Christmas Day 2

The day after Christmas was spent with Dan's family.  We arrived a little after 2 and immediately opened gifts.  This time it was a lot calmer and organized.  The kids went first so the adults could open theirs without any hassles.

After gifts, the kids played until dinner was ready.  We ate prime rib, mashed potatoes, cheesey potatoes, brussel sprouts, and cranberries.  It was delicious!  After dinner we sat around and talked while the cousins played.  

Since the boys were behaving, we stayed out a bit longer and enjoyed our time with family.  We had a great 2 days of Christmas and everyone received some amazing gifts.  I am so thankful for celebrating on different days.  It made it so much easier on everyone.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

 I hope you had a great holiday.  I know we did.  For once, our holiday was relaxing and stress free.  We went to my parents Christmas Day and Dan's parents the day after.  This way we were able to spend plenty of time with both families and not be gone from our own house for 12 hours.

Christmas morning we woke up and had Jake open his presents.  He was the only one because Dan and I agreed not to spend a ton of money, and we didn't need gifts for each other.  After everyone took a Christmas nap, we went to my parents.  It was a frenzy of gift opening.  

After we opened gifts we ate ham dinner.  When everyone's stomachs were full we watched Home Alone 2 until we were ready to play some board games. Me played Telestrations, which is like pictionary, only everyone draws at the same time in their own book, then passes their book and guess the pervious drawing in someone else's book.  It was lots of funny and had everyone laughing.  When the boys were finally exhausted and overwhelmed, we came home to relax and spend time with just ourselves. 

HI ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go

A couple weeks before Thanksgiving, Dan came home from work with the news that he will be getting laid off.  This used to happen every year, but we have been lucky with him staying employed since Jake was born.  This is never a good time to get laid off due to so many special days so close together.  

After he told me this bad news, I started applying for jobs.  I figured I wouldn't get hired anywhere due to nannying for years, then being a stay at home mother.  One morning I applied to Panera and was called 2 hours later for an interview.  I went to my interview and was hired on the spot.  I would like to think it's because I'm so awesome, but I think it was because they were severely low staffed and needed workers quickly.  

I really enjoy working.  I thought it would be hard to leave the boys all day, but I love having adult interactions and getting out of the house.  The boys don't seem to miss me much, though when I'm gone all day, Cal follows me around the house crying when I finally get home.  I work as a cashier.  It's a pretty easy, mindless job.  People can be so rude, and the place can be packed, but I get a sweet discount and can take pastry items home if we have too many at the end of the night.

As much as I like working, I hope Dan goes back to work soon.  He obviously makes way more money than I do.  With Christmas rapidly approaching, the money I make quickly disappears for presents.  It will be nice to have 2 incomes instead of just a minimum wage one.

Family photos

The day after Thanksgiving was spent getting family photos.  My sister in law Beth and I planned a full day of lunch, presents, and photos for Dan's mom as a birthday/Christmas gift.  Naturally nothing went as planned.  Dan and I decided not to go to lunch due to Jakes nap time being at noon.  We did not want him tired and cranky for pictures and ruin them, we felt bad for canceling and missing a family lunch, but tired boys are no fun.

We arrived at the house after Jake and Cal woke from nap and started pictures.  We color coordinated with everyone, purples, blacks, and grays.  It went as smoothly as it could with 8 young children running around.  When pictures were over, we had a snafu with pricing (the photographer said we owed more money even though we all agreed to a smaller fee), and we all thought the whole thing was rushed and not very professional.

When I got the proofs back I was astounded with how terrible they were.  Some were in black and white when we wanted color and certain pictures we requested were missing.  After arguing and getting mad, we finally got all the pictures.  As you can see from the pictures below, they are not very good.  Some people are not looking at the camera, some poses are too squished, and most needed to be zoomed in.  The price we paid certainly did not match the quality of photos we expected.

Notice the car showing in this picture and my mouth wide open like I'm trying to eat Jake.

There were more pictures but I chose not to share them because I looked so awful.  Next time I will be sure to find a better photographer.

2 for 2

2 party's for a 2 year old that is.

Friday Dan's parents came over with stir fry for dinner. After we enjoyed dinner, Jake opened his gifts.  He got Thomas the train books, diapers, and a pencil piggy bank from grandma and grandpa.

From Aunt Beth and Uncle Ben he got Star Wars matchbox cars and a tractor with a trailer.

From Dan and I, he got play kitchen utensils and matchbox cars.

After presents we sung him happy birthday, which he loved and clapped for when we finished, and ate cake.  No fancy cake for him, just yellow cake and chocolate frosting.

Sunday we went over to my parents so they could celebrate his birthday.  We had meatloaf and potatoes for dinner and apple crisp for dessert.  It was yummy.  He opened his presents from everyone very quickly because he was overwhelmed. 

He got a pirate ship that shoots "cannon balls" and cars from Aunt Allison and Uncle Ben.  He got an old school music box from Aunt Jenny and huge trucks and books from grandma and grandpa.

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate his birthday.  Even though he has no idea what's going on, Dan and I appreciate everyone who loves him.  Happy birthday Jake!

2

Today is Jake's second birthday.  It's hard to believe he's 2!  Because of his size he seems older, around 3 or 4.

I love this boy so much.  I am so thankful he is in my life and for all the wonderful special moments we have had with him.

He is not talking yet, but can make animal sounds when asked, and say a few words like "all done".  He can use a spoon and a fork and eat off a plate.  He still likes different types of food, but no longer in adult sized portions.  He finally learned how to jump and spin in circles and does both constantly.  He's very active and is not much of a snuggler.  He loves cars and tractors and will mostly play with only those toys.

We are celebrating his birthday with Dans parents tonight and my parents on Sunday.  I'm sure he will get some great presents!