Another Christmas

Not really sure I have a lot to write about at this moment, but I have a little insomnia so I thought I'd throw a few pictures up of our most recent Christmas. Yes, we had more than one. JR's family came up this past weekend so we could exchange. It was a really great time (and the 2nd time I got to host a holiday!) The kids made out like bandits again. JR got a Keurig coffee maker that he is in love with, and my new sister in law and I are going to see The Lion King!! I'm so excited.

Here are those pictures I was talking about.

Aaron's a little happy!

Ben was very excited to see that there were more presents under the tree when he woke up.

Catchin' Up

Finally! I have a minute to sit down and record a few moments of the last few months. Of course,it's because I have insomnia and it's 3:30 AM! Oh well.

So yes, my computer had a virus, and thought it was taken care of. Then shortly before Thanksgiving I was having problems again. It ended up that I really couldn't use it, so I bought a new one right after Christmas. It has a webcam, which I haven't tried out yet. I'm excited to try out Skype and be able to talk to my mom and have her see the kids. That's one big reason I haven't been able to blog. So here are the highlights of the last few months....

* Aaron was Dedicated back in October. My mom and Ron came down, and J.R.'s family came up as well. We had a small party afterwards with some friends from church.

* While my parents were here we went to Boo at the Zoo. Ben also wore his costume at school, and we went trick or treating for the first time! Aaron was a monkey and Ben was Thomas the Train.

* Thanksgiving was spent at the beach. The weekend before, J.R.'s brother was married so J.R. and Aaron spent the week, while Ben and I came back up for school/work. We went to see Santa, but the kids were both had double ear infections so we didn't do the tram ride to see the lights.

* Aaron had a checkup after Thanksgiving. The doctor couldn't believe how great he was doing. He pretty much wanted to stand right after he learned to sit. Now he's crawling up a storm, cruising and just starting to stand on his own. He thought he'd walk before he'd crawl, but he'll still only take 2-3 steps when you hold his hands and let him walk.

* Ben loved the Christmas lights. On our way home from work I would point out houses to look at. On our way home from Life Group we would drive up and down a few streets so he could see all the "eyes".

* J.R. had his Gallbladder removed in Dec. We had previously made two trips to the ER, and he recovered for 2-3 weeks. He was sick for a while, but now he is doing great.

* We went to Mass for Christmas. Santa was very good to the boys, and to J.R. and I. We barely had enough room for all our new things. My dad and Kathy came down as well, so we got to see them too. It's the first time Kathy has seen Ben since last summer, and the first time she's seen Aaron. My dad had come to visit us when we went up in June. It was great to see them. We came back to Philly for New Year's, and on New Year's Day, we went to the Mummer's Parade. Ben was a little overwhelmed, I think, and Aaron was just really cold. We stayed only long enough to say we went.

* Ben has a Race Car Bed now! He loves it. The first night we set it up he slept all night in it. He hasn't really since, but he will either start off in it, or after I read books to him, we'll go in there to sleep. So, he's no longer falling asleep in our bed. If he wakes up, I'll take him into my bed, then move him (when I can, sometimes he just doesn't sleep heavily enough) back. One thing at a time, I guess.

* Aaron is still a great sleeper, but once in a while, he'll wake up. And when he does, he's up. The hard thing about the boys sleeping in the same room is that we are afraid one will wake up the other.

* Aaron is eating great. He's more of a fan of oatmeal cereal than rice, and loves squash. He's also eating sweet potatoes, peas, and green beans and we are finally introducing bananas, apples and pears a little more. We've been making all the veggies and bananas ourselves. He's also eating small cooked carrots, peas and puffs as finger foods.

* Ben is at day care only 2 day a week now. J.R.'s unemployment ran out, and now his latest extension is a bit different and he's not getting paid as regularly. Things are really tight and a huge stress, but it's working out so far. God isn't going to let us down.

* The in-laws are coming this weekend so we can do Christmas with them. J.R. and I are both excited. We all swapped names for a gift exchange with his parents and Steve and Kim, so everyone, including Kyle, will be here. Our tree looks like it needs to be recycled back to nature, but we are willing it to live for just a few more days!

* I've been made chair of the Staff Development Team at work. I'm very excited. I thought it would be an easy thing since I'm really interested in it, but it's a bit more challenging than I thought. Not in a bad way though. It's a good challenge that will help me to grow professionally as well. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to do this. We've put on one program so far, and Thursday is the big annual January workshop that is mandatory for all staff. I pray it goes well.

I think those are some of the highlights. Hopefully I can get on here a bit more often now!