October: The girls' personalities are flourishing every day. They are always so full of smiles and giggles as they are starting to become very mobile. We got to spend an awesome fall Saturday with Uncle Andy and Auntie Laura at Como Zoo. They packed us an awesome picnic and then we enjoyed looking at some animals. So much fun... and SO great to get out of the house and the daily routine of things. I also ventured to Rochester for a day to get some Jojo time in. On top of watching our girls grow, we are so blessed to be able to have Jojo and Brayden to grow up with them. Jojo is growing up so fast!
Donny LOVES Halloween, but unfortunately for him, Halloween isn't what it used to be... now we have to little girls to dress up! It shouldn't be a surprise to many of you that the girls were giraffes for Halloween. Two cute, little, adorable giraffes. We only trick-or-treated to two doors this year....Grandma and Grandpa Grunloh, and their neighbors Dave and Diane! That was enough for mom and dad. The girls weren't huge fans of their giraffe abilities and preferred their hat to be OFF.
The day after Halloween, we had visitors! Ian and Tara, good friends of ours, came to visit and we all went out to eat! It was fun to have four extra hands to hold babies while we drink our beers and enjoyed lunch, and Johnalyn got to try her first lemon (Picture below). We miss you guys!
The month of November came a lot of changes for us. Johnalyn quickly figured out how to CLIMB UP STAIRS... and boy did she think she was pretty awesome for figuring that out!! This was something we weren't expecting quite yet.
Up until this point, Johnalyn was our crawler and crazy one... and Danika was more stationary and docile. That also changed within a day. Danika went from 'creeping' and pulling herself around with her right elbow to full out crawling on her hands and knees... to walking across furniture, onto end tables, the wall... She was everywhere! She, too, thought she was some pretty awesome stuff when she could finally keep up with her constantly moving sister! Whoofta!
 |
| Johnalyn our busy body... |
 |
| ... and Danika right behind her... |
November also started our challenge with sleep. Oh, how we miss sleep. Both girls have decided to get up and cry at least three times in the night.... that's six crying episodes in the night, that sometimes just blended all together in the one big no-sleep marathon. We have tried, what feels like, everything... and we got to the point that we were so sleep deprived and un-functionable, that we would let one of the girls sleep with us (depending who was worse in the night). They started fighting colds at this time, and they're also teething, so we didn't quite know if it was a mix of that or if it was actually sleep regression... but I'm pretty convinced it's sleep regression we're dealing with. More on that later.
Thanksgiving: We spent the day with Donny's family in Lester Prairie. It was so much fun seeing Donny's grandparents play with the girls. This was the first time they were able to see the girls aside from when they were teeny tiny at baptism. It was so precious watching them interact. The girls got to sit at the table like big girls and eat their puffies and sweet potatoes. :-)
The end of November and into December seemed to be their time of 'recognition'. They really started recognizing their surroundings, their routine, each other, mommy and daddy, Shadow, their hands and what they can be used for. Donny and I just sat and stared at them in fascination one night as they started to interact with each other... they were clapping together and then they would both break out giggling, Dani would grab Johnalyn's hand, Johnalyn would start crawling-stop-and then look back to see where her 'sissy' was. They will clench onto eachother's hands (and hair), mimic each other's words. They figured out how to clap and have become VERY fluent on "mum mum" and "DA DA"... Danika REALLY emphasizes the D on "Da Da"... sometimes she even squeezes her eyes shut when she says D... I think it'll be hilarious when she figures out how to say her own name.
On December 15th, we thought Johnalyn hit a HUGE milestone.. she got her first tooth! Now... here's the confusing thing... it was a top tooth....we took a picture of it, we tapped on it, we felt it... it was a tooth!!! Two days later... it disappeared... ?? It still has yet to make a re-appearance. She has since actually gotten a tooth on the bottom the first week of the new year.... but we're still scratching our heads about this mystery tooth. :-)
Christmas: Oh, I love Christmas! I don't love how exhausting it is... but I just love the whole Christmas season. We spent Christmas eve with Donny's family. On Christmas Day, we were able to spend it at home. The girls got to open one present (they'd rather just rip the paper anyway), and we had a very laid back day enjoying the girls and just going with the flow. Later that afternoon, we packed up and headed into Mankato for sushi. Donny and I started this tradition in 2010 and since then have gone out for sushi on Christmas Day every year since, except for last year for obvious reasons. We were SO excited to re-start this tradition with the girls! After dinner, we decided to drive through the Mankato Kiwanis Holiday lights. It was SO pretty, and such a perfect ending to Christmas Day. The next day, we ventured to Lewiston to spend Christmas with my family! Again, we had a blast with our tradition of white elephant gift exchange, and instead of drawing names this year, everyone bought supplies for the Ronald McDonald House. This made my heart SO happy, as I have such a huge spot in my heart for the Ronald McDonald House. We were able to drop off all the supplies when we headed home, which made it a PERFECT ending to the holiday season!
 |
| Grunloh Christmas- Danika and Future- Aunt Liz |
 |
| Yay! Tie straps! |
 |
| Johnalyn with Auntie Laura and Uncle Andy |
 |
| The girls opening their present on Christmas day |
 |
| My loves. My life. |
 |
| Benke Christmas-Jojo drinking her 'coffee' |
 |
| Our two little drooly elves |
God poured out countless blessing onto us in 2015... and the proof? I get to watch these girls grow, laugh with them, hold their hands, rock them, wipe their tears, and sing to them... all because of His unconditional love. He didn't 'give up' on us, and I tried my hardest not to give up on my faith... and here we all are... happy (most of the time), healthy, and very sleep deprived. :-)
