Coolest Present EVER!

I love pancakes, and I love to cook, so this is a pretty cool gift. My Mom got me a pancake skillet that makes smiley face pancakes! It is so easy to make them, and I can get 7 pancakes at one time this way! And they are really cute!

She got the pan at JC Penney. I think I'm going to keep my eye out for other types of pancake skillets!

33 Week Checkup

I went in for my 33 week checkup yesterday, and have no extraordinary news so far. Everything seems to be going the same as before. Aubrie is still measuring about one week ahead of schedule, so we'll see if she sticks to her due date or comes early (which, oh my goodness, is only 7 weeks from now!!!).

I talked to the doctor about Aubrie being breech. She said that she wouldn't even worry about it until we hit 36 weeks, and then she would check to see if she is still breech at that time. If she is, then she will schedule what they call a "version?" in the hospital at around 37 weeks. That is where they try to manually turn the baby. They do it in the hospital in case something happens, or I go into labor, etc.

That was pretty much all that happened! Pretty uneventful as far as a checkup goes. My blood pressure was normal, my stomach is measuring 34 cm, and her heartbeat was 138 bpm.

Just Beat It

Contrary to the title of this post, I do not beat my children! It refers to the Michael Jackson song. I have been trying to play music for her because I had heard that it could help them turn around and head for the music. So, who else do I try to play for her but Michael Jackson?! And this is her reaction...

(for some reason, it looks like the video I uploaded for the previous post, but it should play as the video of my tummy... Not sure what I did wrong.)

1st "Spanking"

The time has come for us to really sit down and figure out what we are going to try as far as discipline with out toddler. Chris and I don't mind spanking (when it's reasonable), and will be spanking our kids. But Evan still does well with redirection, or a quick squeeze of the hand and being told, "that's not a toy," etc. Well, this was our first experience where I felt like I needed something more, and it really made me come home and think about what to do in the future.

While Christmas shopping at Target a couple of weeks ago, I had to put Evan in the cart so that I could have both hands to free two carts that were stuck together. Well, he DID NOT want to get out of the cart. He had discovered that there was a much more fun place to be than strapped in the front! So I told him to sit down before I moved the cart, and he did, no big deal. Then he started standing up and dancing around, so I had to stop the cart. He is a really obedient child and would sit down when I told him to. It wasn't until I started putting things in the cart that there was a problem...

He started throwing things out of the cart! So I'd put them back and squeeze his hand saying, "that's not ok," etc etc. Finally, I had to swat his little hiney, and he laughed at me! That really didn't make me happy. So, I picked him up and put him in the front of the cart to strap him in, which didn't make him happy. But after about 10 seconds of crying, and me telling him that he hadn't followed directions (yeah, I'm sure it was my talking that made my toddler reason it out!), he calmed down and was just fine being in the front.

Just something for me to remember.

(of course, only I would stop to film my son about to get in trouble... although he wasn't in trouble at this point).

Christmas Vacation 2009: Part 2

Thursday was spent wrapping presents (which took hours!), and then we went to my Aunt's house for Christmas Eve with my Dad's side of the family. We do this every year, and it's fun now that there are babies in the house again. Nothing like watching Christmas through the eyes of a child!

Evan got a ton of presents. (As we go through them, I will keep a list and come back to write it down here).

One of his presents was a cool Radio Flyer space ship thingy that he can ride on. Evan's cousin Caleb was totally enthralled by this toy, and was quite pushy sometimes when he wanted to get on it. Towards the end of the night, Caleb pushed Evan off, and sat down on it himself. Evan started to push him back and say, "Mine," when he stopped and headed for the back of the car. Then he started to push Caleb around! Then Caleb got off, and Evan got back on. It was cute to watch him "reason" it out and just have fun instead of creating a problem. Love that little boy!

Christmas Day was spent with my Mom at her house. My brother and his wife came over, as well as my Aunt Linda Kay, and we had a ball opening presents together. Evan got a TON of presents again. There was wrapping paper and tissue paper everywhere! By next year, Evan will have this present thing down! Santa brought him a blue denim armchair with a footstool, and he loved vegging in it and watching his new Barney videos.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing with toys, and just hanging out before the week started again. My Mom and I went for a spa treatment: I got a pedicure, and she had her nails redone. It was a really nice place, and I loved my hot stone massage pedicure!

