Home from the Holidays

Well, it's a new year. The holidays and our so called "vacation" are over. Now we're back to business as usual. The kids now have their own rooms. I can't stand them waking each other up anymore. So, Miles now resides in the office, and our "office" now resides in the living room. Not ideal, but it should hopefully be a nice temporary fix until a) Ellie sleeps through the night, or b) our basement is finished. Oh please let 'a' come first!! :)

Our "Christmas vacation" was a bit of a letdown. We were all sick for all or most of the vacation, Tyson worked Every Single Day we were gone (yes, that includes Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, the Sunday after Christmas and all the New Year's stuff.) The good part? He didn't have to work a full 8 hours every day. Just odd hours a bit during the day and late into the night. Nobody got a ton of sleep. Ellie cut her 6th tooth while we were down... That was a turning point. After that she slept much better. : D  The rest of the up-side is that we spent time with our family down there, had a bit of child free time, and picked up our new (to us) van. So, really, it wasn't a terrible vacation. It just wasn't the real break from everything we were hoping, dreaming, and wishing for.

So, I guess an introduction would be appropriate for our newest acquisition. Meet our van:

It lives in our driveway for now because it is too dreadfully cold to reorganize our garage to make it fit. So for now, we endure. This officially makes us a two vehicle family. Which with two little kids, is very nice. Oh, and we would NEVER EVER, EVER have made it to or from St. George with all our stuff without it. The fact that our car fits all 4 of us does not mean it will fit all of our stuff for a 10 day vacation, plus Christmas.

We were really planning on waiting until we were expecting #3 to take the plunge, or at least next fall/winter. But things change. Sometimes (often) our plans aren't as good as God's. So there you have it. I can't give you details as to why this plan of His is better right now. I don't honestly know. But I sure am enjoying it.

In Tyson news, he took advantage of the vacation to grow a beard. His co-workers really wanted to see him with one, so he obliged. Then he trimmed it down to this:

And then this:

Then he shaved the rest off and he's back to normal. He also got a haircut.

Now for me? Not enough sleep (thanks kids) equates to me still being sick (only a little) 2 1/2 weeks after getting sick. I still manage to have fun with the kids during the day and do all the necessary stuff, like rearrange 3/4 of the house in one day, and cook food. Here's a great shot Miles took of me:

We're still working on his photography skills...

Speaking of Miles, He's so fun to have around! He loves to play, and of course play on the computer and such. Right now he either hams it up for the camera, or refuses to be photographed. Here are a few shots I've gotten recently:

Oh, and despite being 2 1/2 and throwing a spectacular tantrum, he is still super helpful around the house. This morning he went to put his oatmeal bowl in the dishwasher (yes, he regularly does this), but I informed him the dishes were clean and it needed to go in the sink instead. So, he puts it in the sink, and proceeds to unload the dishwasher. Yes, without asking. I love this kid! He also likes to set the silverware out for meals, and vacuum.

And now Ellie... Teething is constant for her, I swear! I'm pretty sure she's working on #7 right now. Luckily, she's still a delight most of the time. And during the other times? A bit of Tylenol does wonders! Her favorite thing right now is to be up on her feet, either holding on to stuff and playing, or walking around with someone's fingers. She hates to be alone. The more the merrier as far as she is concerned, as long as Mommy and Daddy are there. Oh, she started saying Dada just after Christmas. She gets super excited when he comes home from work and will babble Dada dada and do all she can to get to him, or have him get to her.

Here she is playing with Miles' cars. Much to his dismay. lol. I have more pictures of her, but they're on our other camera that resides in the closet of Miles' new office room. (He calls it that. It's not his room... it's his office room. He misses being in with Ellie.) So I'll have to post more of her later.

(don't ask me why this picture is rotated. The original one I uploaded isn't. Just turn your head and pretend it's right side up, okay?)

With that, here is one more picture and two videos for the road:

Part 1:

Part 2: