Dec 2011 - Jan 2012

A few things:

I had a few amazing pictures of the kids in the airport and I don't know where in space they went. But I'm happy at least that I remember what the pictures look like in my mind.

I gave the kids, essentially, as much candy on the plane as they wanted. By the second flight Addy said "I think I've had enough unhealthy stuff." So Joey and I finished off the twizzlers, starbursts, and yogurt melts by ourselves.

I gave each of the kids a dollar spiral-bound journal and then designated one for me. Addy wanted to draw me my first journal entry that she described as "a rainbow tunnel to a land of so many rainbows." i loved it.

I made Addy scrambled eggs. Joey said "But I'm afraid of scrambled eggs."

I was singing to the kids before bed. Joey stopped me and said unprompted "when Jesus comes he's going to show me his smiley face."

Traveled a ton over christmas break. I wish I would have taken more pictures. I took pictures of Ethan with Brian's camera and wish I would have dug out mine too.

Addy says "I love palm trees" now that she's been to FL. A simple reminder about the power of experience. Though, I remember when we moved to Boston and before we even arrived Addy told us over and over us how much she loved a place she'd never been - the ocean.

Joey is still afraid of clocks but says "the clock wants to watch a little show so i'll turn on a little show for the clock."

Addy is in a "and like" and "so like" conversational phase. She sounds like a teenager. But mostly she sounds like me.

We told Addy that Daddy was her special Valentine and I was Joey's special Valentine. She said "But he was my Valentine last year cuz he took me ice skating and you took Joey swimming." Holy memory. Seriously. Makes me a lit-tle nervous that the kid remembers ev-er-y-thing so well.

When Joey squeals - when we chase him, when he's being tickled - he sounds just like a little girl.

Joey was eating breakfast quietly, then busted out with "hey mom guess what i'm taller!" then he stood up to show me.

When Addy reprimands Joey she starts with "Joe-seph Grr-rant..."