What if Christmas..doesn't come from a store

Back track with me a little to Christmas Eve and Christmas day! I had all types of emotions going into Christmas this year. This was our first married Christmas so I was excited about all the newness that would bring but that also meant it was my first Christmas not waking up at my parents house! Now the husband didn't quite understand the big deal in this but when you have been waking up on Christmas morning for the past 26 years with your mom, dad, and brother (except for last year..) and you are for sure a creature of habit this becomes a hard thing to over look! Though when Will and I got married we decided that we would spend Christmas morning each year (at least for now) as our own little family at our own house  apartment! Little did I know how hard that little decision would actually be..sounded way better 9 months out when we first talked about it, plus through in a few hormones and you can only imagine!

So we finally figured out how we were going to do both sides of our families for Christmas and stay home on Christmas morning...which was quite the challenge in and of itself, but we figured it out! We spent Christmas Eve morning at my mom's side and Christmas Eve night with my dads side. It was great to spend time with both sides of the family and see some family members that we don't see often.
After saying by to my parents Christmas Eve we hopped into the car and we headed home..and this is when all of the emotions pregnancy hormones decided to hit me like a freight train! We were driving home and I could feel the tears filling up in my eyes and then when you get the lump in your throat you just know you are about to cry..which these days has become pretty regular. I figured if I just starred out the window it would all go away and the husband would never know..psh who am I kidding he could hear the sniffles instantly! He decided to try and distract me and ask if I wanted to go look at Christmas lights because he knows how much I love them...at first I was hesitant but he cranked up the Christmas music and that is exactly what we did! It helped keep me distracted for quite a while and we saw some gorgeous lights, the trees! You know you have done a good job on your lights when you have a caused a traffic jam!

We finally made it home and our living room turned back into Santa's Workshop to finish some last minute gifts for our nephew! Because sometimes your best ideas come a couple of days before Christmas..procrastinating turns into a good thing! This year we decided to make a tent for our nephew and I think it was a huge hit!

Here he is in it with all his other toys on Christmas morning!

So before we headed to the in-laws on Christmas we had our own Christmas just the two of us! I really enjoyed this quiet christmas and we talked about how different it would be next year with a 7 month old baby!!! It is so crazy to think about and so exciting all at the same time! I grew up having all our presents separated into piles when we woke up Christmas morning and then you each opened one present one by one, and then saved the stockings last! Now the husband grew up where it was just a free for all and you just opened however you wanted...luckily the husband obliged to my "Christmas Rules" and we opened our presents one by one!

 His pile and stocking!

My pile and stocking! 

Our first married Christmas...tried to get the tree in the background but obviously that didn't work! 

Once we finished (and called my parents about 5 times of course :) ) we headed down to Duncanville where the husbands family lives! We opened lots of presents, played with all the nephews new games, and had a delicious Mexican meal!  

It is so neat to watch Will with his nephew and think about what a great dad he is going to be...though I think our poor kid is going to have to fight their dad for their toys in the beginning! I think Will was more excited about some of Ari's toys than he ways!

helping stealing Ari's toys :)

We had a lot of fun playing all types of games...Twister was an option but this pregnant lady opted out this year! 

 The balloon game was a huge hit (except Ari was not convinced of that quite yet!) It was a lot like Jenga but with a balloon, you didn't want the balloon to pop on your turn!
Up next we Heads Up! where you had to give clues so the person with the cards on their head could guess what their cards said!

 Here we are on Christmas Day with our family of three!!

 After we ate and played with all the toys Will took Ari out back to shoot cans with a BB gun! He still is a little small for the gun but enjoys spending time with his uncle Will!

With his can that he shot..posed by will! He says that this is how you pose with your winnings!

** Side story and important note** When shooting cans with a BB gun do not shoot the bottom of the can..the BB will come back and hit you in the leg. Let me tell you it is not a pleasant feeling! 

We really had a great time and got to spend a lot of time with Will's family! 

Late that night we went and spent the night with my parents so that we could wake up early the day after Christmas at their house! The husband thought it was silly to stay at the parents house since we leave about 15 minutes away but he knew it would mean a lot to me!  My brother and his wife would be there too from Oklahoma! 

Sweet Angus patiently waiting for Lucy (Annie's dog) to arrive for Christmas! Finally they arrived and we opened presents and got to hang out! Angus is always so excited to see Cole and licks him like crazy!

