3rd trimester!!!

Well, it says on fitpregnancy.com that I'm finally in my third trimester of this pregnancy and I couldn't be happier about it!!! This pregnancy has been a longer and harder one for me (well, probably Tom too! ;-). But, we have just about three more months now! (Which actually still feels like a LONG way to go! :) It's so fun to feel the baby move around (like crazy!) and we're so excited to find out if he/she is a boy or girl! Sometimes I think it's a girl because I have been so moody and emotional (you know the typical girl wackiness) and I barely have to shave my legs...but, because I think it's going to be a girl, then I think it's going to be a boy...does that make sense? If I think the baby will be one or the other, it'll be the opposite of what I think....yep, pretty much we have no clue what the baby is and it's so fun to get to be surprised! Taylor is excited too...she always comes up and says, "awe, what a cute baby!" and rubs my belly! Speaking of what Taylor says, she's so funny! Lately, she's been dressing up as Mary and when we 'accidentally' call her Taylor when she's dressed up, she corrects us and says, "You have to say Mary"! She catches it perfectly every time (she also dresses up as Cinderella and we have to call her Cinderella then). She also asked me the other day and has asked Tom a few times since, "How many times do I have to tell you?!". Ahhh, parenthood is getting back at us! ;-) Max just started saying 'Cinderella' yesterday in his own little blabbery way and it is SO stinkin' cute!

Well, those of you who live far away, be glad you are far away right now...hurricane Mel (terminology borrowed from our friends Rachele and Dan) is in season! Three more months to go! ;-)

family visit!

Last weekend, the weekend before Christmas, Tom's mom and dad, two brothers (one sister in law) and sister came to visit! We had such a great time with them and love having family come visit! We went to Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs and Old Colorado City and then took them to our church Christmas party...which was themed after "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and Tom was actually the grinch! We are so grateful to them for making the trip to come and visit!

these are from the church Christmas party:

Taylor and her Aunt Ellen...they have crazy "Who" hair...

Tom's faces crack me up!

Max and Grandpa

Taylor giving Max a big hug...

These next few pics are of Taylor and Maxwell in nursery together (at our church). Today was actually their last day together. Next week Taylor will move into an older class and Max will stay in nursery). I happened to have my camera lastd week and slipped in to get some pictures of them. Taylor has been such a sweet sister to Max; she always holds his hand and walks him there and watches out for them and during their song time (pictured below) she always makes sure he's sitting next to her. They're such sweet kids!

this is when Max finally realized I was behind him...

playing instruments during the songtime...

with family again playing games last Sunday night:

December Days...

setting up the Christmas tree (we like to do it right after Thanksgiving so we can enjoy it longer). We thought about getting a big tree this year, but our space is smaller so we just used the little tree we've had since we first got married. It's funny because even with this small tree, all the ornaments seemed to wind up on the top half (actually probably top third) of the tree b/c the kids kept getting into them...so we think our small tree is quite practical that way! ;-)Max loves to put on all of our shoes...Taylor's seemed to work best because they're big enough to slip on, but not so big he falls over all the time. Here he is in her princess shoes sitting in his rocking chair...I got this chair this summer at a garage sale for $3 and he just loves it! watching Tinkerbell one night...My friend Sarah and I volunteer as leaders for this adorable bunch of girls...they are ages 8-11 and we get together with them a couple times a month and do fun activites. Here we are at our Christmas party...it was so fun!
Max getting tipsy on brownie batter! ;-)

Thanksgiving in Arkansas!

On Tuesday, November 16, I left our home early in the morning to drive 15 hours to my parents home in Arkansas with the kids. The kids were SO great that day! We made several stops to take some breaks and were going to stop for the night after driving several hours, but they were so good that I just kept going and we got to my parents close to midnight. Tom flew in after work on Friday night and I was VERY happy to go get him at the airport...we got to stay at my parents' until the Saturday after Thanksgiving and had such a great time with them! The kids had a blast and we loved having grandparents to watch them overnight so we could get away for a little bit. Here's many, many pics from our trip: Taylor got to help Grandma cook almost everyday...she also loved getting to go grocery shopping with her. Here they're making whole wheat bread...yum!

playing at the park in my parents' neighborhood...

Christmas pajamas from Grandma...they've worn these tons since Thanksgiving!

Tom took this pic in my parents' front yard...

We got to go on an overnight date to Hot Springs. I actually surprised Tom with it...he just thought we were going on a date for a few hours, but I packed a bag for us and planned it out. It was so nice...grandparents are SO wonderful to have! We spent a few hours walking around downtown. They have this 'bathhouse row' with all these old bathhouses and one had been turned into a visitors' center/ museum and it was really interesting to see what the bathhouses were like!

this is where they would sit (with their heads sticking out) for the steam portion of their bath.

a bathtub...there were at least a 100 of these in just this one bathhouse. Can you see how grimy it is?

this was the gym...I was so fascinated by this and all the things they used to use to workout!

this is a rehabilitation center in Hot Springs...it was gigantic!

our breakfast the next morning at the bed and breakfast we stayed at...

the B & B, the 1890 Williams' house Inn

this was the outside of our room which was in the old carriage house where the carriages used to be parked...cool, eh?

on the front porch of the B & B

my parents bought this sailboat for $600 (my dad is very into sailing) and they wanted to take us out on it...it was a gorgeous day and a lot of fun. We bundled the kids up though (figured it'd be windy on the boat) and the poor things couldn't move an inch b/c of all their layers and life jackets.

We got a lot of laughs from our poor 'beached whaled' kids!

my dad's sweet potatoes...can you tell that he used the big marshmallows? ;-)

and my mom's delicious blueberry pie...

playing the hammer dulcimer

Taylor got into Grandma's markers and drew all over the walls, hardwood floors and her little brother! Thankfully it all washed up really well (the above picture is her cleaning her mess)...little stinker! ;-)

on our trip back we stopped overnight at a hotel in Kansas...it had this fun pool with a huge water slide. Max's outfit cracks me up b/c we only brought a swim diaper for him.

they went down the water slide lots and had so much fun! It was a long drive home but it was such a fun trip and so nice to have a week and a half with my parents and sister!