Finally, on Monday, we loaded up the van (and I mean loaded it up!) with all of our newfound treasures, and headed home. There were many great times, watching Evan playing with his toys, and watching him with family members. It's fun to watch him interact with people now that he is getting older. Chris and I are glad to be home, and still have a week to relax and get things ready for Aubrie before Chris goes back to work. We have a doctor's appointment today, and we will talk about her being breech and what will happen in the coming weeks. I plan on getting a haircut sometime this week while Chris can watch Evan. And we are just enjoying being together as a family this Christmas!

We hope that all of you have had a fantastic Christmas, and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Vacation 2009: Part 1

Where to begin... I know that I should write these posts as I go so that I don't forget anything, I just never think about it until it's too late to do that! Ok, let me think back... (this could be a long post!).

On the 17th, I took Evan to visit my friend Judy at her school because they were having a Polar Express Day where the kids got to wear their pj's and drink hot chocolate all day long. So, of course I took him in his pj's and he loved running around the library, drinking hot chocolate, sitting in the little rocking chairs, and watching Little Einstein. He was a perfect gentleman and it was fun for me to visit with Judy. (If there is one thing I miss about working, it's hanging out with Judy while working).

Chris got out on the 18th, which was nice because he was home by 1:45 that day! He came home and took a nap right on the floor! The kids must have been crazy!

On Saturday the 19th, my sister and I woke up early and drove down to Santa Fe for a Cookie/Ornament exchange that we do with my cousins every year. It is always fun because there is lots of great food, chit chat, ornament "stealing", and just an overall good time for catching up. Oh, and did I mention that everyone who brings cookies leaves with a big bag of ALL the cookies?! That's pretty nice, too!

On Sunday the 20th, we woke up to play in the orchestra at church, but only stayed through the first service so that we could get Evan a nap before visiting Chris' Stepdad at the hospital (he had knee replacement surgery). Alia made some amazing chicken spaghetti (all from her imagination, I might add!), and we sort of took over the meeting room in the hospital to visit. It was nice to visit with Papa D, and give him some support because it's not fun going through the recovery process. Evan was a little rambunctious, but luckily he had lots of loving family members there who were willing to take turns keeping him occupied and out of everything else at the hospital.

On Monday, we worked on cleaning the house and packing to leave on Tuesday. I woke up and started getting really frustrated (the previous post is about this episode), but my amazing husband helped me get everything in order so that I could feel comfortable leaving our house for a week. The house wasn't perfect when we left, but it was enough not to feel overwhelmed when we came back.

Finally on Tuesday we left to head down and "begin" our Christmas vacation. We ended up leaving after Evan's nap, and then drove down to eat dinner with my Dad. It was nice because Chris, Evan, and I were there, along with my Mom, brother Clay and his wife Amanda, and my Dad. We ended up eating at Olive Garden, which is fun for us because we never go there but love it. It was a great evening filled with lots of eating, talking, and watching Evan. He played with his toys, shared his food, and then played and shared his food even with strangers (he's always trying to talk to other children in a restaurant when we go out). Oh, and then we ended the evening by my Dad picking Evan up out of his high chair... to find that his pants were SOAKED through, and not with water... It was a fun night!

Wednesday was a day that we had planned on doing nothing but hanging out in our pajamas, which we did, but it wasn't fun for all of us. I woke up and felt fine that morning. And then just started feeling icky as the morning went on. After my Mom left for work (I LOVE being married to a teacher!), I had to go and wake Chris up to help me handle Evan because I just didn't feel good. I've trying to take advantage of the help this Christmas since we're so close to the end of the pregnancy. But then I slept from 9:45-2:45 that day! I still can't believe that. Finally Chris woke me up and made me get out of bed so that I could sleep later that night. I felt chilly, so my Mom took my temp and it was 100.7. Whatever I had lasted on and off throughout that night, but was thankfully gone by the next day, and my temp never got any higher.

