lunch time and had our first doctor's appointment on Friday. Emma was a little jaundiced on Friday (new weight was 6 lbs 9 oz) so we had her bilirubin levels drawn on Saturday since her jaundice was getting worse. A home nurse came out to the house Saturday night and got her started on phototherapy to help her get rid of her excess bilirubin. Emma stayed on the light bed day and night until Tuesday, when she was cleared by the doctor. Since then, she has been gaining weight and eating well while we are all adjusting to our new lifestyle.

Emma is a very vocal baby, but doesn't cry very often. She loves to stretch and squeek and grunt. She is an excellent sleeper, and has been since the beginning. When she was so jaundiced, I had to set an alarm to wake her up in the night, but since I was able to stop doing that, she has slept 5-7 hour stretches at night. She is now (at three weeks) having more wakeful stretches during the day and is much better at holding her head up. She is getting so chubby and her skinny little chicken legs are turning from having wrinkles into having fat rolls. So cute!

Lilah has been a great and loving big sister. I'd like to say there has been no aggressive behavior towards her little sister, but I now have a funny story to tell. My sweet little sleeping baby was in the bouncy seat in the den next to Lilah who was eating her dinner standing at the coffee table. I was in the kitchen, just one room over, when Emma burst into tears. I came in the room and asked Lilah what happened. "Baby crying," she responded. What happened Lilah? "Poke baby, " she said. When I asked where, she said, "nose." Apparently, she had taken her nice little sharp tined dinner fork and poked our little baby in the nose. Emma calmed down quickly, and the fork never left a mark. First injury down, many more to go, I am sure.

Lilah celebrated her second birthday this past week. I know everyone says this, but it is unbelievable how fast time has passed. It is especially neat to have a newborn in hand to compare where Lilah was just two years ago. It is incredible how much she has grown and learned over the last two years. We had a fun celebration with our friends and Mimi last weekend. Lilah loved opening all her presents and is still talking about opening more. She blew out her two little candles on the first try - I was very impressed!

Her two year check up is tomorrow morning, so I'll have numbers coming soon.

Not a very flattering picture, but you can really see how big her cheeks are getting!

Manners

Last night after Lilah's bath, we were in her bedroom changing into PJs and brushing her hair. While I was brushing her hair I got a tickle in my throat and started to cough. Lilah turned around, patted me on the back, and said, "okay, baby??" I laughed but coughed again and she did it again, "okay, baby?" When I said, yes, I'm okay, thanks, she put her hand up to my mouth and said, "excuse me!" I guess I was behind on my manners. Thanks Lilah!

Meanwhile, the clothes are all washed and hung up in new baby's closet. Now just counting the days! Nothing like folding a bunch of tiny little clothes to get me excited for a new little one!!

Belly Dancing

This is just a hint at what new baby girl Johnson does to her momma at night while she's trying to go to sleep. It is very dark, but if you watch the line between my bellly and the sheet you can really see what's going on. I don't know what going on in there, but it sure isn't comfortable!

Big girl

Lilah has made the move into her big girl room this week! We have been working on painting and gathering furniture for it over the last several weeks, and it is nearly complete. I am still waiting on the curtain rod I ordered to arrive, but Lilah and I talked and she wanted to go ahead and move in. She LOVES showing people her new room and doesn't seem to miss the old one in the least. She has some cute pictures on the wall, including her name above her crib. Every morning when I go get her she points to it, says, "Lilah!" and beats on her chest. Pretty funny.

We have seen a lot of animals in the last few weeks too. Two weeks ago, we went to the zoo in Seattle. Lilah loved it! She still asks about the elephants at the zoo, and we really only saw their backsides. She was super cute next to the penguins, and I was able to get a cute picture. We checked out the fair last Friday that is in town this week and got some great close-up experience with cows, horses, goats, sheep and pigs. It was really cute to see how excited she got with all the animals around. She kept asking, "more animals?"

