Our Christmas

We had a really good Christmas this year. It was much more relaxing and enjoyable than last year's. On Christmas Eve, we headed over to my grandmother's house for sandwiches and gift exchange. We decided not to go to the candlelight service at church Christmas Eve because they don't have a nursery open during the service. Aden probably would not want to sit through it, so we didn't try it. Of course, we left out milk and cookies for Santa before heading to bed.

We slept in a little on Christmas morning, which was nice for a change. James opened up the envelope with the gender ultrasound picture and he just could not believe that we are having a girl. He said that he had hoped it was a girl, but thought it was another boy. After finishing up opening gifts with our little family, we went over to my mom's for a big Christmas lunch. Christmas night, my MIL and SIL came over for finger foods and gift exchange. I spent the rest of the extended weekend relaxing and being lazy.

 
James and Aden Christmas morning


Aden and I ready to go to mimi's house for lunch
 
Oh my, did santa bring lots of presents to mimi's!
 

Mimi and Aden

Aden's new tractor...

Train table with Thomas railway set...

And the Gender is.....

It's a GIRL! Yea, so exciting. Now we will have one of each!

Hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Catching Up!

We have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to catch up on the blog.

Montessori had 3 caroling events for the kids last week, but we only attended one, which was at Chick-fil-A. It was "Spirit Night" and the kiddos sang Christmas carols. They even did Feliz Navidad completely in Spanish, which was pretty impressive (of course this didn't include the tots class). A percentage of the food sales were donated to the school during the event, so we had a quick dinner there as well.

I made my first tutu! It is a little Christmas gift for our niece, Mackenzie. Overall, I think that it turned out well considering that I had no clue what I was doing. And poor Aden had to try it on for measuring purposes (he and Mackenzie are close to the same height anyway). =)

I have been fighting the insanity of the last minute shopping. I think that I am almost finished!!! Sunday we had a Christmas lunch at our house for my inlaws that we will not see on Christmas and following that, Aden's birthday party was at Chuck E Cheese. We had a really good turn out. I can't believe that he is already 2! Time goes by so fast.

Yesterday, Aden had his 2 year well check with Dr. Cheshier. He's 31 lbs. and 36 inches tall. Three Feet tall seems really tall to me for his age; the nurse said that he is in the 90th percentile.

And today...is our big day to have the ultrasound. I can hardly wait! After work last night, James said that he wants to have the ultrasound tech write down the gender on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. He wants to wait until Christmas to open it! I'm a very impatient person and just don't think I want to wait. I have waited long enough, right? Anyway, I may look and just let him find out on Christmas! We will see.

Here are a few pictures. I didn't get any good pictures from Aden's birthday party because I conveniently forgot to delete old pictures from the memory card so we ran out of space. James did take a few with my MIL's camera, so maybe those will turn out.


My first tutu


Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A


Cousin Mackenzie and Chuck E.


A shot of the birthday table

Playgroup Christmas Party

This past Saturday afternoon we had our playgroup Christmas party (for the working moms). We had lots of snacks and a secret santa exchange. The kids really enjoyed playing with all of the toys. It was nice of Erica and Hayden to share their lovely home with us.


Aden ready to go to the party.


Some of the kids in the playgroup.


Enjoying some snacks.


Sweet Hayden


Moms

November Family Pictures

We have already had our family pictures taken this year (jessica meinardus photography), and I did not plan on doing them again. My friend Sabrina in my meetup mom's group told me about a photographer friend of hers (Beaty Photography). We got such an amazing deal that I decided to go ahead and do pictures again. Aden has changed so much since our pictures were done in May and I wanted a current picture to use for our Christmas cards. It was super windy and cold, but they still managed to get some great shots. Aden is super hard to photograph because he is more interested in exploring. I picked our photo cd from Emily Beaty this week
and here are a few of the shots:

Townclub Luncheon with Santa and Fort Smith Christmas Parade

Today James, Aden, mom, and I went to the Townclub luncheon with Santa. We had a late lunch reservation at 2:00, so that we could stay after and watch the parade from the balcony. Santa came to our table to say hi to Aden and gave him a few candy canes. Unfortunately, Santa left just before we were able to snap a picture of he and Aden in the den. After lunch, we watched the parade from the balcony. It was a little windy, but not too cold. Here are some pictures from our day!


Aden enjoying some pudding after lunch. My favorite picture of the day.


James, Aden, and mom on the balcony ready to watch the parade




Santa Float


Montessori Float


Care Bear Float

Our Christmas Decorations are finally up!

Well, sort of. We have two of those little prelit trees outside on each side of the front window. The wind keeps blowing one over and I need to put some ribbon on them.

Aden has been pulling the ornaments off of the tree, but we're working on that.

We have a few things lined up for the weekend. While James is at work tonight, my mom, Aden, and I are going to go to the drive-thru Christmas exhibit at the Living Bible Church. They have live animals, so hopefully Aden will enjoy. And tomorrow... James, Aden, my mom, and I are going to the Luncheon with Santa at the Townclub. We may or may not stay to watch the parade. I should have some pictures to post from the luncheon as well.

My picture taking skills aren't the greatest, but I have posted pictures of our decorations below:


China hutch - sorry for the glare from the flash

Trifle bowl with ornaments

Mini Christmas Village in the hutch

Our tree

Little Personalized Snowmen Canvas - I have been enjoying www.personalizationmall.com

Nutcrackers and trees above the kitchen cabinets



Pantry Door

Planter Space# 1

Planter Space # 2

Stockings (Yes, there are four- I'm planning ahead)

Top of the armoire

Belated Thanksgiving Post...

I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday! Ours was good - a little hectic, but we managed. We got to eat lots of yummy foods. We have so much to be thankful for, but most importantly, our family and friends. Thank you for being a part of our lives.

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday with Dr. Rainwater. I just love her so far! She is super nice and answered all of my questions thoroughly. I didn't feel as though she was in a hurry to get on to the next patient. All went well - my blood pressure is good, no proteins in urine, and we listened to the baby's heartbeat. I set up my 20 week ultrasound for December 23rd. I am looking forward to finding out if we will have another boy this time or a little girl.

We have been super busy lately. James is consumed with preparing for his finals at school and working. I have been planning Aden's birthday, decorating for Christmas, and working on shopping for gifts. I am still not finished with my decorations, but I am determined to get it done within the next few days. Hopefully, I will have some pictures to post soon.

Sydney's Birthday Party...

We celebrated Sydney's 1st birthday this afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. We have been there several times lately. Aden loves Chuck E., so naturally he was excited about going to the party. We had a busy day and Aden didn't get a nap. He did very well considering. Here are a few pictures from the party:


The birthday girl


Aden riding the Barney train


Aden driving a car

Happy Birthday Miranda!!!

Tonight we had a surprise birthday dinner for Miranda at 21 West End. There were 15 of us total. Miranda had planned on meeting James and I for dinner, but had no idea that we had a surprise planned. The food was really good and we finished it off with a chocolate and strawberry cake from Confectionately Yours. Here are a few pictures from our evening:



Miranda after she blew out the candles from her cake.



Miranda and Sean



James and I



Huff and Robin