Darnin's Christmas 2012

Darnin and everyone should be so ashamed of me this year. I took so very few photos. So few.... But, it's not to say that we didn't have a good time.

I'm just BFP (big-fat-pregnant) & tired! Yes, I fell asleep right there in the living room amid all the festivities. Thankfully, I don't think my mouth was hanging open....

Pics from Darnin's 1st Christmas in her new house....

...and what was waiting for us in our guest room at Darnin's????
THIS fun set up!!!

It's a girl, it's a girl, it's a girl!

...okay, moving on....

I really can't go into what Christmas was like without Allen. I just....I can't type about all of that right now, because I don't want all of that to come up to the surface right now. Perhaps a topic for another time...

....but it was nice and a small comfort to see these things on Mom's tree...

Mom and Damon cooked all day. Next year, I vote we cater the event so that we can spend more time hanging out together!

...I, however, may be in the minority with that vote, but whatever. We ate late. Dinner rather than lunch. So, that put gift opening late. I think we finished up with gifts at 10 or 11 o'clock at night!

Darnin worked so hard all day cooking and making sure everything was 'just so.' I know she was exhausted. She made hot chocolate for the boys and sat down with them with the intention of reading a Christmas book aloud....but she was tired, and the boys were busy talking about little boy stuff....so the book reading never happened.... Oh well. I think the boys were just happy to talk. I know Gage was on cloud 9 to be hanging out with Trystan and Carter. He hadn't seen them in so long.

....just after that, it was off to bed. I fell asleep again in the living room and Hubby woke me and took me to bed. I felt bad because I don't remember saying goodbye or goodnight to anyone!

....but, I was tired!
I think we all were....

18 Weeks, and NEWS!

No, the shirt is not particularly flattering...but it covers my ever-expanding-everything!
Yes, the sign is misspelled, but Gage made it and sounded out the word "pregnet." It's cool.
Yes, the sign appears to read "98" instead of "18", but luckily, that's not the case!

We are now (as of 12/25/12) 18 weeks pregnant!
How grateful am I this Christmas? Very!

Size of Baby: Well, I had a sonogram on 12/21, but I totally forgot what she said about length! According to BabyCenter (www.babycenter.com), "Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long and he weighs almost 7 ounces."

Maternity Clothes: Yes, though I am still a fan of wearing Hubby's boxer briefs. Sad, isn't it???

Belly Button In/Out: In.

Labor Signs: No, and thank goodness! It's waaaay too early!

Movement: Yes, and I am eating it up! I remember that toward the end of my pregnancy with Gage, I would just cry and whine "I'm tired of sharing my space!" Now granted, I'm not THAT far along, but I just somehow feel like I'm enjoying every little kick and push and movement that I am lucky enough to feel. I don't know...I think I'm just being a bit more sentimental this time around....

Sleep: Hit or miss. Good nights and bad....

Cravings/Aversions: Not much at this point in the game.... Smells still get to me on occasion, but for the most part, I'm doing okay eating a variety of things. I'm totally okay with spicy foods which is definitely a pregnancy thing.... I NEVER usually eat spicy stuff!

What I Miss: Margaritas & Mimosas.

What I am Looking Forward To: Feeling the baby more and more.... preparing the nursery....

Baby Milestones: Baby's ears are now in their final positions. Myelin is starting to coat the nerves.... All according to BabyCenter.

Next Appointment: January 15th at 21 weeks.


Baby's Gender:

Aaaauuugh!
It's a girl!

....let the shopping begin.
:)

Happy Birthday, Mamasita!!!!!

I made you a cake!
...but then I ate it.
:)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Christmas Eve 2012

Well, we had the in-laws over for lunch on Christmas Eve.... Mmmm, chili! How very non-traditional, and super-easy.

We went to the Children's & Family Worship Service at our church. It was soooo crowded! It was sooo wonderful! So glad that we got there early!

Pics from church...

