21 months old

Asher's closing in on 2 years old, and I really think there is no cuter age. He's even cute when he says "no," no matter what you ask him. He's finally decided to talk more, although that doesn't mean he's real chatty. Mostly still a quiet kid, but he is saying more and more words, and we are trying to learn to understand them all. "Up" "cup" and "help" all sound an awful lot alike, as do "cookie" and "dirty." He loves to smile for the camera and say "cheese" (food words are some of his clearest) - as you can see above. This is the position he assumed when I told the kids they could watch a movie. It didn't last past the opneing credits, though, before the pillow was on the floor so he could jump off the couch onto it.

We Survived Christmas

We expected the last two weeks of 2009 to be a little bit crazy. All of Joshua's family came for a Christmas visit - 14 people all together! But that kind of crazy is a good kind of crazy - the fun, the crowd, the kids, the noise. And it was as wonderful as we thought it would be; we're so glad they came!


However, the was also a significant amount of not-so-good kind of crazy that filled our holiday as well. Broken microwave, leaking (through the second floor) washing machine, broken refrigerator (as in not functioning, have to keep holiday food for a dozen people in ice chests on the porch), broken heater (but rigged to function after one VERY cold night), Christmas tree fell over... twice, sinus infection, ear infection, respiratory infection, stomach virus passed around, and all-night travel delays for multiple parties.


We're just hoping 2010 brings a new trend. (I'm counting Joshua's mom's bout wiht food poisoning in the '09 casualty tally... after all, the food came from 2009, which was precisely the problem, in addition to inconsistent refrigeration temperatures - see above).


This family "Christmas" photo was taken 4 days after Christmas, when the little ones were done puking and some sanity had returned.