a wonderful christmas

We had such a great Christmas this year, full of laughs, food, fun, and exchanging gifts. I have always loved Christmas, and as my mom says, I am her Christmas girl. I just love it! I love buying for everyone and finding the perfect gifts. Some people are harder than others, but I guess that is part of the challenge :) It was fun and exciting knowing this would be our last Christmas as the two of us and knowing next Christmas we will be trying to keep up with our little one! For the last several years we have spent Christmas Eve night at my parents house so we can all wake up together Christmas morning. We still get up early :) Of course, its much later than all the years my brother would run in at 5 am waking us girls out of our bunk beds...I think we started unwrapping around 8:30 or 9 this year. With 8 people and TONS of presents it takes hours to get through presents, so my mom always fixes a great breakfast to end the morning with! Growing up my parents always put all of our presents in "towers"- my most favorite tradtion. One year I came home from college and my mom had already started putting the presents under the tree...I couldnt stand it, so she carried them all back upstairs so we could have towers Christmas morning. This year even Miss Hannah had a tower of course! My dad didnt quite understand why someone who wasnt even here yet needed a tower, but she does need the most stuff! Her tower was appropriately, pink :) We had alot of laughs Christmas morning and exchanged alot of great gifts. Jeremy got his GPS Tom Tom he had wanted (although we dont go too many new places!), new golf shoes and some new golf grips for his clubs. And, lots of clothes! I know men dont really like getting clothes for Christmas- but he really needed some! I got way too many cute Hannah things, and pyrex glassware with lids...wow...you know you are old when!!
By the end of the night we settled in for some games with Elf playing in the background. Now, my dad being the gambling man that he is (never misses a big meet at Churchill Downs or always ready for a competitive Fantasy Football season) had a little game in store for us all. He brought down a big jar of change and we all had to guess how much we thought was in the jar (the winner gets the money!). I am NOT good at that stuff, at all. I was hoping Jeremy could come through for us. We had to be within 10%...the lowest guess was $30 and the highest was mine at $160. As dad weeded through the wrong guesses it came down to Alex at $90 and Jeremy at $135. There was $139 in the jar! We won!! I know, Im probably way to excited about that but one of my Christmas presents to myself today was new tires (not excited about that!). So, $139 definitely helps! Next, dad had all the kids sit down for a game of Racko (if you have never played, run out and get it- I have loved this game since I was a kid). After we all sat down, he put a $50 Visa gift card on the table for the winner! Lindsay was the winner- Lucky girl!

Lindsay & Alex preparing Christmas Eve Appetizers

Jeremy kicking off Christmas Eve festivities with a cocktail!

Ruby at our house on Christmas Eve..she cant wait to go see her cousin Maggie!
The Christmas towers...I tried to squeeze them all in, I think I left a few out!

Hannah's Tower!
Ruby posing with antlers on...not too happy about it!

My moms "wacky" tree as she calls it, isnt it adorable!
Overall we had an awesome Christmas. Nothing makes me happier than being with my entire family. I have this next week off and will be filling it with alot of projects! I have a ton of organizing to do and just odds and ends things we have to do before she arrives. I think we have most everything we need for her, we just need her! We have an appointment to check on Hannah on Wednesday and Im sure Ill have more of an update then!
Ive been getting a little more tired as we wind down this last month and she is still so high up that eating and breathing are getting a little hard! Two kind of important things :) I told Jeremy today, "I dont even remember what my waist used to look like." How easy we forget!
I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and is preparing for a great 2010! We don't have big New Years plans, obviously, but I am really trying to savor each moment these last few weeks as the two of us. We will probably just enjoy a nice dinner out and a movie. One of my favorite things to do with my hubby. It's a weird feeling knowing you wont ever be the two of you again. Its a GREAT feeling!

35 weeks & 35 Days

WOW! We have reached 35 weeks, which leaves us with 35 days left! (Maybe!) The rate this chunker is growing we will see! I think reality is starting to set in as I walk past her stroller/carseat in the kitchen, the pack-n-play in our room (it has an adorable bassinett feature that we will use for the first few weeks), or just looking into her room. Or maybe the mounds of her laundry that we have already done so she can wear all her adorable things when she arrives! We do so much laundry now, I cant imagine how much we will have when she's here. We had our tour of the Labor and Delivery floor last week and that was pretty neat to see where Hannah will arrive. All the rooms look really nice, and they even have a nice pull out chair/love seat for Jeremy to sleep on :) I feel like we have done about everything we can to prepare for her...now we just need HER! I am getting really excited and VERY Ready! Especially when I wake up at 3 am and can hardly roll out of bed because my back hurts so bad. I will say that really has been one of my biggest problems. Despite the first 11 weeks, I shouldn't complain too much. It just gets so hard to move as you get bigger. Doing everyday tasks are a little challenging! Here is a pic of me at 35 weeks...YIKES!

