Merry Christmas

Christmas this year was so much fun. I may change my mind later, but I think two years old has to be the best age. Abby knows how to open presents and loves it but she had no expectations. When we would ask her what she wanted for Christmas, she would just say, "Presents." She didn't understand that she could make a request.

We went in to get her in the morning and gave her the last link of her Christmas-countdown chain to tear in half. We took her out to the family room to show her all of the presents. The look on her face was priceless. She picked one up and was ready to get started immediately. We told her she could dump out her stocking but that we needed to eat breakfast before opening presents.



With the prospect of presents and candy all around, she was too excited to eat breakfast. We finally got her to eat a little bit of banana while the rest of us ate. It was so fun to see her so overwhelmed with excitement.

She thought it was so great that we all had snowman jammies on.



We finally got started opening gifts and Abby loved every minute of it--so much so that she was sure to help us open our gifts too.



Helping grammy and grampy with their present--a grandkid calendar.





After all of the presents were opened, we brought out the big one.



Abby got her very own kitchen from grammy and grampy. We were so excited to find this little kitchen. It is a perfect size for Abby, but more importantly, a perfect size for our apartment.



Abby loves playing with it almost as much as Sam loved putting it together. He was excited for the dawn of "adult assembly required" toys.



Abby wanted to try on her new clothes while coloring her new coloring book. And when your two, and it's Christmas, you get what you want.



Later in the day, Abby gave us a wonderful present. We put her new potty seat on the toilet and she sat down and went pee. We are hoping to have her potty-trained before the baby comes and this was a step in the right direction. Yay Abby!

It's the holiday season...

Ever since we put up our Christmas decorations and started listening to Christmas music on our beloved B101, the Christmas spirit has been in full swing in our house. Abby has loved playing with the nativities, plugging in the Christmas lights, opening Christmas cards and tearing off links on her Christmas-countdown train.

Last week, my parents came into town and we have been keeping up the festivities.

Abby has loved having four adults at her disposal.

Grandpa makes a great Play-Do partner.



We went into the city to see the Macy's light show. Abby insisted that she wanted to sit on Santa's lap, but when the time came, she was utterly terrified. I wish I had a picture of her clinging to Sam in tears. I believe she thought Santa was an inflatable decoration in someone's front yard.

Here's a cute family picture of us waiting in line.



Every year, my family makes Schliefferlies, a deep fried Swiss pastry. Yum! When Sam and I were engaged, we decided to carry on the tradition.

Abby has become quite the helper in the kitchen.



She doesn't even make much of a mess while measuring her flour.



It's been so fun having time to relax and really enjoy the holiday season now that Sam is off from school!

Mommy, mommmy, mommy...

Lately, when Abby wakes up in the morning or from her nap in the afternoon, you'll hear her quietly jabbering and rolling about.

And then, when she's good and awake, you'll hear, "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy (repeat)...get out please...time lapse...Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy (repeat).

It totally cracks us up!

We've been trying to tell her to say "Grammy grammy grammy" so we won't have to get her when she wakes up tomorrow morning and my parents are here!

30 Weeks

I feel pretty excited about the 30-week milestone. I guess that's because here on out we're in the single-digit week count (assuming I don't go over, but we won't consider that as an option right now).

I was feeling pretty small for a while, but now I'm starting to feel enormous! Sam kept taking pictures of me and I kept saying, "I don't like that one, take another one." After several photos, I came to the realization that I must just look like that. HA!

Because I Can

Because this is MY blog and I get to write whatever I want, I'm going to whine for a few paragraphs. Bear with me or stop reading, whatever suits you...

This pregnancy has been a lot more challenging than the first one. I believe it has mostly to due with the fact that I now have a two-year-old to take care of, which includes a lot of sitting on the floor, lifting, crawling and other abnormal body positions. However, I think this one would have been more challenging without all of that.

