Linna & jimmy update: Surviving winter.

Lately, I've been posting most of our day-to-day videos of our family on my InstaStory (basically a video story-line on Instagram) and SnapChat (look for me at @melissasaigh) accounts. I do this every single day... Multiple times a day. However, I know some of you aren't InstaStory and/or SnapChat users. So, I'm goin' "old school" and sharing some of our recent moments on the blog.

I mean, this blog IS where it all started, right (note to self... more blogging in the new year)?!

Let's see... Where to begin? Linna (age 5) and Jimmy (age 1) got to meet Santa earlier this month, at the Hopkins Fire Department's Christmas party (my Dad is the Hopkins Fire Chief). Linna now looks forward to seeing Santa, but Jimmy has some warming up to do...

Jimmy is now walking EVERYWHERE, and getting into EVERYTHING. But his preferred mode of transportation is still crawling...

Linna put on hockey skates, and hit the ice for the first time this winter (this might actually be her first time EVER on the ice) at our local Rec Center. She LOVES it. This is video of Linna and her friend Paytin (our neighbor), after Linna had only been on the ice for about 5 minutes. In a complete "mom fail" moment, I thought the Rec Center rented skates, so we just brought ourselves.

Nope.

I had to ask some random dad if Linna could barrow his son's skates, because I didn't want to break my daughter's little heart by leaving without getting to skate. I'm so thankful for kind Minnesotans. This dad and his little boy didn't even hesitate to let Linna use his skates for a few minutes before his hockey practice. We bought her some new hockey skates for Christmas. And yes, Linna will be wearing a helmet on the ice next time...

We've also had quite the bad string of luck when it comes to health around our house. Jimmy seems to catch virus after virus this winter, and he's currently trying to bounce back from RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). I feel like Linna was rarely sick as a baby, but Jimmy is a little Petri dish. I guess this is what happens when your second child lives outside the "bubble" that your first child lived in for her first two years.

(This is video of Papa Saigh rocking a sick little Jimmy over Christmas break in Iowa.
Jimmy was so relaxed and wiped out.)

Two sick kiddos, on the ride home from Iowa.

We were all over the place for Christmas this year, but we were able to see a lot of family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with my Mom's side of the family, Christmas Day with my parents and siblings, and then headed to Iowa on the 26th to celebrate with Papa Saigh's sides of the family. 

5-year-old Linna wrote her letter to Santa this year... In the nude... Naturally.

Linna and Jimmy with Papa Saigh's Grandparents (John & LaVonne - AKA "GiGi and Great Grandpa".)

Opening presents on Christmas morning in our home in their Christmas jammies.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve.

Jimmy and his cousin Theda, in their Christmas jammies in Iowa. Jimmy and Theda are named
after Papa Saigh's late Grandparents, Jimmy and Theda Saigh.

Linna and her cousin Bella, in their Christmas jammies. This is a tradition we've continued since the
passing of Papa Saigh's Aunt Jean. She had the kids in Christmas jammies EVERY Christmas.

Over Christmas break, I got to spend some much-needed, one-on-one time with my first born. Linna and I hung out at the Mall of America one day, went grocery shopping, and ice-skating together. Stuff that we never really get to do, just the two of us. While I struggle with Linna's dramatic/diva/challenging personality on a day-to-day basis, having the opportunity to leave the baby at home and just hang out with my girl, makes me appreciate her so much more than I already do. She is seriously THE MOST amazing kid. Everyone else tells me how funny, smart, whitty, and sweet Linna is. It's just difficult to absorb her amazingness when Jimmy demands so much of my attention. Papa Saigh took a week off from work over Christmas, and it's been so wonderful having him home. I'm pretty sure he's counting down the minutes until he gets to return to his "happy place" (AKA, his office), as the reality of my "job" (stay-at-home-mom) is making a strong statement over the past couple weeks.

Matchy matchy. Me and my girl.

While 2016 has been a pretty good year, I'm looking forward to 2017. I still can't believe how big our kids are getting. Wasn't Baby Jimmy a newborn like a few months ago?! Happy New Year, everyone.

Goal for 2017: Get IN more photos WITH my kids.