Doing the Math

We had another appointment to check on Miss H today and after doing the math…this little one is going to be a chunker!! Are you ready for this…at 34 weeks and 5 days she weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces!! WOW! Our last growth ultrasound was on Nov. 24th and she weighed 4 pds 4 oz. That’s a little over half a pound a week! I still have 5 weeks left! The ultrasound lady said she had chubby cheeks (again) and a nice size tummy. I said, uh oh…that’s nice for “big” but she said, no, you would definitely rather have big cheeks and a nice size tummy than a big ol head! TRUE! Everything else was good and we get to see her again next Tuesday, and every week after that until I deliver. I love having all the pictures that we have of her. Today we got a glimpse of her face and another shot of her nose and mouth. I just can’t wait to meet her! Im just hoping she is not earlier rather than later…I know by January I’ll probably be ready to get her out, but it doesn’t flow with my daycare/babysitter schedule! I plan on taking 12 weeks, so if she comes on time then I will go back to work late April. My mom is going to watch her all summer (SO happy about that!) so I will only need someone for May and a week or so in June. Then we will start daycare in August. So, she can’t come early because then I would need someone earlier! I want to come back to work as late as possible! So…little chunker…stay put. For a while.

We don’t have big plans this weekend and I’m very glad about that. I have Christmas shopping to get done and a baby’s room to organize! Oh and I need to sleep. Have I mentioned my sleeping is a little off? I wake about 4 something almost every morning (whether it’s Ruby gracing us with her presence or I have to run to the bathroom) I toss and turn and cannot fall back asleep. Oh and since being pregnant Jeremy has picked up snoring. It’s awesome. So I would just love one full night of sleep. However, I think those days are over!
Alex is in town…YAY! Im sure I’ll capture him at some point and make him hang out with us. I just love that he will be home for so long. I work Monday and half of Tuesday next week, then I am off until January 4th! That’s great because I have lots of projects!!
I’ll try to post the ultrasound pictures we have from today. They show her face a little bit, and those of you that are great at watching scrambled TV might be able to make out a nose and a mouth!

Surprise!

I had the best surprise at work today....they threw me a surprise baby shower! The original plan was to have a Christmas Potluck with everyone but instead it was really a baby shower for me! Best surprise of all, they invited my mom and Jeremy to come too! I loved seeing them there, it was so fun! We had lots of great food, fun, and I got the most adorable stuff!! The biggest gift, they all chipped in and got me a $300 gift card! WOW! I was touched!! That helps so much and can really round out everything we need for little missy. I figure whatever we have left can be saved for several trips for diapers and wipes :)
My day started out AWFUL...I was going to treat myself to a big unsweet tea from McDonalds, with extra lemon, just the way I like it, so I left a little early to give myself enough time to get it. When I pulled out, I noticed the styrofoam cup had a small leak in the bottom which was quickly filling my cupholder, so I put a small rag in the cup holder to sop it up, but the cup was not in there very well and as soon as I took the corner, the whole cup went sloshing all over the passenger floor board. So I quickly grabbed it, put it back in the same cup holder (dumb I know, but it had a little bit of tea left and it was still leaking) as soon as I took another corner, the rest of the 32 oz. splashed all over the floorboard again! AAHHHH!! So it was filled with 32 oz of tea, ice and my 4 lemons I specifically requested (at least McDonalds got that right!) I didnt know if I was more upset I lost my tea, or that I had just cleaned my floor mats! So...I stood out in -12 wind chill weather cleaning out ice, lemons and tea. Not fun! Work was a little hairy that morning as well and I was just hoping for it to get better! I knew we had a potluck that day, but had no clue it would turn out so fun!
LAST Baby class tomorrow night and our tour of the Labor and Delivery floor. Kind of glad its our last class...we have been to SO many, I think we know all we possibly can. After all, I think you just learn as you go anyways! Check up on Miss H on Friday, then onto the weekend! Next week is a short week for me, then a MUCH needed vacation!! I AM so excited for Christmas this year, and looking so forward to spending time with my family. Lindsay and Alex will be home and that is always fun! Except we wont be waking Lindsay at 4 am to go Black Friday shopping this time. She will be glad! We dont really shop the day after Christmas, the only thing I like to get are Christmas boxes and wrapping paper anyways. Im looking forward to almost 2 weeks of relaxing and getting ready for Hannah. When I get back to work it will be January 4th and I will be 20 days away from my due date. I knew it would fly by during the holidays!

Getting There!

We are getting so close to the nursery being finished! We picked up the dressers on Thursday and I am SOOO happy we went with those dressers. They match the crib perfectly and look great! We have 12 whole drawers and they arent even filled yet! We still have to decide where we want some picture frames to go and also leave room for pictures of her, but for the most part, she could move in today! Here are a couple pictures of her changing dresser and the glider- where I know Jeremy will spend so much time!

