TTT: Season 2, Episode 51

1. Did you have a wonderful Christmas? We sure did! Despite being fraught with the ever-unpleasant cold, it was totally delightful. And by 'cold,' I'm not referring to the weather. More on that later. We had an enjoyable few days with our own little family, as well as some time with my parents and two of my brothers (Pat and Dave). My two married brothers (Mike and Andy) and I have every-other-year Christmas schedules with our family and our spouses' families. This is an 'in-laws' Christmas year, so we were supposed to be in Lubbock for Christmas with the Asmussens. Unfortunately, Mark, being the low man on the totem pole at work, had to be on-call through today so we didn't get to travel (yet). I am very happy that at least we live in a place were we have some form of family so that we weren't totally alone! It was so much fun watching the boys experience Christmas this year! There's nothing quite like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child. While yes, it does get overly emotional at times, the amount of joy they experience and the love that I know they feel makes it all totally worth it. I'm sure these next few Christmases with them will be the best ones in our future memories. I feel so blessed to get to be a part of them.

2. Back to the aforementioned 'cold.' While yes, it was chilly by Houston standards, we weren't cold in the white Christmas sort of way. (Though if we had been in Lubbock where we were supposed to be, we would have! Darn!) No, ours was more like the runny nose, constant cough, here-and-there fever kind of 'cold.' Kolbe had it first and the worst. Then Reagan picked it up and actually had a fever with it, too. Now Grant as well is battling the congestion. Try nursing a baby who can't breathe through his nose! And the booger sucker evokes the same response as six-month-check-up shots. Which we also got this week. The little bruiser now weighs a little over twenty pounds and is 27.5 inches long. That still puts him in the higher percentiles of size with his contemporaries. He wants to crawl so badly! He does a great job of getting up on his arms but the second he gets those knees tucked under, it's a face plant. It won't be long though. He's quite the ticklish little fella and loves interacting with his big brothers. His only vice? The spit up. No joke, I think he's right up there with Kolbe at this point. At least one spit up every single time he eats. Honestly, can't wait till he grows out of that one! And can't wait for these colds to end either. While my mom and at least one of my brothers picked it up, Mark and I are still fine as of now. I'm sure we'll get it just as soon as we arrive in Lubbock tomorrow for our vacation. Let's pray not!

3. We've officially reached the end of Season Two of Three Thought Thursday! Fifty-one weeks. Yes, I did skip a week after Grant was born and am completely unapologetic for it! It's been fun keeping track of life on here. Mark and I had a conversation a while back about keeping up with the whole blogging thing. While I'll admit that there are some weeks where I struggle to get my post done, I continue to have the desire to do it and love what it's creating for our family. Like Mark put it, what if this is meant to be a portion of my life's work? I always thought I'd be a writer...what if the story I am meant to write is the story of my family? I picture us sitting on the couch together some day reading through the tales of our younger years. Or the boys in tears over some of the shenanigans I documented from years gone by. While it may never be read by millions or hit the top of the New York Times Bestsellers List, it very well could be the most wonderful story a certain five (and maybe someday more) people ever read. I sure hope so. And with that, I'll definitely be back next year. Next week.

It's beginning to look a lot like...October? Oh wait. That's January in Houston.

So great to see Uncle Pat! We haven't seen this guy since last Christmas!

Opening gifts! A real bat from Dada! (And Kolbe is modeling his chef hat and apron from Mama)

One of the favorite gifts for both of the boys were their play shaving kits. I remember my brothers having these when we were little and I happened to stumble upon them on a Target clearance rack a few days before Christmas. They were definitely a hit!

Rudy getting ready for his first shave.

One of my favorite gifts...Mark got me this print to hang upstairs in our rec room where we do most of our book reading, puzzle making, attempts-at-learning activities. When I'm getting frustrated, it's the best little reminder of the most important thing of all for these boys. Love! If they learn that and nothing else, I'll certainly be proud.

6 months old!