Holiday Update

It's been a while since I've blogged. No reason, just laziness. We celebrated my birthday last week. My parents watched Brody while Ryan and I went out to eat at Giuseppe's. Yum! I love that restaurant. We save it for special occasions, since it's kind of pricey. Then we went to Toys 'R Us to finish Christmas shopping. It was a nice night out.

Brody and I had a good time in St. Louis. Brody and Bryce had a blast running around the Hilton Hotel. I'm not so sure the hotel staff appreciated all of their fun. But, hey, what are 2-year olds supposed to do in that setting? They went swimming a couple of times, which was also fun. I really need to get Brody back in swimming lessons. He is a fish! Here's a picture of the boys hanging out in our hotel room eating a snack and watching a movie.

We also got all of our leaves raked just in time for the first snowfalls of the season. Brody loved helping with the leaves. You can really tell how much he has missed running around outside since the cold weather has come. He has a blast outside. Give the kid a ball, he's good for hours! Here are the most recent pictures of him. He's enjoying the Christmas season as well. Every house that is decorated for Christmas is a wonder to him! Ooohs and aaahhs all around! There is one house down the street where a reindeer pops up and down in a sleigh. We have to sit in front of that house for 10 minutes nightly to see the display!

It's Starting to Feel Like Christmas!

I love Christmas! It's my favorite holiday, but whose favorite isn't Christmas?? My birthday is next week too, which is always a nice little treat right before Xmas. Ryan is FINALLY starting to feel better. He had some strange virus that he picked up from UK Hospital. Who knows what it was. He thinks it started as a viral meningitis, and went into many other strange symptoms. He had blood-shot red eyes for a couple of weeks, body aches, headaches, severe fatigue, among many other things. But, it seems he is finally on the mend! We are all so glad to have him back to normal, or at least very close. It was a rough few weeks in the West household. Thanks to my mom and dad for helping us out a lot!

We have decorated our house for Christmas. The tree is up and decorated, the stockings are up, and all the knick-knacks we have acquired are up. We don't really have much, but I'm kind of glad. With moving next year, it will be nicer to just buy lots of new Christmas decorations for the new house. The only thing left is to hang the lights outside. We are waiting until Ryan feels up to it, since that part involves climbing a ladder! Speaking of our new house, I talked to the builder, and we are set to start building in February, '09! I am so excited! I just pray we can sell our house next year in a timely manner. That's what I'm really worried about, with the poor economy.

Brody and I are traveling with my parents this weekend to St. Louis. Tobin, my brother-in-law, has a basketball tournament there this weekend. Tobin is a Div. III b-ball coach at Hamilton University. His games are lots of fun to watch! I just hope Brody does ok! He will have his cousin Bryce to play with. But, if you know Brody, he tends to get a little bit excited around company. Bryce isn't so used to Brody's aggressive antics! So, usually it's a lot of "Brody, be gentle, Brody be nice, not so rough..." You get the idea.... But, we are looking forward to seeing everyone and having a nice trip.