December Happenings...

So, this is the most wonderful time of the year. We have really enjoyed this month and can't believe it's almost over. We have been to lots of fun Christmas parties and eaten way too much already!

This past weekend, my sister's fiance, Brad, graduated from Harding. We wish we could have been there, but are so proud of him and can't wait to see everyone at the end of this week!

A couple of weeks ago we went to a "tacky Christmas sweater" party and ornament exchange. It was a lot of fun. I ended up finding my sweater at a thrift store for $1.61!!! It was $3.00, but since it was Wacky Wednesday it was 1/2 price! So boy was I excited. I embellished it a little more with some gold bells, and it was perfect. ;) I even won 2nd place! ;) It was a fun night and Ty even enjoyed it. That was Friday night, then Saturday night we had the youth group Christmas party. We did a scavenger hunt. It was a lot of fun. I think there were 5 or 6 cars with 5 to 8 people per car. I went with a friend Lisa, and we had 3 of the young girls. We had a fun time.. lots of giggles and girls being silly! Honestly, I'm thankful we had a 1 1/2 hour limit! ;)

We didn't win, but we did come close. We had wings and dessert. It was a fun night too! Then Sunday night we had the youth devo at our house. We had about 35 kids there, so it was packed. Of course Ty thinks he's 15 and fits right in. They all love him to death, so he's definitely not hurting for attention!

This past Monday night we stayed at Darla's (Ty's babysitter) and she cooked a yummy dinner. After that. The girls, Darla, Evan, and I made peanut butter balls. Ty "helped" Phil decorate the tree, and then Sam and David played on the playstation. It was a really fun night. We had Christmas music playing and enjoyed just all being together. Ty only broke 2 things, I think, he kept thinking the ornaments were balls and throwing them. Once they hit the wood floors, it was over. ;( Sorry Phil and Darla! Then when he got bored with the tree he started going through the our bags and of course he pulled out a bra and tried to wear it! It was very funny!!

Wednesday night Ty woke up with a very low fever and was fussy. He seemed to be fine Thursday, but I ended up taking a 1/2 day and taking him to the doctor, just to make sure cause he was pulling at his ears. Ended up, it was just his molars coming in. So we headed to the mall to see Santa. Ty did really well. He kept trying to see Santa while we were in line and kept running up to the gate saying, "ho, ho, ho..." so finally after about 20-30 minutes it was our turn. He sat on his lap just fine. He was a little unsure about him, so we didn't really get a smile, but definitely no tears, so that was a plus! After that we headed to get a pretzel and then David took him on a carousel ride. He seemed to like it ok. Didn't love it and I think it made David sick, but we got pictures and a video, so it all worked out. :) After that we headed back home for the night.

Friday we got up went to work as usual. Around 12:00 it started sleeting and then went straight to snow. I left work around 1:00. It pretty much snowed the rest of the night. We got a good 7-8" David said. It was so fun. We took Tyler out Friday afternoon while it was still snowing and went on some "sled" rides. The sled consisted of a boogie board pulled with an extension cord. But he had fun so that's all that mattered! Saturday, we just hung out at the house, made muffins which Tyler loved the batter, and basically were just lazy all day. I wrapped some presents, made some presents while Ty took his nap and then around 4:30 went back out to take pictures and play in the snow. While we were out one of our neighbors invited us down to the end of the road where they were roasting hot dogs. It was pretty funny. They had a fire going, had built a huge igloo thing and a big snowman. That is the snowman that Ty and I have our picture with. David just accidentally cut of the head. We didn't make one for some reason, so we stood by theirs. After having a yummy hot dog and hanging out a bit we headed back to the house because Ty's hands were freezing. He would not keep his gloves on, so we tried socks and that didn't work either. We have to invest in some snow gloves for him. The cotton ones just don't work. So Saturday night it froze again and everyone was worried about black ice, so they moved our church service till 2:00. So, Sunday we got up, hung around, I wrapped the rest of our gifts and then got ready and went to church. Of course Ty totally missed his nap, but he did great during church. We went and ate at Texas Roadhouse afterwards. He did good till right about when we got our food, he had had enough. So we got to-go boxes and headed home. He took about an hour nap then he was up. We watched Hallmark movies, enjoyed our fire, and just had fun all being together. It really was a great relaxing weekend!

