Budding Artists

Actually, that should be the title of a post in which I show you some of the girls' drawings.  Elise especially is so incredibly into drawing with explicit attention to detail, that it blows my mind.  Alas, this isn't that post.

Instead, it's about their new art easel.  For several birthdays and Christmases I've intended to get them one, but it never happened.  Now they have one, and they love it!  I DO wish that Crayola made ColorWonder easel paper, but for now we happened to have large ColorWonder posters around.  After they're satisfied with them (seriously, Avery has been coloring the same one for weeks and I have no idea how she finds any more white space!), we'll switch to crayons.  It's so cute, though, especially in its new home in the playroom (not pictured)!

Oh.  And please ignore my pants-less younger daughter.  What can I say, she couldn't wait once she saw it finally put together.  Not even long enough to put her clothes back on.

Snowfall! Um... sort of.

The girls absolutely cannot wait to play in the snow this year.  Especially once they saw their "new" snow pants (from last year on clearance), they begged to go out every time it frosted, and nearly wanted to skip Christmas because they were disappointed it didn't snow.  (For the record, telling 3 year olds it will snow "at Christmastime", because they're looking for it in October, is not explicit enough).

So one day in early January I came home from the store to see this:

They couldn't have been happier... except that now they want to build "the biggest snowman ever".  I hate to break their hearts, but I'll be content if we don't get enough snow this year to build any sort of snowman.  And yes, I realize my heart is at risk of being broken because February and March are almost certainly due to be brutal.

Still, I suppose if you're going to get a blizzard, two incredibly cute little girls excited to play in it just *might* make it ok.  Right?

Happy New Year!

Ok, so it's almost February.  I'm not keeping track (and not for lack of trying), so you shouldn't either.  Our New Years Eve was low-key and wonderful.  Lots of good food, good friends, and fun games.

And since it was a Saturday, the girls got to participate in the earlier game time, too!

Hope your 2012 is off to a marvelous start!

Once upon a Christmastime

Christmas was really great.  We were able to spend a lot of quality time with extended family, but also protect and cherish several days where the four of us had nowhere (or almost nowhere) to be.  It was incredible!

The week before, we spent a few days in Ottawa.  There was lots of hot chocolate - stirred with candy canes, of course - and time spent hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Troy and visiting with extended family.  On Friday, Kelly and Justin were home too, so we all celebrated together.

That evening was our 4 Corners Christmas Eve Eve service, which is always one of my favorite nights of the year.  This year did not disappoint!  On Christmas Eve, we literally had nowhere to be.  Somehow I still lost track of time (I'm sure we were playing) and our traditional dinner didn't go off quite as planned, but the day was still just perfect as far as I'm concerned.

Christmas Day was a bit different than most years, since it fell on a Sunday.  Instead of a short time at home before breakfast with the Lawless family, we had a bit longer to relax and enjoy our morning and still spend time with everyone over lunch.  It was nice to spend time with family, but bittersweet because my Grandma and Grandpa Lawless were sick and didn't make it in town.

After a while, we came back home to continue cooking dinner and play some more.  The evening was finished with a yummy meal and exchanging gifts with Nana, Pappy, Cassi and Grandma Cora.  And then?  Monday Kyle was home, too.  We visited with my Grandpa Bradford and Carolyn for a bit, and otherwise hung out and played.  A lot.  We are so blessed that he (finally) has so much time at home with us.

I adore our family, both the little one that lives here and the extended versions :)

More Christmas pictures (all kinds, many quite cute! :)) in the December Picasa album.  Link in the right sidebar, as always.

Ultrasound at 27 weeks

So... I remember at one point saying, "We're totally going to have to pay out of pocket for an ultrasound if I ever have a singleton pregnancy.  One scan halfway through is not going to cut it after dozens with the girls."

It's true that I'm quite thankful that this pregnancy is going smoothly, and is not really all that "risky"... and I'm hoping it stays that way.

But I'm also thrilled that it's labeled "high risk", if only for the frequency of which we get to visit with this little guy!  It's been about 7 or 8 weeks since our last ultrasound, but in general we've had one every (calendar) month.  Plus, we have our 3D scheduled for next week. :)

Today's check-in was just a growth scan at the local office (instead of a Level II at the perinatologist), so everyone got to come.  Elise and Avery were hilarious.  We had taken their leap pads to play with in the waiting room, and instead they just utilized the camera function.  Every single time the tech would point out a new part, one (or both) would have to stop and take a picture.  Of the television screen.  With a 2MP toy camera.  From 6 feet away.

How about I show you a few of these pictures, instead? :)

I didn't catch exactly what he's measuring as far as dates, but she said he was "right on track".  Estimated weight (always rough) is just over 2 pounds, which is exactly average.  The growth scan was scheduled for now instead of earlier or a couple of weeks from now because I've been measuring perfectly but not really gaining weight very quickly.  As predicted, that's perfectly acceptable and baby is doing exactly what he's supposed to.

Other than our 3D, I imagine I very well might have just one more growth check and/or biophysical profile before I deliver, but we'll see.  Even if so, I can't complain. :)

27 weeks

It's been 1378 days since I was put on bed rest at 27 weeks pregnant with Elise and Avery.  That got me thinking....  It's also been 1376 days since I last worked in an office (don't pay too close attention to those two numbers) and more than 4 years since I last colored my hair (and I don't miss it!).

I find it ironic that I got put on bed rest and the pregnancy was somewhat more threatened with the girls on the same date (albeit 4 years later) that this little guy should make his appearance.  Ok, so not ironic.  Just noteworthy.  And ok, I realize only mildly so.

We have so much to be thankful for.  Beautiful, healthy, smart little girls... and a perfect little brother on the way to complete our family.

So blessed.  Onto the third trimester!