Along the animal crazed lines, we got a new kitten. Crazy, I know. I had only gone to Ace (of all places!) for a paint roller for Lilah's new room and saw her in a little cage at the front with her sister. She is so much cuter than most kittens and was super sweet from the get-go. And now that we have her at home, that disposition has not changed. She is snuggly and lets you hold her like a baby. Sleeps on her back on the sofa all stretched out and lets Lilah carry her around all over. She has her claws still, and will keep them, so Lilah has had a few lessons on how to be gentle with the kitty, but she has done a really great job (Lilah and kitty both).

Lilah's words have exploded over the last few weeks. She'll repeat anything, which I've had to learn to be careful with what I say. My favorite thing recently is that Lilah is learning to joke a bit. She noticed the other day that the cows and horses nearby eat grass, so I was asking her who ate grass (working on more than yes or no questions which I have a tendency to only ask). I went through and asked if Momma ate grass, and said, Nooooo..... then went through lots of other family members, saying Noooooo after each one, but coming back to cows and horses with a yes. Now, whenever we pass a cow or horse on the side of the road, or if Lilah just gets bored, she goes through the list herself. "Nana eat grass? Noooooo. Papa eat grass? Nooooo." And in the mornings sometimes when I go to get her from her room, she'll say, "poo poo diaper!" and I'll ask if she went poo poo in her diaper, she responds, "Nooooo...." and then laughs. Fooled you mom!

Love

Lilah and I have had a fun day today. We met up with some friends at the park this morning and played until it got too hot. Cut us some slack, okay? We were dressed pretty warmly and then the sun came out. Low seventies can feel pretty hot when you aren't used to it (and pregnant). By the time we had played so long in the sun, Lilah's poor cheeks were so red, we needed to cool down. On the way home we picked up slushes from Sonic, which Lilah loves. After lunch and a nap, I put on Beauty and the Beast for her to watch while I caught up on laundry and dishes. She pulled up her little camping chair next to the coffee table, and put her little slush in the cup holder. Just watching her, I can't help but be overwhelmed by love. She really is pretty sweet and funny. In the beginning when the beast is giving Maurice (Belle's dad) a hard time, Lilah gets very concerned for his well-being, shouting "uh-oh! uh-oh!" the whole time. Then when she gets to a particular part in her slush when the ice has built up too much, she gently shakes it to mix it back up. Just like her momma. So funny how she's picked up those things! And still 30 minutes into this movie, she has hardly budged, except to tell me her slush was finished. So precious.

And I was able to catch Lilah and Daddy snuggling in bed the other morning. Jonas wasn't so happy about me pulling out the camera, but I think all dads need to have snuggle pictures with their kids. I think it's pretty cute!

Three years later...

Jonas and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary last week. The week before our anniversary, Jonas' parents were in town visiting, and we all took a trip to Victoria, BC. Jonas and I went to Victoria on our honeymoon, so it was really neat to see it again near our anniversary. We had to get our picture outside of the Empress hotel, where we stayed for a few nights three years earlier. To think all that has happened in the last three years!

We have been very busy getting Lilah's new room ready. It is painted now, and the chair rail and crown moulding at up and looking great. She loves to look into her new room and is very excited about moving in. We have a dresser on order and will move her in after it arrives. Jonas and I are also building Lilah a new bookcase to help contain her massive number of books. They live in a huge pile on her bedroom floor right now, but we are working on a sling bookshelf so that she can see the fronts of the books and hopefully make it easier to keep them picked up in her new room. Her new room is considerably bigger than her current room, so she'll have lots of room to play. She's going to stay in her crib in the new room, and hopefully for a little while longer still. I'm not ready for a big-girl bed!

ABCs

Two little stories to talk about today. One, Lilah LOVES to sing. She sings all the time, with most all songs eventually becoming twinkle, twinkle, little star. In the past few days her favorite has been the ABC song. She really makes up her own letters, but she's pretty good with the tune. My favorite series of letters is "ello, ello, pee." I tried to get it on video but it is hard to hear and she wasn't singing very loudly.




We have also been trying to get Lilah to say "I love you," which she never says. Whenever we say it to hear, she gives us kisses back or makes a kissing sound in our direction. I have changed my approach to one word at a time, and it is pretty cute. She says the words with a nice long pause between. Last night though, I was putting Lilah to bed and I wanted her to say goodnight to Jonas. She was refusing him kisses, but when I said, say I love you, Daddy, she said, "I love you, Daddy." It was so sweet! And no pauses, just a quick, "I love you, Daddy!" What a sweet baby girl!

