Winter Break in Photos

Oh, how we've needed this winter break.  If one were to ask a couple of weeks ago how I felt about baby girl's timing, I was feeling so overwhelmed.  But it's amazing what two weeks at home as a family will do for a person.  While we've been busy preparing our nest so we can truly hunker down and hibernate once the baby is here, we've also been spending our days and nights enjoying slow time.  We've been playing a lot - Beau and I secretly competing to see who can get Cruz to giggle more while playing with his new Batcave, or practicing a lot of patience as we learn the new board games Cruz received for Christmas.  I love that when Cruz requested banana bread for breakfast one morning last week, we had time to make it together in the kitchen, and that the three of us have spent almost every morning cuddling up in our bed without an alarm or reason to get up early.  We've watched movies together, baked cookies in the kitchen, and Beau and I enjoyed a date night for barbecue and American Hustle in the theater.  Life's been good and we are thankful for a warm, cozy place to spend these long winter days together. 

Good things from winter break (and SO many pictures to go with them)...

67. pajamas all day
68. hot cocoa with our marshmallows
69. pancakes for supper
70. board games at the kitchen table
71. his big brown eyes and long eyelashes - I've been staring at them a lot lately
72. the way he drinks leftover milk out of his cereal bowl
73. afternoon naps and ticking stripes
74. Minion Tim
75. jumping on Mom and Dad's bed
76. Daddy tickle fights and that giggle
77. New Year's Eve with just us three - Sakura and Chuck 'E Cheese
78. a three-flute toast before bed...and a bowl of cereal, obviously
79. a post-doctor, mommy and Cruz date to BK for chicken nuggets
80. an afternoon of paints
81. the brightness of our living room after Christmas is put away
82. he was supposed to be napping; instead, I peeked in to find him studying his Batman book like an old man
83. a Sunday afternoon tea
84. guitar serenade
85. mukluks and a new book
86. everything we need for chocolate chip cookies
87. eating plenty of dough before we bake
88. the quietness of a baby nursery just days before they arrive
89. baby booties
90. mid-morning crafts
91. packed hospital bags everywhere
92. upper 30 degree days before the Polar Vortex and Cruz's first ever snowman
93. neighbors watching neighbors from the window and coming out to take a family picture for us