Christmas!!!!

We had an absolutly wonderful Christmas. Not that it is really hard to have a great Christmas with 3 small children. :) Everything is so exciting, and fun, and ......well magical at their ages. I do love Christmas, and must admit it is a time when i can easily fall into my love of spending....mostly on my children. We always had tons of gifts under the tree growing up, and whether it was big or little, i just love a tree crowded with presents. And so I have continued doing this with my own kids, but this year I will say I cut back, ALOT. (ask Joe, he even was very proud of me) They got more than they needed I must say, but it is a work in progress.
Joe and I have tried to make sure that our children know the true meaning of Christmas and that even if there were no gifts, it is still such a wonderful, special day to be celebrated. They both will quickly tell you that Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that it isnt about the gifts. But Owen will often follow with, "but we still will get some presents, right mommy?" This too will be a work in progress. :)

We began our Christmas on Wednesday when Joe's family came down to visit. We haven't seen Matt in almost a year so we were really happy he could come be with us as well. We had lots of yummy food to eat for dinner that evening and then had our Christmas together. The kids were so excited and quickly had thier gifts all unwrapped before handing out anyone elses.



























































Owen got an Armor of God suit, which he was excited to put on. I always have the kids put on the full armor of God each day as I take them to school so it was neat to have a visual for them to see each part.





Nana and Papa got Owen a new game to play and I think Papa, Joe, Uncle Matt and Uncle Isaac were more into the game than the kids :)






























Maggie, Owen, and Josie enjoyed all the attention and had fun playing with everyone.








































They left the next afternoon to get back to have Christmas at their home, we wished it could have been a longer visit but were glad to have them here to celebrate.





















Mom and Dad then came down on Chrismas Eve and also brought in a ton of gifts. (Mom also said she cut back this year...:) We had our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve complete with turkey, ham, sweet potatos, mashed potatos, corn, and homemade rolls. It was delicious, even though it would have tasted much better if I could have just shown up at Pat's and eaten as opposed to cooking most of it. :) (and Pat, my mashed potatos don't TOUCH yours) We then proceeded to let the kids open up their gifts from Mimi, Jaja, and everyone else back home.





















Maggie was so excited that she got her My Little Pony cafe which had been on her list of 5 things she sent to Santa. (Santa only brings her 3 gifts so she knew she had to count on someone else to get the other 2. :)

























Owen got a dinosaur mountain he was excited about, and after Dad and I taking an hour to get it put together he loved it.



We relaxed at the house all evening while the kids enjoyed Mimi and Jaja time and played with their new toys.























Josie had scored 2 new Dora dolls she kept busy with.




That night we got the cookies and carrots ready for Santa and his reindeer and set them out by the fireplace.















The kids went to bed very easily, as they are aware Santa doesn't stop if he knows your awake. Mom and I made homemade cinnomon rolls to have Chrismtas morning and got those all ready to put in the oven in the AM and then Joe and I got to work on Santa stuff. We had 2 things to put together (and Joe is NOT a put together kind of guy.....I typically do that as I like it done right and by the instructions and he prefers to just wing it. :) He did a great job that night and got both things put togehter before midnight. He also took care of the stockings and did a great job with those and we were both in bed well before 1 am.




























Here is the note Santa left the kids the next morning....complete with a reindeer hoof print (or dog print:)
























We had told the kids to not get out of bed in the morning but to yell for us so that we could see them coming downstairs. I was pretty much 100 percent sure Owen would fail at this request, but none the less told him the rule. I woke up about 7 30 the next morning to everyone still asleep. Around 7 45 I heard Owen's voice from his room upstairs, "MOMMMMMMA" I headed up and when I opened his door he said, "oh my goodness, I DID NOT think I was really gonna stay in my bed, but I did mommy!!!!" It was a great start to a great Christmas morning. Joe and i lured Maggie out of bed, and then he went to wake our sleeping dragon, Josie....who was NOT thrilled about being pulled out of bed. Mom and Dad had gotten up and I was ready with the camera....(side note here......Joe surprised me the night before with a new Canon Rebel Camera, which I was THRILLED about......I had it charged up to use it that morning but realized I had no clue how to get it to work at that time of the morning so the first bit of pictures are with my old camera....I think you can tell when I begin using the new one....THANK YOU HONEY, I LOVE IT!!!)











and here they came......


















(well, except for Josie who Joe was carrying crying! But once she caught sight of her new car she stopped and jumped right in.
























The kids were so excited about all their gifts...Maggie got lots of Pet Shop stuff, a scooter, the Strawberry Shortcake house, a DS, and lots more.....




























