Christmas, Kzoo Baby Shower, and a whirlwind trip through OH

We had the opportunity to spend a ton of time with my parents this holiday.  It was really nice since this is the last Christmas that it will be just Ben and I traveling for the holidays.  My parents came down for my graduation and then we drove up together to KY for a few days for family get togethers.  Then we spent the Wednesday before Christmas until the Wednesday after Christmas up in MI hanging out with my parents and my little brother  and his wife.  We had a great time hanging out and played tons of cards.  We played our fair share of Monopoly Deal as well as a new game we found called Five Crowns.  It was great to spend time with all of them and we got a chance to get in a lot of great conversations and quality time.  Plus we ate a ton of yummy food which the doctor is going to be happy to hear because I already gained my 3 lbs. that the doctor has required of me. :-)

Family Photo 

The 'rents (soon to be Mamaw and Papaw) 

Cody and Justine

On the Tuesday before we left my mom had a baby shower for me too.  It was a nice small group of ladies due to the busy-ness of the holidays.  Plus I was able to see a good friend who was in town all the way from Cambodia.  We had a great time talking about babies, eating yummy carrot cake, and I was blessed to receive a ton of wise baby advise.  God has truly blessed us through all the family and friend showers we have had.  Though they may have been small, they have meant a ton and truly been meaningful experiences in preparation for our little bundle of joy's arrival.  After this shower we are at a poll from the showers of 27 predictions for boy and 24 predictions of girl with birth dates ranging from January 28th to February 28th.  It will be interesting to see who is closest. :-)

All the lovely ladies!

On Thursday morning we left early to head down to Ohio and visit a bunch of people in a short 2 day stint.  Thursday we went over to Amy, Max, and Elliana's place for some yummy soup.  It was great to get a chance to catch up with Amy and have a chance to really get to know Max a bit.  Plus we got to meet their cutie Elliana.  We thoroughly enjoyed out time and we were blessed with a ton of great baby advise along the way too. Then we met up with our old pastor and his wife for the afternoon.  It was wonderful to catch up with them and hear all the exciting things going on in the church.  God is truly working amazing wonders in Xenia, OH!  After that, for dinner, we met up with my former co-worker Holly and her husband Curtis.  Wow that was some much needed catch up time.  After spending every day with her for about a year, we really got used to chatting it up.  So even though it has been over a year since we have worked together, we picked right back up where we left off and realized just how much we have missed working together.  Then finally we ended up over at Ryan and Michelle's house for the evening. We had a blast catching up, playing Monopoly Deal, and simply enjoying some quality time with good friends.  All that in less than 24 hours, but all worth the time.

Then on Friday we got up and headed down to Cincy to meet up with several more friends.  We spend the morning with Michelle, Ben, Naomi, and Josiah.  It was great to catch up with Michelle and hear all about how life has been for them.  They have two cuties and it was crazy to see how much they have grown up.  We got to chatting and realized that the last time we had seen each other was about a month before Josiah was born and he is now 17months old...craziness!  For lunch, we met up with Sarah at Chipotle.  It was great to see her, even if just for a short time.  I love how easy it is to pick right back up where you left off with good friends!  After dropping off our things at Brad and Ashley's and visiting for a bit we headed up to visit with James, Sara, and Jeremiah for bit.  We got some yummy pizza and spent some quality time catching up on life.  Plus we got to meet their little one; such a cutie!  Then we finished off the night hanging out with Brad and Ashley to ring in the New Year.  I just barely made it to the new year, but we had a fun time catching up and hanging out with them, just like old times.

Unfortunately I failed to take any pictures throughout of escapades in Ohio, but we definitely enjoyed our time.  We tried to visit with as many people as we could work out to see, though not everyone, and it was a busy but wonderful two days.  It was really cute too because after seeing babies, and toddlers of many ages Ben was going on and on about how excited he is for our little one to arrive. He is going to make one amazing daddy and I am super excited for that time to come very soon. :-)