first christmas.

Everyone was so excited for Jack's first Christmas, and it didn't disappoint.

But, I have to say, having Christmas on a Sunday is not my favorite. We had Friday off, which we used to run some errands and finish up some last minute Christmas things. Saturday was full ... lunch with John's great-grandmother and grandmother and his family, come-and-go party at some friends' house, church at 6:00 and dinner at John's parents house. We got home around 9:30 and I was exhausted!

Jack's new tobogan from Nanny

Nanny (who is 101 ... possibly 102 ... and strong as can be) with Jack.

Sunday was just as busy but so fun!

The morning started with stockings and presents from us to Jack. This was short and sweet (and sans pictures) since we only got him some clothes and a play mat for the living room. Then it was naptime, and J and I opened our presents to each other and from my parents. 

Then, around 10:30, it was off to J's parents' house for presents and stockings.

so proud

It's hard to get much for a 7.5 month old, but Jack had a great time! He opened some of his presents and played with some of his new toys and books. And, at the end of the morning of presents, his final gift was revealed -- a rocking horse!

This is not your standard rocking horse. It makes noise, the head bobs and the tail "wags"! So fun ... except Jack will have to warm up to it a little. He sat on there for pictures, but wasn't quite sure it was for him. 

Then, it was off to J's aunt and uncle's house. Jack only got a power nap on the drive, which made me a little nervous, but he did great! He was awake from 1:15ish until he went to bed at 7 ... that's a LONG time for our little monster. He was pooped.

Our adorable Christmas monster!

All in all, Jack's first Christmas was so fun.

santa.

Last week we finally got to meet Santa!

I'd heard that Bass Pro was the best place to get a picture with Santa, so last Thursday we made the trek to OKC during lunch to meet the big man.

As it turns out, lunchtime on a Thursday is the perfect time to go! There was no one else in line and we just walked right up to Santa.

Jack didn't disappoint, either. When he got in Santa's lap he really took him in. Then we tried to get him to smile. They would snap the picture, then he would smile. That happened twice, but still, the picture is one we'll always cherish and remember.

After the picture, I tried to get Jack from Santa, but he wouldn't let him go! So, they "chatted" for a few minutes. It was really cute.

giftsgiving 2011.

Considering we're a week from Christmas, it's time I posted about our Thanksgiving.

I've already mentioned this, but we spent Thanksgiving in Austin this year with (almost) my whole family. The best part was getting to see all the cousins interact. I'm so excited for future holidays together (and my brother and SIL to move closer)!

We drove down on Tuesday and got in in time to meet everyone out for dinner. Of course right when we walked in, everyone wanted to see Jack. He was a little hesitant at first, with so many people he didn't recognize, but he warmed up pretty fast and the kids had a great time!

We had decided before Thanksgiving that we'd do Christmas while everyone was together. So, Thanksgiving morning was like Christmas morning.

We all woke up early and put the presents from Santa out. (Thank goodness Santa was willing to come to parents' house a month early!) And then when everything was ready, the kids got to come in the living room to see what they'd gotten.

Of course, Jack is still way too little to understand what's going on, but he got some super fun toys and had a great time on "Christmas" morning.

Surprise, surprise, Hunter got some Star Wars figurines.

Lookin' good on Giftsgiving morning.

a food poisoning christmas.

J and I were so excited to get down to Austin to spend Christmas with my family and, especially, see our niece and nephew's excitement on Christmas day.

On the drive down, we made the decision to stop at a Dairy Queen in Denton for a late lunch. Ultimately, this would be the decision that did us in.

Feeling fine, we got in to my parent's around 7 on Wednesday night, had a nice dinner and a nice night's sleep. J woke up early on Thursday morning with an upset stomach, etc. Poor guy spent the whole day in bed while my mom and I ran some errands and attempted to get him some medicine from Walgreens. (The Walgreen's debacle is a post of its own, really...) Luckily the meds seemed to work and Thursday night he was able to join the land of the living.

On Christmas Eve we thought we were out of the woods. J felt great and was able to hang out with everyone all day. We went to dinner and enjoyed everyone's company. After dinner is when it hit me. I didn't feel so great. We'd had Mexican and I thought I'd just overdone it on the cheese (queso and cheese enchiladas covered in queso ...). Around 3 am, I got to see it all again. And then around 6, and then maybe 20 minutes later and so on, until about 7:45 that morning.

