December 2008

December was another busy month. Towards our goal of going to every NFL stadium, we took a trip to Indiana to see the Colts play the Lions. We chose Indianapolis this year because Kyle's brother's family just moved to Indiana. We got to see Ryan and Becky's new house, and have Christmas with them while we were there.

We left from BWI on Saturday, December 13. Our gate at the airport was right near one of the ends of a people mover. While we were waiting for our plane, Kyle took Peyton to ride on them to waste some time and to let him get rid of some of his energy before we had to get on the plane. Well, let me tell you... Peyton has never had so much fun in his life running from one end to the other, getting on the returning one, and then running back. He just went back and forth and back and forth. He was cheezing and giggling the whole time! After a little while, Kyle was tired and told me it was my turn to chase Peyton. Somehow Kyle and I were exhausted but Peyton wasn't at all.

We boarded the plane and chose our seats. A lady with a baby just a few months younger than Peyton sat down next to us. It was pretty crowded, but it was ok because the babies were staring at each other. We all thought this would keep them occupied during the flight. However, the flight attendents came over and told the lady that she had to move because there were only 4 oxygen masks in the row, but 5 people. No one else came to sit in that seat, so we had the row to ourselves. After takeoff (which was delayed, of course, but only by about 30 minutes) we let Peyton sit in the middle seat. He did really well on the flight. Here he is eating a candy cane before takeoff. He sure loved that!

When we got into Indy, we had to pick up our rental car. There was only one person working the rental car counter and a handful of people in line in front of us. By this time, it was past Peyton's nap time so he was getting pretty cranky. We planned to arrive in Indy at nap time so that he'd sleep the 2 hours to Ryan and Becky's house. With the delay of our flight and the long line at the rental counter, we were running behind. Finally it was our turn and Kyle signed the contracts. Then we had to go outside to another counter to get the keys. The man working out there just wanted to talk and talk and talk. It was cold, Peyton was sleepy and grouchy, and I was getting pretty annoyed myself. Finally after dealing with the rental agency for an hour, we were on our way to Ft. Wayne. Peyton passed out immediately and slept the whole way there.

We had a good time at Ryan and Becky's house. Their new house was really nice. Becky cooked us a delicious dinner of chicken alfredo. Yum. Then we exchanged Christmas gifts with Sara and Lindsey.

Peyton enjoyed playing with his cousins. He wasn't even jealous when Kyle or I held Sara. Hopefully he'll stay that way when we have another baby. That might be a different story though.

On Sunday, Kyle and I headed back to Indy for the football game. Peyton stayed with Ryan and Becky for the day (thanks guys!) He couldn't have cared less that we were gone. He'll stay with anyone. He's so laid back.

Anyway, it was pretty cold outside, so thankfully they had the roof closed. I wore a Peyton Manning jersey and Kyle wore his custom Moreau Lions jersey. I was rooting for both teams, as I really didn't care who won. I just wanted to see a good game. And a good game it was. The Lions actually had a chance to win, but blew it late in the 4th quarter. Oh well, that kept their winless season alive. Here are some pictures from Lucas Oil Stadium. The stadium is really nice. We had seats right on the 50 yard line. They were really good as well.

On Monday, Ryan had to go to work, so we met up with him for lunch. After that, we headed back to Indy to catch our flight home. If you're keeping track we drove back and forth between Indy and Ft. Wayne 4 times, 2 hours each time. Yikes. For anyone who knows me, I don't have to mention how much time I spent sleeping in the car that weekend. The plane ride home was pretty uneventful. We got lucky and scored a free seat in our row again. Peyton sat there and played with the armrest and the window shade the whole way. I'm thankful he's so well behaved.

When we got back home, it was almost time for Christmas. Here are my two favorite guys in their Santa hats.

My Aunt Bev has bought me a chocolate Advent calendar forever. Well, since I'm a little old now, she buys them for Peyton. Each day, you open a flap and eat the candy inside. This was Peyton's favorite time of the day all through December. He couldn't wait to eat that candy and would run over to the calendar as soon as we would get home from daycare and point to it until I gave him the candy. Here he is on Christmas Eve, after eating his last piece of chocolate. It took him about a full week after Christmas to realize that there was no more candy. He'd still run over to where the calendar was and point and whine. Eventually he finally forgot about it though. On Christmas Eve, we met up with my dad's side of the family for dinner at Sabatino's in Little Italy. Here's everyone except Peyton, who just didn't fit in the shot, I guess. I do like how Kyle is trying to turn his head around to face the camera though.

When we got home from dinner, Peyton got dressed in his Christmas pajamas. Next, it was time for me to continue on the tradition of reading Peyton "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Then we set out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. We also left Santa a note.
The next morning, Santa came! He left Peyton way too much stuff!

This was our gift to Peyton - it is Elmo's Restuarant. Peyton loves this thing. It comes with a lot of food, utensils, and cooking equipment. It sings a few songs and says lots of phrases.

My parents and Jeremy came over for breakfast. Kyle and I cooked up some delicious pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. After we ate, it was time to see what Santa brought. Peyton took a really long time to open his gifts. At first, he had to hand each little piece of wrapping paper that he tore off to someone. Eventually, we convinced him that it was ok to just throw it on the floor.

Here is what Santa brought, along with all of the wrapping paper!

Next, we exchanged gifts with my parents and brother. This was from Jeremy - my favorite gift! Kyle got me a Guitar Hero too, but I opened it after I opened the one from Jer, so Jer's counts as my favorite. Haha, sorry Kyle.

Peyton got a zillion gifts from Grandmom and Pop-Pop. He was getting pretty tired by this point, but he opened them up like a trooper. He really likes this musical instrument set.

For dinner, we headed to Kate and Dave's. Here is Peyton opening up his basketball hoop from them. He loves playing basketball. If only he was tall, he definitely could be in the NBA. Dinner was turkey and all of the fixings. It was yummy!

A few days after Christmas, we got together with my dad's side of the family at my parents' house to exchange gifts. All of the kids got gifts from everyone, but the adults did a Secret Santa type thing. Kyle and I got Kim and Bo and they got us. Crazy.

This horse was not a Christmas gift, but here is Peyton riding it anyway. I just like the Santa hat.

Jill got Peyton a ball pit. What could be better?!

Uncle Jer and Peyton sharing a slurpee. Cute cute cute. Well, Peyton is at least. Just kidding, Jeremy. Kinda.

For New Year's Eve, we had Jeremy and Jill over. There was supposed to be a few more people, but they cancelled on us at the last minute. Peyton helped me make some brownies for dessert.

Peyton was prepared for the celebration.

Jill and I were quite sophisticated...

We played lots of board games, like Mad Gab, Pictionary Man, and Scruples. Unfortunately, I got a severe migraine and the Excedrin just wasn't helping. Admittedly, our "party" was kind of lame. We wound up sitting on the sofa just begging 12:00 to hurry up and get there. At approximately 12:03, we were all heading for bed.