Wrapping it Up

What a year this has been! It was one for the record books, full of change and milestones.

- Matt finished ten long years of post-college training, completing a fellowship in MSK radiology. He started his first official "real job" as a radiologist at Mayo Clinic--a well-deserved honor. I am indescribably proud of him.

-Adrienne was born, turning us into a family of four. Her birth was a beautiful event I will never forget, and I am so grateful for the gift of another healthy child. She is an absolutely wonderful baby.

-Jillian began her journey in education when she started Kingdom Kids Christian Preschool in September. It has been a great match for her, and she is truly loving her experience. She turned 3 shortly thereafter, and continually amazes us with her smarts, curiosity, social nature, and ability to remember absolutely everything.

-We moved to a different house in November, committing to what we feel will be a long-term residence for us. We love the outdoor space, the house, and the thought of all the memories we hope to make here. After all these years of moving somewhere every 4 years or so, we find it a bit strange, yet so wonderful, to intentionally attempt to put some roots down. 

-I am settling into the dance of mothering two children. I didn't realize how "easy" I had it with "just one child", and I have the utmost respect for mothers of more than two kids! It is hard, it is crazy, it is time consuming, it is self-sacrificing, but it is wonderful. I realized today that it was exactly two years ago that I walked out of the working world, and into that of a stay-at-home-mom. It has gone so fast. Though I continue to keep my OT license, and intend to work again someday, I am pretty comfortable where I am for now. I am grateful for the opportunity to be home with my girls, and though I am often guilty of griping about the demands of the 24/7 job, I really do love it. I have developed wonderful friendships with other moms, find myself busier than ever with our activities, and enjoy the routine that we have made.

I really am grateful for each experience (both the ups and downs) of this last year, and am deeply humbled by the blessings we have been given. I look forward to watching our girls grow and change, and to the adventures we will have as a family in the coming year.

Half A Year

Miss Adrienne Elizabeth is now 6 months old! Time does fly when you are having fun, and we really are enjoying her. How is it possible to not enjoy this face and radiant smile??

 Adrienne's development is exploding as she acquires new skills almost daily. She is so close to crawling. She scoots easily (and quickly) on her belly, and is beginning to get up on her hands and knees. As soon as she figures out how to get her left hand flat on the floor (instead of tucked under her arm), she will take off. Her determination and excitement about moving towards a desired object reminds me so much of Jillian. She is an absolute squirmy worm when sitting on my lap these days, and tries to dive toward whatever object catches her eye. We certainly seem to make active, persistent girls in this family! Adrienne is starting to sit alone briefly, but she usually topples over quickly in an attempt to reach an object, or get on her belly to scoot across the room. She loves to be upright, and if you leave her lying on her back, she does her best to sit straight up and assumes a boat pose in her attempt to do so. I've yet to capture that famous Adrienne posture in a picture yet, but I can assure you she does it so often that she has rock hard abs. She'd be great at Pilates!
Adrienne is a master at blowing raspberries, and she is making several new sounds. I hear lots of "goo", "oooh", and tons of high-pitched squealing. She thinks Jillian is hilarious, and instantly bursts into a fit of laughter when she spots her in the room.
Adrienne loves to eat rice cereal, and to date we've also tried oat cereal (which she loves just as much as rice), and carrots, which were met with uncertainty when she tried them on Christmas day.

Adrienne has two teeth (bottom front), and is working on more. At least I hope she is working on more, as that is what I continue to blame her inability to sleep through the night on (what happened to the 6-8 hrs she was giving me at 8 weeks old?!?). It is common for her to get up 2-4 times between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. She has many of the classic teething symptoms, just as she did when the first two came in, only now that she actually has teeth, she likes to use them. On me. While she is nursing. She is quite the little vampire, and I am doing my best to stop that behavior as soon as possible! I am happy to report, however, that we finally seem to be establishing a consistent two-nap-per-day routine, and those naps usually occur around 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Adrienne celebrated her big half-birthday with a trip to the pediatrician that included 4 shots (repeated doses of the 2-month vaccines, plus a flu shot). She weighed in at 16 lbs even (53%), and was 27" whopping inches long (88%). Her head circumference is in the 73rd percentile. Dr. V. was quite impressed with her motor abilities, and deemed her to be a very healthy 6 month old.
Though I never want the girls to think we are constantly comparing them, it is very interesting to me to look at pictures of them at the same ages, reflect on when Jillian met the milestones that Adrienne is meeting, etc. I am truly fascinated by both their similarities and differences, and the unique individuals that they are. So, in keeping with tradition, I plopped an adorable headband on the sweet little head of my youngest babe and snapped this photo this morning

Afterwards, I couldn't help but think that I was definitely staring at a beautiful little baby who looks as though she is definitely related to another beautiful 6 month old baby I once knew....

Adrienne, you are so full of sunshine that you can light up our whole family. You are so snuggly, so sweet, so responsive and engaging, and definitely one smart cookie. You are busy, curious, and persistent, yet somehow patient and willing to go with the flow. You are definitely a momma's girl, and I love that about you (ok, except maybe at 2 a.m.....). It is so fun to watch you change every single day. What a gift you are!

