Second reason for my winter hiatus was the New Year's day surprise we received:

Yep, we found out that day that we were once again expecting. This time, things seem to be working out a bit better (fingers crossed, elbows kissed, and wood knocked). I'm at twelve weeks right now and the last ultrasound this week showed a healthy looking kicking monkey. I am, needless to say, cautiously thrilled. But, I am also exhausted. It's really been all I can muster just to keep up with daily life, so pottery is taking a bit of a back seat for now. At least until I get some energy back.
Added injury and illness would be the devastating case of bronchitis I came down with this week, which completely floored me, and the horrifying news that one of my family members was life-threateningly ill and in the hospital. This week has been a little much.
Hopefully, I can pull it all back together and get cranking again before I get too huge (and I feel that may be sooner than I'd like to think) or the weather goes straight to hell hot again!