Last week, Chris' bro and sis-in-law were back in town. Here they are having some qt with the little girls. Aunt Manda's drawstrings sent Anna into paroxysms of laughter....

Then, after the kids went to sleep, the gloves came off for an all out Cranium competition, including one memorable mermaid depiction by Chris and an unforgettable model walk on Andrew's part. We had a fantastic evening with you guys! Cranium may become a tradition. =)

Naptime shenanigans...

Sonja turned 9 months a couple weeks ago. 3/4 of a year...unbelievable!

At her check up, she weighed in just over 16lbs, dropping off the curve but still on the chart. Anna did the same thing when she started crawling, so we weren't surprised.

So, what is she doing these days?
She lets go of furniture and stands alone for 10-15 seconds but no steps yet. She can walk with a walker toy, but it's still a little hairy when they come to the wood floor and really get scooting. She says "Anna" and "Mama"...and when she says Mama, I'm useless as a parent- I'll do whatever she wants if she just says "mama" first. She calls for Anna anytime they are separated and that can break your heart real quick. She eats three meals a day and does so without any teeth. Her favorite food is Cheerios. She detests any food I spend more than five minutes making for her. Her favorite activity in the world is the bath so she spends the best part of her day strategically becoming filthy enough to warrant a bath. And her fastest crawling times are clocked when the bathroom door is inadvertantly left open. She likes looking at books.

And she love, love, loves hanging on and around her daddy.

New Year's Eve, the girls and I flew by ourselves down to visit my parents (and visiting grandparents from AZ) in Georgia. Sadly, as Chris pulled into the departures lane at the airport, I realized I had forgotten two things- primarily, how much I HATE leaving Chris... =( And secondly, the camera. These pictures are from my sister's camera; she dutifully spent a half hour emailing all thirty pictures and I will less dutifully post four...we have peeps coming for dinner soon.

My dad, my grandma, me, my girls. 4 generations.

Grandparentals and the Greats.Uncle Jonboy.
Aunt Hannah.

Okay, gotta to bulldoze toys back to the girls' room.

It's Saturday afternoon and everyone else is sleeping. I would be too except Anna is on my side of the bed and I don't feel like unmaking her bed to get in it. Besides, with everyone unconscious, I've got a decent shot at being productive.

More Christmas pictures:

After our little celebration at home, we transported still pajama-ed kids over to Oma and Opa's for more Christmastime.

"Oh wow...is this a phone?"

Anna and Sonja each engaging in favorite activities.

Chris transported by joy to age six. =)

The following day, Aunt Manda and Uncle Roo arrived on the scene and the girls rode pink horses, Raven dogs...


...and the adults stayed up way too late every night. We came home late late late Saturday night after three lovely days with everyone.

2009 pulled a fast one on me.

The girls and I flew down to GA after Christmas (more on that later) and came home on the 5th of January. So, January was well established by the time we were settled back in and left me scratching my head as to resolutions, a schedule, motivation? I didn't think about much besides maintaining the kids when we were in GA so the new year caught me unawares. And I feel like I've been trying to catch up ever since. And I'm not a very good catcher upper...I like to feel ahead of things. It's kind of a mind game to get me to do my chores- I am far more motivated to make my bed first thing in the morning because that exceeds my own expectations. If it's 4:30 and I never got around to making the bed (because subconsciously my goal was to get back in it...), I hate the thought of making it then. I'd rather just leave it unmade and start again the next morning. I like to fold the laundry as soon as the dryer stops and put it all away. If I can't do it right then, it's definitely going to sit for two days, minimum. There's no in between. If I'm behind, then I'm going to wait until I'm REALLY behind so I have motivation to do everything all at once, marathon style. I guess it's all about the adrenaline for me.

Anyway, all this is to say, here are the Christmas pictures:

This was our first time having Christmas morning in our home. We didn't put any presents out until after the girls were asleep the night before so it was a big surprise for these two.

Oh, I didn't get far before my eyes said 'bedtime'. I was going to save this and finish it later, but that would probably be in a week...I better get this up. More later.

Christmas dress extravaganza, volume Sonja.

Okay, the girls are supposedly down for naps...I hear a lot of giggling in there but I'm going to at least start an update because it has been a long time.

So, last we chatted, Chris and I were working on projects. Chris was customizing Sonja's train engine for Opa's model track on Christmas morning. (Little did we know then that renovations were underway at Oma and Opa's house building a whole room for the trains! I have no pictures- did anyone else take pictures of the room yet??)
Anyway, the subdued Viking and I made things for folks this year. I normally don't post up my projects, but since I begged others to and love seeing what they made, I'm going to this time:

Travel tissue holders for stocking stuffers. Thanks for the idea Em!!

A tea wallet for the lady who carries tea bags with her everywhere, previously in a plastic baggie.

A pin cushion for my sis-in-law.

With matching tray for putting sewing things in.

A Bible cover for my little sis, and my first attempt at quilting fabrics.

When I had finished the last seam of my little projects, the night before Christmas Eve, I sat down to relax and look through Martha's January issue. The craft section featured this darling scarf:

Resistance was futile. I picked up my needles immediately to make a smaller version for Anna:

And, several sets of these silhouettes for the grandparents.

And lastly, some handiwork on someone's countertop.

So, those were the extracurriculars for December.

Update coming soon...I know it's been awhile.