My Dad came over again on Wednesday night so that we could give Christmas presents to each other. He gave Evan a fun M&M candy dispenser (which of course, Evan LOVES!), and some Barney videos, and books. Perfect gifts, Dad! Then he gave Chris his gift... I bought Chris a Wii this year for Christmas, and told everyone else so that they would have automatic gifts for him (gift cards, accessories, games, etc). My Dad got him the Wii Fit Plus. The only problem was that I hadn't given Chris the Wii yet! So, I just decided to give it to him that night. Chris opened the gift from my Dad, and just started smiling. Then I gave him a gift of a few games that I'd bought, and said, "If you ever get a Wii to play these on, then you'll be set!" After a few minutes of teasing him, we gave him the Wii, and he smiled like a little kid! It was great!

Funny story about my Wii Fit experience: You have to create a Wii person on Wii Fit so that it can keep track of your weight, how much time you've put it, how many calories you've burned, etc. So, I step up to have my body checked, knowing that the outcome couldn't be good because there's no question about being pregnant anywhere in there! So, it tells me that my BMI is too high (almost obese!), and that I need to lose like 50 pounds (which I do need to lose weight, even after the baby is here). But the funny part is that when it told me this, my little Wii person plumps up right before my eyes! Now when I play games, my fat Wii walks up on the screen! How embarrassing and funny!

(Ok, I'll start another post to finish the week; I know I can keep going and going).

The Best

As I sit here listening to the Dave Matthew's Band singing "You and Me together, forever," I can't help but think of my amazing husband! I know that sometimes I complain because he doesn't always pick up after himself, but neither do I. Sometimes I complain that he is not paying attention to how I'm feeling or what's going on and that I have to do everything, but I can get wrapped up in myself pretty easily, too.

Chris totally noticed that I was feeling frustrated this morning. According to a previous post, I have been "nesting" for a couple of weeks now. Last night, and you may not believe this when you read it, but I cleaned the entire garage out... yes, you read correctly, the entire garage. I was on a roll! And it felt so good afterwards to have it clean! And now I can park in the garage so that my sister can park in our driveway instead of the street. Plus I found some baby stuff that I'd been looking for.

But I woke up ready to clean this morning, and started feeling overwhelmed pretty quickly. Everywhere I looked, there was something to clean up. I just wanted the house clean before we left for the Christmas Holidays, but I was feeling my body get tired, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get it done without exhausting myself. Without missing a beat, Chris tells me to boss him around, and he starts picking things up. I got to play with Evan and sit still for a bit while Chris picked up around the house. And within half the time that it would have taken me, and a lot more "fun," we had the house picked up enough that I didn't feel nauseous looking around. I honestly can't think of anything else that needs to be done, except for washing some clothes for our trip.

There are two reasons I am writing this post. Number 1: I want to publicly acknowledge the fact that my husband is awesome! He makes me love him more everyday by the way that he shows me how much he loves me. And Number 2: I want my kids to read this post one day and know that their Daddy was a fantastic husband and father. I want them to know what a good person and role model he is for their lives, and how much he loves his family.

Thank you, Chris, for always being there for us. Even when I'm feeling like life is getting in the way, you take the time to make me feel important, and that you notice what I'm going through. I hope that I do the same for you, and that I make you feel just as loved.

4D Ultrasound... Kind of...

We had a 4D Ultrasound scheduled for this morning at 10am. I was a little disappointed because Chris wasn't able to be there due to school stuff, but we had to do it this week because of Christmas coming up. They only do the 4D sonograms on Friday, and next Friday is Christmas with the following Friday being New Year's Day, which means that it would be 3 weeks before we could schedule another try and we would be too far along in the pregnancy for it to work properly. Needless to say, we had to do it today if we wanted it done.

After saying all of that... we didn't actually get the ultrasound today. We went in the room and started the process, but the baby has to be in a certain position for it to work. We did, however, find out that she is buttocks breech... Oh man!

