Mommy's belly

I've been going a little blog crazy lately...this is my last post for 2010. I wanted to be sure to get in all the pictures I wanted because I will be sending the last six months worth of posts to Blog2Print to be made into a book.

Last night after dinner, we were still sitting at the table when PIP starting moving all over the place. Dean put his hand on my belly and Ayla said she wanted to do it too, so Dean plopped her on my lap. She was being so sweet. She was hugging and kissing my belly and saying she loves her baby sister. Can't get any better than that.

She lifted her shirt up too and insisted on pressing her little belly against mine. :)

It has been an incredible year that has gone by so quickly. I can't say this enough--we are so lucky. I know 2011 will be even better as we welcome our new daughter into the world in March. Dean and I have zero plans for New Year's Eve...last year, we played Wii and could barely keep our eyes open to see the ball drop in NYC. I am guessing tonight won't be much different. Only a few short years before, by midnight, I'd be drenched in cheap champagne without a care in the world. Funny how things change once kids are in the picture. I'm 100% okay with it though...and because I'm pregnant, I'm guaranteed a hangover-free New Year's Day tomorrow. :) Happy 2011 to you all...have fun and be safe tonight, whatever your plans may be.

Cabin pics

I haven't used my little Canon point-and-shoot camera in months, so as I looked through the old pictures on there, I was excited to find some that were taken at the cabin this summer that I had forgotten about. There are some from when Dean and Marla took Ayla to the lake to play and also a few aboard the pontoon boat we rented for a few hours.

Beautiful day...

Dean and I are loving every minute of this week off...this morning and early afternoon, the weather was gorgeous. At one point, the temp was over 60 degrees! We went downtown, picked up Marla and went to breakfast and then headed to the zoo for a couple hours. It was great to be outside in the sun for a little while because as I look outside now, it looks like winter is on its way back. The temperature has dropped 30 degrees already and we are in a winter storm advisory...sleet and snow. Oh joy. That's Nebraska for you. I'm glad we got out while we could.



Dean plopped his hat on her...she liked it but for some reason, her fingers went all spastic as she was wearing it.

Shoot.

I already received a call from my doctor's office that my blood work came back a measly TWO points too high. {BIG SIGH} So, bright and early, next Tuesday morning, I will be heading back for a 3-hour testing that requires more blood draws and more of that awesome sugary, orange stuff. The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Ayla...I just missed the cut-off point, went in for additional testing and the results ended up being normal.

More Christmas fun...

I just wanted to post a few additional pictures that I didn't include in my previous ginormous Christmas post.

Erika came over for a little bit to deliver a couple pairs of the amazing mittens she makes and she brought us some treats...Oreo balls on a stick! Yummy! There was a nice white one especially for Ayla, but she insisted on the one covered with green sprinkles. After all was said and done, she looked like she took a bite out of Oscar the Grouch.
Here, Ayla is playing with her new keyboard equipped with a microphone and even a turn-table from Aunt Marla...she loves it!

28 weeks

I had my 28-week check-up this morning and also had my gestational diabetes testing done (they said if I don't hear from them, all is well and I won't have to do additional testing). My belly is measuring right on and the baby's head is down. This last week, I've been feeling little elbows and knees moving around. :) Starting now, I will be going in for check-ups every two weeks instead of just once a month. It seems too early to be at that point already! Oh and I gained five pounds this last month...for each glass of wine I couldn't have, I made up for it in chocolate.

Dean and I both have this week off (hooray!) so we're taking advantage of it and attempting to get a few things done around the house. I would love to get started on the nursery, but seeing that we still have lots of things in there that we need to clear out, it may not be in the cards. If I can just get all the stuff out of there, I'd be happy. I've been on this kick where I want to throw everything away and organize. It's too early to be nesting, isn't it?! I think Dean is sensing that I've officially reached my freak-out mode. We have less than three months until the baby is here and the poor child has a dog kennel and piles of junk in her room...and no name ideas. The second child is definitely different.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was just how I like it--busy running around to spend time with as many friends and family members as possible. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

On Christmas Eve, we had an earlier dinner than usual at Dean's parents' house and went to the Christmas service at church. It was really nice to go as a family...I think we need to work that in every year. We went back to our house to play our "Greed" gift exchange game...I scored a super cute wine holder. We joked that our family must have some issues because there were more wine-related items than anything else. :)

Putting out milk and cookies for Santa before going to bed.
We didn't exactly have a wide selection of cookies at home and we didn't have time to make any, so Santa got fudge Oreos this year.
Stamm family shot

Gifts from Santa!
J.B.'s final appearance
I was so excited about Santa coming this year because Ayla seemed to be pretty in to it. When she woke up on Christmas morning, we brought her out to the living room so she could see what Santa brought her. She seemed to be in awe as she checked out the empty glass of milk and the crumbs left on the plate...later on, she asked if Santa needed some more. :) She went through all of her new stuff and pulled out all the random little things in her stocking. It was so fun to watch her!

After "Santa" gifts, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's for more presents. She was interested for a little bit and ended up having more fun helping Great Aunt Kathy hand out gifts instead.

She even stopped for a moment to give Grandpa a huge pile of teddy bears that Grandma has in the basement.

Opening a gift from Aunt Marla...there seems to be a theme lately...large things that make a lot of noise. Hmm...

Yep, definitely an ongoing theme...look at Marla's reaction as the wrapping paper came off. :)

Then we were off to meet my family at my brother's house for, again, more presents and then an early Christmas dinner with a few of my relatives and Surina's family. They had a full house!

Dean with our nieces and nephews...we're missing Bennett in this one.

Ayla checking out the winter wonderland that is my brother's house.

Love these next two...

My brother in the process of making enough mashed potatoes to feed 40 people...not sure what his hands are doing...kind of looks like he's doing a dance. :)

Bennett sharing one of his new toys with Ayla. He is always so sweet and patient with her. She barged in and wanted to play so Dean asked her to wait because Bennett was playing...he looked up and said, "It's okay, Ayla can play." Cute little man.

Ayla skipped her nap because by the time we got home, it was after 4:00...she actually does amazingly well when she doesn't nap. Besides the bags under her big brown eyes, you would never know. We opened the rest of our presents, just the three of us and relaxed for a bit before going back to Dean's parents' house for a little while.

When I put Ayla to bed that night, we snuggled and talked about our busy day...right before I set her down, she looked at me and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Mommy." I love her. What a perfect Christmas.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well this year filled with good times with family and friends!