Marshmellows

We have made it back home and pretty much settled in from our nearly three week visit to NC and GA. Boy was it hot! Poor Lilah didn't adapt very well to the heat - her sensitive skin reacted pretty badly. She has recovered since but it was so dry and itchy! She fought the sun for the entire time. There weren't many times we were outside without her hands over her eyes. It was pretty funny.

She did pretty well on our flights, but it was overall a very tiring few days of travel. We had a blast with her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousin playtime. When we got home on Tuesday, she spent the first hour home playing with every single toy in the den. And there are a lot of toys in the den. She has gotten to spend a lot of time with Daddy since I have worked three of the last five days since we've been back. Jonas says she has grown up a lot in the last three weeks, and that she isn't a baby anymore. I agree. She's really gotten crazy independent in the last few weeks, with the tantrums to accompany her determination. Yikes!

On our way home from town, we pass fields along the way and I use them to help keep Lilah awake pre-nap. One is full of cows, so we look for the cows first, then there are two that have a couple of horses, so those are the ones we look for next. Between them is a field of hay that was just collected a week or so ago, but instead of having open bails, they cover them in white plastic and they look just like huge marshmellows. I told Lilah the other day to look out at all the marshmellows. It was almost in passing and I didn't even realize she was paying that much attention, but then just the other day when we were passing them again, she pointed out and said, Marshmellow!! I was pretty impressed, but it teaches me I need to watch what I say too.

They really look like marshmellows!

Memorial Day weekend

Every Memorial Day weekend there is a race here in Bellingham called Ski to Sea. It's a relay race with about seven legs involving eight team members starting with a cross country ski at Mount Baker and ending in Bellingham Bay with a 5 mile sea kayak leg. Jonas participated this year with some else's work team - his job was the final sea kayak leg. As his loving support system, Lilah and I headed down to the water's edge (despite the rain and cold) to cheer him on. We had a brief period of sun earlier in the day so I took a picture for Jonas pre-race for motivation. He did well during his part of the race... I'll see if I can find a picture of Jonas.


Lilah LOVES her new sunglasses. There were a gift from our dear friend Bernie and now requests to wear them all the time. Quite the princess really. Anytime we go anywhere it is light out, even if it's just leaving her room post-nap, she says, "Bright! Bright!" and covers her eyes. Then she says, "glass? glass?" So funny.

Baby Loves Bacon

I don't even want to look at the last date I posted something. The longer time has passed, the more discouraged I get about posting again, because there really is a lot to cover and I don't know where to begin. Let's see if I can just do the now stuff.

We went out to breakfast this morning. It was a late morning for all of us - Lilah's not been waking up until about nine the last ten days or so (and not till ten both days last weekend!). She had already had nearly a full thing of milk while Jonas and I were getting ready, so I didn't feed her before we left. We were only going 15 minutes down the road, and we were going to eat anyway. So, as we were driving down the road, Lilah is playing and talking, and then she goes, "snack? snack? please? cookie?" It was pretty cute. She ate a great breakfast out though - it was the first time we have ordered her a meal for breakfast instead of just bringing something or sharing our own. Lilah loves bacon.

She is talking more and more. The list from the last time has easily doubled. She loves to tell the cats and her friend Nick, NO NO! All day I hear, NO NO BESS! She is still pretty darn good and listens fairly well. She is on a do-it-herself kick for a lot of things. We were working on a puzzle book today and every time I even lifted my hand to help her with a piece she would tell me NO NO. She really doesn't say it that often, but it sure does sound like it by what I've written.

Lilah has no idea that she is going to be a big sister in a few months, although we have told her many times. When I ask her where the baby is, she'll point to my tummy, and then point to her own. It's pretty sweet. She is still crazy for babies though. We have seen a few in the last few weeks when visiting friends that have newborns. She is very loving and kissy with them, even when I am holding them. Although that's when she really likes to snuggle with me. It concerns her a great deal when they cry, she doesn't know what going on. In the last few days she has started to mimic the crying or fussing when she hears it. Maybe it helps her cope? Pretty funny girl.

