i'm now overwhelmed

i'm now overwhelmed at trying to "catch up" because it's been a month now since i blogged. several times, i've thought to myself, "self, you've got 5 free minutes, why don't you sit down and do a blog entry?" but then i talk myself out of it because there's too much to cover -- christmas, christmas break, new years, family time galore, other stuff, funny stuff, tender stuff, bluh stuff -- and i'm too lazy or tired or unmotivated to go back over a month's worth of stuff.

so i'm starting fresh. let the record show that the last 2 weeks of 2009 and the first 2 weeks of 2010 were fabulous. addie's babbling more, layla's increasingly tender-hearted and imaginative, and carson's growing up up up into a, well, REAL kid (as opposed to baby or toddler. not, like, in the pinocchio sense that he's been a wooden puppet for the past 5-1/2 years). he made his first lego movie (filmed by paul, voices and actions done by carson) officially called "the attack of the underground bad guys" but, due to time constraints and the slowness with which he writes, was shortened for the cine readerboard to "the attack." it was on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting and a smashing success.

layla loves her creepy talking/blinking/peeing/pooping baby alive doll (it scares everyone except for layla, who adores the thing) and her barbie house -- santa had a special place in his heart for her this year, i guess. she's become a super big helper for me, and she kind of thrives on the positive attention that such service gets her. on most days while i'm making dinner, she'll come up and ask, "what can i do to help?" and actually expect an answer. tender. she's a beautiful little person with a big life in front of her, and i'm thrilled to get to see it unfold first-hand.

and addie. what to say about that independent, tough, yet kinda sweet little chunk. she's developed this crazy-person laugh (high-pitched, repetitive, and, frankly, quite weird) that sounds fake but has actually replaced her real laugh sometimes. no one who hears it can keep a straight face. she's full of mischief, keeps herself very very busy (stacking, loading, unloading, moving, clearing, unstacking, switching, pushing, climbing...), and is a darling yet sometimes formidable sister to carson & layla. i think she'll keep our family entertained for a long long time.

paul and i are great. celebrated our 8-year anniversary in december. enjoying life and what it brings and forces us to consider.

the end.

next post will hopefully be full of photos with much less boring text. but no guarantees.