So much has happened!

If you can't tell by how long ago I last blogged, it has been super busy around here. Thanksgiving was also Shawn's birthday, then one week later, Alexandar turned 2. We had his party at the church (a truck/tractor theme) with just family. I've been out Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, and just spending quiet time in the evening with Shawn after the kids are in bed. On Alexandar's birthday, I also had a 2nd interview and kinda sorta officially started working last week. Since I don't yet have all the passwords and such, my first "assignment" was to look at the website and familiarize myself a little. So, I made a pot of coffee, snuggled up in my robe and sat on the couch looking at my Christmas tree while I was paid for my first hour of work. What a fantastic job!! Certainly not all of my hours will be that relaxing and comfortable, but I'm glad I can choose to do so.

Christmas was wonderful!!!! Not because of the gifts received (although Shawn did a fantastic job with my new camera... thank you!!) but because we were able to have all of our family around. With our difficult schedule with Isabelle, my mom asked around to see if everyone would want to come to St. Louis instead of over to Flint (which is about 2 hours away). They understood the situation with Izi and everyone was willing to make the trip! Because of the 20+ people coming, my mom and I sat everything up at the church.

Jon set up the Wii using the projector, so we had a huge screen. Everyone stayed late and seemed to enjoy themselves. This Christmas I was so content and just in the holiday spirit. I said I didn't want anything and really meant it. I even tried to spend all our Christmas money on everyone else, including paying for the person behind me at McDonalds, which was quite a thrill!!! I seriously was so excited to do that and once I did, I could hardly sit still in the car, it was so much fun. However, Shawn did find a way to still get me something, but it is such a useful thing and I can take better pictures and will be posting quite a few, I'm sure!!

I didn't get pictures of everyone at the fireplace like I wanted, but I did manage to get our little family. After trying 3 times, I figured this was the best we were going to get, but I think it turned out pretty cute anyway. Don't worry, I'm not neglectful of my son... he just refuses to wear socks for any length of time. If I put them back on, they are off in just a matter of a few minutes so some days I don't even bother. If he does manage to leave on his socks all morning, they most certainly are removed when he takes a nap because heaven forbid that he actually wear socks and sleep simulataneously. He would also go mostly nude if I allowed him. What really makes me laugh is that he may prefer short sleeved shirts, no pants or socks, but he loves to play while sitting on top of the register! I did manage to get one of all 3 kids looking at me. We tried to distract Alexandar with Nana's cell phone, but that's all he looked at, then Benjamin and Isabelle were more interested in that than the camera, so this is the best we can get for their ages. Still quite cute!

Benjamin started walking on December 15th and now that's all he wants to do. When he falls, he'll stand right back up and start walking again rather than crawling. He also loves to get into my tupperware cupboard and try and put all of the containers on his head for a hat. Yet, when you try and put a real hat on him, he rips it right off. He's so much fun and growing and changing every day! Speaking of which, he's now up from his nap and if Mommy doesn't pay attention, he'll walk right on back to his bedroom and wake brother up!