HaPpY nEw YeAr!

Hello, all!

Happy New Year!!

Well, we have been very busy, busy, busy this holiday season!! Things are starting to slow down a bit now and we are looking forward to getting back to our normal schedule next week! (Ben starts back to school Monday.)

Jeremy is working all weekend (and next weekend.) :o( He starts on a new schedule this week. It will be a bit of an adjustment as he has been on the same schedule for two years now. And, I really liked that all three of us had Fridays off on the old schedule. But, we will adjust. He will now be off every Monday. The nice thing is that he and my brother-in-law, Jeff, will be on the same schedule. So, my sister and I can hang out on days they work.

Ben and I took some time this week to change his room decor from "Safari" to "Cars Movie." (see pic) Needless to say, he is very excited about it. I finally took the changing table out, which we haven't used since we've lived in this house, and replaced it with a cool beanbag Aunt Jenny got him for Christmas. We also hung the poster Nana and Papaw got him and replaced all the stuff animals on his shelves with cars. We didn't do much else as this is just for a while until we get him a regular twin size bed. At that point, I'd like to have a theme that will grow with him. But, for now this is good. (Although, he won't be in that bed for long...it is pretty small!) Not sure if it is a coincidence, but he has been better about going to bed the last few nights. He has been wanting to fall asleep on our laps downstairs since the binky went away, but now he will go to bed while still awake...I hope it lasts!

We are finally starting to take down the holiday decor. It always makes me sad. :o( I suppose I wouldn't appreciate it as much if it were up all the time though. I am looking forward to putting our new 9' tree in the family room next year...provided we can find affordable decorations for it!!
Yesterday I got to really use the GPS Jeremy got me for Christmas! I had to see my patients out of order and wasn't sure of the best route to take between two...that thing came in handy! Much easier than my map book!!

After I worked yesterday morning, I went and picked up Noah and Stephanie to get them out of the house for a bit. We went to McD's and then Meijers before coming back to our house for a while. We had a lot of fun watching movies and playing games. However, Noah suffered a black eye as the result of a game of catch gone wrong. :o( Jeremy also suffered an "unmentionable" injury while wrestling with the boys, and poor Ben got an elbow to the nose! (See pics of the violence below!)

Ben was very jealous when Jeremy was playing with Noah! He did not like sharing his daddy, but we were a little glad that he was assertive enough to try to push Noah away. He even attempted to say and sign "MINE" a few times!

I gave Ben a little yogurt this morning. So far, I haven't noticed any change. He was a little grouchy right after, but I think that had more to do with boredom than a reaction to the milk. So, I packed him up and we went to Kroger and for a little drive. He's been great ever since. I plan to try again tomorrow, so we'll see...

Well, I'd better go see what the little monkey is up to. Hope you are all well!

Love,
Julie

(click on pics for bigger view)
Wrestling with the cousins.

Noah's black eye.

Learning to ride the Smart Cycle.


New room.