A New Year

Whenever the cousins head out it always feels empty in Elverson. We do love when they come to town because it gives us something to do every day. On Monday Jon had off from work so he spent the day in the bathroom - the basement bathroom, that is. He worked on the plumbing for the sink and toilet since we were hosting a small group event on New Year's Day. Once again things always take longer than we anticipate and he didn't have all the parts to complete the project. Jon worked on what he could while I cleaned up the house a bit and ran out for some groceries. I put Ellie down for a nap before I left but she didn't last long. Jon stopped working to keep her content. She has been a bit needy since she has been sick but it hasn't been too bad since she's such a good baby on the whole.
The grocery store was a mad house in the afternoon. Apparently it was busier than Christmas Eve - I should have thought ahead and avoided the rush. I think it was so busy because New Year's Eve was on a Monday and nobody went shopping over the weekend. Well, at least I didn't. It took twice as long as I thought and I couldn't find a few of the items. Our Walmart is terrible with keeping the shelves stocked!
After Ellie and I spent a lot of time hanging out (I've been reading a book series Ginner Saint lent me) and Jon finished what he could in the basement, we packed up and headed to Ben and Jess's house for a New Year's Eve get together. All of the brothers and their spouses were in attendance and it was enjoyable to spend time together. Ellie was the only kid there since Donna had Amanda's three for the evening. We ate food (Jess made meatball sandwiches, baked macaroni and cheese, and several appetizers, Amanda brought some desserts, and Brittany brought a salad. Somehow I got out of bringing anything!), played games, and waiting for the new year. We actually ended up leaving around 11:00 because baby had woken up and Jon thought we might as well head home instead of putting her back to sleep after eating to just wake her up to go home less than an hour later. Although we may be a bit lame for leaving before midnight, it was nice to be home and about ready to crawl in bed when the new year came about.
I have enjoyed the extended weekend and sleeping in! On Tuesday morning it was close to 9:00 by the time we were up and finishing breakfast. Jon ran off to Lowe's to pick up a part to finish up the sink in the basement while I cleaned up for our company. Our small group trickled in shortly after 11:00 bringing snacks and we spent the next six hours hanging out in the basement watching season 2 of Downton Abbey. We actually only got through the first five episodes, but that's a start! We watched a few episodes of the first season together and thought it would be fun to try to get the second season viewed before the third seasons starts on Sunday evening.
Mom called during the Downton Abbey marathon so I called her back after everyone left. She was making a new recipe of pork and sauerkraut and wanted to join her and dad. I was more than happy to say yes since I hadn't even thought about dinner plans all day. I cleaned up after the party and ehaded to Elverson. Clark arrived shortly afterwards since Kelly and Josh were going out to a movie for a date night. We hung out and saw Caleb, Gabe, and Brie before heading home to bed.
On Wednesday I thought it best that Ellie and I stay home since she was still stuffed up and a bit out of sorts. I used the extra down time to read my book from Ginner and relax. It was a great way to start the new year! Ellie was a good girl and took a nice morning nap but didn't really sleep well in the afternoon. She would sleep about thirty minutes and wake up. Perhaps her stuffy nose was waking her up, I'm unsure. She did realize that the aspirator was in her bedroom because she started fussing when we'd walk into her bedroom. I now only clean out her nose in the living room so that she doesn't learn to hate the bedroom! I've been running the humidifier during the night to see if that will help her little nose. We've been calling her miss piggy since she's been snorting and wheezing.
Jon came home from work and hosted prayer group at our house. The guys hung around afterwards and then Jon worked on our budget. As we laid in bed at midnight Jon was asking me how much we should spend on each other for birthdays and Christmas. Goodness, I don't know!
Today Ellie had her 4 month check up. I'll tell you about it next post along with some pictures.