Christmas Celebrations & THIRD trimester!

~Friday we made it to Ryan's Christmas lunch at Applebee's (YUM!). I was stuffed after! We had to go get the oil changed in Ryan's truck & pick up a few things at Wal-Mart and then we headed home to get ready for his parents house. We went over there and we just ordered pizza for supper (we are going to do our big seafood dinner after the 1st of the year when John and SOnya get home!). Pizza was fine w/ me b/c I was still stuffed from lunch! Brycen spent the night @ Mamaw & Papaw Gizzy's w/ Jayce & Hailey. He was so excited. He doesn't get to spend the night as much as he would like... but w/ me being gone from him all week, I really like having him home w/ me on weekends or I miss him too much! I'm a baby I know... But I LOVE being w/ him and spending time w/ him & I'm sad when he is not with me! When we got home Ryan & I sat up his new farm set for him in the kitchen (so many pieces!) so that when he got home Sat. morning he could start playing w/ it right away!

B opening his birthday gift from Aunt Sonya, Uncle John, and the kids

Brycen & Hailey wanting some pizza :)

Here's a covered up belly pic- thanks to my brother in law... he thinks he is so funny. (27 wks & 4 days)

Getting into it :)

Brycen checking out his new farm set- he is IN LOVE w/ it :)

These two love each other sooo much- they sat just like this and watched an entire movie!

What Ryan and I did Fri. night ;)

~Saturday I had to get up and clean and start some of what I was cooking for supper w/ my mom's family that night. Brycen got home at 11:30ish and was SOOOO excited to see his farm set all set up! It was one of his gifts from Mamaw & Papaw Gizzy... although Ryan & I actually picked it out. I'm pretty sure it will be a favorite, b/c he hasn't stopped playing w/ it since! I've learned more about farming than I've ever wanted to know! My mom's family all started showing up at about 4pm. We did gifts and ate and they were all gone by like 7:00pm! My parents stayed and played farm w/ B for awhile ;). They all had to leave early b/c they all live up in Martinsville & wanted to get home at a decent hour.

B opening a birthday gift from aunt stacy

Logan (my cousins lil boy) and B having my mom smell candles :)

~Yesterday we went to church & then to Wal-Mart after (i really really despise that place!). We had a birthday gift to get & a few other things... We went home and ate lunch & then Ryan decided he would paint Andon's room... I was pretty pumped about that (is it work if you enjoy it??). I don't know, we go back & forth on the work on Sunday thing... Ryan likes to paint so he doesn't consider it "work"... guess it's like me and blogging? lol. Anyway, he didn't get finished, but he will be able to finish tonight I think! I am loving it so far! Brycen and I played Chutes and Ladders way too many times for me to even count yesterday! He always beats me & I don't even have to let him! Go figure?! lol. I also had more cookies to bake last night. B and I have so much fun! He really is a good helper- even if it is a little more messy :).

~I'm 28 weeks pregnant today! Wow, I can't believe that 3rd trimester is here... I can't wait to meet the little guy! I am miserable. I don't know how people "enjoy" being pregnant... I enjoy feeling him kick & squirm, BUT I do not enjoy all the other things that come with being pregnant... I'm really just in it for the end result ;). If one more person tells me how huge I am I might scream at them... seriously! I know people mean well, but it gets old! I know I'm huge, I know I'm a lot bigger than I was with Brycen... but people come on I'm 4'9" it doesn't have a lot of places to go besides OUT. Anyway! I guess it doesn't matter, but gee whiz! I need to be taking another belly picture! I meant to this past week, but forgot... I'm really forgetful these days... like I'd probably forget my head if it wasn't attached. I always remember @ the most inconveient times too... like half way home from the store that I forgot the pudding I needed! This is my only day of work this week, this morning when it was so cold out I was wondering why on earth I decided to work today?! Anyway- tomorrow we're making candy and cookies all day at my mom's. Should be fun!

