Christmas 2013

Oh how I love this time of year! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. 

Here are some highlights of our 2013 Christmas :)

Emma met Santa for the first time. I completely expected her to scream and dramatically throw herself off of his lap. It wasn't bad at all! She obviously wasn't happy about getting put on some weird guys lap and getting tangled up in his beard but she wasn't dramatic about it at all. She just whimpered a little bit and kept saying "hug, hug" over and over. She got pretty tangled in his beard which was the traumatic part for her. 

 

I then invited my brothers in law over to decorate sugar cookies. I usually do that with my sisters every year. I usually bake up a storm with them but without them I was lacking motivation to bake. But I decided I have to at least do sugar cookies. So I invited them over and premade the cookie dough the day before. It was fun at first but after they decorated and ate a few cookies they got distracted by the xbox. To be expected. :) they did pretty good considering they are boys and don't really do stuff like that often! :)

Christmas Eve :) we were at the In laws all day; it was super fun and relaxing. We hung out all day, ate pizza, watched the Christmas carol, snacked on nuts and chocolate, did the nativity scene script,  changed into our Christmas Jammies and watched the Christmas carol. 

( Emma snuggling with her favorite uncle "Wic Wic") 

Usually Christmas Eve is a fancy very classy event at the Johnson ranch but this year was definitely more laid back. It was a lot of fun! 

It was super late by the time we got home and Emma went straight to bed. So we got ready for Christmas, it was so exciting getting all set up!

 I woke up Christmas mornig so excited! I woke up Ryan and we rushed to the kitchen (quietly so Emma would sleep in, she got to bed so late) 

We made crepes and cut up fruit and made a yogurt topping. I turned on Christmas music and by that time it was almost 9 so we decided to go wake up EmmaLee. 

We got her out of bed and she was so excited to see all the presents and the lights and music. She opened her presents and played with her toys while Ryan and I opened ours. We then ate our delicious Christmas breakfast. I didn't get many pictures, but it was a picture perfect day.

We spent the rest of the day with the family. I love Christmas!! 

19 weeks

How far along? 19 weeks and 2 days! 

Gender? Who knows?

Total weight gain? You ready for this... 8 lbs. Boom.

Maternity clothes? For sure.

Stretch marks? Nope

Sleep? Great! I sleep about as much as my little 20 month old does. Which is a lot. :)

Best moment this week? Getting all my Christmas shopping and wrapping done! Decorating sugar cookies with my brother in laws, spending time with the Johnson's at the ranch, ward Christmas party. 

Missing anything? My friends! Having girls nights and just talking with my girls. However, my lovely besty Chelsea and I had a nice phone chat. That hit the spot for now :)

Movement: kicks and bumps at least a few times a day. It's so great!!

Food cravings? My sugar tooth has kicked in. I blame the holidays. Luckily it still makes me kinda sick so I'm forced to modify. 

Anything making you queasy or nauseous? Certain smells like a certain candle and hairspray. Poopy diapers.

Symptoms: ligament stretching. Random leg cramps. 

Mood: right now? Kind of down and lame. So I'm Headed to the gym to cure that once the little lady is sleeping.

Looking Forward to: tomorrow -- Christmas Eve and then Christmas! Emma's going to love it! 

Gym attire selfie, as usual

Happy 18th to Alycia!

Happy birthday to my crazy sister, Alycia! I can't believe she's 18. Time goes too fast. I remember when she was just a little toddler who couldn't pronounce anything correctly and cried all the time. Now she's this gorgeous, sophisticated adult who has an amazing sense of fashion and wants to become a physicians assistant. Where does the time go? Love you Alycia!! Can't wait for you to come live with me this summer!! :)

18 weeks

How far along? 18 weeks!

Gender? January 6th!

Total weight gain? Not sure, I guess I'll find out at my doctors appointment on Wednesday.

Maternity clothes? Yes! I love maternity clothes:)

Stretch marks? No new ones 

Sleep? Really good. This week I've been sleeping from 9 to 7, and having naps. It's wonderful.

Best moment this week? We went to an orchestra symphony with Ryan's company, which was great. I love beautiful music. We also went to Bethlehem revisited. Emma loved petting the goats and sheep, it was a lot of fun.

