January, man.

January 7th was the last time I, apparently, had a moment to reflect. Somehow, January 2017 brought even more unpredictability than the holiday season; maybe even moreso because we expect the holidays to be a bit crazy and look forward to the New Year to bring a little normalcy. Well. That went out the window!

First, for some baby updates: John Joseph weighs a ton and eats even more! That's him in a nutshell. He's got 4 teeth, eats all three meals with us, albeit smaller portions, but not at all "baby food"-like. He wants the peas, meatloaf, & mashed potatoes!

January of this year brought with it the death of a dear friend's young son, Drew. There's nothing I could possibly say about it that would be as graceful, meaningful, or faithful as what his mother, my friend, Heidi, has already said via their Caring Bridge site. Of course this is a most dreadful and hard time for the family, but she, Josh, and 5yo Molly are relying so much on God's grace, peace, and comfort that there's really nothing more than that to pray for, save that those things continue. Other than the actual sad business and reason for going, I enjoyed taking Jack along for his first trip to Minnesota. We revisited a little stomping ground from back in 2013-14 when Paul was a small toddler and where Ada was born, savored a few snowy moments, and cherished the time spent with Heidi, as well as sparked a new, deeper friendship with the family I stayed with! We'd known each other but weren't particularly close before, and her family was so wonderfully warm and welcoming, it made the whole reason for being there sting a bit less. Then, leaving, there was a snow storm that had me drive my rental back to the Cities to stay in a hotel for fear of not being able to leave Austin the next morning. Everything was on time.

Jack's first flight and an eating machine + our rental for the few days.

Awake and ready to play at 10pm instead of sleeping

Baby's First Snow!

 Woke up to only a few inches in Minneapolis vs. the 8-12 in Austin!

January of this year also brought my firstborn's 5th and my daughter's 3rd birthday. Paul's and Ada's birthday party was on Saturday the 21st (after which I boarded a plane to MN), and I flew back home on their actual birthday, the 25th. Nana, Pappy, Tante Ginny, & Uncle Ryan made the trip from Houston to share the weekend together, and then Nana & Pappy stayed on with Dylan and the kids while I was away. Paul had a chocolate cake with white icing in the shape of an "a" because last year he had "P" - do you see what he's doing? Next year he wants "u" and the next "l". Gotta love his persistence, right? I do love how naturally he saw the whole thing, like, duh, of course that's the cake I want! And Ada had a white cake with chocolate icing "wif a hole in it" - Bundt cake it is! They enjoyed some musical play time with a few of their friends here at the house, and we even tried an actual "birthday game": musical chairs was a half/half win, sorta, with the older ones getting it and the younger ones ... not. Funny.

And a little of the kids' busy-ness with Nana & Pappy:

With birthday money from Great-Nanna & Great-Poppa Nelson, Paul and Ada chose these gems:

And, lastly, January of this year has brought with it a bit of Mardi Gras celebration. Also known as King Cake Season. We've had at-least-weekly king cake, and it doesn't look like it's going to start slowing down, yet. I think I said something like this last year, and if I didn't, I thought it, but living here makes one almost yearn for Lent. Is that right? Hm... The neighborhood parade was cute, too, and Paul and Ada both wanted to watch it pass right in front of our house this year instead of walking in it, thank goodness! It was great fun to see. Followed by, what else, but King cake, of course! Dylan has also made the kids a parade ladder box, which is completely necessary for any parade longer than 10 minutes (ie, all of them.) Here's the box in progress, and I'm sure I'll show the finished product in snaps from Mardi Gras day.

The month was also rife with stellar sibling moments such as these:

But don't be fooled ... there were many (and probably even more) not-so-stellar moments, too, of course. Paul's new-found independence goes hand-in-hand with a streak of defiance where he knows the rules aren't that important; think "keep the door closed until Mama's ready to go" not "stay out of the street". So, he's not pushing the limits on where there's danger, just Mama, who he may, in fact, also agree is dangerous. He's excited about the fact that he can now cross (some) streets without holding on to an adult, and he's finally starting to grasp and love his bike. He's the best, best, best big brother to baby Jack, making him laugh when I need another minute with this or that, fetching things, and he loves that he's big and strong enough to pick him up and hold him all on his own. It's darling to see. To Ada, on the other hand, there's room for improvement... But he's still soft-hearted and shy to show it, imaginative and quick to want to explain it to us, he's shown quite some talent for little technical things like fixing things or putting pieces back together as well as talent for the piano. He sits down to tinker and finds out that Nana & Pappy's piano has the same song ours does, ha. He's also shown maturity in grasping hard concepts, like death, for example. Of course he's not where an adult would be, but he recognizes sadness, a loss, and the hope in Christ. Pretty neat in a barely 5 year old. 

