Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends. I hope everyone is having a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas.

God Bless eveyone in the new year!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had a very nice Christmas eve. This is Lacey's first Christmas and I'm sure she had a good time. She was very spoiled. Kylie also had a great time, she was most excited about the pink and purple unicorn that Nana and Papa got for her.

Gingerbread House

We are celebrating Christmas with Nana and Papa this year. Greg and I did some last minute Christmas shopping and I promised Kylie when we came home we would work on our Gingerbread house. We had lots of fun! Nana said this is the first Christmas she's ever had a Gingerbread House made at Christmas. Here are some pictures:

1 Month Old

I can't believe it but, our beautiful little Lacey is ONE MONTH OLD already! Where does the time go? She is a wonderful gift and we are blessed to have her in our lives.

I Love My Baby Sister

Kylie adores Lacey. Everyday I hear all day long, "Mommy I want to hold my baby." She holds her for quite a while, usually singing a lullabye to her.

Daddy & Lacey

Look What we found under the Christmas Tree!!

Here is only present we wanted for Christmas this year, and we couldn't have been more blessed.

Lacey you are a special gift to us all, we love you more than you could ever know.

Kylie is so proud to be your big sister. I hope you two will have this special bond forever.

Beautiful girl.

Kylie's 2008 School Christmas Program

Last night Kylie had her school Christmas program. It was very cute, here is a video of my favorite of all the songs they sang:

Lacey's 2008 Christmas Pictures

Here are Lacey's 2008 Christmas pictures. These pictures will also be used as Lacey's one month pictures. For those who know me know I take pictures of my children one a month their first year and then every 6 months and holidays until they are 2 and then only holidays and birthdays after that.

Kylie & Lacey 2008 Christmas Pictures

Here are Kylie and Lacey together:

My favorite

Kylie's 2008 Christmas Pictures

Here are Kylie's 2008 Christmas pictures:

Family Pictures- Christmas 2008

Today we took our annual family pictures. Also both girls had their Christmas pictures taken separately. I will do a separate post for the girls.

Here is a sample of the family pictures we had taken:

2 week old Doctor appt

Today Lacey had her 2 week old doctor appointment. Everything went well, she gained almost a pound - she weighed 8 lbs 7 oz (35th percentile), grew 1 inch - she's 21.25 inches. (80th percentile). Her jaundice is almost gone.

I think (hoping) she is going to have a darker complexion than Kylie. At least she does for right now, of course it could also be she still has some of her jaundice.

All in all she is right on track and she will have her next appointment in January.

Congratulations Kylie!

We are so happy for Kylie, tonight we learned that she will be moving up to the next level in swimming. She is currently in the Pike class at the YMCA and now starting in January she will be in the Pike Plus class.

Pike Plus is for 3-5 year olds that are able to swim the width of the pool independently with a floatation bubble while splashing his/her feet. The goal of this level is to have the child swimming confidently across the pool without a floatation device.

We are so happy for her, her biggest hurdle was being able to do the back float with a floatation board without getting upset. She can do this now.

We love you Kylie!

Happy Thanksgiving! Lacey's 1st Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! This is Lacey's first Thanksgiving. We went to Nana and Papa's house. Uncle Chris, Auntie Charissa and Brandon were also there to celebrate with us.

Lacey after her Thanksgiving Day "feast".

Kylie loving on Lacey. Kylie loves being a big sister and getting to hold Lacey.

Uncle Chris and Lacey.

Auntie Charissa and Lacey.

Sisterly Love

Kylie absolutly loves to hold Lacey and Lacey sure doesn't mind being held at all. This was on Lacey's first full day home. Kylie wanted to hold Lacey for a "long time". This happened on 2 different occasions, both times she ended up falling asleep with Lacey.

Sisterly bonds that shall never be broken.

Introducing Lacey Victoria-Joy

Our precious baby girl was born Friday, November 21st. She weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20.25 inches long. We are so happy and proud to have her in our family. She and Kylie look very similar, almost like twins! We could hardly believe our eyes when she was born - like carbon copies of each other. Lacey's birth was really very uneventful. We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 pm and she was born at 8:02 PM. Here are some pictures of our precious daughter:

Proud parents!

Proud Daddy.

Lacey after her bath.

Mommy and her girls.

Our new happy family.

