Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays Family!

This post will serve as our holiday letter/card since we were unable to get one out - primarily due to the constant and feverish need to paint blocks during every waking moment.  The good news is, that after nearly 6 months, the blocks are pretty much done and ready to be wrapped for David's 2nd birthday (which is coming up on Thursday - where does the time go?) For those who are wondering, "what is up with the blocks?", this project started this last spring when I threw a baby shower for a co-worker.  There had been a babyboom at work and this shower was for baby #11 (or something) in a two year period.  Because there had been soooo many babies (David was number 8ish) I felt the need to find an activity for the shower that had yet to be done b/c we'd pretty much done everything already.  I scoured the internet and pinterest for ideas and fell upon the project of making baby blocks so I got a set ready for the shower.  Immediately I knew I needed to make a set for David (a set is 30 blocks so it creates a complete and reasonable rectangle for storage) but I neglected to realize how labor intensive it would be to create a set all by myself (not totally by myself b/c the grandparents/anuts/uncles and cousins each did one).  I also had a mental block when it came to standing those stinking blocks.  I thought I'd be able to sand a couple here and there over the summer while David played but he started walking and then running and I found myself without any downtime to be able to sit outside and sand.  But there is a no motivator like a deadline so December was painting bootcamp around here.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do now with all my free time.  I must be a glutton for punishment though b/c I know around this time last year I was frantically trying to finish a quilt out of the backdrops from his weekly pictures.  I do know one thing - the next child is never going to get this level of parenting.  It's way too exhausting :) 

The blocks did turn out cute though, don't ya think?
 

I guess if this is a our holiday card I should put our holiday picture - right? Photos this year were interesting...To try and save money we asked our neighbors if they could shoot some pictures of us in the woods near our apartment.  Hilarious.  I now know why we pay photographers what we do.  Holy crap - it was sooo stressful! Following are some of the photos from our attempt...

We tried.

2013 was a good year for us.  We're still in Madison, but planning/hoping to move on by fall.  Jim is applying for jobs so we are praying that there will be something for us somewhere!  I took a new job b/c of major restructuring that went on at the hospital where I was working.  The elimination of the 3pm-3a shift is what pushed me over the edge b/c I would have been transitioned to the 7p-7a shift and I was not interested in working nights again (I worked straight nights my first year there).  I now work with endoscopy procedures at the UW digestive health clinic and it's a good fit given my heightened interest in digestive ailments (for obvious reasons).  It was a big transition going from working 2 days per week (12 hour shifts) to 4 days per week (8 hour shifts) but we're making it.  Jim stays home with David so it's nice that we don't need to send him to daycare.  Jim's career is coming along - this year he won best student paper at the Music Theory Midwest conference and also had a paper accept for publication in one of the most notable Music Theory Journals (Music Theory Spectrum).  He has also started working at the Music Library which he enjoys.

David continues to grow at the speed of light and is turning into a precious little boy.  His language is coming along at such a rate that we haven't been able to keep track of all the new words.  He's basically speaking in sentences and can communicate most all of his wants/needs.  I'm thankful everyday that he is part of our lives.

You probably heard we came down with the norovirus - the good news is we are fully recovered and able to take advantage of the holiday days off.  Here's a peek of what's been keeping us busy since we got back to Madison. 

We've been doing lots of sledding - here's another video of David going down the hill

 I can't help but smile when I watch this! I hope it makes you smile too!

The turkeys are back - here's David feeding them

We also made it out to Tenney Park before the bitter cold set in

 

Today was super cold so we went to Olbrich Gardens to see the trains and hang out in the greenhouse.  It was a great respite from weather.  

 

Well, it's almost 2014 so it's time to sign off.  I need to get one more layer of Shellac on those blocks before bed. 

Happy New Year!
Love,
The Bungerts