We had the best Christmas and can't wait to see what next Christmas will look like with a little one! 

Brace yourselves...lots of pictures!

Since I missed our weekly update for week 17 and almost week 18 update I'm just going to combine both, not much changed between those weeks anyways! :) Here are a few pictures of the ever growing tummy over the past two weeks!

 These two pictures are from when I was 17 weeks I believe and also right before we headed to see White Christmas at Fair Park in Dallas with some of our best friends, The Van Scoy's and Alyse's family...we love being added on to their family events, and I think we fit right in too!! Of course I didn't manage to get a single picture :(
** If for some crazy reason you were at the White Christmas showing the same night as we were sorry I was the girl in the back coughing up my lungs..hope you enjoyed the show!**

 Here we are right before the Christmas rugby party...all of the old boys were giving us great advice and welcoming us into the "parenting club" the whole night! It was really good to see some friends we hadn't seen since we found out that we were pregnant!

This next series of pictures is from Christmas Eve when I had just talked to my mom about how I felt like my stomach grew to be enormous overnight so she wanted to see it! I am 18 weeks in these pictures!

 Christmas Eve pictures with sweet Angus girl became a tradition last year!

How Far Along: A little over 18 weeks! 

Size of Baby: According to the ever faithful app on my phone it says that baby is the size of a Mango, and is about 6 inches and 1/2 lb.! 

Gender: We find out JANUARY 6th!!! Be sure to get your vote in before then! As of now I'll be wearing blue to our appointment and Will is sticking to his vote of a girl and will be sporting pink! Yes, he is beyond thrilled to dust off his ONE pink shirt :)..he has been such a good support with all my *ideas* lately! 

Total Weight Gain: My oh so favorite topic these days.. I believe my total weight gain is right around 12 pounds..but that was before I finished off the pint of Neapolitan ice cream this afternoon! Don't worry the husband already received a phone call that I will be needing another pint! I'm really hoping the new Luluemon workout clothes my parents got me for Christmas will actually motivate me to workout after baby...because I'm gonna need it with this new ice cream love! 

Maternity Clothes: Still luckily holding out with only having to wear maternity jeans! I'm hoping to not have to buy any maternity tops or dresses..we will see if I'm so lucky! 

What I miss: I really miss being able to stay awake long enough to watch my shows that come on at 9:00, though I have managed to stay awake the last two nights until Will got home around 10! He was really impressed but little did he know I took about a 3 hour nap to make that happen! 

Cravings: Still about the same..basically anything I see or hear I want! Eating lots of milk and fruit loops,  drinking lots and lots of OJ!! 

Best Moment of the week: Will started working on the baby crib!!! I don't know how I got so lucky in the husband department but man I did! He has absolutely blown me away with how he is able to build our crib from scratch!! I gave him a picture of the crib I wanted from Restoration hardware (The Jameson Conversion Crib) and a long earful of demands and off to work he went! I am trying to be super patient but I am getting so anxious to see the crib! 

Here is a sneak peak of the crib! yay!!!

Worst Moment of the Week:  Having to go back to the doctor and give them 8 vials of blood!! I for sure thought it was a cruel joke my husband set up when the nurse kept pulling out the vials but must to my dismay it was not! You all will be glad to know that I survived and the nurse was quite entertained with my faces as she was taking the blood and mentioned that usual people don't complain during the process only when the needle first goes in! Oops!  Will claims I make giving blood worse by working myself up about it but I haven't quite figured out what else you are supposed to do yet..I have a feeling by the end of this pregnancy I might have it figured out though! 

Stay tuned for a post about our first married Christmas! Hopefully I will get it up before the new year! :)

Snow Day 2013 ....or Ice Day/16 Week Update!

