silver white winters.

Notes on January:

• Chris and I didn't exchange Christmas gifts this year, but instead had a 24-hour getaway to Ann Arbor. We went to Ikea, we ate, we sat and watched an entire movie, we slept through the night. The best part was waking up to silence, not to an alarm or someone screaming through the monitor. We ate at the Melting Pot, which was yummy and a fun experience. The next day for lunch we went to a famous deli, Zingerman's, where we had incredible sandwiches (best GF bread I've ever tasted), awesome soda you mix yourself (black cherry + cola was my fav), and divine potato salad. I'd drive to Ann Arbor just to go to lunch. Yum. 

• We came home from Ann Arbor to a hot little boy. Chris's family, who had watched the kids for us (thank you!) headed home, and I took John's temperature. I'm not the kind of mom that jumps to take her kids to the doctor, especially the ER, but John's 104 degree temperature sent us out the door. Five hours, and way too much waiting, later we headed home with a prescription for antibiotics and a vague diagnosis. His temp maxed out at 104.5 the following day, the largest number I've ever seen on a thermometer, but steadily declined. However, the antibiotics tortured the poor boy, and after 5 days I called the pediatrician and he gave me permission to stop early. Instantly, I tell you, he was happy John again. Not sure how we are going to deal with that issue in the future.

[sick John; happy Quinn]

• Quinn got a hand-me-down coat from a friend in the ward. It is gold, and the hood has white "fur" trim. And it is so cute it hurts inside. Especially when she crawls around in it. I die. We call her the Snow Princess.

• John got a haircut, as previously mentioned. He looks really old, and seriously handsome. That boy. Carly got a haircut of her own. Her tangled ends were causing quite the problem when we brushed her hair, so we needed them gone. Sadly, her beautiful baby curls went with them. Her hair is still beautiful, just looks so much shorter, and it hurts my mama's heart that those baby curls are gone.

• Carly doesn't nap anymore. I always said I'd make her nap until Kindergarten. Surprise, surprise, she had different plans. During our Christmas trip we didn't really enforce naps, so she fell out of the routine. She really does fine without them, and bedtime has been moving earlier while she still wakes up at the same time in the morning. I am trying to do "quiet time" with her, but am finding it difficult since she sees it as a punishment. So I'm flexible. I'll take the time to read with her or do a little craft or something that is hard to do with the babies around. And when I'm tired I will tell her it is time to rest. Sometimes she lies on the couch; sometimes she kisses me on the cheek and tells me to "sleep good". Both work for me.

[clockwise: babies love Wheel of Fortune, hydrating, John playing with golf balls, snug sleeping babes.]

• I have a miracle to share with you. On Tuesday afternoon after the babies' naps I thought we'd run to Target. Carly has been a little rough with the babies and I came out of the bathroom to find her, I kid you not, with both babies in headlocks, pushing their faces into the floor. She was trying to play, it just wasn't working well. And they were screaming. I had repeatedly warned her against tackling them in any form, so she needed to go to time out. Instead of going relatively peacefully, she freaked out. So I took her to her room for some personal time. I was down with the babies 10 minutes later and heard her playing happily, so I thought we'd go. Quinn crawls over to me whining and clingy. She had been clingy all day. She climbs up me and . . . pukes. Over and over and over. Puke fountain, people. I just sat there and let it come. It was a huge ordeal to get it all cleaned up, especially since John was extremely interested in eating it (I gagged over that one) . . . But the point is: if Carly hadn't had thrown a tantrum, Quinn would have puked ALL OVER Target. I've never been so grateful for the "terrible 3's".

[Q showing her standing skills, sweet Q worried about the Beast, full couch during tv time, splashing in puddles.]

• The little chalkboard in our kitchen currently reads "Silver White Winters that Melt into Springs". Did you even know that was a line from "A Few of My Favorite Things"? I didn't until recently. It is my new favorite. I'm not a fan of cold or winter, but it has its beauty. And I particularly love when it melts away into spring. January is typically hard. I usually struggle as the days crawl, the dark evenings come early, and we all feel cabin fever. But this January has been rather nice. It helps that the weather has not been too bad, a few cold spells, a little snow. But not too bad at all. It also helps that we have a nice little routine: preschool and library on Tuesday, playgroup on Wednesday, swimming lessons Thursday evening, with Monday and Friday free to stay at home and not worry about anything. All the sudden we're at February, a new favorite month of mine, where we have Valentine's and the twins' birthday to look forward to.

[Carly loves swim lessons: "I'm like Ariel!"]

Life is good in the C House.

Granted, I actually wrote this post 4 days ago, and I just got home from the hospital after a 911 call and a 2-day stay, but that is another story for another time. We are all back under one roof, and I couldn't feel more blessed.

xoxo.