New Year's Weekend

Mom came and stayed with us over the New Year's Weekend. Dad came too, just for New Year's Eve. That turned out weird because I wanted mom to babysit while I went to watch Vance's band play. Ben went to chaperone at a party that Vance's band was playing at. He left and took Skylar and Marly with him. Drew spent the night at Rothlisberger's, and Katy and Tawny had a kid's party at Jensen's. That night, it was mom, dad, me, Anny, Derek, and Dodge Chapman (his parents were chaperoning too.) I was only gone from 10:45 to 12:15. In that time, my dad decided to go to sleep, Dodge fell asleep on the couch, and Derek was asleep. Anny and Grandma brought in the new year together. Grandma's reaction was "Big Whoop." (I got that from her own blog.)

It was fun to be at the party with all these great teenagers. I think sometimes teenagers in general get a bad rap, but this group of about 50 was so much fun. Thoughts Untold was the last band of the evening in the basement of a friend's house. They really have some talent and they are available for your next big event - wink.

I will insert a picture here when I figure out how to get it off of Facebook.

While mom was with us. She spent a lot of time helping Anny. Anny had a stomach virus the first two days we were home with Derek, so she needed some distracting. A few days later, I discovered she had 3 teeth coming in. She has been a little unhappy ever since. Grandma played with Anny and her Elmo head for hours on end. Elmo head is like Mr. Potato head in the fact that you can put his eyes, ears, feet, etc. on him and he talks to you. It is quite fun and Anny's favorite toy at the moment. Thanks Mom, I couldn't take that doll anymore.

There was a lot of time spent holding this sweet little baby. He is a great eater and sleeper and pooper.

This is Anny pointing out that Derek has ears. She also points out that he has feet and fingers and arms and she is very soft when she pats him on the head or gives him wet kisses.

Dad gets the fun job of playing with Derek when I have run out of time, energy, or patience. He is a master diaper changer although he can't remember to put the wet wipes away so I have to go looking for them all the time. He is a wonderful relief in the middle of a sleepless night when he gets up with Derek and feeds him a bottle. He is a great dad.
This is the day Anny wanted to play with Derek. She wanted to show him all her Elmo parts. She would hold them up and say what they were, like ear, nose, feet, etc. He didn't care. She then proceeded to give him a kiss on his head and then wanted Elmo to give him a kiss too. Little did she know that the thunk of the hard plastic on his head would cause him to let out a squeal of unhappiness. Pretty soon, they were both crying and I couldn't stop laughing. I know this is just the beginning of a priceless relationship between these two.