We had such a nice weekend! Friday my mom came over, we ordered pizza and worked hard in Hannah’s room. It’s getting more organized, but I figure once she is here I will have to re-organize a little once I figure out the things I use the most and the least, etc. But it’s a fun process! Saturday we met with a pediatricians group to determine who we want to see her in the hospital. We met with All Children Pediatrics and really like them. I can check that off my list!
Right after that, we headed to Owensboro for Christmas with Jeremy’s family. We even took Ruby, which we will never…..do…..again……She was awful. I mean awful. Surprisingly, she was REALLY good with the kids. Which did give me some relief. For the most part she didn’t even bother them, unless they had something she wanted. But it was a CONSTANT battle to get things out of her mouth. With 3 kids running around of course there were tons of toys but that dog cant leave anything alone. And she NEVER stops. She didn’t lay down once. During the night she just paces- she never sleeps. So we don’t sleep either. Poor Jeremy had to take her out 3 times in the middle of the night. Is this supposed to get us ready to be parents? If so, we need a break…we need our sleep NOW before she comes! By the time we got home, she was passed out asleep. So were we…I am embarrassed to say what time we got in bed, but I think I got a FULL 9 hours which I havent had since probably September!
We had a great Christmas with his family; I got a snuggie- which I am VERY excited about! Jeremy got an air compressor, which he has wanted for so long and we got a great little video camera to record Hannah!
We had a lot of fun playing with the kids, especially playing “Guess Who” with Jacey. That was a game I loved growing up and I even had fun playing it now! Jacey and I beat Jeremy about 6 times in a row!
I hope everyone had a great weekend too! We are getting SUPER excited for Christmas! Especially me, because I am off for almost 2 weeks and looking SO forward to a break. I have so many things on my list to get done!

Hannah's Got a Brand New Bag

Well...I have a brand new bag that I will carry Hannah’s stuff around in :) This is Hannah’s new diaper bag and I think it turned out pretty cute. I got the actual bag from Pottery Barn, but then had it monogrammed and put a pink bow on it (of course!) Im sure at some point Ill be tired of lugging it around but I cant wait to fill it full of stuff!


Oh and our dressers are IN!! I am so excited! It made my day! (I told Jeremy that I didn’t even have one ray of hope that we would be getting them this week, so when he told me they called I was very excited!! It doesn’t take much!) We are going to pick them up tonight and I will work on putting stuff away until I need to go to bed! Tomorrow I am taking a half day off- so I will Christmas shop and organize! (Yes I am one of those crazy people that organizing and having a clean house make me complete!) I'll post pictures as soon as her room is a little more presentable!

Overdue!

Not me! My blog posts! But we have been so busy and our computer is acting up, I haven’t really had a chance to squeeze one in! We have had a lot going on lately- all things baby! We had our last childbirth class on Saturday- we learned all kinds of breathing techniques, and at the end of class I learned that hopefully I won’t need to know those breathing techniques because I will be all drugged up with an epidural! Ha! Of course she did say Kentucky has a 17% epidural failure rate, so I started paying attention again!
After our class we left for our baby shower in Owensboro which was so much fun! Jeremy’s sister and his aunt threw us such a nice shower. The highlight was the “Bobbing for Pacifiers”, that game was hilarious! And much harder than you think! The kids loved it too!
Yesterday we had another Biophysical profile test for Hannah and she passed with an 8 out of 8, perfect score! I said her Granmommy, the teacher, would be so proud she aced her test! The ultrasound lady said she had chubby cheeks! (I told Jeremy, “you know she tells us that everytime, right!?!”)
This ultrasound was so neat because as they watch to make sure the baby swallows, we got to see her swallow over and over again. We saw her mouth and tongue moving and Im not sure why but it really touched me. Even though we’ve had several ultrasounds, and have lots of great profile pictures of her, to see her actually moving and doing the things that babies do outside of the womb was just incredible to me. She put on a show for us and I loved it! It’s like she was saying, Im doing good in here mom!! Even though Im counting down the days until she can get out of there!
Less than 50 days! About 6 ½ weeks and it could be less than that! I hope not too much less because we need her dressers to get here! Ha! Her room is almost ready, but quite a disaster area. Basically the floor is a giant shelf right now. I have started washing her clothes, and her bed is ready for her, but we have a lot of things we need to put away. I loved washing her clothes and seeing a sea of pink in the washer!
I am taking a good amount of time off at Christmas and I’m so glad that I am because we have a lot to do! Once her dressers get here- I will be so relieved but I have a lot of odds and ends things that need to be done…I do believe that is nesting, correct!?! Im probably creating more work for Jeremy and I, but we wont have much time for anything come January.
We are heading to Owensboro again this weekend to have Christmas with Jeremy’s family. I am really looking forward to it. I absolutely love Christmas time, so anything I can do to spread it out, is great! I wanted to go earlier rather than later, because even though Owensboro is only 2 hours away, you never know what could happen as I get further along. Of course Im a crazy planner and organizer so I probably wont travel too far from Louisville in the next coming weeks…HA! I am already working on a hospital bag…I know, I know! Way to organized, but I can’t stand the thought of being in a situation where I am not prepared with all the things I need for my little stay!
I hope everyone has most of their Christmas shopping done; I have lots left to do!