I've been feeling a little guilty for not updating the blog lately. The other thing I haven't done for awhile is have a nice long conversation with Brent. He's been incredibly busy at work and I've been busy getting adjusted to being back in the greatest country ever. I want Brent to know about the little things going on in our lives and not just the big things, so I sent him a quick e-mail to tell him about some day to day details. This is literally a copy and paste of the e-mail I just sent. Welcome to the Choate family.

Sorry we keep missing each other! I thought I would update you on a couple things before I forget. First of all, I didn't answer the phone today because I was at the ... wait for it... GYM! WOOHOO. The only downer about that is I pushed myself kinda hard and started to feel a little nauseated. We came home and had dinner and did all the bedtime stuff and I've been feeling AWFUL all night. It turns out that my sweat is not awesome juice after all, but just sweat. Michael offered to snuggle with me until I feel better. (I think it might just be a ploy to stay up later though.)

Yesterday I went to the gym too (I know, two days in a row - say what?!) When I went to pick the kiddos up, Alex had been crying. I had to sign a form for michael because he was throwing basketballs at kids heads and wouldn't stop and I had to sign another form because Kate got hit in the head with a swing. I'm sure the nursery staff was glad to see us roll back in today!

ALEX is hilarious with the solid food. He REALLY didn't like it at first. For the first few things I fed him he would spit most of it out. Not just push it out of his mouth, but blow raspberries to see how wide and far he could spray the baby food. Sometimes he even shudders. It's pretty dang funny. His least favorite thing so far is avocados. His favorite? PEAS! He must be adopted.

Your mom suggested a new reward system for good behavior for the kids where I pay them for every hour they behave. After considering it for a little while, I think there is a way to do something similar, but not feel like I'm bribing the kids to listen. They both get a jar and every time they say "Yes Ma'am" and show kindness or do something caring, they'll get a marble (I think I'll call them SUPER SPHERES!) When their jar is full, they get to choose a fun activity: movie night with pizza, children's museum, zoo, chuck e. cheese, ice cream party, legos, etc. However, they can also have Super Spheres taken away for ugly behavior... Anyway, it's a work in progress.

Kate's sweet. She had a bad day today and was being a turd-bucket. Tonight I was putting her to bed and I told her I wasn't happy with her and she started balling and saying that she loved me. We had to snuggle for a bit and I told her she gets to start all over tomorrow and I know she's a good girl. Poor thing!

One more thing about Alex. He was starting to become a little attached to Kate's extra pink blanket. I let him use it while other blankets were being washed. Anyway, it was quickly becoming a favorite. SO when I was at Wal-mart, I picked up a new BLUE one very similar. His little face lit up when he saw it for the first time! He reached out for it and IMMEDIATELY snuggled with it. He LOVES it! It was blankie love at first sight! SO CUTE! He especially likes to sleep with it on his face. Weird.

The weather has been AMAZING here. It's supposed to be 79 tomorrow! Sucka!

I love you and look forward to a decent chat tomorrow!

As kate would say:
Merry Christmas

Mary