Christy and Brian Visit!

To me she was always the "other Christy". We have shared a lot in life, same church, school, move cross-country, first name, and birthday. Old friends are extra special because they know all your bad things and still seem to like you. This weekend we were blessed to have Christy and her husband Brian stop by. Brian is a talented trumpet player and was playing in a nearby town so they stopped in for the evening. We got a lot of time to catch up, and Brian even gave Quint a trumpet lesson. What a treat! It was fabulous to see them and I am so glad that we have a mid-west connection!

Denise and Aaron visit

We had a special visit from our first mid-west friends Denise and Aaron! We met them in Boston when Aaron and BK were in the BU masters program together. They were our sanity in Boston, and we became great friends. They were passing through Iowa City and stopped in for a visit this weekend. It was a wonderful time! Denise is 6 months pregnant and she is the cutest pregnant woman. They showed us some famous mid-west eats in our town including Buffalo Wild Wings and Culvers. They are both soooo tasty:) It was so wonderful to spend time and catch up. We really appreciate them coming our way. Quint bonded with Denise and Aaron immediately, they are going to be super parents!

Cutest Diaper Butt!

This fall we became cloth diaper people. I did a lot of research because it was an investment. My friend Lauren (who is a cloth diaper mom) finally pushed me over the edge:) I am so glad we did it. I wish I could say it was for the environment, but to be truthful it was financially motivated. The environment was just a bonus. The best part is we have not bought diapers or wipes since October! With two babies in diapers that has a huge impact on our budget. It is a bit gross at times, but overall I don't mind it. Plus, there is nothing cuter than these diaper butts

Where are the wipes?

IN THE FRIDGE! I didn't even realize the wipes were missing but I opened the fridge and they were in there. Experiences like this confirms my suspicion that I lost some of my brain during pregnancy. Is this just me or can other mothers relate?

Quint is a Californian:)

Quint has never lived in California, but I think it is in his heart:) It never got above zero this week. "Dangerously cold" is what the weather man said. I braved the cold and brought in some snow for Quint to play with. Quint chose to play with sand toys and wear his sunglasses while playing in the snow....I think in his heart he was wishing for different weather conditions! I know I was!

Russell is seven months

Russell has been smiling at us for 7 months now, and it has flown by. Some things about Russell at seven months:
1 He is a big guy wearing size 18 months clothes
2 He loves to eat, sometimes two or three bowls of food plus breastfeeding!
3 He very social, loves people, laughing, and smiling.
4 He loves to watch Quint, and laughs at him and his actions regularly
5 He is working on his first tooth
6 He just learned to army crawl, and loves to be on the move!

Christmas Vacation at the Lake

Once we made it to NY we had a wonderful Christmas with family. Quint is now to the age where he understands opening presents but I am not sure he gets meaning of "Christmas" just yet. Russell just loves crawling around and chewing on wrapping paper:) Some highlights of our visit were:
Taylor Christmas (lots of exuberance and dramatic gift-giving)
Playing Wii/ Rock Band
12 hours unplugged (we did not use cell phones or internet, this is very hard for our family...we bonded instead)
Night out with the cousins
visiting with friends and family
BK and Dad building benches for our play table they made this past summer
Quint swinging in the basement with Papa
and of course the polar bear swim!
It was a great visit, and thankfully we made it home safely.

Polar Bear Swim 2009

We always do the polar bear swim on New Years Day. This year we woke up and the lake had iced over during the night. I have to admit I was relieved. I had a cold and it just seemed painful. Dad was very disappointed. On Jan 2nd we woke up and the ice was gone! This would not be strange if it was warm out but it never got above 32 degrees! I guess we were meant to do it. This was a funny year, the stairs were covered in ice, so Rebecca argued it was too dangerous (while we were all standing outside in our swim suits). It was the first year we videoed the event...I might add it later but for now here are the pics.
I must be truthful....I cheated a little this year...I didn't get my hair totally wet! IT WAS FREEZING...

Ready

Set

Go!

The stairs covered in ice!