Caught Up, Finally!

So remember that time, like a month ago, when I said I would catch everyone back up with the rest of our holiday happenings within a couple of days? If you stay caught up with our blog you know that definitely didn't happen. But, we did have a very enjoyable Christmas at home! We really missed getting to see all of our family, but I have to say that it was probably one of the most relaxing Christmases we've had for awhile. Plus, we got to really decorate our house for the occasion! Last year, we moved in roughly a week before Christmas so we didn't see any point in even putting anything out.

We did have some visitors, which was nice! Mason's mom and step-dad came the weekend before Christmas and my dad and step-mom came the weekend after. As you can imagine, Eli was spoiled, and now has more toys than any one child could possibly need or want! It made me happy that Mason and I didn't go too crazy with the amount of stuff we bought for Eli because otherwise we'd really have a hard time trying to find a place for everything!

Here's Eli with just a very small portion of his loot! He's totally going to love me for the deer antlers! ;)

We also started some of our own traditions together. Christmas Eve we went to the early church service together. Afterward I told Mason that since we were going to be making a big meal the next day I didn't really want to cook. So, Chinese take out it was! And it was fabulous! After we ate and Eli took a quick nap, we each opened a gift, which was a new pair of pajamas to wear on Christmas Day. We then got cookies ready for Santa, and a couple carrots for the reindeer, and we were off to bed. The next morning, Eli woke up around 5ish to eat, if I remember correctly. We had plans to go back to sleep for awhile, but being the little kids that Mason and I are, we had to get up and see what Santa brought! He was very generous this year! ;)

We must have been good this year...even Gus got some treats!

Lots of yummy goodies!

The rest of Christmas Day we lounged around, ate too much food, and just enjoyed each other's company. We even had a nice cozy fire going, which was pure bliss! Like I said, we missed our families, but did not miss driving all over God's creation to get from place to place.

The three of us together on Christmas Day! :)

We even got a smidgen of snow the weekend Grandpa and Grandma Steffen came down to visit. This is Eli's first time playing in the snow!

Otherwise, everything is going great! Eli is growing like a weed, and he's doing so many new things. He is a rolling champ and is in the beginning stages of trying to scoot around. He's definitely not crawling yet, but he kicks his legs to push himself forward and then face plants the floor. I hate to laugh at the kid, but it is kind of funny.. He is a lot more vocal and babbles all the time! And he is also trying new foods. He loves his cereal, and has tried peas, avocados, and green beans. The first experience with green beans did not go well, but he doesn't seem to mind them as bad now! He also likes being read to and is grabbing at his toys, and hair, and jewelry a lot! In general, he is an incredibly happy baby!

Mason started back to school, with which he has a love/hate relationship. I think it's more "hate" at this point. For the most part, he enjoys his classes, but he's just so ready to be done. He will have to take some classes this summer and fall, and then hopefully (fingers crossed) he will graduate in the spring of 2014. Though the amount of time it has taken him is typical (he started when we met in the fall of 2009), it sometimes seems like a lot longer.

Since Christmas, I've just been busy with school. I joined a women's Bible study at my church, and that's been very enjoyable. But otherwise, that's been about it. The first weekend in March I will be going to Kansas City to have a girls' weekend with a couple friends from college. I am ecstatic about that because it feels like forever since I've seen them! And we "may" be making a trip to Iowa during our spring break. We're not 100% yet, but it's something we're looking at doing. I'm hopeful we can, because the last time we were there it was October.

I better run for now. My mom and step-dad are coming down Thursday evening for the weekend, and I've got at least a million loads of laundry to get done between now and then, and hopefully a little cleaning. I've finally resigned to the fact that our house will never be clean again, and I'm mostly okay with that, but I'm still going to make an attempt. :) Have a great rest of the weekend!

Playing Catch Up

Since it has been forever and a day since I last posted, I figured I'd try to get caught up a little bit. Rather than try to fit everything all into one blog, I'll try to divide it into a couple so they're not quite as long and drawn out!

The last time I wrote was shortly after Halloween, which feels like ages ago, especially considering it is now 2013. A lot has gone on since then, but I'm going to back track to around Thanksgiving. The week of Thanksgiving, Mason and I had school Monday and Tuesday. Unfortunately, Eli came down with a respiratory infection (that is still lingering), so I took him to the doctor that Monday. He still sounded pretty awful on Tuesday so I stayed home with him again. Even though I hate to admit it, it did make for a nice extended break. I do wish that Eli would have felt better though!

He still wasn't great by Wednesday, but we decided to head North to Eric and Shelly's (Mason's mom and stepdad) for Thanksgiving. We took the long route because we wanted to go to Jamesport, which is a large Amish community. There is one shop in particular with more spices than any one person could use, jams, other baking supplies, cheese curds, and so on and so forth! It is fabulous, so I stocked up on spices (they are SO cheap compared to the store) and got a couple jars of jam.

