Stock Show

Last Friday we took the girls to the National Western Stock Show.  We had been talking about it with Cecilia for a few weeks, and every time it got brought up she insisted that Pops come with us.  Lucky for her, it worked out so that Pops could join us for the day.  Jon took the day off of work and we headed out first thing in the morning to see the cows and horses.  We just bought general admission tickets (no rodeo this year), and it was perfect.  Both of the girls got to ride a pony and LOVED it.  Lilly smiled the entire time.  I think that was Lilly's favorite part of the day, because she was not so sure about any of the other animals.  She was terrified of the little geriatric goats in the petting zoo, and she wanted nothing to do with the other big cows and horses in the "barn".   She did take to a pig at the end, until he came out for a walk with his owner.  Cecilia did great and loved all the animals.  She mimicked their sounds and was very insistent about seeing the horses.  I had Jon take a picture of me with the girls at the end, (you know, just to prove I was there), but it turned out really out of focus.  Oh well.  Oh- and thank goodness for Benedryl.  I was dying within about 10 minutes of arrival.  The last time I went to the stock show, I had to leave the Rodeo and find the "clinic" before I passed out because I couldn't breath.  I was afraid it would happen again, so I came prepared with Benedryl on hand this time.

Tater Tot

Our family of four

Will soon be five.

Little Tater Tot will be one more

Blessing in our lives.

Out numbered we will be

Cause their will soon be three.

They say the due date is August Seventeen.

 

We are soooo excited to welcome baby number three into our family!  With a due date of August 17th, I am already praying for a cooler summer.  We had our first ultra sound this morning.  It was wonderful to see the little one.  I have been feeling pregnant since the morning we found out.  I woke up on 12/12/12 with a headache and feeling a bit nauseous, and sure enough, there were TWO pink lines!  It was a happy morning.  We definitely needed happy news at that point too.  

Over all, I've been feeling pretty sick.  I have been managing to eat still, and I'm only down one pound at this point.  That's really good considering I lost 14 pounds with Cecilia in the first trimester, and seven with Lilly.  Maternity pants?  Heck ya!  I've been sporting the elastic waist band since week 7.

We told Jon's Mom on Christmas Day, and my family on the 26th.  The rest of the family was told this last weekend.  Although, our approach was not so direct and no one understood or got the hint.  For Jon's mom and my extended family I made shirts for the girls to wear but we still had to spell it out for them.  For my family, we had my Mom hang an extra little stocking up with our family's stockings, and none of my brothers or sister in law's picked up on it.  

Overall, everyone is happy for us.  We have already gotten a few of those responses, you know, the "Wow, really?  Huh.  Ok."  Or, "Is your house big enough for another baby?"  Or, this was my favorite, "You know how that happens right?" My response, "Yeah, its fun!".  Do you think I'm stupid??  This was a choice to have a third baby, and we feel so incredibly blessed to be able to have another child, and we don't take this for granted for one second.  

As for boy or girl, I really dont' know at this point, nor do I have a preference.  Jon is rooting for a boy, most of the family is.  But we don't get to pick these things out.  We will wait and find out when Tater Tot makes their grand entrance, just like we did with Cecilia and Lilly.  

Cecilia is getting it this time.  She knows that there is going to be a new baby and the baby is in Mommy's tummy.  Lilly thinks that Daddy is going to have the baby.  When you ask her if Mommy should have a baby, she says "No. Daddy."  It is pretty funny.  She has yet to say that Mommy should have the baby.  I think that Lilly is in for the biggest change.  She is such a Mama's girl, and this little one is going to severely impact her Mommy time.  Fortunately the timing will be good because both Cecilia and Lilly will go to school just a few weeks after the baby arrives.

I hope to be able to document the pregnancy a little better.  I read other blogs or see pictures on Facebook of other pregnant Mommies and there are lots of cute ways to document as baby grows.  I think it would be fun to blog the pregnancy more frequently than I did with the first two.  We will see, I might need a nap first :)  

The Last Post for 2012: Memory Jar

I started a memory jar for our family last January.  Throughout the year, Jon and I would randomly add  little notes of things we wanted to remember to it.  I loved going back through them.  It was fun to remember these moments, and to realize how much our girls have grown in just a year.