38 Week Baby Appointment

Yesterday I went to the doctor for my 38 week appointment and was plesently suprised to find out that I am dialated to 3 1/2 and 80% effaced. Dr. Meekhof said he thought that I could possible deliver sometime this week. I have gained a total of 21 pounds as of this appointment. I have no idea what her heartbeat was, but I do know that he had a hard time finding it because she is dropped so low.

Kylie is trying to be as patient as she possibly can but its getting harder. Especially now that is has snowed and we told her that her baby would be born around Christmas time. When she saw the snow she was so excited she said:

"Daddy its snowing outside, you know what that means?"

"What does it mean?"

"It means my baby is comming soon!"

So now everyday she asks when her baby is comming. I we can do is say soon! Say a little prayer for me that everything goes smoothly.

Wordless Wednesday: First Snow

Kylie was so excited it snowed that she just had to wear her snow boots outside. She made sure to walk in as much snow as she could get away with, very cute!

Click her for more Wordless Wednesday pictures!

Swimming

Here she is swimming across the pool by herself with no bubble! We are so proud of her!




The backfloat, she is getting better and better everyday!

37 Week Baby Appointment

Today Kylie and I went to my 37 week appointment. Kylie loves going to the doctor with me, she thinks its really cool to hear baby's heartbeat and Dr. Meekhof lets her "help" him by holding the base of the fetal heartbeat monitor. She concentrates very hard on her responsibility. Little Misses heartbeat was 142 bpm. I gained 4 pounds this week, I have never gained that much in a week before! I'm up to 19 total ponds so far.

There was one pretty funny moment today with Kylie. I had to go to the bathroom to give a urine sample and of course Kylie went into the bathroom with me. When we got inside she told me she had to go to so I told her to go. She looked at the basket of sample cups and proceeded to tell me, "Don't put that under my butt, this isn't my doctor." I promised I wouldn't and tried very hard to keep a straight face because she was serious.

I've actually made it farther with this baby than I did with Kylie. I will be exciting to see how long she hangs out before she makes her grand appearance.

My next appointment is next Monday.

The Flea

Last night Greg took Kylie and myself to see Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa, which was very good. On the way home, this was Kylie's conversation with Daddy:

"Daddy you know my baby sister has to have shots when she is in the hospital"

"Yep she does"

"Yes she has to have shots to she don't get the flea"

"So she don't get fleas?" (trying very hard not to laugh at her)

"No not fleas, THE FLEA"

"You mean The Flu" (Mommy)

"Yes, that's what I said the Flu"

Sometimes she just cracks us up. Its is just too funny how kids remember things that you tell them.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Comparing Bellies

9 Month Doctor Apointment

Today I had my nine month doctor appointment. Nothing major to report, didn't gain any weight so I'm holding at 15 pounds gained. Her heartbeat was 154 bpm, doctor said everything looked fine. I'll start going every week now until she is born. Here is a picture for your enjoyment:

Happy Halloween!

Kylie and I had lots of fun today. We started off going to her preschool halloween party:This is her preschool class, they all looked so cute in their costumes and they had so much fun. They played games, had a small brunch with lots of goodies, and then they trick or treated all around the school.

Then I took her to Toy 'R' Us for a Halloween parade. They followed Geoffry around the store stopping at 3 tables to get suprises and treats. Kylie doesn't really like charaters in costume but decided to be brave so I could get a picture of her with Geoffry:

Look! it's batman the ballerina! This is one of the treats they gave out.

After the parade at Toys 'R' Us we went to the mall where Kylie did more Trick or Treating and then she was ready to go home...and so was I!

Kylie and Daddy swimming!

Kylie and Daddy were having lots of fun swimming. Kylie has really taken to the water this year and loves every opportunity she gets to go swimming. Jumping in all by herself is her newest advancement, up until last month she would jump in but had to hold your hand when she did it. Now she thinks its really fun to jump in all by herself. It gives Daddy and Mommy a little bit of a heartattack each time but she loves it!

Chili

Kylie and Daddy made Chili last night for dinner. When they were preparing it Kylie told Greg "I don't really like the beans, but I'll try them." After her bite she said "Mmmmm, good, I never had a bean from a chili before!"

After the first bite and her deciding that kidney beans and chili are good, Greg said he could hardly keep her out of the chili until I got home. They did a great job, it tasted great and best of all I didn't have to make dinner!