Now, we have 2 days left before we head to Florida. I'm super excited, but have NOTHING packed.. Oh my. I must start that tonight after my hair appt. Because tomorrow night we have dinner plans and I work all day, so that leaves NO time for packing. We'll see. I'll update as soon as we have more.

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and also David's grandma. She's not doing well at all right now and really needs all of our prayers. I will update you more on this too when I know more!!

Hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!! Enjoy being together and cherish every moment you have with eachother!!

It's been a month now...

So, I do this when I get behind and then can't seem to catch up. November totally flew by! I can't believe it's only a couple weeks before Christmas. So, let me catch you up on what has been going on! We went to Ohio this year for Thanksgiving and boy did we have fun. I have no pictures to prove it other than the ones my wonderful Mother-in-Law took. I'm getting so bad at that. So we left Winston around 3:00 on Tuesday. Right before we left one of my BFF's that moved to Texas came over for a very short visit. Sarah had just gotten into town and I just had to see her before we left so she and Lesa came by really quick and I"m so thankful they did! ;) They are coming back in January, so we will be sure to get some bonding time then! ;)

So anyway, back to the trip. The traffic wasn't bad at all. David of course drove the entire way and Sarah, David's sis, sat in the back with Ty to keep him company. Tyler actually did really good. About 2 hours away from Kenton, he was over it and decided to let us all know. So that was NO fun, but after about 45 minutes of screaming, he eventually went to sleep and then slept the rest of the way there. We got there around 10:00, so we made pretty good timing. Mom and Mike were happy to see that we had arrived. So we visited a little and then went to bed. Ty has a bed (crib) in "our" room. We're not use to him sleeping in our room so it was a little hard to try to not make a sound and wake him up, but he did pretty good. ;) Wednesday, we got up and really just laid around the house most of the day. It was nice just watching the morning shows that I never get to watch and just laying around. That night we headed down to Marysville for church and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpas for movie night. Most of the other family went out to a movie, but there was nothing that we really wanted to watch, so we opted to stay home and rent one. We rented "My Sister's Keeper". Mom, Sarah, Grandma, and I watched it and boy was it sad, we were all boo hooing all the way through it. I even stayed awake, which was a miracle, seeing is how we didn't even start it till around 9. So, it must have been good! After that we headed back home and crashed. Thursday morning, we got up and watched the parade, then headed down to Grandma's for Thanksgiving Lunch. It was delicious! Not everyone could make it this year, but there still were many many people and it was so fun just to sit around and catch up with everyone. That was pretty much a lazy day and we all were very thankful and enjoyed every minute of it. Tyler loved running and trying to keep up with the kids. The thing was that they were all in the basement and I wouldn't let Ty down there just by himself, so of course Grandma took him! ;) He didn't get spoiled at all while we were there! ;)

Friday, Sarah and Brenda got up and went to Wal-Mart to get a few deals and were back before anyone woke up. Then I went out and went to Wal-Mart and Kmart and didn't really see anything I had to have, so I went back home. I started working on some Christmas projects I had to get done in the basement and pretty much stayed down there most of the day. That night David, Sarah, and I headed down to Zach and Carmens. We all went out for pizza and then headed back to their house to watch a movie. Of course, I did fall asleep. ;) We left there around midnight and headed back home to crash. Grandma kept Ty and he was in bed when we got there! ;) Saturday we were up and headed to Grandma's. Jillian, David's 1st cousin, is having her first baby in February, so we had her a shower brunch. Brenda and I made the cake, and it turned out pretty cute. There were lots of people there and the food was delicious! ;) During the shower, David, Zach, and Carmen, took Ty to the Columbus Zoo for his first ever zoo trip!! They said he did great and loved everything. David got some awesome video of him and especially with the lions. I hated I didn't get to go, but glad they had a good time! After the shower, Bekah, Brenda, Sarah, and I headed shopping. We really did have a great time just being together going in and out of different stores. I got a few little things while we were there. Then around 5 we headed back home to meet Mike's family for Pizza. I, of course, was in and out of the basement trying to finish up my projects cause we had to leave the next day and I needed them to be done! So I finally did finish around 1:30 or so. Sunday, we got up and finished getting everything packed up. Mike, Mom, and Sarah, took Ty and headed down to church. Then David and I followed shortly after. We went and ate at White Castle after church and then headed to Grandma's to change and say our goodbyes. We left around 1:00 and headed to Cincinnati. We had an absolute blast and are so thankful for wonderful parents that love us and take care of us like you do! Thank you for letting us come and take over your house! Thank you for Ty's DVD player. He loves it and boy is it a lifesaver in the car!! We are so blessed and thankful we got to spend Thanksgiving together!! Grandma sent me a cute video of Ty playing in the Elmo kitchen, but I can't figure out how to put it on here, so I'll keep working. ;)

