lotsa pictures, happy new life

I've added a bunch of new pictures to Alice's first month, as well as Christmas fun and other various December festivities. and if you're tuning in late, dont miss Alice's first pictures as well as Caleb's first haircut.

happy new year to all, and happy first month birthday to Alice. as expected, December went by very, very quickly. my mom left this morning, so today was back to reality for us, or I suppose it's more like starting the new reality. I think it went pretty well. now that help is gone, I've found myself stepping up to do more. perhaps not a lot more than I would usually do, but I've been doing it a bit more urgently. if there's a free moment to clean off the desk or empty the dishwasher, it must be siezed before it's gone. with 2 babies in the house, there are not that many free moments any more. so Christmas is packed away, our new water filter is installed (you know you 're getting old if you spend your christmas money on a fancy water filter), and the kitchen is nice and clean. for now.

we're wondering how Caleb will do without extra people to play with him, but he seemed to be fine today. the real fun begins tomorrow when I go into work and mama tends after everyone by herself. we're praying for strength for each day. in a lot of ways I'd love to stay home and help all the time, but we gotta pay for diapers somehow. and without an office in this house, working from home only works for short bits. anyway, please pray for Michelle in this big transition. her health is doing pretty well except for her back. we're hoping that will improve as she's able to get more sleep, but we may be at least a couple months away from that. but considering how fast the first month went by, we may be there before we know it.