Rest of the update...

I forgot to mention that Steve received his Bachelor's degree on December 17th! Now on to Masters...

While my parents were here, we had another day of opening presents. Eliana had her 2 week appointment. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was still perfect, according to the doctor. But then again, I'm not arguing that point, she is perfect! She is everything we prayed for, from the color of her hair to her disposition. God is good!

We went to the Lake of the Ozarks outlet malls and bought some clothes for Eliana and some pants for me that won't hurt my stomach. We also went to Springfield to the Build-A-Bear workshop (actually this was independently owned, same sort of thing, but better choices). Christian made a turtle, Freddy Ticklish Richards. Zachary made a white tiger, Aslan Richards. I made a bear, Leigh, for Eliana. My mom made the same bear for my nephew. I'll have to add the pictures later. The day before my parents left we had a girls day out, while the guys stayed in. The boys also went to the theater for the first time with my parents and saw "Narnia". Christian talked about it for quite some time and Zachary said he liked it, but that was about it. I personally don't think he cared too much one way or the other, but he did enjoy his first theater experience.

Steve went back to work on Tuesday, so now I'm left by myself and trying to figure out a routine with the kids now. It seems to be going ok. When I'm allowed to do more, it'll probably be easier. I got my new drier delivered yesterday (no more screaching mom!).

I'm including a couple pics I took this morning. The boys always want to hold Eliana, but Zachary especially. And then, when he does have her, he wants me to take a picture. So, these are because my 3 year old told me to take them. And because I couldn't decide which ones I liked the most, I'm putting my 3 favorites.