Making Valentines

We decided to make our valentines this year.  Vera was adamant on having heart valentines, so after some Pinterest searching, we came up with an idea she was happy with.

After preschool, I took her to the library to cut out the hearts on the Ellison.  It saved a lot of cutting time for mom and dad, and Vera thought it was cool.  She came with me to Kroger to pick out the applesauce pouches.  Then we went to work one evening putting everything together.

Mom cut, dad glued, Vera signed her name, and dad helped her punch holes.  Then mom and dad tied the hearts to the applesauce.  Vera was excited to bring them to preschool for her friends.

We had lots of extra applesauce, so we made some valentines for our cousins.  Vera wrote all of her cousins' names by herself and then signed her own name on them.  She did a great job.  I had to help her with the "K" in Blake because she said those are so hard.  But all of the other letters she did on her own.  I am amazed at how well she does at writing.

We also made dad a valentine surprise.  When we went to Kroger, Vera wanted to buy a candy bar bouquet for dad, but they were kind of expensive, so I told her we'd make one.  We bought the Reese's Cups and then put it all together on our vacation day.  It turned out cute.

Not quite finished.  Vera was excited to give dad the surprise.

The kids got helium balloons and conversation hearts from mom & dad for Valentine's Day.  Vinners giggled and giggled when he saw his balloon for the first time.

I love this picture, especially of Annie.  :)  The floating balloons definitely catch her eye.

As a family, we enjoyed chocolate fondue to celebrate Valentine's Day.  We went to a fondue party a few weekends ago, and I found a chocolate fountain on the clearance at Walmart.  Vera thought it was awesome and has been asking to do it again.  We had some leftover ingredients, so I decided it'd be a fun valentine treat.

Vera's fondue motto: the more chocolate, the better!
We had cream puffs, graham crackers and marshmallows.  Vera was sad that the strawberries were gone, and dad was sad that we didn't have rice krispy treats.
Vera asked if we could have an ice cream chocolate fountain this summer.  Hmm...might have to do some research on that.  It does sound yummy!
Dad asked for the next one to be a cheese fountain with nachos, soft pretzels and bread.  That sounds yummy, too!

Vinners did not participate, but he did eat cream puffs and liked them a whole lot!

And baby Annie slept through the whole thing.  She rarely falls asleep in her seat while we eat, but I think the monotone sound of the fountain lulled her right to sleep.

Side note:  On Valentine's Day last year, we moved into our new house.  It was a white-out blizzard that day.  Who could forget!?  Our first year in our new house went by quickly; it definitely feels like home! :)

Family Events

Though Old Man Winter is here, we have managed to get out of the house with our kids on the weekends for a few family events.

Dylan had his birthday party at the bowling alley at the end of January.  I thought for sure Vince would be a liability the entire time we were there, but he was actually very good.  He ate lots of snacks and sat on the step to watch.  He didn't run around nearly as much as I'd thought he would.

He even helped bowl once or twice.

Vera Lou did a good job of rolling the ball by herself.  She had fun!

And Annie Pie slept in her seat for quite a while...

We traveled to Findlay for Cohen's 1st Birthday at the beginning of February.  I don't have any pictures from the actual party, but the kids had fun playing with their cousins.  I sat in the back with the kids for the trip, and everyone was really good.  The party was so good that the kids were asleep before we were on the interstate to come home.

And we had Abby and Andy's wedding the following weekend.  The weather was bitterly cold, but the day was very pretty.  We decided to leave the younger two behind at home, but Vera had a fun day of playing and dancing at the wedding.  I didn't take many pictures that day either, but here's Vera with her grandma at Brucken's after the wedding mass.  

Vince is 18 Months

Vince sure is something else!  We joke that he's kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  One hour he is so sweet, so content and so good.  The next hour (or minute!) he's squealing, grumpy and throwing a fit.  Adam says he turns into a pumpkin in the blink of an eye.  When he's in pumpkin-mode, we have to try a few dozen things to make him happy.  Sometimes we find out what he wants and other times it's a lost cause.  He can really test our patience when he's a pumpkin.  In his defense, he usually turns into a pumpkin when he's tired.

