Hannah's 12th birthday!

 Hannah had to come up with her own decorations for her party this year. I think she enjoyed it, though.

 

She asked for a snowflake cake, and it turned out that it snowed on the day of her party.

 We don't always get snow that works for snowballs and snowmen, but this was perfect. Even if it didn't last more than a few hours.

 Poor Ryan ended up half frozen and not at all happy by the end of our time outside. It's just never been worth it to actually buy gloves and boots worthy of playing in the snow.

Our snowman with pine straw hair and a mustache! His name was Mr. Muddy.

I had my 16-year-old nephew take the video, and it's a pretty good representation of the chaos we get when we all get together. Lots of fun. So, it turned out to be a great day. Even though it snowed, the roads were clear enough that everyone was still able to come to the party, and we had a great time. Can you believe she's 12?!

Como te llamas?

My poor neglected blog. I guess I should find something to write about. This afternoon I've been scraping off paint and sanding a dresser we found on craigslist for the baby. That's why I'm now sitting down and I don't know if I'll make it back up for a while. Should be plenty of time for me to think of something to post about.

How about baby names? Finding a name for this baby has been pretty rough. Nothing has really seemed like a great option to us. However, now that we have about a month or so left until she comes, we have finally decided on some names that we both are willing to leave on the table. All of our other kids have middle names that have family significance, and I have been able to find scriptures that go along with the meaning of their first names. Well, the names we have been thinking of are family names, but finding a scripture to go along with the meaning doesn't seem to be going too well.

So, here's the list we've been thinking about. We are still quite open to any suggestions -- particularly any of you who know of some hidden family gems that we've missed. Seems like those are hard for us to come by. I'm sure Wilhemina and Artemesia were great women, I'm just not going to use their names.

Natalie -- that would be after Nate. Wouldn't it be great if this baby is as sweet as he is?
Lola -- my grandma, but this is actually probably off the list now because I don't think Nate likes it. It always makes me think of that song about Lola being a showgirl anyway. Not that my grandma was a showgirl.
Ruth -- my other grandmother, lots of our family have used this for a middle name but no one has given this as a first name. So I think that would be neat, but ... I don't know.
Joy -- my mom's middle name was Joyce, but I like Joy better. Close enough? Her friend that introduced her to the gospel was also named Joy.
Maren -- Nate's grandmother's name was Marion, and I think this is a pretty variation of that.
Alene -- I think this is a pretty middle name. This is from Nate's mom and grandma.
Rebekah -- No family history here, but Nikki might move out if we don't go with this one. This name was on our list for both Hannah and Nikki, but obviously we never used it.

Combinations?
Natalie Alene -- too long
Natalie Ruth
Natalie Joy
Lola Ruth -- oh wait, Nate doesn't like that one :)
Ruth Alene
Maren Alene
Maren Ruth
Maren Joy
Rebekah Joy
Rebekah Ruth Robbins -- too many R's?

Would any of these names scar our poor child? I don't know what to do. Maybe we'll throw them in a hat and pick one out. What process do you go through to name your kids?

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!