We had a really nice Christmas. Cailin played with her cousins and had a great time. Of course it went much faster than we would have liked, but isn't that how it always goes? I swear time speeds up the older I get.
Grace got a cool suitcase on wheels and this happened a lot:
We did Christmas day at GG and Papa Ray's house in Tumbler. Carter is quite enamoured of his great-grandparents.
Carter is getting so big. He's bordering on the 20lb mark according to our highly technological home scale. He's still very relaxed (ie a bit floppy) and needs help sitting up. These kids spend a lot of time snuggling on the couch together. Here they are just after Christmas:
Oh, we celebrated our own quiet Christmas too. On Christmas Eve morning we put out all the presents under the tree and waited for Cailin to get up. She was amazed to see that Santa had come. True to form, she didn't need any explaining or prompting. She simply walked up to the tree and started to rip and tear.
She had a great time and spent the rest of the morning pushing Elmo around in her new dump truck. Carter slept through the whole thing.
So Christmas was over a month ago, but Cailin is still talking about it. She tells us she wants to see Santa all the time and talks about opening presents. She still wants me to sing Christmas songs to her at night, her favorites are Santa Claus is Coming to Town and of course, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
The month since Christmas has passed by in a blur. Carter is really enjoying his solid foods now, especially peaches and apple sauce. He's sleeping extremely well through the night. I set up his crib in his big boy room and he's been napping in there when he's able to. It's kind of hard to get any shut eye when Cailin's awake though. Just sayin'.
Cailin has been talking up a storm and learning in leaps and bounds. Literally. We're bordering on our 10th gymnastics session and she's loving it. Her motor skills are amazing! She holds my hand less and less as she learns how to do moves/skills herself. And her talking. Good grief she amazes me every single day with new words she's learning. Not all of them are good either (ahem, Nana!).
Recently we've all been recovering from a nasty little flu/cold bug. So far Ryan has escaped the worst of it. Might have something to do with the Cold-FX pills he's been chewing like candy or the fact that he's slathering himself in hand sanitizer every chance he gets. Whatever he's doing, it's working. I was out of commission for two days and now poor Cailin is really suffering. Carter has the sniffles and is congested but seems to be fairing better than us girls are.
Currently my living room has been upended to build a fort. Our couch is the perfect fort building couch. To placate a cranky Cailin, I showed her how to remove the cushions and make bridges, slides and tunnels. Now we're lucky to have a cushion left over to sit on at any given moment.
And hats (& more)! My business is really taking off. I thought the rush would be over after Christmas, but I'm still getting new orders every day. I'm swamped in them. I'm exploring new avenues to sell them, namely Farmer's Markets in the area, but unfortunately time is an issue. I can't commit to every single weekend. I am toying with selling them out of my house, but don't have an area to display them yet. Plus there's the issue of having to keep the house clean at all times while waiting for customers to show up. I'll figure it out yet.
Grace D'Lee. As I held you I knew you were bound for great things. Truth be known, I hogged you all to myself a lot your first day on the "outside". I loved you instantly as only an Auntie could. Being an Auntie is one of my favoritist things ever (just ask Kelli!). I was so sad as I drove away to attend my pumpjacks and compressor. But I did get to come back and stay with you a bit later.
It doesn't seem like four years have passed by already, but sure enough they have. You are our blonde beauty, our wild child. Our lives haven't been the same for four years. 
It doesn't seem like four years have passed by already, but sure enough they have. You are our blonde beauty, our wild child. Our lives haven't been the same for four years. 
