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!!!