Family Pictures

 I couldn't post these until after Christmas because we gave these to grandparents and great grandparents for Christmas, but here they are! I finally convinced Matt that it'd been two years and we needed family pictures again. I love love LOVE them.

November and December Activities

 For the first time ever, we made a Thankful Tree a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I'm not sure why we haven't done it before because the girls had an absolute blast! I also loved seeing our Thankful Tree up on the wall each day.

 As the weather started cooling down (slowly) we started making hot cocoa in the evenings. This particular night, we roasted hotdogs. We have since built a fire pit in the backyard which we now use, but fire pit hot cocoa is a tradition.

 Charlotte had a Christmas concert. Can you see her in the lower left corner? She played with her dress most of the concert, which is about what I expected. :)

 And she still only wears these sandals....even when it is cold here. I absolutely cannot get her to wear anything else!

 Nathalie's class took a field trip to the local children's theater for some fun. Nathalie kept telling me she didn't want to go and it was sooooo boring. And then she went and got right into the singing and dancing.

 

 Lydia didn't have any concerts, field trips or holiday parties. So she decided to glam up at home.

 

 

 I was able to go to Emily's Thanksgiving Feast. We had a great time. Unfortunately it was the day before I found out about my blood clot, so I was in a lot of pain but Emily appreciated that I was there. Emily was also cast in a Christmas musical her school put on. I didn't get any pictures of her there, but she said her one line very clearly and knew all the words to the ensemble songs.

 

We did end up going to a birthday party for one of Charlotte's classmates at Chuck-E-Cheese. None of the girls would slow down long enough for me to take a picture except Lydia, mainly because she spent most of her time on this little train!

As always, November and December were packed to the brim with activities!

Christmas Break Fun

 After our Christmas celebrations were over, we still had about 10 days just to play around. I love having the kids home so that we can have fun together! (That is, until they get tired of each other and start fighting.)

First we went to the local Art Museum. We don't normally go because it is so expensive but we had some coupons left from the summer reading program to get us in for free. The coupons expired on Dec 31, so we made use of them. The museum has a very small area for children but it was fun enough that we played there for 1.5 hours.

 We played outside in the warm weather.

 We did some arts and crafts.

 We played pretend. Nathalie was the teacher (always!) and I was the student. Or her sisters. It goes better when I'm the student...

We played outside with more toys.

 

We made blueberry syrup which was delicious, obviously!

 

 And we wore ourselves out.

 Lots of times.

 Even more times!

Christmas

Our beautiful tree. Tradition is that the day we set it up, we turn off the lights afterward and just sit to enjoy the view.

 My beautiful family. Matt and I take turns putting the girls to bed. On the nights I put them to bed, we read books. On the nights he puts them to bed, they watch a short show. Right before Christmas we got them hooked on Donald Duck. The giggles coming from them made us laugh too! It was great.

 

My birthday, the big 3-0! It feels weird, because I still feel like I'm in my early 20s. Matt spoiled me for my birthday and bought my favorite pizza-- Papa Johns. We put the candles in the pizza and the girls helped me blow them out.

  

My parents were so thoughtful and sent me this beautiful bouquet for my birthday! I have never received a bouquet via delivery before and it was such a wonderful surprise. I just love flowers.

 I love that now I make my own birthday dessert. I didn't wait long enough for the cake to cool before frosting it, but really, could you? The cake was fantastic, the frosting was fantastic and I had to fight the kids over the raspberries. Matt invited friends over (as a surprise to me!) and he bought fireworks too! So we all ate cake, talked, the kids played, and we lit fireworks. It was a WONDERFUL birthday.

  

Christmas Eve was all about keeping the kids busy. My mom sends a "Christmas Eve" box every year with a few activities, a movie, and Christmas pjs. Thanks Mom! These activities helped pass a very looong day. 

 

 Christmas morning was all about presents, of course! We had a good time opening presents and subsequently playing with each one.