Little Missy, here, swoops into our daily naptime with her "Idon'twantto"s, and the whole house loses it. If she wants to have a tantrum, and I mean high-pitched wailing, she's just got to get to the end of it before there's any peace. Dylan and I have tried a myriad of techniques and approaches, but she's just got to work through it with time. Doesn't sound too different from infant-Ada, in fact, when we just didn't know why she was crying?! She's fed, she's dry, she's not even sleepy, she's just. screaming. Now we know, it's just Ada wanting to scream-cry. Sigh. The only difference nowadays is that it does usually happen when's she's tired. Anyway, that's pretty well the only negative she's got on her right now because she's so, so lovely, and funny, and creative, and talkative, and silly. She's amazing to watch, and she even likes you to do so (unlike big P who'll stop what he's doing if he catches you watching). Ada France is ready to nurse any new baby she receives (as gifts, dolls, of course), and she wants to be good to Jack, though her self-control and strength aren't quite where she'd like them to be. She is also kind and quick to want to pray for someone who needs it.

They're pretty amazing little ones. 

I wouldn't change a thing <3

And I'll leave you with with some shots from our beloved Mini Art Center:

Last last last thing: this morning, what would've been my Mammaw Tormey's 106th birthday, my best good high school friend welcomed her firstborn daughter into the world. Beautiful.

So this is the New Year

And I don't feel any different ;) Happy New Year 2017 -- may God watch over us all!

One last Santa Baby shot before the South Carolinian New Year's shenanigans...

While we jumped in the car at the late hour of 5:45am (was meant to be 3:30!) and spent the next 14 hours in Vincent Van Geaux, Geaux, Geaux, Peter was preparing dinner for us!

This fantastic coach passenger made excellent use of sitting next to Nana. 

And this little passenger looks adorable and happy ... and while that was true for much of the time, the last 4 hours in the dark were, well, a bit too much. We all slept awesome after Uncle Pete's pulled pork dinner!

But the 3 men in the house got up early, early to catch dinner for the next day's meal! Nana, Paul, Ada, Jack, and I spent their fishing time gathering pecans in Pete's backyard as well as sticks for the next fire, and we took a nice walk, too. 

Once the men returned and cleaned the boat and fish, we all went into Charleston proper for a lovely walk around. We caught sunset on "the Battery" at the end of the penninsula, walked around the upscale residential part of town, and even stopped in at a café before heading home to eat the day's catch - what a great way to end the year! Oh, at the café, which was mid/late-afternoonish, after we'd all drunk our coffees and teas and hot chocolates, Paul calls out, "Wait! Where's our food!" Nana and I laughed so hard, I think he may have felt a little silly, but we explained it was just a drink-stop, etc. Anyway, made it into a "joke" and then he felt less laughed-at, poor kid. 

Paul's very into "Take a picture of us!" right now - so sweet.

Sunday, New Year's Day, wasn't so much eventful as relaxing. We started the day at Mass, had naps, generally caught up, and had dinner, a fire, and some fireworks in the street. Then Monday, Peter was back to being Dr. Braud, and the rest of us entertained ourselves at Folly Beach - gorgeous day! Also Dylan's first glimpse of the Atlantic.

Lunch. 

Peter was pleasantly surprised by the day being treated as the holiday observed, and he got off early! We had a big meal at his regular bar hang-out, and then caught a few moments on his boat - the kids' first! Paul even drove the boat, something he's very proud to tell others. I rode with Peter and Dad back to the boat launch while Mom drove home with Dylan and the kids from the dock, and a ride at sunset like that felt like 15 minutes of vacation. Couldn't hear much over the wind, and the boat's being low to the water, as fishing boats are, felt wonderful! Also, worth noting, when I first saw the picture of us on the left, there, I reminded myself of Mom when we were the young kids on family's boats on lakes, partly because of the short hair she always had when we were small, and partly because of that Saints sweatshirt of hers I have on, which has survived well over the last decades. 

Then it was packing time and early to bed. We packed up so quickly, we had a few moments just to sit around Peter's table, a family favorite, and talk. The 3am alarm arrived with rolls of thunder, and we were off in the rain, on time this time, and had a smooth journey til we hit NOLA around 4pm. Save the motion sickness Paul, uh, expressed, at about 8am ... kid's got my genes, poor thing.

These last few days have been spent at home, halfway trying to unpack and get re-organized, halfway just enjoying being home and put for a while. We've been to the library a couple of times, enjoyed king cake for the Epiphany, and had a cold family weekend together. We did manage to celebrate the New Year with the horns and hats Nana had bought but left in New Orleans. So this is for you, Nana!

And I have to close out with this sweetheart of a chubba-bubba:

Merry Christmas!

It was this little bug's first Christmas! (And I took advantage of every opportunity to put him in this lil Santa hat from a friend.) Being just 6months at Christmas, as opposed to his siblings' 11months, he couldn't get into any more mischief than reaching for a package. He's weighing in at a whopping 17 pounds and measures over 28 inches long (not far behind Ada ... currently!), and he's toying with sitting, eating, and storytime with the big kids.

Back to Christmas shenanigans. 

A cousin-priest who lives in Florida, Fr. Scott, visits New Orleans every year and is great about getting those of us who live in town together for a lunch. So here we are in festive gear with Aunt Mollie on the Monday before Christmas. It was a bit chilly, and the kids have learned how to keep their hands in their pockets - yay - but Ada was running back to the car and - splat! - face-planted on the sidewalk, poor dear. She had concrete marks on her forehead til about Saturday...