Living in Texas you never know what type of weather you are going to get from day to day! A couple of weeks ago the Meteorologists we talking about how we were going to get snow and ice, how it was going to be this big deal and there would be road problems...and we didn't get anything! I sat and looked out the window ALL day that Sunday just watching for something to fall from the sky so that we would have a day off from school...and of course no such luck! I would check my phone and then check outside..and drive my husband crazy the entire time. So when the Meteorologists started this chit chat about the potential of ice again on Friday I refused to get my hopes up (who am I kidding...I was secretly hoping for it , every teacher needs a Snow *ice* day every once in a while) this time! Mind you it was in the 80's on Wednesday..but Thursday brought around some cooler weather! Lucky for me I had car duty outside on Thursday so that meant I got to stand outside for a solid 30 minutes in FREEZING weather, and what do you know it started to sprinkle! My hopes of this weather thing actually happening were increasing! I decided to play it safe and head straight home incase this ice thing really did happen! Well as the night went on we got some crazy sleet and ice..and the glorious phone call around 9:16 (yes I know the exact time...it's on Christmas break, my kids are CRAZY and this teacher will take any break she can get! :) ) from my mom saying school was cancelled!! Usually they don't call and tell us until that morning so that is what I was expecting.. so it was a nice little surprise! I was beyond excited to start my 3 day weekend...though my husband was a little less than thrilled I would be home all day Friday since he was trying to study for his finals! Apparently I'm not the quietest person to live with...who knew!
Well we woke up Friday to an outside covered in ice, so during one of  Will's study breaks I encouraged  made the husband go outside to take pictures with me!

The husband was thrilled when I told him I NEEDED something sweet to eat and macaroni and cheese....so then he got to spend 30 minutes trying to get his windshield where we could see out of it! Good thing he loves me...and knows that there is only 6 more months of these cravings! Then I'm sure it will be something else ;)

Well when you are cooped up all day and are supposed to not be bothering your husband because he is studying diligently for his finals...it turns into a craft weekend!  I think my nesting phase is beginning and since I can't work on the nursery yet I did a little Christmas Crafting!

The husband was really glad I found something to keep me occupied with...but about every 5-10 minutes I needed his assistant for something! I told him that it was not my fault because he was the one that didn't want me lifting anything! Sunday Night I was glued to the news to see if we would be cancelled for Monday...I knew the roads were probably okay and that it was a long shot but remember teachers LOVE snow days **especially when you are going to be on maternity leave when everyone else is having to make them up!!** I went to the same school district that I now teach in and the rule has always been if Dallas ISD closes for a snow day than not to long after Garland ISD would close too..that is just how it has always been! Well I saw that DISD closed so immediately started texting all my teacher friends that we had to be next, well apparently our new superintendent didn't get this memo! Hopefully someone will let him know for furture cases :)  I think the whole time I was hoping and praying we would have one more day off the husband was praying that he would have his apartment back to himself on Monday to make up for his Justi filled Friday and weekend!  So bright and early (extra early since we didn't know how the roads were going to be) Monday I was off to see my littles at school and I think some of them had the same feelings about needing one more day as I did, but we all made it through our Monday!

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16 Week Bump Update..one of these days I will get a good camera and have decent pictures! Though I am loving our christmas tree in the background in this picture!

How Far Along: 16 weeks
Size of Baby: Baby Buck is the size of a Turnip this week...about 5 inches and 5 oz
Gender: Still don't know..I getcomplete different guesses from people, and of course they all just know they are right! My mind changes daily..honestly its probably more like every hour. I'm going to try and convince the doctor to tell us on Monday but if not we for sure will find out in January! 
Total Weight Gain: I am not sure but I'm thinking last week and this weekends ice days really killed my weight gain. We have a doctors appointment Monday so I'm sure my doctor will let me know...can't wait...
Maternity Clothes: Luckily still being able to wear all my regular shirts and dresses, but I have started to wear maternity jeans occasionally though I can still fit into most of my regular pants as well! 
What I miss: I usually sleep on my stomach so I am really missing that! 
Sleep: Sleeping pretty well but still waking up a couple times of night though before I was pregnant and this would happen I would be exhausted the next morning... now I'm not really that tired so that has been great! 
Cravings: Once again they are all over the place! The most consistent things I have wanted are fruits (mainly berries and grapefruits), sandwiches, milk and cereal (can't get enough milk lately), and every morning I have to have orange juice! During the ice storm though for whatever reason I *needed* candy and macaroni and cheese! I can not remember the last time that I had macaroni and cheese! 
Best moment of the week: I think the best moment of the week is people telling me that I have "popped" out more and that they can really tell I'm pregnant (I'm guessing instead of just looking like I put on some lbs!) it makes everything seem more real! 

Hope you all have a great week and will see you next time!