We finally went through them, and this is what we found:

• 1/12/12- Date Morning :)  Breakfast at Rialto Cafe, Ice Skating at Skyline Park, and a visit to The Tattered Cover.  Perfect!  I love you, Jon!
• 2/3/12- SNOWSTORM/ BLIZZARD  20+ Inches of snow.  We got Cecilias new car seat from UPS and the girls played in the big box together for hours.
• 2/21/12- Lilly is teething.  Mom and her were up all night.  Jon got her out of bed this morning and she said "Mama" :)
• 2/25/12-  Fantastic Date Night with SOC WCC at Indian Tree.  Good drinks, bad food, good people, great dancing!  Mary C. watched the girls.
• 2/26/12-  Lillian Jeanne figured out how to drink from a sippy cup.  Next week she will teach Daddy...
• 2/26/12-  Cecilia and Lilly were TERRIBLE at church!  They both had to be hauled out durring the Eucharistic Prayer.  After Mass, Cecilia planted a sweet little kiss on Robbie.  Too Cute.  Little Stinkers.
• 3/1/12-  Chelsea and John came for dinner.  We remembered Aunt Lisa's death, 15 years later.
• 3/2/12-  Cecilia wore big girl panties all day and did great!  Only a few accidents and she initiated all day long.  WOOOOHOOO!
• 3/6/12- Close to 80* today!  Cecilia insisted on wearing her swimsuit and begged to have her pool filled up.  I filled it with two kettles of boiling water and a few inches from the hose.  She was happy as a clam in July.
• 3/7/1-  Cecilia was in Big Girl Panties all day with NO accidents for the first time!  YIPEEE!
• 3/14/12-  Pi Day 2012- First family bike ride, high of 78*
• 3/30 - 4/1/12 -  Cecilia went to Grandma and Pops' house and we had a Lilly, Mommy, and Daddy weekend.  80+*, swings and a walk.  Lilly fell asleep in the stroller.  
• 4/8/12-  Happy Easter!  We had a wonderful day at Ma & Pa's.  The weather was perfect,  Cecilia filled 2 big baskets full of eggs and we flew kites on the hill.
• 4/28/12-  Jon and I had and amazing date shopping for Mother's Day and eating at Bloom!  Jon had the pork tenderloin, and I had the Ciopinni.
• 5/12/12- Happy Wedding Day to Kirsten and Greg!  It was a beautiful ceremony and super fun reception.
• 5/13/12-  Happy 1st Birthday Lillian Jeanne!  We had a backyard party with family and friends.  It was bee themed.  You loved the black frosting on your cake and got lots of wonderful gifts.
• 5/22/12-  Cecilia sang Johnny Appleseed at dinner tonight: "the sun, and the rain, and the A B C".  Too Cute!
• 6/2/12-  2nd day of yard work on the new playground.  Took the family to Roadhouse for dinner and learned that at 1+, Lilly does not like eating out.  She melted down before our food even arrived and we had it boxed up as soon as it was delivered.  Check please!
• 6/4/12-  Cecilia went to Grandma's with Uncle Pete last night.  She was so cute waving goodbye to us! Bonus: Lilly slept through the night!  Wooohoo!!
• 6/4/12-  Lillian Jeanne walked 10 steps to her Daddy by herself tonight!  Walking: age 12 months 23 days.
• 7/5/12-  Cecilia started speech therapy today.  When Brianna showed her the front of her tongue, she pointed to it.  When Brianna asked where the back of her tongue was, Cecilia turned around. Hehehe :)
• 8/4/12-  Jon was right!  (about the weather)
• 8/17/12-  Beth ran her first 5K and finished in 33:43!  Ran the whole way!  Raced the Firefly race with Mom, Emily, Chelsea, Tanya, and Rhonda.
• 9/12/12-  It rained all day!  I put Lilly in long sleeves this morning and she freaked out and was so confused.  She cried and pulled on her sleeves for most of the morning until I changed her shirt to short sleeves.  It was actually quite funny :)
• 9/20/12- Rest in Peace, Eva Eby.
• 9/20/12-  Cecilia: "Mom, my hair, MATCH!"  While holding my hair and her's next to each other.
• 9/25/12-  At dinner, Cecilia interjects in conversation and tells Dad, "No hunt Dad, hurts!"  Jon asked why, and she very seriously said "No Dad.  Hurts. No Hunt. NO!"
• 10/7/12-  Fantastic weekend getaway in Manitou Springs!
• 10/13/12-  Fun, wet morning at Miller Farms with he Strassners' and Trenck's.
• 11/22/12-  Pops wins tow consecutive games of Mexican Train on Thanksgiving Night.
• 12/8/12-  Yesterday, Jon, Lilly, and I were all really sick!  Yuck!  We were starving by lunch time today and treated ourseves to Panera.  On the way home we all sang "Woody's Round Up".  It was a good day.
• 12/12/12-  Headache, nauseous, and TWO PINK LINES!!!
• 12/20/12-  At dinner, Cecilia says "the sun is upside down!"

