Jakob Daniel and Everleigh Grace Hall

Happiest snowman ever (even more than Olaf!)

From this morning, and too cute not to share immediately: I love my new outfit from Grandma Janelle's coworker, Loralyn!

My first Christmas and my first time with yogurt I like them both!

Lookout, world!  Everleigh is on the move...albeit in reverse only at this point.  :-)  The last couple of days we've seen her push her belly off the floor a little bit and then use her hands to push herself backwards a few inches at a time.  Looks like things are about to get busier in our house sooner than later!

I want the house to look nice for our Christmas guests  This must be earning my brownie points with Santa

The Sunday before Christmas, both kids took good afternoon naps and woke up as happy and healthy as they've been in a month.  The weather was cool but not cold, and there was no precipitation that would make driving scary, so we packed them up and went up to Burlington to see the big tree and the lights on Church Street.  It was the first time this season that my hopes for a magical, festive family event actually came true, and it was a delightful outing.  It wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be on Church Street, and Jakob loved running around the tree and the pedestrian sidewalk like a madman.  He was very excited about all the lights, sounds, and smells.  Dan was excited because the kids were compliant enough that we stopped into Farmhouse to get him a quick beer.  Everleigh was so wonderfully stimulated by all of it that she didn't make a peep.  Oh, what fun! It's FINALLY the most wonderful time of the year! Saying "catch me if ...

All decked out with smiles And drool, lots of drool

Random acts of cuteness: Guess what I had for a snack I need to wash all that chocolate down Bouncy baby

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!  We're so excited for Everleigh's first Christmas, and for Jakob to unwrap literally every gift he finds, even the ones that aren't for him, ha!  We hope Santa has been good to all of you. Thanks to all of you who check in to see what Jakob and Everleigh are up to throughout the year.  We greatly appreciate everyone who makes our lives as rich and joyful as they are, particularly during the holiday season.  Our family and friends are our greatest gifts, and although Santa has brought our beautiful babies lots of presents to unwrap today, we're most thankful for Jakob and Everleigh and all of you. Today we'll be celebrating with Aunt Karen, who made the long trek to Vermont all the way from San Diego, which makes our Christmas even more special this year.  Grandma and Grandpa Janelle are here as well, bringing lots of Christmas cheer to our home.  Our hearts are also with our family members and friends al...

We're so lucky to have wonderful mom and pop shops in Vermont, even though we've got a few of the big box stores too.  One of our favorite stores is Buttered Noodles, a toy and clothing store for children located right near the evil Walmart and Toys R Us.  True to their name, they hand out freshly made buttered noodles to kids, and they regularly have story time and special events.  On Saturday, December 13th, they had Clifford the Big Red Dog come for a visit and stories.  Jakob wanted to go, but he wanted nothing to do with Clifford once he saw him.  He had fun eating his noodles and playing, and to my great shock he agreed to get his hand painted (a snake, which is one of his favorite things right now.)  Apparently all that fun gave him a chance to warm up to the main event, and he was eventually willing to give Clifford some love.  Miraculously, we got out of there without spending any money! Check it out!  I love noodles! I better t...

Sorry they're blurry, but these are pictures of their pictures from late October. Such a handsome little man! They totally captured the happy essence of Everleigh!

I love my Mum Mums! Seriously, I'm the happiest baby ever I just get such a kick out of feeding myself I don't even care how much of this stuff gets stuck on my face Time to wash all that paste down I take hydration seriously sometimes When do I get juice?

It's nice to use shirts from the first time around with Everleigh: Do I still get to be on Auntie's nice list if I pooped on this shirt about two minutes after this picture was taken?

In my mind, the Elf on the Shelf was going to be a fun, magical way for me to convince Jakob to be well behaved during the holiday season.  I was going to come up with all sort of fun, creative places to move the Elf after his "trip to the North Pole" each night.  I asked Jakob what he wanted to name the Elf, and he insisted that the Elf's name is "Elf on the Shelf."  I gave up trying to convince him to pick something different after 10 minutes of trying. After his initial spot on the shelf (seemed like a good starting place, considering his name), the Elf moved up onto our curtain rod in the family room.  When Jakob woke from a nap, I excitedly told him the Elf had returned from the North Pole and was somewhere new in the room.  Turns out this was traumatizing for poor Jakob (still not feeling well), and he cried for a solid 15 minutes until I took the Elf down and let him hold it.  Now the Elf stays still on the curtain rod and doesn't move around. ...