THREE!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Audrey Jane!!!  I'm not gonna lie, I'm having a little trouble with you being THREE.  Holy cow that seems old for my baby girl.  But I'm pretty sure you wish you were twice as old as that.  You don't really act 3 (well, except for the temper tantrum, spends lots of time in time out for not listening and biting your brother part), as you want to keep up with all the older kids no matter what.  You are a born leader and so independent.  Wicked smart.  You have definite opinions - you keep us cracking up by telling us when you don't like our clothes or your own clothes.  I have to take my 3 year old shopping to help me dress myself - Lord help me when you're 13.  And while you definitely have your moments, you are also my cuddler - so affectionate, such a good little mommy to all your baby dolls.  You have a special place in our family because you get to be the little sister and the big sister.  And you have a special place in our hearts, Lady Jane.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

3 MONTHS

This is going WAY too quickly.....

Christmas 2013

We got Emmeline home from the hospital just in time for her first Christmas.  In short, we were exhausted, but feeling so very blessed this year.  We spent Christmas Eve at home with the Browns and then after opening gifts from Santa on Christmas morning we packed up and headed north to spend a few days with the Vandenbergs.  A beautiful holiday season - so magical through the eyes of small children!!

We took in several holiday lights shows this year, including a walk through the Botanical Gardens

 Isaac's school had their fabulous Christmas concert, he's front and center

Emmeline's First Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Carefully selecting the cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer - Molly approves

Don't you just love Christmas Jammies?

 Christmas in WI

JOY!!

So this happened.

This is the second time I've had pictures to share but couldn't quite bring myself to post them until we were through the woods.  The first was when Audrey at 18months old broke her nose.  If I had any idea how to link you to that post in August of 2012 I would!  

The second happened the weekend before Christmas when at the tender age of 6 weeks our little Emme was hospitalized.  Isaac and Audrey generously gave her RSV for Christmas.  :(  In kids of their age its just a little cold virus.  In babies of Em's age, its very serious.  I consider myself a pretty strong gal.  And Jeff is certainly usually pretty ex-emotion when it comes to health related stuff around here.  But this one rocked us.  Both of us.  There's just something about your tiny little baby in that big hospital crib with that big IV and all those monitors beeping that gets you to your core.  Probably didn't help that it was days before her very first Christmas and we went from the extra "high" of the season to such a dramatic low.  Thank God she held her own through it and we got to bring her home in time for Christmas.  She remained sick for another week or so, but she's back now.  Smiling and giggling and cooing up a storm - thankfully with no memories of the ordeal to carry.  We'll save those for mommy and daddy who will never, ever forget.

2 Months

Our munchkin is 2 months old already!  She weighed in at 12lbs 4oz at her 2 month well baby check-up today, which is 2 pounds less than her brother (13lbs 15oz) and sister (14lbs 4oz) were at this point. Our littlest baby!!

Snow Day

We're stuck inside for the second day in a row. It's the coldest temperatures in a generation around here, following 10 inches of record-breaking snow. This would be no big deal in Wisconsin, but here there's no equipment to deal with it and people have no idea what to do with this kind of cold. So the whole city is shut down. I'm running out of things to do to keep everyone from killing each other. And wouldn't you know we just got the call that school is out again tomorrow. Lord help me. It's Snowmageddon.