We have done a ton of work outside in the last few weeks, trying to make our yard more presentable. It is a landscaping disaster, as NOTHING was done prior to us moving in. The land is terribly rocky and totally not leveled out. There are major bumps and valleys all over. It makes it very hard for Jonas to mow. We have bought several more trees for our open field of a yard in the last few weeks, and have made a nice little flower bed in front of the front porch and along the garage sidewalk. It is really looking great. The trees are planted and looking great too. Lilah LOVES working with Jonas outside. She loves to dig in the dirt, pick flowers, and follow Jonas everywhere. She helps water the plants and carry the pots. She is a very helpful child. She's not a fan of bees, and flipped out when one was checking her out the other day. I think it was her first encounter with an actual bee. I think she says bee to mean bug, but she calls everything that could possibly be a bug a bee. Dirt on the ground, slugs, fuzz in the bathtub, you name it. And she won't come near it. Kinda nice really, which is why I can't understand why she handed me a squished and dead spider the other day. I nearly vomited.

Blabber mouth

I was really hoping my last post was at least a February one so I wouldn't feel so guilty, but in fact it wasn't, and now it's halfway through March. Geez. So, to keep up, I have Lilah's calendar in front of me to do the update. So much has happened - she is one busy girl!
Lilah's vocabulary has exploded over the last several weeks. We have started a running list of new words. New words she says on her own, and not just in repeating, because she'll repeat just about anything. I'll see what I can do from memory, as the list is downstairs.

banana
book
thank you
please
milk
juice
water
fish
breakfast
mouth
nose
hair
hat
eye
hello
bye bye
go
night-night
let's go
cookie
baby
up
down
snow
toes
shoes
push
excuse me
whoa
uh-oh
yes
no
bath
wash

That is most of them at least. Now not all of them are understandable, especially out of context, but she's at least trying them on for size. So cute, until she gets mad at me for not understanding.
We made another trip home at the end of February for two weeks. It was great to see everyone again and to spend some non-holiday time just hanging out and visiting. Lilah LOVED seeing her Nana and Papa, and even got a special visit from Mimi and Papa during the last week. She is so lucky to have such awesome and loving grandparents that she loves so much. She loves looking at their pictures, which we do on a regular basis, and now points to them and calls their names. Really cute. And at night she gives them kisses before bed.
Just today she was able to use a spoon for the first time without spilling the food off of it. She uses a spoon a lot and brings it to her mouth but she always tips it and pours whatever right off. Today, she adjusted her hand as it was in motion to her mouth and didn't let the applesauce spill! I was so proud. What a big girl she's becoming!
One of my favorite things we discovered while we were at mom and dad's was Lilah shouting "Hello!" every time the phone rang. It was particularly funny because we don't own a house phone, and my cell phone doesn't have a normal ring, but she's figured it out. Every time it rang, she would drop what she was doing and run over to the phone, "hello! hello!"
Since we've been back she's been a crazy girl, eating constantly, loving being chased, and doing crazy dancing as often as she can. What fun and tiring days we have!

Silly dancing part one - she did this ALL day




Part II- Still dancing two days later

Big girl!

These are for you, Momma.

Friends

I am so incredibly tired tonight after a crazy busy day at work, so I am just going to try to run through the things in my head while I am thinking of them.
Lilah has changed so much in just the last two weeks. She has become so much fun and understands so much more than she used to. She has started to laugh a lot now, and even to a lot of things she does herself. She has just started to make funny faces too, which is a little strange. I don't know where she picked it up, because we are never around older kids that make weird faces. She loves to pull her lower eyelids down and roll her eyes up into her head. So creepy, but she gets a kick out of it. Maybe it's because she's just discovered her eyes this week. She pokes and says, "eye!".
She also learned to say her best friends' names this week. She just says the first part of both, but Nick is "Ni" and Asher is "Ash". And it really sounds like Ash, not ass. Pretty smart.
She is still crazy about her books and we bought her a little bookshelf and chair of her own for the den. It's really cute to see her climb up in her chair with a good book.
She's been eating non-stop the last week. Maybe she's going through a spurt, but she eats a ton and is still sleeping pretty well. She has three molars in and the fourth is just breaking through. She loves giving kisses and hugs and even said, "love you" the other day after I told her I loved her!!! Isn't that so sweet? She is starting to repeat a lot of things you say, including pretty complicated words like pretzel and tickle.
Of course, as I say she's a good sleeper, I hear her crying right now down the hall. Gotta go - I hope we get some sleep tonight, because it's back to work again in the morning!

