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!!

Garth Brooks Concert

Hey guys! Here are the pictures from the Garth Brooks concert (Cline's Christmas surprise). The story behind this is a few posts down.





Garth (I call him Garth - we're tight like that now that I've seen his concert live :) brought his wife out to sing one of my favorite songs - "She's In Love With the Boy." Trisha (I call her Trisha :), did great! (Cline actually did meet her randomly at a gas station, and had an extended conversation with her years ago, but that's another story)! Here they are singing, "More Than a Memory."

Cline is still talking about what a wonderful night that was and how much fun he had with me, and then again with his brothers a week later! I'm so glad we were able to go!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

Hello all!! Alright, I've finally been able to get to my pictures! I have several posts worth, so I'll start with this one. It's mostly pictures, so enjoy!

We hosted a cookie swap, and Christa loved making the cookies for the kids to decorate. Our great friend, Jamie, helped her roll out the dough and cut out the shapes!

Christa loved decorating the cookies, and decorated cookie after cookie!

Abby Kate is really fascinated with belly buttons right now. She will point, and say her version of the word "belly button," and loves sticking her finger in them. We can pretend this is a sweet picture of her feeling the baby move, or something, though :)

Christa's finished cookies!

Christa had her class Christmas party at school the day Cline and I left for the Garth Brooks concert. We both got to go to the party, along with Abby Kate, and had a great time!

Abby Kate fit right in with the big kids! She sat down and ate lunch and participated in the activities. I was really thinking about keeping her home next year, but she loves Christa's class so much that I'm re-considering.

They marched and danced to Christmas music!

Abby Kate's new face! So cute :)

Blogger is Really Frustrating Me!!!

Alright, people - I set aside some time this morning to post pictures from Christmas, and once again, I can not access my latest photos! Any help with this would be appreciated!! I thought the problem was our internet browser - Safari, so we downloaded Firefox, which worked wonderfully for the last few posts. Today, however, neither browser is letting me get to my last import of photos. So, I give up for now, because I have other tasks I was hoping to accomplish this morning, and I'll try again as soon as I can.

Bring on Christmas!!

Hello all!! We are having a decently busy but relaxing week around here! I have decided that I could really stay on top of things if I didn't have to do things like change the oil in my car, balance my checkbook, file tax paperwork, switch out clothes each season and pack away stuff that doesn't fit or is worn out, etc. I can handle caring for the kids, preparing meals (with the help of Oscar Meyer and Chef Boyardee:), doing laundry, paying bills, etc. It's all this "extra" stuff that piles up, and just when I think I'm caught up, I remember that these things need attention, too. Oh well - I can find any paper or item in the house that I need in 30 seconds or less, and that makes me happy, even if it is a lot of work!

I officially finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, and wasn't really planning on getting out much between now and Christmas. Then I remembered the oil needed to be changed, I do need ingredients for my Christmas dish, and I found out I have to pick out carpet, tile, and paint colors for the room/bathroom in the basement we're finishing by the day after Christmas! Luckily, I'm the happiest when I'm busy, and I purposely made myself catch up on everything that I possibly could before this week, so that I could handle these things while Cline is working a lot this week.

I surprised Cline with his Christmas present last week, and it was a hit!! He has ALWAYS wanted to see Garth Brooks in concert, and we've even explored the idea of going out for his Las Vegas show. But tickets are really hard to get, and it would be hard to take the kids with us, or leave them behind while traveling so far. When those things are combined with the enormous expense of the hotel room, plane tickets, babysitter, time involved, etc., plus the fact that I am quickly working my way towards "very pregnant" status, nothing has worked out. About a month ago, I heard about a series of benefit concerts he was doing in Nashville to raise money for the Tennessee Flood Relief!! I was too late to buy the tickets from the original sale, but I took my chances on a brokerage website, and scored 2 tickets about 7 rows back in the middle of the arena! I re-arranged his work schedule a little so that he wouldn't have to travel after working a night shift, booked a hotel room right across the street from the concert venue, arranged for an overnight babysitter, and didn't tell him anything other than we had plans Thursday and Friday of last week. On Thursday, as we were leaving, he asked where we were going (to make sure that the route I had planned was the best one - what faith:)! I told him we were going to Nashville, and he racked his brain to try and figure out what we could possibly be doing up there. His mind immediately went to a Dave Ramsey event of some sort.

We pulled into our hotel, and the nice gentleman who helped us out of our car asked if we were going to the concert. I replied, "yes," but that it was a surprise for Cline and he didn't know who we would be seeing. We got to our room, and I looked out our window onto a downtown strip. I saw the sign for the arena flashing their schedule, and told Cline that if he wanted to know what we'd be doing a couple of hours from then, he could look too. He thought that would be a great way to find out, so he looked as various performers flashed across the screen: Jeff Foxworthy, New Kids on the Block, Rush, and others. Finally, it said "Garth Brooks" and listed the dates. Cline dropped his mouth and said, "No way, is this some pay-per-view thing we're doing??" I assured him that as long as the tickets I had were legit, we were going to see Garth IN PERSON!! Cline was ecstatic and gleeful the whole night long, and couldn't believe we were actually there. He said it was the best Christmas present ever!! In fact, he liked it so much that he and his brothers are going again this week and driving through the night so everyone can work the next day!! It was a hit, and I was so happy to be able to pull off the surprise part of it!

