Happy New Year!

Claire had a great Christmas with Grammy, Grampy, Lola, Uncle Paul and Auntie Taya visiting (we did too). Even Santa made a surprise visit to our house to see Claire - she wasn't too interested in Santa. She was spoiled by all of the attention she got, and we were spoiled too as family members lined up to play with her. To the right is Uncle Paul and Claire outside, looking for airplanes - she has a knack for spotting them in the sky. Claire also went to the Georgia Aquarium, which she loved because of the fishes in Finding Nemo. I got a season's pass to the Aquarium for Christmas (from Claire) and Claire gets in for free, so I suspect we'll be going there a lot - that's like my buying Lynn a power tool for her birthday. Needless to say, everyone had a great time over Christmas, especially Claire who is now learning to play the drums on Rock Band

After the house emptied on Dec. 29, our friends Kim and Jason (and kids) from Dallas arrived to spend the new year with us. We went to the bounce house again. Claire was not as timid this time around. We also went to the Georgia Aquarium. Did I mention I got a season's pass for Christmas from Claire? Everyone celebrated New Year's Eve together with sparkling apple juice, followed by fireworks in the front yard, with the kids watching from the front porch. The adults barely made it to midnight.

Lynn is doing well with baby number #2. I feel bad I have not written much about him/her. This one is quite a bit more active than Claire was. He/she has a strong heartbeat and we go for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks. It is hard to believe that we only have 8 more weeks to go, and then the lack of sleep cycle repeats itself. Well, it is a small price to pay for such joy. And speaking of joy, I would be remiss if I did not tell you that our neighbors Kristi and Nick (guitar player in above video) had a baby girl, Samantha, on Dec. 31. You can follow their chronicles of parenthood on their blog.

And the last bit of good news, Nick and I were earned a t-shirt at the local watering hole for reaching a certain level of beer consumption. "Years of preparation got us to this momentus occasion. Hard work really does pay off", said Nick Estes, as he rested his pint on his belly.

Finally, you can see some photos from the past couple of weeks here. We are flying to Florida for the MLK weeking to see Grammy and Grampy. Pictures to follow.