barefootprints

Nothing much new going on. But no news is good news. We've had a couple of snow days this week, one where school was canceled, and one where church was canceled. We were climbing the walls by Sunday night, none of us having gone anywhere for a couple of days. The school closing affects us by canceling speech therapy for Dorian and physical therapy for Quinn. We're looking forward to better weather.

It's hard to believe this is the same baby we brought home from the hospital 6 months ago. He's come so far. Now, most people who don't know his history wouldn't guess it. He's a happy kid who loves his siblings, even when they can be overwhelming, and it's obvious he's anxious to be able to keep up with them. He can push up half of his body at a time, and it's only a matter of time before he'll get the coordination down to start crawling. Now that he's officially 6 months, we'll be starting solids soon. As it is, he's been reaching for my dinner for some time now. I think he's ready, though we'll definitely keep up the nursing for a good long time.

We're doing our best to enjoy the cold weather. Here's my intrepid winter explorer. That's the pond behind him. He had just come running from the neighbor's yard and ran across a corner of it, which just about made my heart stop. Maybe it's a lack of faith, or maybe it's having grown up in Los Angeles, but I can't quite grasp the concept of walking on water, frozen or otherwise.
Faith is much more cautious. There are good and bad points to that.
This next shot may not be for the squeamish. This is one reason I'm not so crazy about the cold. I've never been officially diagnosed, but I seem to fit the description of Raynaud's syndrome, where the cold triggers restriction or even cuts off circulation to my extremities. It doesn't happen as often as it used to, but I had a lovely episode this week, as you can see in my little finger. Pretty freakish, huh?
Have I mentioned I'm looking forward to spring?

Happy New Year! I don't think I'm alone in being glad that 2008 is at a close. I'm anxious to put it behind me and start over, in a couple of different ways.

We had a nice Christmas. My kids lacked for nothing. My siblings, led by my sister Kirstin, knew we wouldn't be going out too much to go shopping for gifts. So, the week before Christmas, two big boxes showed up at our house full of gifts and other Christmas items, such as this gingerbread house kit that we put together on Christmas Eve.

Now we're properly attired.
And of course, it must be sampled.
The masterpiece. It was tasty too.
Later that night, the kids opened their new pajamas.
Dorian and Faith loved their gifts on Christmas day. Faith's face here says it all.
We had a good Christmas, even when Quinn developed his first fever. It was nerve-wracking for me and miserable for him, but after 2 days, he was fine. We think it was something Kurt brought home from work, because the two of them had parallel symptoms.

Faith's quote of the week: This evening, after the sun went down, she and I were looking out the window at the moon and the evening star. She commented that the moon looked like a smile. Then I pointed out the star. She said "that's a planet." I told her she was right, that was Venus. Then she said "But where's Jupiter?" My budding astronomer remembers last month, when we were looking at this picture. Sometimes she frightens me with the things she comes up with to say.

Here's to a great and uneventful 2009.