Merry Christmas!

Wow...what a fast week it has been. We left for Iowa on Sunday morning around 8:00. There was a blizzard warning up in Northwest Iowa, so we were a little nervous to leave any earlier. It is actually a good thing we didn't because when we got up near our hometown, there was so much snow and it was blowing and drifting across the roads! It was a little scary at times, but we made it safely to my mom and dad's house. We spent from Sunday to Christmas Eve with my parents and then traveled up to Mason City on Christmas Eve morning and stayed until last night. We had bad weather again last night from Mason City to Ames and then everything was OK. Ben had to drive a lot of miles, but we got home by midnight! We were all thankful to sleep in our own beds!

We had a great time with our family. At my mom and dad's, we enjoyed relaxing and just hanging out! Peyton loved Grandma and Grandpa's kitty, Garfield, and spent a lot of time looking for him with G&G. His new line is, "Garfield, are you?" When Peyton did find him, he gave him lots of hugs and kisses and thankfully Garfield is a very nice cat! We also played in the snow one day when it was not 30 below and got to hook up the sled to the Gator. Grandpa took Ben and Peyton for a short ride before everyone got too cold! Peyton also got to sit in the semi, combine, and tractors and see all of Grandma's outside kitties! We opened WAY too many presents and Peyton was SPOILED by Uncle Mike, Aunt Steph, Trevor, Ethan, and of course Grandma and Grandpa...and the nicest gift (Mommy thinks so anyway) was the handmade quilt Grandma Ackerman made for Peyton. She used some of Grandpa's old jeans and picked out some great basketball fabric to put on the back side. Then she did a really cool fraying technique and it looks AWESOME! I will be posting pictures of Peyton's room with his new big boy bed/quilt when we get it put together. I am so excited...it is going to look so nice!

We had a great time with the Benish/Timko side as well. They have started a new tradition of having a Holiday Inn catered brunch before the gift exchange. It is really nice to have a good meal and have time to visit with everyone. Then, we all go to Grandma Benish's for the gifts. Opening with such a large number of people takes a really long time, but it is really fun and all of Ben's aunts/mom keep us entertained with their explanation of gifts/wine drinking. Peyton was spoiled MORE at Grandma Benish's by Ben's cousins and aunts! We stayed the night and then had more Christmas's with Ben's mom, Roger, Joey and Mary Rose on Christmas Day. Grandma Benish made us a delicious lunch and after Peyton woke up from his nap, we opened even more gifts. (We were really feeling sorry for Peyton at this point....hahahahaha). Ben got the I-Pod he wanted and I got a really neat cast iron pot...I will be roasting things very soon! Peyton loves his Uncle Joey and continued to use his new line, but with Joey's name..."Joey, are you?" They played and played together!!!! Peyton thinks he is pretty big stuff when he hangs out with the big boys!!!! We left Mason City around 5:00 and like I said earlier got back around midnight.

Today, I am frantically trying to put things away and get all of the laundry done. I am going to take a rest now though because I am exhausted myself from all of our traveling. We plan on letting Peyton open the rest of his presents from us tonight, so we aren't quite done with Christmas yet!

Santa brought Peyton a new art easel and accessories. It is pretty neat!

I will post pictures very soon!

Snow fun

It snowed in Emporia on Tuesday and Peyton has been in heaven! Ben bought him a bunch of new snow gear and they have enjoyed playing in the snow together so much! They went sledding last night and Peyton loved it. Peyton loved looking at the Christmas lights too! Here are a few pictures of Peyton all bundled up to play with his dad!

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Pregnancy update....

I have not updated in a while about our pregnancy, so I thought this would be a good time to tell you our latest news. We had our sonogram on Monday and everything looked great. The baby weighed a pound already and was measuring right with what we think my due date is...April 27th. The baby was very active during the sonogram and showed us many different positions....at one point, he/she had his/her arms behind his/her head and his/her feet out...he/she looked quite comfy! Ben and I were both thrilled to find out that everything looked good and to count all of the fingers and toes. We stayed strong and did not find out the sex of the baby. I go back around 28 weeks for the 4-D sonogram so we will really be able to see the baby's facial features. I am looking forward to that!!!

Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks. I will be 22 weeks on Monday, so I have gotten even bigger since this one was taken! It seems like the baby is all out front - I do not remember being this big with Peyton, but I probably was! We go back to the doctor on Dec. 31st, so I will update more after that visit!

Christmas is coming!

This week, we were busy with two basketball games and the Christmas parade in Emporia! That is correct....a Christmas parade! We have nothing like this in Iowa, so it was fun to attend. The parade happens at night and the floats are all lit up with Christmas lights, etc. Bands play Christmas music and wear jingle bells on their shoes. Santa is at the very end and he is really lit up and looks almost magical! Peyton loved going and watched intently. Our friends, Pete and Leslee invited us to go to Pete's office for snacks before the parade and then use the office to warm up...however, Peyton never wanted to go warm up because he wanted to watch! Luckily, it was a pretty nice evening and we did not get too cold!

On Wednesday, we went to the basketball game. We played Northwest Missouri State, which is always fun and very competitive for Ben. We ended up beating them by almost 25 points! It was an exciting game and the guys are playing very well together!

We play again tonight and Peyton is getting fired up for the game. He is currently taking his nap so he will be ready to go when it is time! I hope we continue to win!!!

Thanksgiving

Mary and I made advent wreaths! Watch out Martha Stewart!

Here is everyone going through the line for their Thanksgiving meal!

The Chefs! Mary and I

Wow...what a busy week! I had school with students on Monday and Tuesday and had a half day inservice day on Wednesday. Because it was a special week, my second grade team decided to have a special Thanksgiving feast. Each of the four classes were in charge of something for the meal and we all ate together in a special room. The students made placemats, centerpieces, and their Pilgrim or Indian hat. We learned all about the Pilgrim's voyage to America by having a guest speaker whose great-grandfather was an actual Pilgrim! I am attaching pictures of my class with their hats...they had a great time! :)

On Wednesday, Peyton and I finished our preparations for Thanksgiving at our house. We made cheesecakes and made sure we had everything we needed! Grandma Mary, Grandpa Roger, Uncle Joey, and Aunt Mary Rose came on Wednesday night. Mary and I got up early on Thursday and cooked a DELICIOUS meal. We had four of the ESU basketball players come to eat with us who live too far away from home to be able to go home for Thanksgiving. They seemed to enjoy the food and we really enjoyed their company. They are great guys and even better players. We had two 20 pound turkeys and did not have too many leftovers at the end of the day!

Last night, Peyton and I went to the Hornet basketball game. Peyton loves to watch the game and is always on the lookout for Corky the Hornet mascot. He loves Corky from a distance...but doesn't ever want to get too close!! Corky even came to visit us in our section last night, but Peyton would not give Corky a high five...maybe by the end of the season he will warm up to him! The Hornets won the game by almost 50! They start conference play on Wednesday against the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats! Ben always enjoys seeing his old coach...and enjoys beating him even more!

Rock, Chalk, Jayhalk....

Last Tuesday night, Peyton got to go to his first basketball game of this season...at the University of Kansas! Allen Fieldhouse is pretty much the greatest place to watch basketball....especially if your dad is the opposing team's assistant coach and you get to sit behind the bench of the team! Although it was a blowout, it was fun to watch the Hornets...and I am sure it was quite a rush for our players to play in front of a packed house. Peyton loved the game...and said "three" no matter if it was a lay up, free throw, or three pointer!

Yesterday Peyton and I drove up to Topeka to get his picture taken for Christmas cards. He did pretty well and gave the photographer a workout! I am anxious to get the pictures back and put them up!

Today, Peyton went to his very first movie theatre movie. We went to Madagascar 2! Peyton's friend Alexa turned 3 today and had cake and ice cream at her house and then everyone went to the movie. I wasn't sure how we would, but the combination of popcorn, zoo animals, and great music had Peyton's attention!