So even though we weren't able to have the ultrasound, and Chris couldn't be there, at least we found out that she is breech this early instead of at 36 weeks. Now I can pay attention to see if she moves, and the doctor can try to get her to turn. I hope that she does, because I REALLY don't want a c-section. I mean, if I have to have one, I will, but I'd rather not need one. It's more that I don't want to have to heal from it; the thought of having a toddler and baby and trying to heal from that scares me.

Please be praying that she turns on her own and that I don't have to have a c-section.

One of Those Days

Today has been one of those days where things seem to snowball with everything going wrong. The day started off wonderfully, although albeit a bit earlier than I wanted it to.

Evan woke up early, which worked out well since I needed to put him down for a nap early due to the fact that we had dress rehearsal for our church Christmas performance (tomorrow at 3pm at Champion Forest Baptist Church if you're interested!). He was a bit cranky all morning, and seemed sleepy again even by 9:30. I kept him awake until 10:35ish and he went right to sleep, and slept for a good 2 hours, which was perfect timing to wake up and eat lunch before leaving for the church. Everything was going well until we were on our way to the church...

Being pregnant, I thought I might get hungry halfway through our long rehearsal, so I decided to stop and get Chris and I a sandwich from Jack in the Box (Chris was at the Region Band Clinic and Concert since 7:30am). They asked me to pull around to the front and they would bring it out to me. When the other cars behind me started pulling up behind me to leave, I had to pull around even more to the front so they could leave... 20 minutes later no one had brought it out and I had to leave or I'd be late for practice, so I just left... after already paying. I just didn't have time to deal with it for $2 with Evan in the car and the time limit.

Then, as soon as I get to the church and start taking Evan's stuff out of the car, Alia calls me to tell me that there is no childcare today during rehearsal... Everyone I know is in the show, and my sister picked up a shift at Cheddars since we wouldn't be home all afternoon, so no one was available to watch Evan. Then I realized that I didn't know where our music folder was. And, on the way into the church I spilled the cookies in the street that I'd spent all morning making for the orchestra to share (only the top level fell off, so I still took the rest inside... Is that wrong?!).

So, I ended up watching Evan for the first hour of practice while waiting for Chris and Nick to get back from the clinic so that Nick could watch Aiden and Evan while Chris and I played (Nick is playing a gig and isn't playing this time, which worked out really well for us tonight!).

Things did start to feel a little better when Chris found the music folder in the van. Although, it seemed like they only practiced the songs that we didn't play on once we finally made it inside, so it felt like we didn't play much or get much done today, except run around like chickens with our heads cut off.

Chris did take me to Cici's pizza after practice, though. Haha, this sounds funny, but I seem to crave Cici's pizza at least once in each pregnancy, and I've been talking about it for a couple of weeks now. It was worth going just for the pink lemonade! And, since Evan hadn't slept since 12:45 today, he went to sleep almost as soon as we got home, which means we have a quiet house right now. I can rest for a second and regroup, and then give Chris a haircut (which is actually relaxing and nice to focus on something), and then take a nice warm shower before going to sleep.

On a side note: I am thankful for a sister-in-law who understands these crazy days and who can make me feel better no matter what. I almost felt like crying today with everything happening in a row, and she said she felt the same way! I don't know what it was about it, but she made me feel better, and she made a point to tell me she hoped my day got better when we were leaving. Thank you, God, for putting her in my life as both a spiritual mentor and great friend.

I hope tomorrow is a better day...

Cream Wafer (Butter Cookies)

This recipe comes from Alia's Mom, Joy, and they are delicious! We get excited to see them in Alia's hands every year when they return from Salt Lake City. This year we have the recipe, though!

I have tried twice to make them, and the first attempt was close to being a disaster (at least as much as what they SHOULD have looked like). I have learned a few things while making the 2nd batch, and I'll share them at the bottom of the recipe. You know I have to make a 3rd batch just to make them perfectly!

Cream Wafers

1 Cup soft butter

1/3 Cup thick cream

2 Cups sifted flour

chill for one hour, roll out to 1/8 in thick. Cut into 1.5 inch rounds. Transfer to wax paper heavily sprinkled with sugar, turning with a spatula to coat both sides. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Prick in 4 places with a fork. Bake until slightly puffy, not brown. (350 degrees for about 10 minutes).

