Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful holiday - and hope you all did too! We thankfully got to stick close to home, but were still busy with all our various celebrations! We started the week off with a trip to the pediatricians office for Jack - poor guy had a NASTY ear infection and it really threw him for a loop. The next day, we took Charlie to the pediatrician thinking she had the same thing, but apparently for her it was just a cold.

Christmas Eve (after a day and a half on meds) went better for Jack and he had a fantastic time at Nan and Poppy's. It hit him that he was going to get presents for Christmas (not just give them) and the real excitement began. Nan and Poppy gave the hit of Christmas, a bug vacuum, and Jack has been playing with it non-stop since - only slightly disappointed that it's winter and there aren't a lot of bugs around.

Christmas Eve was a HARD night for both children - it's so sad they weren't feeling better this holiday - but everyone woke up in good spirits Christmas morning! Jack had a LOT of questions about how and why Santa did this or that, but was quite happy with his haul! My immediate family came over for brunch on Christmas morning and of course that meant more excitement! Charlie gave Jack a Light Brite which was a huge hit! He also received a game from his uncles that he LOVES playing - by himself... he wants us to WATCH him play, not participate! Charlie got her first baby doll and LOVES it - it amazes me how much different they are. The first thing she did was pick it up and give it a hug... so cute!!

Things calmed down and everyone got a nap in preparation for Christmas dinner at Grandma's house. We had a great time celebrating with the extended family and Jack received his new best friend Walter (thank you Kyle). All in all it was a fantastic holiday!

We're enjoying the 12 Days of Daddy (John's company shuts down for the time between Christmas and New Years) and hoping that everyone is finally on the mend... Jack seems to be recovering nicely, but Charlie still seems to be on a downward spiral - thankfully her 9mth check up was yesterday and we've got her started on antibiotics for yet another ear infection...

The latest stats are:

Weight: 18bls 3.2 oz (35th percentile)

Height: 28 3/4in (82 percentile)

Other than the ear infection she got a clean bill of health and the dr. was quite impressed with her eating and activity levels so things are looking good for the little lady!

Check the photo site for a TON of pictures (including an album of pictures taken by Jack with his new camera!!)

We're having some difficulty getting the videos from our new camcorder loaded onto the computer in a way that I can then put them on the blog, so patience please - I'll try to get those up soon!