New Year's Intentions

I'm not going to make resolutions because they almost always get broken. But I do have some intentions for the coming new year:

1) Increase healthy behaviors. Eat better, exercise more, be more social, find a new doctor, and ultimately do what is good for me, my body, and my family.

2) Improve finances. Watch our money more closely, spend only when needed, repair credit, find new ways to save money.

3) Be a better mom and spouse. There's always room for improvement. ;-)


What are your intentions for the coming year?

Xmas photos

We had a very exciting Xmas season for Peter's first Xmas. Mid-month we found some cheap airline tickets to Iowa so Jen and Peter packed up to visit our Iowa family for the week before Christmas. It was so nice to be able to spend time with our family and see everyone. It had been nearly a decade since Jen's immediate family was all together for the holiday. I am so grateful for the opportunity to spend time together and share Peter's first christmas.

Peter got very spoiled by everyone! Flying back home to Tucson I didn't have any room for clothes, my bag was entirely presents and we are mailing back our clothes. Peter did get a bunch of new clothes too, including an Iowa Hawkeye outfit. He also got a number of books, some bath toys, a bunch of teething toys, a santa blanket, a stuffed Pooh-bear that he loved...and an annoyingly-fun penguin blow-up toy from Uncle Ben. Peter's absolutely favorite thing though had to be playing with the crinkly paper and putting everything in his mouth. He's easy to please!

Jen got a few things too: a shirt, a scarf, a cookbook... One of my favorites had to be a personalized ornament with a mommy, daddy, and baby snowman with our names and 2008. What was really neat was when I got back home I noticed that we had gotten a similar one last year with just John and I. Gotta love the continuity!

We flew home Xmas eve at midnight and celebrated our christmas when we all arrived home. And such a beautiful home! John had cleaned the whole place! It was so uplifting to come home to a clean house! We were too excited to sleep and baby was well-rested from sleeping the whole day of traveling so we decided to open all our presents. John got to slowly empty my luggage and see all the great things Peter had gotten. He even had a few presents himself.

Among our own family John's big present was his tattoo, which thankfully isn't as big as it looks in the picture. John got me an iPod shuffle which I have been wanting for nearly 2 years, I am now busy uploading workout music to it. And Peter got more clothes and a stand-up walker. He hasn't quite figured out how to walk with it yet but he is having fun standing up on it and playing with the toys.

We finally went to bed about 2am. Xmas day was spent catching up on alot of our sleep. We'd wake up to eat and play. We watched a movie. We finally officially woke up around 5pm and got ready to go out to eat at Golden Corral. After the long flight and arriving home to a nearly bare kitchen I was ready to let someone else cook my feast. It was great to have a lazy, relaxing day.

We had a great Christmas, both away and home. It was nice to see family, and even nicer to return to a relaxing home and be together.

We had alot of fun the next day heading out to the after Xmas sales and to restock the kitchen. We used some gift cards to get FM transmitters for our cars so we can listen to our iPods and Jen stocked up on things for next Xmas. We also took some of the cash we got to fix John's car and take our dog to the vet.

We had a wonderful Xmas and are very grateful to everyone that played a part. I hope everyone had as wonderful a Xmas as we did this year. I hope its just a sign of many more to come!

Temporary Replacement Stroller

This afternoon we bought a $15 umbrella stroller at Target. (Gotta love Target!) It's sure nice to be have something to put Peter in and get around again! I miss my storage basket underneath and my cup holder but I am sure glad I have my hands free again! It even has a similar theme to his old one! Yay! Too cute!

Tucson Weather

It was pouring rain this morning! Cats and dogs! We bundled up and went out to a few stores. We had to restock the groceries and find a cheapo umbrella stroller... the airline thinks ours is flat gone but we have to wait a few more days before we can file a claim. Then who knows how long it will be. :(

As we were out shopping the weather changed. It's super-gray and we can't see the mountains and the temperature dropped.

Then the rain turned cold... and hard...

And white!

Traveling Xmas Eve

Peter and I arrived home in Tucson! Yay! After the crazy weather and airport delays across the nation we were kinda worried but our flight ended up going fairly smoothly. We left about 20 minutes late. Peter ate on take-off then slept the whole flight. The people next to us were amazed at what a good baby he is.

We ended up getting home around 11:30pm on Xmas eve.

Our only bad news: They lost our stroller! :-(

Seems crazy to me... I took the stroller all the way to the door of the plane! But when I exited it wasn't there. And of course I was loaded down with 2 packed carry-ons plus baby. I hadn't planned to manuver myself through the airport carrying everything. After waiting forever at the gate for them to finish unloading I schleped everything slowly to baggage claim and waited there to see if it came out there. All the while trying to get my bags and balance baby on my hip and hold onto my purse. ARGH!

