Ethan and Lisa: December 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

My Birthday and Other Pics

Yesterday was my birthday. It was a nice day. First off, I had an ultrasound at 8:30 (I have been measuring small at my last 2 doctor appointments so she ordered an ultrasound to check the size... everything looked fine at the ultrasound...). So, Ethan was kind enough to go to work late yesterday morning so that he could take us to breakfast and then watch the kids during my ultrasound appointment. We went to Corner Bakery for breakfast. The kids did great! (Those of you with kids know this is not always the case. It's almost like they knew it was my birthday and were on their best behavior, hah!). :) We had a good time as a family. After my appointment Ethan went to work. In the evening, our friends Danny & Emily offered to babysit so that we could go to dinner kid-free! We were so blessed by their kindness. We went to Chi-Chi's (Yum!). The food was delicious and we enjoyed our time just the two of us. :) We got home in time to put the kids to bed and then hung out with our friends for awhile that night. It was a great birthday!

Birthday breakfast at Corner Bakery

Caleb and me

Julia and Daddy

Birthday dinner at Chi-Chi's (We ordered a small salad, small pizza, and the Southern Italian Platter which has lasagna, meat ravioli, and rigatoni with meat sauce). It was delicious!

Last Saturday we went to Porto's Bakery. We love going there and haven't been in awhile so it was a special treat. We ordered our usual - breakfast sandwiches, potato balls, chocolate croissant, and an iced mocha. Yum!

These two love each other... :)

Daddy and Julia

Caleb and Mommy

The other day I made homemade hot chocolate on the stove top. It was the first time for Julia to try it and as you can guess, they loved it. :)

37 weeks pregnant TODAY (December 18). So thankful that I have made it this far. There have been some rough spots here and there... I think it was at 19 weeks when my doctor started me on weekly progesterone shots (which are supposed to help you not go into preterm labor). At 29 weeks I went on a medication called niphedipine because I was already getting a lot of braxton hicks contractions (I took this with Caleb and I think it really helped). At 34 weeks I was having some symptoms of preterm labor so I went to the hospital and had to spend most of the night in the hospital until the contractions went down. At 35 weeks I started getting itchy hands and feet (sounds wierd, but this can be a sign of choleostasis) and got some bloodwork done. The bloodwork showed some irregularity with my liver which made the doctor think it was probably choleostasis and talked about possibly inducing labor... I didn't feel peace about it and waited for some further testing. Thankfully, after additional bloodwork it showed that everything was fine and I don't have choleostasis! I am so thankful because this can be dangerous for the baby. Anyway, since then everything seems to be fine. I am no longer taking the progesterone shots and went off the niphedipine at 36 weeks. At this point I am still getting braxton hicks but not necessarily more often. So, this baby may surprise us and hang in there much longer! As much as I can't wait to not be pregnant anymore, I am glad the baby is taking it's sweet old time and developing more. Julia was born at 36 weeks and Caleb was born at 38 weeks. I wonder when this one will arrive? 38 weeks is Christmas Day, so I'm hoping he/she will wait until after.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Julia 3 years old

So, my daughter is 3 years old. It's been awhile since I've written up a post about her.

Let's see...

- She LOVES books! She would be content to just sit and listen to me read books to her for hours. And each day it's a different book that she wants me to read over. and over. and over. :)

- Her favorite movie at the moment is "Sound of Music."

- She loves to sing and actually carries a tune quite well.

- She is a chatterbox! She will talk your ear off during a meal and sometimes has to be reminded to take bites.

- She likes going places. She'll often ask, "Are we going somewhere today?"

- She is wearing mostly 3T clothes. She is very tall but thin so many pants fit her loosely. I still have yet to find a pair of jeans that don't fall off of her...

- She has a pair of brown boots that she loves and wants to wear all day.

- She doesn't miss a thing! Even when Ethan and I think we are talking quietly, she'll repeat what we say...

- She is a girly girl and loves wearing dresses, tights, bows in her hair, etc.

- She isn't very affectionate, but lately she's become more so and I'm thankful for the snuggles and kisses she is willing to give...

- She is getting so much more friendly. She will say "hi" to people and strike up conversations. It's neat to see that side of her come out because she used to be more stand-offish.

- Her favorite things to do at the park are climb and go on the swings.

Here are some pictures of Julia over the past year:

Julia loves her daddy!

