Although it seems like the storm of a lifetime, this snowstorm was only the 5th biggest in recorded MN history. Today I found myself extremely thankful for an able-bodied husband who started shoveling first thing in the morning, and didn't stop until we had a driveway again - and we could actually leave our house. After the snowplows passed through several times (around 3:30am, baby Kate and I witnessed it), we had huge piles to remove at the end of the driveway. Jerod was actually just picking up the chunks of snow and throwing them on top of the 7 foot (and growing) mounds of snow.

(Forgive the blurriness of some of these photos. It was a bit difficult to get a good shot without actually setting down my cappuccino and going outside - that would have just been crazy. I mean, it was COLD out there!)

When I saw our neighbors across the street, I got very jealous and was praying that they'd come over and help my husband.

For all our warm-weather readers, this is called a snow blower or snow thrower, because it does just that - it blows and throws - and it's a thing of beauty.

And it makes all your shoveling neighbors look pathetic. So pathetic, that if you have half a heart, you would come over and help a brother out, even if you've barely ever talked to those neighbors. Like this wonderful man who lives across the street.

He just came right over, cleared the rest of the driveway, then left.

Guess we should probably learn his name...especially now that we know he owns a snowblower.

Let it snow!

This morning was the start of the biggest snowstorm MN has seen in years. It's already snowed over a foot and it's still coming down. Jerod shoveled the driveway this morning and you can't even tell anymore. Sam helped Jerod shovel, for about 10 minutes, before he came inside and said he "needed" hot chocolate.

Here are the boys coming in from the cold.

Sidenote: I thought Sam looked like Randy (Ralphy's little brother) from the movie The Christmas Story - the one who says, "I can't put my arms down!!"

I thought our front door was looking very festive with the snow gathering in each little window.

Sam can hardly believe it - the snowmom he made a couple weeks ago has disappeared.

And to show you how deep the snow is, check out our ghetto swingset in the backyard. The swings are about 18" off the ground - and they're buried in snow!

The faces of Kate

We are really enjoying this little baby girl. She grew a full pound last week - and she's already starting to have longer periods of awake time. Here are a few updated photos of her sweet little face - awake!

First Photo Shoot

My dear friend from college, Sonja, came over this week to capture baby Kate in all her glory (read: birthday suit). Sonja started a photography business a couple years ago and is especially good at working with kids. My photos of the morning pale in comparison with the ones Sonja took, but for the sake of documentation, I thought I'd include a few here:

Check out Sonja's website here if you're interested: http://www.photographybyjs.com/

Mesmerized

Sam has been getting to watch a bit more TV than normal these days - and so I had to capture how enthralled he can become with certain programs (like, Bob the Builder)...

She's here!

She's here and she's gorgeous.

After just a few short hours of labor, Kate Lynne Cornelius arrived at 3:24pm on Thanksgiving Day! She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. A different baby than her chubby brother.

We are very very thankful for this healthy little girl and wonderful addition to our family.

A First, and Probably A Last

I cannot believe we actually purchased a Christmas tree BEFORE Thanksgiving. This about made my week. The rationale was, we were waiting for our baby girl to arrive, and so we might as well do something to pass the time...

It sure made us miss our friends, Bob and Lexie, since we usually go Christmas tree hunting together. Even without them, we felt compelled to go big or go home. But once we got home, we saw we went a little too big...so we had to take a little off the top.

Riding the Train

I said, "If you want to ride on the train, raise your hand!" (Sam was in the process here of raising both hands.)

The boys waited in line, very quietly and patiently.

This train is new to our mall this year and it is a pretty neat train, so I can only imagine what it's like in the mind of a 2-year-old.

The first time Sam rode the train, it was like an out-of-body experience. He was just beside himself with awe and wonder. This was his second time on the train, and as an experienced rider he was much more able to be present and actually enjoy it.

Besides, everything is more enjoyable when you bring your best buddy.

Due Date

Well, my due date has come and (almost) gone. So now we are just waiting and waiting. I thought I would post the one and only photo we've taken of this entire pregnancy - oops. Better late than never, at 40 weeks exactly:

I'd been thinking lately that I'm sticking straight out much more with this baby than I did with Sam. Here's a photo of me at about 37 weeks pregnant with Sam (I do think I look a little more basketball-ish in the photo above!):

First Snowfall

We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday - and it was the real deal: 7+ inches of heavy, wet snow. Perfect for making a snowman. Sam woke up and looked out the window and said, "It's winter time!" Then he thought that his baby sister would arrive. Maybe because I'd been telling him that his sister would be here once there was snow on the ground. No such luck. Regardless, it was a very fun day for Sam: helping Dad shovel and playing in the snow.

Oh, and they didn't just build an ordinary snowman.

Can you tell what this is?

How about now? Pay attention to the growing tummy.

Yup - it's a "Snowmom" - or so I was told. Laugh it up boys.

Halloween

The boys at their very first house, saying "Trick-or-Treat" for the very first time...it was very exciting...

And a video:

Halloween

Sam has never really been in to dressing up or costumes or anything like that. But this year, after looking through a Pottery Barn Kids costume catalog, Sam saw how much candy the monkey had and decided he would be a monkey, because clearly, the monkey gets the most candy. I was pretty impressed though that our little monkey actually went trick-or-treating and really seemed to really enjoy it. I'll post some more photos of this event in the near future, but for now, here is one of Sam and his buddy, the shark.

We were so happy to have Sam's cousins visit today for the afternoon. The kids played in the leaves for a very long time. First, Emma raked, as Sam patiently waited:

Then they jumped

and began throwing the leaves in the air...

until they realized it's much more fun to throw them at each other.

Sam threw them at Emma

Sam threw them at Sadie

And when the girls began throwing them at Sam he decided he was done playing that game.