Dear Santa, I Want Snowflakes for Christmas!

Hello again! This will be my final post for today - Christmas Pictures!! We had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - one of the best ever for sure! The girls got many nice, new, toys, and had a blast. This is the first year that Christa has really understood the whole concept of Santa and receiving presents on Christmas day, and it was so much fun to see her get so excited! We changed things up a little this year, and switched around some of the allotted family time, and it was a good change for sure! This year, we were able to have more time to be at home and play with the new toys, and the time with each of our families was more relaxing. We also found out what the baby is!! Yes, I caved, and let Cline know, and I am very happy with the way we learned what baby #3 is - more on that when we get to the picture!

Santa brought Christa a pink computer for Christmas, along with a new stroller, some princess dress-up things, and a few other small toys!

Santa also brought a fun present for Cline, which Christa opened up for us!! We were all pretty convinced we were having a boy. I know you are not supposed to read too much into the symptoms of each pregnancy, but I have had so much energy and gained so much less weight this time around, that I was sure it couldn't be a girl. Even Christa said it was a boy! We (and most of you:) were way wrong, and I am now proof that every pregnancy is truly different, regardless of the gender! Thank you so much, Lori, for getting this present for us - it was a blast!! And for the record, we are very, very excited to be having another girl. Many people are making the assumption that we are disappointed that we are not having a boy since we already have 2 girls, and that is just not true!! A boy would be fun and different, and very loved, but so will this precious girl, and we are no less excited to have pink in the house for a few more years. We are as thrilled as can be, and are just might have picked a name :) I am, however, starting a personal-sanity-Hawaii fund for the teenage/high school years and a wedding fund for the young adult years, so if you would like to contribute to either of those, please let me know ASAP :)

Christa started saying that she wanted Santa to bring her snowflakes for Christmas a couple of days beforehand. While she didn't get everything on her list, this one was delivered in a big way!!

Abby Kate loves her new baby doll!! It even has dark hair like she does!

Posing for pictures at the end of a busy, fun, and wonderful day.

The day after Christmas: My teenage 3-year-old. Notice the hot pink cd player right behind her (I think Hillary Duff was her music of choice when this picture was taken), and the pillow pet under her head. The lined-up Disney figurines remind me she's still my little girl, though :)

Again, enjoying her new cd player.

Fun in the snow the day after Christmas. We didn't build a snowman, but Cline enjoyed some sledding on the family farm!

Christa enjoyed the snow, too, but preferred sledding with Daddy pulling her around gently :)

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas, as well!! We were supposed to be at the beach this week, but Cline's grandmother came down with an unfortunate case of the Shingles. That, combined with some other scheduling conflicts, led us to the decision that a week at home would be better this year. I have to say, I am sad that Cline's grandmother doesn't feel well, but a week at home with no plans has been fabulous so far!! We are enjoying the new toys with the girls and doing some projects around the house that will make life easier once Baby Girl gets here. It's been very relaxing and productive at the same time - my favorite combination :)

2010 was another great year for our family!!  Looking forward to meeting our 3rd daughter and many other blessings in 2011!!