Icing

1/4 Cup soft butter

3/4 Cup sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Split in half and add food coloring, if desired.

Sandwich icing between two wafer cookies, and enjoy!

______________

Ok, here are the tips that I found when making the cookies.

Tip #1:

The first time I made them, I used my Smart Balance tub butter, because it is soft. This is what messed my recipe up, I believe, because the cookies spread too much in the oven and it never really turned into dough (it was too wet). I used regular stick butter in the second batch and it worked like a charm.

Tip #2:

They seem to turn out better if they're not quite so thin. I rolled them a little thicker than 1/8 inch the 2nd time, and they seem to cook better and spread less in the oven.

Tip #3:

I actually only had to cook them for about 7 minutes in my oven, so keep an eye on them when making them the first time. They shouldn't really be brown at all, because that means the butter is burning and they get too crispy. They should just melt in your mouth!

Let me know if you make them and find anything else that helps! Enjoy!

1st attempt (I couldn't even roll out the dough the first time, so I just dropped them by the teaspoonful into the sugar to roll and then pressed them with the spatula. They still taste yummy, though!)

2nd attempt (haha, they're snowmen if you can't tell).

Nesting

Ok, it has officially hit me... the nesting phase has begun.

It started about a week ago, and it has even annoyed ME for the past few days. Why can't I just leave the toys on the floor, knowing that Evan is going to play with them again in 5 minutes. Why can't I just leave them alone and only pick them up once when we are totally finished playing with the item? I don't know, but I wish that I could! I feel like I'm picking up the house 10 times a day, and I can't control myself!

This afternoon the nesting hit in full force. I just HAD to put up all of the loads of laundry that were strewn across our bedroom floor. I just HAD to organize both bathrooms and linen closets. I just HAD to organize our closet. I just HAD to bake these butter cookies because I couldn't get them right last night. The only reason I stopped is because I was looking forward to watching CSI as a reward for all of my hard work today!

I have to stop here and brag on my husband here. Evan was with me while I was folding and hanging laundry this afternoon, but Chris 'took over' watching Evan when he got home so that I could get down to business. I could hear them playing so hard and having such a great time together! It was great knowing that they were having fun together, and that I had a chance to do some things that I couldn't when Evan was with me. I love that my husband loves being with our son. He doesn't just want to come home and sit on the couch and watch tv while I make dinner and watch the kids. He is a hands-on Dad who loves being with his family, and I love that about him. Thank you, Chris, for being such an amazing husband and father; Evan and I both love you with all of our hearts!

Hopefully this phase doesn't get worse as the due date gets closer! I actually like going through this right now. I feel like we're finally getting something ready for Aubrie to actually be here. I'm in the mood to throw everything out to make our life easier when she arrives, and it feels so good to clear things out! The nesting is even worse this time than it was with Evan, I guess because I want to make sure things are 'simpler' with both kids together.

My hope is that I can get everything done before she arrives so that I can feel comfortable letting the house get messy again once she's here (does that make sense to anyone but me?!). my next project is to start cooking for the deep freezer so that I will have a head-start on meals... Don't laugh...but I've actually asked for food for my deep-freezer for Christmas!

SNOW!

It snowed today! It is the 3rd time to snow since Chris and I got married in 2004, it is Evan's 2nd Christmas and the 2nd time for him to see snow, I get to be pregnant this year when it snowed, my sister just moved in with us, and I get to put up our Christmas tree while it was snowing outside... it doesn't get much better than this!

My sister just got a job at Cheddars Restaurant, and we were SO excited because it started to flurry as we were getting ready to go shopping for her uniform stuff. Little did we know that was NOTHING compared to what it would be like when we left Target! It was so much fun to walk back to the van and look at the flurries landing on our jackets, and to see Evan's face as he actually noticed the snow for the first time.

