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...