12/14/2009

This was a wonderful weekend. Friday afternoon, the kids and I went to Alison's house to visit since she had another snow day. Phil came and picked the kids up from there after work and I went with Alison, Kimme, and Alison's mom and grandma to a women's Christmas event at Ada (Tony and Alison's church). There was yummy food, a great speaker, and the executive chef from the Amway hotel did a cooking presentation for us. Being with the girls and thinking about Christmas was so much fun! (And it was great to have a few minutes away from the kiddos for the night. )

Saturday morning we got up and ready to head down to Phil's parents house for the day. Phil had to fix a couple things on the car and the kids and I planned on Christmas baking with Sherin! We made sugar cookies, peanut clusters, special brownies, church windows, fudge, and cinnamon swirl muffins (since Phil and I were scheduled to bring snack to Sunday school the next morning). We weren't sure how the kids would do with their attention spans, but they had a blast!!! Ellee couldn't get enough. We took a break for lunch and naptime, but spent most of the day baking! It was so much fun! (Although we missed you, Wendy!)

In the evening, Phil and I left the kids with Joe and Sherin so we could fit in one more date before the little man arrives. We weren't super hungry and we knew we would want popcorn at the movie, so instead of going to a nice sit down dinner, we split a sandwich at Quiznos (I used a coupon!) before we stopped at Walgreens to get some candy (I used register rewards so I spent no cash) and then we used coupons for cheap movie tickets, free drinks, and cheap popcorn. Our special evening out- dinner and a movie- was under $20! You all know I love a good deal. We saw " The Blind Side" and the movie was sooo good! And it was wonderful to spend that one on one time with my wonderful husband.

Sunday we had to be at church early since we led worship. I had chosen songs based on the theme "Emmanuel" or "Jesus our coming King" and just really enjoyed doing the songs with Phil. We introduced a song written by Phil's cousin, Josh, called "Emmanuel" and it went really well, too. It is a little discouraging for me since there are some older ladies in the church who don't seem to approve the weeks we lead worship and just sit there and scowl. I hate the thought of offending someone, but was also disappointed since the songs we sang had such incredible words about and for our Savior!! I know I am only responsible for what's in my heart before the Lord and need to focus on that.

I felt like the rest of the day was very productive for us. Phil made lunch, did dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. I wrote out my list for the hospital bag and started gathering a few items. Then I went through all the ads and wrote my grocery list and gathered coupons. We both did laundry. The kids took good naps. And then I made dinner and cleaned up all the dishes before we went out grocery shopping as a family. We got home and got the kids in bed and then Phil and I watched a movie together while I timed contractions. For a while they were under 8 minutes apart, but they still weren't really intensifying. I was able to sleep through the night without being bothered by contractions (though I felt them when I woke up TWICE to go to the bathroom).

This morning I had my 38 week prenatal appointment. I still have been having contractions, but have been pretty busy so I haven't been timing them. I had made a little progress since getting checked last week (1-2), so it's nice to know that the contractions are doing something! My midwife is on call this evening and next Saturday, and then not again until the 29th, so we will see what happens!

After my appointment we went to the library for story time. It was already half over, but since it was the last meeting until after the holidays, I decided to go anyway. The kids were happy to see their friends and Mrs. Karen had brought treats, which they loved, too. (She put a colorful marshmallow on the end of the little pretzel sticks- isn't that cute and Christmas-y, though super simple??)

We had plans to join some friends for lunch at their house after story time, so we went over for hot dogs roasted in the fireplace, home made mac n cheese, s'mores, and other yummy foods. The kids had a nice time playing and my two were asleep in the car before we even got back to the house. Thankfully they both transferred to their beds and are quietly resting. I hope to get a little rest in here, too, but the other part of me thinks I should work some more on getting the hospital bags or other baby stuff ready to go. I figure maybe the baby will decide he is ready to come if he knows I have everything ready for him. Guess we will see!

Beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Our family decorated for Christmas this afternoon. We put up our tree, hung lights in the family room, hung the stockings (which I still need to decorate with our names) and it feels so cozy in here now! The kids really enjoyed helping with all the ornaments and everything, and I really enjoyed watching the excitement in their eyes. One ornament did already get broken (one of Caiden's 1st Christmas ornaments, which was a little sad, but I'm not dwelling on it :-() and I chose to keep a couple decorations in the boxes this year to avoid anything else special breaking. I hung a few ornaments specifically up top to keep out of reach, but we mainly left all the ornaments hung right where they put them. :-)

After dinner, we rented a couple Mickey Christmas movies and watched one while eating popcorn and drinking hot cocoa with colorful marshmallows in our special Christmas mugs. When the movie was over, the kids got in their PJs and brushed their teeth, we did our Advent reading, took a link off our countdown-til-Christmas chain, and got the kids in bed. What a special family evening together.

About time...

I have not been coming by here very often lately. Xanga is just so much easier for me, so I haven't transferred over this way.

But I decided it was time to make some updates with my pictures and layout and thought I would leave a quick, "hello!", too.