Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

I know, I know, I am not keeping up as much as I promised, but you must believe me when I say that the last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of holiday hustle and bustle. So the last time we left Peanut was waving "Hello" to the world. Peanut is still growing, as am I. I am trying to remember to send Jay picture messages of my progress. The last one I sent was only appropriate for Jay: His wife preggo in a wifebeater. I have now realized why he wears them so much. They are soooo comfortable. I mean, I am wearing them as undershirts, to bed, around the house, and I believe I have even made a short appearance in public to get the mail. Good lord...I guess it was only a matter of time before I would take on his ways. (Jay your plan is working)

I guess I will start with the 5 day Christmas marathon. This spaztastic blizzard blew into Arlington first and hit the von der Heydt's for a quick dinner and gift exchange Friday night. Then traveled down to Mansfield to visit the Gudgell house for a quick breakfast and gift exchange. Made a trip back up to Arlington to celebrate with Mike over lunch and more presents :) , and finally settled over Mansfield for the evening to catch dinner and a dance party.

Oh but this blizzard had some strength and was just getting started...That next morning she made her way down 35 blowing past the 10 thousand cops on the road, with nothing better to do than ruin traveler's holiday, to the good old community of Seguin. They hadn't seen a spaztastic anything hit their town in a long time. None the less, they were willing and waiting at Debbie and Donnie's house along with the entire Magin family. We had an afternoon of my favorite Magin Christmas tradition, spaghetti and meatballs, laughter, and yes that's right, another gift exchange! woohoo. Gift giving is so much fun!

Well it wasn't until the next mornig, Christmas Eve, that the blizzard started making its move again; her sight set on Buda, Texas and the Colonnetta Christmas (My mom's side of the family) where a wonderful new tradition was started: BRUNCH in PJs. Its fun, exciting, and relaxing all at the same time, what we all need during each of our own Christmas marathons. The Colonnetta family is always known to bring laughter loud enough for the next town to hear, fun, food, and most of all games! Yeah that's right, Jay and Scott you are reading it correctly...DOTS!

It was time for this hyper, indecisive weather system to make a move again back to Seguin...it was Christmas Eve and carols were needed to be sung at Christmas Eve service. Fortunatley, St. James had a children's choir to muffle my beautiful voice. And goodness, we can't not have a picture in front of the tree...this year it was actually my idea, not mom's.

Finally the blizzard began to lose steam and settled in Seguin for the two days just in time for Christmas morning with the 'rents, ang, and nick. (everyone missed you Jay at each gathering) I think it would be an understatement to say that this year was the year of technology. So many gifts were exchanged that required downloading, an hour long introductory course, installation cds, and too many power cords to count. GPS Devices, IPODs, Digital frames, Digital books, Video baby monitors, Irobots, and a new found love for high speed internet at the Magin house thanks to a 50 foot tower and a quick course on Itunes given to the 'rents given by Angie and Lauren Lea.

There was just enough time for a stop at El Ranchito before the weakening blizzard traveled east and would no doubt fizzle out. So my 12 days of Christmas wrapped up in a hectic but fun-filled 5 days left me excited to get back to Texas to see all those friends and family members again.

I hope everyone's Christmas was as exciting, exillerating, and exhausting as mine. It just wouldn't be the holidays if you didn't need a vacation afterwards. Unfortunately, Augusta did not have one waiting for me...it looks like we might actually be selling our house by the end of the year. Yeah you read it right...THE END OF THE YEAR!

I found a buyer the day I signed with the realtor, great luck...but I am actually glad that I have her because I would have been lost and this entire process would have taken a lot longer. Anyway the buyer is military and will be getting a VA loan which lends to some difficulty and much anticiption. We had agreed on our terms but the deal seemed to weigh on the appraisal of the house. Long story short, the appraisal came through (12/27) as did the inspection (12/29) and it looks like we are closing on 12/31/07. Jay and I have managed to get out of the sell a little better than we expected. We thought we might lose his whole bonus to pay out our home loan, but the cards played in our favor. We should be able to make the money back by the time he gets back from the stan.

I have to be out of the house by Jan. 14th....those details are to come. I haven't quite figured all that out yet. I just found out everything would go through yesterday! But it is looking like we are driving back MLK weekend and should be in town that Monday or Tuesday. I hope you are all keeping up with our pace of life. I know I am struggling to. Thank you all for being there through all of this. I feel like I can't say it enough. I may need a little more shoulder to lean on in the next several months, but we have almost made it through the first hard part. The second hard part doesn't come for another 5-6 months. However, its the good hard part. The pitter patter of tiny feet and combat boots will be music to my ears!