I’ve been sitting still in my cold house long enough that my nose and toes are now cold. I think I’ll go make a big pot of soup. Maybe some brownies. Cold, rainy days seem to justify extra desserts.

The Taylors came out to Germany back in August, and we are so glad they are here. Cameron and Carley are great kids (and wonderful babysitters) and Conner is a good friend for Annika. You can tell that they really love each other, and I can see why. Spending time with them is a joy. Now that we have three children, it is sometimes hard for us to find friends in similar life stages. I am grateful to have a friend in Christy. Thank you, Taylors, for being so patient in waiting for these pictures. Now that we are back in Germany, we can’t wait to hang out more.

The weather has gone from this:

to this:

and now it looks more like this:

As you can see, I have quite a bit of blogging to catch up on.

The weather isn’t the only thing changing, either. My girls are growing up fast, and I feel like we are entering new seasons of life in our family. Lucy and Elise are my perpetual babies; they are 10 months old now, but they are just growing into their 6-9 month clothes, neither of them have any teeth yet, and they aren’t in any hurry to be truly mobile. I don’t mind. I still get gummy smiles and I don’t have to chase two girls going in opposite directions (yet). However, they are getting to be adept little scooters and since I am constantly scooping things out of their mouths, my floors seem dirtier than before. They are not content to be ignored and even though they don’t have teeth, they want to be eating with the family and feeding themselves. I spend a lot of time cleaning up cheerios and smashed bananas. They have opinions and desires and favorites, and it is fun to see their personalities emerging. Annika is one of their favorites and is growing into a wonderful big sister. Today she was showing Lucy “flash cards” which were really just black and white pictures for babies. But as I was changing Elise’s diaper I heard her saying “Lucy, do you see any letters you know? Look at this, Lucy. When you get bigger you are going to go to school, and you can’t go to school unless you learn your letters.” Lucy just babbled away. I have to work hard for smiles, but as soon as Anni enters a room, her sisters light up. I can’t wait to see their friendships develop as they grow.

I was a little reluctant to come back to a dark, cold, German winter, but I shouldn’t have been. Christmas in Europe is wonderful, magical even. The blanket of snow has only made things merrier. I can’t wait to share more, but here are a few random pictures before I leave you and go to bed.

Little Logan is the same age as my twin girls, so I was impressed with how good Mom was looking. I feel like I have big bags under my eyes from lack of sleep and most of the time I am feeling pretty frumpy. Tiffany, on the other hand, looked beautiful! Katelyn was tons of fun and will make a great photographer someday. She had all kinds of good ideas, was a natural in front of the camera, and even carried my gear for me a couple of times.

Thank you, Macmanus family! I am sorry this sneak peek was a little long in coming, but I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed our session together and hope I see you around!

This was such a fun family to work with; they were troopers, even though it was freezing outside. We took lots of warming breaks in the car, ate cookies and skittles, and played in the snow. You could tell that they all really love each other, and I love when that shows in the pictures. I couldn’t decide which pictures not to include in the post, so here is a little more than a sneak peak. I’ll try to get the rest of your gallery to you soon. Thanks again guys!