Christmas

I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone. It goes by so fast. Aaron was such a good boy the whole time. He was even really good at Church even though it was during his bedtime. He loved dancing to the choir.


We did Christmas Eve at my parents' house. I love how my mom hung her stockings this year.

For the first time we did Christmas morning at our house, just the 3 of us. It was very relaxing and nice. Different, but nice. Santa brought Aaron a kitchen, a vacuum, and lots of kitchen supplies. He got lots of fun things. And out of all of those fun things he got from Santa and from mommy and daddy, his favorite thing was his yogurt melts. He didn't let them go until they were almost all gone. And he still prefers mommy's kitchen and vacuum. I should have known. 

We headed over to grandma and grandpa Nickel's house Christmas afternoon. 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Aaron is one spoiled and lucky little boy. We are all lucky to have such great family and friends.  May your New Year be very blessed!

STL Weekend

Last weekend we headed down to STL with some of my cousins to watch the Illinois-Mizzou basketball game. Lots of fun stories to share for years to come. Well, maybe to just share amongst ourselves. And I was definitely THAT girl who pulled out my 20 questions and investigated everyone's lives. Sorry family! I just really love questions. We all had a great time.

Before the game we went to the Broadway Oyster Bar. It was amazing. I highly recommend it. I had oysters and a lobster po' boy, and some bites of jambalaya, and some bites of muffaletta. This place has a very interesting motif and clientele, but was still very good. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bathrooms. Very random and neat. Good pick, Sarah. 

After we ate lunch and had hilarious conversation for a couple of hours (sorry neighboring table), we hitched a ride to the game. I was too busy chit chatting to tell you if it was a good game or not, but according to my dad it wasn't. But it was a great finish to maybe a not so good game. Illinois won by 1 in the final seconds. Bring on the high fives. 

After the game we took a shuttle to The Landing. And let me say, Mizzou fans DO NOT like my jokes. They especially don't like my jokes after they just lost. I thought I was pretty funny. But according to everyone else, I was not. I will work on my material for our next trip. 

After some more interrogating fun family conversation at Morgan Street, we headed to the casino. We thought it would be a good idea to get sushi at 11pm. It was not. I'm too old to be staying out that late and eating casino sushi. Blech. 

We got back to our hotel which was having a debutante ball. Yes, those still go on, I guess. Needless to say I didn't sleep all night as there was some new form of drama happening outside my door every hour. I was wide awake by 6am. Nobody wanted to sing Christmas carols with me at this time. So I went and got some coffee and chatted with 2 ladies I knew would be awake...my momma, and my Aunt Donna. A perfect opportunity for me to sleep in, and I can't. I guess I was just ready to get back to my baby!

So there you have it...a quick recap of our cousin weekend in STL. Can't wait until next year. 

'Tis The Season

'Tis the Season for family, friends, Christmas cheer, and germs, and runny noses, and fevers, oh my! Winter is my favorite time of year! Insert sarcasm here. Yes, I do love how pretty the first snowfall looks, and love decorating my house for Christmas, and baking holiday treats, and spending time with family and friends, and starting new Christmas traditions with Aaron. What I don't like is the inevitable sickness that will be floating around all season.

Aaron was sick last week. He ran a fever, didn't sleep well, and just needed mommy and daddy's (but mostly mommy's) comfort. I took him into the doctor on Friday just to make sure it was nothing more, and it wasn't, thank goodness. Just a virus and sore throat. It's been going around. As a parent you're happy to hear your child doesn't have strep or an ear infection, but then you're secretly a little bummed to hear you won't be getting this magic elixir called an antibiotic. There's no magic potion for viruses. They just get to hang out for however long they see fit.

So what do you do when you're cooped up with a sick child for an entire week/weekend? Well, pretty much anything they want to do in order to keep them happy, and preferably distract them for a bit so they don't make you hold them the entire day. I wouldn't mind holding Aaron if we could just sit and cuddle. But he wants me to hold him so he can lead me in different directions in order to point at things. It is cute, and he is learning lots of words, but he's 26 pounds now. When was the last time you went from a full squat to standing position while holding 26 pounds? Or were forced to vacuum while holding 26 pounds. Yes, he really did make me vacuum. You do what you got to do. And my carpets can always use a vacuum.

