First Post of 2010!...how long can I make it!??...lol!

wow is it really already the 8th of January? I thought for sure it was just yesterday that I posted our Christmas card! HA, how time flies right now! Remember when you were a kid and it took FOREVER for Christmas to come, especially the few days right before Christmas!...AHHH, those were the days!...now for a quick fill in of our Christmas! Emma was in the Nutcracker, as I already posted before, and that is when I consider the "Christmas season" started for us! We had a busy week "nutcracker week" with rehearsal and cast parties and all...thank you Susan for helping me keep it all straight! I am now an official nutcracker mama, as I made it through the week!(although not w/o helpful information being passed along!) heehee! After that we had the ultrasound...as everyone hopefully saw, we are having a BOY!...I refuse to say anymore "another boy" as most have responded!....there is absultly NOTHING wrong w/ another boy! I am THRILLED it's a boy! I'm not afraid or to proud to admit, I was afraid I would be disappointed if it was a boy...but BOY was i WRONG! I am certain that God knew EXACTLY what He was doing! The big kids went w/ us to the u/s, and both were surprised it was a boy, but both excited...well sorta! Both were excited to know it was a boy, but Ian, well, he MELTED...cried and cried...he wanted to hold the baby and was extremely upset that he wasn't going to get to hold the baby!...oh my, what a sight he was...lol...poor boy, it took me half an hour to get him back to himself! HA...FINALLY I convenced him that baby Isaac let us "peek at him" and that he was only this big(imagine me holding out my hands about 7'') and that he couldn't come out of mommy's tummy until he was this big (again, imagine me holding my hands out about 19'') he seemed to understand that and has told EVERYONE that the baby's not big enough to come out...as if no one else knew that either!....too cute! So after that and another uneventful visit w/ the dr (a good thing!) we were ready for Christmas day...well almost! It wouldn't be a normal week in our house if we didn't wonder if someone needed a trip to the drs!...and sure enough, Christmas Eve, I am wondering if I need to take Eli in or not....he had had a cold, and wasn't getting better, he was grumpy, but cutting teeth...but then, again, the teeth had cut through, but the mood was no better!...now realize, Eli's grumpy still includes the following (laughing, playing, sleeping all night, eating, drinking, and loving life...the change was not napping in the daytime, and wanting to be held all afternoon...THAT's IT!) In fact we went to the Christmas service on the 23rd that Elevation held (AWESOME, AWESOME...I love my church...to pack out a place that holds 2000, 4 times in 2 days...AWESOME!) and he stayed in the nursery and their comment about him (being w/ them after bedtime) was that he was PERFECT and HAPPY! SO you might ask, why in the world are you taking him....well, he was just off, and whiney in the afternoon...that was really it, I expected that to go away after the teeth popped through and it didn't...so I took him Christmas Eve morning....DOUBLE...YES DOUBLE EAR INFECTION AND SINUS INFECTION!....grrr! But I am so thankful I took him then and didn't wait! Poor boys ears were killing him! We went on w/ the rest of our day's plans and he slept on me alot everywhere we went!
Christmas morning we were up early (Alex still being a kid at heart was the first on up! lol...super cute!) and opened presents early at home and then headed off to mom and Gary's in our PJ's! Oh how thankful I am to be able to say that! The plan was for them to come to our house, but in the end we weren't sure Gary would be up and moving on Christmas morning, but he was, which was great! We took breakfast to them and enjoyed being there for most of the day, then home to put on some clothes, take naps and then off again to Alex's dad's for a night of more fun!

We always take down our Christmas stuff the next day, but we didn't this year, we had one more stop the day after Christmas w/ my grandparents and family on dad's side...I love extending it one more day! :)...so the Christmas decorations came down on Sunday instead!.....I must admit I LOVE getting my house back after the holidays!

The Monday after Christmas Alex had the day off (he has to use all his vacation every year...so it was his last day off for the year! We took the kids to Discovery Place for a couple of hours and then headed to Ikea (a post all of it's own!....heheeee!)

Tuesday and Wednesday Morgan (my cousin) came down and hung out w/ me and the kids, we went shopping at Concord Mills and just had a fun time not doing anything but what we wanted to do!

Thursday Alex was off again, and we didn't do much of anything but stay home...I think(honestly I can't remember!) New years day we had lunch at my grandparents...our traditional new year's lunch, then back to Ikea....Saturday morning, Cathy kept the kids and we went again to...yes Ikea! HA, I said it was a whole other post! That about concludes our holiday weeks....it was such a fun time this year, as the kids get older, Christmas is such fun again!...it's like being a kid again myself, seeing it all through their eyes! I love it! Oh, this past Sunday Emma and I went w/ Cathy(my mother-in-law)Kelly, Nevaeh and Lydia to see the Princess and the Frog...well, if you have seen my fb pages you know my feeling on it!....umm, let's just say, that one won't be coming in my house and I'll be completely thrilled if Emma never sees it again!....disney, you disappointed me this time!....ok, ok, off my soapbox...remember, it's my opinion, I'm allowed! :)

This week....the first week after the new year...the first week of 2010! Has been an AWESOME week! I love being back in school, back to my routine!...LOVE it! I noticed a lot of people on fb were talking about back to "reality"...I must LOVE me some reality! heehee, On top of that, I have flipped some stones in my life! I am not big on new years resolutions, I am more the kind of person, that if I see something in my life I want to change, I do it...right then, no matter the time of year! It happened I made this decision to change somethings right along w/ the new year! (mostlikely b/c Pastor Stephen's sermon really convicted me too! :) ) So this past week a few new things have entered my world...the biggest being, getting up b/f my kids!....and I plan to back up the time even more next week...b/c I am LOVING it so much! AND b/c of that choice, I am now getting into the word EARLY everyday, and not "hopefully at sometime" during the day! I am also doing laundry DAILY(by doing...I mean, wash, dry, fold AND put away!)....oh boy do we have enough for that!....and keeping it all clean! NICE, LOVING that too!...Sammy and I challenged ourselves to pick 4 things to change and start there....so those are three of my four...w/ the last being not going to bed w/ a dirt kitchen...all which I have accomplished everyday this week, and am LOVING it so much, our house is so much more put together...so much! AMAZING (funny thing is I knew that was the case, yet it took me FOREVER to decide to do it!....oh well, not looking back, just forward!)

This coming week our Church is starting a new series called "New thru 30" a while back the staff and some lead volunteers did something called "B90x" where they read the whole bible in 90 days...I didn't join in at the time b/c I was in another study that required a lot of time too and wanted to complete that...but the "new thru 30" is reading the New Testament in 30 days and I am super excited about starting....part of the reason I am getting up earlier now, I know I will need this time in the morning to get thru all the chapters everyday!....well, I think that about catches me up, life is blessed, I am looking forward to 2010 and all it will bring to my family! I am enjoying my kiddos so much, and being home w/ them! I hope 2010 is everything God wants for you!