Nutella always proves to be messy... :)

Her first popsicle

She loves corn on the cob!

Julia and I went on a date one Saturday which included sharing a donut. :)

So sad when she falls asleep in her carseat like this. How could that possibly be comfortable?!

Before I got too far in my pregnancy, I was trying to do creative things like this with her. She really liked it. Hopefully I can do more educational stuff like this after things settle down with the new baby. She thrives on learning.

Her 3rd birthday party was a Minnie Mouse theme. I bought her these Minnie Mouse ears and used this picture for her birthday card invitation. I love her smile. She looks so grown up...

My girl

My crazy girl

She loves bandaids.

This was something I made and posted on Facebook for Julia's 3rd birthday. I can't believe how fast these past 3 years have gone by. I still remember the day she was born as if it was just yesterday.

My two Toddlers

Julia is now 3 years old and Caleb is almost 17 months. They are both growing up so fast. They get along pretty well for the most part. Caleb copies EVERYTHING his sister does which she thinks is super fun (but she is learning to be a good example...). I love it when they are both giggling and cracking each other up. :) Julia is learning not to take toys away from her brother and Caleb is learning that he can't always get his way... :) But they really do love each other so much. Whenever Caleb wakes up from his nap before Julia, his first word out of his mouth are, "Joo-Joo" (Julia). Julia loves giving him hugs and kisses.

At one point, Caleb didn't have any zip-up long-sleeve pajamas that fit him, so I found a pair of Julia's old pajamas. Even with girl pajamas on, he looks 100% boy. :)

My kids love books.

Sometimes we use the cart at Target that has two seats for them. They enjoy sitting in the cart rather than the double stroller.

They both love their daddy so much.

Looking outside

You can tell from this picture how much Caleb loves his sister. So sweet. :)

Love these two!

Coloring

My crazy kids :)

A much needed haircut for my boy

Caleb has already had 3 haircuts. He is blessed with a THICK full head of hair. I liked his hair, but it was just getting too long and messy looking. I decided to go with a much shorter haircut this time, hoping that it will last longer. I think he looks super cute with his new haircut.

Caleb was so excited to get in the "cah" (car) and drive. He was so cute. :)

Caleb did so well! She even got the buzzer tool out to trim the bottom and sides of his hair and he didn't mind.

Julia got to play arcade games while Caleb got his haircut.

After. She put gel in his hair. So cute. :)

This is what he looks like now. Doesn't he look like such a big boy? Love this guy!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

I love Christmas! It has been so much fun decorating our house for Christmas. We recently put up our Christmas tree, put lights up outside, and have been enjoying listening to Christmas music. Also, I'm excited about the thought of probably having a newborn during the Christmas holiday (I'm due January 8 but will probably have the baby any day now). Plus, Ethan will take off 3 weeks when the baby comes, so that means Ethan will be around before and after Christmas! I love having him around...

The weather has been super cold lately so the poor kids don't get outside much anymore. But when I feel up to it, we take a walk to the mailbox and I let the kids play in the leaves. Caleb especially loves the leaves. :) A lot of our neighbors go all-out with the lights on their houses and lawns, so we enjoy walking/driving and looking at our neighbors lights, too. I love this time of year. :)

Our next door neighbors put up lots of light and blow-up decorations. The kids love going in their yard and checking out the decorations. :) This particular decoration is "Santa's Workshop."

Ethan putting up our Christmas lights

Taking a walk outside with my kiddos...

Caleb loves the leaves. :)

My sweet girl

Julia loved helping with decorating the tree and she actually did a great job!

I am so blessed. Love these two!

Saturday, December 7, 2013

One Final Date with my Husband

The day after Thanksgiving, we hired a babysitter since Ethan had the day off. We wanted to go on one "last" date before the baby comes... We went to Starbucks for breakfast and then saw a 9:00 a.m. showing of "Hunger Games: Catching Fire." It was such a fun date! And to top it off, we got home just after the kids ate lunch, so we put them down for their naps and we were able to take a nap ourselves! Can't beat that. :)

Thanksgiving at Teta's House

Teta hosted Thanksgiving and as usual made an amazing meal with all the trimmings. Ethan's brother, Jared, was able to fly home for the holiday which was special (he's been on location back East for several months now for his job). We had a lovely evening.