Houseman Family: Christmas Vacation...the good and the bad!

Warning...this is a long post!

It's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone and we are entering into a new year. It's been a good Christmas break. It was nice having time to spend with the family, especially since Jordan has been out of school since he graduated. Jayla loves getting to spend time with her Daddy during breaks and it always takes her awhile to get used to him going back to school.
On Christmas eve the weather was wonderful! We went to the park and to the beach. It didn't help me get into the Christmas spirit but it was neat being able to be on the beach on Christmas eve. The water was freezing but Jayla still loved playing in it. We had to take her pants off because she was soaked. Her poor feet were bright red because it was so cold, but she loved every second of it! She is our little beach baby

Santa was good to our kids this year. Jordan got an mp3 player that he wanted (he only wants to listen to 2 songs over and over again!), a putting mat, football, and some movies. Jayla got a tinker bell tea party set, a doll house, mr. potato head, and a little puppy dog. Dad got an Ipod touch for graduation/christmas so I got him some accessories for that, some shirts, and movies. Jordan treated me good this year and got me a label maker, rice cooker, sheets and a cricut cutting machine.

After Christmas morning we tried to take a little nap and then packed up the car and headed to Ohio! The drive started out fine, the kids weren't sleeping as well as we thought they would but the weather was good...and then we hit a road closure due to a rock slide. So we had to travel back 25 miles to get a detour. The signs were very unclear so we followed our GPS, big mistake!! We ended up on these icy windy back roads in the Smokey mountains. It was horrible! And then to make things worse Jayla puked all over. So we had to clean her up on the side of the road. I held her in the back seat until she puked all over me and then it was Daddy's turn! After smelling vomit for a few hours and having a strong gag reflex thanks to being pregnant, I gave in and had to throw up. The drive ended up taking us an extra 3 hours. It is definitely going on my list of the worst experiences of my life! And just to top it off, today in the mail we got a ticket from some dinky town in Tennessee that took a picture of Jordan speeding at like 3:00 in the morning when we were lost and Jayla was sick!
But once we made it to Ohio we had a great time! Jayla is finally out of her attachment stage and she really loved playing with grandma, grandpa, her uncles and cousins. Jordan's family always does a big Christmas party, the kids all get presents and the grown-ups do a gift exchange. I got a brownie pan, not just any brownie pan, I got the one you see on TV that slices the brownies for you and I must say it's pretty cool! Jordan got a slider maker (little burgers) we haven't used it yet but we are very exited to give it a try! We ate a lot of food and watched a lot of football! I was also able to see my brother for an afternoon which was great!
I'm making a few goals for the new year. Potty train Jayla, snack healthier, have a baby and then lose the baby weight! I think these are obtainable.
We hope that everyone had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year!