LIFE UPDATE: My husband is still on shift work. That is 14 hour days, 7 days a week, which means I am also working 7 days a week, close to 18 hours a day. I fell behind on the housework and laundry a week before Thanksgiving and have never caught up, even when I ignore my children, neglect my blog, put off editing photos, stick in my headphones and tackle a room for 2 hours straight. And no matter how many times I clean up the main living space the children destroy it again within minutes. If I didn’t believe in my heart that I would trip over a RescueBot, fall into the TV and bleed to death on the floor I might just stop even TRYING to clean up.

KID UPDATE: Evan still thinks school is awesome. He hasn’t had any more bus drama and I haven’t forgotten a single half day in months. He is helpful and kind at home and still wants to snuggle on a fairly regular basis despite being so tall I sometimes don’t recognize him. Caroline refuses to wear anything besides princess dresses. She also has the most horrible whining voice in the world. It’s worse than nails on a chalkboard and she does it ALL the time, even when she’s just making up imaginary games between her dolls. She is also unbelievably adorable. Her birthday party is next weekend and her birthday itself is right after that and then my baby will be THREE.

COUCH UPDATE: STILL HAVE AN EXTRA COUCH I CANNOT EVEN GIVE AWAY. And no Christmas tree because of shift work and also because there is no where to put it because of the couch.

ICE CREAM UPDATE: Despite the fact that it is usually around 40 degrees, we’ve been hitting Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream pretty regularly. Downtown Mystic is my favorite place for photo shoots right now, and bribing my kids with ice cream is a win-win, since it means I get some ice cream too. The peanut butter sundae is still my favorite.

PHOTO UPDATE: Here are some photos.

CONNECTICUT UPDATE: Still unbelievably scenic.

Tags: Caroline, Christmas, evan, family, holidays, ice cream, life, mystic, photography, pictures, update