He still says no words consistently.  He communicates exclusively by pointing, grunting and squealing.  We've figured out his language fairly well.  Maybe he doesn't talk because he doesn't need to.  Vera talks for him or else he gets what he wants with the communication techniques he has.  If we ask him, he can say something that sounds like "please."  Sometimes he shakes his head yes/no, but that's rare.  Occasionally he will try to say "Annie" or "Vera" and he can say "mama" while whining for something he wants.  He will say "football" and during the Super Bowl, we got him to say "touchdown" while giving the touchdown signal.  haha  

To document some of his communication, he will point to his diaper when he wants it changed.  He loves Paw Patrol right now, so he refers to that as "Paw."  It's the only show he likes to sit and watch regularly, which is a godsend when he turns into a Pumpkin.  We've recorded plenty of Paw Patrol episodes so we have them anytime they're needed.  He brings us the remote when the commercials come on so we can fast forward through them.  What a spoiled kid!  When I pick him up from Patty's, he doesn't tell anyone bye until we're walking to the car or inside the car.  Then he waves bye or says "buh bye."  I usually put him in the car first, and as I'm buckling him in, he points to Annie's spot in the car as if he's saying, "Don't forget about Annie!"

Do you see his little head laying down watching TV?  He lays so nicely when he watches Paw Patrol.  Honestly, it's good for him to sit and relax for a bit.  He is a busy, on-the-go kid all day long!

Likes to be covered up when laying down.  (Oh, and loves to mess with the remote buttons, too!)

Believe it or not, he is watching Wheel of Fortune here.  He didn't move for at least 10 minutes.

He has some pretty hilarious body language and gestures.  When he wants to say "Shhhhh!"  he puts his finger to his lips and blows, as if he's blowing out candles.  :)  When he wants to blow on his food to cool it down, he nearly rests his lips on his plate and blows quick, short breaths of air on his food.  When we wipe his nose, he gives the "raspberry" noise as we wipe his nose to mimic what it sounds like to blow your nose.  He thinks it's fun to play peek-a-boo, and I just love his little hands covering his face.  Super cute!  When he has a stinky diaper and we tell him to hold his nose, he puts his finger under his nose as if he's holding in a sneeze.  He likes to brush his teeth and comb his hair, but he hates to have his hair washed in the tub.  He also refuses to wear a bib.  And, he cannot stand to have his sleeves or pant legs pushed up.  It drives him crazy!  He's doing a good job at using a fork and spoon.  When he wants to, he can poke his food with a fork and feed himself.  He also does well with a spoon.  I can say with confidence that he's going to be a lefty.

He knows where his hair, belly, eyes and ears are.  He doesn't have much interest in learning any other body parts.  Sometimes he'll tell us what a cow and puppy say and he knows he's 1 year old.  Beyond that, he's not too interested in our puppet-like questions.  

He's definitely getting taller.  His pants aren't quite as long on him as they were at the beginning of winter.

Often times, he gives us an ornery grin without showing his teeth.  It has "I am rotten." written all over it.  Speaking of his orneriness, he knows how to open the dishwasher, even when it's latched.  He thinks it's great fun to empty what's inside.  It's pretty gross (and annoying) to find him playing with dirty dishes.  He eats all kinds of food off of the floor.  If he finds a random snack, he pops it in his mouth, even if it's a day or two old.  Yucky!  One day, he spilled his snack bowl on the floor in the kitchen.  I told him to pick them up, and he promptly laid down on his belly and ate all of the snacks by picking them up with his mouth only.

When it comes to snacks, the boy MUST have a snack each day after school.  Before I can get Vera & Annie in the house or any of the other paraphernalia from the day, he has to have a snack in hand.  I have tried to make him wait 5 minutes, and it's not worth it.  He has a total meltdown while hanging on the pantry door or refrigerator.  So, I make him sit down on a blanket in the living room and eat his snack while I get everyone inside and settled.  

He likes to play with his Paw Patrol pups.  He plays really nicely with Vera's old baby.  He loves giving the baby her pacifier and bottle.  When baby goes to sleep, he gives us the "Shh!" gesture.  haha  He likes to play with his farm animals.  When they're hungry, he feeds them with one of Vera's play spoons from her kitchen.  So cute!  But, his ultimate favorite thing is to read books.  He will bring us book after book and sit on our lap and listen to the story, but only when he's in the mood.  His favorite books are My Truck is Stuck, Honk Honk Beep Beep!, and the Tractor book.  If he doesn't want to read the books, he's especially good at standing on the stool and clearing the bookshelves.  Vera's bedroom floor is regularly covered with books, thanks to Vin.

