HAPPY 2008!

(O.K. I started this last week... am going to finish it tonight unless little Ben wakes up)

A new year! Wow! Well, once again it has been 3 weeks since I last posted. An insanely busy 3 weeks! Let me recap!

The week before Christmas started out with little Zac having a stomach virus.... thank heavens nobody else in the house caught it (sorry aunt Jen, we didn't mention this because we didn't want you guys to worry) and we were all well and happy for Christmas! The best Christmas gift for us was getting to meet sweet, beautiful cousin Molly and showing off or cutie pie Ben to my sis and her family. It had been 5 mos. since I'd seen my sister and I don't think we've ever gone that long with out seeing each other before so it was wonderful to spend time with her and her precious family.

The boys were very excited about Christmas... lots of questions about Santa and baby Jesus. Zac kept asking if baby Jesus was going to give him a piece of cake... he was very concerned about this. Lots and lots of baking went on the week before Christmas... fudge, cookies, and more fudge! I really enjoyed baking for neighbors but I sampled WAY TOO MUCH! Nate was very excited about his school Christmas program, which was absolutely adorable! They had to learn so many songs and Nate even had a speaking part with 2 other 4 yr. old boys! He was very excited that his Nana, Papa Doc, Grandma and Grandpa got to come watch. Of course his class Christmas Party was also a highly anticipated event!

Christmas day was priceless. The boys enjoyed their Santa loot. We spent the Christmas day afternoon and night at Nana's. Before we were getting ready to open presents Nate said, "Ms. Mitchell (school teacher) said we have to read Luke 2:2 before we can open our presents! Once again...Priceless... and of course we did! It was a great Christmas spent with family! We celebrated two weekends in a row! The second weekend we got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa O., Aunt Julie, Aunt Alli, Emma, Anna & Drew!

The New Year started off with 2 cases of bronchitis, complete with 103 temp. for the 2 big boys! Not fun. So far Ben has escaped it.

(New part of message... the week later part...)

Spent the weekend with more family! Jenny and Crew and my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents! We got to meet my cousin Brooks' baby, Cole, for the first time! He was adorable! Tim is gone for the week so my precious in-laws came down to help out for 3 days! And of course... this morning Nate wakes up with 102 fever! We just can't catch a break from the sickness... I'm sure it has something remotely to do with the fact that I am the least germ phobic person I know!

Our big news is that Zac now poopy's in the potty! This has been 6 months in the making! We have been promising him the moon for 6 months to which he has replied... I'll do it tomorrow, put on my diaper! He knew when he needed to go but refused to go in the potty. Saturday night before Tim was leaving on Sunday... he told Zac... "buddy, all deals are off the table very soon (meaning bribery) your time is running out"! Zac said he needed his diaper and daddy made him sit on the potty until he poopied! We were all elated! We clapped and yelled and danced around the house! I made a cake for the next day which some how got named "poopy cake"! He went 6 times that night and put off bed time by an hour! Well... all that to say, the boy has got it down! He has used the potty every day since!

I cannot believe I just spent a whole paragraph on that... but it was a VERY big deal in our house! Ben is growing to quickly! He laughs, coos, and squeals. He smiles a lot and is a very happy little baby. Right now I revel in the fact that he is a mommy's boy, I know that will change far too soon ... when adventures with daddy and brothers will win out! My heart aches when I think of how fast he is growing but it also swells with joy because I know the wonderful adventures that await him! If you are wondering, some how, Ben has managed to stay well (except for the cold he has had for 3 weeks now)and avoid all of the major illnesses. Well, I will close for now. I promise I'll post pics soon but if I wait until I get a chance to do that... I'll never get this thing posted! Hugs to you all! KMO