December Beginnings

December has begun and the majority of our days here in Grand Rapids have been warmer than colder.  Actually, I believe that there were some record temperature highs on Monday of this week!  Such a strange experience it is to not have snow yet on the ground and already a week of December is over.  We did have one snowfall at the end of November, however, it was not substantial enough to stick around for more than a few hours.  I'm sure if you asked Steve, he would say there is nothing wrong with the weather we are experiencing and that I shouldn't hope for snow too early!  I guess I am one of those people who anticipate the first (good) snowfall of the year.  Even more, I hope for a 'White Christmas'.  With 19 days until Christmas, I shouldn't be worrying, though!  I am sure that once we have had snow on the ground for a while, I will be very ready for the warm months to arrive once more here in Grand Rapids!

Waiting for Christmas is a lot like waiting for our little Joelle to arrive.  This past Monday marked the beginning of our 32nd week of pregnancy.  There are 19 days until Christmas and 53 days until our Due Date (January 28th).  We are definitely to that point in the pregnancy where it is getting very difficult to wait for her arrival!  With all of the kicks and flips that I feel throughout the day (and night), sometimes I just want to have the baby right away, but I know that it is best for her to stay inside for a bit longer until she is bigger. According to my OB GYN, Joelle is somewhere around the 4 lb mark and probably over 16 inches long!  These next few weeks of development for Joelle are very important and she will continue to grow in length and weight as well as internal development of the lungs, brain, and lots of other organs!  Even though I am anxious to meet our little girl, I know it is best for her to stay put for a few more weeks!

While waiting for our baby to come, we are staying very busy with Jonas.  He is about 15 1/2 months old now and is running around like he owns the place!  He has such an imaginative personality!  Jonas loves to eat pretend food, push pretend buttons (sound effects included!), and he is just starting to read books aloud!  Every day he is learning to say new words.  Most of what he says is still hard for anyone, except Steve and I, to understand.  Some of his new words are 'bubble, hot dog, cracker, milk, yes, watch, pretty, bath, up please, open' and lots more!  We still hear a lot of  babbling, but I knot that he knows exactly what he is trying to say.  As you can imagine, Jonas sometimes gets very frustrated when we don't understand what he is trying to tell us.  We are doing our best to teach Jonas patience, and in turn, it is taking much patience on our part!  

Here are some updated photos of Jonas.