Winter Weather

This is our first official post on the new blog. With the new setup, you can see who actually authored the post, because Billy and I have our own separate accounts. I have a feeling, however, that I will continue to do most of the writing.

We are becoming increasingly tired of these cold winter months. With the impending "winter weather" that we are expecting this week, it looks like we had better find ways to entertain ourselves, because it isn't going away any time soon. Billy is excited at the prospect of snow, whereas I am more ambivalent. There is a sense of childlike wonder at snow, which Audrey makes more apparent for us. At the same time, I live less than a block from my workplace. This is a blessing in that I do not have to get out and drive around in the ice and snow. On the other hand, I will not be getting any snow days. I guess that is a little bit of a positive too, because I am getting pretty tired of being inside of the house.

I think Audrey is looking forward to the snow. Most of the snow we got in the last storm has melted, leaving only an occasional pile on the edge of the sidewalk where it was once piled to clear a path for people to walk. Every time Audrey sees one of those piles, she heads straight for it and stomps in it, whether she is wearing boots or dress shoes. She can now say the word snow very clearly, which makes it fun when we are watching the snow fall outside of our windows. Maybe it's because our windows are so big, but the snow just seems so magical when we are watching it fall on the city streets. Living downtown does, however, make it difficult to go outside and play in the snow. The sidewalks get cleared quickly, the streets get salted and quickly become yucky brown mush, and the park is a few blocks away.

As I think about the contrast between snowfall in the city and the country, I am struck by the fact that we have experienced both sides of the coin. We are very luck to have lived in the country and seen the peaceful fields of untouched white extending for miles. We are also lucky to have seen snowflakes dance in the streetlights as they fall on tall, majestic buildings. Wherever you are, I hope you too can take in the beauty of God's amazing creation.

Cabin Fever

It is that time of year.  During the holiday season, I look forward to the months of January and February when I know there will not be a lot going on so I can spend some time at home.  I always plan to use the time to get a few things done around the house that I had been putting off.  Now, we are halfway through that span, and we are starting to get cabin fever.  Don’t get me wrong; it is lovely to be home with my family.  I just think we are all to the point where we would like to be able to go on a walk, to the zoo, or just to sit out on the patio of our building.  Here are a few telltale signs from our home that cabin fever is setting in:

-Audrey’s bedtime has been 8 pm for the last year or more.  The past month, she has started staying up later; many nights, she is still full of energy and running around chasing the dogs at 8 pm.  On Saturday, she had swimming lessons during the morning, and she could barely keep herself moving after 7 pm.  Thus, my conclusion is that it is no in fact a change in the amount of sleep she needs; it is merely a consequence of the fact that she is not as active since she can’t go outside to run around and play. 

-Yesterday, after watching (at points with his eyes closed) the Packers/Bears game and about 1 quarter of the Jets/Steelers game, Billy announced that he was tired of watching football.  Now, he isn’t a diehard NFL fan, but, when given the chance to lay on the couch and do nothing all day, he seizes the opportunity.  When Billy is tired of not doing anything and starts looking for things to do, there is only one explanation.

-Stella and Jackson are actually tolerating Audrey chasing them around the house.  Typically, they might follow her into another room, but as soon as she starts squealing and running after them, they retreat.  At this point, I think they are so ready to do something other than lay on the couch that they are willing to play with a hyper almost 2-year-old, even if it means their ears will get pulled and she will probably jump or lay on them at some point too. 

-I am tired of getting stuff done around the house. I know there are those of you that thought this was impossible, but it’s true.  Is everything crossed of my list?  No, but I don’t care.  I want to see some scenery other than my 1000 square foot condo and the snow covered roof of the building across the street.  I am to the point where I will sacrifice having all of the tasks on my to-do list with a neat line through them just so I can do something that requires me to wear something other than sweatpants and a sweatshirt. 

Despite cabin fever, we are managing to have fun.  Audrey keeps us entertained with all of the new words and phrases she is learning.  Much of the time, we have no idea what she is saying, but she is always very serious about it.  We have started to ask her questions to identify what she is saying, which we thought was working well, but at this point are convinced she nods yes to anything that she doesn’t know what it is in addition to the things that she is trying to say.  She continues to entertain herself playing with her baby dolls and Legos.  She is currently fascinated by taking clothes on and off of both her and her dolls.  Unfortunately, she is practicing that at school too, so we are trying to discourage her from practicing too much with her own clothes.  Having Audrey around does keep things interesting, which makes the cabin fever a little easier to bear. 

Reflecting on the Holidays

The 2010 holiday season has come and gone.  It was yet another reminder of how many wonderful people that we have in our lives. We had the chance to spend time with many of those people, and for those that we did not, we were still thinking about you. 
As much work as it can be to prepare for the holidays, we often find in our house that there is also a lot of work to be done afterwards.  Fortunately, Billy had the week off of work to complete much of that work.  He put away all of our Christmas decorations, reorganized Audrey's  room to make space for all of the new toys she got for Christmas, reorganized the storage unit to make space for all of the baby items that we are no longer using, and did a thorough cleaning of our house after he got everything put away.  Now, we just have to help Audrey learn where to put all of her toys when she puts them away. 
Much to Billy's pleasure, Audrey has taken a keen liking to all of the Legos that she got for Christmas.  She has almost an entire farm community, including two tractors, animals, and lots of Lego people. She is still very much a girl, as evidenced by her attachment to the 3 baby dolls she got for Christmas and her Bitty Baby.  She likes to put them in the shopping cart and stroller that she got and push them around.  On Christmas day when Audrey opened the stroller, she put her baby in it and refused to open any other gifts.  We did finally get her to open the remaining presents, but as soon as she was done she immediately returned to pushing around her baby in the stroller.  Since we got home though, Audrey has actually shown great interest in all of her new toys, which means we have toys all over the house by the end of an evening at home.  Santa brought Audrey a recorder, maracas, and a tambourine that she is starting to play with more.  The instruments are a good way for her to start learning about music, but they are also a good way to make a lot of noise.  I don't think Santa thought about that when he decided to bring her those gifts. 
A year ago, I wrote a post contemplating whether 2010 would be as big as 2009.  It definitely was a year that brought us many surprises, but I think I am realizing that it is silly to compare.  Each year is a gift from God that will bring new experiences, some good and some bad.  We will remember, learn from, and retell those experiences long into the future, but each one is valuable because it is the sum of them that makes us who we are.