February Update

Things have been going well in the Shibata Household lately. I say this mostly because we've all been healthy, despite the colds and stomach flu that seems to have been going around amongst many of our friends. Lord willing, that will continue...

We had a nice quick visit from Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart over Valentine's Day weekend. The primary reason for their trip was to scope out rehearsal dinner options, but we never turn down an opportunity for them to stay with us for awhile. While they were out looking at restaurants, our god-daughters Rosie (3 years) and Lilly (1 1/2 years) came over with their parents. We had gotten rid of our snow, but wouldn't you know it we got more that morning...perfect for a few trips down the hill.

It warmed up enough the following week to melt almost all of the snow. But, true to Michigan form, we got another ~3 inches this past Saturday morning, so out we went again. Marie never gets tired of it!! It's a good thing that Jon doesn't either.

On Sunday after church, our good friend Doug came over for lunch. Some of you may remember him as the pianist and music coordinator at our wedding. We enjoyed getting to catch up with him and also got a kick out of the fact that Marie has dubbed him "Rubber Duckie." We aren't exactly sure where this came from, but it sure explains why a few weeks ago she was pointing toward the front of church saying, "Rubber Duckie, Rubber Duckie." Doug is a good sport and has taken to his new nickname.

Other than that, things are good. Marie, Joey, and I have been taking our weekly visits to the library for story time. Marie is usually quite shy during the organized part, but really enjoys it afterward when she can work on puzzles and pick out books to bring home. The librarians always get a kick out of it when she comes in and chats with them.

I will be venturing back into the workforce in March. I'll still be working part-time and I plan to bring Joey into the office with me at least once a week. I am really quite fortunate that my employer is so flexible. We'll see how quickly I can get my brain back into work-mode.

In case you hadn't noticed, we don't have any pictures to share this time around. Our camera went on the fritz. We took it to a repair shop and found out that there had been a recall on our camera. We sent it in to be fixed; hopefully that will do the job. But, for a couple more weeks, we'll be without our digital camera. It feels so strange not to have one....we'll just have to hope that the kids don't do anything too extraordinary!

Weekend in Ohio

We spent a great couple of days in Ohio this past weekend. Aunt Jess and Uncle James, Aunt Jaclyn, and JJ all drove over from Pittsburgh. I think Grandma like having all of her "helpers" (grandkids) around.


Marie and JJ also got to enjoy the snow a little bit before it melted.



Saturday afternoon, Aunt Jess, Grandma, Marie and I went shopping for flower girl dresses. Marie had so much fun!! She was quite disappointed when she couldn't wear one of the dresses home. If I had a dollar for every time a perfect stranger said, "Oh, how cute!"

Being beautiful is so exhausting!!

On Sunday we got to relax a little and Grandma and Grandpa got to have some cuddle time with Joey. He is a big cuddler...emphasis on big. At his two month visit last week, he was 14 lbs 4 oz and 25 3/4 inches long. That is almost 1/2 lbs heavier and over 1 inch longer than Marie was at his age. And, Marie was bigger when she was born. He is starting to "talk" to us and is really a very content baby. He is also starting to sleep a little better and is making the transition to only one feeding through the night. YAY!




The kids did great on the drive home from Ohio. Joey slept the whole way and Marie occupied herself by reading all the books I had brought along. I don't think I could've brought too many. Sometimes she would want me to read them to her. That was fine as long as I knew the book and could fake my way through it. But, at one point, she asked me to read one that I didn't know. I had to say, "I'm sorry. I can't see the words." She responded in a very frustrated tone, "They're right here!."