That is the update for this week. :)

New Kitty!

I am a sucker for animals....if you know me, you know that is true. As you know, we had to put my cat Ernie to sleep this summer because he had cronic urinary tract infections. I was so sad...despite the fact that he was not really the nicest cat in the whole world....and told myself I would never get a cat again. Well, that was until Friday. On Friday, one of my students brought in a kitten to share as part of our Let's Explore unit in second grade. She actually had four kittens, but the night before a cyote came and got two of them and the third one was missing. So, that left one cute little gray furball left. They lived on a farm and although they had a nice little shelter, it was not warm enough or safe for baby kittens. I could not bear the thought of this innocent little kitty going back to the farm and the mom of the student kept trying to convince me to just take it home. She did not have to twist my arm very hard or for very long and thankfully my husband agreed to try another cat. So, welcome to the family Lucy McCollum. :) Peyton has been THRILLED to have a new pet. He loves her and is learning how to hold her and pet her nicely. He sometimes wants to pick her up the wrong way or pat her just a little too hard. He has been laughing and playing with her tons and loves the fact that she likes balls too! She has been a really good kitten and has used her litter box consistently. She loves to take naps on Ben and I and purrs and purrs when we hold her. Copper has also been very nice. She hasn't gotten upset by her at all and kind of ignores her. I am very relieved as I thought it might be kind of rough on her.

Halloween pictures

Here are our pictures from Halloween. They are not the best. We were so worried about Peyton actually getting to trick or treat that we did not stop to take a lot of good pictures. I am hoping to get him all dressed up in his costume again to take his picture. We will see how that goes! :)

Halloween

Last night was Halloween. Peyton had a bad cold and we weren't sure if he would wear his costume or not so we did not ask him about going trick-or-treating. That is, until we had our first trick-or-treaters come to our door. Then, Peyton got VERY interested in the whole concept of going door to door to get candy. We put his costume on and headed down our block. The Donald Duck head only lasted one house, but Peyton made it down our whole block and even got pretty good at saying, "thank you," to everyone who gave him candy. He was so proud walking down the street, holding his pumpkin candy bucket in one hand and Daddy's hand in the other.
Needless to say, it was a fun 30 minutes!

His cold is about the same today...his nose is really stuffy and runny so he finds that pretty annoying. We had a nice restful day of movies and books. We got some fresh air by going on a walk with the stroller and then went to bed early. I am hoping he can get some good rest tonight and that he will feel like his old self tomorrow.

Time is flying!

This pregnancy is going very quickly! We are already at 14 weeks this week and will be going to the doctor next Wednesday. Everything continues to go well. I am really tired at night, but that could also be due to teaching 7 and 8 year olds all day and then coming home to a 21 month old! Here are our latest pictures from last week. I am starting to have a little belly and every time we take a picture of my tummy, Peyton wants to take a picture of his. :)

Our Trip to the Zoo!

This weekend, Grandma Mary and Uncle Joey came down to visit. We had so much fun with them. On Saturday, Grandma, Peyton and I went to the Wichita Zoo. We loved the giraffes, elephants, and zebras the most. The giraffes were eating leaves off trees RIGHT beside us! It was so fun to watch them. We also got to watch the zoo trainers give one of the elephants a bath and train it. We were very close to the action! The gorillas and monkeys were not our favorites because they kept getting angry and coming up to the glass and hitting it! YIKES! Grandma and I were more scared than Peyton, but either way, we decided to stand back! Check out our pictures!

While Grandma was here we also celebrated her birthday, which is this Friday on Halloween! To celebrate Ben and Peyton picked out a jack-o-lantern Dairy Queen cake. It was delicious! Peyton loved the gel frosting on top and was feeding it to himself and to Grandma, while saying mmmmmmm!

Peyton loves playing with Uncle Joey. He thinks he is the coolest guy ever. Peyton had such a fun weekend playing football and showing off all of his toys. He was lucky to have Grandma stay with him on Monday so he could rest up for the rest of this week! He was one tired little boy after all of the fun and excitement!

