Christmas was wonderful!

I am so grateful to God for our many blessings. I have really been enjoying my time at home with Sarah and to make things even better Aaron was able to work from home for almost the whole week. Having this time together was such an awesome blessing:)
This time of year is my absolute favorite! Our Christmas was so wonderful! Sarah had such a great time opening her presents. She got a kitchen from Santa and absolutely loved it. In fact she played in it for almost 30 minutes before we decided to direct her to her other presents. I was so proud of her because the whole day she was very patient and did not cry or throw any fits. After she opened each present she would ask her daddy to open the box. Aaron had the tough job of trying to get each toy out of the millions of bindings they put them in but he did it all with a smile.
The best part of this wonderful day was that we were able to enjoy time with our families and each other. In the morning we were able to have a nice relaxing morning with Aaron's parents. Then there was even time for all of us to take a nap. In the evening we had a wonderful visit with my family. To finish off the day we went looking at Christmas lights.

My pretty Christmas dress.

Wearing my special Christmas jammies from Kris.

Trying out my singing skills.

Cookies for Santa

On Sunday Sarah and I baked some Christmas cookies for Santa. Sarah's cousins Ali and Bella came to help but they weren't as into it as Sarah was. She didn't really care for cutting out the cookies. Instead she wanted to put handfuls of flour on the counter and then rub flour on her face. By the end of the process she was covered in flour. Thankfully, Daddy helped clean her up while I finished cutting out the cookies.
Her favorite part was icing the cookies. She loved putting globs of icing on the cookies and then adding the sprinkles. Of course the sprinkles would be put in a pile in the middle of the cookie and then spread out with the spoon. Santa is going to love his cookies!

Rudolph Rocks!

Last weekend we took Sarah to see Rudolph at Casa Manana. She loved it!!!! Our seats were perfect because the cast would periodically come right behind us. We got her a Rudolph nose that blinks and she kept it on for most of the show. I think we have found a new family tradition!

Daddy Daughter Time

Sarah loves her Daddy. He puts her to bed every night and reads her a story. She has a favorite book that she likes for him to read. Sometimes she will follow along and read with him because she has memorized the words.

Thanksgiving fun!

For Thanksgiving Sarah and I flew to Missouri to be with Aaron's family. It was Sarah's first plane ride and she did fantastic. I had bought a dvd player so that she could have an in-flight movie. We had many nice people help us along our journey. I think they felt sorry for me because I was pregnant, toting a 2 year old and carry on luggage.

While in Missouri Sarah got a chance to make noodles and pumpkin pie. This is a family tradition that the kids get to participate in and this year Sarah was old enough to join in. She had a great time rubbing flour on her face and mixing the ingredients for the pie.

Our last 2 days there is got down into the mid 20's so we didn't go out much. It even snowed but unfortunately we didn't get an opportunity to go out and play.

Halloween Fun!

Two little pumpkins

Yesterday we ventured out to a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound. It was me, Aaron, Sarah, Sandy (Aaron's mom), Melissa (my sister), Chris (Melissa's husband), and Bella (Chris and Melissa's little girl). This place was amazing! It had bounce houses, cutouts for the kids to take pictures in front of, two hay mazes, and tons of little picture setups with pumpkins. The best part was all the activities were free! I was so excited for Sarah to get to experience all of this.

We got there early but it was already crowded. The place had an area where you can pick out a wagon to pull the kids around in. Sarah was a little hesitant to ride in the wagon but then decided it was fun. Bella liked the wagon too.

Sarah was not into smiling much. There was a really cute tractor and wagon that the kids could sit on but she decided that she didn't want to do either one. She did humor me by standing in front of a few cutouts and the measuring stick.

Sarah's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was picking out a pumpkin. However, the ones she chose were much too heavy for her to pick up and she tried her best to do it anyway. I think that next year Sarah will like the pumpkin patch a little better and maybe be a little more adventurous.

The Circus Rocks!!

