Crazy couple of weeks

The last 2 weeks have been a little crazy for us! It started December 18, which happened to be our 5th wedding anniversary! Unfortunately, we started the day off with surgery for Grace. She had to have ear tubes put in. She did really well at the hospital, though, and recovered very quickly. By the next day, she was her normal self. I did better than I expected, too. It was hard watching her be carried away by the nurse, but the hospital staff knew what they were doing and took good care of her.

Because of the surgery and a basketball game that night, John and I celebrated on Saturday. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch and then finally saw a movie we had been wanting to see for months. It was a very nice date. Before the babysitters came (yes, 2 sitters. They prefer to work in pairs, which is ok with us!), we cleaned the house to be presentable. They cleaned it even more for us! They worked hard on Grace's room, and then cleaned the kitchen up for us. They were a little too helpful in one aspect, though. They decided to put our powdered sugar in a container for us, thinking they'd just add it to the "other" powdered sugar. Unfortunately, that was flour! Luckily, John realized what happened before he started flouring our venison steaks for chicken fried steak! And I'm glad I had just bought a new bag of flour, anticipating making cookies with Grace. We got a good laugh out of it, and still smile at the thought. The best part about the babysitters is that they refused any money! I tried, but they said, "No, this is our Christmas present to you." It was such a blessing. I think it's been over a year since I've paid for a babysitter. I'm getting spoiled. :)

The following Monday, we headed to a town halfway between here and San Antonio to meet up with some friends from Germany. When we moved back to Texas, we didn't send any furniture, but we had coffee table that John's dad had made, so we wanted to keep it. They used it for a year and a half and brought it back to us, so we met up for lunch. It was so good to see them. There's just something special about meeting up with friends from overseas. It's hard to describe, but the best way I can say it is that it was refreshing and comforting. We had a great 2 hour lunch with them before driving back home.

Unfortunately, that night, we got the call that my step-granddad passed away. We had been expecting the call for a while. He was battling end-stage Parkinson's, and they had removed the feeding tube because his body was refusing to keep even the liquid food in. It was a relief to know he was no longer in pain, but still sad that he is no longer with us. Tuesday, I went to my parents' house so I could ride to the funeral with my dad. We decided that Grace didn't need to be in a car for a 4 hour drive 2 days in a row, just to sit at a house with John while the funeral happened, so Grace and John got some quality daddy-daughter time, which they LOVED. Dad and I spent a lot of quality time together. I really enjoyed it. We used to do daddy-daughter dates when I was in high school and college (and some after), but we haven't in a while. It was nice to have so much one-on-one time. We did grocery shopping, went to dinner, and just talked. Wednesday, we drove to my grandmother's house. The funeral was Christmas Eve, and I rode back with my brother after the service. It was a long 2 days.

Christmas Eve, when I got back to my parents' house, John and Grace were there. It was good to see them. I miss them a lot even after just 2 nights away! We did our family Christmas with just the 3 of us. We traded stockings and opened our traditional Christmas pajamas.

Christmas Day, my family all came to my parents' house. We even talked my grandmother into coming home with mom and dad after the graveside service, so there were 14 people there! It was crazy, chaotic, and so much fun! I was finally able to announce to both families (webcam with John's family and in person to mine) that our 2nd baby is another girl! Most of the family guessed that it would be a girl, even though some hoped for a boy. (It's pretty funny that for my dad, he will now have 4 granddaughters, and his sister has only 2 granddaughters and 10 grandsons! She always joked with him that he'd get all the girls, and he did!)

Christmas evening, we went to my dad's mom's house for a few hours, and then headed to my sister's to spend the night. Four nights away from home in 4 different beds was exhausting for me, so I was very happy to be home.

We picked up my in-laws from the airport yesterday and had another Christmas last night. Grace kept wanting to play with everything she got and stop opening the rest! But we saved the big gift for last, so we wanted her to keep going. She got a dollhouse, and was so excited! They got it all set up and she had a blast playing with it for a while.

Overall, the last few weeks have been crazy, but it was a good end to 2009. We are looking forward to all the changes that 2010 will bring! Happy New Year!!

It's been forever since I updated this! Every time I think about updating it, I am just too tired to think about something to write. I'm amazed at how exhausting this pregnancy is. I have to remind myself that when I was pregnant with Grace, I wasn't chasing a toddler around and wasn't working, so I was able to rest a lot more than I am now. I try to nap when she does sometimes, but other times, I just have to get stuff done. At least now I'm starting to get more energy. I hit 22 weeks this weekend, so I'm over the halfway point! It's a nice feeling.

Work is going ok. It goes back and forth between being busy and being boring, but once we go back to school in January, it is going to be CRAZY!!! One of my big job duties is working on our annual fundraiser that will happen at the beginning of February, so we'll have a lot to do in January. I'll be working almost full-time. I'll be able to apply my extra hours to some of the days I'll miss once I have the baby, so I'll get a paycheck longer, which is nice. I'm glad our school is so flexible!

Grace is growing and changing so much! She's almost 3 feet tall, but is as skinny as a rail! Her 2T clothing falls off her waist, but barely fits her in the arms and leg length. She's definitely going to be tall like her daddy! She's constantly talking and singing and dancing. She is so much fun now! It amazes me sometimes that we can actually have a conversation! She loves talking about the new baby, and pats my belly any chance she gets. When I wake her up in the mornings, one of the first things she says is "Baby! There's the baby!" She's convinced the baby is a girl, even though we haven't found out yet. We ask her what the name should be and she says "umm, baby sister!" We say, "What if it is a boy?" "baby sister!" She's so cute.

We're into basketball season now. Tonight was our first home game. Unfortunately, since John is coaching varsity, his games start later, so we didn't get to stay for the whole game. Poor Grace was so tired. (Of course, she got a burst of energy when we got home!) But I have a feeling that's how the whole season is going to be, with not getting to watch the entire game most of the games, especially on school nights. Our mornings just start too early to stay up too late (and Grace is used to a 7:30 bedtime, so "late" is pretty early for her!)

That's about it for now. I'll try to be more regular with posting, but no promises!