31 December 2010

Last Post of 2010

It has snowed at our house ALL day. It finally slowed down enough that I decided to shovel a path to the mailbox and take a picture of our BBQ. I think we must be the only spot left in the valley that still has snow falling. It's crazy. We went to Hires for our New Year's Eve Dinner and once we got past 4100 South, there was no more snow. What is "lake effect" anyway?

It's 8:30 p.m. and James and Molly are both sound asleep. Happy New Year came a bit early this year, I guess. James is exhausted. He really enjoys his job, but it is grueling - long hours, lots of phone calls once he gets home and tons of charting work. Lately, he falls asleep at his computer around 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., then gets up at 4:00 a.m. to finish his charting before his 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. appointment. It's this terrible cycle that never ends. I get on him a lot because he is such a grouch, but I am grateful for his efforts and I'm even more grateful that he put Molly to sleep and is now getting some much needed rest himself (even though he'll have to do his charting in the morning).

On to my year end wrap up . . .

Yesterday Willie had basketball games on his birthday. Unfortunately he was 0-3 on the day against Jordan, but oh well. While there, the Hunter girls were playing Taylorsville and we ran into Mr. Hymas who coaches that team. Mr. Hymas was my junior high math teacher and then my sophomore girls basketball coach. He remembered me and was asking me about some of the other girls on that team (most of whom I have no idea what happened to them). We were the first girls team he ever coached.

This got me thinking a little bit reflectively on this past year. When I was a sophomore in high school I never would have dreamed that I'd have a cute, curly haired little girl named Molly, been teaching school for 8 years, or be sitting watching my sophomore brother play Hunter basketball with my nephews running around the gym. Crazy! I guess I probably thought that I would be married and maybe have kids, but things like that are never a given (especially for anti-socials weirdos like me).

Anyway, it has been quite a year! Last year on New Year's Eve I was starting to get really fat and starting to get really swollen feet. We didn't even know if we were having a girl or boy because the modest little baby kept her legs crossed at the ankles during the ultrasound (which she still does, by the way). She was just a bump in my stomach and now she is this wriggling, crazy, yelling little girl. She finally has two teeth poking through. She was showing me earlier today, but then wouldn't cooperate when I got the camera out. (This is the best I got.)
She is starting to eat cheerios without choking, today had yogurt, and then ate some pieces of garlic bread at Hires. She kicks her feet when she gets excited and is, for the most part, a very pleasant and happy little girl. I am so glad she is a part of our family!

Happy New Year!!



30 December 2010

You say its your BIRTHDAY!


You're 16 years old!!! Oh my goodness. My little brudda is 16! I can't believe it.

I know this sounds totally sappy, but I remember the day you were born and you have changed us all for the better. I can't imagine how boring the last 16 years would have been without you. Sniff. Sniff.

So, with that said, keep being a good boy. Keep getting good grades, keep practicing your free throws, keep being a good uncle. I'm watching you. Don't think you're THAT cool just because you're 16. Don't think that just because Ross says you got "date shirts" for Christmas that you can stop being a good boy. Don't think that just because your "projected ACT scores" are higher than your sister's that you're THAT smart. Remember, I can always take you!

Happy Birthday Little Brother! We love you!

29 December 2010

Sippy success!


One of our holiday break projects has been to learn to use a cup. Here is some success!

26 December 2010

Christmas Came!


Christmas 2010, though filled with bits and pieces of chaos, was probably one of the best Christmas Holidays James and I have had since being married. Of course adding a baby to the mix made it a lot more fun, but it also just seemed quite a bit more relaxed than Christmas' past. (Though as I write the events below, some were definitely not relaxing, but that's ok.)

Christmas Eve Eve
* Willie basketball game (finally a win! Yes!)
* Molly and I ran a million errands
* Wrapped a few of my mom's presents for her
* Finish wrapping all of my presents while watching the Jim Carey version of the Grinch on TV.
* Made a half batch of sugar cookies after midnight to frost at my mom's tomorrow
* James informed me that although he was supposed to work Christmas Eve, he really only had 2 appointments, basically had the day off, and was planning to work on my car. Great?!?

