Mason, Rylan, and Elli,

I'm going to blame me being a week late in writing this on the fact that we have been spending all our time at the doctor's office this past month. One of the nurses actually suggested that we start renting out a room in the office...yeah. That bad. So instead of the typical summary for the month, I'll try to make it short and sweet:

Ear infection (Elli), Strep Throat (Mason), Strep Throat (Rylan), Ear infection (Elli), Strep Throat (Rylan), Pink Eye (Elli), Ear infection (Elli- 3 appointments worth), Strep Throat (Mason). Real life. All of that was in December and this first week of January.

Besides that, we had a Christmas visit to PA and celebration of Uncle Levi's 30th birthday; a visit to Santa; a night driving around and looking at Christmas lights; 3 cookie making days at Nonni's; Awanastravaganza and the Awana leaders dinner; Christmas shopping; a Christmas visit from Grandma and Pap; a broken wrist, broken rib, and stapled head for Nonni; a Christmas Eve night at Nonni's house; Christmas day busyness including a lunch at Aunt Michele's; and a Spades party at Nonni's for New Years Eve.

Here's the quick kid update:

Elli-

you're still not walking, and the doctor wonders if all your ear infections are affecting your balance and even your speech (you mostly say "dada" for lots of things). You are fast at climbing steps, though. When you don't feel sick, you're happy and very cute...even though your hair is constantly a mess. You love food and are still a better eater than the boys. When you get thirsty at a meal, though, you refuse to eat until we figure out that that's what's wrong. You still cry like a siren. You LOVE going to sleep. You get so excited when I pull out your swaddle or paci and blankie, and you almost always start laughing in happiness.

Holli Pool Photography, Christmas lights, baby girl, messy hair

Holli Pool Photography, doctors office, Steelers game

Rylan-

you like to make deals with us, you beg us to play cars or superheroes with you all day (Mason didn't do that at your age), and you still like to hear VBS songs at bedtime. You are friends with the kitties; Kippa likes to come to your door when she hears you wake up and lays there until I open it. You were quite the patient at the doctor this month. You screamed, refused to be weighed, and threw a big fit. Actually, when we went back for the 2nd strep diagnosis a couple weeks later, the nurse said, "Wow, that was 100 thousand times better than last time!" We had to throw away your french fry paci after the last strep diagnosis, because I got scared that it was the culprit for reinfection. You were hilarious, cute, and sweet when we threw it away. You kept talking to it in the trash can, and you gave "French Fry" an empty bottle of juice to keep it company in the trash. When you pray, it's one of the sweetest things ever. You are full of joy, and you make all of us smile every day.

Mason-

you are starting to read words in real books! It's both exciting and tiring for both of us. You'd rather hear me read to you for the most part, but sometimes you seem motivated to practice on your own. You are starting to write things, which is the cutest thing ever (like "I LUV MOME"). I also love your drawings so much. In other news, you told me that you want to marry one of the girls in your class...so that happened quicker than expected! You seem to like school still, although you didn't mind being off for Christmas break.