Happy Birthday to my Sister!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATRINA!!!

My sister's birthday is the day after Christmas and she usually gets jipped. Most people 'forget' it's her birthday, combine a gift for Christmas & birthday, or are too busy to get together to celebrate. This year she turned 25, and we celebrated by going to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then heading next door to Dave & Buster's to play some games. It was a mellow evening, but fun nonetheless. We had a great time playing games, especially Austin!

Merry Christmas!!

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone already. :( The past few weeks have been jam-packed with cookie swaps, family get-togethers, Christmas parties/dinners, etc. My calendar feels so empty now. The week before Christmas, we ventured over to the Gaylord to walk through the ICE! exhibit. It was a Charlie Brown theme this year and I thought Austin would enjoy it. Needless to say, he didn't enjoy the cold (it was 9 degrees!) or the fact that the eskimo jacket he had to wear was gigantic and his hands wouldn't reach out the arm holes. Maybe next year. :) Then two days before Christmas, we went to drive through Prairie Lights again. Last year was our first year through, and it was awesome. Once again, they didn't disappoint. Christmas Eve celebration was at our house with Jordan's family. We munched on some delicious snacks and exchanged gifts. After they left, it was just the three of us left and we relaxed. Jordan read the Christmas Story from the Bible to Austin; he sat still for about half of it. :) Once we put Austin to bed, we had to get the last few presents out to the tree and help Santa setup. I was so excited about Austin's new chair & ottoman. We got to sleep in until 8am; then I made some fresh pigs-in-a-blanket and cinnamon rolls for the family. We got Austin up and he ventured into the living room. I think it was alot for him to take in, seeing all those gifts. Needless to say, the chair & ottoman and new lawnmower (including gas can, of course!) was a hit right off the bat. Katrina and Logan had stayed with us the night before so they could be there first thing in the morning, and my mom came over in the morning to share presents as well. I think we all made out pretty good! And it was so nice to see Austin actually get excited opening all the presents. After cleaning up the disaster that all the wrapping paper and boxes made, I got into the kitchen to start prepping lunch. Rather than going the traditional route, we opted for a Mexican lunch. We feasted on cheese enchiladas, beef enchiladas, chicken enchiladas, rice, chips & queso, and sopapilla cake. It was quite delicious, if I say so myself. After lunch, Katrina and Logan headed out to his family's celebration, and the three of us were able to enjoy a nice two-hour nap. Once again, I thank God for a child that loves to sleep! When Austin got up, we opened up all of his toys and started getting organized. The rest of the day was spent with the three of us, cherishing these last few days/weeks when it's 'just the three of us' before Chase makes his big debut.

Baby Update!

Had my check-up with the doc today. And we got to have an ultrasound and take another peek at little Chase. He is measuring right at 5lbs. and is still about a week ahead. I still can't believe he is 5lbs.! Some babies are born at 5lbs.! Surprisingly, the doc didn't put me on full bed rest just yet. He's letting me off the hook until my next appointment in two weeks. My blood pressures are still borderline and he wants me to take it easy as much as possible still. If they get too high over the next week or so, I'm under strict instruction to call their office for a consult. Being the good patient that I was, I took my BP readings over the past two weeks, all nicely typed into an excel spreadsheet for his review today, which he appreciated. I guess it's the accountant in me, but Excel is my favorite application. :) And I've managed to gain a little more weight, bringing my total to 12lbs. now. Anyways, we went ahead and preliminarily scheduled the c-section for Monday January 24th. So, this will be Chase's birthday, unless my blood pressure gets too dangerous like last time, or I actually go into labor on my own. And for some reason, I have this weird feeling that I will go into labor, which I'm not too excited about. I didn't experience any water-breaking, contractions, or anything like that with Austin, so I feel like I would freak out if it happened. But we'll just take it one day at time, I guess. Anyways, it's nice to have an end-date in my head.

Visit to the North Pole!

Yesterday, we ventured up to the local Bass Pro Shop to wander around their winter wonderland and stand in line for a picture with Santa. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Sure enough, it went pretty much how I expected. But I guess it's just part of the tradition, and you have to get the picture anyways. :) I guess it would be kinda scary to be plopped down on some stranger's lap.