It's hard to see, but he's feeding the cows here with the spoon.

The poor child has had to fight for every. single. tooth.  It seems like he gets several at a time and they're mean when they come in.  He gets terrible diarrhea, diaper rash, fever, runny nose, grumpy, and loss of appetite when he teethes, which usually lasts for a few days; however, it feels like eternity for his mom and dad.  

Vinners really is a good kid, but he sure has his moments when he gives us a run for our money....kind of like when he was a little baby.  We're just used to it.  That's our Vince and we love him no matter what!

Likes to take a bath.  Hates to take his shoes off to get in the tub.  Hates having his hair washed.  Hates getting dressed.  Likes Olaf.  Just another day with Vinners.

Q + A with Vera

Recently, someone posted on Facebook a list of questions to ask your child without any prompting.   I thought I should document Vera's answers.

1.  What is something I always say to you?
Love you!

2.  What makes me happy?
When I make good choices

3.  What makes me sad?
When I make bad choices.

4.  How do I make you laugh?
You teach Vince funny things

5.  What was I like as a child?
You played with Grandma Otte

6.  How old am I?
33

7.  How tall am I?
100 ounces

8.  What is my favorite thing to do?
Clean up the basement

9.  What do I do when you're not around?
Have fun.

10.  What am I really good at?
Working like a mom

11.  What am I not very good at?
I don't know.

12.  What do I do for a job?
Teacher

13.  What is my favorite food?
Salad

14.  What do you enjoy doing with me?
Playing

Vera has physically grown in the last months.  She's definitely taller; she can reach almost anything on the counter top.  Her pants aren't too short yet, but I can tell her legs are getting longer.  She's such a great helper.  I feel bad because she's often our "gopher" running to get things for us.  She's awesome at entertaining Annie and helping Vince when he's squealing.  She can buckle herself into her car seat, which is a huge help!  She also knows how to zip her coat, thanks to her awesome teachers at school.  Though she doesn't like it, she can get herself completely dressed on her own.  She's awfully pokey, so it's best if someone is around to guide her and keep her on task.

Here is Vera on Wacky Wednesday at preschool.  We had some wackier clothes picked out, but Vera decided she didn't want to wear them at the last minute.  She was excited about the pigtails and tall socks.

I am so amazed at Vera's academic growth since September.  At the beginning of preschool her handwriting and coloring were very rigid.  She could write her name, but it was fast and reckless.  She wasn't able to write many other letters.  Now, she spends a lot of time writing the names of everyone in our family on every piece of paper she gets her hands on.  She can also write our last name and the names of some of her friends.  She's starting to sound out words and try to write them herself.   Preschool has been so good for her!  I can't believe how quickly she's learned to do so much!

Her coloring has improved so much!  She can stay in the lines, and she colors slowly and more carefully. 

She still has a lot of problems with reversals, though developmentally, it's very normal.  Notice the "d" in Adam's name is backwards as well as the "P" in Pearson.  She often writes the "a" in Vera backwards.  Her name usually looks like Verp.  haha

In the mornings before walking down to preschool, we always stop at my classroom so I can drop off my bags.  Almost everyday, Vera draws something on my board while she waits.  One day, she wrote her name with a smiley face.  As my students came into the room that morning, they saw her name on the board, and all of the girls wrote their names near Vera's with a smiley face.  (They're a great group of kids!)  When Vera came back after preschool and saw it, she was thrilled.  It was really sweet of my students to do that for her.  She thought it was awesome!  I wish I would've taken a picture.  I kept it up for several days because it was so cute, and I was sad to erase it!

Vera is not the least bit shy.  When I take her to the daycare at preschool, she often has to play with kids that aren't in her preschool class.  She has no problem sitting down and playing with them. Her teachers tell us that she's very well-behaved at school, though I can imagine that her bossiness shines through from time to time.

 Some of the high school teachers gather in one classroom before school starts.  They asked to have Vera stop to say good morning to them everyday because they get a kick out of her.  When I made Vera stop in the doorway and say hello for the first time, she was nervous and bashful, but she did say good morning.  They love having her stop by every morning!

Vera is a master at playing pretend and talking to herself.  I can remember doing the same things as a kid.  She will sit and play pretend for hours.  Recently she's enjoyed sitting at the table playing with her Legos.  She also likes to pretend she's at preschool.  Sometimes she sits in her bed and pretends she's reading books to her class.