Celebrating Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Matt had 5 consecutive days off, which is by far more time than he's had off around the holiday for the last 10 years. I hope it's not another 10 years before that happens again. Christmas was also extra special because it was Adrienne's first. Though she will not remember it, we all will remember her sweet, smiling face and excited interest in the wrapping paper. Jillian enjoyed the role of opening all of Adrienne's presents for her, and I imagine that Adrienne will not let that be the case next year!
Since we intended to head to Grammy and Grandad's house for the long weekend, we made a call to Santa and asked him to visit our house a couple of days early. Luckily, he had the time and ability to make that happen. Jillian was very excited about preparing cookies and milk for him, so we made some last minute chocolate chip cookies (we won't discuss the fact that I did absolutely zero holiday baking this year...). Jillian insisted that his reindeer needed some pretzels, so we left those as well.

Matt and I caught a glimpse of Santa's work before we headed to bed late that night. There is something so peaceful and magical about a lit-up tree, with presents waiting to be discovered by excited children the next morning.

Jillian woke to find that Santa and his reindeer left a bit of a mess, and didn't quite finish their snack, so she took it upon herself to do so while she waited for Adrienne to get up and join her for present-opening.

First, the girls opened their stockings. Jillian took an unconventional approach by dumping the contents of hers on the floor, while Adrienne looked a bit confused as to what to do when presented with hers.

The rest of the morning was spent opening presents and trying them out. I suppose it is typical for a 3 year old to be upset that the presents are gone and ask for more, but in any case, we need to work on instilling a sense of gratitude and thankfulness.

Adrienne sporting her new headband and enjoying her toy that converts to one she will walk and push--probably sooner than I am ready for!

Princess Jillian tries on her new ball gown, complete with hoop skirt

The finishing touches--tiara and first pair of earrings (clip ons!)

J kept asking for a Nutcracker. I do believe she felt some sort of remorse for breaking mine earlier in the month

Jillian's first bike. 

 We spent the remainder of the day shopping for new suits for Matt, and trying to enjoy a very crazy lunch out with the girls. No naps meant an extra cup of afternoon coffee for Mom and Dad. We packed and loaded up the car to leave first thing Friday morning for Des Moines. We successfully pulled out of the driveway just before 8 a.m., and drove all the way without stopping. Jillian busied herself with the DVD player, and Adrienne slept the entire time. Matt and I got to drink our coffee in peace and enjoy uninterrupted conversation for 200 miles. Unprecedented!
Since we were the first to arrive at Grammy and Grandad's, we enjoyed their full attention. Matt and I promptly ran off to do more shopping (sans kids), and then Jillian, Matt, and Grandad went swimming at their local rec center upon our return. Jillian did her best to wait up for the arrival of her cousin, Jack, but she just couldn't resist catching some zzzz's on Grandad's lap. Seeing the two of them cozied up together brought back fond memories of snuggling on my Grandad's lap.

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying time together, exchanging gifts, decorating cookies, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Santa Baby on her first Christmas!

A bit of the Christmas morning chaos

Adrienne had an affinity for the paper

Sleeping Beauty in costume

Daughters 1, 2, & 3 in the obligatory Christmas pajamas

A mom and her girls

Matt taunting me with (crazy!) thoughts of a third child using J's Curious George doll

A rare photo of Ma and Pa Howe

The Widmers

Mr and Mrs Leach

The lovebirds who began this silly tribe

Jack tries his hand at cookie decorating, I mean tasting

Jillian worked so hard on her first cookie

Jack getting the idea

Taking a taste

Individual birthday cakes for our Baby Jesus celebration...German chocolate with chocolate ice cream, toasted coconut, pecans, and homemade caramel sauce. Grammy knows how to do it right!

I think the late nights and all the excitement finally caught up to Jillian, because I did see this in the backseat on the way home.

We turned into our neighborhood just as the sun was setting. It was such a beautiful sight that I had to capture it. (Again, I think I'm getting a bit fond of living a bit out of town...still shocked about that)

But all good things must come to an end, and they did in my laundry room. After all was unpacked, I entered this room of doom.

It was a small price to pay for a wonderful holiday weekend filled with family, and new memories made with our children.

Laughter

Little Adrienne has quite the infectious laugh. I challenge you to listen and try not to join her. It. is. impossible.

Aunt Angela's Visit

Aunt Angela came to visit the weekend of December 10th, and she brought friends Felicia and Mariana with her. It was her first time meeting Adrienne, and I think they both enjoyed that.

Felicia got in on some of Adrienne's infamous snuggles, too...

Despite the age difference, Jillian and Mariana (6) played quite nicely together. They made a couple of ornaments and spent some time outside sledding with Matt.

Aunt Angela loves to take pictures, and she got some great ones of the girls (and some silly ones of Matt) over the course of the weekend.

I love this cool picture she took of our living room windows in the middle of the night. You can really see how much a blanket of snow and a full moon illuminates the darkness. It really does look like daytime. If you look closely, you can even see some stars. (As a side note, I am surprised at how much I am enjoying the beauty of living in "the country").

Thanks for making the long trek, ladies! We so enjoyed our time with you.