Getting close to the one year anniversary!

Pictures we received from Guatemala last January right before traveling.

It is hard to believe that we are closely approaching the one year anniversary of Jimmy's arrival... Hard to believe it has been a year already... while equally mystifying that it has ONLY been a year.

A bit before we left for Guatemala we went on a date. We went out to eat - and were going to go to a movie but decided to skip that portion of the night - and went home early. Well last night - for the first time in a year - we had a date... A real date! With dinner and we actually made it through a movie! We have left Jimmy with my Mom and Brian's Mom a couple of times, but never for a real date. So this was a big night out for us.

While we talked at dinner we thought back over the last year... While its true we haven't been out much it hasn't felt like we have sacrificed anything. Quite the opposite. We have only gained this past year.

We had a good weekend... with a couple of funny moments. Yesterday I took Jimmy to the grocery store. I got a late start and it was close to his lunch. He got to ride in the little car attached to the front of the cart and that was pretty cool,but it wasn't much of a surprise when halfway through he started getting grumpy. He was whining wanting to hold the groceries. At the time all I had in my hands were a glass jar of salsa and a packet of taco seasoning. I gave him the taco seasoning... Every parent is groaning right now, I know. It was a better choice than the salsa but... I knew I had to get it away from him after awhile, but I got busy shopping and lost track of time. After awhile I saw a woman do a double take when she looked at us. And it wasn't the kind of double take that says - aww that kids cute. It was the kind of double take that says - Oh my gosh what is that kid doing! When I peeked into the little car I realized he had gotten the packet of taco seasoning opened. Who knew how much seasoning those little packets could hold! We had left a trail of seasoning behind us. He had it in his socks and shoes, his diaper and even a little in the pocket of his pants. He managed to get covered head to toe while still covering the steering wheel of the little car, the bench, his jacket laying next to him, and the floor.

I knew it was my fault and the bottom line was it was just plain funny so I lost it in the middle of the store. I got him all cleaned up using about a half a container of wipes. When we got ready to leave and I went to put him in his coat there was a ridge of taco seasoning in the little gap between the back of his coat and his hood. Man that stuff got everywhere!

Not one of my shining moments - but one of my funniest!

Stay safe in the snow.

Happy Holidays!

We have gotten back to real life as of today and to be perfectly honest I don't think I was quite ready. I could have used a little more time off.

Jimmy had an amazing Christmas. We started out Tuesday before Christmas and headed for Kenton. We stayed in Kenton for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We celebrated with Brian's Mom, J.P. and his family and Brian's nieces on Christmas Eve.


Jimmy was spoiled with many wonderful presents though I think one of the favorites was the Big Wheel that Uncle JP and Aunt Heather had gotten for him. He cannot quite reach the pedals yet but should be good to go when the weather warms up. And since this thing came with every bell and whistle you can imagine even with out being able to pedal he could push buttons and make lots of noise.


Christmas morning Jimmy opened the gift Santa had left, we had breakfast and then headed to my Mom's. At my Mom's we had Christmas dinner with my brother, sister-in-law, sister and mom. It was really nice. We opened presents.


Suddenly my Mom was out of there. She said she was feeling well and went to bed. She made us a great meal while having the flu the whole time. She spent the rest of the night and most of the next day in bed.

We got to spend some time with my Grandmother and Dad on Friday, which was really great. We hung out there for awhile before heading back to put Jimmy to bed for his nap.


I was able to sneak out for awhile and go get my hair cut and then Brian and I both went out to Barnes and Noble and spent one of our Christmas gift certificates. Yea us!!

Kate's friend Kristen came over and brought Jimmy some gifts Friday night and thenbrought her son, Parker over oto play for a little bit on Saturday. I have heard so much about both of them that it was great to finally meet them and really sweet of them to bring Jimmy gifts. Very nice.


We came home on Saturday and opened gifts here on Sunday morning. Jimmy scored here as well. I didn't remember how much stuff I had picked up - mostly small stuff - but because I couldn't remember what all I had gotten I just kept picking up more stuff. Though yes, one of the big presents was a ball pit...


We had to clean out a bunch of old stuff just to make room for the all new toys. Everyone was very nice to our little man!

We of course blazed a trail of destruction every where we went. Jimmy had a pretty decent cold which I, Judy and Mom all caught. Judy was really sick and we were all a little worried. My Mom was sick enough that she decided not to come down over New Year's. In fact, she said she hadn't really left the house since we had left. Merry Christmas! Thankfully everyone is finally starting to feel better... Just in time for Jimmy to get another cold, but we will try to keep typhoid Jimmy under quarantine for awhile.

Thank you everyone for a fantastic holiday!