Happy New Year, 2009!

Ok, so once again, I haven't been keeping up with my blog. I REALLY do mean to keep up with posting, but it's hard to find the time and energy. So, here's a little recap of the last 6 weeks.

The Ernst Thanksgiving Extravaganza at our house went really well. We ended up having 14 people for dinner, but an additional 3 family members showed up for cocktails and hors devours. Big Eddie and I smoked a 23 lb. turkey and it was DELICIOUS!! I followed my dad's smoking instructions and it came out absolutely perfect! It was a HUGE success and everyone loved it. I spent 40 minutes carving the turkey and got every ounce of meat off the bird. When all was said and done, there was only enough turkey left over for 3-4 sandwiches. Everyone seemed to have a great time and I was happy to host because it's big Eddie's favorite holiday.

After Thanksgiving, I started getting ready for little Eddie's first birthday and Christmas. Eddie turned one on Dec. 10, which was on a Wednesday. Eddie's grandparents (who normally live in town) were in Florida that week and my parents were in Alabama. We invited Uncle Jeff and Aunt Julie and we all went to Bellerive for dinner. Little Eddie was just getting over a cold, so he wasn't 100%, which made us eat quickly. Bellerive gave him a scoop of ice cream with a candle in it and little Eddie LOVED it! After dinner, we all came back to the house and watched Eddie devour his birthday cake. It was a lot of fun, even if it did make a HUGE mess! There was cake all over the place! After a quick bath, little Eddie got to open up a few presents....He received a Radio Flyer push car from Mom and Dad, and clothes from Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeff. My parents gave him some cute clothes and Eddie's parents gave him money.

Little Eddie's birthday party was held on Saturday, Dec. 13 at Gymboree. Eddie LOVES Gymboree, and since there wasn't any family around for a party, we invited all of Eddie's play group friends. We had 8 people at the party and it went really well. All of the kids really liked Gymboree and it was fun to see Eddie get cake all over himself (again)! Eddie received a lot of really nice toys from his friends, which he has been playing with non-stop!!

Christmas really snuck up on me this year. I never really got in the Christmas spirit and I'm not sure why. I think part of me is depressed that I didn't get pregnant (with a healthy child) right away. My little sister, Margaret, is pregnant again, and while I'm very happy for her, I'm sad that I have been trying longer than her to get pregnant with baby #2. I knew that there was a high possibility I would have trouble getting pregnant again, but I guess I was hoping it would happen right away. We have been trying to get pregnant with baby #2 for 8 months and I continue to have multiple miscarriages. I just have to keep hoping and praying that God will bless us with another child. If not, I will love the one child that I have fiercely and be grateful that I was given the chance to raise him!

Anyway, Christmas came and went. I wished that family could have been around to see little Eddie, but it didn't work out. Big Eddie's mom lives in Florida and doesn't like to travel, so she stayed in Florida. Eddie's dad was here, but he was working on Christmas. We did have him over on Christmas night for a prime rib dinner, but that was his only involvement with us and Christmas. I wished that he would have come over and watched little Eddie open presents, but he didn't come. Anyway, my family was in Alabama and weren't able to come up either. So, it was mainly big Eddie, little Eddie, and myself.

On Christmas Eve, we went to our church and then we went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, called Gerard's. Little Eddie received his 1-year shots the week before, so he was not feeling well. We struggled to get through dinner, but it was still really good. Eddie had blackened salmon and I had blackened tilapia. Little Eddie had jarred lasagna and peas. On Christmas Eve, big Eddie and I watched Christmas Vacation and enjoyed a bottle of champagne.

On Christmas, little Eddie still wasn't feeling well, so he only opened 2 presents before going down for his morning nap. Santa brought him a rocking horse, a "my first anywhere chair" from Pottery Barn, books, and a telephone toy. He also received lots of other toys from family members (which is why Santa didn't really bring him many toys). While little Eddie was napping, big Eddie and I opened up our presents from the family. Big Eddie received Barnes and Noble gift certificates, books, a board game called Stratego, clothes, and a game for the PS3. I received a robe, slippers, candy, cookbooks, and a beautiful dress from big Eddie. We had our traditional mimosas and pancakes for breakfast and had a pretty lazy day. As I mentioned earlier, I cooked a prime rib dinner with yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner. Gramps came over and stayed for a couple of hours, so it ended up being a nice dinner.

Big Eddie took the week after Christmas off from work....sort of. He didn't go into the office, but he did work from home. It was still nice to have him around and help with little Eddie. We took a lot of walks and went to the mall almost every day (just to get out of the house). We also went to the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis Art Museum. Both were really neat and fun to take little Eddie to, as he'd never been to either one.

New Year's Eve was fun, too. We got invited to a friend's house and we went! Little Eddie stayed at home with the babysitter and we went out and had a great time. Our friends grilled steaks for dinner and served them with mashed potatoes and salad. It was a great night, even if we did leave around 11:00 to relieve the sitter. After we got home, we watched the ball drop on TV and then went to bed. Pretty boring, huh? I guess once you have kids, it's hard to stay out late and party hard....especially when you know your child is going to be up at 6:30!

So, that's the update for now. With it being a new year, I hope to update more often.