Owen got the Handy Manny workshop he insisted he wanted, a leapster, transformers, and a ton of other boy stuff! This is how Dad spent most of Christmas day....




















Josie got a new stroller, lots of babies, and her own "blackberry."






























This is how Dad spent most of the day....putting together the kids toys.







He definetly paid for his stay by putting everything together!!































































Our cinnamon rolls were DELICIOUS that morning and I am thinking we will do that every year. We spent the rest of the day being lazy, the kids played with all their gifts, and around dinnertime, Joe cooked us all a meal of filet o' bryan, which is a meal at Carrabbas. It was DELICIOUS and every bit as good as Carabbas. Mom and I took care of cleanup and then Joe and I headed out to the movies to see The Blind Side, which was a great movie.








The day after Christmas we all headed out to shop a little of the after christmas sale....we kept Josie out pretty much all day and she fell asleep on the way home. Joe carried her in and put her on the couch like this where she stayed for a good hour with everyone talking and playing around her...














Mom and Dad stayed through the beginning of next week and kept the kids while Joe and I went to Nashville for the UK football game. We had a great time, although I am not much of a sports fan! But it was great to just be away without 3 other little people needing constant attention. We shopped, ate out and relaxed, while the kids had a blast playing with Mimi and Jaja.....or Jaja and "NiNi" as Josie calls her. I was glad to get back to them though....yes I missed them in our short trip! Now we are just home relaxing Christmas break.

Christmas pics...

Every year I take a picture of the kids with Santa hats in front of the tree...this is typically for the Christmas cards. They were all WILD this year while I attempted to get a shot of them, and Josie only came and sat in for like 3 or 4 so I finally just gave up. Here are my 3 kiddos in their true forms. :) I love them all sooo much, how cute are they!!!


































































































































































Here they are in their Christmas outfits. I have someone who comes out from Louisville to the house and does my pictures. With 3 it is always a challange to get a good one of the 3 of them, but she always comes through with a few of the 3 of them, and always tons of great individuals.









































We are all geared up and ready for Christmas. For us it begins on Wednesday when all of Joe's family comes up to celebrate. The kids are very excited for everyone to start coming to visit and of course about the gifts. :) Stay tuned.......

Christmas Parties and Gingerbread houses.....

The kids both had their Chrismtas parties at school this week, and I was lucky enough that I got to go with both of them by myself. Owen's was Wednesday, and Sheila kept Josie for me so I could enjoy the party with just Owen. She is such a great friend and always so willing to help me with Josie so I can do things like this with the kids....I am sure before long I can repay her with watching Ian while she gets out alone. :)

Owen had a fun time at his party and his class sang some songs for the parents which was adorable. They enjoyed pizza, cookies, and candy before giving their gifts to Mrs. Ashby, and she in turn had a gift for them.
















Out of all 3 of my kids Owen probably enjoys his 1 on 1 time the most so days like this with just the two of us always thrill him.

Maggie's party was on Friday afternoon. So Joe came home from work at lunch so that I could got to the party for the afternoon. They were making gingerbread houses at her party so I wanted to be able to come and help out with that.























Maggie loved this activity and took pride in doing it in just an exact way......the right/perfect way. (wonder where she gets that???) I must say her house did look exceptionally well when she was done....especially for a 6 year old. It definetly would have fit in the gingerbread contest at Lake Geneva.....that is for Amanda and Tim!


























After that it was snack time, which consisted of cookies, brownies, and more cookies and candy. There wasn't a lot of variety as far as the snacks so I think come next party time I will be sure to try to cordinate who is bringing what. They then watched a christmas movie and exchanged gifts with their teacher.

I think they will both enjoy Christmas break alot, not having to get up, get dressed, be ANYWHERE..

We began our week by making our own gingerbread house. Josie only showed up occasionally to eat some candy....I let Maggie and Owen each have 3 sides to do themselves. Maggie was at the table for HOURS.






Owen was finished with his much quicker but would come back occassionally to add a few more things. They were very happy with their finished product.

Oh where have I been???