Still no stroller. Had to report it to the baggage office. It's been over 24 hours now with no sign of it at the airline which worries me. I think I'll have to go out today and get a cheap umbrella stroller. I want to head to the after Xmas sales and need Peter portable.

I'm very glad that they didn't loose the Xmas presents or car seat. Those were even more important things!

We are glad to be home. It was nice to exit the airport into the mid-50 degree weather. It was doubly nice to have John there to help me and give me a big hug and kiss. It is comforting to sleep in our own beds. It's freeing to drive my own car. And its nice to pet our animals. Oh, and I'm loving having my tivo back! :-P

It's nice to be home.

Iowa family pictures

Just sharing some pictures from our time in Iowa. It was great to share Peter's first Xmas with Jen's side of the family. We had a great time and are so grateful for the chance to see everyone and have Peter get to know his extended family more...and them get to know him! I'll post Xmas photos soon, but in the meantime here are some pics of our family time.

Relaxing at Aunt Kim's house in Iowa, note the snow outside! Brr!!! Jen got to lounge a little while Peter cruised the furniture.


Uncle Ben got to play with Peter in the mornings.


Herky the Hawkeye in the Iowa City mall. Go Hawks!


Peter, Jen and Great-Grandma Dollie. Peter was fascinated with grandma's beads, they were pretty!


Brr!!! We got to experience several inches of snow, an inch of ice and -20 windchill during our one week visit to Iowa. It was definately a new experience for Peter! (And a reminder while we like Tucson!) This picture was taken the last day as it was snowing again...ended up with several more inches of pure powder.


Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jim got delayed in Amsterdam, stopped in Detroit, then as we were all waiting excitedly for them at the airport the airport closed and their flight was diverted just as they were coming in for landing. We were frustrated to go home without them. After a 3 hour drive they finally arrived home!


Grandpa Jim playing with baby Peter. So much fun!

Another picture all bundled up. Poor Peter could barely move in his big, warm coat but he stayed warm. And looked super cute in his little hat! While in Iowa he also perfected eating Cheerio-type cereal all on his own. It was fun to watch his little brain work and try to get his fingers from his tray to his mouth.


Grandma Cindy gave Peter a bath on the last day. He had lots of fun splashing and playing in the water. Peter even ducked his face in the water a few times...though that was kinda freaky.


Aunt Angel celebrated her 22nd birthday while we were in Iowa. It was nice to be able to celebrate with her!

Getting ready for family to come back home

I Have been working over the last couple days to get the home ready for when Jen and Peter James comes back from Iowa. It has been tough without them, but the mancation was good for me. Do you think Jen knows what Santa got her? Stay posted to find out.

Trapped indoors, but having fun!

We spent another day indoors at my Aunt Kim's house in Muscatine, Iowa. Just a yucky day. We could have probably braved the roads and gone down to Great-grandma's house but I kinda liked being able to have a few extra hands to help me out with Peter so we hung around an extra day.

My parents were supposed to fly in tonight but with all the bad weather around the country they got delayed, we are hoping they will arrive tomorrow. I figure Peter would already be in bed when they arrived tonight anyway so hopefully when they get here tomorrow he'll be well-rested and ready to play.

Anyways, here's a bunch of photos from our day hanging around the house.

Great-Grandma Langmann plays Pat-a-cake with Peter several times a day.


Cousins Michael and Allison help Peter open a few Xmas presents from their family. Peter got 2 new books, a 1st Xmas ornament, and a Hawkeye outfit (of course!)

Peter thinks cousin Allison is his new girlfriend. He flirts with her all day long, beams a big smile whenever she walks in the room, and has been trying to kiss her on the mouth. He's got a thing for blondes!

Aunt Kim's back deck. Latest forecast is snow-snow-snow and cold-cold-cold. Think windchill is supposed to be -20 degrees. And to think a few days ago I was wearing shorts and sandles!

Peter quickly found the heat vent and was fascinated!

Aunt Kim and Peter by the Xmas tree. Kim has taught Peter how to click his tongue and now he will do it for minutes on end. Whenever he sees he across the room he starts clicking away.

Jen's cousin Michael is so good with Peter. He helped him bounce-bounce-bounce. Michael has been having so much fun playing with baby that he's become absent-minded and has been forgetting things whenever he leaves the house. It's so unlike him that we all laugh.

Peter was the newest baby to sit in this rocker. I remember once upon a time it was MY favorite chair to watch tv in! Great-Grandma Langmann has re-covered it and its ready for the next generation.

I think there's a toy in there!

Exhausted after a long day!

While the cat's away...

...the mice will play. Or so the story goes.