Christmas Eve
* Part of car wheel bearing won't come off - first trip to Autozone
* Quick trip to Layton in James' car to deliver name exchange gifts to Gregg and Barbara's family
* Second trip to Autozone, returned with new needed part, James quickly rushes to work in his car and Molly and I are stranded at home while my car sits up on jacks in the driveway. Grrr!!
* After a few stressful phone calls between me and James and me and my mom, my mom comes to the rescue and picks us up. She has Elliott and Wyatt in the car with her and is singing, "You better watch out. You better not cry..."
* Stopped at the store to buy rolls for Christmas Eve dinner. (I was supposed to make them, but I didn't.)
* Frost cookies for Santa at my mom's house with Elliott and Wyatt - Open Christmas Eve pajamas - Willie's have penguins on them and are big enough for 3-4 regular sized men. Oh well.
* Load up in my mom's car again and head to Grandma's to get ready for Christmas Eve Dinner.
* Molly got hysterically hysterical at Grandma's and my mom and I couldn't get her calmed down. We loaded back up in my mom's car and she took us home (Molly blessed her car seat, Christmas jammies, and blanket twice in the car on the ride home and then seemed to be doing better.)
* James finally finished putting my car back together, took it for a test drive out to my Grandma's, ate, brought me potatoes and rolls home, then took the car back apart again to adjust something
* Got Christmas morning stuff together and finally went to bed (well after midnight again)

Christmas Day!
* Molly woke up about 6:00, but we tried to be quiet to not wake up James. He got up around 7:00. We opened gifts at our house and started getting ready for the day. Molly was not quite sure what was going on, but certainly enjoyed eating the wrapping paper and ribbons. And, twice during the morning, I said, "Molly, where's the tree?," and she turned her head immediately and looked at the tree. Smart girl!
* While we were getting ready, James got a call to get on Skype and talk to his brothers - Jason in Germany and Jarrell in Seattle on a mission. After a while, all 6 Binggeli siblings and his mom and dad were all talking in the "same room." This hasn't happened for at least 2 or 3 years and James doesn't think his family has been all together for Christmas since 2003 or 2004. It was pretty cool. Molly and I listened in on the conversation for a little while, but then slipped out to head to my aunt Karen's house for breakfast. (Car is making weird noises, but James assures me that it's fine. Eventually the noise stopped, but I did notice James had put the fire extinguisher in the trunk of the car.)
* 10:30 a.m. - Karen's for a delicious breakfast of scones, ham, and eggs. Given our travel constraints, James and I haven't been able to do the Petersen Christmas breakfast for the last 2 years. It was tasty and a lot of fun! (We had some minor chaos during the gift exchange because 2 of the gifts my mom was giving were nowhere to be found. My mom was pretty stressed, but after 2 trips back home, she found the missing gifts.)
* 1:00 p.m. - My mom and dad's house for Christmas with them. My mom spoils us and all I got for her were 2 dumb sweaters. Oh well. Wyatt, Elliott, and Molly were all really cute!
* 3:00 p.m. - Grandma Huber's for Christmas at her house. Ate more! Opened more gifts!
* 5:00 p.m. - Headed home to unload, reload, and head out.
* 6:00 p.m. - Left home for Garland and Christmas with James' mom and dad.
* 7:30 p.m. - Arrived in Garland and Molly got to show off her latest sitting up and yelling talents to Grandma and Grandpa Binggeli. They spoiled her rotten, too! We stayed overnight, ate delicious apple pie and ice cream, and ate very tasty waffles and bacon in the morning. We had a great time!

Christmas Day +1!
* Molly woke up at 6:00 a.m., but I was tired, so after I gave her a bottle I just laid her down between me and James and she actually went back to sleep for an hour. Thanks, good girl!
* Around 11:00 a.m. we headed north some more. We not only needed to take Christmas gifts to RyAnn, Issac, and Morriah, but we needed to meet their 10 day old baby sister Elizza. Molly got to play with her cousins, Annie and Jared fed us dinner, and we had a nice visit. Elizza is really cute and is very awake and talkative for a tiny little baby.
* Around 6:00 p.m. we headed back for home, but not long after we were driving, James told me his stomach hurt and he was feeling nauseous. Great!?! Between Pocatello and the Utah border, he drove very fast. I was scared and kept watching the speedometer creep up, but didn't dare say anything because whenever I asked, "are you doing okay?," he just quickly shook his head no. Oh dear. We made a pit stop back in Garland and Grandma and Grandpa got to see Molly again for a little while, while her dad was blessing the toilet.
* Fog and slick roads made for an interesting ride home. I was trying to hurry and get James home, but thick fog when you can't hardly seen the front of your car requires some slowing down. We had to make 1 emergency pull-off-the-freeway near Centerville so James could make the shoulder of the road a bit more "slick," but after that we made it home safe and sound and James and Molly both went straight to bed.
* I unloaded the car, started a load of wash, and decided to look at our pictures and do a blog post.

*Merry Christmas to all and to all a good and pukeless night!