Our December

This month has flown by but in a fun way. Here's a glimpse of how we've filled our month.

We decorated the tree. The kids had fun remembering the ornaments from year's past.


The kids and I rode on our church's float in our town parade. These are all of the kids who attend our Wednesday night groups where they learn about missionaries. It was fun aside from my legs falling asleep and getting a few splinters from the truck bed!



Last year, I bought all the ingredients for gingerbread and never got around to making it. This year I was determined to do so and had a fun morning baking with Braewyn! This rolling pin was given to my by my elderly friend Mrs. Cordie who is now with Jesus. I think she would be happy to know that it is still being used!

Instead of our normal history lessons from History for Little Pilgrims, the last two weeks of school the kids made lots of crafts celebrating the names of Christ. They were all found in an article in the Fall 2010 issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine (wonderful resource for homeschool families!). These activities helped us all to remember that Jesus is so much more than just the little baby in the manger. We learned He is also Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Lamb of God, Emmanuel, the Good Shepherd and Alpha & Omega!




This past Tuesday, we joined some friends who were going to a holiday lights display. We stopped at Chick-Fil-A first for dinner and look who we ran into!









I liked how this last picture came out because it looks like a Light Bright image but is really a six-foot tall angel!

This year, my energy level is little low with being seven months pregnant. However I did want to make our living room and kitchen area festive. Here's the mantle with the kids' portrait from Walmart. I was thrilled that it turned out so good and looks great with our stockings! The next two pics are in my kitchen table area, just a little collection of breakable things to remind me that I am still a grown up amongst all the toys in our house!



Chloe has done remarkably well around the tree. The only time she bothers it is if her toy gets kicked underneath it!

Yesterday for our last day of school before Christmas break, the kids and I made colorful snowflakes using crayon shavings and an iron!

Pregnancy Update Overdue

I am 7 months pregnant and have mentioned the pregnancy probably only twice on the blog. I think during my pregnancy with Braewyn, I posted about every appointment! Poor neglected third child! Anyhow, I'm feeling farely well even with a fair share of crazy side effects. As with both of the other kids, I've had a head cold which leaves me with an annoying cough for a month afterward. Pregnancy + cough = bladder control issues + frustration! I think the cough is almost gone (praise the Lord!), but the last few days have left me with a sharp pain in the left side of my rib cage whenever I do cough. I'll ask about that on Tuesday when I go for my 30 week check-up.

The other thing plaguing me are vulvar varicosities. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? In layman's terms, that is vericose veins in the pubic area. I developed this while pregnant with Braewyn but thankfully they go away after delivery. They came back earlier in this pregnancy because of it being a pre-existing condition. The doctors just say try to stay off my feet as much as possible but how possible is that with a 5-year-old, 3-year-old and a puppy? (I know, the puppy is my own fault.) After actually praying for Jesus to help me find it, I found my VV support band in an unpacked box under our bed just last week. For the past two months, I've been sporting underwear and my bikini bottoms under pants. That was fun! The support band looks like a jockstrap with some lacey material sewn across the front. No matter the look, it works and that's what matters. However, even wearing it, I still can't stand or sit for long periods of time. Oh, the joys of pregnancy! If I stand too long (i.e. our three choir programs last weekend), my thighs go numb. If I sit too long (i.e. the two hours in BSF), my back end goes to sleep. Yeah!

People tell me I look "so cute" because my weight gain is only in my stomach (yes, God has basically strapped a 15-pound watermelon to my waist). However what scares me is the 10-15 more pounds I'll gain over the next two months and how I'll need a wheelbarrow to get around for the last few weeks.

Ok, all that said, we are having a new baby in a few months and I am getting more excited about that reality by the day. It has brought a new excitement to this pregnancy with not knowing if we're having a girl or a boy. We're still mulling over name ideas but have narrowed down Juliet as our girl first name choice. (Not as original as Braewyn but still has that princess ring to it! Plus a favorite character name from TV's "Lost" and "Psych".) We are still completely undecided on a boy's name so feel free to offer suggestions.