U-G-L-Y

 Getting new teeth HURTS (everyone).

Poor Josie is getting some new molars and she has been in pain! I feel so badly for her. Our usually happy, easy-to-please girl had been miserable.

To top it off - she learned she inherited my "UGLY Crier" gene. I have always been an ugly crier. My face turns red and blotchy, my eyes get swollen - and it looks like I've had some sort of allergic reaction. It's U-G-L-Y! Bad news to BOTH of my kids - but especially Josie - you have inherited this from me.

With poor Josie not feeling so great - there has been a WHOLE bunch of U-G-L-Y around here lately. We will hope those teeth pop through soon…

PS: Proof Josie is an U-G-L-Y crier - I got a phone call from daycare one day and they thought she'd had an allergic reaction. Her teacher said, "Her face is really red and her eyes are swollen." Ohhhhh - no, that's just because she's been crying. Sure enough, her teacher did acknowledge she'd cried during her nap (switching from a crib to a cot isn't what Josie had in mind).

New Year's Eve

We spent our New Year's Eve at Nancy & Denny's - for a special FAREWELL, SAFE TRAVELS, WE'LL MISS YOU dinner with Devin & Kristin. They are now back in Idaho (or Die-da-ho, however you choose to pronounce it).

Our night was CRAZY - lots of partying and drinking. Oh wait. That was 10 years ago… Our night was very low key. Tyson and I watched the ball drop from our bed. Then Tyson said, "One more year, hun…" (And I'm still not sure what that meant.)

Here's to a HAPPY, HEALTHY, PROSPEROUS 2013!

Happy 2013!

We hope your year is EXTRA sweet!

Frosty

On Saturday Jack and I made a little friend for our front yard. It was Jack's first snowman and he thought it was SO FUN putting the face on him: blueberry eyes, a raisin smile, and, of course, a carrot nose.

Christmas Night

Christmas Night we had the Netherland/Swihart side of the family (Nancy's side) at our house! I was in charge of making Potato Soup. Devin was in charge of Adult Beverages.

 Josie and Grandma

 Jack and his second cousins: Elliot and Eliza. They had a blast running around the house!

 We attempted to get a picture of all of the kids - but that was wishful thinking.

 Josie was pretty excited about her new dump truck!

And Grandpa Denny was pretty excited about Jack's new Super Hero costumes!

Ryan and Kim got some new gangsta sweatshirts!

Baby Grant made his debut! He is Elliot and Eliza's new baby brother. New cousin Margaret was here - but slept the night away in the guest room. Christmas will be pure craziness as the years go on and the babies get older!

It was fun having everyone here to celebrate in our house! One of the many benefits of living by our families...

Jingle Bells - Jack Style

Never a dull moment with this kid. Here is his rendition of Jingle Bells - at the top of his lungs, during dinner. {Don't mind the towel in the corner - we have snow and a dog that loves to be outside in it}

Christmas Morning

Santa didn't disappoint this year (well, maybe he disappointed Josie…). He made a stop at our house and delivered plenty of boy toys! Plenty.

He did throw in a big box of diapers for Josie (because he must know how much I spend on them) and he left a special message for Jack. Jack didn't find it funny.

 This is the picture I caught of Jack coming down the stairs. Classic. Doesn't he look absolutely thrilled that it's Christmas morning? The funny thing is - he wakes up SO DANG early every.single.day. But on Christmas Day (when Tyson and I were both up and expecting him to be up) he slept in until 8am.

Like a typical one year old, Josie was excited to play with some boxes and wrapping paper. She also found Tucker pretty irresistible.

Santa fed into Jack's current obsession - Power Rangers.

Jack also found a BIG ol' "monster truck" - as he calls it - waiting for him in the basement. Tucker almost got run over and Josie may have had whiplash, but Jack is a pretty decent driver. He will love it this summer when he can drive his "monster truck" around the cul-de-sac with the neighbor boys.

Christmas Eve

I'm back. After four days of feeling pretty awful - I finally feel like myself again. And it's nice. Maybe I can enjoy the rest of my break.

We spent Christmas Eve in Warsaw with my family. My mom made a delicious meal and we all stuffed ourselves. Then it was time to open presents. Jack was pretty sure they were all for him… A lot of them were.

 Arrrrgh. Jack got a pirate outfit and pirate boots.

 Josie's favorite part was the whipped cream and pumpkin pie.

 Matching IU sweatshirts for everyone! Go HOOSIERS!

 When we got home we put on our Christmas PJ's and got ready for Santa to come.

Jack put out some homemade chocolate chip cookies for the Big Man and some carrots for his reindeer.

…but then he snuck a few carrots for himself.

Down for the count...

The flu hit me Saturday and I've been down for the count. Holy moly. After 12 hours of throwing up...and missing the Becker Family Christmas...I'm starting to feel a little better. Hope no one else gets this! It's pretty horrible!

Welcome, Baby Louise!

We are SO excited to welcome Molly's new baby sister, Louise! She arrived TODAY (one day before her due date!) at 1:13pm! She's 7lb 5oz of pure perfection and we can't wait to meet her! Enjoy your first blizzard, Louise! Congrats, Mikkel, Brooke, & Molly!!!

Sidenote & Random Fact: Louise was delivered by Dr. Paula Fishbaugh (aka: my favorite doctor ever). Which makes the Becker/Jakobsen baby count: 4/4 for deliveries with Dr. Fishbaugh.