Burst of energy

In a last ditch effort to make up lost time and get all of the Christmas baking done...we have been a busy family today.

We made pretzel turtles, monster cookies, pickle dip, dill dip, and sugar cookie dough today.
Tomorrow my hope is to roll out sugar cookies , make spritz cookies, and possibly some caramels. We will see if I have the same amount of energy tomorrow.

Joey's grandfather fell last week. It is looking bleak as they are waiting to move him to a hospice once an opening comes up. They are making him comfortable in the hospital now.....and as of Thursday the Dr.'s gave him 24 hours.

So we will wait and see what this Christmas week brings. Hard to believe it is almost Christmas. Seems like it took Christmas forever to arrive when I was little. Now it seems like we just celebrated Thanksgiving. I would love at least 2 more weeks of Christmas decor and music. Once Christmas is over though we are switching to baby mode. Need to get the baby stuff out and organized. She will be here before we know it. Wow!!! I will be 34 weeks tomorrow.

Letter to Santa

Yesterday I told Hayden we had to write a letter to Santa since he has no interest in getting close to the real one. Immediately he knew what he wanted to ask for:
1. Marble works
2. A coffee scoop
"And that's all," he said.

Then last night he woke up at 11 and came into my bedroom and told me that he wanted to ask Santa for:
1. Mable works
2. A coffee scoop
3. A shooter gun
4. Bowling pins
"And that's all," he said.

Snow Day

We were all home today. Yes even Joey. Can't believe Rockwell closed. We had a great day staying inside all warm and cozy. Except Joey had to go out twice to snow blow. He doesn't seem to mind. He got up this morning to snowblow and had to help Nancy with her driveway. Her snowblower is smaller than ours. We got about 12 inches of snow, but Joey said it was way deeper in the back. Joey didn't even know he had the day off until he came in and I asked him what Rockwell snow policy meant. He looked shocked once I said that.
Hayden was so excited to get up and see the snow. He was jumping around like crazy yelling "There is tons of snow. It is huge." He loved watching Joey snow blow. He did not however want to go in the snow. We had some drama last night when we went to my OB appointment at 4:00pm as the snow was piling up. He hates his coat I got him. It is a puffy down warm coat that I would love...but he hates it. Hated wearing gloves...boots.....and a hat. So today I told him he could go out and wear all of that plus snow pants and he said "no thanks." My stubborn little one. He will get used to the puffy coat, boots, gloves, and hat by march when it is time to put them away.
Today we watched tv, made Reeses cup cookies, tried making my first batch of spritz cookies, colored, did a Santa cutting activity, and just relaxed.
Hayden will not have school tomorrow and I am sure Joey will have to go to work. Tomorrow we are going to make some things to decorate his bedroom door for Christmas.
We are doing advent activities this year again and we are enjoying them. So far Hayden has made his gingerbread house, paintings, candy cane reindeer, got a movie from under the tree, and went out for donuts. We have plenty more planned and are a day behind.
I am slowing down a little. I am now 32 weeks. Hard to believe it is flying by. I had to buy some old lady support slippers because if I walk around barefoot my feet hurt so bad after awhile. So now I have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes. :) I still find it shocking that people say I don't even look pregnant. Are you kidding me?!?!? Seriously?!?!?! It happens most of the time when I am in my coat. I guess black fleece masks my HUGE belly well. Sheesh people.
I confiscated the camera back from Joey and Hayden is cooperating with the picture taking thing a little more now. Hopefully I will get back on board with this blog thing.

Halloween

Enjoying the maze in someone's trunk at the trunk or treat.

This is the normal shot I get when I try to take a picture. Needless to say I don't try to take pictures much. I should take more even though he doesn't cooperate.

We were planing on just staying at home and handing out candy. Hayden hates to get dressed on a daily basis, so I figured I wouldn't push it and we would see all of the kids that come to the house dressed up. At the last minute he decided he wanted to go...so we threw on his Superman jammies and went Trunk or Treating at some friends church and then to a few houses in our neighborhood. Hayden didn't say trick or treat at one house but came home with a bucket full of candy.

Before Halloween when people asked him what he wanted to be he would say a circuit (hmmm wonder what he and daddy do in the basement) and a shooter guy. Then the day before Halloween his response would be Christmas.

HE DID IT!

Joey is officially done with school. He is now a Software Engineer.

He is going to start looking at jobs at Rockwell. He loves his current position.....so there is no huge hurry for him to find another position. I am thankful for that because I am not ready to move now. Hopefully something pops up that interests him in the next few months locally.

I had a surprise party for him at our house. We had a Mexician fiesta. It was a blast and I am glad we pulled the surprise off. Whew. It turned into one big web of lies and I was having a hard time keeping track of them all. A BIG thanks to everyone who helped out and to my mom and wonderful Sister-in law Darliene for helping with the set up. I couldn't have done it without you!!!!

The pregnant ladies enjoying Odouls.

Pumpkin Farm

Hayden loved wheeling the pumpkins around.

He also loved cleaning the pumpkins.

Hunting for goodies with cousin Rorek at the Earl May fall fest.

Rorek is 1.

Ingrid and Rorek

PUMPKIN BOWLING!!!! Hayden thought this was the best.

Catching Up Reception and Daddy's New Hobby

Daddy's new plane.

Taking a break on the blanket with mommy watching daddy fly.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders at the reception...giving the normal face when someone is attempting to take a picture.

Playing on the golf course at the reception.

First day of PDO. Yes...can't believe I captured a smile on the camera.

Taking the new bath toy from Uncle Rob and Aunt Julie to the next level with daddy. Daddy reassures me that I should not care about the mess because you guys are doing an experiment.

Catching Up Wedding and Summer...yes I did say summer.

Trying on the Tux for Rob and Jill's Wedding

Shaving for the big day

Pink toes just like Mommy

Mommy smooching her handsome guy

Waiting to go in

Pooped after the big day

We loved taking walks through Bever park and peeling away old bark to see what kind of insects we could discover

Enjoying a summer evening sitting by the fire in our backyard and making smores.