Brrr....

Wow - it has been so cold here. We headed to Shriner's as 4am this morning for Jackson's surgery. We took some photo's of the temperature gauge at the bank by our house. -24 degrees. On our way back into town this afternoon, it was a balmy -4. You have lived in the Midwest too long when -4 feel warm. It is supposed to be in the 20's/30's this weekend - I might need to get out the kiddie pool - just kidding.

I can't say enough awesome things about Shriner's. We are so blessed to be part of their program. Jax got his ear tubes put in today and they were so wonderful with him. He is such a trooper and tolerated the surgery so well. He was back to his cheery little self after sleeping off the anesthesia for about an hour. It sounded like he gave them a run for their money in the recovery room though. He is not fond of being woke up, much less by strangers - even the nicest ones. I think he seemed shocked by just how loud his sister really is this afternoon. We love her to no end, but she has no volume control. (Does anyone else have a super loud 3 or 4 year old - do they learn to manage their volume?)

Here are some pictures from our day:

New Look, New Year

Happy belated 2009! No, we haven't fallen off the face of the earth, but if it gets much colder here... Just kidding.

We are easing into the new year, a year of transition for me. Leaving my job after eight years has been difficult, but I am teaching off and on and looking for a full time position for next year. Addie is doing great a pre-school, what a difference winter break has made in her approach to school. No more tears - yeah. Jax is doing really well- he is getting his ear tubes put in Friday morning so keep us in your thoughts. It sounds pretty simple, we are hoping everything goes smoothly. He is doing wonderful in speech therapy, so the tubes should really help with his articulation. He is trying to say/mimic everything lately.

Our little guy is TWO - welcome toddlerhood. He has grown so much over the last four months at home with us. He has gained about 6.5 pounds, and has grown at least two inches. His hair is coming in thick and shiny, no more baby fuzz. We celebrated at our favorite Chinese restaurant. This is quite a change from last year when we celebrated there with his referral picture. Now we have the real thing and he is just the best son and little brother we could have ever dreamed of. We are doubly blessed.
We are looking forward to this new year with hope and optimism, we are definitely ready for some CHANGE! Only a week to go.