We stayed with Eric and Shelly, but then went down to Tabitha and Greg's for Thanksgiving day. It was a nice, relaxing day with great company, and more food than we could possibly eat. In short, we were miserable! That evening after we were back at Mason's mom's, he got sick. Between Mason throwing up every hour and Eli hacking up a lung, none of us really got a great night of sleep. At least it was break! Since Mason wasn't feeling well, we decided to nix Black Friday shopping, at least in the morning. We did end up going later in the afternoon and found a few deals.

Me with the other man in my life!

Eli and Carson

Mason, Eli, and I on Thanksgiving

He's a happy boy

After Thanksgiving, we were sad to find out that Mason isn't going to graduate when we originally thought. Instead, he will have to go an addition semester, which means he probably won't graduate until next May rather than December. We were both pretty bummed about that, but we're trying to remain optimistic about the situation. Despite that bit of bad news, we were lucky to squeeze in our first date (by ourselves) since Eli was born, thanks to David and Darla (Mason's dad and step-mom). It wasn't anything extravagant- dinner and a movie- but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

I think I mentioned in my other post that we've also been attending a new church here in Rolla. So far we have really enjoyed it and have been made to feel very welcome there. In fact, next weekend I will be attending a women's retreat designed with mothers in mind. It's Friday evening for a couple of hours and the majority of the day on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to that, and am hopeful I will meet some new people at the same time! I was hoping to attend one of the women bible studies they also offer, but because of when it takes place, it is going to interfere with Mason's classes this semester. I went to a bible study in college and loved attending, so I am hoping I can join another one again at some point.

Well, Eli is screaming bloody murder at the moment, so I'm going to end this for the time being. As you all know, if the baby isn't happy, no one is happy. I'll try to write again in the next day or two so I can get completely caught up with everything!

Happy Halloween!

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to get these pictures put up before Thanksgiving got here! I've been meaning to upload more to Facebook, but between having computer issues and running around like a chicken with its head cut off, it hasn't happened yet! Halloween marked one year since we closed on our house! Since we obviously couldn't pass out candy last year with having just closed, I was looking forward to passing it out this year! We dressed Eli up as a little ghost, ate chili, watched Halloween movies, and passed out candy to all our trick-or-treaters. I'm guessing we had roughly 50-60 kids come by. I was especially excited that one kid dressed up as Johnny from the book The Outsiders, mostly because we just finished reading it at school! Mason's dad and step-mom also came over for a little while to see Eli dressed up. Though Eli didn't care, it was fun to hang out together!

Our three pumpkins-- mine, Eli's and Mason's.

Our cute little ghost!

Sitting like a big boy in his bumbo seat!

All that Halloween fun wore him out!

As always, we have been staying busy. Our district had conferences this past Thursday and Friday, so it was nice to get those out of the way and have a four day weekend to enjoy. Mason was very excited because it's opening weekend for rifle season. He is currently in Bethany as I write this, with his buddy, brother-in-law, and cousin. He just text to inform me that he has shot two does and is in the process of looking for one of them. Here's hoping he can find it!! Mason's mom and step-dad came down for the weekend, so Eli and I spent some time with them and did some shopping. We went to the gift shop at Sybill's in St. James, and Shelly and I were in hog heaven! They had so much cute Christmas stuff! I'll definitely have to make a trip over there again in the near future. We also did some antique shopping and just relaxed. We also had some excitement! Mr. Eli decided to not only roll from his tummy to his back, but he also laughed! Mason was pretty bummed that he missed it, but it was sure neat to witness! He's getting so big and will be four months old tomorrow; time is sure flying!

I should be cleaning, but I'm going to spend the rest of the day just lounging with Eli. Since I don't have school tomorrow I figured that laying in our pjs and doing nothing would be okay for one day! Plus, it's raining out, and that's the best way to spend rainy days! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable weekend and lets not forget to honor our veterans!! :)

The Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weeks ago we took Eli to the pumpkin patch for the first time! Granted, he could not have cared less, but we had a good time! There's a really nice one here in Rolla called Pete's Pumpkin Patch and they have a lot of neat stuff for kids-- animals, a cornbox to play in, inflatable bouncy houses, a train, stacks of hay to climb on, and of course a hayride out to the pumpkin patch itself. He'll be a lot more excited about it next year obviously, but we just couldn't resist! Here are some pictures from our afternoon together:

Hanging out with Dad!

Sitting with Mom in the big orange chair!

Waiting for the hayride

He was kind of ticked off in this picture..haha He's actually right at 2 feet tall (at least according to the doctor), but he was squirming too much to get a good picture.

Sitting beside his first pumpkin!

Once Halloween actually gets here I'll definitely post some more pictures of him, not only with his carved pumpkin, but in his Halloween costume as well!

