Brice preparing our turkey feast with the assistance of the internet. He butchered and prepared a fresh turkey, and it was (and still is as we work on leftovers) great.
The big bird himself
One of the final pictures of the turkey alive!
Great company for dinner on Thanksgiving
Attempting to get a family picture for a potential Christmas card, if I ever get started on that. Too bad this picture is not the one, but at least we are all in it!
Trying to find a tree...the boys were slow. Gabbie and I were trucking right along.
Gabbie says "This is the one!" I do not care for a real tree. I will admit it is Brice's "thing". The only reason we have ours so early is that I put up the artificial one we have, and Brice just wasn't going to allow that to be our main tree. So on the way to Carroll to celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of my family we stopped and found a real tree. Today I thought about this as I listened to people speak at Brice's grandmothers memorial service. I really should not balk at his traditions and I should be grateful I married a guy with a great family who has such traditions. Even if it means constantly filling the water after the dog drinks it. And it means picking up needles for the next 6 months (really, its not easy to see them in green shag carpet). And last year it meant the dang thing fell on me twice as I slept on the couch. I'll keep trying to be grateful; hopefully its allowed to be grateful and frustrated all in one.
SANTA!
I just love that she was so excited that she was biting her bottom lip! Santa even knew her name!
I just love this picture. Santa is on the left, obviously. On the right is Gabbie in the white sweater. We were sitting and eating our cookies and having hot chocolate. Suddenly Gabbie says to me "Mom, I need to go sit over there so I can hear what Santa is telling those other kids". And off she went. This year is SO fun with her for Christmas. Last year Santa wasn't cool because he took her pacifiers. This year she is just so happy that even I am feeling the excitement of the whole thing again. Santa has been calling every morning to check in. So far he says Gabbie has been so good that she might get a new princess dress! (And that will be about it...so Santa can get Mommy her Lasik surgery!)
I just love my Gabbie girl. She says great stuff. For example: here is what I heard about tonight: We were doing a puzzle that involves matching a picture with words. Gabbie has been learning her letters and their sounds at school, so we do that with this puzzle at home. Anyway, we got to the picture of a flag. She says "Oh my goodness Mom. Today I saw the biggest flag in the whole world at a restaurant. But it wasn't in the restaurant, it was outside. And it was HUGE, a very big flag. I could hardly believe it." She rode with her Grandpa to Omaha to take Aunt Gretchen to the airport, so I am assuming she saw this flag along the way. Its just so funny how she sounds like an adult at times, but a minute later can cry like a baby. Tonight all I have heard is "Mom, I didn't get to go in the plane with Gretchen". I tell her "But Gabbie, then you would not be here with me and I would miss you". She says "Mom, I would come back. People can come back you know."
It is so hard to believe it is December! I have been outdoor running in short sleeve shirts and capri's, and at the same time battling cold symptoms and sinus infection (and what I was told last week was likely Influenza A...but lets not tell the people who I refused a Flu shot from). Only in Iowa.
Time is going fast as always; but right now that is okay. I am in the process of 'transitioning' jobs, as maybe I mentioned before. I am now working part time at St Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll. I had planned to wait until the kids were further into school before working further from home. But I started filling in a couple shifts during the summer at the hospital and loved it. I have had trouble finding a balance in my job at the nursing home. Some days were 6 hours, some were 12. Sometimes it would be slow so I would find work elsewhere, then I'd get my plate too full. The hospital offered part time benefits, and for multiple reasons the time seemed as good as any to switch. The problem has been that I am not eligible for those benefits until February 1st. So...I'm still working my other job too. Its been crazy, but a fun crazy. I do like to work. I've found that out on both of my maternity leaves when I got a few weeks in and was itching to go somewhere and do something. But I can already tell we will be ready to find a balance again. Right now we are usually out of the house by 7 and home a little before 6, which isn't terrible, just tiring by Friday. Things just seem a little calmer when I have an afternoon at home to get things done-especially at this time of year when I want to get some holiday baking done plus its time to get ready for taxes. I feel a little guilty spending more time away from the kids-especially if it comes up that I have to work part of a weekend and I give up that time with them as well. But overall I can tell I use my time with them more wisely than I used to. I rarely talk on my phone in the car anymore so Gabbie can tell me about her day instead. We sing in the car a lot now, and I sit and eat supper with the kids instead of waiting to eat with Brice. I find it so interesting how when I was a mother of 1 I felt constant guilt about being a working mom. Now that we have 2 I don't feel that guilt anymore, more of just a motivation to do well with the time we have.
Brice's take on the situation is that things are running smoothly lately because when I work in Carroll a lunch break is built into my schedule, which I use to exercise. He says I could work 3 jobs as long as I got to exercise and "momma would be happy!" I will probably have to work a 3rd job if Brice's Christmas list gets any longer..
Today I did have most of the day off. I enjoyed time with Brice's family celebrating his grandmothers 90 years. Its good to be reminded of what a great family I joined, even if Brice can be a pain in my rear. Ha ha. I hope I can be as good of a mother and grandmother as it sounds like she was. Which brings me to the next happening in our household, one that will not win me the mom of the year award! After the service I took Will to the doctor, where he was diagnosed with a proximal humerus fracture. He fell early on Sunday morning. That's the end of the story for now! Those who need to know what happened already know, and I don't want to make anyone feel bad. I am grateful to all the people who help me raise my kids and I know no matter how close they are watched accidents happen. Will has fallen dozens of times and been okay and I am always just grateful to avoid a head injury! Anyway, it is not a major fracture. In fact the doctor was not sure what he saw, so a radiologist had to be called to read it. Then they weren't sure what to do with it, so the orthopedic specialist in town was called and just suggested a homemade splint (basically get him dressed and safely pin his sleeve to his shirt so he can't move it). We go back in 2 weeks to make sure it is healing. We are handling it with Motrin for now; you can tell when he gets uncomfortable. So, for Christmas Will gets doctor bills paid and some radiation ;-)
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