Missing anything? Snow 

Movement: lots and lots! I love the fact that there is a tiny growing human being getting ready to join our family. Every bump and kick reminds me of that, I love it.

Food cravings? Nothing. I've had a hard time eating lately. Emma eats more than I do!

Anything making you queasy or nauseous? Strong smells, gross smells

Symptoms: belly is getting bigger slowly, disgustingly amazing sense of smell, pregnancy brain

Mood: emotional rollercoaster. One day I'll be super depressed or just mad for no reason and the next I'll be baking and cleaning and singing while I dance around with Emma and blasting Disney and Christmas music. It's extreme.

Looking Forward to: my appointment, finding a home to live in, Christmas, Emma getting better from her cold!

Pigtail love

I'm loving her hair! 19 months old! 

I don't have any height/weight stats- she hasn't had her 18 month appointment because stinky obamacare has messed up our attempt to get insurance, so those will have to wait. 

But there's so much more to say about her. She's a smarty pants. She knows letter A-D, W. She can count to 3. She feeds our cat Tia by herself now, and likes to "help" me clean. It turns out being 100% more work for me but someday I'll be glad I taught her how to clean. She can say pretty much any word, although it's not always understandable. She understands pretty much anything I say, but she likes to ignore me sometimes. She loves reading and singing songs. She still eats like there's no tomorrow so she's still sporting her baby chub. 

There's so much I can say about her. Her personality has grown so much. I love my baby girl!

16 weeks

How far along? 16 weeks and 2 days

Gender? January 6th!!!

Total weight gain? I don't believe in weighing myself the week after thanksgiving :) 

Maternity clothes? Mostly yoga pants and maternity jeans 

Stretch marks? No new ones 

Sleep? So great! The nights are too short 

Best moment this week? Dinner at the Johnson's this Sunday, I feel so at home at the when I'm with my in laws. and Thanksgiving last Thursday! Loved it!

Missing Anything? Feeling attractive 

Movement: Here and there I feel something, nothing extremely noticeable though

Food cravings? Plain sweet potatoes, we eat them for dinner every day pretty much. Luckily Ryan is a sweetheart and never complains about it :)

Anything making you queasy or nauseous? Not this week

Symptoms: belly is growing, hungry all the time, tired, a tiny bit moody and always emotional. I'm pretty sure I've cried in front of every human being in the state of Texas by this point. So stupid. 

Mood: moody off and on, usually just in the morning. 

Looking Forward to: finding a home. We thought we found the one but it didn't work out. It's a bummer, for sure.

I enjoyed thanksgiving dinner a lot, okay!! Yes I'm feeling a little chunky. Just gotta get back on track with eating right and exercising :) no big deal! 

Just a little this and that

November has flown by. 

The past couple of weeks my sisterin law and her baby have been here in Texas visiting family. Her daughter is the same age as Emma so it's a blast getting them together (even though all they do is fight over toys, they have moments that they show us that they really do like each other.) She's expecting and due the same time as me again! Seeing how much fun it is to have kids the same age I'm really happy about it. I always wished I had been closer in age to more of my cousins, so I'm glad Emma and this next baby get to enjoy that!

My brother in law had a open house to talk about his mission, he just got home about a month ago! It's been fun hearing him talk about his mission and getting to know him better. It makes me excited to have Andy home! He is horrible at writing letters and emails. He emails every week but they consist of around 4 indescriptive sentences and a couple pictures. Grr.

Anyways, I'm super excited for thanksgiving this year! We will spend it with the Johnson's, it's just going to be immediate family this year, which is great! I love my in laws. 

House hunting update: We've been looking at lots of homes. We've only seen one we liked a lot, but it was just a little too small for me. I want to get a home where we have room to grow, considering the fact that we may be there for a few years.

Emma has been super happy and content with life lately, it's so nice having a calm little girl. It's been super cold outside so we've been spending a lot of time indoors which entails lots of snuggle time, drawing and reading! 

