Merry Christmas!!

As I sit here, rocking Madelyn to sleep for the 4th time tonight, i figured i could blog about something at the same time...she doesnt seem to mind, as long as she is being held :)

We finally finished up our last family christmas get together, it was a long week! We are so blessed to have such a big and wonderful family!

We started out the week last sunday by going to Nicks grandparents place in Dubuque....It was great to see everyone! Nicks aunt Lisa from San Antonio was back with his little cousin Dylan. Grace had a great time playing with him!! We were sad to hear that they wont be back next year for christmas, but happy to hear they would be back for Nicks brother Tony's wedding next fall.

here is a picture of the 4 of us at the christmas party in dubuque....i can't believe we are all looking in the same direction!
Next...we got together here in Cedar Rapids with my family....We just had a small get together with my mom, step dad and my step sisters. We had a great time just catching up and drinking some wine! Madelyn got a chance to show of her strong lungs....as she screamed for a good hour straight! Thankfully my sister Alyssa was finally able to rock her to sleep. Maddie has lots of really fussy nights, we're hoping she grows out of this soon....it can be pretty stressful at times! For some reason i didnt take my camera with me when we went to my parents....so i have no pictures to share :(

On Christmas Eve we always go to 5 o'clock mass and then head to Nicks parents house for pizza and gifts. This year it was extra fun because Sara (my soon to be sister in law) was there, and Madelyn was there too!! Nicks mom must have started to realize that i am a clean freak....she bought me a little green clean machine steam cleaner thing, i never would have thought i would be so excited about something like this!! anyways- here are some pictures from our Christmas eve celebration....

Even tho Nicks parents just live up the street...both kids fell asleep on the drive home...and stayed that way til morning! This year was so much fun with the whole "santa" thing....Grace really got into it, and she was so amazed that Santa ate all his cookies and he even left her a note! She was more excited about the huge bow that was on her Barbie car than she was about the car itself, but thats okay....


I always wanted a power wheels car when i was younger.....but never got one bc they were sooo expensive....i still think they are very expensive but thats why i woke up at 4am on the day after thanksgiving and headed to Wal-Mart for this one.

Grace asked Santa for a guitar, a pink one, so that she could play guitar with dad while he played his.....she really was excited about this, she just isnt a morning person and didnt want her picture taken....

Maddie really just slept thru the whole thing.....


With two more Christmas to go- we headed out to Wyoming Iowa to spend some time with Nicks other Grandparents, it didnt take long til Grace warmed up to everyone and was running up and down the halls screaming and playing!

here is a picture we got of the girls with their great grandparents.....Madelyn's head got cut off.... :(


at this point in the day, my camera was dead.....we headed back to my moms house for christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

needless to say, we had an exhausting week....but it was lots of fun and we truly are blessed to have such an amazing family!! We hope everyone else had as great of a holiday as we did!! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!!!

Snow Day!

Madelyn spent most of her snow day in the swing, she figured it was a good day to take a lot of naps :)

Gracie and mom made peanut butter cookies! We each ate one and then the dog jumped up on the kitchen counter and ate the rest. The dog spent the rest of the day in the basement, we were not happy!!

Grace and Nick headed out to do some shoveling, they were not making much progress....


Thankfully Nicks Dad (Wade) showed up with a snowblower and Nicks brother Jared. The driveway was clear in no time!!

Grace looooooved all the snow, she had a blast outside!!!

Rockin' the night away at Cedar River Landing

The Olive Street Band played at Cedar River Landing the other night to a GREAT crowd of family, friends and live music lovers. Some highlights from the night include a thunderous rendition of "Badlands," and a blistering version of "All Along the Watchtower" featuring special guest, Matt Rector (younger brother of drummer, Tom Rector), on lead guitar. The band also rumbled through an extended playing of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," played especially for the holiday season...and it wasn't hard to get into the holiday spirit with the heaps of snow outside.

The final three songs of the night "Proud Mary," "All Summer Long," and "Don't Stop Believing" even got Wade Ireland up and dancing. There were special shout outs to my aunt, Lisa Arenholz who was in the house all the way from San Antonio, Texas, and a dedication of CCR's "Looking out my Backdoor" that went out to my dad (Wade).

It looked like those who were there were enjoying themselves, which is all that counts at the end of the day. A big thanks to those who braved the cold and the snow and came out on Friday night!! It was so good to see so many smiles on so many friendly faces. The band will be playing in the area again soon...stay tuned!

Here's the complete setlist:
Badlands
I Fought the Law
Ring of Fire
Hungry Heart
Burning Love
We Didn't Start the Fire
Radio Nowhere
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
Runaround Sue
Daisy
Under the Bridge
Long Black Veil
I'm Going Down
Born in the USA
Move it on Over
Looking out my Backdoor
Thank God I'm a Country Boy
Piano Man
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
All Along the Watchtower
Hey Girl
Bad Moon Rising
Working on the Highway
Save Tonight
Learning to Fly
Better Man
Cherry Cherry
Centerfield
Authority Song
Cocaine Blues
River of Love
Cadillac Ranch
I've Been Everywhere
Last Dance with Mary Jane
Pretty Woman
Jack and Diane
Promised Land
Folsom Prison Blues
Hang on Sloopy
Proud Mary
All Summer Long
Don't Stop Believing

Oh the weather outside is frightful.....

...but the weather inside will be ROASTING with the Olive Street Band this Friday night (12/11/09) at Cedar River Landing in Cedar Rapids.

Just reminding you to take a break from all the hustle and bustle (and SHOVELING) and join the Olive Street Band for a night of great tunes, great fun and drinks. If you're in to good times, you need to be at Cedar River Landing on Friday night.

When:
Friday December 11 at 8:30 PM
Where:
Cedar River Landing, 301 F Ave NW Cedar Rapids, IA

What's on Tap:
Classic and contemporary favorites from Johnny Cash, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Tom Petty, CCR, Pearl Jam, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams, George Strait, Bob Dylan, OAR, Journey, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and much much more!!

The Inside Scoop:
Come early and grab a bite to eat (CRL has some pretty good eats!! We recommend the alligator fries.) and then let the OSB rock your night away. The OSB will be rolling out 10 new classic covers (including one or two holiday favorites). Get ready 'cause it's gonna be a party!

Looking forward to seeing you all!

--
The Olive Street Band
Ben, Matt, Nevin, Nick & Tom



Check out the OSB's Web site at:
http://olivestreetband.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

Follow the OSB on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/olivestreetband

Become a fan of the OSB on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Olive-Street-Band/214041060056

See and hear the OSB on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/olivestreetband--

new to the "blogging world"

I've always enjoyed reading other peoples blogs, so i thought i would give it a shot and create my own....I dont think i'll have much to "blog" about, but we'll see.

We recently welcomed a new little bundle of joy into our family. Miss Madelyn Elise is now 10 weeks old! She is growing so fast! She now weighs over 11 lbs, which is pretty big for a 10 week old! She doesnt miss any meals, thats for sure!

Grace has been adjusting well to life as a big sister. She loves to help out, sometimes a little too much! Since we brought Maddie home, Grace has leaned to use the big girl potty all by herself! I had spent months and months working with her in hopes that she would be fully potty trained by the time i had the baby.....i was unsuccessful at it tho. Turns out she just wasnt ready yet.....she woke up one morning and told me that she didnt want to wear diapers anymore, and she hasnt worn one since! She has had a few accidents, but usually only at night, since she refuses to wear a pull up at night.

here is a recent picture of Grace, she was a bumble bee for halloween....she had a blast trick or treating.