Other than that, we've been very busy with school, and Mason with school and class! Despite our hectic schedule, it's nice to be in a set routine finally, and I've really enjoyed being back to school. It's been a great start so far-- good team, good kids (for the most part!), and Eli is well taken care of so I have no worries there! And I'm finally about caught up from being on maternity leave!

Mason has done some hunting, and has managed to get one deer so far! Yay! He took a trip to Bethany with his buddy Devan to not only bow hunt, but to also prepare for rifle season. Each year Mason, his cousin, his buddy Billy, and sometimes his brother-in-law Greg go up for opening weekend and hunt. I have a love-hate relationship with deer season. I love it because Mason really enjoys it and it typically results in us having a new stash of deer meat. But I hate it because the man is obsessed! I'm one more hunting show away from poking my eyeballs out! Okay, it's not that bad, but I do sit through a lot of hunting shows..

This weekend Tabitha, Greg, and Carson are coming down and staying with us for David's birthday (Mason and Tabitha's dad). We're definitely looking forward to it because we don't get to spend that much time with them since they live up by St. Joseph as well. And then on Sunday, Mason, Eli, and I are going to try out a new church. Many of you already know that when we tried to get Eli baptized, the priest (who we've never met-- he is new to the parish) refused to do so even though we've been regular members there for nearly two and a half years. According to him we were not tithing correctly (using the envelopes so they knew what we were giving) and in general, were not living the Christian lifestyle like we should (again, he has never met us). There was a lot more that went on than that but that's the gist of it and it definitely rubbed us the wrong way. We (mostly myself) have really been struggling with what to do. It has basically made me question everything about my beliefs. After everything happened I joined the Catholic church in St. Robert, but found that I was really only going there to try to get Eli baptized, not to worship or enjoy mass like I used to. So I decided that wasn't good either. Plus, after this whole fiasco, Mason feels even stronger about not wanting to attend mass with me. He used to because he knew how important it was to me even though he had a lot of questions and wasn't very comfortable. But now he really doesn't want to, which I can understand. After some praying, soul-searching, and some conversations with Mason, we've decided we are going to try to find a church that we are both comfortable with. We want church to be something we can enjoy together, rather than feeling divided as a family. It's been a difficult decision, but right now I think it is what will be the best for us. Here's hoping my family doesn't disown me! Ha!

Well, now that I've rambled on forever, I suppose I better get off here and get some cleaning done. I've got a long ways to go before this house is ready for company! Here's hoping everyone has a fabulous end to another busy week! :)

A Heavy Heart

As the title of this post states, I am writing this with a heavy heart. My Grandma Olson, who I also considered one of my close friends, passed away yesterday morning (September 29th). At least a month ago (maybe more...I can't remember exactly) she fell in her yard and broke her left wrist and right shoulder. Because of this she had to have surgery on both and spent some time in the hospital. Once she was well enough, they sent her to Manor Care in Waterloo to provide her with therapy and help her get around again.

Though she was improving and making progress with her therapy she decided at the beginning of last week that after dialysis on Monday she was not going back. I was informed through other family members that because of this decision she could live anywhere from two days to two weeks. But each person is different. Though I understood her decision, it didn't make it any easier knowing she would not be around for a lot longer. Mason and I decided to make an unexpected trip to Iowa on Friday, which also happened to be my golden birthday (28 on the 28th...yeesh..). Mason was a little bummed because he had other plans for my birthday, but he understood and was eager to see Grandma as well. We got up to Waterloo and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out with Grandma and several other family members. Even though that was not how I initially planned on spending my birthday, I consider myself very fortunate that I had that time with her. My mom and step-dad went to get pie from across the street (since it was a last minute decision to come up they didn't get a cake), and we had a small birthday celebration in my grandma's room. She even sang happy birthday to me! I can't remember the last time I spent my birthday with my family and it was wonderful!

Anyway, Eli started getting pretty cranky so we said our goodbyes and went back to JJ and Bailey's. The next morning we were in the process of getting ready to visit her again, but we got a call that she had a seizure during breakfast and was put on oxygen. About 5-10 minutes later we received another call that she had passed away. Unfortunately, my sister Laura had to witness it, but she was at least able to spend some time with Grandma before it happened. Those of us that were up at the nursing home said some prayers with the chaplain that was there and then we went back to my grandma's house. Though it was hard being in her house without her there, it was nice to reminisce and spend time together.

As you can imagine, it was pretty rough on everyone. But I'm incredibly thankful that Mason, Eli, and I were able to get there and spend some time with her before it happened. We're back in Missouri right now, but will be heading back up to Iowa again Tuesday evening for her funeral, which is supposed to be Wednesday. So I came home, did a super quick clean, unpacked our dirty clothes, did laundry, and am trying to prepare for the couple of days I will be at school, in addition to the days I won't be at school again. My mind has definitely been on my grandma this evening. It will be incredibly hard to say goodbye as she was my go-to person for everything. But I know she's in a better place and razzing everyone up in heaven! ; ) She will be missed immensely...