Christmas pictures

From our studio shoot today...

Christmas at our house

I think it's called 'The most wonderful time of the year' for a good reason! It's absolutely my fav.o.rite holiday and having Tyler to share it with just makes it that much more fun!! He is very aware of all the Christmas festivities and has wanted to be apart of everything! I was a little too excited to get the Christmas ball rolling this year and had Travis and my brother up on the roof putting up some lights on Thanksgiving morning. haha. Travis finished up all our outside lights and decorating that weekend. He really does a lot to make Tyler and myself happy and this is just another instance where he does something without complaint to make this a special time for us- we're very lucky to have him. :-)

We got our tree up and ready yesterday. It was 80 degrees on Saturday at the Buda Fest (which felt way too warm to even think about getting a tree) and it was in the 50's yesterday- perfect tree weather. I'm glad we waited the extra day because not only did we get our tree up, we had our first fire since moving in and finishing the fireplace! It definitely set the holiday mood.

Our 'gingerbread house' as I like to call it. :-)


Here's our little helper hard at work...






















The tree has only been up for one day and we've only had one incident- not bad, right? While we were cooking dinner, Tyler decided to grab an ornament and pretend it was a ball, chunking it at the fireplace as hard as he could. Of course, it shattered into a million pieces and he immediately started saying, "I'm sorry," so he didn't get in trouble, but we had to explain (again) that the ornaments were not toys. Fingers crossed that the tree makes it for the rest of the month.





And on a different decorating note- these are our pine cones that Travis and I snagged during our vacation to California/Sequoia National Park during the Christmas holiday while I was pregnant with Tyler. I love pulling them out as part of our Christmas decorations now!

Buda Fest

Buda Fest- This was Tyler's first time being able to ride rides and he absolutely LOVED it! These are just a few of the ones he rode. I was too busy eating caramel apples to get good pictures of the rest. ;-)

24 week Pregnancy Check-up

I had my 24 week check-up yesterday and all is well. It was a very uneventful appointment as my doctor was stuck in emergency surgery and I had to see the nurse practitioner there. I gained (ah hem) 6lbs this past month and while I'd like to think it was because I was bundled up in a sweater, who am I really kidding? I've been eating too much!! Thanksgiving (and our three different dinners) was NO help! Little Miss sounded great though and she's been moving around a lot more lately. I have been able to see my belly poke out when she kicks now, which is fun. And speaking of poking out, my belly button has officially popped out. I've always thought that was cute on other pregnant women, but I'm not loving it so much for myself. I'm still feeling well and hope that continues right into the third trimester. Can't believe I'm already entering the last stage! Wow!!!

Here's a short clip of our sweet girl's (very fast) heart beat:


24 1/2 week belly picture, total weight gained so far: 14lbs



Comparison with Tyler at 24 1/2 weeks:

Santa....already!

We're kicking December off the right way- a visit to see Santa that turned out to be a success! (Well, I personally think the pictures of Tyler crying his eyes out on Santa's lap for the previous two years equals success, but you know...). We almost had a meltdown, but somehow Santa turned it all around. Tyler was fine while standing in line and when it was his turn to take the picture, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. He was clinging to my leg and trying to climb in his stroller, despite all our efforts to pry him away. His little eyes started to tear up and I figured we wouldn't even get close to Santa for our funny crying shot this year. Santa started talking to him and rolling cars to him and slowly, Tyler started taking them over to Santa to roll again. They did this several times and Tyler started to feel more comfortable around him. He eventually got Tyler to stand by him with a toy for a picture, then he sat on Santa's lap with the toy and then Santa finally took the toy away and Tyler started cheesing it up. :-) He even told Santa that he wanted trains for Christmas! (Note to Santa!). Santa thanked ME for letting him work with Tyler! Awesome! He was probably the most patient Santa... ever!

Here's an idea of how the visit went.







And lets not forget the best part- the train ride after visiting with Santa!


Here's the framed picture already up and on display at the house!

Did I mention, we're having a GIRL?!?

I don't think I realized how much I may have been hoping for another boy (subconsciously) until after I found out we were having a girl. Don't get me wrong, I have ALWAYS dreamed of having a girl, but after having Tyler, I envisioned us with three kiddos, two boys first and then we'd all spoil our little girl last. Aside from the financial benefits of having another boy right now, I was really looking forward to Tyler having a brother/best friend/playmate to grow up with. However, over this past week, Tyler has been SOOOOOOO sweet towards the idea of having a baby sister and it just melts my heart when he mentions something about HIS "baby sit-ter." He started asking me more questions about her today- 'Where is she?' 'Can she come out of your tummy now?' 'Does she eat lunch?' Just cute stuff. He had his hands on my belly and I would push it out and tell him that she was saying 'hi' to us. He got the biggest kick out of that! Out of no where, he put both of his hands around my belly, gets real close and says, "I love you, baby sit-ter." Ugggg... I called Travis immediately and told him how much I LOVE(!!!) that we are having a little girl!! Hearing Tyler say that instantly changed my thoughts on what the "ideal situation" for us would be. THIS IS IT!!! Tyler will have plenty of friends/playmates, but now he will have a little sister to adore and love and our Little Miss will have a big brother to lean on and look up to. It suddenly feels right and life is great!

Oh- and I think it goes without saying that girl clothes are sooooo cute! Tyler and I have been indulging in a little shopping. :-)

Mmmm... Smores

Enjoying our colder evening weather by the fire and roasting marshmellows.