Fell Down Today

This morning after I was finished cleaning off the snow off the car and I decided that I would put the brush in the back instead of in the backseat. As I was walking to the back apparently my shoe caught the driveway (its a little uneven) and I lost my balance and proceeded to fall down in the driveway. Thankfully I landed on my side and not on my belly. However in doing so I managed to scrape both of my hands and my right knee which is also bruised. This all happened before 6:30 in the morning - not a good way to start the day. I went back into the house to change my pants because of course I was wearing khaki pants and they were full of dirt and pine needles from the driveway from my hip to my ankles. It's a wonder I didn't end up bruising more for as hard as I fell.

I called the doctor after I got to work and was told I had to go to the hospital to be monitored for a couple of hours to make sure the baby was fine. I felt this was really not necessary because almost as soon as I fell I felt her move, I was told by the nurse it was NOT NEGOTIABLE. After I got to the hospital they put the monitors on me and after two hours they were satisfied she was fine and even told me by the way her heartbeat was charting she is a happy baby. That made me really happy to hear, hopefully she will be a happy baby when she is born!

All in all it was quite an eventful day.

Truck or Treat

Today Kylie did her trick or treating early at our churchs annual 'Trunk or Treat'. Some of the parishoners decorate their cars and park them around the perimiter of the church parking lot and give out treats to the kids. It is a nice safe way for them to do their trick or treating. Kylie made it about half way though before she got tired and and cold and was ready to go home. She was a trooper and finished with a little persuading from Mommy! This is her ballerina costume:

The crown and the wand were added at the last minute because she wanted to be a princess ballerina.

8 1/2 Month Appointment

I went to my 8 1/2 month prenatal appointment yesterday. I gained 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks for a grand total of 15 so far Baby girls heartbeat was 150 today. Dr. Meekhof was pleased and said it was very strong. This is the start of my 2 week appoinments now, my next appointment is on Nov 3. This is the beginning of my weekly visits. I only did one weekly visit with Kylie and that was the day she was born! When I told Dr. Meekhof that, he said he didn't think baby girl would be born that early. I told him I really don't want a Thanksgiving baby but of course whenever she decides to make her arrival is fine with me. He agreed, he said mid-November would be nice. So I'm not sure if he's telling me that is his guess because of course no one really knows except God. I told him Greg has 14 days off in November it would be nice if she could at least make her arrival on one of those days. I guess we'll just have to see if she's going to be that accomodating.

Going Swimming with Kylie

Yesterday I decided I would take Kylie to the open swim at the YMCA for something different to do. This is the conversation I had with her regarding going swimming:

Kylie do you want to go swimming with Mommy

Where at?

At the same place you take your swimming lessons, so do you want to go?

Well, your kind of fat and you could sink.

Your right I am getting fat but I don't think I'll sink, do you want to go

Yes! Yayyyy (Jumping up and down) I'm going swimming, I'm going swimming!

As you can tell she absoulty loves going swimming and the fact that Mommy was willing to get in the water with her (something she has been asking for for months) really made her happy. We had a good time, she was a little upset when it was time to leave though. I guess an hour and a half isn't quite long enough. Although as soon as I told her we were going to go to McDonalds and eat and she could play that made everything better. All in all it was a very nice evening.

Vote your conscience

Kylie Singing

All of these videos are of Kylie singing. She really got her Daddy's genes when it comes to singing. She loves to sing and is always singing.



Kylie singing Shook Me All Night Long, not the best choice for a 4 year old to sing but she loves the song and of course has no idea what she is even singing. (Sorry the video is sideways, I always forget that when taking a video with your camera to not turn it - someday I'll remember.)



Here she is singing Row, Row, Your Boat with her Karaoke machine she got from Nana and Papa for Christmas.



And last but not least, Old MacDonald had a Farm. She obviously was tired of just sitting and singing and me videoing her. This is what she does on a typical day, play and sing, there are many days I pick her up from Daycare and she is playing by herself (doing a puzzle or something) and singing the whole time.

Going to heaven

"Mommy, I'm ready to go to heaven now.

"Kylie you can't go to heaven now, I would miss you."

"Well Mommy I would miss you too but I would smile on you."

"But who would Mommy and Daddy hug and kiss on?"