Oh did I happen to mention my sweet little boy cut his own hair last night w/ kid scissors... wow. :)

~Tis the Season~

Brycen said that his Christmas Party was soooo much fun! He got two monster trucks from the little boy that drew his name and he said, "I told Jeremy, THIS IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED!" lol B has a million monster trucks so I thought that was pretty sweet. His teacher got them these little tote boxes (like a shower caddy) and painted their names and put foam stickers on them and then filled them w/ art supplies like a glue stick (oh my!), water colors, scissors, and a big pad of construction paper! I thought that was such a cute idea! Brycen had a blast playing w/ it all last night too. He also said that they got to watch a Christmas movie... I asked him movie it was and he said "Alvin & the Chick Munks" :) lol. I love his little word blunders!

Well, I better get back to work, I'm going to pick up B in a little bit and we're going to Ryan's work Christmas lunch (at Applebee's!) YUM! I can't pass that up! lol. Then tonight we have Christmas w/ Ryan's family at his parents & tomorrow my mom's side is all coming to our house for Christmas. Hectic weekend, but it will be fun hopefully!

Skipper & Baking :)

Yesterday was my day off- oh how I LOVE Wednesdays! :) When I got up to get B ready for pre-school I heard Pike had cancelled school... B has been begging to stay home for a day so I woke him up to ask him if he wanted to go to school or stay home w/ mommy... I figured missing one day of pre-school (he hasn't missed any others this year) wouldn't kill him or set him back too far ;) He immediately said, "stay home w/ momma" and fell back asleep! I think that boy needed the extra sleep b/c he slept in until TEN! He is always a good sleeper, but usually up by at least 9am on saturday's... Guess he was just tired... oh how I know that feeling! Anyway, momma was lazy while B slept... I started some laundry and then laid on the couch and watched some DVR'd shows that I hadn't been able to catch up on! I figure I better enjoy this laying on the couch stuff every chance I get since pretty soon I doubt that will EVER be happening w/ a baby in the house (and don't get me wrong I absolutely cannot wait for that time to be here!). B finally woke up and he snuggled w/ me for at least a half hour... whoo hoo :) I love snuggle time w/ my precious boy! Andon was kicking and squirming and B was just talking to him, I absolutely adore these moments. I wish I could have a video tape going for all these times... but I guess my brain will just have to do for remembering them. He called Ryan after that to tell him that he "skipped school" lol. It was cute! I didn't get a lot done through out the day, except for my laundry. I did manage to get that all done. Brycen and I made jello jiggler's w/ Christmas cookie cutters (snowman, tree, and candy cane). They were all gone by 8pm last night :) lol, yummy jello! Ryan got home and we just had spaghetti for supper. Then I made 5 dozen chocolate covered pretzels & 7 dozen chocolate chip pudding cookies! YUM! Too bad they were mostly all to give away! Today is B's preschool Christmas party. I finally just decided on Tuesday night on what to do for his classmates since my ornament thing didn't work out this year. We went and got Christmas cups and put tissue paper in them and then stuffed them w/ candy & tied a ribbon around the tissue paper, they turned out pretty cute! It was something B could help a lot w/ too and he thought that was super fun! We got all those done Tues. night and got his present wrapped for the little girl whose name he drew. He has been so excited about giving everyone their stuff! I love that about him- he hasn't said one thing about the present or treats he is going to receive, he just couldn't wait to get to school and give everyone their stuff! I hope he keeps that sweet spirit about him! This morning when we got to preschool he had to help carry it all in! I was actually grateful for that b/c I had my hands full! I hope you has a blast at his party this morning and I can't wait to hear all about it. He told his teacher when we walked in, "I skipped school yesterday!" lol. It was funny to hear him say that. Hope I'm not teaching him bad habits already ;). So I accidentally threw away the beaters for my mixer when I cleaned out my cabinets (i had two sets, one for my old mixer that broke, don't ask why I kept them, and one set for my new mixer...) well I kinda threw the wrong ones away! Oops. My mom let me borrow her kitchen aid to make my cookies with... Um, hello! I always wondered why people liked those things, now I know! It was so much easier! The cookies I make have a very stiff batter and my arm is always hurting by the time I'm done mixing the cookies, plus it takes forever to not make a huge mess (i'm not the cleanest cook/baker!). Well I think that thing is like the greatest invention ever! It took me like HALF the time and was soooo much easier! I just dumped the stuff in and it did all the work. Um, can you say EASY and WOW?! I called my mom to tell her I was stealing it and she was like, "well I have been wondering what to get you for Christmas, you're the only person I haven't bought for yet, I was just going to give you money..." So guess we'll see if my ol' mom gets me one, if not, it's def. on my list of "needs!" lol. Okay, sorry that was probably long and drawn out, but I was seriously so excited, I kept telling Ryan, and I think he thought I was a little nutty... okay, well maybe I am, but still! I still have more cookies to bake tonight... and next week... so I'm glad to be able to use my mom's for all this baking! My feet were killing me by the time I was done, BUT Andon is really on my lungs these days so standing up actually helps me to be able to breathe easier. 12 more weeks at the most to go... I can do it, I can do it, I can do it! lol... I keep telling myself that it will be here before I know it.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season! Work is super slow right now. Today is my last day of court hearings until January 5th so that makes me happy! :) Tomorrow is Ryan's Christmas lunch for work. I wasn't going to go b/c I have left early the past 2 Friday's to take B to the dentist and his ck up, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds... guess I better quit blogging and get some work done so I can go then, huh! :)

