So it was Christmas

It has been a long time since I have been a-blogging, it was the holidays and I still feel like we are trying to catch up. I don't want to spend to much time trying to catch you up, but here are some of the more noteable things.

Deciding to stay put- Most years we travel to Fresno to see with Jake's family since we don't seem them nearly often enough, but two 15 hour car rides with a teething toddler and being 33 weeks pregnant just didn't seem practical. Making the week super relaxed and comfortable here in our own home.
Seeing tons of friends and family- Because we stayed put we were able to see tons of friends from high school, college, law school, and old wards plus some family who have since left, but returned to the state for the holidays.
Shoveling Surprise- I left the house a day or two before Christmas on a day when it had snowed 8 or nine inches. I came home hours later to see that my driveway had been shoveled. I suspect a kind neighbor who saw me knocking the entrance down so my SUV could clear it.
Christmas Cards and Neighbor gifts- At the start of the month I decided not to do either, it would just add stress and expense to the holiday and as of Dec 7th, I hadn't done a thing towards Christmas so something had to be cut, but as the weeks progressed and we received so many cards and gifts I wanted in on some of those fun things, so did them last minute and had fun doing so.
Scrooge Gifts- In my family we purchase a gift for one person, like a drawing, so Christmas is not so expensive, many people do this. But for the rest of the people we give a Scrooge gift- a gift that costs around a dollar. It is so much fun to see what people come up with, it adds a lot more presents to the gift exchange and only costs 6 or 7 dollars to get everyone. A tradition I am glad we continue.
Our Computer- It seems like with a house and kids, most Christmas and Anniversary gifts are things we need like a new washer or something. This year we bought each other a new computer- Jake even went out on Black Friday to get it. We debated about it for some time, but I am glad we got it. It works so much better than the laptop we have had for six years, it was a great deal, and has some new fun features like a DVD burner.
One trip Shopping- As mentioned before, I got a late start on my holiday projects. About ten days before christmas I got my Mom to watch Kate for two hours, and then left her with Jake for 6 hours. I was able drive to Provo hit ten or more stores- get every single gift I needed, make my neighbor gifts and all without having to stop for diaper changes and snacks. It was so productive and easy, I think I will save errands for when I am alone more often. I saved so much time not making multiple trips, and also not having to buckle and rebuckle a car seat ten plus times.
Kate-Of course nothing was better than watching Kate learn about presents and do her "ohhhhhhhohoh" when she was really excited about something or shout "ChrisChris" It was fun to be around my family, perhaps mostly because they give kate so much attention, and she has so much fun with them. She did get a little bit of a spoiled attitude, not so much because of all the gifts, but because of all the attention. It took a few days to break. She did enjoy all of her new things though we kept Christmas fairly small, she was very pleased and of course loved turning boxes into cars almost as much as the toys anyways.

Now life is almost back to normal, I have managed to take down all the decorations and the tree and we are back to our normal routine. With the holidays out of the way it seems like the baby should be here soon- but we still have six more weeks.