With a 5 year old and a 2 year old in the house, opening presents started pretty early, but I had to miss the kiddos checking out the stockings and ripping in to all their gifts. I made it out of bed for about 45 minutes around 10 to open my presents with the rest of the adults. But, then it was back to bed for me until around noon.

I was up and down all day, just depending on how I felt. I couldn't even keep water down. And, I haven't even mentioned that J had a bit of a relapse on Christmas day also. He was in bed most of the day, too. Around 7:30 that night (after dinner of course), we both started to feel better, after watching How to Train Your Dragon. (Have you seen it? So cute!)

Needless to say, Christmas day was miserable.

But, since J was feeling pretty good in the morning he was able to take a few pics of the kids opening presents. Maybe I'll post them with my 21 weeks post (which is now 3 days overdue...).

belly business -- 20 weeks

How far along: 20 weeks as of Sunday (halfway ... crazy!)

Size of the baby: banana

Total weight gain/loss: as of my last appointment I've gained about 4 pounds

Maternity clothes: still no maternity clothes, but the time to get them is really creeping up on me, but I've put it off as long as possible.

Cravings: all the bad things -- salty fried food and sweets and caffeine-free Dr. Pepper -

Symptoms: not much indigestion lately (thank goodness)

Movement: I'd say the movement has really increased in the last week. On Friday night I was laying on the couch and the baby was really active. I had my hand on my belly and I felt a really big kick and J said he saw my hand move. He hasn't actually felt it yet, but it'll happen soon

Gender predictions: I've had people tell me they are convinced I'm having a girl and people convinced I'm having a boy. J's great grandmother (who turned 100 right before Thanksgiving) is certain it's a girl and apparently she called all 3 of one of her granddaughter's kids.

We had a doctor's appointment last week and everything was as it should be. The one disappointment was that somehow the doc forgot to get me scheduled for an ultrasound! I'm going back for it tomorrow afternoon (at least I can still take pics home when we go for Christmas!).

My belly is getting bigger by the day (so I think...). One of our friends is due just 3 days before me, and her belly is so much bigger than mine! I'm kinda jealous... haha! I'm sure mine will pop when it's supposed to. At least the doctor wasn't concerned that it was too small or anything.

Oh, J and I spent a couple of hours at Babies R Us last week and finally got our registry going! It was definitely exhausting but I'm so glad we finally got the big items picked out. We'll probably have to go back to finish up what we missed, but having the initial bulk of it done is such a relief!

Unfortunately, we haven't been as productive with the baby's room, but I'm working on it. I finally brought the shredder home from the office and I'm working my way through years of things that need to be shredded (boooooooring). Next on the list is getting some kind of filing system going for important documents and stored in a "safe" place. Sounds so fun, huh? Yeah, it's not.

I cannot believe that we're only days away from Christmas! J and I did Christmas with his family on Sunday night since we'll be in Austin with my fam this year. Not only is it crazy that we're so close to Christmas, but it's also weird to think that this is the last Christmas for me and J as a family of 4 (I have to count the dogs). 

Enjoy Christmas week!

christmas card.

Last year, I chose to design my own Christmas card. And, although it was cute, I think the printing left something to be desired (something I plan on working on in the future). So, fast forward to this year and I searched around for something I could just plug a picture into and send out. Sometimes sending Christmas cards is more work than it's worth, but I love getting them in the mail, so the least I can do is keep up correspondences on my end!

There were plenty of cute designs to choose from, but ultimately I chose one from Shutterfly. Of course, I chose and ordered before I knew about the 50 free cards they were doing for bloggers. Annoying! But, I got the cards this week and I'm very happy with them!

Since most of them have been sent out, I'm sharing our card with you guys.

Did you guys send out Christmas cards?

Nicest of the Nice Lists

I've given you a rundown on the weather and our whereabouts on Christmas, but I know you want to hear about the goods, right?

Ha! I guess I've been good this year, because Santa {and the rest of my family} was ever so generous! The highlights of my Christmas are

J got me these gorg Tory Burch flats! I love them! I've always wanted a little touch of animal print, and I think these are perfect!!

My parents were so generous and I know I've talked about this a couple of times. I couldn't be more excited to get it all figured out and start pacing my runs! Half-marathon, here I come!!

John's parents got these for me! I'm so excited to wear them all 3 different ways!! And, if you know me at all, you know I love gray!