So this past week we...

sat on the furniture however we wanted, 

decorated family members' Christmas cards with french fries,

did dishes,

organized the silverware drawer, 

and then the lazy susan, 

made ornaments (and hated every minute of the handprint part), 

ate our dinner out of whatever dishes we wanted while sitting on the counter wearing no pants - comfort first, 

and even got to eat our yogurt with our hands!



I think it's safe to say that our little buddy is on the road to feeling better, though. We took him back to the sitter's house today, and he was very happy to see his friends. His friends were very happy to see him, too. I'm sure we'll get blessed with another germy sickness before Winter is over, but I'll be prepared with plenty of Tylenol, Motrin, fluids, bleach, thermometers, wet rags, jammies, and fun things to do!

Hope you all are enjoying this time of year, and are blessed with good health! I really enjoyed catching some of your snowy, wonderland pictures on FB over the weekend. Can't wait to get Aaron out in the snow to play!

Have a great week!

A month in review

My girlfriend, Brooke, pointed out to me last night that she hadn't seen a blog post in a while. Yes, I've neglecting my blog, and I apologize to my faithful readers. Sometimes I just need a little kick in the pants. I've also been marathon watching Downton Abbey so I can get caught up before the next season starts in January. I'm all caught up....and wow. Love this show. And, yes, I watch shows on PBS and typically go to bed by 8pm.

So here is what happened the month of November.

At the beginning of the month, Bryan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Hard to believe it's been 5 years!

Since having Aaron, it's sometimes hard to pay attention to your significant other. It's really important to make time for each other, to go on dates, or to watch a movie together, etc. We dropped Aaron off at his grandparents the Saturday after our anniversary and we actually went out to dinner (and enjoyed a nice, leisurely dinner without a kid whining, climbing up your leg, or trying to hand you samples of his food he's already tasted). We then thought we'd get crazy and go have a drink at a bar. We had one drink before I was tired and ready to go to bed. I'm a crazy party animal these days. It was nice to sleep. Sleep all night. A sound sleep. But then, of course, I woke up at 6am ready for my baby to come home.

It was a great anniversary. Bryan made it very special, and it was nice to go on a date with him, and laugh, and talk.

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Aaron has been starting to say more words. Here's what he's up to so far, I think:
mommy/momma
daddy/dadda
baaaaaaalllllllll
doooooooooog
bye bye
please (sounds like peas)
thank you (sounds like tank too)
cookie
uh oh
uh uh uh (and he shakes his finger at you)
this

He also does A LOT of pointing. He wants to learn all the things...over and over and over. But it's good...he'll be a smart boy.

He loves his books. He especially loves pop up books and flip tab books. We read a lot. Sometimes we read the same book five times in a row.

He still loves dancing. He will act bashful at first when you catch him dancing to a song, but then he keeps looking at you to make sure you're watching him dance.

He is getting about 4 new teeth right now. Teething is the absolute worst! And why does he have to get 4 at a time?? I'm ready for a break from that. Since he's been teething he hasn't felt the best and has been pretty clingy. He has been waking up on occasion in the middle of the night and really just wants you to hold him. He'll be so tired, but he'll keep peeking through one eye to make sure you're still there holding him. Poor buddy.

And he still likes helping me out in the kitchen.

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His GG and Great Grandpa came over to play with him this month. GG brought him a new book, and Great Grandpa let him play with his phone.

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We also went to see Santa. Aaron was great when he didn't know Santa was behind him (you'll see on the Christmas card).

And then he wasn't sure when he saw Santa:

And then he HATED it when Santa put him on his lap.















It was great!! This momma loved these Santa pictures. Thanks, Laura!!

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I decorated for Christmas. I typically wait until the day/weekend after Thanksgiving, but we were so busy I started it the weekend before. And I'm not sure why?? When we finally decorated the tree, Aaron screamed ballllllllll, ripped a lot of the ornaments off and threw them. He also knocked over my Christmas box tower a few times. It's taken a lot of no no no and don't touch, but I think he may ignore the decorations for the most part now.