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!!!

I can't believe we're less than 3 weeks away from Christmas! And I can proudly say that I am all done with my Christmas shopping! In anticipation of bed rest, I got all of it done early and even did most of it online. I'm usually not one to do my shopping online as I like to actually see the product in person first, but I decided to try to do things more efficiently this year. I took advantage of free shipping, great sales, and % off when you bought so much stuff and think it went pretty well. Everything is even all wrapped
and under the tree! Well, most of it; we still have a few gifts for Austin that will just go unwrapped under the tree on Christmas morning with big bows on them.

Jordan braved the steep roof in the cold and got all of our lights hung on the house and I must say,
it looks great! We put the tree up and got it decorated. I tried to get Austin to assist in the decorating, but he wasn't too much into it. Although, he has found an ornament (ironically, his 'Baby's 1st Christmas' ornament) that he loves to take off the tree and carry around.

Our Christmas celebrations will be at our house this year, for both sides of the family. Jordan's family is coming out Christmas Eve. We usually go to Jordan's parents' house on Christmas Eve, but since I'm going to
very pregnant and likely on full bed rest then, they'll be coming out our way. Then my family will be coming over on Christmas day. Once Christmas is here and gone, it's only a matter of a few weeks before we get to receive another precious gift, Chase Cooper!

We're getting closer!!

I'm way overdue on an update regarding the pregnancy and the preparation for Chase's arrival. My belly seems to be getting larger by the day, but I can't seem to gain any more weight (still 7 lbs. to date). I've been taking advantage of my meager weight gain and indulging in anything I can find these days, but no such luck yet. I've been put on 'modified bed rest' by the doc, due to my blood pressure going up and lots of heart palpitations. They've adjusted my thyroid meds to see if that helps my heart rate, but it hasn't. So, I've been going into the office two days a week, and doing anything else from home. Luckily December is pretty slow at work.
I've had to keep a log of my blood pressure and heart rate each day to report back to the doc. I go back to see him on Monday and we'll see if it goes to full bed rest then. We also get another ultrasound on Monday to see how big our boy is so far. I've been trying to take it easy, but there has just been so much going on. Between Austin's birthday, the Thanksgiving holiday, baby showers, and holiday parties, it's been hard to stay off my feet.

My co-workers through me a lunch shower a few weeks ago and I had my friends/family one this past weekend. After everyone's generosity, we are pretty much set and only need a few things to be set for Chase's arrival. I've also been able to make some progress in Chase's room and it's almost ready as well.

Happy Birthday to You!

Ugh, can it really be; two years already? It just doesn't seem possible! I took cupcakes up to Austin's class on Friday of his birthday week. Austin must have known that cupcakes were coming right after nap time, because he woke up early and greeted me at the door when I got there. It was so cute when all of his friends sang Happy Birthday to him. And then they all dug into cupcakes with blue and yellow frosting. (I'm sure the teachers and the parents were thanking me later! :)) There was no way Austin was going to let me go home and leave him at school, so I took him home with me at 2:30
to play for the rest of the day. Conveniently, that night was also 'Parent's Night Out' at his school where you can pay $25 for them to watch your kiddo from 6-midnight while they have a pizza party and have all sorts of fun. It's quite the bargain if you ever have to pay a real babysitter by the hour! So, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity and I took him back up there at 6pm. Jordan and I grabbed a tasty dinner at Saltgrass and then headed home to do all the party prep for the next day. Jordan cleaned house while I made Austin's birthday cake and started setting up.

The next morning we treated Austin to a delicious birthday breakfast of chocolate milk and donuts with sprinkles. What more could a kid ask for?! Then Jordan took him for a quick haircut so he could look his best when our guests arrived at 4pm. The Handy Manny theme was a hit and everything went off without a hitch!
He got lots of great toys and clothes. Although, I think his favorite thing he received was a singing Mickey Mouse card he got from Meow Meow and LoLo. I guess it's the little things in life that make him happy. :)

I still can't believe he is two years old. It's so hard to remember what life was like without him in it.