January

Due to the almighty Flu, we have been quarantined as much as possible this month.  Although we haven't had many excursions, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the kids just being well...kids!  And they are playing so well together lately.  Treasuring these moments :)

Playing dress-up

 

Impromptu visit to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum...creating artwork celebrating Chinese New Year

pre-potty training...gearing up!

 

they just crack me up!

Sweetness through Sickness

Lily has always been a pretty tough little girl.  She usually only cries when her feelings are hurt, or she REALLY is hurt.
The other night, we suffered through her first ear infection in a long time.  She had tubes put in at 15 months old and has maybe only had one or two since then.  Now that the tubes are long gone (which help to lessen the pain), this infection was especially painful.  And since the on-set didn't arrive until 7:30pm, there wasn't much I could do besides pain medicine.  And that didn't seem to help much.
As I was trying every home remedy on the internet I could find, nothing seemed to be working.  My heart was breaking for her as I knew, through her tears, she was really in pain.  As I sat next to her lying on the couch, rubbing her head, I said "I'm so sorry, Lily.  I'm trying everything I can to help the pain go away."
She then surprised me (once again) by replying through tears, "I know you are, Mom.  And you're doing great!"

That girl.  This is one of few times I'm without words. 

Christmas 2012

I will start by warning you this will be a long post with lots of pictures.  With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I failed to make separate posts so I will just combine them all in this one!

We had a fun-filled season celebrating Christ's birth with family and friends!
It began with decorating the tree...

Next, we enjoyed our annual Bolinger cookie baking day.  Jackson could not stay out of the kitchen with all of those sweets calling his name :)

Sadly, next on the calendar of events was the Flu :(  Lily came down with it first, then Mommy, then Jack, and Daddy ended with just a head cold (thankfully).  So, if we all look a little ragged in the following pictures, that is why.

Christmas morning!

Reading a letter from Santa regarding a gift that did not quite make it on the sleigh!  However, he made arrangements for a store pickup the following day :)  Hope this doesn't happen again in the future!

Christmas day dinner at Grandma & Grandpa B's...

Bolinger Christmas!

The next morning after our Bolinger Christmas celebration, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Bill, Jacob, and Sam arrived to celebrate New Year's with us!  Here are some pictures of our time together...

Morning after they arrived...iPad & Kindle time!

watching the snow fall

trip to Bass Pro Shops

Happy New Year 2013!

Time for some New Year's Snow Day fun!
(is this not the cutest little snowsuit?!  he just looked adorable out there !)

sledding in the duck boat

playing with cousin Sam

the Fiala family

Mommy and Aunt Sarah having fun! 

making snow angels

 

hot chocolate time!

Our last event was a trip to Kaleidoscope in Crown Center.  The kids loved having some time to use their imagination!

We sure enjoyed this holiday filled with laughter and love!