"Fine, I'll stay" Said with the tone that says, I'm going to agree with you because I can see I'm not going to win this conversation.

Bible Book

Conversation at Church this morning:

"Mommy, Jesus said I could take one of the Bible books home with me after church"

"No, you need to leave them here "

"But Mommy Jesus said I could "

"I didn't hear him "

"You couldn't hear him because he told me when I was praying to him "

(How do you argue with that?!) "Well you need to leave them here so other people know what words to sing when they come to church."

After that I left it alone assuming that she understood what I was telling her. There were only 5-10 minutes left of church so I told her to pick up her toys she brought because Church was almost over. I helped her put her backpack on her back when we left. As I was taking her backpack off her when we got to the car I noticed how heavy the bag was. I asked her what was in her bag that was so heavy because I didn't remember it being that heavy when we came into church. That's when she told me, "Mommy, I told you Jesus said I could take one of the bible books home with me" I told her again we needed to leave them there so other people could sing praises to God when they came to church. She looked at me very innocently and said, "Well now we can sing Jesus songs at home!"

At that point I just left it alone because we were already at the car and I didn't want to go back in. I also figured she had such good intentions that we will just bring the hymnal back next week.

At the Pumpkin Patch

Today Kylie and her friends from preschool went to the pumpkin patch. These are some of the pictures from the trip. She had a lot of fun with her friends and playing on the playground at the pumpkin patch.

Playing on the playground

Petting the bunnies, that is her favorite part...all the animals!

Trying to decide which pumpkin to pick, I guess she was checking their weight??

Riding on the moo train. Both she and Carli (the little girl she was riding with) got out and said it was no fun because they had to hold on because it was bumpy :( It actually was quite funny to hear them both say it at the same time.

Afraid of the dark

This morning Kylie stayed home with Daddy instead of going to school. She loves to stay home with him, they play together and sometimes go to movies. She has her Daddy's passion for movies.

When they got up Kylie said, "Daddy your going to have to turn on the light, I'm a little afraid of the dark and I think there is monsters." Greg said she it in a very solmn tone.

She very afraid of the dark, she will not turn on the bathroom light because she is afraid to even reach her arm in to turn on the light. Or if she is in our half bath she won't go in because our bedroom is dark and she doesn't want to be able to see the dark room. The door to the room has to be shut or the light turned on in the bedroom for her to be satisfied. I believe this is a phase she is going through.

Swimming Update

Kylie had swimming at the YMCA last night. It was the testing night to see which ones move up to the next level. I was so proud of her she has made such improvement over the last 6 weeks. This is Kylie doing what they call 'flying', this is the part she most enjoys and is very comfortable and confident doing:



Here she is doing the backfloat. This is what has given her the most greif since she has started swimming. Here confidence level is the highest it has ever been since she started, we are so proud of her. I'm so glad I was able to catch this on video! Enjoy...

8 Month Appointment

I went to my 8 month prenatal appointment yesterday. I gained 4 pounds this month for a grand total of 13 so far (9 of which were gained in the last 2 months)! Baby girls heartbeat was 148 today. Dr. Meekhof was pleased and said it was very strong. I start my 2 week appoinments now, my first two week appointment is on Oct 20. It's amazing how fast the time has gone, our little girl is due to make her appearance in 2 months! Kylie is predicting she will be born on November 28. I'm not sure where or how she got that date but it will be amazing if she is right!

Spider Cookies!!

Today is Kylie's treat day and I thought since it is October it would be fun to make so Halloween themed cookies. So yesterday this is what Kylie and I made:

We had lots of fun making these cookies. However, Kylie did get upset with me a one point because I had to roll the dough into balls and then dip them in chocolate sprinkles. I decided that it would be easier if I did the rolling and she put the eyes on the spiders. When she asked if she could roll the balls I told her no and that Mommy would do this part and she could put the sprinkles on the balls and the eyes on. Apparently that was not the answer she wanted and very matter-of-factly said to me "I thought we were doing teamwork and working together! This is not teamwork if I can't roll the balls too!" I tried to tell her that sometime Mommies have to do some of the work themselves. She was happy to put on the M&M eyes, but decieded that after doing 9 spiders it was more fun to eat the M&Ms and told me I could do the rest myself.

You can get the recipe here.