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend, on Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch with some of our friends. Peyton thought is was pretty fun to run through the field with Alexa and find the perfect pumpkin. He even helped Daddy pull them off the stem and then helped Mommy push the wagon all the way up to the lady so we could pay. Then, Daddy and Peyton had a fun time climbing on top of the hay bales. We also enjoyed a walk through a corn maze and apples with yummy carmel dip. It was a great time!

In other news, our basement has made SO much progress. On Friday, we got the carpet and then put our furniture back in the room. It is actually a place we enjoy hanging out and Peyton loves all of the room to run and play with his toys. I will post a before and after picture very soon.

Also, this weeks marks week 13 of my pregnancy. We will be taking a new photo soon and I will post that as well! Everything is going great. I feel great (except tired) and the time seems to be flying by!

Drain backup = A BIG MESS!!!

Well, we have had a very interesting week this week. On Tuesday night, I had a dinner to attend with my student teacher. Ben and Peyton went over to a friend's house for dinner. When I was finished with my event, I went to our friend's house too. When we got home that night, we noticed a HORRIBLE smell coming from our basement. (When I say horrible, I mean it was the worst smell I have EVER smelled in my life). We have a sink in our basement on our unfinished side and it backed up, overflowed, and flooded our downstairs. There wasn't tons and tons of water, but just enough to make everything a complete and smelly mess. Luckily I am pretty orgainzed and had most of our things in plastic tubs...but there were some things that were in cardboard boxes or just laying on the floor and they were ruined. We called our State Farm agent and he actually came over to our house that night (at 9:00) and helped us to devise a plan for what to do. There is a company here in Emporia that specializes in cleaning messes like this and came over on Wednesday to clean everything. We stayed in a hotel on Tuesday night because it was too awful to stay here!

This weekend, we had one of Ben's basketball players help Ben take everything that was ruined to the dump and paint our finished side. The paint really helped to freshen everything up and things are looking much better. We will be getting new carpet soon...hopefully this week sometime, and then will put everything back together again. It has been a long and stressful week and both Ben and I are exhausted! I do not wish that problem upon anyone! And, for all of you garbage disposal people, the drain man said that we should not put anything down our garbage disposal unless it is the consistency of applesauce. Good to know! We are going to be EXTRA cautious about what we put down for the rest of our lives. :)

Other than our busy house work, it has been a great weekend. Peyton's friend Alexa invited us over to their house yesterday to come check out her new sandbox. He had a great time playing with her and only had to go to time out once for throwing sand! Boys will be boys! He was covered from head to toe with sand and loved every second of it. Then, we ate supper together and came home. Today we are doing a little cleaning and just resting. I do not have school tomorrow because we have parent teacher conferences this week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I am looking foward to spending most of the day with Peyton. I will have to go in for a little while to print off grade cards, etc.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Weekend fun...

We have been busy since I last updated! Last weekend, Ben's friend Kyle was in Kansas City with his dad and brother to watch the Chiefs play on Sunday. So, we decided to go up to meet him and eat dinner. We also stopped at the mall on the way to the restaurant. Peyton got to ride on the Carousel and thought the horses were very neat! Then, we went to the Disney Store and found his Halloweek Costume....Peyton is going to be Donald Duck! He is quite a cute little duck!!!! I just hope he will wear the costume when we go trick-or-treating! We also found out last Saturday that our dog, Copper is on the verge of a thyroid problem....because of this, we have to give her a pill every morning and evening and take her back to the vet after a month to see if she has lost any weight. The poor dog gained 12 pounds in one year! Hopefully she will get healthy very quickly, she is such a nice dog and is really good with Peyton.

Last night, we had another football Friday. We all went to the ESU cross country meet first and watched the guys run. Peyton practiced his running in the park too! Then we went out for pizza and to the Emporia High School football game. Peyton loved every second of the game and did not want to leave. He clapped and said "touchdown" when the teams scored. He also danced to the marching band.

