Christmas in the Plains of Indiana

This year we spent Christmas with my family in Indiana.

It was great to have the whole crew together for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we had a relaxing day. 

Ryan and I got out for a little bit to take Jenna to lunch.

That night we opened pajamas and sibling presents.

We also played to traditional unwrapping game and of course Ryan won.

I swear he always dominates that game!

Christmas morning was spent opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls.

It was a little too much for Jake so it took him the whole day to get through his loot!

The rest of the week was spent eating, doing yoga, playing Monopoly Deal and Banana Grams, and of course a duck pin bowling trip.

It was so much fun to be with the family and Jake still talks about his Nana and Papa all day long!

Children's Museum

With the colder weather I've been feeling a little stir crazy so I decided to take Jake to he children's museum.

Jake had a great time.

His favorite part was the grocery store and this wind tunnel that floated baskets up in the air.

We will definitely be going again!

Packers Game

My parents were nice enough to extend their trip to watch Jake so we could go to the Monday night Packers game at Lambeau.
We headed up early to eat dinner and see the Hall of Fame Museum.
Unfortunately, since it is a small town most restaurants closed at 3pm for the game and the Hall of Fame Museum was closed for renovations.
Luckily Glass Nickel Pizza was open and we all stuffed ourselves with delicious pizza.

We went with some of our friends and we had a great time.
It is incredible that there is such a big stadium in such a small town.
Everyone dedicates their evenings to the game and even open their front yards for parking.

We lucked out and actually had decent weather for Green Bay (low 30s)
We had amazing seats and it was awesome to see a game live.

It was so much fun and thankfully the Packers won.

We got home at like 3:00 in the morning and my poor pregnant self needed a whole week to recover from that late night but there is nothing quite like being in Lambeau.

Grandparents and the Domes

While my parents were here we took them to the Milwaukee Domes (indoor botanical gardens).

It was so nice to enjoy some "warm weather" and see green plants again.

We all had a great time watching Jake explore.

Quarter Century

Yes it is true, I am now officially 25.

So weird!

Ryan spoiled me for my birthday and got me the garbage can I've been eyeing.

(I must be getting old if I was hoping for a garbage can)

This bad boy is amazing and I'm so happy with it.

He also stocked my supply of morning sickness cures, and came home early to cook dinner.

That night we went out for dessert at Applebee's.

It was a great birthday!

The following weekend my parents came up to celebrate too.

So we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and did a little shopping.

Of course they spoiled me too with new bath towels, kitchen mat, and some makeup!

Jacob's First Snow Play

We finally had a day that was warm enough to actually let Jake play in the snow.

So we all bundled up and headed to our front yard.

Jake was in absolute heaven.

He loved the feel of the snow

How it tasted (despite my protests)

Rolling in it

And he thought my snowball fight with Ryan was hilarious!

It was so much fun to see him so excited about something I've been dreading ever since last winter.

Now prepare for a photo dump!

Thanksgiving 2014

So this year my parents were planning on coming up like they did last week but a week before they had some things come up and weren't going to be able to make it.

Now I was actually a little relieved because.....

I'M PREGNANT!

[Side note:  I'm due in the middle of June in case you were wondering]

So I've been feeling sick

My house is a disaster

My back is already killing me

And thought of Thanksgiving food made me not want to eat for days.

So this way I didn't have to clean my house and I didn't have to cook Thanksgiving food.

I've been craving pizza this pregnancy and eat it at least twice a week

So we decided to make homemade pizza instead.

They were delicious and the baby loved them!

It was nice to have a day at home just the three of us after my months of sickness and exhaustion and Ryan being swamped at work.

We lounged in pajamas, watched football games and I even got a nap!

It was the perfect Thanksgiving for us this year!

Halloween

A month ago we were at Costco and saw all their Halloween costumes and decided to pick something out for Jake.

We settled on the monkey and after he got over his first tantrum of putting it on he loved it.

He would walk around making his little monkey sounds.

I didn't think Jake would enjoying trick-or-treating but he loved it!

We lucked out and had absolutely beautiful weather.

He loved carrying around his little bucket and the fact that people would put things into it.

He was a little embarrassing because he would want people to put more candy in his bucket.

We also had to stop and play with leaves as we went too.

After stopping at a couple houses Jake came back and helped hand out candy.

He was so cute putting candy in other people's buckets and when there was a lull in trick or treaters he would walk around holding a piece of candy trying to find someone to give it to.

When he couldn't find anyone he would put it in his own bucket.

It was absolutely adorable to watch and now here is a huge photo dump of my monkey!

Another Week of Visitors

The week after the Calder's came my mom came up for a visit.

We had a pretty relaxing week playing at home.

We also went to the farm play at Apple Holler and toured the fire station with friends from church.

My OCD son was really distressed that they opened all the doors to the fire truck so we could see inside and I wouldn't let him close them.

Friday night I had to spend the evening at the ward Halloween party since the youth were in charge.

Saturday morning my mom wanted to try out the delicious food at Cafe Benelux so we went to breakfast again before she had to get on the road.

It was nice to have her come visit for a few days.

That afternoon the McGowans (family I used to nanny for) came up for a quick visit.

We had a good time catching up and then went downtown for a late lunch and some exploring.

It was so good to see them and I can't believe how big they'd gotten.

They were so incredibly sweet with Jake and would fight over who got to hold his hand!