Evan fell asleep in the van for about 20 minutes while we were driving home, and therefore didn't feel like taking his nap at the normal time today, but it worked out anyway for us to go outside and play in the snow together! It was so fun to watch the snow coming down, and to watch Evan "playing" in it. He has learned how to look at a camera, turn his head to the side, and say, "smile!" He kept doing that every time we pulled the camera out, and it was adorable! Then he would waddle around (because we had him bundled up like the little brother in The Christmas Story) and scream with excitement at the snow hitting his face! Memories I will cherish forever...

Of course we had to come inside and have some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. It was Evan's 1st time to have hot chocolate, and he loved it. It was so cute because he had a chocolate milk mustache after drinking it! Adorable!

We are finishing the evening with the snow actually melting, but a full belly of yummy chili, and a teething toddler whose sleeping schedule is off today. But we are together as a family, in a warm and cozy house, with our Christmas tree up. It is the best feeling in the world.

Thanks, Margaret, for the cute Elf Card idea! It was hilarious watching Evan laugh and giggle at your video, and then at us in this video! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Aubrie's 28 Week Checkup

Yesterday we went in for a really long checkup. I had to take my glucose test (which actually wasn't that bad... at least the first half of it), then we had an ultrasound, and then finally the doctor checkup.

Evan the morning of the appointment

We got there early so that I could drink that yummy (haha) sugar drink, and then we were supposed to have our sono at 3:30. Well, we just sat there until 4:00. Then we had our sonogram, which is always so cool, especially as she gets bigger. I think we would have had a longer ultrasound, but the technician said, "You've gotta hurry because you have to have your blood drawn within an hour for the glucose test to be accurate!" So, I ran out of there to the potty and then down to the lab. I barely made it! We did get a profile of Aubrie in the ultrasound, though. We think she looks like Evan so far. So cute!

waiting for our checkup

Then we waited what seemed like forever for the doctor to make it in. It must have been a really busy day over there. When we finally saw the doctor, she told us that the baby is weighing in at 3 lbs 5 oz, which is on the bigger side. She also moved our due date up to February 17th. I'm a little worried that she is getting big so fast, especially since I've only gained 20 pounds (that's not crazy, right?). It must be genetic, because I'm not doing anything crazy to make her get that big... I guess I just have big babies. I really do not want a c-section, though, so please pray that she would not get too big too fast, and that I will be able to have a normal birth (haha, notice I said "normal" not "natural!" Go Alia, but I don't think I can do it!).

But everything else is looking good. The baby is developing just how she should be! We can't wait to meet her! It is coming up so fast, especially with the new due date!

PS~I finally got the H1N1 flu shot, and my arm hurts!

My Sister

I've been reprimanded for not writing a post about my sister moving in with us, so here goes! (I feel lucky to have kept up with Thanksgiving posts and am taking the few minutes of Evan still being asleep to write this post, too).

My sister graduated from Texas Tech in August, and was planning on staying up there until February when her apartment lease ended. She had a fantastic job as the GM of 2 Bahama Bucks stores (if you don't know Bahama Bucks, you're missing out! They are the best snow-cones ever!). But just recently they took away one of her stores because of staff changes, and her paycheck dropped dramatically. Since she was basically only up there to save money, it wasn't worth it to stay any longer, and has moved in with us!!!

She has since had some problems with people who have offered to take her apartment lease over, so please pray that someone would take it... and quickly!

It has been a little crazy since we got back from Thanksgiving, just settling back into the routine of things. Also, we've had some babysitter issues, and I've had to rearrange my teaching schedule this week to do some makeup lessons, and that means that my schedule has been off, too. I'm excited that today can be our clean the house do the laundry put out the trash pull out the Christmas decorations day, before going back to teach tomorrow.

We are so thankful for this time together with my sister. We are always wishing to spend more time with her, and are glad that we have this opportunity to be together for a while. And I won't lie, I am feeling VERY grateful for her to be here when the baby gets here! Clarie is such a great help with Evan, and they are already the best of friends. Evan has a hard time saying her name, but he says it all the time.

Please just pray that she can adjust to a different lifestyle and schedule, and that everything works out with her apartment in Lubbock. She is also traveling back to Lubbock this weekend to finish up a few things, so please pray for a safe trip up and back. Love you, Clarie!