Christmas in the Mountains

We had such a wonderful time in the mountains with my family this year.  Pat and Sarah were in town and we all got to spend 4 days together at my parents house.  Seriously, you can't beat this view.

We drove up on Christmas night and celebrated Christmas morning on the 26th.  Jon finally got to put the angel on the tree this year.  He has been married into the family the longest, but has never had the honor of this until this year.

The girls dug into their stockings to find all sorts of fun goodies.  And then we started with presents.  Lots and lots of presents- mainly for the girls.  They were spoiled by Mammaw and Pops, and all of their Uncles and Aunts.

The weather was so beautiful while we were there, and there was just enough snow to sled down the driveway.  The girls loved it.  They were pretty darn cute all bundled up.  I was on camera duty and Mom and Aunt Sarah took turns pulling them up the driveway while Jon and Aunt Megan played goalie at the bottom so they didn't run into the cars.  The men folk played bow and arrow while the ladies watched the girls sled.  Annie, Pat and Sarah's little dog, had so much fun sledding too.  At the end, Cecilia even pulled Lilly all the way up the driveway all by herself.  It was adorable.

Gingerbread houses are a tradition, and this year was no exception.  The girls even got to decorate their own houses.  I'm pretty sure they ate as much candy as was put on their houses.  My siblings and sister-in-laws, and I had a great time decorating the cottage this year.  Pat put the finishing touches on with a lighting mis-hap scene.

There was lots of play time, snuggle time,  tea parties, dress up, baking and cooking.  

 

Lillian was doing her absolute best to rub off her baby germs on to Aunt Sarah :)

We all brought our technology with us.  It was quite remarkable.  Between all of us, we had 4 PC laptops, 1 android phone, 1 macbook, 5 iPads, 1 iPod Touch, and 5 iPhones.  No wonder the internet was running so slow ;)

It was a wonderful trip and we feel so blessed to have been able to spend quality time with my whole family.   

Christmas Eve

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we love Christmas Eve at Ma & Pa's.  So many wonderful people, and wonderful traditions.  The house was full of love and people.  I think my brother said it best when he said, "Didn't this house used to be bigger?"  HA, no, never was it bigger, we've all grown and there are more people that have joined the fun.  My girls were adorable in their Christmas dresses.  Cecilia was not into the photo thing, so you'll have to take my word for it.  Cecilia's grab bag gift from Uncle John and Aunt Michele was a hit- she got Cinderella dress up clothes, complete with a light up dress.  The young men took over dishwashing duty this year, and they were very serious about it.  White elephant was great this year, although, I wish I would have stolen that sandwich press.  My cute mug got stollen and I got stuck with a Clapper.  Pa got a Justin Bieber Holiday CD, just what he's always wanted, hehehe!