Lyla's Hair

I can't believe how long Lyla's hair is getting!

It went from this:

(first pigtails)

To this:
(first braids)

It is still very thin, wispy and quite ratty when its not pulled back, but I can do a lot more with it now and when its wet and straight looks so long to me.
I just can't believe how big my little baby is getting.

Christmas in CO

We drove over two days before Christmas and it had snowed about a foot the day before we got there. We took advantage of it and went sledding for the first time this season.

Lyla was nervous and a little confused on what we were doing at first but once she got used to it she really did enjoy it but still wasn't too sure on walking around since it was so uneven and with about 6 layers on she wasn't too steady!

Christmas Eve:

Sadie and Gma/Gpa made sugar cookies for Santa

The annual tradition of "snuffing" out the candles after dinner, the kids, big and small, loved it

Went to the trail of lights. It was cold but a fun little path
that is decked out with lights on huge trees
Went to see this house that lights up to different Christmas songs on the radio. Dad's friend from work lives there and came out in a Santa suit dancing around. It was a LOT of lights...

Got to open Christmas jammies

Louie was jealous of all the excitement and got to open a present too, lucky dog

Cousins had fun in the bath together

Got their Christmas jammies on and got their wiggles out by jumping on the bed for a half hour. They had a great time together and are so cute and fun to watch

Christmas Day:

Checkin out her Santa gift

After Lyla and Crew opened their baby strollers they immediately ran off into the family room together and pushed them around the rest of the morning refusing to open any more presents. We broke them away for a few minutes to look at the socks.

These two stinkers both somehow stole 2 suckers each from the socks. They decided to plop down on the fireplace and enjoy them together. These cousins were two peas in a pod all week long. They played really well together and loved chasing each other around. We found them several times just sitting together laughing at nothing and also of course pushing the strollers around for hours on end.

Christmas Dinner....Yep, that's the turkey right out of the oven at 8:36PM. Somehow the oven wasn't at the right temp and the turkey ended up taking about 8 hours to cook. So we had the only thing in town that was open, take out chinese food. We had Christmas dinner the day after, and was still just as yummy.

Day After Christmas:

Went swimming at the rec center. The kids loved playing in the water with Wally. My suit doesn't fit, grandma doesn't like being in a suit, lindsey didn't want to swim, and the boys had to take the car in for an oil change so it ended up just being Wally and 3 kids.

He did a great job keeping them entertained and from all drowning
That night we played Just Dance on the Wii. My favorite part was watching mom and dad swing their arms and butts around to the songs, haha.

This was definitely one of the best Christmas' ever. It was so much fun having Lyla with us this year and a little bit older and able to enjoy opening the presents. Sadie also made it so exciting as she got all ready for Santa to come. It was a blast watching the 3 cousins play together and just having a relaxing fun time playing games with the adults after the kids went to sleep.
It was very memorable and we are excited for the years to come as our kids get older and more excited for Christmas!

The "E" Myth

There is a stack of books on Josh's nightstand at all times. Some better than others, but Lyla for some reason throws all of them off in search for one in particular. It's called The "E" Myth. Its info on starting your own law practice, no pictures, nothing fun to look at, but she LOVES it and can pick it out every time. Thought I would post about it because I just think its funny that she wants to look at this book so often.

35 Weeks

Approx 35.5 Weeks:

-Feeling bigger than ever, even more than with Lyla
-Made it to the point of only a few maternity shirts fitting
-Sleeping pretty good, have to have the pillow between my knees so my hips don't get sore
-Have to pee in the middle of the night
-No swelling or weight gain anywhere but the belly
-Still don't feel like I waddle, woohoo
-Baby moves a lot, more than I remember Lyla moving
-Baby feels a little lower than Lyla because he's not up in my ribs as much
-Getting down to the last month I'm excited but also nervous about recovery and not looking forward to the lack of sleep
-Josh and I both get really excited when we see other newborns at church or on tv.
-Trying to teach Lyla that there is a baby in my belly, but I don't think much gets through, although she loves to kiss the belly and pats it while shouting, BALL! She is also really into nurturing her own teddy bears and babies right now so that is a good sign.
-I'm worried about being able to stretch my time and attention to two munchkins, but am relieved that Josh is around a little more this time to help with that
-Haven't had any Braxton Hicks, just like w/ Lyla, except I might have had my first one ever just this morning, but not sure, my mind has blocked out what contractions felt like, haha

This pregnancy has gone by super fast(except the first 14 weeks of sickness of course...) and I know he will be here before we can believe it since the next event is Christmas and then only a few more weeks after that! My secret hope is that he will be 3 days late so we can have a Jan 19th and Feb 19th Bday! (and Crew March 19th) Wouldn't that be cool?!
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Christmas Festivities

My mom was in town for the shower and we made sure to fit in a Christmas activity every day!

First: Festival of Trees

My fav: Snoopy, you can see the actual tree on the left side

Mom's Fav: Elvis

Number 2: Temple Square Lights




Number 3: Picked out our Christmas Tree
Lyla got to meet Santa, she wasn't too sure about the weird outfit and beard
but willingly took the candy cane he gave her
Even got to see the reindeer. Too expensive, but a fun tree lot to walk around
Mom had to leave before we had time to decorate the tree, but we did it the day after she left

Helping dad water it

We have enjoyed the Christmas season so far and look forward to more fun

activities the rest of the month!

Baby Shower

Aunt Cindy put on an AMAZING baby shower for me this past weekend. Since the baby's name will most likely be Mckay, aka Mac, she went with the theme Old MACdonald...so cute. It was decked out with farm decos and amazing food.

Here are the party favors for everyone to take home. Homemade pumpkin spice bread (to die for yummy) wrapped in a red hanky. In the back is a wooden rocking horse that Cindy painted and gave to me. Although its really for Mac, Lyla has thoroughly enjoyed the horse so far
The kitchen table had a cow print tablecloth and a little tree that had farm
animals hanging from it, what an adorable idea right?!


Here is the array of deliciously delectable desserts/food. There are shortbread tarts with cream cheese filling and raspberries, chocolate tart cake thing, and skewers with strawberries and pound cake. We also had chili and homemade cornbread. It was all amazing, as to be expected from Chef Cindy
Adorable little sign and flowers in a boot to greet you when you came in the front door

Pic of most of the people there. Everyone who was there included: Aunt Penny, Aunt Sandra with Jennifer and Sarah, Aunt Linda with Annaleesa and Alexis, Aunt Penny, Lindsey, Mom, Cindy of course, and friends Jen Day, Shelly Onofrio, and Marissa Gwilliam. It was a great turnout and I loved getting to see everyone!

Although I'm biased, one of my favorite gifts was the quilt Cindy made.
It turned out so cute and I can't wait to wrap up that sweet little baby in it!

Humongous me and Aunt Cindy

Thanksgiving

This year for thanksgiving the Green's came to us, and we hosted the big event. Since there were 12 of us and our apartment fits about 4, we invaded Aunt Cindy's house and had it there.
(Cindy went off to CA with my parents.)

Josh tried a new recipe and brined the turkey the night before. Here he is the day of, in all his cooking glory, checking on the beast. It turned out very moist and yummy!

Marty, Prudy, Michelle, and Jodi joined us this year. Here is half the crew ready to dig in

And the other half

I got into my craft mode and made these place cards for everyone. They took forever for what seemed like a 20 minute meal, but I think they turned out cute anyway for being on a budget!

Waiting for the turkey to be done, just chit chatting

After dinner we played a few games

On Friday all the kids went bowling, Davis won, but I was a close second :)

We had a great holiday and enjoyed the yummy food!