A Very Merry Christmas

It is our family tradition to spend Christmas morning as a family at our own house. We just really like to spend this time drinking hot chocolate, talking about the real reason for Christmas, sitting by the fire, and opening presents. Last year, when it was time to open presents Ben was only interested in the paper but this year he was excited and ready to see all his surprises. He was also really excited to celebrate Jesus's birthday and sang Happy Birthday to him. It was really cute. We had a great morning as a quiet little family- I love our times like this and can't wait for many more in years to come!

Here are some pics from our Christmas morning . . .

I asked Ben to take a picture with his stocking and this is what I got LOL!


It took some prompting but he finally figured out how stockings work haha


I love the funny faces this kid makes


He just couldn't wait to get each thing unwrapped


Ben thinks that these binoculars are hilarious!


Ben's bucket of tools. He loves to help daddy fix things around the house


Ben LOVES this fishing game which is funny because I played this same game all the time as a litle girl


Ben's truck of cars (it is a truck that stores matchbox cars)


After Christmas at our house, we headed over to my parent's house for Christmas morning there and Christmas breakfast. We all had an amazing time and ate lots of yummy food!

After spending some time there we headed back home for showers and an early nap for Ben and then headed down south to my Aunt and Uncle's house. Once there we had an amazing time seeing all our family, eating TONS of great food, doing a gift exchange and spending time together. The drive home was a little intense because it was pouring, but we made it home safe and sound. We are so blessed to be surrounded by friends and family this Christmas season!

Christmas Eve

Here it is December 24, 2010. How did we get here so fast? Where has the last year gone? I can not believe that Ben is almost 2.5 years old and that there are only about 7 weeks left until we meet our new little guy!

This past month, as we started talking to Ben about Christmas, it has been really special to see him start to gain somewhat of an understanding of what Christmas means and that something special was coming up.

He know that we celebrate this day because it is Jesus's birthday and so he has been singing happy birthday to Jesus as he walks around the house and plays with his toys. He has really been enjoying all the music and has gotten pretty good at Jingle Bells. Currently, he thinks that Santa is a "fat man" that "flys high high in the sky" and says "ho ho ho". Other than that, he really has no understanding of who Santa is or the role that he plays for some people at Christmas time. He also fully understands presents now and is way more into them than the paper (which is different than last year when all he cared about was the paper). Unfortunately, he has a hard time understanding that he only opens his and can not open them for everybody (haha). His understanding of Christmas has changed so much since last year and I can not wait to see how it changes for next year!

My attempt at decorating the table for Christmas Eve dinner




My little handsome, being a crack up for the camera (as usual)
PS. no, he is not normall allowed to stand on furniture, just for these pictures :)

A Special Gift to My Sweetie!

Over the past 5 years of being married I have learned that marriage is about a lot of things. It is about working together, laughing together, holding each other, praying together, and sometimes crying together. It is about working as a team and being great friends. It is about listening to and caring about each other's goals, hopes and dreams and whenever possible. . . making those dreams come true!

One dream that Bryan has had since I met him was to go skydiving (with his 2 brothers). So this year for Christmas, as my gift to him, I am sending him (and his brothers) skydiving on Monday, Dec 27! His reaction was priceless and I am sure that this experience will be one that he and his brothers will never forget.

I love you Bryan and I promise to always listen to your hopes and dreams and whenever I can- make them come true! Merry Christmas babe!

The Reaction (in order):

Caroling with Ben

This is Ben's version of Row Row Row Your Boat. He actually knows a lot more words, but wouldn't really perform today ;)
He has the "row row", "merrily merrily" and "dream" part down- haha!


Ben singing Twinkle Twinkle. I know he is missing some words, but he tries so hard and it is really cute!


The other day Ben looked at my belly and told me that this is how "Owen" (that is what he calls the baby) gets out. It had me laughing pretty hard- I love how he says "Belly Button"


Ben wants to wish everybody a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I love this video! It totally shows his silly personality. This little guy cracks me up, hope it makes you laugh too!