We celebrated My baby sister Hannah's birthday (9 years old! Wow) with my family on Sunday after Eric's home coming party. It was late but fun seeing everyone. My grandparents were there And my grandpa was able to lecture me about telling people I'm expecting before having the baby. Apparently it was supposed to stay a secret until after the baby was born. Sorry grandpa! Facebook changes things ;)

After Emma eats her fruit and veggie smoothie she's always super cold so she clings onto me super tight like a little monkey. I barely have to hold on to her. It's so cute and soon I'll have a big belly and she won't be able to do this anymore

We had a family date night on Friday. We watched Turbo - it's about a super speedy snail, Emma loved it - and ate popcorn. Love this little family of mine :)

She loves swinging...

And doing "feet feet"

And I'm a sucker for sleeping babies. I couldn't bring myself to wake her up. This was right after my doctors appointment, we sat in the car for over 20 minutes! Just waiting for her to wake up. 

15 weeks

How far along? 15 weeks

Gender? We find out January 6th!!!

Total weight gain? 3 pounds. 

Maternity clothes? Maternity pants. They're too comfy to wait. Plus my pants are a little snug.

Stretch marks? Just the old ones

Sleep? Pretty good. I've been waking up at 6 on the dot wide awake, so there's not much sleeping in for me.

Best moment this week? I got to hear my little baby's heart beat. Beating strong and loud at 150! 

Missing Anything? Hmmm... Not that I can think of at the moment.

Movement: I think I've felt him/her a couple of times. I love it!!

Food cravings? Healthy food.. Like plain sweet potato, brown rice, asparagus( can't find any of that sadly) and plain chicken without any spices or flavoring. Cravings are so opposite from last pregnancy.

Anything making you queasy or nauseous? Anything with sugar in it. I get so dizzy and light headed. So I try to steer clear of that! Ryan made me some homemade almost sugar free hot chocolate, as disgusting as it sounds, I loved it :)

Symptoms: not much this week, I feel pretty normal! It's nice :)

Mood: great mood! I've been hanging out with the Johnson's all week and have loved every second!

Looking Forward to: thanksgiving!!!! 

Getting ready to go to the gym! Hence the no makeup and messy ponytail look :)

13 weeks

How far along? 13 weeks

Gender? Wish I knew!

Total weight gain? 2 pounds 

Maternity clothes? Not yet 

Stretch marks? Just the old faded ones 

Sleep? I've slept alright, I don't have as many naps so I can sleep at night, now that I've got more energy 

Best moment this week? Getting pre approved to buy a home! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to start looking at homes! Hopefully we can find something we love.

Missing Anything? Not at the moment, I'm content with how everything is :) 

Movement: I feel little flutters but I think it's just gas at this point. 

Food cravings? Fish sticks 

Anything making you queasy or nauseous? Not really, I'm feeling pretty great this week. It's a nice change :)

Symptoms: hungry, ligament stretching/pain, out of breath easier ( pregnancy causes increased blood supply = increase oxegyn consumption) and very visible veins 

Mood: super good mood. I have made a great schedule during the day that works for both Emma and I and gets us both what we need. It's made for a happy Momma and a very happy little toddler. (And teething is done for awhile! Woo hoo!!)

Looking Forward to: my appointment on Wednesday, being officially in my second trimester, looking for houses! 

Fort Worth Zoo

Did you know you only have 947 Saturdays until your child goes to college?????

Ok I can't remember the exact number of Saturdays but I read that somewhere and it made me so depressed! I hate putting a number on things like that, I want to have an eternty of Saturdays with my my baby girl!

Maybe she'll be a sweety and come home every Saturday just to spend time with her Mama! We'll see I guess. ;)

Anyways, after reading that I decided its time to make the most out of our Saturdays. Last Saturday we went to te zoo!

It was such a huge zoo! EmmaLee loved it!

The fun has arrived!

EmmaLee kept yelling "Tee! Teeeee!" When she saw the cheetah. That's what she calls our cat, Tia. Haha

The orangotang was throwing sticks at people. They were fun to watch. It's amazing how expressive they are, their eyes tell you everything.

There were baby elephants! Awwww!!

And this is why crocodiles terrify me.

Emma had a blast climbing all over the big old crocodile! 

The fish were by far her absolute favorite things to look at 

Touching the sting rays and star fish. She then proceeded to lick the salt water off her fingers, yuck! Emergency hand washing session please! 

She fell asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car. She was pooped! We all went to bed pretty early that night.

A sign of a successful Saturday!