Ringing in the New Year

The day after Christmas we got hit with the first big snowstorm of the year. We went out to breakfast with my parents and then they headed home to beat the weather. I went with Ryan to his office to cancel his patients for the next day and then we headed home, and not long after we got back the snow started to fall and didnt stop until the next morning. It was honestly nice to have a day to just relax. Since we didn't have much food in the house (except approximately four pounds of leftover prime rib), we bundled up and went over to Courtney's house to have dinner with everyone.

Checking out cousin Evie's new rocking horse.

We ended up getting at least 8 inches of snow. I was very jealous on Thursday morning as I was getting ready for work that Ryan & Connor got to have a snow day together! Ryan texted me this picture while he was having lunch with everyone the next day:

 

I would have stayed in my jammies all day too if I didn't have to work!

 

 

Things cleared up by Friday, so after work we loaded up the dogs and dropped them off at the kennel before heading home to Wyomissing for the weekend. I hadn't seen Lisa since she'd been back, so we were excited to check out their new place and catch up. On Saturday morning Ryan, Connor, & I went to Tom Cat Cafe - a place I had been dying to try for a few years - for breakfast. Their menu is online http://tomcatcafe.com/Breakfast_Menu.html - I, of course, had a list of about 19 possibilities and Ryan chose the very first thing on the menu. It was very good and we were stuffed. I would definitely like to go back to try some other things. After lunch we went home and dropped Connor off for free babysitting my parents to spend some quality time with him and Ryan and I braved the snow to go out and pick up some dessert for that night and return some Christmas presents. We ended up at Haute Chocolate and it's a good thing we got a dozen cupcakes because we found out that Sarah's family and Becky were also joining us for dinner. So excited to see all my friends. We had a blast -Lisa did a good job cooking for all of us (Ryan was a little bit nervous, knowing how/what we used to cook when we lived at Summit Park) and Connor will have some very entertaining buddies in a few years when he is able to keep up with them!

 

 

Some of my oldest and dearest friends. We couldn't get a picture of all of the kids together because they were too hyped up on all the sugar they had to sit still long enough!

 

 

We left Wyomissing early afternoon on Sunday and made stops at 5 Guys and Cabelas on the way home. Hopefully now that Lisa is back, we'll make more frequent trips home (finding a dog-sitter to come to our house would be a HUGE help). I told Ryan we could stop at Cabelas every time if he comes with us! I was glad to be back home in Williamsport on Sunday night though. It seemed like we had been constantly going, going, going for the past two weeks and I was thrilled to have the next two days off to relax.

 

We had no big plans on New Year's Eve. It's not my favorite holiday and I'm not really a fan of going out and spending a ton of money, worrying about crazy drivers, etc. Most years, IF I make it until the ball drops, I'm in bed by 12:02. This year we decided to stay home. Ryan made a delicious dinner of filet and twice baked potatoes and we opened our best bottle of wine (it was a wedding present and obviously we couldn't drink it last Christmas/New Years or on our Anniversary).

 

 

Saved the best for last!

 

We actually watched the ball drop and had a champagne toast at midnight. We had so much to be thankful for in 2012 and I think 2013 is going to be even better!

 

We had the traditional pork & sauerkraut on New Years Day and after that it was back to reality. I went back to work on Wednesday and Ryan went back on Thursday. They were very excited to see Connor at Bostleys...they missed him!

 

Connor's still not crawling, but he's getting close. You can tell he wants to move, and he has no problem covering a lot of ground by rolling all over the place. It won't be long now. I am loving him at this stage - he is just so sweet and interested in everything. He's definitely become a much better eater - I think he just might not have been quite ready when we first tried. Now that he's seven months old, he's loving sitting in his high chair and eating, and even though it is sometimes messy and I have to get up much earlier to give him breakfast, I love that time to "chat" in the morning.

 

 

 

 So far we've tried rice cereal, oatmeal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green peas, bananas, avocados, and pears. The only thing he's not a huge fan of is the peas, but I'm going to keep trying with those. Not sure what will be next on the menu, any suggestions?

 

Well, 2013 seems to be off to a good start. Can't wait to get the ball rolling on the big move to our new house. We have lots to look forward to this year!

 

 

Happy New Year everyone!