Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas day! We woke up early to open gifts at our house & to see what Santa brought Carter!!! I was holding Carter and when we walked into the living room he saw his presents and immediately started squirming and said "walk" which means, put me down!!

He was so excited about his kitchen set up and new bike that he didn't care at all about opening gifts! We would give him one and he would put it back under the tree! haha!!!

I must have been extra good this year because I was surprised with a Mac Book Pro lap top!!! & a bunch of editing software for it!!! I am so excited to get to work on it!

RJ was super happy with his official NFL Tatupu Seahawks jersey!

Carter also got a big dig-dig of his own! Its a remote controlled excavator that makes all kinds of sounds! He was so excited!!! 

Then it was off to Lola & Papi's for breakfast & more presents!!! And of course Carter was too busy playing with whatever he opened first to open anymore! My mom was also surprise with a lap top too! 
But the best gift of all was that it SNOWED!!!!! YAY!!! That was super exciting especially for Nana & Steve who have never seen it snow on Christmas before! 

We then headed over to RJ's sister house to see them for a bit. Then later on that evening we went to RJ's aunts where the whole extended family was! It was a long day but it was nice to spend it with our families! 

We had a wonderful holiday and it was so nice to be surrounded by all our wonderful family! 

cheers.

Christmas Eve

This year we had Christmas Eve dinner at our house.  I made a delicious prime rib roast with a herb & horseradish crust. It was so good! I was quite proud of myself, I had never made one before!!! The rest of the menu included warm artichoke dip (my very own recipe) & rosemary bread, sauteed brussel sprouts w/ lemon and whole grain mustard, mashed potatoes & deviled eggs! Oh & my mom baked a spiral ham too! It was such a good meal!

 Here's my roast before:

And here it is all plated and ready to eat!

The mantle over the fireplace was lit with candles

The Rays!

 Carter in his "moose" jammies. They are actually reindeer and Christmas trees but he thinks they are moose! haha!!! He was so hyper that night & he kept trying to open some presents. He would pick one up and say, "Car-car (thats what he calls himself)?" and we would say yes but not until tomorrow morning! =)

cheers.

M.I.A.

Yep, that's been me lately as far as blogging goes! It was so crazy around here before Christmas...lots of errands to run & by the end of the day I was too tired! We did have a wonderful Christmas but I'll have to blog about that later! I still have a lot of photos to go through!! 

This last week I reached the 24 week mark! I can't believe I have reached 6 mos already!!!! I was laying in bed the other morning thinking...wow approximately 3 mos from now we will have another child!  I can't believe it! Time has flown by so fast! 

Anyways, here's a pic of my ever growing belly! Carter is "tickling" his baby sissy!!! So cute! 

Merry Christmas everyone (even though I am late on the wishing)! I hope you enjoyed your holiday!!!

cheers.

a wrapping frenzy

This weekend my Nana & Grandpa Steve flew in from Florida! They are here to celebrate the holidays with us!! I am so excited to have them here during this time because its such a wonderful time to spend with family. Plus they get to really enjoy spending time with Carter!
So this weekend we did some major shopping (ugh...shopping all day while preggo=aching legs & back & grumpiness!!! haha). Then we did some major wrapping! We chose to do this enormous task while Carter was still awake...why...I have no idea. Well, it wouldn't have been so crazy if the two who were supposed to be in charge of watching were actually watching him! HAHA!! ;) About 93.33% of those presents were for none other than the C-man! of course.

That morning I caught Carter playing in the wood pellet box with his diggers!! oops! He made a construction site! Digging & scooping away...what an imagination!!

Then he suckered Papi into playing along with him!
The wrapping frenzy
C "helping". More like making a mess! He was smacking everything in sight with the long tubes of wrapping paper!
Oh, what were the two who were supposed to be watching him doing?.....

snoozing or "resting my eyes" he claims

the other....watching football

but hiding behind C's stuffed animals to not get caught

All in all it was a good productive weekend! Its been fun so far having Nana & Steve out!

Happy shopping days. Only 7 left.

cheers.

decorating!

