January

 I gave Emery a goal to read 10 chapter books over Christmas break. Once he reached his goal he would get a little treat. He far exceeded my expectations and went on to read 20 books before going back to school! Emery is a great reader!!

We had an unusually cold winter with temperatures dropping into the teen's at night. Unfortunately for us, our house and water pipes are not insulated well enough to protect against such cold weather. We had a water pipe under the kitchen sink freeze and break. But, it was fortunate that I was standing in the kitchen when the ice thawed and the water began to spray out. I was able to get the water turned off in less than a minute. I'm guessing only a few gallons came out before it was turned off. We had water to clean up on the floors and under some cabinets. Joel had to remove the bottom and back of the cabinet under the sink to clean up some water and then find the pipe to fix it. It was not something we would ever care to happen again! But, it could have been worse if we hadn't been home etc. So, we feel blessed it wasn't worse. And a good friend took the kids for the afternoon so we could work on cleaning up the mess and fixing the pipe. She even fed them dinner and let me bathe the kids at her house before I brought them home. AND she made dinner for Joel and I. She really saved us that day!

I had my 20 week checkup and ultrasound where we found out that (surprise!) we are having another boy! We are so excited! I think Lucy was hoping for a sister, but she is still very excited to have another little brother.

Emery also lost his first tooth this month! He was incredibly brave, asking me to help pull it out once it was sufficiently wiggly. He was anxious to get some money from the tooth fairy I think! And the tooth fairy left him $1 in place of his tooth. Happy day for Emery!