So I know you are all wondering where the heck I have been and why I haven't blogged! Well, more than likley I have been laid up in my house, trying not to puke! Babies 1, 2, and 3 were easy pregnancies. I was nauseated some with Josie at the beginning....but nothing that stopped my days, or even hours. I was the normal tired, but had no problem keeping up with everything else I had going on too. As for baby #4...WOW. It has done a number on me. I am now 10 weeks and 4 days and I would say for the past 8 weeks I have been nauseated pretty much constantly....even through the night!! I am EXHAUSTED, more than I have ever been....I am pretty positive that getting up to nurse a baby through the night a few times will be nothing compared to how tired and drained I feel now. My house has taken a huge blow from my feeling like crap...and although it is driving me CRAZY, I have no energy to do anything about it right now. Dinners have also fallen to the wayside many a days....and let's just say my kids have watched quite a bit of TV through this season of this pregnancy. I have heard story after story from people who said this is how they felt their entire pregnancy...or at least the first 20 some weeks. So I am assuming I just got lucky with my first 3 pregnancies. But I am FIRMLY believing this will be over when my first trimester is over. It must be! I am ready to get back to myself, do the things I enjoy, and stop gagging every 3-4 minutes!!! :) So my blog has taken a backseat, along with my Chrismtas letter that I send out every year with my Christmas card, which I was sad about. Okay, so enough of my griping.....and although I do feel really crappy....ALL THE TIME (have I already said that??? :) I am thrilled to be having another baby, know this is soooo worth it when it is all said and done, and think as sick as I have been this baby ought to be REALLY healthy. :)



So onto what we have been doing all this time.....




Owen had his Thanksgiving party at school, complete with indian hats, and these cute Oreo Turkey cookies we made. I got to go and help out with his class while Josie went to Sheila's house and played. Owen loves me to come to his class without her so he was quite happy.




















Maggie also had a feast at her school....but I forgot to take my camera.
































We not only put up and decorated our tree....but also our Josie. :)


























We went to Light up the Summit again this year. It was much warmer than last year, and the kids had brought their letters to Santa with them.....just as he was walking off the stage he walked right to them and they gave him their letters. They were so excited. We got there early so we had about an hour of the band playing/singing Christmas music. The kids LOVED it. They danced, and sang like crazy. It was so cute.
Here is Maggie when she saw Santa....I love her face!



























Joe and Owen got some Starbucks hot chocolate while we waited for Santa to arrive.






















Here is the kids dancing and enjoying the music...













































































We attended Miss Molly's 2nd birthday party....which was a ballerina party. Owen opted out of a tutu and wore his ironman suit. The kids had fun dancing and playing in the boucncer....and Josie spent most of her time with a plate in front of her.






















































































































Here are Josie and Molly...future partners in crime....well they aleady are at times!





















Maggie had her first big stage debut in December as well! She had her Christmas play at school and had 2 lines to say. She had 2 performances,one for the school and one in the evening for everyone.


Mom was in town so I went to her school performance by myself which I was soooo thankful for since the evening performance I spent the entire time out in the hallway with Josie,, who was not into sitting through the show. She was a little nervous I think and during the show between songs I could see her reciting her lines to herself.















































The main highlight of December so far has been our trip to Wisconsin to see Amanda. Joe was in Mexico for the week so Mom and I packed up all 3 kids on Friday morning and drove to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The trip was actually very easy as far as the kids went. They were all 3 excellent for the 7 hour trip. We got there about 7is that evening and the kids were so excited to see Amanada. It was a really neat place and I wish we had longer to stay and do all there was to do there.
Maggie, Owen, and Mom watched every one of Amanda's shows. (There were 2 a day) and the kids LOVED it. It was a nearly 2 hour show so needless to say Josie and I only saw bits and pieces. Josie loved the fast songs and one night nearly tried to get up on the table to dance and sing along with the performers. Amanda said they could all see her from the stage and thought it was quite comical. Now anytime we hear a Christmas song from the show the kids yell, "That is from Amanda's show!!!!"


There was an indoor waterpark there which was really cool. It had huge waterslides and pools that we went to one day. The kids loved it and I wish we had more time to do that, but since we were only there for a weekend we only had the afternoon. Amanda took all the kids (YES, even Josie) on one of the waterslides and was closed in and they all loved it. I tried it once but felt it was a little too much for being pregnant and didn't want to take a chance. Maggie also almost mastered the monkey bars across the pool. She was so determined to get across these, she would fall and get back up and start again. Owen also got across them, I helped him by putting my hadn under his foot to make him feel better. But that kid is so strong in his upper body (well, his legs too) that I know he could have done it himself.

The kids also LOVED Amanda's friend Tim who is in the show as well. He showed them the cast candy stash which they thought was so cool and I am doubting there is much candy left for the cast after we left. :) We had a very fun, exhasting (Josie), short weekend there but I am so glad we went as it was a show the kids really liked adn they loved watching Amanda on stage.

Here are some pictures from our weekend trip....





















I need to clarify that this picture was showing the TV that was in the bathroom mirror. Owen and I thought this was the coolest thing ever!!