O Holy December, Batman!

I think if I'm lucky I'll be able to keep this thing up to date about once  month. That's if I'm lucky.

 After having Pherce I had to get going and make the advent calendar I had planned because December was only a couple days away. On the back of each ornament was a scripture about Jesus' life and we tried to read them every night by candle light. We were moderately successful. Hey, it's better than candy.
I couldn't find my stash of boy or neutral baby blankets so I had to make one up in the meantime and I figured I'd do all my other sewing projects too: bow-tie onesie, drool pads for my ergo carrier and decorative material on my burp cloths.

 I also bought the kids stocking stuffers earlier in October, but still didn't have any stockings. So I whipped these up out of felt. Anyone notice the flaw? That's right, I put the wrong letter for the initial on Pherse's stocking. I'm so lame.

At school Cash's class was going to celebrate St. Nicola day. Of course something came up and hey moved the date of the celebration. And of course he gets sick and can't go on the newly scheduled date. :( So we celebrated it the best we could at home- he even straightened the shoes so St. Nicoli would approve. In the morning he found chocolate coins in the shoes and we played the Driedel game with them the next morning.

 Little man is growing up so fast. He's already grown two inches and weighs 8 lb 5oz as of last week. He doesn't feel quite so fragile though he's just now getting to be as big as Cash was when he was born. He's found his thumb, as you can see. He's just starting to peel and lose his hair so we'll see what he ends up looking like when the new stuff grows in. Poor little one came down with the cold/croup that has gone through Cash and Tupp.

 Before illness attacked our house I took Tupp and Pherse down to see Nana and Papa. It was going to be the whole gang, but my bad memory created schedule conflicts and I couldn't bring myself to tell Cash he couldn't go to a sleepover he'd looked forward to and his best friends birthday party. So Clay took Cash and I took the wee ones and we all had a lovely time. Papa was reluctant to hold Pherse because he was so small, but with a little urging we convinced him.

 Nana was in heaven and held him nearly the whole time. It was so sweet to see her enraptured with him.

 Tupp fell in love with Papa and by the end of our visit they were the best of friends.

 Seeing the decorations brought back great childhood memories....

 Cash may have been struggling to breath with the croup (literally) but Tupp was enjoying her second birthday on the 17th. We kept it low key and just opened presents and made cupcakes (she'd been begging me for them for weeks).

 Birthday dress on and dad playing twinkle twinkle on her new toy while she dances. Heaven! Until she asked him to play Edelwiess. Oops!

 Yay! More dresses. Her favorite thing to wear.

 New winter wear. We think it makes her look Russian.

 In my attempt to not gloss over her birthday I made her snowflake ballerina decorations. They are still up and at breakfast every morning she asks me to make them dance for her.

We waited about a month to bless Pherse. We did it on the 23rd when all the Mitchell clan was in town visiting for the holidays. Clay, Opa, Pop Pop, Uncle Benson, Uncle JP and David Morrison were in the circle. 

 Can you believe I got this blessing outfit for $1.50? !

 This is the most Christmasy picture I have. :) Makes me smile.

Christmas morning the kids came upstairs and checked their stockings, which were hung at the end of our bed. These are the baby leggings I made Pherse our of adult socks.

 My friend from school and my parent's next door neighbor, Maria (aka Auntie Jess) got the kids birthday and Christmas presents.

So we had breakfast and lunch at Oma and Opa's and then after naps we headed over to the new Mitchell HQ for dinner and presents. Pop Pop and Gigi moved literally right before Christmas. The kids had a fabulous time playing with cousins and we wish we could have spent more time with family. Sadly, Tupp was sick with Cash's illness a good portion of the time and finally got better just as the family was headed home. I would say there's always next year, but it seems like this time every year is chronically devoid of health.

This next week we hope to get our family back on schedule as we prep for Cash heading back to school, Clay getting back to work, and me too for that matter. I've enjoyed my relative month long hiatus, but life goes on. 

Love you all and know you are in our thoughts and hearts. Wishing you all a blessed New Year.