The Never Ending Christmas

This Christmas was wonderful, a full of life two year old, a new baby, and a new town. It started at our house on Saturday night, the 20th (Santa came early to our house). Drew and I made Santa cookies, then placed the cookies and chocolate milk next to the tree, and then Drew went straight to bed (that was the easiest time I've had getting him to bed). I waited until 11:30 to put the presents under the tree and couldn't wait for him to wake us up (I think I was almost as excited as Drew).

On Sunday morning I believe Drew woke up between 5:30 and 6:00, but Jeremy made him wait until 7:00. Once Drew walked into the living room his eyes lit up...and so did ours. Drew got everything he asked for, except his skateboard...he is still too little for one. He got Light Savers, race tracks for his cars, an Iron Man mask, Ninja Turtles, Ninja Turtles, and more Ninja. Tyson on the other hand made out with clothes.



Christmas Eve we headed to Grandma and Papa Pingel's house where we were greeted by Grandma, Papa, Uncle Josh, Aunt Jill, and Uncle Nick. That evening we all played some guitar hero, Bob and Jill cooked a wonderful and extravagant meal, and we all sat down and watched Christmas Vacation, and then Uncle Jared and Aunt Amy arrived and off to bed we went.

The following morning we all woke up and opened gifts, Drew played Santa with the help from Uncle Jared. We opened present after present and present while enjoying some homemade cinnamon rolls courtesy of Jill.After gift time was over later that afternoon, we ate some lunch, some of took some naps, while some of us played new video games. That evening the video games continued and I almost managed to beat Josh in chess...I am sure he was going easy though.

Friday we enjoyed pictures of Josh and Jill's trip to Pure and off we headed to Dyersville. Drew and I dropped off Tyson and Jeremy and headed to Eldora. That evening Drew stayed and played with Izzy and Ally and I went out with some high school friends.

Saturday morning Drew, Izzy, and I headed back to Dyersville. Jeremy had to be at work at 12:00 and work until 10:00. Izzy, Drew, and I played some games followed by WII sports, which I had to pry the joystick from Izzy's hands at bedtime. That night Izzy and Drew had a little slumber party in Drew's room (which was another easy night of getting Drew to sleep).


On Sunday the five of us headed to Grandma and Papa Buddy's house (that is what Drew calls Mom and Bill). We had some of Bill's famous chili and them opened gifts where the boys were once again spoiled. After gift opening the kids enjoyed their toys, Jeremy and Bill watched football, and Mom, Melissa, and I sat around doing what girls do best...talking.

On the 4th we will head to Janseville for Christmas with the Engel's (Jeremy's Mom's family). One the 10th we will head to Tekamah to see my Grandma. And then comes Drew's 3rd birthday...it is hard to imagine that he will be 3...scary.

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Is It IMPOSSIBLE?

I have been blessed with a husband that does most of the cooking, however is it absolutely impossible for him not to make a complete mess? Not wanting to complain because I love the fact that I only have to cook once or twice a month, but I just spent the last hour cleaning the kitchen.

My questions are, is it impossible to not cover the stove top and counters with seasoning or spill liquid down into the burners and then let it scold to them? It it impossible to not spill down the sides of the cupboards, or splatter all over the stove? Is it impossible to cover the dish in the microwave so it doesn't splatter on the walls? Is it impossible to shut the drawers so food doesn't get all over my clean silverware? Is it impossible to not drip sauce all over the place? Is is impossible to rinse a dish off or wipe off the counter, or even put something back in the fridge when finished. And is it completely impossible to keep one clean dish in the kitchen so I don't have mounds of dishes to wash?

Is it impossible to for all men to keep the kitchen clean when cooking or just mine?

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Christmas is so exciting this year, Drew finally understands who Santa Claus is and what Santa does. I took him to see Santa at Fareway the other day and as soon as Drew saw him he went running up to Santa and gave him a big hug. He told Santa that he wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and a skateboard and that Tyson wanted weapons. I think he is a little two young for a skateboard just yet, so I hope there is no disappointment on Christmas morning when he doesn't find one...I think that he will be happy with what Santa leaves him.

After running up to Santa and giving him the hug, he wouldn't go stand by him to take his picture, however Kayleigh was there to stand by him and hold his hand.

We will be doing a lot of traveling this Christmas as I am sure you all will so please have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Tyson

Well, they say each baby is different and in our case this is true. Tyson is a good sleeper and a even better eater...I finally have a baby with fat rolls on his legs. He was about a pound and a half smaller than Drew at birth, but at his two month check up he had almost doubled in size.

Tyson will be three months on the 21st. He is at the great age of smiling, cooing, and watching everything that we do. He loves his tummy time and loves bath time even more.

Drew

Where should I start with Drew? He will be 3 January 24 and he is 110% all boy. He loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spiderman...basically anything that has a fighting to it. He loves being a big brother to Tyson and can't wait until Tyson can play with him.
We finally got him potty trained in October after months of trying. My goal was to have him potty trained by September, but with the move and the arrival of Tyson, it didn't go as planned.
All he talks about is going to pre-school. We got him a backpack and he thought that meant he was going to pre-school that day. He will start in the fall..if he can wait that long.
He is anxiously awaiting Christmas and keeps telling me that he misses Santa.
He is my snuggle bug and I don't want him to every grow out of that.

The Start

Well, it is the end of 2008 and we have so many things to be thankful for this year. On January 20th (Drew's two year birthday party) we found out that we were going to be blessed with another member of the family. In May we found out that our blessing was going to be a boy. Of course Jeremy and I went round and round with names, because boy names just don't come easy to us.

Fast forwarding to August, when I only had 7 weeks left of my pregnancy, Jeremy was asked to go work at the Dyersville store. Jeremy took the job leaving Drew and I in North Liberty to pack up and take care of any loose ends. Drew and I officially moved on September 8th. We found a house, which is great, no more cement slabs for Drew to play on, he actually has a yard he can play in.

Let the unpacking begin, I wanted to try and get has much unpacked as I could before the baby come. On September 19th Drew went to Eldora to stay with Aunt Melissa and her girls so I could work on the house, with some help from Mom. Mom and I worked all day on Saturday trying to finish up each of the rooms, in which we got most of it done. After Mom left I decided to pack the babies bag for the hospital, and then try and get some sleep since Drew was coming home the next day. However, instead of sleeping, I started getting contractions, we headed to Cedar Rapids around mid-night on Sunday morning. At 7:34 AM we were blessed with Tyson Robert. Drew came to visit, Tyson, Mommy, and Daddy, then off he went to Galena with my Mom. Four days without Drew was the longest I had been apart from him.

Some other great news, Jeremy's parents moved back to Iowa in April from Alabama. That was a long year with them being gone.

Dyersville, living in Dyersville, has been great so far. I get to be a stay at home Mom, which I love. The store is smaller and slower than North Liberty, and for those of you who know Jeremy, know that he likes to keep busy so that has been a bit of an adjustment for him, but all around, he likes it here.