We got to Cincinnati around 4 or so. Ty pretty much slept the whole way, so that was nice. When we got there it was Papa, Aunt Gail, and Uncle Jack. We just sat and visited while Ty explored. ;) He found the porcelain cat in the corner and was loving on it. It was so funny. He would pet it and then he wanted to ride it. It was just too cute. Ty loves cats because Darla, his sitter, has 3 and he gets to pester them all day. The videos at the bottom are of Tyler playing with the cat and telling him bye bye. It's was hilarious! So after a little while, Aunt Gail and I went to Grandma's grave site to put some Christmas decorations on it. It was good to be able to see where she is buried because I was unable to be at her funeral. She died a little over a year ago now. We miss her terribly, but know that she is happy and in a much better place!

So then, we went home and Papa and Aunt Gail and fixed a fabulous dinner. Ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, cranberry sauce... All the fixins. It was good!!! Then Aunt Gail, Sarah, David, Tyler, and I headed to Target and to TJMaxx to look around. We were gone for about an hour and then headed back to play some sort of card game that Papa taught us. But ironically the rules kept changing... Not sure what that was about. ;) We got Ty to bed and then Aunt Gail and Uncle Jack had to leave. We said our goodbyes and then the rest of us played Rook till midnight. It was so much fun and I think Papa had a blast, especially since he and David won! ;) Then off to bed. Monday morning we got up, got packed up, had some yummy ham biscuits and then were on our way to NC. We had a great time in Cincinnati and were so thankful that it worked out for us to be able to go by and visit. Thanks for the wonderful hospitality and the fun! ;)

The trip home honestly was one of the best. I sat in the back most of the way with Ty and we watched Cat in the Hat about 3 times. It really kept him occupied. ;) We stopped and had lunch in Wendy's and I think that helped cause Ty got to stretch out for about 30 minutes. He really didn't cry the entire trip, so it was so nice! We got home around 6:00 thanks to David's safe and wonderful driving. Played a little, baths, and then to bed. It was a WONDERFUL vacation and one we all needed very badly! We are so blessed and thankful to everyone who made it so enjoyable!!

Now on to Christmas. Our tree is up, which Tyler really doesn't mess with, some presents are wrapped and some presents still have to be bought. We're getting there, closer and closer everyday. This is most definitely my favorite time of year and I love the anticipation of it all! We have 2 Christmas parties this weekend and then lots of work parties next week and then it's Christmas week! I can't believe it! I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it and not rush through it. It's going to be a fun Christmas this year. Tyler still won't totally understand, but he's getting close. When you ask him what Santa says, he says, "Ho Ho.." It's so adorable!! We still have to go see Santa and I'll post some pics of that when we finally do it!

As for baby #2 he/she is growing quite nicely. I'm still in my regular clothes, which is nice, but I'm sure soon enough I'll be having to go to maternity. I haven't really felt sick or anything like that. I'm 13 weeks now. We go the 22nd for our next visit. At the last visit his/her heartbeat was 165bpm, which was definitely higher than Ty's was at this point. So we'll see. We hopefully find out January 25 what we are having! Just keep praying for a healthy baby! ;)

Well, that's about all I have right now, I will do better, now that I'm caught up! ;) Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!