A very white winter

Charlie introduces us to Sean.



Pictures from this winter.

What a few months it has been! Charlie turned 3 in December, which was a blur of a month. It seemed like we went from Thanksgiving to Charlie's birthday to his birthday party to our trip to Ohio for Christmas. Probably seemed like that because we did! It was all good stuff though. Thank goodness I was on maternity leave to keep up with it all. Charlie's party was great once again and we were blessed to be surrounded by our loved ones. Just a few days after the party we headed to Ohio for the holidays for two weeks. It was a nice long visit. So great to see everyone, including several of my high school friends and their kids, and it was great having extra hands around to help with the two kiddos. Charlie was so spoiled. Aunt Edie took him to the movies, Uncle Pat and Aunt Holly took him to the zoo to see the lights and Julia came to visit him and play a lot. Not to mention Sami and Papaw who doted on him as usual. Sean sort of slept through Christmas as you can see above, although he probably saw more of the nighttime than we hoped for :) Charlie really understood everything this year though and so that made the whole holiday season that much more fun. He got a Lightning McQueen bike and a Buzz Lightyear doll from Santa.

Since we have been back we have gotten into a good rhythm and I think Charlie is really enjoying being a big brother. He still needs some reminders but can be really helpful. Sean loves to watch him play and laughs and smiles when Charlie talks to him. The last few nights Sean has been sleeping through the night too which is great! Especially since Matt has been in California quite a bit for work. I have such respect for single parents. I don't know how you do it. Of course we have had our share of snow this year. Over 50 inches so far after 4 snow storms and now they are saying we will get another this week. Charlie loves playing in it though. He has been sledding and building things and it has been fun to watch him enjoy it all. We have over 3 feet of snow in our yard and in some areas over 5 feet from drifting. I told Charlie it was melting the other day and he cried and said, "I don't want the snow to go away. I want to play in it." I told him not to worry, at this rate he'll be playing in it until July.

Sean is just over 3 months and he is such a good baby. He doesn't fuss much and laughs and coos alot. I enjoy getting to spend the extra time with him and Charlie while I am on leave. Sean managed to get himself from his belly to back the other day, his first big milestone. He is growing like a champ too. I had him at the doctor at 6 1/2 weeks and he weighed 10 lbs, 10 oz. Seven weeks later I had him in and he was up to 14 lbs, 13 oz. He had gone from the 44th percentile in weight to the 78th! I couldn't believe it. His length was holding strong in the 95th percentile. We are so lucky to have two healthy boys.

I head back to work in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to the adult interaction, but I will miss not being on a schedule. I'm so grateful that I have had this much time off though. We are headed to Quechee in a few weeks for a long weekend before I head back to work. Looking forward to a change in scenery and the chance to enjoy the snow with Charlie.