Looking a little pink

I was going to wait until the furniture was in the new nursery, but I just couldn't wait. We pick it up tomorrow, but I figured we probably wouldn't actually move it in the room until this weekend. And I'm so proud of how the nursery turned out!!! John spent most of his holiday working on this room and I just love how it turned out. We did have several "mishaps" during the room renovation and I was even told I'd never get more than one color on a wall again, but by the end of it, all was well again (he even said he'd do the room all over again). Thanks honey!!!!
Also, some have already asked me about gifts/showers for the new little arrival, but we're not doing anything this time around. I just feel weird having a shower since we had girl/boy twins the first time around. However, there are a few things we'll need and if you feel so inclined to get anything, I've made a small Baby Wishlist that you can peruse. It's on the left side bar in the blog under Baby Wishlist. Just click the link and it will take you to the list.



The finished product!

Happy Birthday Addy!

On Tuesday, my niece Addy turns 3. This weekend we had a little celebration at Build-A-Bear in Grapevine. It was an easy drive for us so we took the kids down and thought they'd have some fun. Abby loves stuffed animals so this was right up her alley (although John feared she might replace her new beloved penguin she got from ICE).

We arrived first, but it wasn't long before everyone else arrived. It was a bit crazy since we went on a Saturday, but the kids were all eager to pick out their stuffed animals. Addy went for Hello Kitty and we tried to let Abby pick hers out. I kept showing her bears, monkeys, even cats, but she wasn't interested in anything. Finally she spotted a turkey and wanted that. Of all things! Oh well, I let her have it and she was instantly attached. John questioned my judgement, but this is definitely not a battle worth having. If the girl wants a stuffed turkey, she can have one. John showed Jake a few things, but he really didn't act interested in anything (he's not a big stuffed animal kid). I finally picked out a turtle for him and we were on our way to give our animals a heart and stuff them.

The kids were very intrigued by the stuffing machine. A little scared even. After Abby had her turkey stuffed, she wouldn't touch it. She wasn't sure what they did to her turkey, but she knew he wasn't the same. Jake was unsure about the whole process, but latched on to his turtle after it was done. He's been carrying it around ever since!

(Here they are getting their hearts ready to put in the animals)

(Jake kept a close eye on the stuffing machine the whole time)

(all done, but not sure what to think now)

Once everything was stuffed it was time to pick out clothes. Abby really got into that, but we only ended up getting her turkey a pair of shoes and a heart that says "I love you". Jake's not into the whole clothing thing so we didn't get any clothes for his turtle.

Noah didn't get a toy at Build A Bear but wanted a train instead. So we set out after Build A Bear for the trains. There was a kiosk not to far with cars and trains and he quickly picked out what he wanted. This was more Jake's thing too and he wanted a car, but he had to settle for watching his cousin Noah play with a train.

Our baby girl

Our baby girl is growing like a weed. I had my 28 week check up yesterday (along with my glucose test and Rogham shot, what fun!). We also had a sono to check on her growth and ensure she was growing normally. Everything checked out just fine and she's measuring a week ahead of schedule. Not sure what that means for delivery, but we finally decided to let God pick how she'd be delivered. I just couldn't do it. We're scheduling a C-Section around March 25th or so (just need to see what day that actually falls on first) and then if she decides to come earlier, we'll deliver naturally. That means I need to sign up for some birthing classes I guess. I never took any with the twins b/c I knew I was delivering via C-Section from the beginning. Here's one of her first pics. The tech loved this shot and said it was one of the best she's had in a while. She has her little hands under her chin thinking about something.

A few other updates, we (really John) has been busy working on the nursery this week. We've finished painting and now he's adding all the molding I wanted. I think we're supposed to get the furniture Wednesday next week and so we'll just be down to the decorating and small details. I'll take a few pics along the way and post some stuff next week after we get the furniture in. We also still haven't landed on a name so for now, she's just little girl. We still have a few months to get that down so we're not rushing.

A Visit From Santa (aka Grammie)

This weekend John's family came over for our last Christmas. And boy was it a full Christmas! Grammie went way overboard with gifts, but the kids had a blast seeing everyone, opening the gifts and playing with their cousins. Grammie was also very smart and got everyone the same thing so when the kids would open one gift they'd all have the same thing and no fights broke out. We had several big hits like the bouncing Rody's (my guys couldn't get enough of them and Abby had to "gather" them all together - they're the colorful horses in the slideshow), the ride-on's, the basketball goal (thanks Aunt Lisa & Uncle D!) and of course Uncle Dallas himself :-)
We also decided to do things a bit differently and had Mexican food for lunch vs. the traditional turkey or ham. Everything turned out great and we were all stuffed!
We had so many cute pics to choose from that I couldn't narrow them all down so here's a slideshow!

Our Little Cowgirl & Cowboy

Abby is obsessed with cows and Jake with tractors. They yell them out every time we see them in the car (which is often believe it or not, even up here in the metroplex). So, when we went to my parents for Christmas, we made it a point to take the kids down to our family farm. John loaded the carseats up in my dad's truck and away they went. The cows know my dad's truck so they immediately ran up to the pens and waited for him to feed them. John worked on getting the kids out of the car seats and then turned them loose. Abby immediately ran up to the pen yelling "COW!" at the top of her lungs. She terrified the cows and they all went running. My dad told John to take the kids behind the truck so the cows couldn't see them and he got them all back in the pen. He closed the pen and Abby and Jake then went up to the fence to see the cows. I'm not sure if they had more fun seeing the cows up close or climbing the fence, but they had a blast.
While they were down there, my dad ran the tractor a bit too. The kids were in the pen and my dad was circling the pen with the tractor. Jake kept "chasing" the tractor hoping for a ride. However, it was getting late and time to go so we'll have to save the tractor ride for another visit.

Christmas in S'ville

We went down to my parents on Christmas Eve and spent a few days there with the family. The kids had a great time visiting with their cousins and opening gifts. On Christmas morning, Whitney and the kids came over. We were still eating breakfast so the twins opened stockings and gifts in their PJs. We tried to get a few group shots, but Abby was going to have no part of it. We even bribed her with a giant snow globe, but she just took that and ran off on her own. Jake, Noah and Addy however, did great!

Jake was really into Noah this trip and wanted to do everything he did. Noah was fantastic and would set Jake up with his own train and tracks (or what ever he was doing at the moment) so Jake could play along side him without messing up his stuff. They were so cute together! Of course I didn't get any pics of this so you'll have to trust me that they were cute!

After stockings, we opened our gifts. Addy played "Santa"this year and helped pass out all the gifts to everyone. The twins got really anxious waiting for stuff to do and Jake really just wanted to go back and play with his train and hot wheels.

We finally opened everything and saved the big gifts for last. This year, my parents focused on riding toys for the kids. Noah and Jake got power wheels and the girls got tricycles. Everyone had a blast playing with the toys and we spent the rest of the morning outside playing.

Noah was the only designated driver for the Jeep so he gave rides to all. Jake liked it (at least I think he did, he never smiled, but wanted to ride again). Abby decided to get out as soon as Noah hit the gas!