It took 6 weeks for Laney to give us some sign that she doesn’t hate us all (and another week to catch it on camera) – but she is officially smiling!

We headed to the National Zoo on Friday before heading home to NC on Saturday. We saw an orangutan swinging on the wires and tigers wrestling. Kaya’s favorite part was the Carousel – she picked the hummingbird.  Laney spent the day in a baby carrier on my chest and slept like a champ.

We spent the last day of 2014 catching up with one of Kaya’s oldest friends Emerson, followed by a nice dinner at Margie’s and the three of us Rose girls were in bed by 10.  Tommy stayed up to drink cocktails by the fire and ring in the new year.  Here’s to a wonderful 2015!

Well, we are officially all partied out. It was wonderful seeing our families (all of them) and we hope to bring in the New Year by relaxing!  Laney best sums up our mood:

Just belatedly sharing a couple of newborn pictures we took of Laney that I love.  More on Flickr.

The Rose Family has completed 2 out of 4 Christmas parties and are having a great time!  Thanks to our families for hosting us.

Merry Christmas from the Rose Family!

Couldn’t get a good picture of Kaya’s face painted elf before his eyes got smeared, but it was very impressive.

Our local science museum stays open late during December and runs trains to the North Pole to see Santaevery 20 minutes. We didn’t get to go last year, due to a combination of my work schedule and the fact tickets sell like hot cakes. But this year, we had a very successful Santa Train experience!