This year I had a little helper with decorating the tree! And what a helper he was!!! hahaha. When I first got out the lights & plugged them in he came up and put his hand out & said, "hot". haha! That's right, so don't touch it!!! hahaha....He helped me put on his special ornament that his Tio & Tia gave him. A baby's first Christmas '06 ornament. What a big boy this year! Our tree is much smaller than in the past but I didn't want to get a huge one being it was C's first year he could get into it!!! haha....

I had so much fun this year decorating. It was snowing outside when we brought the tree in. I had some delicious Amish friendship bread baking in the oven letting off such a yummy aroma. Plus we had Christmas music playing! So fun! I just love the holidays!!!



cheers.

o christmas tree

Saturday we went and got our Christmas tree. It was a perfect day, sunny but still crisp & chilly! I've been so excited about getting a tree this year because C is a bit older & could tromp around out there. We went to our long time friend's (& Carter's godparents!) house & they grow trees on their property. They also have horses, cows & C's fav...a tractor!!! Who could ask for more?!!! Carter was immediately excited when he saw them. He squeals, "horse! horse!" So of course we had to make a stop at the horses first off. He tried to give the horse a kiss then the horse tried to do the same to him!! HAHA!

The whole gang. My parents, Michelle & Dustin, & Us!
Cheese!!
Our little family
Guess where he's going to....the tractor & to get more cookies from Sherry! He was more interested in that than looking for a tree!

We had a great time & we all got a good tree! Thanks to Dave & Sherry!!!

Cheers to the holidays!

oh baby!

22 weeks and counting! It seems like over the past two weeks my belly has increased in size exponentially! My legs, hips & low back have been aching & my heart burn has been so bad. I didn't have heart burn with Carter until the very end. UGH.
She's not a big mover either but the other night it was like she was doing somersaults while I was trying to go to sleep!
But other than that I have been feeling good. =)

22 weeks!

cheers.

holiday parties & a snow tease

This past weekend was a busy one! We had two back-to-back holiday parties to go to for RJ's work, a baby shower to attend & a photo shoot (see pics here)! Plus I've had a ton of clients photos to edit and design Christmas cards too!!! Busy, busy, busy!
The first holiday party was held downtown. So that was fun to get dressed up and venture down there! Especially since it started to snow that day!!! YAY! We dropped C off at my folks and it was dumping snow there! It was so exciting! I love it when it snows. Then RJ & I headed off to the holiday party. We had a great time.
Saturday it snowed off and on at my parents so that was pretty fun to watch! I get all excited when it snows! haha! Too bad it all melted by the evening! BOO!
Then that afternoon my mom & I went to a baby shower for a friend of mine. That was pretty fun. Baby shower's always are! Well, in my opinon anyways! =)
That night concluded with another holiday party!

Rj & I at the first holiday party

yay snow!

Carter "cooking" with all of Lola's pots & pans! haha!!


Cheers.

tis the season

Yep, we've rapidly moved past Thanksgiving& from now on its full force holiday-ness until Christmas! This time of year is also very busy for my photography business. Everyone getting family portraits for those holiday cards! So I finally got ours finished!!! So here are a few of my fav's!

Speaking of holidays, our Thanksgiving was nice & relaxing. My mom made some delicious food. RJ & his friend deep fried a turkey which was fantastic! My favorite part was that my appetite is insane so I could eat a lot! hooray for being pregnant around the holidays! heehee...Oh & speaking of my pregnancy, this last week my stomach totally popped out! Its like hello baby! =)

Enjoy the pics!

cheers to the holidays.

here comes the pink

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments! We are SO excited! I am so excited to see C as a big brother. Up until now people have been asking me what I was hoping for & to tell you the truth, I wasn't hoping for one or the other. I knew it was going to be great either way. But I did have a feeling from the very beginning it was a girl. I had the same intuition w/ C, I knew he was a boy. So when we were at the ultrasound I can't thinking, its a girl. Then the u/s tech got near the "area" I didn't see anything & then the tech goes...how about a girl! I got teary!! We are going to have a GIRL!!!! We will have one of each! yay! I was waiting to see RJ's reaction & he goes...."yes, now we can buy her a sweet doll house!!" hahaha!!! awww so cute.
I did some shopping already! hahaha...how could I not?!! ;) I did feel so weird being in the girl section! It was like uncharted territory for me! I know how to buy boys clothes!! hahaha! =)

So here she is!!! Our baby girl! We can't wait to meet her!

cheers.

boy? or girl?

