Christmas 2010

It never seizes to amaze me how fast the Christmas season comes and goes. Months of planning, shopping, decorating and bribing children (yes, I bribe my children), and in the blink of an eye, the holiday season over with!

I think I'm most disappointed this year in how fast it went because both girls finally "got" the Santa thing. It was so fun to watch! Everything from getting the cookies and milk ready for Santa on Christmas Eve, to Lauren claiming she was going to stay up all night so she could talk to the real Santa, not those helper Santa's in the mall! (Note: she made it to 10:15, not to impressive considering we finally were able to get them to bed at 9:50! Good try Lo Lo, maybe next year!)

And most precious, was to watch the older two interact w/ Paige, helping her w/ all her gifts and showing her what Santa brought. Great memory!!!

Santa's Cookie Plate & presents he left:

In keeping with tradition, we went to mass on Christmas Eve and came home to have dinner w/ my parents. Troy's parents usually join us as well, but Terry & Keri were home this year so they stayed at the farm. The girls always get to open 2 presents from Troy and I on Christmas Eve....and Grandma is usually good for a present or two as well (shocker, I know!)

Boo Boo opening up her first Christmas present:

Christmas morning, the girls woke up at the crack of dawn, but had to stay in their room until Paige woke up. If I only could have captured the excitement in a bottle from that room! It was hilarious.

On Christmas day, we headed out to the farm. And with the farm, comes lots of excitement! Try picturing a farm house with 1 bathroom, 11 adults, 10 grandchildren, a kitchen full of food and a mother-in-law bound and determined to RUIN you diet (love ya Marilyn!), cards, board games, sleigh rides behind a 4-wheeler, lottery tickets, presents & more! It's a jam packed day of food and fun and I wouldn't change a thing! (Well maybe one thing, I'd like to be able to wear my fat pants ALL day!)

Godmother of the decade! D and her 4 godchildren!

Who doesn't love a healthy game of King of the Mountain!

New generation sleigh riding. Kids these days, I tell ya! When I was your age....nevermind! Not worth it!

The day after Christmas, we headed north to the Hemann Christmas. On the way home, it was obvious the girls had a great Christmas!

Eric and Dianne weren't able to make it home until the next weekend, New Year's Eve weekend. So we celebrated Christmas w/ the Steger on New Year's Day. (Side note: great motivator to stay sober on New Year's Eve knowing you have a family gathering the next day!) Grandma Cleo was able to join us again this year. She's just about to turn 84 and still kickin like she's....well, maybe 80 or so!

4 Christmas get together over a 8 day period and we only were able to capture ONE family picture! Oh well, at least we got one!


Hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday! I know we did....just went way to fast!

Two Months Wrapped into One

I'm not exactly sure how, but months 7 & 8 seemed to have slipped by rather quickly! I was able to snap the picture, but ran out of time to post them! So here you go, two months wrapped into one!

Between month 6 & 8, this little one went from my baby to my always on the move monster! She started devouring baby food like it's going out of style and before I knew it, all of her clothes were to small!! She loves her sweet potatoes and squash. Peas and green beans still leave a bit to be desired, but she's getting better. At her last doc appointment, she was up to 18 lbs, 4 ounces! She was kinda stuck at 16 lbs for a couple months cause she had an ongoing sinus infection and just wouldn't eat much. But once we got that under control, her appetite went thru the roof! And it's still going!

On a sad note for me, and as hard as I tried to prevent it, Boo Boo started crawling about a week before Christmas. While she's still not to quick on her knees, she still manages to get into everything already! Nothing is safe from this child! And I have a terrible feeling she's going be to be a climber! I totally forgot how much work this was!!!




If you look closely, you'll see how wrinkled the 8 month paper is. It's getting harder and harder each month for her to sit still long enough to snap a picture!

8 months already.....not fair! I got all teary eyed and told Troy the first time I saw her crawling, "No!!! Not fair. Looks like we're just going to have to have one more now!" If I could have captured the look on his face! Ha ha!

Lauren's Birthday Post...

I started a post back in November about Lauren's birthday but can't figure out how to make it show. So click here: http://theosterhausupdate.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-7th-birthday-lauren.html

Good Bye Janelle Ct...Hello Fairway Lane!!!

It's official! We no longer own a house in Dubuque! We closed on our home last Thursday! Talk about a bittersweet moment. For months, the sale of this house completely consumed us. And now that it's all said and done, I'm kinda sad.

Troy and I built that house when we were 25 years old. A newly married couple, expecting our first baby. (Everybody now..........Awww!) The fact that all 3 of our girls were born there, baptized there, grew up there and made best friends there are memories that I will always treasure! It was a great place to start our life and Janelle Court will always hold a special place in my heart!

What we are going to miss the most are our neighbors. There aren't many streets like Janelle Court......where everyone knows your garage code and helps themselves to a shovel, a stick of butter or a beer when you aren't even home!

To the Noels. Oh the Noels! Trust me when I say this, you guys are one of a kind!

Deno: You were always there to help us whether it be moving a 600 lb piano or helping Troy w/ his "handy-man" skills. What I'm going to miss most about you is hearing you yell, "SAM, DEREK, IF YOU DON'T KNOCK IT OFF........" usually followed by a bunch of words that I shouldn't repeat!!! Those words will forever be music to my ears!

Jean: I'm going to miss our morning coffee, complaining about how hard motherhood is and how much we "adore" our husbands. I'm going to miss you barreling thru our door yelling "JENNIFER". I'm going to miss our nights in the backyard around the campfire. But most importantly, I'm going to miss having you to go to when I just needed to get the heck out of my house!

Tay, Sam, Deeks & Beaner: Watching you grow up has been so much fun! Troy and I always kinda felt like the cool aunt and uncle that you guys could go to if you needed an outlet. Our girls looked up to you, all of you. (And Deeks, if you ever need a girlfriend for the prom, Reese will be waiting!)

A few of my favorite Noely pics:

Next....to the Schlichte's: John & Kel.....What do you say? There's just something about us small town kids that we can't deny.

John: There were many winter nights you sat inside a warm house, only to look out your window and see me out there alone, trying to shovel our driveway. If I were you, I would have stayed inside. But you never did. You always came out and helped me cause you knew Troy was probably at a game. And I was always very thankful for that!

Kel Kel: Not sure what to say. You have been a great friend in so many ways. I never imagined us becoming the friends we are today, but I'm so grateful we did. You have always been so helpful with the girls, inviting them over to play, helping out after Paige was born cause you knew I needed a break, picking them up from daycare when I needed another hand. I'm going to miss having you there for me. I will always be grateful for our friendship.

Kels & Kar: I'm not sure there are 2 other girls names that my daughters have repeated as many times as yours! All I have to do to threaten my children is use your names!! Lauren and Reese adore playing with you and I hope every time you come out to Dyersville you stop in!

Next, to Ella Bean....our adopted red head! I already miss you knocking on our door Beaner! You and Lauren have been such good buds since the day you were born. I get teary eyed thinking about your friendship! I sure hope you remember how great of friends you were!

Halloween on Janelle Court was always a good time. Not many streets where you worry about running out of beer before candy! Memory lane of Halloween:

Finally, some fun pics of the Janelle Court Girls....we will forever miss you guys!