She's still a TV nerd.  She likes to watch shows on her new tablet she got for Christmas.  I'm still convinced she'd watch TV all day long if we'd let her.

The latest form of entertainment in the Pearson household is music.  Adam got a Bluetooth speaker for Christmas, so we spent a lot of time listing to Pandora & YouTube.  Vera has caught on to the lyrics of lots of songs.  Her favorites are Uptown Funk, Sugar, House Party, & Shut Up and Dance.  It's hilarious to listen to her sing and invent words when she doesn't quite know the lyrics.

The Little Miss sure is growing up; we are proud of her and the person she's becoming.  We'll savor her innocence and the little girl in her for as long as we can...

A Birthday and A Baptism

During the month of November & December, the Otte family saw each other every weekend.  We had Annie's baptism, Scarlett's birthday party, Cohen's baptism, & the extended Otte family Christmas party all on consecutive weekends.  It was fun, but also busy!  

At Scarlett's birthday party, it was decided to take a picture of all the kids.  It's a big undertaking, and I love everything about the outtakes.  These are way, way better than the ones where everyone's happy and looking at the camera.

At the beginning of December, we traveled to Findlay for Cohen's baptism.  He had a nice baptism at a beautiful church.  The party afterward was fun, too!  

 The baptismal font was at the entrance of the church in a gathering area.  It was beautiful!  We stood around the font for the baptism, so we had to corral the little ones from taking off.  All Vin wanted to do was run or eat snacks.  Papaw tried to hide the snacks, and of course he was unsuccessful.  I had Vin lost for a few minutes, and honestly I felt pretty panicked.  The church was huge, there were tons of places for him to hide, and I was not familiar with the building at all.  I found him hiding behind one of the entrance doors with a big, ornery grin!

Out with the Old, In with the New...

2015 was a really good year.  For our family, the highlights were moving to our new house (on Valentine's Day in a white-out blizzard) and welcoming sweet baby Annie to our family.  I was so fortunate to stay home for 12 weeks of maternity leave.  I had an awesome sub, and from what I gather, things at school went very, very well.

And now, as we turn to 2016, I return to work.  Maternity leave is over.  It's so bittersweet.  I am really excited to go back and see my coworkers and have adult interaction.  A new routine will be good for us, though I know it will present many challenges as well.  But, like all working moms, it's going to be tough to leave my sweet babe with a babysitter and accept that my special time with her has come to an end.

I had a great maternity leave.  The fall weather was perfect.  We had so many sunshiny days that lifted my spirits when I was sleep deprived or overwhelmed.  Warmer days made it easier to get out, even just to run into town, so I didn't go stir crazy in the early weeks.  As I reflect on the conclusion of my maternity leave and the start of a new year, I find myself thinking about how much has changed in 3 months.  The first days and weeks at home were not easy.  I couldn't have done it without the help from our parents, and of course Adam.  He deserves a medal for balancing a chaotic home life with working 8-10 hour days.

Eventually I accepted the challenge of taking Vera to preschool and Vin to Patty's on my own.  I had so many mornings of yelling and frustration, which led to deep guilt for yelling and getting frustrated.  But, I learned what worked.  If we were to get Vera to preschool on time, I had to be ready before anyone woke up.  Non negotiable.  It was so hard to make myself get up and get going some mornings when I'd just settled into restful sleep.  Some mornings I pumped, in the bathroom, as I dried my hair and I got ready.  If didn't have to nurse Anne after the older 2 were awake and trying to get ready, it saved my sanity.  Chaos prevention.  It was faster and more efficient to feed a bottle.

Honestly, the physical dropping off of Vera and Vin was the easy part of the morning.  I could handle all 3 at preschool.  The breakfast, getting dressed, fixing hair, putting on shoes, remembering school necessities, and getting out the door was the hard part.  More than once, I meant to pack Vera's lunch and completely forgot.  Thank goodness we kept diapers and wipes at Patty's house.  A diaper bag was one less thing to get ready and grab as we left the house each day.

These days, I won't say it's easy, but it's much easier.  Anne is more predictable.  Vin is easy to get ready (provided he doesn't make a huge mess with his breakfast.)  Vera is always the variable.  She can be so good some mornings.  Other days she's quite pokey and absentminded; she needs constant prodding as she gets ready.

