December 28-29

So I still haven't gotten around to finishing the posts about Christmas break! There was just so much packed in there! On December 28th we headed to my parents to celebrate Christmas together and watch the Vikings game!


We had a very fun evening together - had a nice dinner out, came home and opened some presents, and finished just in time for kick-off!

This is such a fun Little People set - I'm sure it will get tons of use in the next many years!

We enjoy watching the Vikings together!

Yep - even Caleb, and especially with Auntie April!

The next day my grandma came over and we had a nice dinner together and opened some more gifts. I think Grandma likes to spoil her great-grandson!

It was a relaxing couple of days together as a family!

On Wednesday we left Mora and headed down to Roseville to hang out with some college friends. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but we had a great time visiting with them! It's kind of a weird realization though when you get together with college friends and the place you meet is the McDonald's playland! It makes me feel old! It was perfect though - the kids played well for a couple of hours and we had a great time catching up with our friends.

Our last weekend of break was set aside to make an attempt at potty-training Caleb. So Thursday morning we removed his wet diaper and put him in underwear and plastic pants. Meanwhile, Joel left for a session of behind-the-wheel with a student. I took him to the bathroom about every 15 minutes, and asked him if he was still dry in between. He was so patient sitting on the potty for 5 minutes at a time - we played and sang. But most times we ended up with a dry run, and then wet underwear 10 minutes later. It was a discouraging morning (especially because I was doing it on my own), and by naptime I decided that it just wasn't going to work yet. So we put the treats and big-boy underwear away for now. I think his bladder is just too small yet, so he's going too often. No big deal - I just thought it was worth a try to see if he was ready. We'll probably try again in late March or April after we've all had sufficient time to adjust to being a family of four.

We spent New Year's Eve just relaxing together as a family. It was so nice to spend some quiet time together at home after being gone and rushing around so much during the rest of break. Joel and I had some fun times playing games together that night. And with that, our break was pretty much over. It's hard to believe it's been a month already since break! January went so fast, and now we only have 5 more weeks before our second little boy is due!

Personalized Decor

I recently made my very first purchase on etsy.com, and I received it in the mail today. I am SO excited about it! I had been looking for a long time for something fun to put on the wall in Caleb's new room, and have had no luck at all. Everything was either baby/nursery, or too old. So I was browsing on etsy and came across a (Christian) woman who paints things for kids rooms, among other things. Her stuff was so cute, and she advertises that she personalizes anything. I got in contact with her, sent her a picture of Caleb's bedding, and received this in the mail today:

I absolutely LOVE it, and I'm so excited to put it up in Caleb's room. I'll post more pictures once his room is officially finished - later this week.

December 26

December 26th we left Joel's parents' house, made a little side trip to Wal-Mart for some after-Christmas sales, and then headed to my grandparents' house for an extended family celebration. It was a slow trip with snowy and icy roads, but we made it.

Caleb playing cars with second-cousin Sam.
I guess I wasn't so great at taking pictures there. We had a nice meal and played the traditional dice game - where our family usually fights to win the roll of duct tape!

We left early because we knew there would be lots of snow to remove at home since we hadn't been there for more than three days of the big storm. We arrived to this! Hey, at least the house looked pretty! Joel parked on the street, jumped the almost 4-ft snowbank, and started up the snowblower. I was honestly a little afraid that the blower would break from working so hard, but it was the Little Engine that Could!

If you look really closely here, you can see the orange top of the snowblower and Joel's head straight above it.

Almost through!!!

Amazing! Caleb and I had a nice path to get into the house. Meanwhile Joel spent lots of time clearing the rest of the driveway. It looks like hard grueling work to me, but he loves doing it! The whole drive home he kept saying, "Oh I hope nobody plowed our driveway for us!"

Christmas Day

Here is Caleb in his Christmas jammies on Christmas morning. We watched the weather closely that morning to see when it would be best to travel to Granny's.

Grandpa worked hard snowblowing the long driveway, and thankfully a neighbor came with a tractor (Caleb wouldn't take his eyes off that!), because the snowblower couldn't handle the weight and finally broke.

We did make it to Granny's, had a yummy ham dinner, a wonderful nap (me too!), and then we headed out to play in the snow!

First Caleb had to take a ride with Grandpa in the bobcat and help clear Granny's driveway.

Ah yes, another highlight of Caleb's day!

Daddy built Caleb a slide on this hill of snow, and then Josh and Grandpa helped build a snowman!

More gift-opening - what a spoiled little boy!

Reading the Christmas story with Grandpa.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning was spent relaxing after a late night. Caleb lasted until 10pm! He was like the Energizer Bunny! And of course he woke up bright and early at 7:30am!

We watched the beautiful snow fall all day!

Auntie Marilyn and Granny came over in the late afternoon so that we could all go to church together. Caleb looked like such a little man in his Christmas suit!

Merry Christmas Eve!

December 23

Christmas continued with celebrating with Joel's immediate family on Dec. 23rd. I know many people were traveling on that day that the snow began, and we all waited while Josh made the long trip up from Spring Valley, with the storm chasing behind him. We had a late supper, but still the traditional cornish hens! Caleb gets his own, but of course he didn't eat much of it!

Here is the beginning of our gift opening. Joel read the story from Luke 2, and we tried to convince Caleb to sing Jesus Loves Me, but he was stage shy. Josh brought a Kingsland Knights t-shirt for Caleb!

It was so fun to be able to celebrate with JT and Brad this year!

Caleb loved helping hand out presents, but he usually gave them to the wrong person, and also tried to give his away instead of open them!

He loved these Elmo slippers!

And the big hit of the night was this fun kitchen! He spent lots of time cooking and making coffee for us that night and over the next few days!

Our Little Christmas

Our Christmas began on Dec. 22nd, when we celebrated with just the three of us. It was a fun evening, and relaxing. We traditionally have chicken fettuccine alfredo (we try to do something completely different than all the big Christmas meals we eat with extended families), but we skipped it this year because we wouldn't be home to eat the leftovers for quite a while. We ate our simple meal by candlelight anyway.

We gave Caleb a few fun gifts - including these cooking items from the dollar section at Target. They were his favorite gift! I guess he's easy to please. He is SO in to cooking lately.

Joel got me a new pot and pan set! Yay!

Caleb opening his stocking gifts, even though it isn't morning. I think these traditions will be a little more important once he understands them more!