Weekend & Birthday Party Post

Friday night we went to Jacoby Yoder's 1st birthday party! He is such a lil' cutie and I can't believe he has been here a year already! Time sure does fly! B was excited to go play w/ all the kiddos too! We got home about 9pm and I still had baking to do... I was going to bake cupcakes for when B's lil' preschool friends came over the next a.m. but at 9pm that just seemed like wayyy too much work & I was exhausted already so we made a chocolate cake instead and went to bed for it to be iced the next morning! B didn't seem to mind.

Saturday morning we got up & B iced his cake and put his own sprinkles on :) lol. He made the koolaid too. He just lovesss to help & be independent. We let him open one gift from us before his friends got there. Three of his friends from pre-school (Joey, Aidan, and Zackary) were scheduled to come at 9am, it was really supposed to just be a play date, but they all insisted on bringing gifts & so we did a little party. B had fun making the treat bags for his buddies to give to them too. It was really relaxed and they just ran around and played. We did cake & gifts. B was so funny after he opened his gifts he went around and shook each of his friends hands and told them thank you! Lol, it was too cute, but I have no idea where he got that at! Their moms all stayed, which was great with me! It made for some good mommy chatting too :). Plus Zacky's mom has a new lil' baby, Ava, and I got to cuddle up w/ her for awhile! His friends left about 11/11:30 and we ran to town to pick up his cake for his birthday party that night. In the meantime Sonya called to say they had the flu and wouldn't be able to make it to his party. He was pretty disappointed! B was ready for a nap, he was worn out from all that playing in the a.m.! Ryan went to the shop and worked on my cabinet/medicine cabinet and on Andon's chest of drawers! None of them are finished, he just built them and then he has to sand/stain/paint them later, but this week is terribly busy for him at work, so I'm highly doubting it will get done! After B woke up from his nap we let him open the rest of his presents from us... he didn't have too much since the trampoline is part of his birthday this year too. He didn't notice or seem to mind though. He really is about the easiest kid ever to please! Soon after my parents and grandparents came for supper (white chili and sandwiches) & then B wanted to do a puzzle w/ everyone. I'm pretty sure he was just as excited about everyone doing the puzzle w/ him as he was about opening presents. Which of course made me extremely happy. After the puzzle we did do gifts and then we did cake AGAIN. I was about caked out by that time! B said he loves being four, b/c it means he is big like Daddy. :)

Sunday I woke up and I'm pretty sure I had part of the flu bug going around. I wasn't deathly ill or anything, but I def. didn't feel good... I'll spare you the details! Ryan & B went to Wal-Mart and got groceries & finished up some last minute shopping (for his preschool party) and also he got to pick out a new toy w/ part of his birthday money. They were gone for what seemed like forever! lol. When they got home we just layed around... for one it was Sun. and for two I didn't feel like moving, let alone doing anything else!