Maternity leave was also a time for me to get a few things done around home.  I don't know how I would've been ready for Christmas if I were working.  I was able to do a few small projects, catch up on errands and my to-do list.  The older 2 were gone almost every day to the babysitter, so I was able to keep the house together and give Anne all of my time and attention.  When the older 2 came home at the end of the work day, I was ready for them to be home and enjoyed their company in the evenings, even though our evenings were pretty crazy!

The last two weeks, I've had everyone at home everyday.  I'm glad for that.  We've had a care-free and unstructured end to maternity leave.  It's nice to not have to leave the house in the mornings.  We can sleep in, take our time getting dressed, and enjoy our days at home.  The kids and I have had time to really play with their Christmas toys.

A festive breakfast

Annie Girl is such a good baby.  She is happy, predictable and so fun.  She smiles and coos generously, and I just love it.  Lately she's been sleeping through the night more consistently as long as she's swaddled tight.  She takes a bottle really well.  It's not stressful to feed her or get her to sleep.  And surprisingly, she does have a schedule despite the hustle and bustle of the recent holidays.  All of these things make me feel at ease as I return to work.

This was my last day at home alone with Anne before Christmas.  My Instagram caption said,"Last day of maternity leave with just this girl and I.  Enjoying my favorite things today: coffee and shopping online next to the glow of the Christmas tree, holding my baby while she naps and listening to the rain outside. #thebestdays."  

So, here's to a new year and a new beginning for our family.  Let's do this.  After all, if it is totally overwhelming and chaotic, it's only 6 months until summer break!  :)

Happy New Year, from my crew...

Christmas 2015

We had a great Christmas this year.  The best part, by far, was watching the kids' excitement and wonder as they experienced the magic of the season.  It was also special because it was baby Anne's first Christmas.  I am sad because we didn't get a picture with her and Santa this year.  I was sure we'd make it to see Santa again after the Hometown Christmas, and we just never did.  So sorry, little girl, that you don't have a picture.  #momfail

Our holiday parties began a few weeks before Christmas with the extended Otte family at Briarwood.  It didn't feel like Christmas that day; the temperature was in the mid 60s.  Vera was so excited to rip open the first gifts of the Christmas season, so much so that she ripped open Vince's gift before anyone even realized that she had Vince's gift.  We had to immediately talk to her about only opening gifts with her name on them and lay out a few gift-opening rules.

Here she is "helping" Vin open his present.

All of the Otte grandkids received matching pajamas.  Little Annie is "Santa" and everyone else are the "elves."  Cute!

Chippy the Elf revisited our house this year.  Vera was a little nervous that he wouldn't know where to find us since we're at a new house this Christmas.  Finally, he showed up when St. Nick stopped by to fill our stockings.  The kids enjoyed finding Chippy each day.  Even Vinners got excited to find him each morning and would point and squeal when they finally discovered him each day.  We had one mishap with the elf this year.  He was hanging from the ceiling fan in our living room.  The kids and Adam were having a dance party one evening.  Chippy got bumped, and down he fell.  Vera completely freaked.  She was crying hysterically because dad touched Chippy.  Quickly, I looked up on my phone how to give the elf his magic back.  We sprinkled some red glitter on him before we went to bed, and when we woke up the next morning, he was in a new spot.  He also left a note telling us that Santa gave him all of his magic back.  Schew!

Vera & Vin enjoyed a few of Chippy's silly antics too.  Here's where we found Chippy on the last day at our house...
Vera was curious over and over again as to how Chippy ended up inside one of our drinking glasses.

Vera and I wrote a letter to Santa before St. Nick Day.  She drew a nice picture for Santa at the bottom of the letter.  Then it was time to fold it and put in the stocking for St. Nick to pick up, and Vera melted into tears.  She was so upset because she just couldn't part with her nice picture she drew.  So, the letter laid on the counter all of December because we could never convince her to send it to Santa.  Somehow, Vera was certain that Santa already knew what she wanted.  She'd written him a letter at preschool and also talked to Santa and Mrs. Claus at the preschool family night.

