Happy New Year!

Hope everyone survived the holidays! We've finally gotten past the -30's and it feels like a heat wave! We spent Christmas in Florida with Jarin's family and it was magnificent. The weather remained in the 60's which was cold for all those Floridians, but we went jacket-less. We spent a day on the beach but it was raining so we grabbed lunch there and headed out. The scenery was enough for me -- absolutely gorgeous. I took great pictures of the kids all dressed us at church on Christmas Eve - Cade, Layna and Vivi all lined up in front of the beautiful blooming flowers for me -- but then of course I deleted the pictures somehow, so I have nothing to share. :-(

After we returned we spent a few amazing days with my family to celebrate the holidays and then had a great New Years party at the Fortune's. It's great to have such wonderful friends who do not judge no matter how much you wish to disown your husband!

On Tuesday, Jan 5th, Miss Alayna turned 2 years old and I still can't believe it! Seems like just yesterday we were coming home from the Family Museum when my water broke on the couch 2.5 weeks early! She is very interested in potty training right now and I think we are going to start with some pull ups next week. Today she had her appointment and was in the 85% for weight and 15% for height. A little unproportioned, but my dad says she's a perfect 100!!

Yesterday Caden spent the afternoon at the University of Iowa for an appointment with the Pulmonary and Allergy clinic. I expected some skin testing because he's had a lingering cough since October. But, because we've seen improvement in the cough over time (no thanks to steroids or antibiotics) they decided it's probably a 50/50 shot that he either had whooping cough or allergies. So, we are planning to hang on until March and see how he responds to spring weather.


I did get a new camera for the holidays after mine recently broke, but haven't gotten around to uploading yet. I will, I promise, and then you can see all the fun we've had the last couple weeks, despite the doc appts!

All the best to you and your family in 2010!