Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It was especially wonderful because we got to spend it with most of our family without having to drive anywhere. On Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner followed by our traditional acting out and reading of the Nativity.

Peter was Joseph and K was Mary

My dad played both the donkey and the camel. 

My boys were the wisemen.

 Dane was the Angel and Abi was our shepherd.

I'm not sure what Tay was; maybe a Wise-Reindeer-Angel? 

After the Nativity we gave and shared our gifts to Jesus and then the kids opened one present and we all headed to bed. Christmas morning was magical. The boys and my nieces were crazy with excitement over what Santa had brought to them. 

Braden asked for a "Stuffy-Polar Bear"

Carter asked for a Spider-Man Umbrella

After the kids had their turn at opening all of their presents it was time for brunch and then later the adults got to open their gifts.

My dad got a lovely scarf! Just kidding, he just modeled it for us.

 

Poor Kameron was on call all weekend before Christmas and Christmas day but luckily he didn't get called in until after all the presents were opened. I am so grateful he was able to be home long enough to share the tender moments of Christmas with our family. Carter also had it rough as he came down with a cold and had a fever all day.

My mom, Gary and Gramma Willie joined us later in the Evening on Christmas day. The kids were extatic to open more presents. They brought the kids scented stuffed animals. They have a pocket in back where you can insert a small scented bag. They are so cool and the kids loved them.

Even Riley got one!

It really was a great Christmas. I am so grateful for all of my family and especially for all the help they lent while here. Being 8 months pregnant made it difficult to be a good hostess but I feel like I was the one visiting as I didn't have to cook, clean or do anything while they were here. In fact everyone helped clean the house when they got here and then cleaned it again when they left. They also helped me decorate the house since I hadn't done any decorating due to all the construction projects that were happening around here. It was a special Christmas, one that I will remember fondly forever.

Holiday Spectacular

One of our holiday activities leading up to Christmas day was attending the Holiday Spectacular at the Springs Preserve here in Vegas. We were awaiting this fun night all month long and were so glad that we could share the experience with our whole family.

They had a snow machine...the boys were in heaven!

Arts and Crafts was one of the biggest hits. 

The kids loved it so much they even skipped on decorating 

cookies so they could make more ornaments for the tree. 

 

Carter's favorite activity was the face painting.

 

Brady and K loved the "Reindeer" ride.

Cart was pooped by the end and despite the face...

Braden really did have a great time.

If I remember right, he was just sad we were leaving.

Winter Program

Braden's kindergarten class had a special winter program at the school just before the Christmas break. The kids performed some songs that they had been learning with their music teacher and they all did a great job. They also had a mini art fair where the kids displayed some of their masterpieces from art class.

 

4 More Weeks

The time is nearly here. I am so ready...unless you want to talk about the nursery and then I would say I'm not quite ready. But I will be ready by the big day. I was originally hoping to let my body start labor on my own and then head to the hospital, but my doctor wasn't keen on that plan. This being my 3rd C-Section, he was concerned that the stress of labor could cause complications that I certainly don't want to risk. So, the date has been set. By February 5th our little girl will be here! I can't wait to meet her!

It's a GIRL!

I had an ultrasound today at a specialty place here in Vegas to see our baby in 3D/4D. I was really excited as I've never done one of those ultrasounds before, that and I really wanted to get a for sure of what gender our little one is. At my previous ultrasounds the technician was only able to give me 90% surety that we were expecting a girl. Today though it was conformed - It's Definitely a GIRL!

At the beginning of the ultrasound she was turned backwards and we couldn't see her at all, but after drinking some cold water she turned around and then wouldn't stop moving. Even though she was moving, she stayed primarily curled up in a ball with her feet nearly wrapped around her head. Luckily though she moved her legs and hands just often enough that we were able to get some cute pictures of her face.

Lips

Squnchy Face

 

Foot

Fingers

Curled in a Ball

Mouth and Tongue

Licking her Knee

We also had a video done of the ultrasound but for some reason their recorder only recorded about 10 minutes of our session so they invited us back next week to do it all over again. I'm excited to see her again and to get more pictures - let's hope she cooperates again!