I started having a hard time sleeping much earlier this time. With pregnancy number one, I had to get up to tinkle in the night during the first trimester and at the end but I didn't have a hard time getting comfortable until I was good and large. This time, I've had to tinkle in the night almost every.single.night. and the discomfort has been in full force for several weeks already. I wake up several times each night and never feel sufficiently rested in the morning. I take a nap in the afternoon because I'm totally exhausted and then can't fall to sleep quickly at night (and repeat).

Back pain with pregnancy number one took place mostly in the first trimester and was triggered by walking (particularly the dreaded stairs on my way home from BYU each day). This time, my back pretty much hurts all the time. I don't know how to avoid sitting on the floor and lifting Abby, so this is something I have (mostly) learned to accept.

**Warning** The next paragraph contains too much information for the weak of heart!

I'm never a particularly, um, regular person, if you know what I'm saying. With pregnancy number one, going number two was painful, and I mean, like, prepare you for labor painful. We purchased all of the latest fiber-packed delights and things went more smoothly (sorry, I couldn't resist). Thankfully, things have been better this time around. But, recently, I've started having this nagging pain somewhere along the ole digestive tract. It ranges from mild to quite painful without any obvious provocation. I'm hoping my doctor will have some insight at my next appointment because it's seriously stressing me out.

I think the most frustrating symptom is my mood swings. Throughout the day, I am randomly struck with anxiety. I think I have a desire to nest but I've already done everything that can be done up to this point. It helps to clean or tidy but there is only so much tidying a girl can do. I also think my mood is down because we aren't getting out much; it's too stinkin' cold!

Thankfully, my wonderful Sam has been home most of the time during the past week. He has been studying for finals but is quick to help me out throughout the day. A lot of the wives ship out during finals so I feel bad hanging around being needy, but he as always, has been so great. I really don't know what I would do without him. Come Friday, around lunch time, we'll have two fabulous weeks of vacation to spend together (and with my parents who are coming into town). Hopefully, I will be lifted by Christmas spirit enough to make it through the next two months!

Ebates

Have you ever looked at the site Ebates? If you ever buy anything online, it's really worth taking a looksie! All you do is log in to Ebates and click on whatever site you want to order from. They have just about everything. Ebates will link you to the store you want to shop at. After your order is finalized with whatever store you ordered something from, your Ebates account is credited the money. After a certain amount of time/money accumulates, you will get a check mailed to you. Voila! That's it! There's no catch!

Go check out all of the Web sites that you get paid to order from:

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=u22Kl0fVZD1BtAkoyRJXow%3D%3D

Just always remember to check if a site you're going to order something from is on Ebates. You'll kick yourself for forgetting and not getting your cash back.

Christmas Stockings

After finishing baby shower gifts for the seventy-five friends I have due in December, I was thrilled to start on some of my own baby projects. But first, I decided to throw a few more things into the mix. There's still plenty of time before the baby comes, right?

As we were putting up our Christmas decorations, I decided that we need matching stockings. Abby hasn't had a stocking yet and Sam and I have been using our stockings from our childhood (cute, but not cohesive.) We looked for ideas online and found one we liked at BOMquilts.com. We went to JoAnn's, made a few adjustments, and ended up with these beauties:





I think they turned out adorable. I'm probably most proud of the fact that three of the four stockings are lined with the fabric leftover from hemming my curtains. Hooray for repurposing! It was also my first time using a decorative stitch on my sewing machine. It is totally amazing to me that somebody invented that!

Next on the docket: Christmas presents for Abby--a new file folder game and clothes for her baby.

Try not to smile...

28 Weeks

Hooray for entering the Third Trimester! I really hope the time keeps flying by because I am getting seriously antsy already. I feel so much more prepared this time which makes me much more excited than nervous (despite all of the differences there will be with a two-year-old around.)

I thought it would be fun to do a comparison picture since 28 weeks is really the only intentional pregnancy picture I have from Abby (besides the REALLY lovely one right before leaving for the hospital). I totally regret not taking more, by the way, but you live and learn.

I threw on the same shirt to make it really good.



What do you think? I think my belly looks about the same.

Abby decided to join in the fun by copying my pose.



She is so funny!