Update on Ben

Well, this morning Ben had another coughing/breathing episode. He was just coughing so hard, couldn't catch his breath, and eventually started throwing up everywhere. So I called the dr back as soon as they opened and my mom came over and helped me take him to the dr. It was a bad morning but I finally got some answers about Ben- he has walking pnuemonia. So the dr put him on 2 nebulizers (breathing) treatments, an oral steroid, zpack, fever meds, and Tylenol with codine. Poor thing is on tons of meds but hopefully it kicks this bacteria's butt!!!!

Please pray that he doesn't have anymore coughing episodes and that his tummy tolerates all these meds. The next couple days will show if the new meds are working or not. If they don't work- we might be looking at admitting him and if he has anymore coughing spells where his breaths per minute get too high we will be taking him in too. Thanks for your prayers!

Prayers for Ben Please

Prayers for little Ben please. Last Friday Bryan took him to the dr because he started to get a little bit of a cough and since I had been sick, we wanted to prevent Ben from getting sicker so we thought we would be proactive. The dr started Ben back on his breathing treatments and we thought we were good to go and we were until about Saturday late afternoon when he started to get a fever. By Sunday morning he had a fever of 101 and so we started him on fever meds and gave him lots of fluids but by late Sunday his fever was at 103.4. We started him on Tylenol and Motrin together every 4 hours but it only brought his fever down to about 102. So Monday morning I took him back to the dr to find out that he had an ear infection and bronchitis. So he started a prescrition and we continued his fever meds. After all this, we thought he would be getting better but he isn't.

The last 2 days have been filled with coughing spells so bad that he can't get enough O2 and we have to hook him up to his breathing machine (which is really scary for a mama). And then last night at about 11:45 we heard him start coughing so we gave him some more meds and rubbed his back to try to get him to stop coughing but by midnight he was having a full blown attack again. He was throwing up at the end of every cough, not recovering between breaths, and breathing about 60 breaths per minute (35 is regular). On top of mommy and daddy being scared, Ben was really upset because he couldn't catch his breath and was scare of throwing up. It made for quite a night. We got really close to taking him to the ER but finally at about 1:30am, after about 30 minutes of his breathing machine and meds, he was able to stop coughing and we got him back to sleep.

So today, we are headed back to the dr. since he still has a fever (going on 5 days now) and his coughing is getting worse. Please pray that we get some answers and relief for Ben. Please also pray for some rest for Ben and mama today. I really hate when my little guy so sick and not just because it is scary but because he feels so miserable and it breaks me heart. Thank you for your prayers- we will keep you updated.

Baby #2 Update

Today we had an OB appt to check up on our little guy and so far so good. He is VERY active, never giving mommy a break. He is growing great and his heart rate was strong today at 145 beats per minute. He was so active in fact, that the dr had a hard time getting a read on his heart rate (haha).

I (mommy) am also doing great. My BP was nice and low, I got a rhogam shot today, survived my glucose tolerance test (haha- hate that test. The sugar drink is beyond disgusting) and I didn't gain any weight this past month (which is pretty great considering all I ate at Thanksgiving, LOL). I also got a tour of the hospital today and the newly done labor and delivery unit. It is really nice, everything is state of the art, and I am really happy because every patient gets their own room! HOORAY!

Our next appt will be the beginning of January when we will get to see our little guy via ultrasound. After that we will be going to appts every 2 weeks. I can not believe that this PG is already almost over. As the end gets close, it comes with mixed emotions. I am loving being PG and feeling the baby and bonding in that special way, but this PG has also been A LOT harder than my PG with Ben so in some ways, I am ready to be done. Either way though, I can not wait to meet this little one. I wonder what he looks like and what his personality will be. . . so excited!

PS. for those of you wondering: no, we are not keeping the name a secret we just honestly have not chosen one yet. This is proving to be a lot harder than I ever thought. Stay tuned . . .

Being Thankful

Today was a very terrible, absolutely no good, very bad day but . . . even as I sit here now, I am choosing to be thankful.