...but it didn't really matter because on Friday night this horrendous tumble happened! Can you make out how far that big ol' egg is sticking out in the photos?! We hit the road to Houston at 3:30am, the magic time Dylan and I have figured out gets us the easiest, straight-through shot at the trek (we manage it with one stop and zero traffic), and we arrived before 10am for the whole day with Nana & Pappy! Kids are excited, as are the adults, doing lots of Christmasy things together, including looking at neighborhood lights, of course. Paul and Ada were riding in Pappy's rockin' beach wagon, but right near the end, after a good 45minutes of everybody doing the right thing, Ada happened to stand up and throw a leg over the side just as Dylan happened not to look back at the kids before racing down the (tiny) incline of a driveway. She landed with the loudest pop Nana had ever heard. I (very gently) tossed Jack on some neighbor's grass and ran to her, and within 5 seconds, she had the gnarliest, grey egg on her forehead I'd ever seen. And a busted nose & upper lip. She's a tough little cookie, but this tried her bravery; she cried and she cried and she cried, cried, cried, cried. It was about 8pm. We tried different forms of ice on it - bag-o-peas, cooler packs, wrapped and not wrapped - for the next 3+ hours, keeping her awake watching Christmas movies til almost midnight. Boy, if it hadn't reacted to the ice so well, we would've had an ER trip for sure because this thing was huge. The swelling didn't go down completely, but we could see it was going in the right direction, and she was answering questions and otherwise being normal-but-hurt. It wasn't until last week that our pediatrician, Dr. Emily, had a quick look (while otherwise there for Jack's appointment) and said a big egg is a good thing -- a skull fracture would tend to dent the bone, not go out. Yikes! Anyway, by Christmas Day, she had some bruised eyes, and through the New Year, she's looked punched in both eyes. They're starting to lighten to green now, but that girl looked some rough with that scabbed over nose, black eyes ... and a forearm tat.

Stuff like this always happens when she's tired; the downtown lunch spill happened when skipping nap, and this one was at the end of a travel day at bedtime. Gosh, bubble wrap for this little soon-to-be-3-year-old, please.

Better things, yes? Christmas Eve Mass! Man, Christ the Redeemer parish knows how to do it up big - it's just a bit of a shame that everyone else in town seems to think so, too! There was SRO from 3:15 for a 4pm Mass in a church that holds a couple thousand. Oy. We came, we sang, we visited the baby Jesus, and we returned home for egg nog, steak-n-potatoes, and oh, so many Christmas carols!

Then, of course, Paul and Ada baked Santa some cookies, and Pappy read Twas the Night Before Christmas to a captive audience (love!).

And then came Christmas morn! Santa came! Oh my goodness, the joy! It was a cozy morning just us, missing Ginny, Ryan, and Peter, but the kids enjoyed it immensely. Paul and Ada did a great job in Pete's place of reading the name tags and divvying up the pressies, and Jack got to scratch at a present or two. Paul was honestly surprised by a couple of things, and that precious reaction is so sweet - Nana called it: he looks to Mama to share in the surprise! So cute. It was Batman pjs, fyi. Ada was in hog-heaven right away with some girlie-girl toys she's honestly just interested in! We don't play up the gender role stuff, and she plays with a mean truck or two, but she honestly likes to brush hair and push babies. Y'all, she nursed the baby Jesus in our play nativity set after we got home.

 

 This is the one thing he mentioned to Santa, 

and he was so excited it was under the tree!

And he played and played and giggled

... and then it broke. After 15 minutes.

Next time, ask for something that's not 

plastic & battery-operated =/.

I felt awful seeing his disappointment.

But he voiced gratitude for "all the ovver fings".

Pete on the job, saving lives, and Ginny & Ryan en route back to H-town from Omaha and Christmas Eve with the Bivens. And then Nana & Pappy on Christmas in the 70s. It might not be like the Christmases in books, but there's certainly nothing wrong with 70 degrees, ever. 

Oh, I'm forgetting Boxing Day Bowling! I'll have to dig up a photo of that and post here the next time I get a minute. That was fun - as always! Paul and Ada had a ball, and Paul's old enough to figure stuff out. He kept his eye on the roster and called up who was next, and they were the best cheerleaders: Yay, Nana, you got one!

Then Tuesday saw another 3:30am departure before coming back to our green house to open pressies from Mama, Papa, and a couple of extended family. We had hot cider in our German Weihnachtsmarkt mugs and filled what was left of the morning with Christmas songs ... before Dylan headed in to work.

The next two days were filled with suitcase-swapping before leaving for Charleston, SC! With Nana & Pappy who arrived Thursday! It was a last-minute idea that we finalized at Boxing Day Bowling after we watched Peter open his Christmas pressies on skype on Christmas night alone. We didn't pity him - he's gotta do what he's gotta do - but we missed him, especially Mom and Dad, especially at Christmas ... especially when he had time off at New Year, and especially when we offered to go, too, in Vincent Van Geaux, Geaux, Geaux! SO! Our New Year's road trip to Charleston is next up on the blog when I can grab a moment to gather the photos and stories.