Christmas Festivites

These few weeks we've stayed SO busy! Between my doctor appointment, Alysha's doctor appointment, Loren getting the flu twice, Alysha and me both getting the flu while Loren was out of town, and all of us having head colds, it's a miracle we're alive! :)
2 weeks ago I made the decision to quit my job. I'd been talking about it since before Thanksgiving and the moment finally presented itself. I felt bad at first. I didn't want to see myself as a quitter. After all I'd only been at this job since August, but I really felt like it was the right thing to do. And now I'm even more confident that it's definitely the right thing to do! I love being home with Alysha again where I can teach her what I want her to know and not have all the outside influences teaching her naughty behaviors. And I feel like I can take better care of our house, our nutrition (or lack of...), and myself much better when I work in the home. I feel like I'm a happier wife for Loren and a better mommy to our babies. So now on to January, where I learn how to clean again! ;)
We made the decision a few months ago to stay home for Christmas this year. And I was really looking forward to making our own traditions and just enjoying it the 3 of us! We went Christmas shopping a few weeks ago, drove around and saw Christmas light displays, decorated a Gingerbread Train, and baked cookies for Santa. We did spend Christmas Eve with some friends. Eating pizza, opening jammies, and watching Arthur Christmas. Alysha is having SO much fun with other kids now! I love being able to go over to houses and she can just play without TOO much supervision. Preparations for Christmas were really fun too. She helped me decorate the tree while Loren was out of town for a week, she helped with the baking, and she handed me tape while I wrapped. :). She also LOVED all the Christmas songs and movies that we get to enjoy just this time of year. Christmas morning was pretty smooth...She didn't get a lot of good sleep the night before so she was a bit grouchy. Once all the presents were opened up we put her back down for a nap. And then the rest of the day was fairly pleasant. :) She's really fun to watch with her new baby doll from our secret santa and with her Little People house. Loren did a great job of shopping for me too. He got me some new clothes that I can wear with my rapidly expanding belly. I love that he always tries to make sure I'm comfortable. He's really considerate while I'm just hormonally imbalanced.
It turned out to be a blessing that we hadn't planned to go anywhere this year because Saturday morning our car wouldn't start. A pulley that we'd been putting off getting fixed for months finally bit the dust and the car couldn't hold a charge so we weren't going anywhere. We planned on just settling into our house until Wednesday after the holidays were over, but a friend of our called to check on plans for Christmas Eve, and Loren told her about our van and asked if they wouldn't mind picking us up for dinner instead of us driving over there, and she mentioned that her brother was a mechanic and he was working that day and gave us his number. So lucky us, he had the van fixed by Monday afternoon for much less that it would have cost us other places. What a Christmas miracle! We're discovering the hardships of having only 1 car, but it's still cheaper than having a car payment on a 2nd car each month. :) Loren and I both agree that we'd rather wait until we can pay for a car outright, rather than having to take out a loan.
Speaking of loans, our house search starts again next week. We would really like to move out of the apartment before the baby comes and we're starting to run out of time! 13 weeks and counting!! :D