We have been in and out for the past week and had some company too.   We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Eric’s side of the family and enjoyed the food, fun and family.  The girls really enjoyed themselves and Hadley even got to see Santa’s “reindeer” naping outside Grandma and Papa’s house the morning of Christmas.  She was excited, to say the least.

We got home and unpacked and got settled in just in time for my mother, Michael, Dave, Chris and Diana to get here.  We enjoyed our time with them hanging out talking, eating, watching movies and playing games.  Hadley also went swimming at the hotel pool and sat in the hot tub.  She has developed a love for hot tubs.

Zoey Belle recieved a Johnny Jump Up for Christmas and has loved life ever since.  Not that she has ever not loved life, but this just seemed to push her over the edge.

The other evening, Zoey was showing signs of being tired and Eric was working on the computer.  I gave him a little heads up that she would need to be put to bed soon, and he finished up what he was working on.  He asked me to look at what he had done, so I went to see.  Shortly after, we both heard the squeeking of the Johnny Jump Up stop.  As we looked over, we saw that Zoey Belle had fallen asleep in it.  A few seconds later she jumped right up again, smiling, and started to jump again.  Then her head dropped down and she fell asleep again.  This pattern went on for about a minute (purely for my and Eric’s enjoyment) and we decided she really needed to sleep peacefully, so we put her to bed.  It was one of those moments where you wish you would have gotten out the video camera.

We had such a great time seeing most of our family, but we really do miss those we did not get to see.  I was going to try to put photos with this post, however, Eric has switched the keyboards on me, and all the little plug ins are different, and it has left me confused.  It will have to wait until later.  I will try to post again soon, and hopefully with some fun Christmas pictures.

Well, it is officially Christmas time and all of our festivities have already started.  We had two wonderful Christmases this weekend with Eric’s side of the family and we sure had a great time.  So much fun that the girls refused to sleep, but really that happens anytime we go to Grandma and Papa’s house.

Our home could now be considered a small subsection of a Toys ‘R’ Us store and yet Zoey Belle is still searching out any cords or wires to nibble on.

The highlight of the weekend was when Santa came to see the kids at the Schmit Christmas.  Hadley was more excited than I have seen her…ever.  She talked and talked and told him all about Dignan and Chloe and who was her best friend (which it turns out is all of her cousins).

Monday was jam packed with activities and playing with new toys for the girls.  They had tons of fun, and Hadley did a really good job sharing everything new.  Dawson, Makai and Lael came over to play and we all played candy land. Hadley had fun showing them everything she got over the weekend and did a great job taking her turn even though her toys were all new.

Now we will be spending our time cleaning the house and getting ready for company later on in the week.

This weekend we had two temperatures outside.   Saturday it was nice enough to go outside barefoot, and Sunday we couldn’t sit by a window because the cold air from the window would give you frost bite.

Unfortunately, we did not take advantage of Saturdays weather, and now I fear we are stuck inside for the long haul.  We did however get some things accomplished over the weekend.  The girls were very helpful in helping Eric and I rearrange some things in the kitchen.  Eric and I moved things from off the top of the fridge and the girls would take them and hide them or play with them.

On Sunday we went over to the Schwarz house to let the kids play and Jenna and I got a bit more of our Christmas crafts done.  I can’t say any more about what she and I did, because a few people are getting those gifts this weekend.  Let’s also make a note that it is much easier to sew, paint and generally get anything accomplished when kids are not around.

Today the girls played most of the day together.  We have quite a few projects that we plan on doing as the week continues including baking more cookies.  It should be a productive week.

I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately.  The computer was broken and our brother-in-law was kind enough to let us use another one of his computers.

I cleaned out Hadley and Zoey’s room today.  There were clothes everywhere and toys too.  We were lucky enough to get a whole tote of hand-me-downs for Hadley and she has 23 pairs of pants.  I figure with this many clothes I should not have to do laundry for about a month.

About 10 seconds after I finished cleaning I heard a lot of banging around in the bedroom.  I went in to see what was going on and I asked Hadley what she was doing.  She replied, “I am making messes.”  When I asked her why, she said, “because that is the way God made it.”

Hadley has also been uncharactoristically angelic lately.  We went to Walmart and she was PERFECT.  I even got those looks from other women that say, “wow, impressive!”  I have been on a high from how well behaved she has been latley, and I am sure she will burst my bubble soon enough.  It will probably be at a time that will be most embarrasing to me and when I least expect it.

Zoey Belle has been sleeping much better.  We stuck her in the pack n play in the office and all of a sudden the kid loves to sleep.  Go figure.  She is also crawling at an alarming pace, pulling herself up on things and starting to walk around them.  She is only 8 months old, and I wish everyday that it was the day I brought her home from the hospital.

Hadley and Zoey Belle have formed what I hope is a lifelong friendship.  Hadley goes to play in her room, and Zoey follows behind her laughing and giggling the whole way.  The girls will play in there for as long as I let them and stay perfectly content.  It is the sweetest thing to watch.

Everyone is happy and healthy and it has been the best way to end this year!  I am getting excited for Christmas when we can see family again and wishing that so many people we love didn’t live so far away.