Christmas Week!

I think we were all excited for a week of fun! We took the week off from school and really lived it up. :)

Monday morning, we got dressed quickly and went to the bakery for fresh donuts...3 happy kids! We grabbed boxes for our postal workers, police dept, and local auto shop and delivered them with Christmas cards. The kids loved that!

Mae was a pro!

Tuesday was another rainy day, so we painted, had a bubble bath, then watched Frozen with popcorn...all in the morning!

Mae's first time painting.

 She ended up painting herself. :)

Tuesday afternoon, we had one of Arabelle's neighborhood friends over to do Arabelle's FAVORITE activity....making Christmas trees with ice cream cones, green icing, and candy.

Merry Christmas, 2014!

Merry Christmas from our family! 

Christmas is full of chaos, exhaustion, fun, celebrating, and love at our house and we wouldn't have it any other way!

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:13-14

Gingerbread House

While we were shopping in Valdosta, Arabelle saw a Gingerbread House kit and was SO excited to build and decorate the house with Jared!

This series of pictures makes me laugh because the chaos involved with three kids and a Daddy building a Gingerbread house. Ha!

18 month old + constructing a gingerbread house doesn't really work.

Loving Bo....

Very focused!

 Decorating!!!

I gave Mae a Christmas cookie to distract her from the candy and decorating.

Finished product and excited to EAT the house!

Ha! Going right to it.

I'm not sure if we'll make this one a tradition or not, but it was pretty fun!

20 weeks with baby #4

We are half way to meeting our new baby boy!!!

The 20 week appointment is when we have the in-depth ultrasound of the baby to make sure he has everything he's supposed to have (4 chamber heart, 2 kidneys, correct brain anatomy, etc.), so I had the babysitter stay with the kids while I went. The baby's head was so low that he didn't get any good pictures of the baby's profile and had trouble seeing all the brain anatomy, but he was able to see everything eventually.

Pregnancy highlights:

• How far along: 20 weeks on 12/17/14
• Size of baby: about the size of a banana, 10 inches from head to heel. On the u/s, the baby measured in the 57th percentile. 
• Weight gain: I think I'm up around 10 lb now and should gain at least a pound a week from here on out....looking like another 30 lb gain, at least!
• Maternity clothes: Yes to maternity pants, but regular shirts are still okay. 
• Gender: Definitely a BOY!!!
• Movement: Feeling some little kicks and bumps in there, mainly when I'm sitting/resting. 
• Sleep: Sleeping pretty well at night! I know it won't be long before it's difficult to roll over and get comfy, so I'm enjoying it while I can. 
• Cravings: I've been eating a lot of pizza the last couple of weeks and just really enjoying most food again!
• Symptoms: Still nauseated in the evenings and really hating the thought of red meat....yuck! Not having to take the Zofran anymore. 

As you can see, this baby boy is out there now! Arabelle took this on Wednesday. :)

The Nutcracker and Cinderella 2014

A couple of weekends ago, Arabelle and I went to Valdosta to see The Nutcracker! I had never been or read the book, so the week before we grabbed the book from the library and read it in a few days. Arabelle was so excited!

We went a little early, shopped some, had lunch, went to The Nutcracker, shopped some more, visited a friend and her new baby, had supper, and made it home by 9:00. Needless to say, we were tired! It was such a fun day with my girl!

 Arabelle danced and twirled the rest of the evening after the show!

We got Arabelle, Bo, and Mae each a Nutcracker from Hobby Lobby and Bo LOVED his! A green jacket and sword fit him just right. :)

Last Sunday, Papaw and Mamaw treated Arabelle to a Cinderella play in Macon and a nice lunch. She was so excited to wear her fancy dress!

Don't worry too much about Bo being left out of the fun....when we went to Valdosta, Bo went fishing with Sambo and when Arabelle went to Macon, I spoiled Bo with movies and snacks. :)

Santa 2014

Saturday, we went to a Christmas activity at the state park for the kids to meet Santa. It was our last chance and it was free, so off we went!

I figured Mae would not like it. I was right. Ha!

Bo went first and walked right up and hugged him. He wasn't shy about it at all!

 Arabelle was a bit hesitant, but cooperated.

Mae started whining when I got close, then flipped OUT when I tried to hand her to him. He didn't want to take her, but I shoved her in his arms for the picture. Definitely got one of those classic 'my kid hates Santa' pictures!

Santa didn't really have much lap room, so I didn't try a picture with all 3 together. 

 Our friends were able to go with us, so the kids had extra fun!

This series of pictures of the boys is hilarious! Getting 4 year olds to take a real picture is hard.

Mae enjoyed the cookies!

 We ended with a hayride to the car.

It was a fun little event!