Cheers for a new year!

I saw this on  a friend's facebook page, and I think it is so perfect for 2012. I'm glad 2013 is here, and I'm looking forward to making it a great one. Just before the year ended, Ryan spent Sunday night in the ER getting 5 stitches in his forehead. It's amazing really, after all the times he has had multiple bruises on his head, that this is the first time he's been in the hospital. He tripped on the stairs and hit the corner of the railing. He was such a brave little guy, and even got a grape popsicle, a stuffed animal, and two Hot Wheels cars out of the trip. So, hopefully, that kind of thing is behind us and great things are to come in the new year.

Even though my blog doesn't show it, we really did celebrate Christmas and had a great time doing it. I've been exhausted, so I don't know if I'll ever get around to posting about it. At my last doctor's appointment, my blood work showed my iron levels were low, which actually made me feel better knowing that I'm not just a wimp who can't handle a little work. There really is a reason I feel like going to bed after getting ready in the morning! Only 11 more weeks until this baby is supposed to be here. I can make it!

Update

So this is what's going on around here. It's a good thing the holidays involve a lot of food. I'm already getting the, "So when are you due?" Followed by a brief moment of silence while the realization sinks in of what three more months of me being pregnant is going to look like.

Aunt Kellee

At dinner tonight, Nikki said Aunt Kellee was her favorite aunt because "she's fun. She actually does things with her kids."

Well, she's right, you are fun, Kellee. I guess I'll have to start trying to do things with my kids a little more. :)

Hannah's Family Portrait

Umm... Is she hinting something to me?

Cold legs!

These are the pajama pants that I made for Hannah last Christmas. I can't believe how much she has grown! I hope she can wait another month for some new ones. (She just might have some new socks on her list, too!)

#1

Nikki had a gymnastics meet last Saturday and did such a great job. Robin and Mike were able to come, which was so nice. Her Sunday School teachers even came to watch her. Mike took some videos for me, so I'll post those when he gets them to me. She ended up taking 1st place in two of the four events as well as 1st overall. We are so proud of you, Nikki! Great job!

As we were walking out of the gym, everyone was looking at her medals and her trophy. This meet was called the Thanksgiving Invite, so her trophy is a turkey! We got a good laugh out of that.

Funnies

A couple of weeks ago Ryan was watching Mary Poppins, and Hannah mentioned at dinnertime that she didn't understand one of the jokes on the movie. It goes something like this: A friend of mine ran over his neighbor's cat the other day. He knocked on her door and said, "I'm really sorry about your cat. I would like to replace it." "That's fine," she said, "but how are you at catching mice?"
As I was explaining it to Hannah, all of a sudden the lights came on in Nate's eyes. He had never gotten it before, either!

One night Nate and I got home to find a note on the counter from the girls with a lollipop wrapped in aluminum foil beside it. It read: For Mom or Dad, We thought since we didn't like this succor that you might. Caution: it has already been sucked on but only by us, don't worry. Love, Hannah and Nikki P.S. It's banana flavored. Rotten banana!

Finishing October

Okay, so I'm finally posting the last of our October pictures.

 Pasta skeletons

 Window paint

 Orange jack-o-lanterns

 Spooky glowing eyes to place in the bushes at night

 Ryan and Hannah with some of his super-hero friends at the church trunk-or-treat party. Hannah was a mermaid this night.

 Painting pumpkins at the local grocery store

 Miracles do happen! Hannah was excited to go play in our backyard! She is always afraid of spiders and ticks, so she doesn't even like going on our back porch. But when I told her it was too cold for ticks anymore, the idea of raking a maze through the leaves in the backyard was too much for her to resist. Here they are posing at the finish line. 

 Carving pumpkins -- I wasn't home when Nate initiated this activity and looking at this picture of my girls with those huge knives makes me kind of glad I wasn't there.

 Halloween dinner -- Ghost Shepherd's pie with Apple/marshmallow teeth

And finally, getting ready for trick-or-treating on Halloween. Nikki missed the church party a few days earlier because she and I went to Charlotte to see the US Olympic gymnastics teams perform -- amazing! But here she is as Dorothy, Ryan opted for Superman this time, and Hannah decided to go back to her tried and true witch costume. The mermaid scales were hard to walk in, but I think this is funny because the witch's dress would probably fit a 4-year-old and she just uses it as a shirt now.

So, we ended up with tons of candy and lots of activities accomplished through October. Whew!

A baby picture

I'll spare you the ultrasound pictures and post this picture of our baby fully clothed instead.

I had an ultrasound yesterday, and our little girl was looking completely healthy. I'll have to trust the ultrasound tech when she said it was a girl because I couldn't tell in the least. But it was great to see her heart beating beautifully and find that everything appears to be developing as it should. Nikki couldn't be more excited, but she wasn't too keen on the idea of giving up her room for the new little one. At least she has a little time to get used to that idea before it happens.

More October

It's taken me a while to get the next installment of pictures uploaded, but here we go. I'm not even sure what today is, so I have no idea which days these were taken, I just know it was in October.

 Witches' broomsticks -- quite the hit

 Spooky thumbprints, these were fun and Ryan loved watching what creatures Nate could make out of Ryan's fingerprints.

 Mummies!

 I made Ryan a reversible Batman/Superman cape to go along with the pajamas he was recently given. I have no problem sending my son trick-or-treating in pajamas this year!

 Halloween sugar cookies

 Kate and Sam spent an afternoon with us one day, which was great. The kids loved playing with them. I think they realized that some things are going to have to change around here when our baby comes. Hannah and Nikki were pretty vigilant about watching what Sam was finding on the floor. This spider web game was a toddler activity, so it was fun to have Kate around to play it. I ran out of white duct tape, so we had to move on to blue painter's tape!

 Ghost spinners

 Our little ghost. This wasn't an activity I planned as it's not very safe, but Hannah and Nikki got a kick out of watching Ryan dance around and chase them and bump into things as a ghost.

 Haunted gingerbread houses -- please close the pantry door before you take a picture next time!

 Caramel apples. Just as I finished cooking the caramel, my neighbor called and asked me to come right over. So I told Hannah and Nikki to stir in the vanilla and dip the apples as I ran out the door. They were a little slow in getting the apples dipped and it mostly dried out before they got too far into it, but it was delicious anyway. As a side note, my neighbor ended up being taken to the hospital by parametics because she was having chest pains, but she came home later that afternoon with everything okay. Kind of a crazy morning.

 Jello worms -- more trouble than they were worth

 spider web fingernail polish -- next time I think Nikki will ask Hannah instead of me to paint her nails!

And today I got the stuff to make Hannah and Nikki's costumes. Nikki decided she wants to be Dorothy, and Hannah is going to be a mermaid. I'm afraid that even though I told Nikki she can't wear these shoes in the house there is going to be red glitter around for months. But she's excited about her shoes, so I guess that's what's important. (By the way, notice the road construction in the picture in the newspaper. That's the intersection right by my neighborhood, and I can't tell you how inconvenient it is to have that road closed! While it probably doesn't really take me as long to get places as I think, it's a huge headache to have to go so far around to get anywhere. One more month and it'll be done and my life will be so much smoother!)

I didn't get a picture of our leaf rubbings, and I was gone this afternoon when the kids raked up leaves and jumped in them. Maybe they will do it again and I can get a picture then. So, we're staying busy and loving the fall weather!