baby arnold

my oldest and dearest friend is expecting her first baby, a daughter. I know that she has been waiting for this season of life and I'm thrilled to be here to help her celebrate becoming a momma.

it only seemed fitting to throw her a baby shower when she flew into town for the holidays.

there are an abundance of not so flattering pictures that have been snapped of us four girls over the past thirty-some years.  those preteen years were not kind...yowzers.  but not one picture comes close to capturing this special once-in-a-lifetime season of our lives when all four of us are pregnant at the same time. 

laurie and I have been friends for our entire lives. (remember this post?) we both admit that there was a short time when we were forced to be friends (hello middle school), but we quickly learned that sometimes God gives you a sister and sometimes God gives you a best friend who becomes a sister.  I am blessed to have both.

sweet baby arnold will make her debut sometime in mid-march and we are all anxiously awaiting her arrival.

let the countdown begin

in an effort to curb cabin fever and get excited about the countdown to christmas, we constructed some paper chains today!


it became quite clear to me that the excitement of this project would be short-lived, as apparent by the first strip (top) vs. the last strip (bottom). 

I was literally bribing miles to put a sticker, letter, heck even a scribble on the last few strips.  note to self: a ten day countdown is plenty.

however, I think they turned out super cute and the boys were excited to hang them up in miles' bedroom. 

hello baby

here is the long awaited belly shot.

I know it looks like I could pop at any moment, but believe it or not, I have 20 more weeks to go.  two pregnancies and two c-sections...thank.you.very.much.  the little peanut is growing like a weed too.  at our ultrasound baby k.3 measured about 6 days ahead.  apparently he/she will be taking after big brothers and be big babies.  we can't wait to see what God has in store for us with this third child. we are patiently waiting and savoring every moment of our pregnancy.  well, maybe not every moment. pregnancy does has its not-so-glamorous side effects, many of which shall remain off the blog.  I shall instead focus on the miracle we are fortunate to be blessed with.  there will be more growing belly shots in the weeks to come, but these are likely the last photos of the little one until our delivery date rolls around.  enjoy!


for those who don't speak ultrasound, this would be the top of baby's head and bottom of the foot. flexible little bugger.

this is baby's face and one arm...hello!

traditions

I grew up with many holiday traditions firmly planted within our family. my parents did a phenomenal job when it came to Christmas. we went to the same places every Christmas eve and Christmas day.  we ate the same foods, sang the same songs, put on the same nativity story, took the same photos in front of the tree. nothing was real fancy, but it was familiar and it was tradition. now that our babies are growing up it has dawned on me just how important it is to create our own traditions.  it's a daunting task given the example my parents set for me. but I'm up to the challenge and besides, Christmas is my favorite holiday.

I love everything about this magical time of year.  seeing it through the eyes of our children has multiplied that warm fuzzy feeling I get when the Christmas carols start to play.  which, I might add, begin sometime in november and will not cease until at least mid-january.  kyle loves this.  the boys are learning...it's always a great morning when we wake up to a singing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-three-year-old rendition of away in the manger.  heaven.

trimming the tree
the saturday after thanksgiving kyle brought the tree up from the basement and the rest of the decorations emerged on sunday.  our tradition calls for matching jammies, check. christmas carols filling the room, check. and at least one ornament in need of super glue. check and check.

trimming the tree is not in kyle's blood.  it wasn't really a part of his family Christmas tradition.  in fact, I bought him his first ornament when we began dating.  I felt he needed to be represented somewhere among the swarm of ornaments from my childhood.  every december I remember opening that red shirt box with my name written on top in black sharpie marker.  my mom took time to list each ornament, who gave it to me, and the year I received it and I vividly remember that the list was written on the inside cover of a tattered green spiral notebook..the little nubby edges still attached.  nana and papa are continuing my childhood memory by giving the boys a new ornament every thanksgiving. so I have started to jot down a list for the boys. I think I'll have to dig around for a couple of old notebooks and tear the cover off.  for old times sake.

they enjoyed carefully looking through mommy's ornaments and hanging each one on the tree.  miles has quite a collection of his own ornaments already and he even offered to have henry hang one or two.  of course they insisted on hanging at least three ornaments on each branch.

once all of the ornaments were perfectly placed, daddy lifted miles to the tip top of the tree to put on the star.

little brother got a turn too.

what's a tradition without a good treat at the end? next year I'll be more organized and have some cookies bake.  for this year we settled for a hershey kiss for everyone.  they are delicious every time and besides, it will go down as my favorite holiday commercial. ever.

but as much as I love hershey kisses...I'll trade them for these kisses any day.


advent calendars
our 1980's advent calendars were simple cardboard pictures that required us to pry open a new window each day. our boys somehow managed to acquire a giant gingerbread house with real wooden doors hiding a slew of chocolate to be enjoyed every one of the 24 days leading up to Christmas. thank you auntie beth.

it's a big hit. we are lucky to make it past breakfast before needing to check to see what's behind the next door.

my only request: next year each door is also hiding a candy for the momma. I'm just sayin'


outdoor lights
I love, love, LOVE, Christmas lights. I can't wait to bundle up the boys and drive around looking at all of the beautiful lights that people adorn their homes with. some of the crazy ones set theirs to music and you better bet we'll be tuning our radio to the correct station. yeah, baby. (again...kyle will be thrilled) the lights on our home are much more modest, but festive nonetheless. I thought it would be fun for the boys to go out to help daddy. it made for some cute photos, but that's where the practicality came to a screeching halt.

insert slightly icy cement, a front yard dominated by two furry friends (gross), and a ladder. all the makings of a disaster.

the whole event lasted maybe 15 minutes for the boys. I wish I could say the same for the daddy. what a trooper. a complete restring, trip over to the new mcdonalds for lunch (and sanity break for the decorator), another restring, and numerous burnt out lights later...the house looks lovely. and just in time for the first snowfall of the season. love.

here's to a season full of tradition.