Thanksgiving 2009: Part 3, Grammy's House

Thursday morning, Chris and I woke up and started packing things back in the van to drive down and visit with my side of the family. I wanted to make it home in time to watch a little bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which we did. Although, it's not quite the same when you're not in your pajamas...

After driving down in record time (we were there by 10:30am!), watching the last of the parade, and getting Evan his afternoon nap, we headed over to visit with my Dad's side of the family. It was great to visit with everyone that we really only get to see 3-4 times per year, and of course to look forward to some of the best food that we eat all year. The desserts themselves are worth going! Evan got to play "kickball" with his cousins, and I'm pretty sure his Aunt Weezy taught him some new crazy stuff because he was acting crazy funny when we got home! Pops came over to visit with Evan for a while, and it was great to see them together. My Dad has a little fish can opener on his keychain that Evan kept calling a "mouse," and it was cracking us all up!

Friday morning, we all woke up and started getting ready for Thanksgiving with my Mom's side of the family. We ate great turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, zucchini casserole, butter beans, fruit salad, banana pudding, pecan pie, cheese dip, and a 7 layer dip that put the zip back in our do-da! We had a great time visiting with my Grandmother & her husband, Dick, as well as my Aunt Linda, my cousin Alan and his daughter Kennedy and nephew Davy, my Brother and his wife Amanda, and also my "Uncle" (Mom's half brother who is 4 months younger than me, so I don't call him Uncle) Brian and his girlfriend, Ashley, who I haven't seen since my Brother's wedding.

We tried to put Evan down for a nap before everyone came over, but he wasn't asleep before they arrived and the house was too loud for him to sleep. He was the life of the party, though, and stayed strong until about 6:15 that night. He played with Kennedy and Davy, and then was practically delirious by 6! He would stand in front of you, sway a little, take a really long blink, and then run off in his hyper sleepy mode and get into something else. You probably won't believe this, but he slept from 6:15pm to 10:15am; 16 hours! We couldn't believe it! We all stayed up playing Canasta until 3am, and slept in until 10am, and he still wasn't awake when we woke up!

The plan was to go home on Saturday, but by the time we all woke up late and ate, and took family pictures for our Christmas cards, we were all ready for a nap again and didn't have the energy to get all of our stuff together to leave. So, we stayed the night again and stayed up playing Canasta again (although not so late). Now it is Sunday afternoon, and we just put Evan down for his nap before we leave to head to Nick & Alia's house to visit with Chris' family again before finally heading home.

It has been a long, but very fun Thanksgiving vacation. I hope that Chris has the entire week off of school every year from now on, because it makes it so much easier for us to visit with all 4 sides of the family. We are thankful for the time spent with everyone, and glad to have been giving the time to spend quality time together.

Thanksgiving 2009: Part 2, Our House

On Wednesday, we invited Chris' family over to our house so that we could host our first Thanksgiving! I was a little nervous because it was my first time to make an entire holiday meal at our home, and I'd never made a turkey before!

Chris' family arrived around 7:30pm, and we enjoyed a great meal together of turkey, sweet potatoes, italian seasoning potatoes, green beans, corn, homemade rolls, stuffing, vegetables, salad, macaroni, creamy spinach, with homemade apple and pecan pies for dessert... We were stuffed!

I feel like I outdid myself a little, and went a tad bit overboard! There was food everywhere! We had to keep finding places to serve the food because my table wasn't big enough! But there was enough to go around, and plenty of food to send home with everyone.

Overall, it was a great time with family. We are thankful to have such wonderful people who love us and care for us, and we hope that we are a blessing to them as well.

Thanksgiving 2009: Part 1, The Valley

Chris and I have been looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, because he got the entire week off of school! It has been nice to actually have the time to visit all 4 families, which can be quite a feat and cause the need to have another week's vacation (but can't and so we go back to work exhausted...).

On Saturday, Chris participated in the wedding of our friends, Ryan and Audra. It was a beautiful wedding! The wedding party attire, the ceremony, and the reception were all unique and gorgeous. Chris has never been an usher before and wasn't quite sure what to do at first, but got the hang of it and did a great job getting people to their seats!

