2 Weeks in Review

****Warning: This post is long... very long.****

Where to begin, where to begin. Let's start with 3 days before Christmas Eve. I was warming up some lunch in the microwave when Sean yelled upstairs at me and said that the breaker box was "frying". Ironically, the microwave was smoking at the same time. Scary. 2 days before, the microwave was flickering so I thought it was just bad... $80 later on a new microwave, I learned that was not the case. Sean called around to several places to come take a look at it. Christmas Eve morning, the phone rings at 8:05am. The man who was supposed to come out to look at it said, can you guess? Yep, that's right. "I can't make it". Sooo.... Sean called around AGAIN and found someone to come out. The nice man comes out and tell us that we have water that somehow found its way into our breaker box. $725 later, we have a brand new breaker box.

Then we headed off to Sean's family Christmas back in Panora. It was very fun to watch our nephew, Marshall, rip open his Christmas presents. He was quite excited about the combine and tractors he got. Too cute!!

**Pics to come once I get some from Sean's family**

Christmas Day, my parents, Sean and I headed out on a 14 hour drive to Austin, Texas to have the Nellis side Christmas. It was a very, VERY long drive down, but we had a great time. Sean got a new golf club AND got to golf the day after Christmas. He was pretty happy with that. Me? I got to relax!

We hadn't seen my brother, his wife, or their son since June of this year, so it took a bit of time for Owen to remember us. Then the poor thing... he started teething. The first part of the week was a bit rough, but the end was GREAT! A big thanks to Jason & Ann for letting us stay in their home and take it over. We really appreciated it.

The Nellis Family

On New Years Eve day, we hopped in the car and headed back to Iowa. 14.5 hours later, we returned home to 2 very excited dogs... and one cold house. You see, the day after we left for Texas, the blower on our furnace quit working, so the entire time we were gone, our house was without heat. We unloaded the car and called someone to come out to look at the furnace only to find out that they didn't have the part on the truck, and with it being a holiday, the warehouse wasn't open. Sooo... 2009 was rung in with Sean spending the night in our 44 degree home with the dogs, while my parents and I bunked at the local Hampton Inn. Great way to ring in the new year, right?

Sean stayed behind because he was waiting on another company to call back. They finally got him called... at 2am... to say they couldn't get the part until possibly Saturday, possibly Monday! My parents and I returned home on the first in time for Sean and Dad to watch the Hawks pound the crap out of those Gamecocks. What a game. Go Hawks!!

And go Kevin! Sean's brother saved the day by bringing 3 space heaters to warm the place up. Mom and I weren't too big on the whole bowl mania, so we went to the mall... plus, the mall had heat! Mom, being the nice lady that she is, kept the kitchen warm and our tummies happy by making us all a great supper. After that, Dad helped us start the very first fire we've ever had in our fireplace. That definitely helped warm the upstairs. Thanks Sean's family for giving them up so we could stay warm!!!!

If you're still reading this, congrats for not having anything better to do!!! Today, the 2nd, we get a call at 8:15am to tell us that the part we need is in a warehouse... in Omaha!!! So we wouldn't have heat until Monday the 5th. Crap! My parents offer to drive to Omaha to pick up the part for us because in all of this mess, we had our appointment to hear Lil' Lynam's heartbeat. So we all get ready to leave when we get another phone call. The part we needed was in the warehouse. Here. In Urbandale. The same warehouse they told us 2 nights ago it wasn't it. Nice. So... we left to go to the doctor while Mom & Dad stayed behind to wait for the technician.

Good news!!! It's pumping! Our lil' babies heartbeat was 140... both Mommy & Daddy had tears in their eyes when they finally got it! It is for real... we are having a baby!!!!!

We returned home to find the technician working away, and that Mom & Dad had done our laundry, cleaned our house, and swept the garage for us. What would we do without you?!?!!!!? Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

So the furnace got fixed (another unexpected bill), the house got cleaned, the laundry got done, and the best part? I didn't have to do any of it :-). That's what I call a good day.

Now... I know, there was only 1 picture here. BUT... I will be posting pictures of both family Christmas' once I get them from my sister-in-laws. If you two are reading this, send some pics my way!