Christmas

Christmas went so fast this year! Luckily, we were able to celebrate it with everyone. First, we went to Muscatine for Ryan's family Christmas and stayed in a hotel so the kids could swim. Ryan's mom, step-dad, sister and her family, uncle and his family, and grandma and step-grandpa came over and we swam, had snacks, opened presents and then went to Applebee's for late night appetizers and drinks. It was fun and Owen got spoiled! Two race tracks for his Hot Wheels, clothes, a game for his Smart Cycle, a pirate ship and a John Deere tractor and trailer that he can get on and drive! We even let him drive it down the hallway of the hotel. (And thankfully, by now I think he's forgotten about it. We took it to my parent's house for the winter so it wouldn't be tempting him, and he hasn't talked about it in a while!) Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture!

The next day we met my Mom in Manchester so she could take Owen and I back to Elkader. Christmas Eve fell on a Monday, and Ryan had to be back in Cedar Falls to work, but I didn't. So we went to my parent's house and Ryan came Monday afternoon after work. That night we went to my Grandma's for supper and a game of cards.

Christmas Eve was kind of a lazy day. It flurried most of the day, so my dad had to work, but Mom, Owen and I made it to church in Strawberry Point, where we met my brother and his family coming in from Omaha. And then it was back to my parent's for a delicious meal of prime rib and hamballs. YUM! Ryan had made it to town by then, too, and after supper it was time for PRESENTS! Thankfully, my brother and sister in law are picture taking fiends, and they were nice enough to share these with us:

Books!

Car transporter - but he doesn't know what it is yet.

His face when he realizes it's a car transporter. SO CUTE!

These are the glasses from his doctor kit : )

Sharing his AquaDoodle mat with Annaliese

He got so much more than what's in these pictures, including a Nerf gun. We also brought a few Nerf guns we had at home, bought my dad a Nerf gun for part of his gift, and my brother got Nerf guns for Ian, Annaliese, himself and his wife. So after presents there was a huge Nerf war going on in the basement. It was really funny to see, and actually the adults got more into it than the kids did.

Christmas day was hosted by my parent's, so my mom's side and dad's side both came over. Lots of people and lots of yummy food. I told Ryan I should've made a sign that says

I'm due January 27th.
It's a girl.
Her name is going to be Oriana.

and wear it around my neck. I got asked the same questions a million times. And a few times, I got blank stares when I told them what her name is. No, it's not common name. That's what I like about it. But it's not like I'm going crazy and naming her Blu Ivy or something like I'm a famous person! ; ) But anyway, Ryan and I had to work the next day, so we headed back to Cedar Falls that afternoon. Luckily, my mom had the rest of the week off, because we didn't have any daycare for the rest of the week. So Owen got to stay at Nana and Boppa's and be spoiled for a few more days. Here are some pictures of him playing in the snow with Ian:

And finally, since we were not at home on Christmas night, Owen missed out on Santa coming to our house. So on Saturday night when he finally got home, he got to open his presents from Santa.

Mike the monster (from Monsters Inc) was in his stocking.

Obligatory socks and underwear in his stocking! Plus lots of treats!

He got Toy Story 2, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and UP.

Monkey shirt with googly eyes and pants.

Batman backrest. I got a new one for Christmas, too!

Tool bench. He said, "Hey! Boppa has one of those!"

After all the birthday presents and Christmas presents Owen got those few weeks, we had some MAJOR toy overflow! So we packed up some old toys and went to Goodwill, plus we just got a new toy organizer from my parents. There are even a few toys we haven't even taken out of the boxes yet! TOY OVERLOAD!! And next year will be worse...