Checking In

 My mom sent a bunch of pictures from her camera which were taken while our camera was hibernating. So, here are some more pictures of Christmas!

The surprise waiting for my brother Spencer when he came home from school

Cute boys

He loves this hat!

He loves the sink so much. I think we left him in here for like an hour, even with clothes on.

And then, once we got our camera in the mail, I spent the next little while trying to capture Joseph's funny faces. It's hard work!

And, here are brief updates on how we all are doing:

Kevin: He's doing great. He found out February 3rd that he had until the 14th to submit a paper to a conference. Luckily, he had most everything ready, but he still had a lot of processing and revising to do. He made the deadline, and we hope it works out! He was kind enough to go swing dancing with me on Valentine's even though it meant he had to stay up late to finish his paper. Also he just made a yummy dinner tonight while I was conked out on the couch in a long, weird nap that I don't really think I needed. Basically, he is the best.

Joseph: He is also the best. I said to Kevin last night that I really didn't want him growing any older. He communicates well enough for my liking right now. He is pleasant. He plays well with other kids and especially well with his stuffed animals (he treats them like they were his younger siblings). He almost always sleeps through the night. There isn't anything right now that I get annoyed by on a daily basis like there used to be (sticking things in his mouth, for example). I said to Kevin, the one thing I wish was that he ate more than grains, dairy, and fruit. And then, lo and behold, tonight he ate tons of the pork and tons of the broccoli! So now I guess we just need to enjoy these halcyon days of youth before the potty training and scribbling in books and tantrums really start.

Kyra: I'm doing great most of the time. And I guess the real reason I don't want Joseph growing any older is that I still want a baby around. I keep mentally going through all the hard things about having a baby, especially a newborn around, and then I think, "Yeah. I still want one. Right this minute." So the fact that the next one is probably more than a year away rather than less than seven months away is a little hard at times. Don't get me wrong -- most of the time I still feel really, really happy. But then I say something like "Wait" to Joseph and the idea of waiting gets me crying too. Or I start singing "I'm peanut butter and you are jelly" while making a sandwich for him and start sobbing. (I didn't realize that song was such a tear jerker.) Or the time last Sunday when I realized I totally forgot to go to a meeting -- I don't usually get quite so lachrymose about things like that. But I think these feelings are pretty normal, and the sudden tears will probably diminish as time goes on. In the meantime, hey, at least I have the energy to keep the house clean again!

Overall, life is good, and we are getting so excited for spring! It's going to get above 40 this week, so we might have swimming pictures up next week on the blog. Or not.