Peter and I were gone just over 24 hours and John went and got a new tattoo. He's been wanting to get Peter's feet tattooed on him since before Peter was born and we kept putting it off. I told him that if he wanted that could be his Xmas present this year. So he decided to get it done while we were gone. Part of his man-cation.

OUCH!!!

Safe and not-so warm in Iowa

Peter and I arrived safely in Iowa on Wednesday morning. Traveling alone with baby wasn't too bad. Hardest part was probably the packed like a sardine plane while trying to hold and nurse a baby. Peter didn't want to stay in my lap the whole time and I ended up letting him crawl a little in the aisle and we also went back to visit the stewardesses in the galley for a little bit. It was funny to see him try to stand when the airplane wasn't perfectly steady.

My Aunt Kim and her kids (my cousins) Allison and Michael met us at the airport in Chicago. They had a heck of a morning drive because there was about 4 inches of snow the night before and the streets weren't all clear yet. But amazingly they arrived just in time to help me get my luggage, give me some extra blankets to cover Peter and then run out to the warmth of the car.

Allison and Michael had the fun job of making sure Peter was all dressed and warm. The joke of the day was that Peter kept loosing his shoes. He's never really worn them in Tucson, but I figured in the cold winter of Iowa I wanted more protection on his little toes.

Allison and Michael trying to get Peter's shoes on for lunch.

Aunt Kim cuddling Peter.

Cousin Allison holding the sleeping baby.

All bundled up to stay warm!

Aunt Kim bought Peter some warm fleece pajamas after Peter had trouble sleeping the first night. In Tucson I don't have anything near heavy enough to keep him warm at night here. We've now bought more than enough warm clothes for him. I even bought him a Santa fleece blanket and he's slept better every night since.

There's about 4 inches of snow on the ground and then last night we got another inch of pure ice. The streets are like a skating rink. We've been stuck inside Aunt Kim's house since we arrived on Wednesday night. Hopefully they'll have the streets cleaned soon. Oma and Opa arrive from Germany tomorrow night and we'd really like to see them at the airport.

Looking at the snow and ice outside.

Preparing for Winter (video)

I dropped a piece of ice in the kitchen and Peter was fascinated by it.

John thought we should title this one "Preparing for Winter" since Peter and I are going to Iowa on Wednesday.

Latest weather predictions for when we arrive in Iowa: Snow likely...then a chance of light snow and areas of freezing drizzle. Total snow accumulation 4 to 6 inches. Low around 10. Wind chill readings to 5 below.

YIKES!!!

Tire blowout!

Geez, it's just a bad luck month for cars. Saturday called me from work to say that he'd gotten a large cactus needle puncture in his tire and he had a flat. After work he ended up putting the spare on before he could head home.

Thankfully we got the warranty on all the tires on my car. Best purchase we ever made. This is the second time we've used it. They weren't open on Sunday, but I went over to the tire place this morning and they gladly gave me a brand new tire. It's nice to not have to worry about little things like that.

Peter was a little sleepy because it was his nap time, but he rolled with the punches and just played around on the floor of the tire store...I think he has a future as a tire salesman! He entertained everyone waiting.

The hunt continues...

Well, today I caught up ALL the laundry. I picked up the entire living room and our bedroom. I cleared out under the couches. I put away most of Peter's clothes. I reorganized Peter's closet. I did 2 loads of dishes. I scrubbed the kitchen countertops. I got my library items rounded up and by the front door to be returned.

And I still haven't found Chewy. ARGH!!! Where did he go!!!!???!!!???!!!

On the plus side when I checked the mail the NEW Chewy had arrived!! I tore it open on the way back into the house and handed it to Peter and he dragged it with him around the house all night. I just put Peter down to bed and he hasn't made a peep. Ahhh!!! Relief!

I think tomorrow morning I'll have to wash it to soften it a little...the other one was worn down a bit more so we'll have to work on that. :)

Now I'll need to get a replacement for the replacement!

Santa's Helper Elf

Well, still no Chewy. Day two of the hunt was unsuccessful...I wonder where he hid that thing!! I hope the new one I ordered arrives soon because once again its hard to get him to bed.

We had a busy day today. We worked on John's car a little. Drove to Auto Zone to test the battery. Turns out we need a new battery and a new alternator. Bummer. It's been a long month. John has had the car nearly every day since Thanksgiving. Ugh! I'll be glad when we can fix his after Xmas.

On the plus side we got our pictures back today!!! YAY!!!! I swear, Peter is such the picture perfect baby! He was still a little sick in these shots, but he still looks beautiful...if not all smiles. We have such a handsome boy! I think I can see a little more of John in some of these...the nose and cheekbones...