Christmas Eve {2013}

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

I have lots and lots of Christmas pictures, so I have to separate by event :)  We had a wonderful Christmas eve with my parents, sisters and grandparents.  It was so special we all got to be together to celebrate!

 Ava gave us a little cheerleading show pre-festivities, with papa announcing!

Aiden loves to give kisses!

 And of course, "cheese" now means the return of SCRUNCHY FACE!!!

 time for presents!

 (I love this picture of Ava, but you'll see limited pictures of me because I am swollen EVERYWHERE!)

 Grandma Carolyn's laundry basket.. we could've just wrapped a bunch of these :)

 Aiden's sad face is too sweet not to post.  I immediately picked him up after this picture, don't worry.

 coolest. gift.  ever.

A huge thank you to my parents, my grandparents, my sisters and their significant others for all of the wonderful gifts we received.  We've had a lot of fun playing with all of the toys today!!!!!!!!!!

{the name game}

With this baby, we decided to reveal the gender but keep the name a secret.

It has been SO hard not to tell! :)

And we won't.  

Ava still calls the baby Cinderella.  That's not it.

I made James go through all 365 names with me in a book.

We narrowed it down to this list.

Can you guess?

Probably not :)

Merry Christmas.

Ava's Christmas Program

What a cute little program she had :)  The kids sang 9 songs and Ava's favorite is "Up on the Housetop."  It was uncharacteristically 60+ degrees in the middle of December for her program, so I had to improvise on her Christmas outfit since I bought a heavy sweater dress and sweater leggings :):)  We are so proud of you, Ava!

a little bit of this.. little bit of that

Tis the season where everyone gets really busy!  So here's what we've had going on lately..

 

James and I went to his office Christmas party.

We got a dusting of snow and Ava was DYING to go play in it.

 I'm getting fat.

We have spent a couple fun evenings with my parents, which we love because the kids go RIGHT to sleep when we get home.

We watch Chiefs games from home :(

And Aiden is crabby a lot.

But most importantly, on December 10, we said goodbye to my great grandmother Opal.  She was 98 years old.  It's crazy to think about everything she lived through in 98 years, even just the history itself.  But what an amazing life she had and such an expansive family.  1 daughter, 3 grandkids, 7 great grandkids, and 7 great-great-grandkids (counting my bun).  Here she is with little baby Ava in 2008.  I'm so happy she got so many good years and to meet Ava and Aiden.  I have so many great memories of going to her house on the farm, and even to her house in town.  I got to help her in the kitchen, which I will always cherish.  I will also cherish one of my last visits with her when she reached up and touched my belly.  She loved when I brought my kids around!  And as you can see, she was 93 years old in this picture.. so I really hope I get her good genes because my grandma had the most beautiful skin!  Can't we all age so gracefully!? :)  I love you grandma.

ba-bumpdate ((33 weeks))

I am thankful every day for the chance to have another beautiful baby, don't get me wrong.. but heeeeelllllllpppppppp meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!  Eye on the prize.  Eye.. on the... prize.

Quad screen - failed

Amniocentesis - passed

One hour glucose test - failed

Three hour glucose test - passed

Chiefs game BP spike - complete

Severe SI joint pain - in progress
Weight gain - N/A

Dizzy spells - in progress

Chiefs games - not allowed

Hyperemesis battle - in progress
Crying outbursts - what are those!?
Days feeling awesome - N/A

GBS test - coming soon

Baby - coming soon

Eviction date - 1/20/14

{meet} Santa

Once upon a Saturday morning, we took the kids to the country club to meet Santa.  Santa even brought a TOY for each child!

Historically, Ava hasn't been a fan of such characters (Easter bunny, Santa, etc), but this year, she was so excited.  We figured the torch had been passed down to Aiden to be scared....

 Ava immediately went up and introduced herself..

 Daddy took Aiden closer and he waved and giggled...

 Then said "hey Santa, cool glasses!"

 the next series of pictures on the camera were of Santa recovering his glasses and putting them back on.  Aiden was like fine.. I'm done with this!

 Not Ava!  She told Santa she wants an orange crop duster airplane.

WHAT!?!?!?!?

 Aiden was very happy to get a set of cars in lieu of the glasses..

 and Ava loved her doll from the movie Frozen.

{the end}