Alright folks its finally here! The big reveal!!! Make sure your sound is turned on & up! We are totally thrilled and excited about the newest addition to our family! We are so thankful to God for this wonderful blessing! RJ stayed up way too late last night putting this thing together but I loved how it turned out! Hope you enjoy it! ;)

And if you leave a comment your name just might go in a drawing for the middle name! So leave us a comment!! haha! =)

It's...

family photo time! haha..tricked ya! I bet you thought that this blog was going to be about the revealing of the baby's gender! HA! nope. We are still trying to come up with something fun! but we do know!! heehee....
Anyways, over the weekend we did some family photos. Its that time of year again to get those holiday cards out! & I've been hard at work editing & designing cards for this year! While we had our cameras out C grabbed an extra & began taking his own. He told my parents to say "cheese"! hahaha!!!! What a little budding photographer! I guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!
So Here's just a couple from the shoot....I have tons to sift through still! =)

got the camera all set

luckily a professional was on hand!

one of my fav's so far!

but mommy i don't want to kiss your belly!
cheers!

big boy!

This week we got C a big boy bed! We got it at IKEA & he LOVES it!!!! He was so excited when we set it up. He hasn't slept in it yet. We are getting him used to it in his room first & let him discover it then we'll work on moving him over.
He gets so excited yells, "bed!" and runs in his room & climbs right up in his new bed! So cute!

cheers.

check up!

So today we had another prenatal check up! Everything went well! I only gained 1 lb this time! yay! We waited around a while to be seen & once we got in the appt was about 2 mins!!! Its so different this time around b/c we know what to expect so we don't have a lot of questions so it makes the appt's go fast! Which is kinda nice but at the same time not as exciting. haha. The baby's heart rate was 150. I never grow tired of hearing that. So amazing.

Ok so I have to confess a bit of frustration...at the dr.'s office, they have me down at 17 weeks 5 days as of today. But every counter I have says I am 17w3d. I know what you are thinking, oh please, its a 2 day difference! (this is what RJ says to me every time!!) But it bothers me! I know that I will probably not deliver on that exact day anyways. I just like knowing when the next week rolls over!!!I like counting down the days & reading whats next in my pregnancy books. Is that so hard to understand?!!! gosh! So just thought I'd vent for a second....

So next week on Wednesday is the big ultrasound day!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I can't wait! So we need to think of something fun & creative to tell everyone & well my usually creative brain is in a rut! help with some ideas! We thought about waiting till Thanksgiving but I am not sure if I can keep a secret that long! haha!!

I am going to put a poll to see what everyone thinks the gender will be! =)

cheers!

trick-or-treat!

Halloween was so much fun. Carter had a blast & I know I did too! My parents came over to experience C's first ever trick-or-treating! He was so excited to go. I think he was just excited to go outside...he didn't really understand what we were going to be doing! But he got the hang of it after 1 house! He kept trying to go in to the people's houses & he especially wanted in if they had a dog! haha! It was so cold out so we weren't out long. When we got back C helped hand out candy to the kids at the door & that was WAY more fun to him that actually going door to door! When the door bell rang he would scurry to the door in a frantic sort of way & would be so overly excited to get the candy basket & open the door! He loved to give each kid a piece of candy & the kids were patient with him too. It was soooo cute! He would wait in the window next to the door to see if any kids were coming & after they left he would try to follow them! hahaha!!! To see more of our night check out our Picasa album

Oh & my birthday was great! RJ treated me to a day of shopping! yay! It was so much fun. I didn't find anything for myself but we got stuff for C!!! hahaha!!!

yay lets GO!

daddy & C
mommy & C
handing out the candy
where are the kids??!!

cheers.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! As you can see C is going to be a turtle! & a super cute one at that! He cracks me up in this outfit! He loves it & doesn't ever want to take it off!!
We are going to take him trick or treating around to a few houses & then pass out candy for the remainder of the evening!
He hadn't discovered what candy was yet until the other day when dumping out his bucket of candy he collected at RJ's work. He bit into one and then quickly realized it was something yummy...."mmmm" he said! just great! I was hoping to hold off on the candy thing for one more year! oh well. Have a safe & happy halloween!

cheers.