I tried one last-ditch effort to see if he would jump on board the whole not-finding-out-what-the-baby-is-until-delivery right before the concert. It didn't work - he still really wants to know on Christmas, even with my fabulous gift. If that didn't convince him, I guess nothing will - sigh.

Christa is enjoying the pre-Christmas festivities, and our elf finally came to visit us this week. We named her Chokie-Nokie (a favorite, current phrase of Christa's), and Christa is having fun seeing what the elf does every night. She is learning about being sorry for things. Yesterday, she was playing with my Willow Tree Nativity set, and I suggested that she do something else. She was being really careful, and having a great time, so I told her to be very careful not to break anything, and made sure she was in a sturdy spot. A few minutes later, she slipped and dropped the shepherd, breaking it's hand. She immediately said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," several times. She was so sweet about it that I couldn't be mad, and told her I would fix it, but that from now on, we would play with that together, instead of her playing with it by herself. As we were saying our prayers last night, Cline asked her if there was anything she was sorry for that she wanted to pray about - something he does every night he is home to put her to bed. She immediately said that she wanted to pray about, "breaking Mommy's nativity." Such a sweet girl!! I told her this morning, that maybe the elf could fix it tonight while Christa is sleeping, and she went over to the elf and said, "Can you fix Mommy's nativity tonight??"

Abby Kate is all over the place as always, and back to her normal self after a 9 day stomach bug. I'm looking forward to seeing both girls react to the toys on Christmas morning!

Well, I'm going to go file some papers while I still have a few minutes. Have a very Merry Christmas!

It's Almost Christmas!

Once again, these pictures are a little out of order. One day, I'll remember to download them in reverse order, since I still can't figure out how to move them around on this internet browser. At any rate, we are busily getting ready for Christmas around here! After a week-long attack of the stomach bug and other germs, followed by a mild breakdown (by me, of course :), we are back on track! I have finished most of the Christmas shopping and wrapping, all of the decorating, and am ready to host a Cookie Swap tomorrow. We are very much in the spirit of things this year, and I am trying very hard to get it in my head that we do not have to do every possible thing every year. I figure that if whatever we get to do each year is enough, I will enjoy this time of the year so much more, instead of stressing out about it! I am also trying hard not to obsess over whether the girls will get too much/too little. Every year, I analyze every tiny gift, and wonder if it's too much and if I'm sending the wrong message to them about Christmas. This year, I am not letting that steal my joy of watching my 3 year old get excited about Christmas. She's 3 - not 7. To her, new toys are an exciting thing and she'll gladly take all she can get. I've decided it's unreasonable for me to expect her to care more about giving to others at this age, and we will gradually introduce traditions to teach that concept as she gets older.
We did get to go to a WONDERFUL lunch with Santa and Mrs. Clause today with some great friends. We were so honored to be invited, and had a fabulous meal with great company. The girls were a little bashful about sitting on Santa's lap, so we did a family pose this year! Enjoy the pictures (and a few from the last couple of weeks)!





Abby Kate turned 15 months on Dec. 2. It was a busy day, so I forgot to take her picture until the end of the day. Oh well - at least I got one!

Decorating the Christmas tree!


Have a great day!

Proof that My Diet Rocks!

Hey guys! A funny thing happened this week that I thought I'd share! (Actually, I have a few minutes to update the blog and couldn't think of much to say, but I still wanted to check in with those of you who still read this thing, and this is the best I could come up with! Is that the longest, run-on sentence ever??)

Anyway, I had my 24-week check-up this week. I arranged for some childcare (thanks, Mom!), got dressed, ate a typical breakfast of a chicken biscuit, large coke, threw in a small peppermint patty in an attempt to freshen my breath, and went on to the doctor's office expecting to hear the heartbeat, say hi to the doctor, and leave. I arrived, and, after waiting a little while, the nurse called me back and informed me that we were doing my 1 hour glucose test that day! Now, for those of you who have not birthed babies recently, here's the low-down on the 1 hour glucose test. You drink a super-sugary drink, wait an hour, and then have your blood drawn to make sure your blood sugar isn't too high. If you pass, end of story. If you fail, you have to take the 3 hour glucose test. These tests screen for gestational diabetes. Ideally, you should have fasted for several hours before you take this test, but they'll accept "normal eating." It is NOT a good idea to say, eat a candy bar... or a chicken biscuit, large coke, and peppermint patty right before you do this thing!

I explained to the nurse that I had just eaten (I didn't remember being warned about this beforehand, but maybe I'm supposed to just know these things since this is my 3rd time around)! She assured me that it wouldn't be a problem, and I drank the super-sugary beverage. I mentioned it again to the doctor, specifying the extent of the high-sugar meal I had just consumed, and he decided it would be better to hold off on the test since I was likely to fail. Alright, no big deal. However, long story short, after some failed scheduling attempts that took longer than expected, we decided to just go ahead and draw the blood on the off-chance I might pass, and then the scheduling conflicts would be resolved.

I rushed over to get the blood drawn, and, although I haven't spoken directly with the doctor, yet, I did get my results, and happen to have a little inside knowledge as to how to interpret them. Get this - not only did I pass, but my blood sugar level was actually LOWER than the desired limits!

As far as I know, this is great news! And to me, it's proof that my body is very used to processing insane amounts of sugar, and has adapted accordingly to my high-carb, high-chocolate, high-soda diet :)

p.s. - I'm really sorry if that's the most boring story ever :) It was funny to us, and I promise some new pictures this week!