A new year...

I'm told an update is in order. Most likely true, as I've gotten behind!

Right after the last time I posted, the weather got really cold. Like REALLY cold. We had no snow, but our HOT water in our kitchen froze. That cold. When the maintenance man came out to take a look at it, he took out the drywall and insulation to re-do what was previously around the pipe. When he did that the base wall crumbled away and he could see daylight through the gaps in the siding. This summer when they pained the buildings, all the gaps were supposed to be sealed before they painted. Yeah, never happened. So the entire exposed long side of our townhouse is covered in little gaps, and water gets into the insulation. When it freezes, the soggy, sponge like insulation turns into a giant ice cube, turning our home into a literal refrigerator. Jason put plastic up over the windows to help stave off the chill to no effect. We had the heat up to 90 in our bedroom, and it was still so cold Baxter had to be in bed with us or he was too cold to sleep. I'm sure our heating bill will be outrageous, so Jason's looking into seeing if we can get management to reimburse part of it. Oh, and did I mention this happened on my birthday? The same day that teething decided to pain Mr. Baxter.

Luckily (or maybe not so luckily?) it snowed later that week, blanketing the city in a layer of white calm. Jason had to work on Monday and Tuesday was a delayed start. Then they called off school for Wednesday through Friday. The great thing about being a teacher is that you work when the kids are in school, so snow days for them = snow days for teachers! This was fantastic for me, since Baxter was super needy that week. As in for 5 days, he only wanted to be held, and would only sleep when being held. So we watched movies and took turns holding a sleeping baby.

On Saturday the 20th we decided to head to Seattle before it snowed again. Our original plan was to go for a few days, come home to catch up on sleep, then go back for Christmas. The weather had other ideas! We ended up staying for a full week. By the end Jason and I were sorely in need of a nap, but overall we had a great holiday. It was so nice to spend time with family. We spent the first half of the time at my Mom's house, and the second half at Jason's parents. Jason's dad also had surgery on the 23rd, and had to shave his beard. Beardless he wasn't nearly as scary to Baxter, so they had some great bonding time. They also gave us a jumperoo for Christmas. Well, they gave it to Baxter, but it's just as much a present for us, because he loves it soooooo much! That boy is a bouncing fool! He also got some very cute clothes and toys, and a very special new pet from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Spears. He decided to rename his new puppy Deeohgee again. When we finally made our way home, we were very glad to be here.

Now's the point in the story where I get to say Congrats to Steve and Krystal Bishop, who welcomed baby Bruce on the 28th! We're so happy for them, and can't wait until they post a multitude of photos :D

Sadly, when we got home, Baxter's sleep didn't improve much. He's been sleeping in our bedroom, in a co-sleeper that side-car's our bed. Well, he's pretty much outgrown that, and we started noticing that he doesn't sleep as well when we make noise in the night. It's not like we try to wake him up, but even repositioning in bed causes him to stir. So we took the plunge. Bedroom #2 is now Baxter's bedroom. This is night three. He slept TERRIBLY the first night, and marginally better last night. For those of you who know us, know that this is how tired I was: I slept though a 20 minute cry last night, but Jason woke up and took care of Baxter. Yeah. But his room is super cute! Hopefully tonight he'll do better.

Also new this week, Jason decided to learn how to cook/bake. We had bananas that needed to be used up, and I commented that I should make Banana bread, but I had too much to do. So Jason did it. He found the recipe, and he made it all by himself, without asking any questions! And it came out GREAT. I'm so proud of him. I love him so much, he's such an amazing father and spouse. I do not think I could have done any better. We've been together nine and a half years! I don't know what I would do without him.

Today we spent the day at our friends Kit and Christine, and their two little boys. Josiah is almost two, and Joel is 2.5 months older than Baxter. The babies loved each other. They kept trying to touch each other's faces, it was so sweet! I just know that they'll grow up to be great friends :D

Ok, that's all for now. I'm busily sewing diapers for a friend, and taking orders for testers.... :D