Today, Ben is on the road recruiting with his graduate assistant. He will be back later this evening. Peyton and I have had a busy morning running errands and doing laundry. When he wakes up from his nap, we plan on meeting some friends at the park and going on a stroller ride. It is a beautiful fall day!

Football Friday

This Friday night, Emporia High School had a game so after enjoying our Sacred Heart Taco Supper dinner, we headed to the game. Peyton was a HUGE fan and kept throwing his arms up and saying, "touchdown!" We only stayed until halftime and unfortunately EHS lost the game, but we enjoyed ourselves!

Saturday, Peyton was very tired from staying up later than normal and took a really long nap. Then we baked chocolate chip cookies...Ben taught Peyton how to dip them in milk and Peyton thought it was the best thing ever!

Today, we went to church and then came home and ate breakfast. Ben is painting the side of the house where we got some new siding. Last week when Ben's dad and Joey were here they primed it, but this week Ben does not have any help...he is almost finished though and it is a beautiful day! I am going to do some homework for my ESL class. Fun stuff!

Oh, and Thursday, we enjoyed a visit from the Barbers! Megan, Josh, Keatin and Crimson came to visit us from Ames! We were glad they could come and so happy to be able to meet Keatin for the first time. She is a sweetie and it was fun to hold a tiny baby again! Peyton was very nice to her and kissed her and tried to share his toys and snacks with her. The dogs had a great time playing too...Copper always loves a visit from her favorite pal!

A McCollum Weekend

This weekend, we had two McCollum's visit us in Emporia. Ben's dad, John, and brother Joey came from Arizona and Lincoln. Peyton LOVED the company and really loved playing with Uncle Joe Joe (as he says). Above is a picture of Peyton playing with Joey (I am actually sad I did not capture any other moments with Peyton and Joey...the literally played together ALL weekend!)

After Peyton went to bed, the guys enjoyed playing pool, watching football and catching up. They also played a round of golf during nap time. We had over five inches of rain on Friday and Saturday, so the course was a little soggy, but they still had a great time.

The guys also helped paint some siding we got on our house. It was a great "male-bonding" time!

I love that last picture of Grandpa John and Peyton...they were being very silly right before John and Joey left and I think that picture really captures the moment! :)

Peyton's new room...

Here are a few pictures of Peyton's new room. I am so excited about how it turned out! He had a few nights of getting used to it and was a little worried about things not where they used to be, but now he has adjusted quite well! I think the painting crew did a great job! As did the "organizing crew..." I still can't believe how much stuff Peyton had in his room!!! It does not take long to fill up a space! :)

After the football game Peyton has been really excited about playing football at home. He puts on his helmet from Grandpa Roger and gets in "down" position. Then we say, "ready, set, go!" and he runs across the room or yard. The helmet is a little big, so it sometimes blocks his view...but no worries for Peyton...he just keeps on running! It is pretty darn cute. Whenever Daddy comes home Peyton heads for the helmet saying, "football, daddy, football, daddy" over and over again until Ben helps him get started. We plan on going to the Emporia High School football game on Friday night and then to the ESU game on Saturday if the weather is nice. Peyton will love it!

Grandpa and Grandma Visit!

This weekend, we had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Ackerman! They came on Friday night and stayed until today. Here are a couple pictures of Peyton and Grandpa. He loved reading his new "big truck" book and driving his John Deere through Grandpa's leg tunnel. While they were here, we also painted Peyton's room to make it more of a "big boy" place to be! Peyton still sleeps in his crib, but now, to switch the room, all we have to do is put in the big bed! Peyton also got to see his first football game on Saturday night with Grandpa and Daddy. Emporia State played in its home opener. On Sunday, we set up my old fish tank in my classroom. I am so excited for my students to see it tomorrow! They have been begging me since last year to get class fish.

I was sad when they left...it is always hard to say good-bye to mom and dad. I really enjoyed our visit and the three day weekend! It will be hard for me to take Peyton back to the babysitter tomorrow - but at least it is only a four day week!