Happy New Year to all! 2007 is going to be an amazing year for us, I can just feel it. Although, it's starting out kinda slow for me. Derick caught the nasty cold that was going around at Christmas.....and is finally over it. Just when he started to feel better (and the green snot went away) I got the damn thing! What a doosy....knocked me on my ass for a good five days before I started to feel human again. With all this sickness, we've been home ALOT these first couple of weeks of the new year. Not good for a woman who likes to be on the go, seeing people and doing stuff. I am trying to stay positive....the bright sunshine of the last few days helps. It snowed again on the 10th.....and we got another Arctic blast like the November storm......it's been down around 20 degrees at night for the last three nights. The 5 or 6 inches that we got that night have stuck around....that NEVER happens in Seattle. Yet this is the second snow storm of this winter already. Jeremy says it's El-nino. Whatever it is, snow is here to stay. I haven't been driving much in it.....the Van kinda scares me a bit. I'm just not sure of how it will do. But, I gotta get some practice in at some point. Now that Derick and I are feeling better, we went outside to play a bit. I couldn't find the disk that I know we have...it's buried somewhere in the crawl space. So, I improvised with an air mattress. We slipped down our grassy hill in the front yard, heading into the drive way. If Jeremy had been home, we might have gone for the big hill....but that lands us in the road....and I didn't have a car spotter. So, we stuck to the gentle slope. It was enough to satisfy my needs for a little snow play. Derick didn't seem all that impressed, but he was in his "I am absorbing everything right now, so I'm serious" mode, so I can't tell what he thought. All the photos I got of him were pretty serious faces. Too cute! He did enjoy eating the snow....the cold must feel good on his gums. BTW....he's got two teeth showing, finally! They came in together on the 29th of December. Right in the middle of that nasty cold. When it rains, it pours! There's been lots of changes around here....Derick is pulling up on anything that's taller than him (that he can reach!). He's cruising around the coffee table and getting more stable on his feet. He LOVES to be standing. He also started crawling on his knees....and has figured out that it's much faster than scooting on the floor. Raven is appalled at how fast Derick is getting....I keep telling her, she's going to have to learn to find better hiding spots! I am also feeding Derick three times a day now, and trying to make sure he still gets enough milk for his growth. I think things slowed down a bit while he was pushing those teeth through.....but we've noticed the last week or two, clothes are getting tighter and shorter again......it's up, up, and away again.

Well, I better get a few things done before nap time is over. Til next time......