24 weeks

I had an appointment today...everything is continuing to go very well. I was a little worried about how much weight I had gained this last month...especially since I celebrated Thanksgiving for an entire week. Turns out, I only gained two pounds. Bring on the food! :) It's always nice to hear the baby's heartbeat...she still doesn't move around as much as Ayla did so it's reassuring to hear her little heart going in there. Maybe she'll be my laid back baby.

They sent me home with that little bottle of sugary orange liquid to drink before my appointment next month to test for gestational diabetes. I tested high with Ayla and ended up having to do an additional three-hour test only to find out that everything was normal. Hopefully this time it'll just be a one-time thing.

Physically, I'm feeling awesome...no complaints at all. Emotionally, on the other hand, I can't say the same. I'm so irritable. It takes very little to annoy me these days. I remember feeling like this while I was pregnant with Ayla. I'd like to apologize ahead of time if I'm a B-I-T-C-H to any of you...it's the hormones talking, I swear.

O' Christmas Tree

We decided not to be our usual selves, the Procrastinators, this year. Our Christmas decorations are up! Last year, I don't think our tree was up until the week before Christmas...and it stayed up until Valentine's Day. No joke. We decided to put it upstairs in the living room rather than in the basement so we could enjoy it more. And perhaps we'll be quicker to take it down after Christmas this way. :)

Ayla was excited to help and was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all the little things I kept pulling out of the bin. I love Christmas season--the music, the lights, the decorations, the spirit. This year, Ayla is more in to it and understands it so it makes it more fun for us as well. She seems to be in awe of everything her eyes take in...it makes me stop to look at things differently. Her amazement is contagious. Love it.

Giving herself a round of applause after each ornament she hung up. :)

Since her first Christmas, I've gotten her an ornament each year. I write her name and the year on the bottom or back so we can keep track of them. I'd like to do this with each of our kids and some day they can have them for their own Christmas trees.

This is the one I picked out for 2010:

2009

2008

This one was from my mom:

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent the week in Ohio for Thanksgiving...we left very early last Sunday morning. We had to get Ayla out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to head to the airport for a 6:00 a.m. flight. We didn't know how she would react to getting woken up so early but not only did she stay awake for the entire trip, she didn't show any signs of being tired besides being a little quiet on our way to the airport. She did so well on the plane and when we arrived in Chicago for our 4-hour layover, she remained perfectly content. My parents gave us passes to the United VIP lounge. It was a lifesaver--food, drinks, comfy chairs, a quiet atmosphere--it was awesome. After we grabbed some food, we staked out a little area to relax.

Checking out some airplanes before we boarded ours.She didn't fall asleep until we were on our way in our rental car. She had been awake for over nine hours at this point with no meltdowns. What a lil trooper.

It was a great week with family and as always, it was filled with amazingly yummy food. Because I couldn't drink, I made up the difference by eating even more. I have a baby appointment on Tuesday...should be interesting to see what the scale says this time. :) I didn't do a very good job with taking pictures of everyone there. Just about all of the photos are of Ayla and Dean's little 2-year old cousin, Amber. They are five weeks apart and were just too cute together.

The whole gang...I didn't take as many pictures during the trip home...this is Ayla running through the airport in Chicago. We forgot her stroller so she got to run free...she loved it. :)

Unfortunately, she caught a cold mid-week...cough, runny, stuffy nose and a low-fever. Hopefully it doesn't get any worse. As you all know, I don't handle her being sick very well because it doesn't happen very often. I'm also starting to feel a bit run-down. Sigh. It is that time of year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. I'm so thankful for the life I have--Dean, Ayla, another baby girl on the way, and Kody, too. And the rest of our family and friends as well. I love you all.

Family photos (Part 2)

Here are a few more pictures taken by Erika! elizabethrosephoto.blogspot.com

Family photos by Elizabeth Rose Photography (Part One)

I've been trying to upload photos off and on for nearly an hour but after I uploaded these five, everytime I try to do more, I get an error message. Erg. So, before I toss my laptop off the deck, I've convinced myself to just try again tomorrow.

Anyway.

My dear friend, Erika (check her out--elizabethrosephoto.blogspot.com) took family photos for us a couple weekends ago. I love the pictures and cherish them with every ounce of me. I've been wanting to get them taken for a long time and can't believe it took over two years to do it. I can't wait to get some printed and into picture frames. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Erika for taking them for us!

Hopefully Blogger loves me tomorrow and will allow me to upload more.
Erika included this blooper. It cracks me up because it pretty much sums up what most of the shoot was like. Dean and I were there to smile for pictures but Ayla had her own agenda. There are lots like this...I'll post more just so you all can see what poor Erika had to work with (and because they make me laugh). I apologized to her ahead of time for what would potentially be a crazy hour with us, but she happily snapped away with her camera, worked her magic, and captured some wonderful shots.