Update

Wow! I can't believe I haven't blogged since Thanksgiving! Well, let's see…
Ryan ended up sleeping on Thanksgiving afternoon for four hours so I got all my Christmas decorations hauled down from upstairs. Todd ended up sleeping for fifteen hours, so he missed Thanksgiving all together. He didn't wake up until 3 am Friday morning! Friday we went to the Target sale but got there too late to get the camera we wanted. Then we went out for lunch. Todd had a turkey dinner and Ryan ate his first cottage cheese, which he loved. Then we went home and put up our new Christmas lights – an animated penguin.

Saturday afternoon I drove Ryan to the farm so we could go to my great-uncle's 90th birthday party on Sunday. It was a lot of fun. I got to see all my Arnold cousins, but we mostly all stayed in packs of our immediate family. Ryan enjoyed running in and out of the men's restroom, climbing on Uncle Kurt, being fawned over, and pushing around my great-aunt Donna's super-cool walker called "The Cadillac". Apparently it is nicer than any of the other assisted-living people's walkers, so they named it "The Cadillac". We left for home about 2:45, hit Wal-Mart in Ankeny for baby food and diapers and arrived home about 6:30 pm. Then I unloaded the car, gave Ryan his supper, gave Ryan his bath, chased him around, and rocked him to sleep. I was exhausted.

Last Thursday we went to Stephanie's for a Pampered Chef party. We made omelets in Ziploc bags, which was fun. Ryan screamed hysterically all the way over and was really fussy after we went into the house. I finally took off his shoes, and he perked right up. He loved going up their stairs and running into Rylan's room. He also discovered that they had a Christmas tree. Luckily he only pulled off a few ornaments. I was exhausted by the time we left.

Saturday Tami and Preston and the boys joined Ryan and me at the Cookie Festival at the WDM Methodist Church. It started at 9 am and was freezing cold. We got there at 9:15 and it was packed. We hustled the kids in and then stood in line for over 30 minutes. I was roasted and groaning holding my almost 27 pound munchkin, but every time I put him down he would sprint down the hall. Caleb had a good time twirling his cookie bucket, which T & P did not appreciate. An hour later, we left with buckets full of awesome cookies. Go figure – there were only 5 people in line when we left! Then Ryan and I drug H's first wedding dress to the Ebay store, only to be told that they don't sell clothing, then we hit the St. Theresa's bazaar which was pretty small.

Sunday I went to the Nine Lessons and Carols program at church. Rachel was supposed to go with me, but she came down with strep throat. It was beautiful with a men's quartet doing all the songs. They also had a two guest sopranos, bells, and mambo drums. It really put me in the Christmas spirit, even though I had only a Christmas tree up with no ornaments!