 Like the bubble maker Santa got for Lydia. That was a big hit! It was super warm on Christmas, so later in the afternoon we headed out to the park where most of the other parents in Savannah had the same idea! Since it was about 80 degrees (no joke, it was crazy) we let the girls run off their Christmas candy for about 2 hours. Not our typical Christmas, but a good one nonetheless.

 A few days later I took down the Christmas tree and found TWO lizards living in it. Not abnormal for Savannah. I only got a picture of one of them because I wanted to catch them and take them outside.

I let Odin play with one of them. He doesn't kill them, but he loves to touch them with his nose and then jump around when they move. He had a great time but I'm not so sure about the lizard...

Awkward Moment At the Pumpkin Patch

Back in October, Charlotte's preschool class went to a nearby pumpkin patch for some fall fun. This particular farm has a petting zoo, hay rides, a big hay pile for the kids to play in, two bounce houses and a big burlap sack slide.

Charlotte wanted me to go on the slide, so we climbed up the stairs about halfway and started to wait in line. A mom and a little boy climbed up behind us and, since we were going to be there for awhile, we started talking. The mom was very slender with a big, round and (I thought) pregnant, belly. This is a preschool field trip so there were lots of young kids and pregnant moms, including myself. This mom looked about 7 months pregnant, so I asked, "Oh, when are you due?"

"Oh, I'm not pregnant. I'm in organ failure so fluid builds up in my abdomen around my organs."

Ah. How does one respond to such a pronouncement?! So I did the only thing that seemed appropriate-- started asking about her organ failure. She was happy to talk about it and I made it to the top of the line where Charlotte, Lydia, and I grabbed sacks and slid down.

And then I avoided the mom for the rest of the morning, because that was just too awkward for me to handle.

A little crazy up in here

I promise to catch up with pictures. But first, a quick update.

-- 35 weeks pregnant. Being induced right around 39 weeks because of the blood clot stuff/blood thinners. Less than a month to go. Matt and I are cooking up a storm but I haven't had time to go through baby clothes yet. Feeling good, just round.

-- Baby is looking good. And wiggly. And kicks me multiple times a night so I have to get up and use the bathroom. Nope, don't have a name yet. Who knew picking a boy's name was so hard?!

--Matt officially "starts school" on Monday, but is already studying for his first exam because the syllabus is already available. Not thrilled, but determined to work hard. He's wonderful. He has been doing a lot of prep cooking for me while he listens to school lectures and it's so, so helpful. Not to mention his food tastes a lot better than mine.

--Emily is on the second half of 3rd grade. Precocious, funny, sassy, bossy, etc. She loves to be bigger now. She has just gotten into Harry Potter, and is reading the 3rd book already. She doesn't understand everything but loves the magic of it. And it's magical for us to see her discover that wonderful world that is so enchanting. She is funny and in that really goofy, silly, goober stage that kids go into right around this age.

--Nan is as spunky as ever. Funny moments of late include her asking us why Kansas was "black and white". We were confused until I remembered that they watched the Wizard of Oz....and had a good laugh while explaining that Kansas isn't black and white, it was just the movie! Also she told us that astronauts can drink milk on the moon. We asked her why she thought that and she said, "There are cows on the moon because they jump over it." She is a funny girl and very quick-witted. Also has only one volume level-- LOUD.

--Charlotte loves preschool and is good at knowing her alphabet sounds. She is super duper excited for the baby brother to come. She told a friend today that "the baby will be needy so Mommy can't jump on the trampoline when he's awake. And Mommy and Daddy and Emily will catch the baby's head if it drops. Lydia will probably need to be reminded to sit down with the baby so she doesn't drop him. I am a big sister to the baby brother but Lydia is a little sister to the baby brother because she's only two." She is ready to take care of this little guy. Poor little baby, I already feel bad for the "love" he's going to get.

--Lydia is cute and adorable and very much a two-year-old who likes to do it herself. She is mostly potty trained but not quite and we're still working on it. She loves her big sisters and wants to be just like them but also loves to be the baby and snuggle with me. She's excited for the baby but also says to her sisters, "That's MY mommy." So it should be interesting. Lydia loves, loves, LOVES Elsa and Anna, playdough, playing with her sisters' toys and me.