Merry Christmas!

We're now officially in Michigan--kind of. We made the very long drive on December 21-22, stopping to sleep in Charleston, WV. Rowan decided to make this the trip that she will no longer sleep in the car. So, it was long. But, she did quite well considering she was in the car for 12 hours over the course of two days. We got to the Pellow's around 5 on the 22nd and had a good time relaxing, eating and opening presents. Then we made our way to my mom's house where we are now. Again, lots of eating and opening presents. It was fun for Rowan, but a bit overwhelming. In fact, Rowan still has some presents she hasn't opened. Her gifts, so far, include a great table and chairs, a Rose Petal Cottage, several outfits, boots, a tea set, an iron and ironing board, a backpack, books, a Little People nativity set, a sled, a sit and spin, a hula hoop, a little dog stuffed animal named "Harry", a bear named "Sam", some trucks, an Elmo doctor kit and I'm sure I'm forgetting many things. And, yes, there are still gifts to open. For the record, Lance and I aren't the ones who went overboard on the gifts. My mom was the biggest culprit, though everyone must have enjoyed shopping for her. Our gifts were a bit more practical--a new set of Calphalon pots and pans, an air purifier, hats, scarves and gloves and a toboggan. Okay, maybe the toboggan isn't exactly practical, but it fit with the whole "moving back to Michigan" theme and I'm hoping we'll be able to enjoy it a few times this winter.

We are now going to try to relax for one more day before heading to Holland to see our new house and try to get a little bit organized. Lance's parents are going to come in for the weekend and we may try to take advantage of the babysitting a bit to do exciting things like go to the grocery store and rid the house of small choking hazards. We may make also make our first attempt at putting Rowan in a "big girl bed" in the hopes that we won't have to purchase another crib.

Then on the first, Lance heads back to Charlotte. You see, the few days before the move, even more chaos happened. First, Lance was in a relatively minor car accident that somehow left the Volvo with more than minor damages. After considering our options, he decided it would be best to drive the car to Michigan and have it fixed here. However, when he went to his last day of work, the head of HR told him she had made a mistake. Though she initially told him his last day of work could be a vacation day, she was wrong. So, he has to take his vacation days now and then actually go back to work for 3 more days. So, Lance will fly back late on the first, work the second through the fourth and then drive all the way back by himself. During that time, I will probably stay at my mom's for part of the time and possibly visit my new nephew who is due the 31st.

I'm hoping that once Lance is back and we are officially living in Holland, things will begin to settle down. I'm certain I can't keep up this pace for long...

Despite the insanity we did, however, have a great Christmas and enjoyed time with our family and friends. The weather has been surprisingly mild which helped us ease our way into Michigan a little bit better. We're looking forward to settling in and figuring out what we'll be doing all day in our new house.