The January Life

So January, huh?

You all know what I mean...

The holiday letdown, cold and gloomy days, early dark nights.

Not really my most favorite of months.

But we are surviving.

Lots of playgroups.

Lots of organizing.

Lots of cooking.

And lots of this:

Hanging out with my BFF, Stells.

She is simultaneously the best and worst thing about being cooped up in the house all winter long.

You will notice her watery eye in most of the pictures.

She has had a clogged tear duct for the entirety of her life.

She is finally going to see a specialist next week about getting it opened up and cleaned out.

Can't wait to stop seeing the eye goobers, wiping the eye goobers, and then having a red, chapped eyelids as a result.

But eye goobers aside I think she may just be the cutest thing ever.

We also like to take baths.

Well Stella does at least.  Don't worry, I shower when time permits.

Her hair is really getting out of control.  It is wispy and thin and kind of long, but not really.

Grandma J started putting a little Velcro curler in it while we were home for Christmas.  Somehow I ended up coming home with 3 of them.  So for part of the day she has this little curl log on top of her head.

Not going to lie, it is awesome.

But at bath time the Mohawk is all the rage.

So she has officially hit the the human tornado stage.

This is the type of destruction she is constantly leaving in her wake.

Pulling books off shelves, folded laundry off the couch, diapers out of the basket, and various utensils out of the dishwasher all seem to be favorite activities.

It is fun for all of us.

I just can't seem to figure out how she manages to look so innocent all the while...

The long MLK Jr. weekend was a nice little escape from the January mundane.

My good friend from Utah State who is now an Iowa transplant decided to head on over to Ohio to celebrate her few days off work.

It was so fun catching up, watching movies, bargain shopping, and eating delicious food.

We lived in the same dorm our freshman year, volunteered together in the elementary school kitchen, and survived dietetics by exchanging words of the day.

Ryan was even her FHE dad in our first singles ward.

Needless to say it was a great few days catching up with Nikki.

I think she had fun too- even if she did have to sleep in the dungeon.

So even though January doesn't come close to winning any favorite month of the year awards, we are making it through.

I still have craft night, date night, and a travel expo to look forward to this week; followed by doctor appointments, big one year birthdays, and a little vaca the next.

We can do it!

February is right around the corner, folks.