Happy 2021! We are excited to start a new year and can’t WAIT to welcome Lil Landis to the party! Still waiting right now...January 6th...so January 9th is Baby’s due date...COME ON BABY! At this point we just want to meet this little one, but we are still doing well. Baby is doing well, I am doing well, Jonathan is being super patient and crazy helpful when I am completely exhausted...which is basically always.
It was our last Christmas together and we really did our best to enjoy it. So December 21-27 were some sweet days for us. On Monday, Jonathan worked a half day and made tacos for lunch while I finished Christmas shopping, stopped at Alli, prepped my cards for the pharmacy girls and tried to get everything we still needed for the week. After I got home we ate, then called the police station and set up an appointment to have the car seat checked. We were super blessed by the help they provided for us. Now we know Baby’s seat is where it needs to be and is in the best place to keep he or she as safe as possible. We stopped at the library to get a movie (that we didn’t watch, by the way). In the evening we went to Mom and Dad’s for game night, which had quite a few people there who we loved seeing. So many great people.
Tuesday we both worked, but it was our last day before Christmas! So Jonathan went to play basketball and took Shem and Philip with him. They had a great time playing and enjoyed talking to each other on the way home as well! Before he left, he worked on one of my gifts, stopped by True Value, finished shopping and cleaned the bathroom, so he was busy, but enjoyed all of it! One of the best parts of this day was Jonathan getting a call from the upholstery place saying that our chair was completed...IN 6 DAYS!!!! We were expecting at least 8 weeks, but they worked super hard to get it ready for us because they wanted us to have it before the baby got here.
On Wednesday I worked on my disability insurance for when Baby comes, we had a doctor’s appointment and we picked up the chair. This was a complete highlight. The chair is gorgeous. It is absolutely beautiful, Jonathan did a great job, the fabric just complements it so well, it is perfect. We are so excited to rock Baby in it! We also stopped at Best Buy on our way home and got a new camera. This was a bit of a splurge, especially around the holidays, but it was most definitely worth it! We are glad to have it before the baby gets here so we can have pictures to share with all of you and to document this new little life. On the way home we got Hardee’s for lunch, then made some apple cake, did laundry and caught up on finances before we went to the Henman’s for the evening! It was so wonderful to get together with them before Baby gets here and before the holidays. We have connected with them so much as friends this year and are loving watching Vance grow up! He is a year old now, so it is fun to see where he is because he is about 13 months ahead of our little one! Such a great time with great friends.
Christmas Eve we wrapped presents, Jonathan had to make a quick trip to DDM to get some more bows and ribbons before we finished, but we got it all done! The best part was that we got a LOT of snow...I can’t even remember the last time there was a white Christmas, but this one was wonderfully amazing! In the evening we went to my parents for our small family Christmas, had stuffed shells, opened gifts, played Euchre, chatted and enjoyed some time together! When we got home Jonathan put my last gift together and put our gifts under the tree before we went to bed.
Our Christmas mornings have been so sweet since we have decided to be intentional about what we want it to look like. In the morning, we woke up, I put baked oatmeal together while Jonathan set up the camera and we opened gifts while breakfast baked. After we opened gifts we went for a walk outside around the property, then relaxed, looked at our gifts and got them figured out. We headed over to the Haas’ for our big family Christmas a little early so we could play Pandemic as a small group! Unfortunately, no one came for big family Christmas, since the roads weren’t great they decided not to come, so we ended up playing Phase 10, watching a video of me when I was younger and then ate all the yummy food!
The day after Christmas we went to the Landis’ house for our Christmas with them. We got here for breakfast...a little late due to the horrible roads out there, but we made it! Breakfast was delicious, then we opened gifts and they went out sledding while I stayed in and read. Being 38 weeks pregnant does not lend itself well to sledding! We stayed for dinner, then Grandpa came over and we played some games before we left so we could get home at a decent time.
Sunday morning we relaxed, cleaned up the house, planned our week, made a grocery list and had bacon mushroom pasta for lunch! Shem came over in the afternoon to watch the Browns game while I did laundry and they set up the cradle. After he left, we read our parenting book, watched some shows and had steak fried rice for dinner. This was absolutely DELICIOUS! Probably one of my favorite new recipes that we have tried recently!
The week of the fist was another fantastic one. Monday and Tuesday were my long days and they were long days for Jonathan too...not a lot to do at work! After work he stopped at DDM and brought me a different mask. I left my good one at home and was stuck with a crappy one. Then he went to the library to drop off our unwatched movie and went to get some groceries. Tuesday evening he went to play basketball again, so he enjoyed that a lot!
Wednesday was my last appointment of the year and Jonathan only had a half day to work, so we went to that together, then a few people from the Dickerhoof side came over to see the house and we gave a big tour! Jonathan had band on Wednesday since Thursday was the first, so I went over to Mom and Dad’s and played hand and foot with them and Kyle...Mom and I whooped the boys. I got the gift ready for Ashton’s wedding and caught up on laundry so we were all ready for the rest of the week!
Thursday I worked and Jonathan worked a half day, but I was done at 6 and we had Ashton and Caleb’s wedding....it was absolutely wonderful. We had a fantastic time with the fantastic people there. It is always refreshing to spend time with people who love Jesus and love others well. The Prusias make everyone feel at home regardless of where they are. We are blessed to have the framily as part of our lives and it is such a gift to be part of their lives as well.
Friday morning was the first day of 2021 and also my birthday. We slept in, then went to Bob Evan’s for breakfast...which turned into a brunch/lunch situation! When we got home I opened birthday gifts, then meal planned and made a grocery list for this week while Jonathan set up the baby seat and swing so we would have it all set up. We also cleaned the bottles, so we are feeling pretty prepared for this baby to show up! My family came over for my birthday and brought pizza and gifts for the evening and we watched the OSU game. While we had some extra help here, they moved my desk from upstairs to our bedroom so that I would use it more - I already love having it down here!
On Saturday we got to see the Guess family! I made meatloaf and scalloped potatoes for lunch and they came over with their eight week old twins. It was such a joy to meet their little boys and spend time catching up with them now that they are parenting! We played games with them and were so encouraged by how well they managed the babies, it gave us a nice confidence boost as we get ready for the phase of life. In the evening we went and to McDonald’s for dinner, then went to the Haas’ to hep them set up TV on their new device!
Sunday was a recovery day. Jonathan played in the band for the first week and I went to Nick and Cori’s to watch church. I stopped at Drugmart on the way and got our groceries for the week! In the afternoon, Jonathan made Cajun pork chops, we watched the Browns and talked to the Landis family, then had beef stroganoff for dinner, watched the Proposal, cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for the week! It was a great reset day as we head back into normal work routines while waitin for the baby to show up! No matter how much urging we do...Baby seems perfectly content right now!
We will be back in a few weeks and I am sure will have some new updates! One of the things I have decided to try this year is posting every other week, then instead of being overwhelmed by posting weekly I will hopefully get into a routine and at least post consistently...stay tuned! No promises, but we are going to give it a whirl! I hope everyone is having a great 2021 so far!
Love you all,
Alli and Jonathan
