...after.
Today is M's 5 month birthday. Today marks the 6th week since we saw M. for the first time. Yesterday was 6 weeks until our court date. We are counting down the days.
So, being apart from our baby is getting near unbearable. I went to a party last night and one of the mom's brought her 2 1/2 month old baby girl. Now, I didn't know this mom and had no connection to her baby. It would have been so different if it was a friends baby, but I had a really hard time hearing the cries and noises from this baby. Talking about her acid reflux medicine and hearing all about her. Her mom thought I was crazy when the first thing I asked her was, "How much does she weigh?"...14 pounds. One pound more than M. at the time of the referral. How much is M. growing, what noises does she make, does she have acid reflux and pain from eating, can she hold her head up, is she crying right now...? This is what got me so upset...I just want to be a mother to M...now. I'm going to start knitting her a sweater...
Santa came Christmas Eve at about 11:pm. When Rhett woke up he ran to our room and said, "Mommy, how did you make that tee pee!" He liked it. A couple of days before Christmas we went to our favorite toy store and he saw a tee pee in a box. He said, "One day I want a tee pee like that." I'm so glad he likes it.
We had a nice lazy Christmas morning. We watched Planet Earth...one of my favorite things this Christmas. It will give us hours of educational fun on a very long airplane ride to Ethiopia.
The best part of this puzzle....
...the crying Pluto. It took us a little while to figure out why this tiny "planet" was crying. Poor Pluto wants to be a planet like the rest of his planet friends.
"Mommy, why is that blanket scary?" 
A much prettier blanket for M...from Nana.
Next year the Christmas joy will be doubled. 
Though M. can't be here this Christmas, it was fun to find/make a couple special things for her. The hat is the pilot cap from this book...I'm sure it will be so cute on M.! The fawn is from Rhett and is one of my new obsessions. I picked out the mushroom for my stocking. These wooden figures are so sweet...I'm especially fond of the forest animals. They can be played with, chewed on, taken to the bath...I love beautiful, quality toys that elicit imagination. The book is the prettiest ABC book ever. 
Our backyard and deck looks a little less trashy with the snow. This cone has been a great gage for how much snow we have gotten.
More from the "Arctic Blast" to come...
February is a big month for us...Rhett's birthday, my birthday, Aris' birthday, my Dad's birthday,....our court date!!!!!!!!! 
I'll talk to him later about using a hat for a diaper...
We are so excited for our friends in PA! They got their referral and now our baby girls are together! 
Here is Rhett telling Santa about the car toy he wants.
What, it's time to bring our pumpkins in and cook them? Oh...
We had a snow day yesterday. Rhett and Dan had fun outside for a little bit, but it was way too cold for me. I went out long enough to take a few pictures. When we showed Rhett the snow outside in the morning he asked, "Is it really real snow?!" He has been used to seeing displays of fake snow and fluff.
It was a beautiful day!
We had our neighbors over last night for a little "snow day" fun. We sat by the fire and decorated gingerbread houses.
Martha S. did it again. Thanks to this gingerbread recipe and this hot chocolate recipe, our night was a (mostly a) success. The icing could have been a little more "fast setting."
Nate's one of a kind...his was the only one to totally collapse. He took it like a champ.
Chris and his masterpiece...
Rhett's work of art...
That was fun.