Yesterday I felt better, just a little weak. Last night Ryan was working late and I thought I smelled cologne... I thought B was in the family room playing... I went into our bedroom & he had climbed up on the bed and somehow gotten all Ryan's cologne off his chest of drawers (like 4 different bottles) and had them everywhere! He reeked of cologne soooo bad... it was TERRIBLE! Our whole room stunk and I could smell it all the way to the living room! ugh! He said, "i wanted some smell like daddy puts on". He'll for sure run the girls off w/ all that! HE STUNK! I stuck him in the tub right away b/c it was giving me a headache! After I got B out of the tub Ryan finally got home & said he was even later than he planned on being b/c on his way back to the cabinet shop he almost hit about 17 horses... um yah, ok?! He said other cars weren't even braking so he stopped at the guys house and told him his horses were out... They were inside eating supper and had no idea. Ryan said by the look on the guys face he knew he needed to help round them up, so out in the freezing cold he went w/ the guy and his young sons to get the horses all rounded up and back in the pasture. Luckily they got them all and they were all fine! Ryan said, it was freezing and he just wanted to get home & he didn't want to stop, but he knew if it was his horses he would want someone to stop and let him know! He told me not to blog about that? lol, he thinks it is silly, but honestly, I'm glad that's the type of person I married! He didn't know the guys name, which is surprising, but the guy knew him as "Phil Homer's boy." lol... :) Anyway, I had wrapping I needed to do last night, but some little boy had gotten into my tape and used it ALL to wrap his own boxes up! Oh my! Guess I'll be stopping this evening to get some more! :) He was so proud of those boxes I couldn't be mad! I am very much looking forward to my day off tomorrow!

My Very First Blogging Award! :)

Well Thanks to Susie over at http://http://grabersthreeringcircus.blogspot.com/ I've received my very first blogging award :). I've very humbled by the sweet things she said about me too! It always makes a girl feel good to get a compliment, right?! I love reading the stories about her kiddo's and all about their life on a turkey farm! I love how she is such an awesome and supportive mom AND aunt!

Here are the rules to receiving this award:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous bloggers in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.

I'm going to nominate...

1. Jessica from "The Gingerich Family"...she always has an encouraging word or two to say to me! We're working up to the whole talking in person thing :) We've made it to the phone so far! Lol, Plus I owe her for taking our pink couch off my hands!

2. Leilanni from "Hemmed In"... She has a gift for writing posts that always speak to my heart. A sweet little girl & one on the way all while moving states away from her family & friends. I admire your strength.

3. Lori from "Turnbow Puzzle"... Another girl that has a gift for saying what's on my own heart. Thanks for your encouraging, sweet, positive comments.

4. Courtney from "Owens Family"... I've known Courtney since high school, but we've reconnected through blogging & I love it! She always has something cheerful and funny to say that brightens my day. Plus she's expecting in April & I love sharing pregger stories w/ her!

5. Kristen from "A Blessed Life"... The person who had the most encouragment for me through out my miscarriage. I love sharing stories about Sonya & Brycen, our two kiddo's who are so close in age, and can't wait to meet IN PERSON.

And now for my addictions... :)

1. Brycen Hunter- I can't get enough of him! He is my little sweetie and I can't believe he is FOUR now. He is the sunshine in my days!

2. Chocolate- I have a HORRIBLE sweet tooth and I LOVEEEEE chocolate :)

3. Reading- I love to immerse myself into a good book! I don't have too much time for this anymore, but when I get the chance you just can't pull me away!

4. Blogging- I started this blog a year and half ago I think and I barely ever posted... and now it's almost a daily thing. I love it and it's definitely an addiction! My husband makes fun of me b/c I'll say something and he'll be like "Oh did you see that on their blog?" lol... :)

5. Feeling my belly- this addiction is obviously going to go away in a few months, but right now I could sit and feel and watch my belly all day long.

:)

Happy Birthday to my Mom & B's 4 yr. check up

Last night I was so utterly exhausted I didn't know if I could even move... but I had to go to Jasper to pick up the pictures for our Christmas Cards so I could get them mailed out, they were all ready to be sent- just missing the picture! Ryan was so sweet, he offered to drive there with me so I wouldn't have to! It's probably a good thing to, b/c I was so tired I probably wasn't safe to be driving. I stayed in the car in my sweats while Ryan & B went in and picked them up... & then they played for like 30 minutes in the candy aisle & the toy aisle... I think they forgot ol' mom was in the car?! lol. I asked Ryan what they were doing and he started laughing and said he told B to sit on a whoopie cushion in the store... oh my! I have TWO little boys on my hands already, Andon will make 3! lol. Ryan said a little girl started laughing at B (she was about 7 or 8) and her mom got mad at her and said, "that is NOT funny!". Ryan said that just made it even funnier to him- b/c I mean, come on, they are kids! :) Anyway, I got all the pictures put in the cards last night & mailed them off this morning. I was ready for bed last night- and slept pretty good, besides getting up every hour again to pee... I can handle that though, as long as I can get to sleep initally!

