Where does the time go?

Oh my! It has been a long time since I updated our blog. I believe the last post was before Thanksgiving! We have been extremely busy with finishing our house, moving, and just life in general, but hopefully some of that is going to calm down a little bit. There are still some things to finish on the house, but we have moved in and will eventually get to the last little details.

The holidays were fantastic and I am very thankful for my family and that many could come help us with our move, among the other things that they do for us. We also got to take a trip to New York with the kids right after Christmas. It was exhausting, but we all had a great time! Gracie loved all of the activities we got to do: Times Square, Hard Rock Cafe, Build-a-Bear, Central Park, shopping, and of course, the football game. I will have to take her more often next fall. She loves going to watch football and also wants to watch it if she sees it on tv, too. Owen is quite the football fan, as well. "Football" is one of the only words that he says consistantly. He gets very excited when he sees footballs or football players. Anyway, the trip went well and the kids did pretty well traveling. Gracie got to watch a movie on the flight and Owen slept the whole way back to Iowa. They were both pooped.

Other progress with our kids...Owen has moved to the next room at daycare. He is now a Bumblebee. He is starting to try to talk more. He tries so hard to communicate what he wants, but gets so mad when we can't figure it out. He loves balls, especially throwing them. He seems to be pretty ambidextrous so far, sometimes favoring his left hand. He has transitioned to one nap daily and is sleeping on a cot at school. He goes to bed really well for us at night and most nights sleeps between 11 and 12 hours. He loves going outside, so the unseasonably warm weather has been awesome for us. He gets so mad when we make him come in. However, the weather seems to have shifted to winter recently. He also follows Gracie around all the time and wants whatever she has.

Gracie is also doing great. She is a wonderful helper and wants to help clean everything. I usually don't argue. I got her to pick up her room the other day by telling her that she could use the vaccuum if she put all of her toys away. She jumped on that opportunity. Most days Gracie does really well at school. We just had a conference for her last week and her teachers believe that she is doing great and is closer to where four year olds should be. She can write her own name, but her "R" is not quite what is should be. She has switched her "G" around so it isn't backwards anymore. She can also recognize almost all of the letters of the alphabet and count to 28.

It's hard to believe there is only about a month of high school wrestling left. It is a very demanding time of the year, but it always goes by quickly. Nick is enjoying coaching still. The team is not as experienced as it has been in the past, but they keep improving. I try to take the kids to as many meets as I can. Sometimes that is the only time they get to see their dad.

I know there is a lot more that I could probably update on, but these seem like the most important things. Sorry it has been so long. I can't believe how the time flies! I will post pictures when I get a chance. Nick has tons of pics from our trip to NYC on facebook if you are friends with him.