Two kids are better than one

I could never have imagined that I could love any other person as much as I love Julian. Then along comes Lucy and somehow my capacity to love is expanded and now I love them both times one million. Julian is still an intense, hard kid, but I love him. Lucy is the opposite in so many ways. She is easy to take care of, easy to entertain, and easy to squeeze. I've never seen such an alert, interactive baby. They are both awesome in their own ways.

Lucy is trying to crawl so hard. She's reached the point of frustration with her inability to move around at will. Any day now!

Julian is talking up a storm. Every day he says something so funny and I always intend to write it down and then forget. Last night he told me. "Merry Christmas, Daddy." Then he told me he needed to tell me a secret, so I leaned in, and he stood on his tippy toes to reach my ear and whispered, "I love you, daddy." My heart melted as I whispered that I loved him too back into his ear. Children are the most perfect thing in life. Innocent, trusting, beautiful reminders of what life is about and why we are here. The joy is indescribable to anyone that is not a parent. To my friends without children...I urge you to join the ranks. It is so great and so worth it.

Nicole is busy getting Christmas cards out and trying to keep her students (and herself) motivated for the last two weeks before christmas. I've been busy putting up christmas lights, keeping the sidewalks clear and just finding time to play with the kids.

We're going to Elko for Christmas this year so we've been busy making preliminary plans for that. We haven't been to Elko since my 10 year reunion a year and a half ago. I look forward to going home. We always have intentions of seeing old friends and stuff, but we're usually doing well to get everyone in the house showered before lunchtime. This will be the first time in two years that we've had the whole family together at once. Since the last time we've added two more babies. Now Shawn and Laura will be having one in February too. The next time we're all together is two years from now...who knows how many more babies there will be by then. The moral of the story is that grandma's house isn't getting any bigger. Soon we'll have to use the church gym just to have dinner.

As I look out my window from my desk at work this morning it is snowing and I'm listening to christmas music. I love christmas time. Merry Christmas to all our beloved family and friends!