Happy New Year Everyone!

Hi all. Long time, huh? I'm feeling less and less committed to this blog and I am starting to simultaneously feel guilty about it. There's always so much to tell about but until I find a few extra uninterrupted hours in my day I'll resort to guilt and move on.

So... what's new...hmmm.... Did we have a Christmas not too long ago? It sure doesn't seem like it! :) As I recall it was good times all around. We went to Michigan for a week, which was a much needed break from the rigmarole of day to day life here in VA. Emma and I flew direct from DCA and Dave met us there the following day after a 13 hour drive. Normally it takes 9.5. You can ask him why he wanted to drive, I still am baffled by it. :)

The first night Emma and I joined Lynn's family and went out to dinner for grandpas K's brithday. Grandpa loves his free bithday dinner at Finley's and goes every year. I was mostly excited since it has been years since I've been able to attend. My neice Kaitlin and cousin Molly had a blast with the sting cheese while Emma nibbled on some shredded cheese of her own.



We spent Christmas Eve with my mom at my brother's house and all had our pictures taken by Nicole Cottom of Art & Soul Photography. Nicole is amazing and I'm really looking forward to seeing the photos. Here's a sneak peek:

We hung out at Mike and Jen's after pictures and my dad, Lynn, sister Jenni and brother Andy came over to exchange gifts with Mike's family.

Nicholas and Emma packed in some quality time playing with cars....

And we played a little wii (I was sore for days!)

Christmas morning was spent at my family's house. Emma opened some presents and made quite the mess - she loved tearing the paper into tiny pieces.

She even got to do some pull-up on mommy and daddy's new toy...


She spent quality time with uncle Andy while mom made Beignets, a family tradition for Christmas morning.



Later that afternoon Lynn's family came over for dinner and more presents.

Emma was great with all the commotion and looked adorable in her Christmas dress.

SHe even got her first sip of beer...

The day after Christmas we had dinner with dad's side of the family. Aunt T tried for some Emma time but Emma wasn't having much of it.

On Saturday we went to my aunt Doreen's house for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We had a nice dinner, opened presents and let the kids run around as we caught up.

We made the trek home on the following Monday only to turn around again and head down to Fredericksburg for yet another family Christmas, this time with Dave's fanily. The whole family gathered, opened presents and played Blokus for hours on end.

We spent New Years Eve trying not to fall asleep as we waited for the clock to strike 12. The kids had a blast though.

Now for the not so fun part of this post. Not only did I fall down our stairs just before Thanksgiving with Emma in tow, but that fall caused a little tear in my hubby's rotator cuff when he carried me to the couch. (I'm really not that heavy, he had injured it a few years ago, the "carry" just did him in). We met with Dr. Branch, Dave's orthopedic surgeon, a few weeks ago and confirmed that Dave will have to have surgery. Our next home purchase is likely to be a runner for our overly-slippery stairs.

To make matters worse, we met with Dr. Brehm at SouthPaws and learned that Cooper needs surgery too. His fall down the stairs a few months ago caused a tear in his cruciate, or ACL. We're opting for a procedure called a TPLO where they essentially splice his bone and rebuild his knee so that the ACL is no longer needed. It's pretty intrusive, but after long thought and contemplation we've determined it's the best thing to do. Coop goes in for surgery tomorrow morning at 7am. I've been emotional about it all day. Our poor dog has been through so much this year and it saddens me to think what he's going to have to go through. We're expecting nearly 8 weeks of isolation and recovery. We're now trying to figure out how we're going to get him up the stiars, especailly since Dave's surgery will likely be in a matter of weeks from now. I'm trying to stay upbeat, but it seems like whenever we get ahead we're faced with trying times like these. Please pray for our family, that we make it through these next few very tough weeks with our heads up.

Well, I can't end on a sad note so let me leave you with this... amidst all that's going on here Emma decided it's time to start walking. She took three steps last night and before we know it will be running circles around us. I am so proud of my little girl - she's so independent and the sweetest little muffin you'll ever meet.