Today was Sarah's first visit to the circus. It was me, Aaron, Sarah, and my parents. We had a great time. Sarah's favorite thing was the elephants. We did buy her a pony ride but she DID NOT enjoy it. She had a death grip on Aaron for the whole ride. I wanted to get her one of those novelty toys that they sell, even though I know they are a piece of junk. However, when Sarah looked at the toys she really didn't seem interested in any of them. Here are a few pics from our day. Next week we are hoping to go to the pumpkin patch. I'm hoping that will go as well as today did.

Sarah was amazed by the elephant tricks!

Daddy is trying to get her to clap but she was too into the show.

Grammy shared her candied apple. Sarah loved it!!!

Here she is showing Papi the elephant tricks.

On the way home she snuggled in a blanket and finally gave me a smile.

Our little girl is growing up....

On Friday night Sarah's Mawmaw and PaPa took her to Casa Manana to see Sleeping Beauty. All of us hoped she would at least sit through half of it. However, she ended up loving it and asking for more when it ended. Totally not what I expected.

For a little over a month Sarah has been having a little trouble with bed time. She would get very upset and cry every night. This is not like her at all because she has always loved her bed and just talked herself to sleep.
Tonight we got a very pleasant surprise. We have started a routine of bath time, brushing teeth, and ending with a bedtime story. Tonight after we finished her story (Courdory's Best Halloween Ever!, Daddy couldn't resist getting it) she stood up and said "Mommy Daddy bed, night night!" We both thought she was kidding but she ran straight to her room and tried to climb in her bed. She actually went to bed without any upset. It was awesome! Our little girl is growing up!

Saturday we are taking her to the circus for the first time. I am very excited about taking her and I know she will love the animals. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes and post some pics.

Kids say the funniest things

One of the reasons I love my job is because I get to have fun. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of my job that I could do without. For the most part being a counselor means I get to play games, color, or read stories while I help kids.

Since I work with kids from ages 3 to 9 I have gotten a lot of different reactions to my pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Sarah one of my students asked "Whose the baby's daddy?" That was probably took me more by surprise than anything.

What was said today was more funny than surprising. I had a student who had come to my room for the first time. She immediately found the picture of Sarah that I have on my desk and asked who it was. I told her it was my daughter Sarah and that she was two. Then she got a quizzical look on her face and asked "Well whose that in there?" as she pointed to my belly. That just made me smile and I told her we weren't sure who was in there yet but I would let her know.

New Sarah Pics

I am guilty of not taking enough pictures of my beautiful daughter. Believe me there are so many opportunites to take some really great pictures of her. However, I always seem to be without my camera. So, for the past few days I've had the camera close by and have been grabbing every opportunity I can to take pictures of her. So here are a few:)

Caught her dancing...she makes the funniest faces

I was trying to teach her how to blow bubbles

Here she was helping me inspect a bug we had found on the floor

How do I do it all?

I have been struggling with getting everything done. After working all day all I want to do it get home and rest. Most days I end up running to the store after work and then I pick up Sarah. We go home cook dinner, clean it up, and then get Sarah ready for bed. So by this time my feeling of being tired has turned into exhaustion. I have just enough energy to shower and fall into bed. By that time I could care less if the floors have been vacuumed or the bathrooms cleaned. The house can stay cluttered and laundry in baskets as long as I can go to sleep by 9:30.

I wake up the next morning and get a little more depressed when I see how awful the house looks. On the weekends when I actually do have time the last thing I want to do is clean. That's the time I want to spend with Aaron and Sarah. The weather is getting so nice that I want to go out and do things. So although I have no answer right now for this problem, I am hoping that after a while I won't feel so bad about it.

1st Trimester down, 2 to go!

Yesterday I was officially 3 months. I was hoping to wake up this morning feeling great, full of energy and no queasy stomach. Instead of energy I have been more exhausted this past week and desperately want a nap in the afternoons. Unfortunately, it looks like it might be a while longer before I feel better. It's amazing how fast the first 3 months have gone.

Wonderful News!

I went to the doctor today and heard the wonderful sound of the baby's heartbeat. The moment I heard it a wave of relief flooded over me. Now I feel like I have permission to talk about the baby freely and to get excited. I know that this is in no way a guarantee that everything from this point will go smoothly. However, I feel like in this moment I can be happy. No matter what, I believe that God has blessed us more than I could have ever imagined.
So now I get to shout the happy news to more family, friends, and co-workers!