Happy Holidays

Well we made it through our first Holiday Season with the girls. It wasn't too bad.. For the record we saw Santa a total of 3 times. Well Anna did.. poor Lily missed the last sighting since I thought she was asleep. No tears from being anywhere near the big guy with the white beard. Maybe next year we can actually take them to the Mall to see Santa. That is going to be so much fun. Anyway back to this year.

They got a ton of stuff. Mostly from relatives and friends but not to the point of being totally spoiled. Grandma got them mostly clothing, the cousins (S and D) got them toys and DVDs, Uncle Dave and Aunt Beth got them cute slippers, a book and a tub toy, Joe and Peggy got them a Ball that I swear is possessed and some bibs, Alan and Debbie sent them a stuffed Very Hungry Caterpiller and board book. Daddy and Mommy got them a Fill and Spill toy and a Board Book.

We also had our first Snow a week before Christmas. It was nice even though we got snowed in at Grandma's house. We are expecting more snow tomorrow (unless it's already midnight when I get this posted).

Anna is finally teething.. 2 teeth at once.. Poor thing... Lily is getting more teeth too but it's not as rough on her as it is for Anna. They look so darn cute with teeth but where the heck did my newborns go??? Before I know it they will be One Year Olds... Hmm I wonder if I click my heels three times if I can go back in time to when they were teeny tiny babies.. I'm guessing that it won't work.

Here are some quick hopes for 2009...

That we find a new place to live that has at least 2 bedrooms that we can afford.

That I find a job that lets me still spend time with the girls.

That Lee and I make it to our Tenth Anniversary in April.

Some Fancy Pictures of the Ringen Family

Our First ever Family Professional Photo



I didn't notice how shifty Lee looked till we got the pictures in the mail


This one is really nice of Lee and myself

The lovely ladies.. Anna and Lily.. at just about 6 months old

We got these pictures done while getting pictures taken for our church's directory at the beginning of November. It was fun and I can't wait to do more when the girls are turning a year old in May.

I feel like a broken record

because I know I've posted about this before.. but here I go again.

I MISS MY DAD... especially now. I swear that this has been the hardest part of the year to get through the past 7 years and I don't ever expect it to get easier.. well maybe someday when the girls are older.. It should be a great (wonderful ?) time of the year since most people are in the holiday spirit but this year I just don't have it in me to get overly excited. To put it bluntly.. Life just sucks right now. It's hard enough that Dad's birthday is the day after Christmas and he died 4 days into a new year so those couple of weeks are hard on me.. add PPD into that mix and well you have an unhappy Cheryl who is feeling cooped up in a too small apt with 2 babies that want to be mobile but can't figure out how to do that yet. I need to get out of Dodge.. and I have plans to do that tomorrow.. just to the movies and the mall for a couple of hours. Hopefully that will recharge my batteries enough to get me through to the new year.