What a terrifying sight the blank blogger page is...

I sit here and stare at the blank page before me - overwhelmed at the task at hand. Or fingers. So long since last post - oh, where to begin?? How 'bout a chronological listing...

Friday, December 22nd. Patrick took the day off work so we could head down to my mom's in the morning. The trip went well, Eve slept the whole time and Josie didn't start to melt down until around Preston. (Which means we were almost there, for those of you not familiar with Iowa... oops, I mean extreme southern Minnesota!)

Saturday, December 23rd. (Don't worry - I'm not going to cover every day between then and now.) A lovely Christmas celebration with my side of the family. Josie played Santa and passed out gifts. She was very excited, even did a couple of "mule kicks" - and did a very good job at delivering presents, except for a couple of Eve's that didn't quite make it to her, but got opened on the way. Josie's new favorite word is "wow." It got used a lot during this holiday season. All in all, the stay in Newburg was great - but we did have a couple of crazy nights with screaming Eve and crying Josie. Oh, well. Sleep is overrated, right?

Sunday, December 24th. Back on the road, headed for home. Lunch and naptime, then off to Patrick's aunt Kathy and uncle Randy's house for the Daly-side family celebration. Yummy food, fun games, good company and we're off again! This time, to Patrick's aunt Helen and uncle Joey's house for the Ashton-side family celebration. The girls were troopers through all of our running around. Then, we got to go home! It was nice to be back in our own beds - although the house was a disaster since we didn't really have time to unpack or put away gifts.

Monday, December 25th. Merry Christmas! We got to have a much-needed morning lounging in jammies at home, just me and Patrick and the girls. We opened our stockings and gifts under the tree. The gifts were under the tree, not us. I don't think we would have all fit. Although we did have a beautiful tree this year. By this time, Josie was a bit overwhelmed by all the presents and holiday hoopla. We asked her if she wanted to open presents, and she said "no." We'll have to remember that in the years to come. After the gifts, we went to 10:30 mass at St. Jerome's. This was the first service I've been to since Father Peter passed away. It was quite sad and distracting for me to not see him leading the service. At around 3:00 we went over to Pat's parent's house for dinner with his family. And of course, more presents. So many presents. The kids were all very excited. Grandpa Mike gave Trevor, Trent and Josie guitars. Oh, yes. Guitars. Josie wasn't quite as into hers as the boys were... oh, their poor neighbors. We all got so many nice gifts - thank you ever so much to everyone! And more than that - thank you for the gift of time spent with us. It was great to get to see so many of our family members this year. And to those we didn't have a chance to see, we certainly hope to very soon in 2007!

Tuesday, December 26th. Hmm. I really will skip a day here, soon, I promise :) Back to work for me, while Patrick stayed home with the girls since we didn't have daycare this week. I don't remember being so thoroughly exhausted in months. Probably since after we brought Eve home. Then Patrick tells me that we're getting together with a college friend from Illinois, Marc, and his wife (Sandy) and daughter (Allison - 14 months) that night for dinner. Wow! The good times just don't stop! So good to see them and Allison is such a cutie. It was a late night again, but definitely well worth it.

Wednesday, December 27th. The Rosenbaums are in town! A huge thank you to the Gronaus for hosting all of us at their home. We owe you, big-time. Babies (Ed and Vivian and Eve) and toddlers (Lucy and Josie) and a pregnant belly (Tricia's), oh my! And... yippee for Peg and John... they are expecting a little one in May! Our Winona gang is growing. There will be 9 kids between 6 couples by the end of next May.

Friday, December 29th. Gronau playdate at our house. Lucy used Josie's potty. Josie was peeking in the bathroom, intrigued. After they left - Jo decided that she needed a piece of that potty action. Although so far, she's been saying "potty" as she's going in her diaper, then just wants to take off her pants and diaper and sit on the potty chair. She's quite pleased with herself. I'll be more pleased when we actually see something in the bowl.

Sunday, December 31st. The Crandalls were kind (or crazy) enough to have a few of us with kids over for a night of kid-friendly fun. The chaos that ensued when we all tried to get our little ones to bed was hilarious. Exhausting, but hilarious. Hip-hip-hooray for my first non-pregnant New Year's Eve since 2003! Although it wasn't as action-packed as you might imagine - we were actually on 35E on our way home when the clock struck 12:00.

OMIGOSH. I can't believe I forgot. So Patrick found out on December 20th that his job in Agriculture and Association Sales got eliminated. And then he got promoted to the Group National Sales Office team. All in one meeting. Exciting, but stressful. So as of yesterday, he has a new job. I don't really know what it is. Neither does he, so that's okay :) All I know is that his paycheck will be bigger. So rock on.

Monday, January 1st. A lazy day at home. I even got to nap! A genuine, curled-up under a blanket, real nap. It was a beautiful thing. Thank you, Patrick, for taking care of Eve while I slept. Eve doesn't really believe in naps. She says they're for babies. But you know what she does believe in...? Getting teeth! That's right, Eve is the proud owner of a brand-new, lower-left front tooth. She was chewing on Patrick's finger, and he felt a noticeable difference in the level of pain her chomping caused. And there it was! At 5 1/2 months, a full 2 months earlier than Josie. And that also explains why she's been somewhat impossible to get to go to sleep the past few nights, and has been waking up at 2:30 in the morning. Darn teeth. What are they good for anyway?!

Tuesday, January 2nd. I got to stay home with the girls. Daycare Betty called last week to let us know that her husband took her to the hospital because she was having chest pains. She had fluid on her heart, caused by a virus. She needed to have a follow-up EKG on Tuesday to make sure everything was okay, and it was, thank goodness. So the girls are back with her today. We are so blessed to have her. She gave Josie a huge hug this morning and said she missed her, and you could tell she really meant it. It helps so much having to leave my girls somewhere during the day when Josie gets excited on the way to Betty's house.

New things Josie is up to: She tells us we're "bad, bad," then we're supposed to act sad so she can give us something (like a toy or blanket) to make us happy again. It's her favorite game right now. Such power she has to make someone sad and happy again in 5 seconds. And now she says "Ummmm..." when you ask her a question before she answers. I've noticed since she started doing this that both Pat and I do that a lot. Her favorite Christmas toys (for today, at least) are her big truck from Daddy and doll pack-n-play and swing and stroller from Santa.

So here we are in 2007. What a whirlwind the end of the year was. I know that traditionally, Thanksgiving is the time to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for, but Christmas and New Years always make me think about the blessings in our lives. We have so much and are so lucky. Family and friends, health and happiness, and most of all, two beautiful children. Some doors may close and new ones open, but what really matters is the people in our lives we surround ourselves with. So thank you to all of you who read this - we send our best wishes to you for a happy New Year!