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I started a new job this month. I'm still with State Farm, but just in a new department/building. I'm at the main corporate headquarters building now...The Big House. I'm an analyst in the Claims Automation and Procedures department. I'm going to be supporting a claim/loss reporting system that all of our claims associates in the Hubs (Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix and Tacoma) use. I'm going to be very busy. Once I get over the learning curve, intimidation and anxiety of it all, this will be a great opportunity for me. I'm very lucky to have gotten this role, and very grateful.

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Speaking of grateful, we wrapped up the month of November celebrating Thanksgiving, and stuffing our faces with amazing food thanks to my mom and grandma! It was a nice, long weekend. I ate copious amounts of food, and then had more. The next day I had pie for breakfast, turkey sandwiches for second breakfast, and more noodles for lunch. It was great. I also accomplished a lot of my Christmas shopping online in the comfort of my pajamas while sipping my bourbon slush. Exactly how I like to shop.

Even Charlie ate too much turkey. Or was it "Granny's Pot Pie?"

Aaron going through the ads...after Uncle Adam had organized them :-)

Sleepy time with Grandpa. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have lots to be thankful for this year, especially my 2 boys. 

I'm so glad that this little boy is all mine. He makes me so very happy. He is my world. 

So there you have it! A recap of our month of November. I will try to stay on top of this blog!

Happy Halloween!

This year I bought 2 costumes for Aaron since I couldn't decide which one I really wanted. So he dressed up as a pumpkin and a shark. And let's just say he hated both costumes.

Practicing the night before Halloween...Hated It 

Didn't mind it as much on Halloween

Shark Costume...Hated It

Regardless, he's still the cutest. 

Busy Weekend!

We had a very busy, super fun, weekend. I'm still tired! Let me share it with you via photo collage.


Friday: 
I got to see this little cutie Friday night. He is getting so big, and smiley. And he loves to spit up on his mommy. Reminds me of when Aaron was little. Memories. Is it weird that I don't mind the smell of baby throw-up?? Yes??? Oh.

Jackson Bosch

I do think that he and Aaron will be best friends...one day. But for some reason Aaron doesn't want me to hold Jackson, or for us to take their picture together. My kid is kind of rude. Here is an example of past photo opps...

These will make great pictures for their college graduation party

Aaron did warm up to the idea of pictures with Jackson, as long as we made it a fun "peek-a-boo" game.


Saturday: 
My mom, Caitlin and I went to see We Will Rock You - a musical featuring Queen music. And let me just say...it rocked! It really felt like being at a Queen concert. Before the concert play, we got some lunch at this amazing Italian place called Vapiano. It was confusing at first, but once we figured out how to order, where to go, and what to do it was a really cool experience. And the food was amazing. Homemade pasta, fresh herbs growing at your table. Everything made fresh right in front of you. I highly recommend this place. Great food, wine and company.

Sunday: 

The annual Bosch Family Weenie Roast took place Sunday. And it just so happened to be the 50th anniversary of the weenie roast. This thing has been going on every October since 1963. How cool is that?  

It was a beautiful day, too, spent with hundreds of Bosches....many of whom I don't know. And where did all the babies come from? Well, I know where they come from, but wowzers. We have lots of sweet babies in our extended family now. 

My grandpa (the oldest man there) holding the youngest baby boy, and his sister, Eileen, (the oldest woman there) holding the youngest baby girl - what a great picture!

My grandpa (Ed) on the far left with all of his brothers and sisters. I made them stand in age order :-)

My cousins minus Jared & Connor...why aren't we in age order?

My dad (3rd in from the left) with his brothers and sisters...minus Julie, but we see her spirit on the end. And they are in age order kind of - boys in order on one side and girls in order on the other. 

The whole fam damily...almost. We missed you Bryan, Caitlin, Jared, Connor, Mike and Julie!!

I love this boy

 Hope you all had a nice weekend!