Christmas Day!

Favorite memories from Christmas 2010.

Bella: Her favorite part about Christmas was not the presents themselves but opening them. She would open one throw it on the floor and go for the next. By the end of present opening she was demanding to open other peoples presents for them! Silly girl. Luke: Almost every present he opened his response was. "Wow! its just what I wanted!" His excitement with every present was hilarious. I told James we should have just gave him a box of rocks and he would have been happy.

opening presents for the baby

After Christmas was over I was snuggling with Bella in bed and was talking to her about it. I said "Christmas was so great, Santa is such a nice guy to bring you all those presents." Her response was so sure and exactly stated " Jesus is a really nice guy too!" Her sweet innocent response brought tears to my eyes as I thought about the truth in that statement and realized that her little spirit recognized the gift that our saviour is.

She couldn't get this present open and neither could Luke. Finally daddy had to step in and help as to avoid unneccesary messes.

38 weeks and Counting

38 1/2 weeks

James thought this was a pretty great picture since my stomach looks ginormous

So here we are at the end of my pregnancy. Once again I am having some heartburn induced insomnia. I decided today that I am pretty sure this baby is never going to come out... I said that to James and he responded with " well it can't stay in there forever." It was a nice reminder. Here is the problem. Bella was 15 day early and Luke was 11 so I have been a little spoiled. I have been expecting this one to come early too but who knows, its not unheard of for a women to go a week or 2 over due. Oh the agony! The other problem is that I have been having good contractions for about a week. They will start and then stop, they seem to be really active around dinner time. This makes life a little uncomfortable since they are strong enough to make it hard to focus let alone take care of two little tornadoes and prepare a meal. James has been super awesome. Can I just say I love that man! He works so hard for us and sacrifices so much to be a good dad and husband. He was suppose to go out of town last week and made a last minute decision to work remotely from home (which is harder on him and his clients weren't super happy either). It was such a blessing because for some reason the children were especially challenging this week. I also got a migraine one of the days and am not sure what I would have done without him. Three Cheers for good Husbands!

Christmas Eve

We had the missionaries over for dinner tonight so we had our Christmas dinner with them. Nothing to extravagant but we had a nice meal and the missionaries. They always bring a wonderful spirit with them!

The kids put out treats for Santa.

oh man such good looking kids. ha ha

Luke was talking to me tonight and he says "Mommy I am so excited about tomorrow, I am going to go outside and make snowballs." Me a little confused (it has been in the 70's this week) say well it probably won't snow tomorrow. Luke looked at me shocked and responded " Well then... how is Santa going to know to come?" such a silly kid.

Okay so best deal ever! I got this train set and all the trains at a local thrift store for 2 dollars. Crazy! Like we needed more trains right.

Santa

Luke was very excited to see Santa this year, it has been so much fun being able to explain the whole Santa thing to him and watch him get so swept away in the magic of it all. He asks all kinds of good questions like "Mom how does Santa know if we are being good or bad" my response (not well thought out) "the germs tell him". or "Mom is that really the real Santa" my response "you never know when its going to be the real one or one of his helpers". He was very mystified.

Bella was to afraid to tell Santa what she wanted so Luke bravely volunteered that he would tell Santa for her.
Lukes wants: Dinosaurs and trains
Bella wants: Ponies, Princesses, Barbies, and unicorns

Hopefully Santa will fulfill all their wishes:)

SnowFlake

This is our new puppy! We decided to get Oscar a friend/ girlfriend. We got her from my sister in Utah and James flew home with her a couple weeks ago. So far she has been an awesome dog. She is so good with the kids and has made good friends with Jasper our cat. She is a lot different than Oscar so much more calm and docile. Luke gave her the name SnowFlake probably because her coat is so much lighter than Oscars .

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Bella is 3!!!

We had a special breakfast of crepes and fruit

Her in her birthday tutu

She helped me make her birthday cake which was of course pink and sparkly

Chuckee Cheese's Where a kid can be a kid

James got back from a business trip that night and we had a small family party for her.

This Barney ride was Bella's favorite she monopolized the ride for probably a half hour just shoving tokens in ever time it stopped.

Yay! Birthday presents

Last night of being two. My sweet angel is growing up! Snuggling in moms bed with big brother
Bella turns 3!

More to come

November to Now update :)

Christmas came early in our house, well at least the tree did we put it up the first week of Nov. We let the kids hang most the ornaments and so they are mostly insolated around the bottom of the tree.We went on a work trip with James to Houston. While James was working the kids insisted on going to the pool it was in the 70's that day but the wind was blowing. Unfortunately the hot tub wasn't working so they kids got in to about their knees and decided that was enough




32-33 weeks yikes!

Thanksgiving Trip
We went down the San Antionio for about a week and a half for thanksgiving. James has a client he has been working with so me and kids just hung out at the Westin Resort for the first few days. Definately a fun place. They had ice skating, a kids club, heated pools, hot tub and jump houses, oh and a nature trail. We didn't get bored to say the least.

The weather was really nice in the high 70's and 80's so we all went swimming everyday, goodtimes!

James brother lives in San Antonio and his Mom, Dad, and sister Sonya flew in for the holiday. Here is Luke with his cousins in the hot tub.

Nature trail walk
it was about a mile walk. Luke did awesome, It was a little too much for Bella.

We stayed with James brother a couple of the nights and we went out to dinner at the craziest Mexican restuarant. Above is James sister Sonya and his brother Joe with the Mariache singers.

Left to Right Sonya, Joe and his wife Lisa, James Dad Marc

And of course James insisted on taking a picture of the pregnant lady.

After Thanksgiving we went to James parents time share.

It was really nice spending time together as a family with James parents. Here is Bella after a fun afternoon of mini-golf, swimming and a hot bath. I had just finished getting dressed and asked James where she was. We found her dead asleep on the floor with nothing but a towel on.

This past week we had preschool at our house (the last time before the baby come) its always tons of fun! Here are the kids at snack time.

September Update

It was free day at the Air and Science Museum in Dallas. Its was a little bit of a drive but definately worth it. We will be back again. Luke in an old school airplane

I love those boots! Cute girl.

The volunteer asked Luke if he wanted to drive the helicopter, he got nervous and refused until Bella piped up and declared she did, then he hurriedly climbed in as well.

Jasper being a totally silly kitten

Hiking at the lake, and yes that is Oscar he has gotten huge!

Luke found this mushroom and was really excited. He said it looked like a face. Silly kid!

Making wishing wands

Painting

I was reading a book and it was all about being creative with your kids and it suggested putting up a creativity line for your kids artwork. Here is ours its hanging in the kids bedroom.

Preschool Fieldtrip to the Fire House. These firemen were so awesome!

Woo Hoo! Driving the fire truck

The whole crew

Luke checking out the fire suit

Bella making sure her baby is safe and sound at the fire station after she lost it.

At the end of September me and James went on a trip for 4 day to Ohio for my sisters wedding. Lots of fun but I sure did miss my kids like crazy!

Above is the bride my sister Michelle

and Below

is my handsome nephew Jackson

There is the baby bump I think I was about 26 weeks here. I was standing in the gardens at kirkland. You probably can't tell but it was raining

The kirkland temple. We went on a tour through it, definately a weird experience. Not as spiritual as I thought it would be.

Luke and his Halloween costume. I think he chased Bella around in this thing for about an hour after we gave it to him.