So, rewinding about 15 days ago...we spent New Year's Eve with some friends. We partied with kids for awhile and then went home and put them to bed, picked up a babysitter, and went and played some games with just adults. Leah did pretty good staying up past her bedtime that her momma is so religious about.

Maybe I just don't remember, but I have never lived somewhere that celebrates New Year's Eve with so many fireworks! It was like the 4th of July. With Christmas lights.

We've loved watching some football lately. It's rare that Nate and I just sit and watch an entire game, but New Year's Day we did it for hours. And our Buckeyes won the National Championship on Monday! One of the greatest things about being an Ohio State fan is the connection we feel with all of our Columbus friends who are now spread out all over the place. I love that we have that tie forever. It's fun to see my Facebook and Instagram explode with posts from our dear Ohio friends after a big game.

This was just one of those moments when I ran and grabbed my camera to capture these 3 playing. There's a lot of origami in progress in that room.

One night I let Emmy have ice cream in the bathtub. She chose Neapolitan, but after tasting it really regretted her choice. I had to capture her disappointed face. That darn strawberry can really ruin things.

This little bug is still sleeping in the Pack n Play in our closet. The next step is to transfer her upstairs to the crib in a bedroom.

This was just one of those days. Leah got a bad cold and was so miserable for days. Emmy was bouncing things on my head and chanting. I call these times the trenches of motherhood. Everything is a mess and the day drags on longer than you ever thought a day possibly could. 

Leah is crawling! She's not very fast, but she is moving. 

I mentioned before that she was pretty sick for a few days. She completely quit nursing one day, and then would not take any bottles or sippy cups. It wasn't a matter of finding the right one, she would suck on all of them, but she would not drink more than a sip. We were using a syringe and force feeding her a few times a day just to keep her hydrated. It was awful, and we couldn't figure it out. The bottle in this picture was filled with chocolate milk in an attempt to get her to drink SOMETHING. Nothing worked. Although we had considered this before but didn't think it was the cause, we finally realized (Nate checked) she had an ear infection and it was just too painful to suck. Slowly she started drinking again and is now taking a bottle. HOORAY! I've been a little sad that she's not breastfeeding anymore, but mostly I love the "freedom."

This is Emmy's beloved Beluga whale from Sea World that she named Rainbow something-or-other. You know, because it's all white.

This is our first time owning a walker. I think it was the best $20 I have spent in a long time. She really gets around in it, and I laugh and laugh as she rams into things. She kind of chases me around the kitchen, and I have to watch my feet!

The countertop after school - can't really avoid it, so I'm learning to not let things like this bother me. I'll clean it up later. 

It got really cold here last weekend. There was a stray pit bull in our neighborhood that was wandering around curling up on everyone's doorsteps trying to keep warm. She was just shivering. Nate brought her in to warm her up and that turned into keeping her for like 5 days. She was smelly, had conjunctivitis in one eye, and was bleeding a little, but we just couldn't send her back out there. We sectioned off an area of our kitchen for the first few days, but after lots of pee, some blood on the floor, and some night time escapes, we sent her out to the garage. The kids named her Midnight, and she was a really sweet dog. Nate and I had a few discussions at night in bed about the possibility of keeping her, but we know it's not the right time for our family. We had to have Animal Services come get her. 

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Sea World

We just got the kids tucked in bed. I gave them some melatonin tonight to help them fall asleep earlier because they've been sleeping till almost 8 some mornings the past two weeks. A 6:30 wake up is going to feel early tomorrow! It's pretty hard to believe that Christmas Break has come and gone. I overheard Jansen and Natalie talking about how a part of them is excited to go back to school and another part of them is dreading it. I think we can all understand that feeling. 

We had plans to have friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve, but Natalie had a fever so we had to cancel. Thankfully she wasn't miserable or anything. The kids each opened a present from me and Nate that night: a new book and new pajamas. 

Leah is listening for reindeer on the roof.

Natalie and Jansen got a call that night after they were in bed live from Santa's sleigh. He said he was on his way to Texas! We have been really lucky that our kids don't stay up too late on Christmas Eve, and they usually don't wake up too early Christmas morning.

There's a little Christmas morning magic going on here. Leah was still asleep for a lot of the present opening which was nice. Natalie had asked so sweetly and so many times for a puppy, but Santa wrote her a note and told her it wasn't quite time yet. Jansen also got a note from Santa telling him that they were unable to get the particular origami paper he asked for because he rarely has requests for it from children so they don't have it at the North Pole. He complimented Jansen on his talent on hard work because it's usually adults that need that type of paper for such complex folds.

This book is probably Jansen's most used Christmas present. He LOVES it.

This is one of the few times you try to really savor a mess because of the happiness that came with it.

Christmas Day was actually a very difficult one for me. There were a few reasons - some I will blog about later. I always miss family on Christmas, and the day sometimes drags because of that. I'm not usually one to get sad or compare myself to other people from Facebook or Instagram posts, but that day it was hard to see pictures of people with their families. There is truly not a person in the world who has more to be grateful for than me, but sometimes you just really want to be with all the people you love!

Members of the military and their families can go to Sea World for free once per year. We hadn't used our free passes yet, so we decided to go the day after Christmas before 2014 was over. It was a little chilly at first but soon turned into a beautiful day. 

As is often the case when we go to these types of places, the kids were as excited about getting popcorn as they were about seeing animals and going on rides. They love that stuff - especially Jansen.

I do not like roller coasters and I never have. Jansen hasn't really liked amusement park rides in the past, even the kiddie ones, so I assumed he was like me. Nate really wanted Jansen and Natalie to go on the ride Atlantis (seen behind them) with him, but I was kind of discouraging them. As a mom I really didn't want them to get on the ride and feel scared and stuck. Nate offered them $5 each if they went on it. It took a fair amount of convincing, but they agreed. They loved it! It definitely "scared" them, and it was so funny to listen to them describe how it made them feel. I am so glad they have a dad who will encourage them to do the hard things, the scary things, and the fun things. Here they are after the ride holding their $5. 

Since we live so close to Sea World (it's about a 15 minute drive), we will probably get season passes at some point. We think it will become a fun part of our San Antonio memories. I was jealous of the cold and snow that everyone was getting in December, but now that Christmas is over I am loving the sunshine and temperatures that allow us to be outside.