Constant Beginnings

We had a nice, quiet Christmas. We decided to be a bit unconventional and allowed our children to open one gift per day from the 21st to the 24th. That took care of their presents from us. It also allowed them to enjoy each gift a bit more and not become so overwhelmed on Christmas Eve.  We made Chinese food on Christmas Eve, which was a bit sacreligious to me. However, being pregnant added to the fact that I had just made our traditional meatballs and gravy a week before, I was okay with this change. The girls sang their songs and gave their required performance by the tree, then opened presents. We followed up the night with the required Christmas Eve candlelight service. Definitely my favorite church service of the year! Although it was a quiet Christmas, it was lovely in every way. We certainly missed our family, but appreciated all the gifts and thoughts that went along with them. We are truly thankful for all the blessings bestowed upon us in 2013.  ...

I am officially 27 weeks and I feel HUGE! My energy level was high up until a week or so ago. Now it seems everything is a struggle. I go to work, then yearn to lay on the couch. Sadly, my to do list is only getting longer, so laying around isn't so much an option.  In terms of all things baby, I feel great. He is a mover, but it goes in streaks too. He tends to move around alot when I lay down at night, but it seems his sleep cycles are fairly in sync with mine at this point. Let's hope that continues. I've picked up a few more things for him. I am feeling pretty well prepared and am not worrying so much that he'll be dressed in pink. We have a name, which we aren't sharing with the general public yet. I have no swelling, sleep well at night and my only complaint is my lower back pain that I feel by night's end. I will take it all. This pregnancy has been pretty easy. I took my 1 hour glucose screening this week and was completely freaking out about it...

Babies in Papooses! Those that know me, know how much I love a cute papoose--apparently, so do my children! Claire--October 2013 Mya--November 2013 I think Claire and I were additives on this list ;) Mya--November 2013 Mya--October 2013 Mya-December 2013

Our December has been jam packed with everything from swimming lessons to Christmas programs to carolling and projects galore in their classrooms. It has been busy and I am exhausted! Here are a few pictures of what we've enjoyed. Claire's side. Mya's side Claire's creations. Add caption Claire and her classmates carolling at the BX.

We have made it beyond 25 weeks and nearly to 26 now. Hard to believe that in less than 100 days, we'll be meeting this little guy. We are so excited. The holidays have certainly helped pass the time and I know March will be upon us before we have time to blink. I feel so badly as I have done a pathetic job of documenting this pregnancy. Life has gotten the best of me. Between Claire's schedule, Mya's schedule, my schedule, Chris' schedule and finally our family routines, time to reflect and think has been kept to a bare minimum. I do feel great. My clothes still fit nicely. I am wearing my prepregnancy staples of cardigans and colored t-shirts with my dress maternity pants each day to work. Friends at work were asking how I was feeling the other day. My comment was simply "large." I feel like I look larger than I did with the girls at this time, but another friend, who typically tells it like it is, spoke up and told me I look great! She asked if I was at...

Two weeks before Christmas, I planned a quick trip to Brugge, Belgium to visit the Ice Festival. This year it featured the movie, "FROZEN!" We saw the movie a week before we went, which was absolutely adorable. Brugge is about a 4 hour drive from our house. Our drive was filled with a mix of rain, then snow, and finally rain again. Sadly, it rained throughout most of our visit, which put a bit of a damper on our activities, but we will definitely be back again. Brugge was such a cute little city.  The Ice Show wasn't cheap. Children's tickets were 11 Euros each and adults were 15 Euros each. However, it was worth every penny seeing our kids' faces light up in delight. We wandered around the city a bit, enjoyed some Chinese food where we were amazed at the son's owner who visited with us. We were the only one's in the restaurant and he was a nice kid. As a high schooler, he knows 5 languages. Chris and I are always taken aback by the amount of languages ...