One of my favorite Christmas memories this year is the evening that we exchanged our family gifts.  Vera went to Santa's Secret Shop at preschool and bought something for everyone in our family.  She was so, so excited to give us our gifts.  They helped her wrap them at school, so we had absolutely no idea what was inside.  As we opened the gifts, Vera was jumping up and down in excitement.  She got Adam a hat, me a Peek-A-Boo, Vince a stuffed cow and Annie a sock monkey.  Perfect!  :)  Then Adam and I opened our gifts from the kids.  Adam got a Bluetooth speaker, and we ended up spending the entire evening dancing, listening to music, and having a "House Party."  So fun!

Santa visited our home on December 23 while we were having dinner at Sideliners.  Chippy left a note on our tree saying that Santa wanted to stop by early because he had some big presents to deliver to our house.  His sleigh was getting pretty crowded, and since the kids were so good this year, Chippy told him it'd be ok to come early.

Whoa!  Santa was here!!

We had a fun evening playing with all of the surprises.  We also had some tears and fighting because we just couldn't share.  Vera was on total overload.  So much to take in when you're 4 years old.

While we were eating at Sideliners that evening, we noticed Vince's eye seemed red and kept oozing, even after we would clean it.  As the night went on, it was clear that it was bothering him.  On Christmas Eve, he woke up and had a sore, swollen eye.  So, at 8:05am, I called the doctor and we were lucky to get an appointment.  Sure enough, the little monster checked out with Pink Eye.  Ugh!  On Christmas Eve, we went to Grammy and Papa's for the Pearson family Christmas.  Vin looked miserable earlier in the day, but perked up as the day went on.  While we were opening gifts, Vera came up to me with a sore, gooey eye complaining that it itched.  Without batting an eye, we started her on the antibiotic as well.  The two kids were troopers, and so far no one else has caught it.

Our Christmas with the Pearsons was nice.  Food was good, kids were spoiled with gifts.

Sure would be nice if the oldest child would start looking at the camera for pictures!

That evening, though we were exhausted, Adam and I went to 10:30pm mass while Rosie stayed with the kids.  We decided that it would be too big of an undertaking to have everyone ready for 11 mass on Christmas Day.  Plus, they really had no business going to church with Pink Eye.  It was nice for Adam and I to go to Christmas Mass together and truly reflect on the reason for Christmas.  We didn't have our kids as a distraction.  I really enjoyed the quiet calmness of the church and of course the beautiful music.

On Christmas Day, we went to my parents' house.  The Pink Eye situation looked much better.  Vin took a 3 hour nap while we were there, which helped a lot.  It was a long day, but fun.  Lots of gifts and plenty of good food.  The gift opening was pretty wild.  It's hard to tell 6 kids (who are 4 and under) to wait their turn.  Annie Pie was the only patient one.  ;)  Vin was in wild man mode during gift-opening, as you can see from the pics.

Don't they look thrilled?

I took 20 pictures of this pose.  Here's the best one.  It's pretty good, really.  No one has a pacifier, no one is crying, and everyone is looking, even Papaw.  Vin is trying to make a getaway and Cohen wasn't too impressed.  We'll just crop out grandma's bare feet and the Snuggle bear on the floor.

Merry Christmas from these little elves.

We were so happy to stay home on Saturday, December 26.  It was a sleep-in, regroup, and play kind of day.  The roller coaster was finally assembled, and that was the highlight of our day.

Construction is underway...

...and so is the fighting.  Vin is ticked because Vera won't let him sit at the very top.

Of course Vin thinks it's cool to stand at the top.  His guardian angel caught him a few days ago as nearly fell off.  I was in the chair feeding Anne, told him to sit down, and as he was crawling down he wobbled and teetered, and nearly fell off the side.  It's only a matter of time until someone falls off the side or gets run over by the car.  We know this.

Of course Vera got the first ride.

On Sunday, December 27 we ventured, in the cold rain, to the Bruns home for the Bertke family Christmas.  The kids were troopers even though we were totally exhausted.  Vince took a nice nap, and little Anne was so very good at all of the parties.  I wish I would've taken a picture of all of the food.  Surprisingly, no breakers tripped (that I know of) from the lineup of crock pots.  The dessert table was impressive!

Our Christmas was filled with many thoughtful gifts, warm smiles, innocent excitement and abundant blessings.  Merry Christmas, from our wild household...

Matching sisters.  I so wish Vera would have smiled nicer...because look at that little Annie's smile!

Christmas jammies photo shoot.

I love how Vin is looking at the girls here.  Warms my heart.