HallowThankChristmaNew Day

Oh my stars, I am so behind on blogs it is ridiculous. Umm, I didn't even post Halloween pictures. The kids looked really cute so even though it is almost February I am going to put up some pics of the kids in their costumes. I figure I can do that since it's my blog.

Elijah had a cowboy hat as well but I suppose by this point he was no longer interested in wearing it. He wears it at home all of the time though.

Paging Dr. Abigail. She too had a surgeons cap and mask but quickly passed that on to me or Daddy to hold. Eventually we ended up carrying a majority of their costumes. That's what we're there for!

Okay, fast forward to Thanksgiving...

We drove to Texas for Turkey day. I was like 30 weeks and drive just about did me in but I was really glad that we got to see everyone, especially since we were not going to make it to Texas for Christmas. While we were there we got to meet Joshua and Josiah, Lori and Marcus' new twins, and we found out that April is having a girl. We made a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium with my parents for an early Christmas present as well. The kids really enjoyed it and Abigail is still talking about it.

Me, my dad and Elijah. Like I said, I'm about 30 weeks here, give or take a week.

The kiddos with Mamaw and Baba at the World Aquarium

The quality of this photo isn't all that great but I thought it was really cute.

Bath time with the cousins. Hmm, which one is mine? Maybe the pale one of the bunch?

Let's see, I think this brings us to December. We practiced making cookies for Santa.

Abigail really likes helping in the kitchen. She's an excellent little chef. I love this picture because she has flour on her cheek.

Before I knew it Elijah had emptied the whole bottle of sprinkles onto his cookie. He looks pretty proud of his work.

How proud is she of her cookies!

This are a few of the fruits of our labor.

For Christmas my parents drove out to see us in Tucson. This was my first Christmas where I didn't travel somewhere. It was nice to be at home but felt a little awkward. I was in no position to make the drive though. This was the first year that Abigail understood who Santa was. We discussed his role quite often till we had it all straightened out. Just when I thought everything had been discussed she asked how Santa would get into the house since we don't have a chimney. I explained that Santa would use his magic to build a chimney and when he left the chimney would also be gone. That answer seemed to calm her fears. However, she did pray on Christmas Eve that the builders would come and build a chimney so Santa could go down it. Such sweet innocence.

Christmas is my favorite time of the year and I loved getting the decorations out and Abigail really enjoyed helping me decorate the trees. Yes, trees. I had three. What, that's too many? I had one full size tree, then a smaller one that was the kids tree and was adorned with Cars, Sesame Street and other kid ornaments, and then I had a small 3 foot tree. I was lovely.

Okay, so we made more cookies for Santa and left some out to keep him nourished. I received the honor of eating his cookies and left one of them half eaten. The next morning Abigail was thrilled to see that some of the cookies were gone and that he ate so much he couldn't finish one of them. It was precious to see the holidays through Abigail and Elijah's eyes.

So on to January. We rang in the new year at our home with some friends. The kids got to stay up super late. They roasted marshmallows and had a good time. We had over some of David's coworkers, two of which were being deployed the next day. A good time was had by all with good friends.

This is the edited Reader's Digest version and I have only hit the high points but I'm so behind of blogs and too tired to elaborate any more. So this brings me to current day. I am 38 weeks and ready to not be pregnant and to meet our baby. I've had contractions all day today. Maybe baby day is close! I'm ready!

Abigail is very excited about the baby. She keeps asking if the baby is ready to come out yet. She has been very sweet and I'm excited to see her with the baby. She loves playing dress up and playing pretend. Her birthday was in Oct. and everyday since her birthday she has been asking about her next birthday. Oh to be four. She loves preschool and last week she got a good behavior award. Her teacher said that everyone was acting up that day except Abigail and another girl. So Abi and the other girl got Star of the Day awards. Her teacher said she always behaves very well and if there was a star of the session award that she would get it. I'm not trying to brag, really. It's just nice to hear that your child is well behaved when they are away from their parents. I am very proud of her!

Elijah will be two Feb. 2. He is definitely making we work. He thinks he's already two and has therefore already developed quite the little, shall we say, personality. He's quite funny though. He likes to say things like, "Ahh man" and "Come here, I show you." If he's wearing his cowboy hat he says, "Ye haw." In his pirate hat he says, "Arrr." He doesn't miss a beat. He's very sweet and sincere. I love watching him and Abigail play together. They both love going to Bible class, playing outside and digging for treasure, building tall towers with blocks and reading books.

Whew, I guess that's it for now. Did anybody actually read all of this? Hopefully I'll stay up to date a little better. I'm not going to make any promises though. I'll try to update with any baby info. Hopefully our baby will be here soon! I can't wait to meet him or her! Later.