Happy New Year!

So I know I haven't been so great at keeping up with my blog. I just finished turning my 2009 posts into a book, and I found most of my entries to be a ton of catch up blogs... I will do my best to be better this year at keeping up so I don't have quite so many blogs of random pictures.

UNFORTUNATELY, today is not gonna be that day. We have had a bunch of fun this last week with Joe being off work, and Lil being out of school. It was a week of sledding, and ice skating, bowling, family parties, Christmas and New years festivities, and even a baby shower thrown in...

The day before Joe took work off (that would be Dec. 23rd), Lacey found herself something new to play with. I, of course, caught her in the act...

Later that day, Lacey did her typical strip down and disappeared with her big sister to play in the unfinished basement for a while. I kept hearing a rumbling sound followed by giggles... turns out they were sharing Lacey's tricycle. I managed to catch a good pic of them as they coasted by the basement door.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Joe's family, and after a fantastically filling (and quite tasty) dinner we retired to the Christmas tree and proceeded with the opening of gifts. The girls were thrilled to receive a lot of fun little trinkets and toys (and some not so small toys) from the family, and came home thoroughly excited about Santa's soon to be arrival. The next day we woke up and unwrapped the few gifts beneath our tree (we tend to be a little on the sparse side since all the grandparents are sure to spoil the kids with fun gifts). Before heading out to my family celebrations we let the girls play with some of their goodies. In this shot they are coloring the picture Uncle James gave them, surrounded by Lacey's blocks (given to her by Lilia) while watching Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure which was a gift from Santa.

Here's one of Joe sporting his gift from the girls (the slippers)...

After lounging around for a bit, we headed out for my family gathering, where the girls were once again showered with fun stuff. For example the pictures given to them by Uncle Kevin that were quite literally the same size as Lacey.

We celebrated our 9th Anniversary on the 27th with dinner and a movie. It was quite nice, and much thanks to my mom for watching the girls so we could go out. The next day we got together with Joe's family for some bowling fun. I am almost embarrassed to admit how much pizza I ate. (The equivalent of 6 slices...WOW!) All in all the girls had a blast at Christmastime with the family, and that, in turn, means Joe and I had fun.

A few days after Christmas I was invited to a baby shower for my cousin's wife. Her due date is around the same time as mine, and it was great to visit with her. Though I am annoyed to admit that she is so much smaller in the belly than I am... See?

* A little background on this picture... her husband and I are only 4 days apart in age. Our mothers took a picture at Christmas in 1980 back to back with the hugely bulging bellies. So, it seems fitting that since my cousin's wife and I have a due date so close together (her due date isn't set in stone, but it's a week or so from mine), that we continue the tradition and take a back to back photo of our future boys. I look monstrous!

At some point this week, Joe took Lilia ice skating for the first time ever. I wasn't there (seeing as how that bulbous belly would really foul me up on the ice), so I stayed home with napping Lacey. I don't have any pictures to prove it, but Joe did take a video on his camera, and trust me when I say, Lil was so cute on skates!

A couple days ago, Joe and I took the girls sledding. Now, once again, I couldn't really participate being bigger than the sled and all, but I stood at the bottom and took pictures...

All ready to go

Dad took them up the hill dragging the little disc behind him.

The area we took them to had some pretty HUGE slopes, but this one was about right for my young ones and their inexperience... Lilia was the first to go:

I wasn't quick enough to catch a good picture, but she was lovin' it! Then, Joe took Lacey down. She was hesitant at first:

But when she reached the bottom she realized it wasn't so bad.

Here is a better one of Lil. She ended up at the bottom with the sled on top of her in a fit of giggles. The bottom of these slopes had a bit of a rut followed by a snow bank to force people to a stop before hitting the neighboring fence.

Lacey was getting a bit cold and wouldn't keep her gloves on... such a cute little girl!

Lil went down with Dad this time, and was having a hard time cause Dad's weight caused them to go down much faster and she was getting pelted by snow. She got to the bottom and her face was covered in a layer of frost!

Here is a shot of Lacey coming down with Dad... seems they both got moving faster than expected. I LOVE their faces in this shot. I about put myself into labor from laughing at the look on their faces...

The last ride of the day found Lil and dad going one last time... Lilia had it all figured out by then. She just covered her face with her beanie- it's a homemade beanie, so she could see through it, but it kept the snow on her face to a minimum...

And they just happened to land in the one and ONLY mud hole. Talk about an abrupt end to the ride! Poor Joe!

Here's Joe pulling the girls back to the car. I think that was the highlight of the day for Lacey.

At least until she realized where we were headed. She was NOT happy to go home. We will for sure be doing this again. It was so fun watching them! I look forward to being able to join in on the fun!

We all went to bed at the normal time on New Years Eve... sorta. Lilia was suffering from a pretty nasty cough, so when she woke up crying at 11 pm, I gave her a nice cocktail of pain and cold medicine, plus a bit of vapor relief on the side. I didn't go to bed until she was soundly sleeping. So I woke Joe up at midnight wished him a happy new year, and snuggled in next to his warm body with my frigid one :)

Hopefully you all had a fantastic holiday season! My one and only resolution- to have a baby. I may rethink that and choose a new resolution in a month or so, but for now, that's all I can focus on... All I can say for 2010? Bring it on!