Paige visits

Aunt Paige came to visit - to meet Asher and to help out with our transition to a working mom. It was awesome to have her here. We didn't do much do to the craziness of a first week at work, but we did hit our favorite eats including DK diner for breakfast (morning - just got out of bed hair/faces).

Check out the size of those apple fritters:

Paige worked her magic with the kids and often had a sleeping (YAY!) baby in her arms.

We finally got some snow. C was so excited that she had to put all her snow clothes on to go play in it. That lasted about 15 minutes as we gathered all the snow we could to make a snow man:

Paige is fabulous. We wish we could have her here full time but alas she has her own life...

We chose a daycare over in-home babysitter this time around for the kids for a few reasons, the biggest one is that Cadie really enjoys school and being with other kids. We really feel blessed to have a new day care open up close to us that is nut-free (big relief) and just felt right. The kids have been there one work week now (3 full days) and they are doing great. C loves her teachers and doesn't want to leave at the end of the day and Asher doesn't know any different. Drop-offs in the morning have been tough for me though. Here is C on her first day of "new school."

Work days are long - the whole family is out of the house by 7:30 and we get home around 5:30. We are ALL ready for bed shortly after. I'm in need of good dinner ideas for these days - something fast that the 4 year old will eat, and did I mention that it needs to be nut, dairy and soy free? 

  

For the Grandparents

Kid update:
Asher had his 4 month appointment this week. Stats: 26 in (80%, same as C at this age), 14 lb. 13 oz. (40%, 1 lb. 2 oz. LIGHTER than miss C at this age).

We believe he is allergic to cow's milk and soy - most of his symptoms have gone away or been reduced since I have stopped eating soy, but we have had a few bad days. Hopefully they were because of hidden milk/soy and I won't need to eliminate any other foods. He will be tested again at 12 months, we hope he will grow out of this. Still a really mellow and happy kid despite all the stomach/digestion and skin issues.
He loves sticking as many fingers in his mouth as possible. Still a good eater, not a good sleeper.

Cadie loves him to pieces which is not always a good thing, but is a great big sister. And here is what happens when miss independence gets dressed by herself. "But mom, they match! See, they all have stripes."

Christmas photos

Well- I tried to get a good family photo but either they were not focused right or one of us was doing something strange. I did, however, document some real sibling love. Hope you enjoy as much as I did while I was snapping away (trying not to laugh too hard):

Lucky Thirteen!

13 years! Can you believe it has taken me that long to scan in one of our wedding photos? Yes, we were married so long ago that digital pictures were not a common thing.

Married even before color photographs :) If you think we look young, you should see the pictures of my siblings in our wedding album - Paige was just a pre-teen.
I just have to say that I am one spectacularly lucky lady. Eric was and is still the man of my dreams.