Ho Ho Ho and 100 Days?!?!?

Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed themselves with family & friends. We had a great time - the kids especially. It's so much fun to see them opening their gifts and really getting excited for the big day. A friend of mine said it best when she said that her house looked like Toys R Us on Christmas morning.....yep - that would describe ours too!! Now we just have to find space for all the new stuff....its a vicious cycle...hahaha!

The kids got some wonderful presents today. There's a few that stand out for different reasons. I came across a doll online that was supposed to be very realistic - it cries and coos and sucks on a pacifer and/or bottle and when you take it out, it cries. I thought that would be a perfect thing for Brooklynn to have; #1 because she LOVES baby dolls and #2 because I thought it would let her feel like a little mommy when her little brother arrived - she could take care of her baby while I take care of her little brother. Well lets just say Brooklynn won't be babysitting anytime soon...hahaha. When her baby doll started crying and wouldn't stop, she got a little peeved with it - at first she was all cute and sweet saying "sssshhhhh" and patting the baby's back, but since its a doll and it only shuts up with the bottle or pacifier in its mouth, it kept screaming. Well obviously Brookie had enough and couldn't figure out how to make it be quiet. She covered the baby up (completely from head to toe) with a blanket obviously trying to smother the noise and then when that didn't work, picked it up and tossed the poor thing on the floor and went about her business across the room. Obviously we need some lessons on how to take care of a baby...lol. I wish I would have had the camera close by to catch it all but I was laughing so hard by this point....completely missed it. I'll try to get it another time to share.

Here are some cute pics from earlier today.

Our annual Christmas pose...

Waiting patiently to dig into their presents

Another big hit with BOTH kids was their new motorcycles. We let them open up all their other presents first and then had them close their eyes while we wheeled both of their new bikes out to the living room. They were both so excited. Obviously Andrew's is a little more high tech....its a Razor Dirt Bike which is pretty neat. It only goes about 14mph or so but its perfect for him......he couldn't wait to get outside to test it out. Brookie's motorcycle was just a plastic little push one (PINK of course)...but hey - as long as she was like her big brother, its all good. Here's a pic of our little biker gang when they first got their new wheels.....

Brookie testing out her new wheels...and for all

the out of towners...yes it was actually cold here

this morning - it was about 32 degrees outside

when we were out there.

And Andrew testing his new ride...

The cutest biker gang ever...lol

Anyway....moving on to the 2nd half of this post.....100 days. What does that mean? Well as of today, December 25th, I am only 100 DAYS from my due date!!!! How is that even possible??? It has flown by - it seems like just yesterday I found out but here we are 6 months into the pregnancy. The last month has gone much smoother and things are going well. I can tell I am close to hitting the 3rd trimester already - energy levels are being zapped and I am starting to feel my body aching from the growing belly. I am definitely bigger this time around - the last month I have just popped. Andy said to me earlier today that I am pretty much the size now at just under 26 weeks that I was when I had Brooklynn full term. Sadly...I would have to agree. I only gained 20lbs with Brookie and I am already at 16-17lbs so far and still have just over 3 months left. I'm not complaining though about the weight gain - its a nice change this time to actually have an appetite. I have had the strongest cravings for anything orange flavor - including fresh oranges - just can't seem to get enough. But like I said, I am already feeling a lot of the same things I felt with Brookie at the very end of the pregnancy - at 38-40 weeks.....so the next few months should be interesting. Here is a pic of me tonight. I'll call it the 26 week update - even though I still have 2 days left before I hit 26 week mark - but close enough.

I'll try my hardest to have more updated pics now that you can actually see progress...hahahaha!

Looking Up....

We finally got some good news this week.....which was a HUGE relief. I had my dr's appt yesterday with an ultrasound to see what the status of my placenta was. My Dr was thrilled that it had moved up quite a bit from when she last saw it a month ago.....so that was GREAT news. It is looking like the issues I have been having are being left in the past. I also was told that I am no longer on bed rest!!! YAY!!! Of course she told me that I can't go back to normal completely - I still have to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible - but I am able to get out of the house and do my everyday normal things - run errands (nothing major - just quick trips here and there), drive Brookie to/from school, go out to dinner, etc. So that was a huge relief. I honestly felt like a new person walking out of the office yesterday...so excited. I even went back to work today and was excited about it. I was only on bed rest for 12 days but OMG - it was beginning to get to me. The first week wasn't so bad - I was just so worn out from everything that happened, but this week when I actually felt normal - I was starting to feel like a caged lion...so things took a turn for the better just in time. I don't know how people do it for months and months at a time - but I guess you do what you have to do. Anyway...needless to say - I will definitely be watching what I do from this point forward - don't want a repeat of last week. This pregnancy has been completely different from when I was pregnant with Brooklynn....definitely keeping me on my toes. Hopefully this is it now for little bumps in the road :)

The ultrasound yesterday was a quick one - just to check my placenta. The technician did give me a great facial shot of our little boy......he's definitely getting bigger - she said he was just over 1lb at this point...its going by so fast. I can't believe that 4 months from today is my due date....crazy!!! I guess we should get going on getting everything in order - especially figuring out his name ;)


In other news....we had a nice (white)surprise today in Houston...it actually SNOWED!!! From what I've been told by friends/family in Toronto - we actually beat them for the 1st snowfall of the year.....something is definitely wrong with that picture. It was hilarious to see everyone so excited.....I wish it would have stuck around longer so I could have played with Brookie in the snow when we got home. By the time we got home, it was all gone from the ground and just snowing a little. Oh well.....we'll take whatever we can down here - definitely a nice change from the blistering heat of the summer. Just glad it doesn't last for months and months and months like up north.

Other than that - not much else is going on with us. Just getting ready for the holidays. We got our outside of the house done last weekend. We have some of the inside stuff up - just have to put the decorations on the tree - maybe I will finally get around to doing that this weekend. It actually feels like the holidays this year b/c its been fairly cold for awhile now...which is a nice change.