Holidays

Christmas, New Years and all the days in between had a different feel this year.  There were some emotional ups and downs but overall not as hard as I thought it would be.  Surprising, I know!  When we celebrated Emmy's 3rd birthday in August I had talked myself into being excited about her little family party and I thought it would be great.  Well, when the day came it was HARD.  Much harder than I thought it would be.  I've come to understand that the saddness hits at very unexpected times.  I never know what will trigger it (might have something to do with pregnancy hormones too).  But thankfully we were surrounded by our families throughout the holidays and just being with people who love and care about our little foursome seemed to make everything better.

We spent Christmas at John's parent's house...wish I had a bunch of pictures to share but just didn't get around to finding the camera.  Pure laziness!  I spent my time there sleeping in, enjoying A LOT of wonderful food and just hanging out with his family.  We went to Christmas Eve mass with the kids and both girls did amazing.  Emmy usually has a hard time at church but she just snuggled with John and was all smiles!  The message given at the service was one of hope...it was just what I needed to hear.  

 
Ava and Emmy love their Mimi and Grandpa's cat, Jack.  This cat is the most even tempered animal I've met.  He sits on his little perch while Emmy attempts to pet him.  Her attempts usually resemble hitting or flicking and he just stays put and takes it!  The look on his face says it all.

The following Friday John got home from work and we made a last minute decision to drive down to my parent's house (near St. Louis) for New Years.  It's about five hours in the car so I brought along my huge body pillow and tried to stretch out the best I could.  I'm so tired by Friday that I passed out with the girls early in the trip and John chugged his coffee to stay awake. 

Again, I took no pictures...boo.  But we did have a wonderful time!  New Year's Eve night my mom made a huge Mexican feast, we played dominos (although my dad secretly wanted to be playing bridge : ) and I actually made it until midnight.  My brother, his wife and three boys came over and the cousins ran wild together.  Uncle Kyle is always the entertainment...playing all sorts of chasing games the kids love.  One day I'll get a video of the action, it's pretty hysterical!

I did manage to get my act together and get out a Christmas card AND it's a picture of our whole family.  Getting a picture of the four of us is a daunting task so I usually just send out a picture of the girls.  So I'll leave you with the Foster Four, soon to be FIVE...I'm starting to get a little nervous about that!