The wedding began a long string of Evan's naps being messed up. I haven't minded too much because he's been such a trooper, and he doesn't get to see all of our family all of the time, and therefore I think it's worth the lack of sleep in a way. We got to the wedding early because the priest said that there was a parade and that the traffic would be terrible... we didn't hit one bit of traffic, and so ended up at the wedding 2 hours early! Oh well, it was wonderful listening to Alia practice the organ for the wedding.

We awoke Sunday morning, ate breakfast, and then headed to the Valley to visit Chris' dad and step-mom, and grandmother, who live in Raymondville and Harlingen, Tx. We left around 10am, and actually made really good time and got to Raymondville by about 3:30ish. Evan did really well! He only slept for about 40 minutes the entire ride, though. Chris and I were really excited about the drive because we switched Evan's car seat from rear to forward-facing. The pediatrician recommended keeping it until he was 2, but his legs are getting so long that it looked uncomfortable. He seemed to like it because he could hand us toys, etc, and look around to see the world! Maybe that's why he didn't sleep much...

When we arrived in Raymondville, we were welcomed by Chris' dad, step-mom, and sister. Later Chris' nieces came over, and stayed to play until about 10:15 that night! It was so cute watching Evan play and interact with his cousins! They were all playing with his blocks and having a great time. I love watching Evan with other kids. He started doing some funny stuff, though. Like hiding blocks behind his back and walking away, like the girls were trying to take them away! Who knows where he learned that. We finally made it to sleep around 10:45pm.

On Monday, we woke up and ate breakfast, and then just hung out at the house until Rosie came home early from work, around 10am. Then we left to take Chris' Dad out to lunch, and ate at a great little Mexican restaurant called Ponchitas. Then Chris, Rosie, and I went to visit Chris' Grandmother Anita for a few hours. She is such a firecracker! As we drove up to her driveway, we wondered who was in her yard... until we realized it was Grandma! She had gotten a cute short haircut and dyed it dark brown, and was doing yard work. She looked 60 instead of 75, and was so full of life and energy. It was great to visit with her, look through old photographs together, and see her play with Evan. I hope he remembers these moments when he is older.

When we got back to the house in Raymondville, we tried desperately to get Evan to take a nap, but he wouldn't. So we ate dinner (yummy KFC) and made amazing peanut butter cookies for dessert. We also watched a little bit of everything on tv; from football, to Dancing with the Stars, to Castle. I almost had Evan to sleep in the other room, when he picked his head up and said, "Pawpaw?" It was so cute, that I had to take him to see his Grandpa again. Evan happily sat on Pawpaw's lap for a few minutes before asking for oatmeal (by far his favorite food-he asks for it all day long), and then going to bed around 9:30pm.

We woke up Tuesday morning and went to see Rosie's music classroom (she is also an elementary music teacher). I've always wanted to see her school and room, and it turned out that her conference was at the perfect time for us to visit. Then we left and went back to Harlingen to visit with Grandma Anita one last time for the trip. And I won't lie... to eat some of her awesome breakfast food before hitting the road. She is an amazing cook! We also got to witness her and Evan play some baseball before we left, which was so fun to watch!

Then we finally left around 11:45pm to head home. Nick & Alia were headed down to the Valley as we were headed to our home, and so we met on the road and ate lunch together, which was a nice road break. We didn't make it home until around 7pm because Chris wanted to stop at Buckey's in Wharton. If you've never been (it was my first time), then it is definitely an experience. A HUGE convenience store that sells everything. We got some really good jerky there before heading off again, only to hit TONS of traffic, and make it home by 7ish.

All in all, it was a great road trip. I'm so glad that Chris didn't have to teach Monday and Tuesday so that we could spend time with all of our families. Especially since I'm not going to want to travel at Christmas time. Goodness, it was a hard enough trip on me this time. I was hurting bad the entire time! I do not recommend traveling that far while pregnant unless absolutely necessary, and a willing husband to rub sore back muscles and stretch sore legs. We are thankful to have the families that we have, and are so glad that we were able to spend time with the Gonzales and Coronado families this Thanksgiving! Thanks for a great trip, and we love ya'll!