Today has been busy for me already! Brycen had his four yr. check up today! He is skinny & tall on the chart, lol. He was 41 inches tall & only 34 lbs. I promise we feed him :). He was only in the tenth percentile for weight, no wonder his pants are always falling down! At the rate he is growing height wise though, at least we hopefully won't have to worry about him being a midget like me :). He had grown 3 1/2 inches since he was there last time! He was in the 60th percentile for height. The dr. said is doing good and to keep it up :) That's what we like to hear! I still can't believe my "baby" will be FOUR tomorrow. I think back to my post last year and how I felt on his birthday... I was incredibly sad & wanted to cry all day on his birthday... I had a lot of emotions going on b/c of finding out I wasn't pregnant again for that month & all that came with that and I was overwhelmed. This year seems so much better! I'm still amazed that a year has went by and that he is four, but I'm not terribly sad. I'm just so darn proud of the little boy he is (not that he is perfect, but he really is a good kid most of the time!). He is so excited to be having 3 little friends from pre-school over tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Today is also my mom's 44th birthday! I think she's still pretty young & hip so I don't think she'll mind me putting her age on here :) I used to hate it when people said I looked like my mom, but she looks so good for her age, now I like it when people say that & hope I age as well as she is! Her small group friends & I surprised her. At work they told her she had a mtg. w/ the superintendent and so she came in to central office thinking she had a mtg. and that she was eating lunch with the girls that work there... haha SURPRISE! We were all there waiting for her & then took her out to lunch at The Sweet Shoppe here in town. She was speechless, and if you know her, that's a rare occasion (i'm def. my mother's daughter!) :). It's a good thing I have been busy and haven't talked to her much this week b/c it would of been a hard surprise to keep! Lunch was wonderful & it was good to visit with everyone.

I am finally back at work... Friday's are really slow for me b/c I'm the only one in the office & I don't have any court hearings. It's so cold and it's spitting snow outside, makes me want to curl up at my desk and go to sleep! :) Tonight we have Jacoby Yoder's 1st Birthday party. I love first birthdays- so precious! B of course is excited to see Isaac.

This morning B woke up and said, "When our baby gets here I will give him some of my presents!" I told him he doesn't have to do that, and he said, "I know, I lov ehim and want to share with him!" Ho sweet is that?! I hope he still thinks that way when Andon actually does get here! lol... I think he will do good, he is pretty soft hearted and is so sweet around other babies... I could be wrong and it could be different when the baby actually lives at our house, BUT I think he wanted this baby almost as much as me & Ryan... he prayed every day for Jesus to give us a baby when we were going through our trying process. I love listening to him think of the baby & talk about the baby all the time... it's already so real to him it seems... he even insisted on hanging up Andon's stocking this year & wants to put stuff in it!

Well, I should probably get some sort of work done today~ hope everyone has a great weekend- I'm sure I'll have birthday party pictures to post on Monday!

Early Birthday

Last night Ryan's parents surprised B and came over for a little birthday party since they will be in Nashville this weekend over his birthday and won't be able to come to his real party. They brought cake and ice cream & balloons and the whole works! When we told him he got to open gifts he said, "I can't, it's not my birthday yet!" lol... we had to explain it would be okay just for these couple of gifts since they won't be able to be at his party. He was really excited... it was nice too b/c he doesn't get a lot of one on one time with them with there being three other grandkids (well 4, but Andon doesn't really fight for attention yet! ;) ). They came about 7 & brought pizza for supper & we ate and visited and had cake and ice cream & then he opened his gifts.

Mamaw Gizzy & Brycen w/ his cake :)

He hid under the table while we sang happy birthday :)

Blowing out his candles! I can't believe there are already FOUR on there!

They got him a target practice/ duck hunting game. His response was, "AWESOME, I LOVEEEE GUNS!" lol, his daddy was proud!

I tell ya, the boots NEVER come off, even w/ his pj's on :)

Daddy liked the game too ;)