The Holidays are Here!

Sooo....I've been a blogging slacker.   Oops.  For any of you who are still following, I apologize!  Just to make up for by absence, here are two fun pictures.  Granted, they were taken at the beginning of the month, and not the most attractive...and I am much bigger now!

Aren't the boys so cute?  They had just put together the crib!  Deacon insisted on being a part of the event.  I am still obviously very awkward with the whole belly picture thing.  You should see the attempts Scott and I have made at taking a "family pic" with my new belly.  It's even worse.  We're trying though, and will post as decent pictures are available!

We had a sonogram today and got to see Baby Girl kicking and squirming around.  She's so cute!! (I think only a mother can say that about a black and white 2D fuzzy picture...)  They tried to switch to 3D to show us her face, but she was NOT interested!  Every time she turned away or put her hand up - the tech said that some babies don't like the 3D, maybe it gives off a different sound?  Everything is perfectly healthy and normal!

We spent Thanksgiving in Reno with Scott's brother Brian, his wife Meagan, and their three adorable kiddos.  We had a blast.  Every time we are with them, Scott and I leave saying how much we wish we all lived closer.  This time was even better than normal - I think, for me, it triggered more excitement than I've felt so far about our own baby getting here.  We love Jake, Avery and Chloe so much - we're such a proud Aunt and Uncle, and they are just so much fun to be around.  We played, caught up on Disney movies, went on The Polar Express and had an all around great time.  Avery introduced Scott to dolls and princesses and fairy dust and hair clips and all things girly.  She even asked him for help "swallowing" (swaddling) her baby doll, which provided a good learning opportunity for both of us!  We loved helping out with Chloe and how smiley and lovey she always is.  It was so much fun to watch him with the kids and trying to figure it all out...I can just see him doing the same things with our little one!  One of my favorite things was that, having a year-old sister, the older two completely understood and were excited about our baby!  They would talk about their cousin and at separate times during the trip, each one would come up and put their little hands on my belly and say "I can't wait for her to get here!" or "How much longer until she gets here???"  I loved it!  Scott and Brian even ventured out to do some Black Friday shopping and returned with a "Dad's diaper bag" - duck blind camo, of course, and proceeded to explain to me how perfect the pockets are for diapers, bottles, changes of clothes, and even hooks for pacifiers!  I think I managed to squeeze every little bit of parenting info I could out of Meagan.  She had so much great advice and I was so thankful for so much quality time with her...not to mention all the hard work she did to feed us all a great Thanksgiving dinner (since I am never much help in the kitchen)!!

I am just so excited about this next month; all of the festivities and family and decorations...I only wish I could go ahead and buy one of those adorable Christmas dresses for Baby Girl!!  That will just have to wait until next year!!