Christmas in Maine

our christmas festivities began in boothbay on saturday, the 22nd. we had christmas with my parents and brother matthew's family, sadly missing danny and jonathan. mom fixed a fabulous roast and then the boys were a lot of fun to watch opening their presents. josiah was thrilled with his toy tractor and farm set and his tractor books! then sunday, i directed the children's choir in a mini-musical and logan, benji and i were in the nativity scene. there was a luncheon after church, and i was filled with so much joy watching josiah tear around the church like a big boy. he has such a ball with other kids now. after church, josiah posed for some pictures around our house to show logan's family how much snow we've had: 28 inches before christmas!

Brrrrrggggghhhhhh.......it's cold!!!!

Hello from chilly Maine! My digital camera bit the dust, but I just got a picture CD with my last roll of film, so I thought I'd share a little slide show with you, as well as an update on happenings around Chez Perry.

It's been the coldest December since 1989 here in Maine, so Logan has been busy shoveling snow and trying to stay warm working out on the island. He's also been spending his spare time trying to fix our floors since our flood the first weekend in November. Needless to say, he's exhausted. I am also exhausted from averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a day, broken up in segments of 1-3 hour chunks at night. There's no napping during the day with a busy toddler around, so now I know how good I had it when Josiah was a newborn. I feel so bad for little Benjamin for not getting as much attention as his big brother did, but he'll end up being so much more adaptable as an adult. I thought we'd be able to outsmart birth order psychology, but I recognize that sometimes the chips just fall where they may. :)

Benjamin is doing very well! He is so beautiful and sweet. He smiles all the time, and I'm convinced it's not involuntary. Last Friday, the day before his 1 month birthday, he finally weighed in at his birth weight, so I am all done taking him in for weight checks every other day and getting advice from lactation consultants. That whole ordeal was enough to keep my milk from coming in!!! Big Ben is so alert and active now. I love just holding him and watching him.

Josiah has a new love for shoveling snow and doesn't seem to mind the cold. We've taught him to say 'please,' which sounds more like 'cheese' coming from his mouth, so now he has some very cute polite moments. He knows that if he ends a demand with 'cheese,' he'll usually get what he wants! Of course, he also knows how to tilt his head to one side, smile sweetly, open his eyes big and wide, and hold his hands palms up when he's asking for something. This kid is workin' it!!! :)

Anyway, enjoy the pictures! Love to you all!!! Ruth