January Catch-Up

Our first few days of January were a flurry of activities with friends! Fairly unusual for us. :) First I went out to lunch with my dear friend Leah who was in town. We ate at the Lemon Grass Restaurant (I've been wanting to try it for YEARS! It was delish!) and then walked around downtown on the boardwalk. We decided that we think that was the first time we'd done something sans my kiddos since Abby was born! Sheesh!

The following day, my good friend Michelle and her family came over for the morning. This has become an annual tradition for us and one I look forward to every year when they come to visit family all the way from Kansas!

And, again for the first time since we've had kids, Michelle and I went out to lunch without kids and we met a few other friends from our high school too. We had soooo much fun catching up with each other since we hadn't all been together in over 14 years! Yikes! We don't look THAT old, do we? ;o)

Shauna, Megan, Michelle, Katy, and me!

Ironically, while we were standing outside waiting for someone to walk by to take our picture, I told them all that my brother was going to take my family out on his boat the following day...and then I gasped a little and said, "And...weirdly enough....I think that's his boat right there heading out into the sound!" It was too funny. I texted him to be sure and he was quite surprised I was at a spot where I could see him. :)

That afternoon, my nephew came up for a couple days. It was great to see him, but we were sad he was so busy that Christmas break that that was all we'd gotten to see him (minus the Villwock Christmas in Oregon)!

The following day, we headed out on my brother's boat as planned. It was Stephen's first time out on the boat and we all had a great time. I was beginning to battle pregnancy sickness at this point...but nobody there but Abby knew yet. :)

It was a pretty cold day, even if it was sunny, so we stayed inside the cabin most of the time. The little kids creamed Stephen at UNO, much to everyone's delight! :)

That night, I got to go out AGAIN without kids (three days in a row, people!! I felt sooo spoiled!) for our church's annual adults only Christmas party that ended up being postponed until just after New Year's. :) Kevin was gone in Westport doing boat work all this time, but I still had a blast hanging out with friends from church, eating lots of delicious food and playing silly games until late at night. It was a great time. (no pictures though!)

That all happened in the first four days of January. And I pretty much could end my January post right there because after that the pregnancy sickness hit full strength. The next four to six weeks were mostly spent on the couch, feeling completely exhausted and terribly nauseous. I told my mom about the pregnancy a couple weeks later after she showed up at my house a few times in the afternoon and found us all in our pajamas, with me on the couch, the house a complete wreck and the kids not having had lunch yet. It was pretty awful for awhile. And I didn't want her to think I'd just checked out on life and wasn't trying to care for my kids anymore! Ha! It was somewhat ironic that Kevin was gone crabbing during the worst of my sickness. :oP

This is the ONE lone picture I took between January 4 and February 2. I couldn't believe that I only used my camera one time during a whole month....that tells the true story of how I felt during January. :oP

Playing with legos together.