More Pictures

Look how far we've come in a year!

A cute picture with Daddy on early October in Colorado

Another Colorado picture. Just before her first bit of birthday cake.

Lots of Updates

Christmas morning at Mimi and Papa's house.


Lilah and her boyfriend Nick. (Don't tell Ben).


Okay, I know I've been SO bad about writing, so I'll see about doing my best to fill in all the details. Lilah and I headed to NC on Dec 7 as the start of our Christmas vacation. It was really great to be home way before the holiday to have some nice relaxed time before it got crazy. We drove down to Greenville, SC during that first week for an overnight with a very good friend. It was great to catch up. We got to see a lot of friends on that trip that we hadn't seen in a very long while. Lilah enjoyed playing with other kids too.
Lilah is walking all over now, rarely falling down unless she trips. She has improved an incredible amount in the last few weeks. She LOVED seeing the Christmas lights and would go from room to room saying "WHOA" and pointing to all the pretty things. She was so great about not touching the trees or opening cabinets in not-so-baby proofed places. I was very happy. She loved spending time with Nana and Papa and the Teffetellers (my older sister and her family). She learned so many new words and sounds in just the first two weeks! She can now tell you what a cow, dog, and sheep say.
After about our first ten days there, Valdese got hit with a HUGE snowfall. TEN INCHES! I was worried it was going to interfere with getting Jonas to us the next day, but he was able to make it safely. Katie brought Jonas home from the airport, and John and Marie-France came in with Guillaume the day before. It was great to have the whole family together! Guillaume is just ten weeks older than Lilah, so they had a lot of fun together. He is such a sweet boy! He was always giving Lilah hugs, and patting her if she was crying, or picking up toys and food for her if she dropped them and giving them back. So sweet. He also was talking a lot, so he taught Lilah a thing or two. My favorite was when his parents would put him in bed, he would call out from his room for someone to help. He would start with "MOMMA!", then "DADA!", then branch out to "NANA!", and "LILAH!". So funny. She really enjoyed spending time with her cousins! Max, Ben, and Matteson were over to play often too, and they were a huge help in entertaining the babies. Lilah still has a thing for Ben, and he does for her too. At one point, he told Michelle that he has a crush on Lilah. A few days later while we were playing at their house, he said, "That's it, we're married!" So sweet.
On Christmas Eve, we headed to Atlanta to Jonas' parent's house. We got in late, so we put Lilah down as soon as we got there. When we woke up on Christmas morning, she got to Mimi and all the great Christmas decorations. She again was fascinated by the tree, and it took her a few minutes to notice Santa had left her a little baby doll! She was so excited, and was doing a little stomping dance while Mimi opened the package. We had a nice relaxing day. Jonas' sister and family came over in the afternoon and Lilah got to play with more cousins!
The day after Christmas we drove up to the Carmel Retreat Center for the week with all of Jonas' family on his dad's side. It was great to catch up with everyone again - neat to see what all has changed in the last year. It was tiring though - many open long staircases and lots of tiny pieces to older kid toys to worry about. Although we had had a TON of fun over the previous weeks, it was nice to come home to a totally kid-friendly house on Jan 3. Lilah and I had been gone almost a month!
Since then, we have been getting back into our normal routine. Meeting up with Lilah's play buddies and fridge-stocking trips to the grocery store. One awesome thing since we've been back - Lilah's been going to bed between six and six-thirty each night and sleeping till seven-thirty or as late as nine! Our first night back she slept 15 hours and 20 minutes. Dang. Granted she was sick and probably exhausted from our trip, but dang.
I'll try to post a few pictures from the last few weeks, but this hardly represents the number of pictures I have to share. I'll get on it soon though, better to space them out than bombard you all at once...