I am thankful that even though I am still sick, the medicine is working, slowly but surly.

I am thankful that even though my little guy is at home with a nasty cough and a fever of 103 (with meds) that it is just more reason for me to get extra snuggles and cuddles and love on my little guy!

I am thankful that even though we got a flat tire today just as we got off the freeway in thousand oaks (taking Ben to the dr) that I have an amazing husband that came out from work to fix it and never complained once.

I am thankful that even though we dropped the car off to get a new tire in T. Oaks, in the heat, with no stroller, and a little one with a huge fever, who was cranky and crying asking for a nap, that we were able to walk and find a little (dumpy) place to sit, get a drink and have lunch while we waited the 1.5 hours for the tire to get fixed.

Today despite this being a very terrible, absolutely no good, very bad day . . . I am CHOOSING to be thankful because I still have my great family, a little bun in the oven, great friends, and a Lord that provides for me always (even on bad days)! :)

Colos. 2:6-7
So then . . continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Trimester #2 Pics

Once again my great friend Anna Joy has blessed me by using her great gift of photography to capture my pregnancy at the end of trimester #2. Thank you Anna for sharing your gift with me :)

Here is a slide show she put together with just some of the pictures she took.

*click on the word "slide show"

Where Has The Time Gone?

Today was just one of those days where I sat back and had one of those "where has the time gone" moments.

The past week I have been pretty sick and miserable. I have tried everything I know to get rid of this bug but it just seems to be getting worse. So today I decided I was going to put my warm and cozy clothes on and just stay home, drink tons of liquids and take it easy today in hopes that I might start feeling better. Luckily, I have a very supportive husband that took Ben and ran all the errands that needed to get done (such as grocery shopping) so that I could rest, without one complaint. (I love you babe!) When the boys got home, we had some lunch, and took naps.

After nap time we decided to decorate the tree so I made some fresh hot apple cider, turned on the Christmas music and we got to work. We had a great time, trying to teach Ben about the tree, the ornaments, and the lights and as I watched him taking all this new information in and repeating things back to us I was in awe. He is just talking so well lately, putting together small sentences, comprehending conversations, and even interjecting his own sense of humor into conversations. It really made me wonder "when did he get this big" and "where has the time gone"?

I am so in love with Ben and so proud of the little guy that he is becoming. He is so sweet natured, sensitive about others feelings, and funny. He loves to make people laugh and will do anything to get a smile. He is really into singing songs (even if he doesn't know all the words) and wants to try do everything on his own. I love how he is so into his brother- talking to him, kissing him, wanting to feel him kick, and putting toys and sticks up my shirt for his brother. This boy keeps us on our toes but we love him to death. Looking back over the past couple years I can not believe how fast time has gone by. Ben truly is my dream come true and I am madly in love with him!

5 months old: Dec 2008


16 months old: Dec 2009


2 years 4 months old: Dec 2010

A Hunting We Will Go

Saturday morning we bundled up, packed up, and headed out on our annual hunt to cut down the perfect Christmas tree. In the past Ben has just gone with the flow because he was too little to know any different but this year, being 2 years old, Ben decided he would rather play in the dirt and go on piggyback rides from daddy than look for a tree. Nonetheless, it was still a good morning.

Ben just loved playing in the dirt


Daddy giving Ben a pine-er (Ben thought this was funny)


Ben and Grandma Donna


Ben playing in trees


Ben told me "you can't see me mom. I am a tree"


Piggyback rides with Daddy


Ben and his lollipop


Later that night we snuggled up, got warm drinks, and watched a movie as a family. It was a great way to start the Christmas season!

A Morning With Friends

This morning our friends Cadence and Lyric came over because their mommy had an appointment. We had lots of fun . . .

We painted








We played outside


We put together puzzles (and then they wanted to walk on them, although I am not sure why haha)


And when Kelly got back we tried our hand at making Rainbow Cupcakes (Christmas Style) with all 3 of the kids. They were actually pretty easy to do with little ones and they taste yummy! :)