No, it doesn't look crowded in this first picture---because we got there so early!

(Gage and I were probably the last two to blow our candles out after most people were out of the sanctuary. We loved the candle lighting....though, he got a bit nervous, afraid he was going to drop it during the service...)

Back at home, when he was 1/2 undressed, he got to pick one gift and open it....

Then what?
Snacks and fun with some friends....
These boys are a MESS!

We were there until 8:45 or so....and when we came home, I made our French Toast Casserole to set and merry overnight....

(Thank you, Courtney, for the recipe! We love it!)

Daddy made us hot cocoa and Gage wiggled his way out of wearing his Christmas jammies. He's growing up, and he's not wanting to wear Christmas jammies....sniff*sniff!

Daddy read Olive the Other Reindeer, per Gage's request. The book is on loan from Gage's 1st grade teacher.

...after that, Gage snuggled down quickly into Mommy and Daddy's bed. He was sooooo worried that he would stay up too late, and Santa would skip over our house. I've never seen a kid so worked up about it!

Luckily for us this year, we were in bed shortly after Gage!

Strepocalypse 2012.

Gage missed SEVERAL days of school last year for strep.
If this germ blows down our street, it always lands on our doorstep.
Someone with strep can LOOK at Gage, and somehow he will get it.

This past Thursday, on the day of party after party, while Daddy was out of town on a business trip and this mama was flying solo, in a matter of hours, Gage went from happy-go-lucky-playing-kid, to THIS:

About 30 minutes after the photo was taken, Gage woke up, crying, begging me to "help" him swallow. He just kept pleading with me to "help" him. OMG, break my heart. Something wasn't right. This wasn't just fever, viral whatever.... We hit the road to urgent care and called Daddy.

How pitiful is this?

...awaiting his strep & flu tests.
Strep positive, flu negative.

Got our scripts and headed to CVS.
"I'm sorry, did you just say the wait is TWO HOURS?"
Crap.
Walgreen's is right across the street...
"We'll have this in 15-20 minutes."
....or an hour.
What really sucks? Sitting in the teeny little waiting area of Walgreen's pharmacy waiting trying to console your crying child who is begging for medicine. {"Hello! HE'S BEGGING FOR MEDICINE! GIVE MY SON THE MEDICINE!" I wanted to pull some Terms of Endearment sh*t up there, but I refrained...}

...after that, he wanted Sonic.
Go figure.
So, we get Sonic.
I, being a big, fat, non-thinking idiot, convince my son to take the antibiotic right there in my car. "The sooner we take it, the sooner it will start working." Never mind the "It will hurt if I swallow" complaint that kept him from eating all afternoon and evening.... Antibiotic on an empty stomach? WTF was I thinking!?!? (Not to mention that some kids get an upset tummy with strep....)

Luckily for me---we made it home before the vomiting started.
Unlucky for me: I didn't put Ranger (the dog) in his kennel before I left. For whatever reason, he threw up twice on the living room floor and I got to come home to that and then deal with a vomiting child too.

But----Daddy made it home from his business trip just in time to deal with vomiting with me. No lie---the kid couldn't keep down his medicine, or crackers, or water, or pretty much anything he tried. FINALLY, he kept down some pedialyte after two children's pepto. It was a loooong night.

Late that night....

....but, by the next morning:

Pale, and literally down 3.4 pounds from the day before----but hey, he's smiling and said that he felt better!

Here at the Casa de Lainey-Paney: WE HATE STREP!

Gingerbread Party!

We were invited to a friend's Gingerbread Party.
This party was to start 30 minutes after school let out on the last day of school before Winter Break. That day was sooooo full!

Back story to this: Amy & I got together on Monday to put the gingerbread houses together so that the kids could do the fun part: the decorating. Waiting hours for royal icing to dry is not much fun.
....not even for us moms! So, we hot glued 'em. Yeah....that's how we roll. Who wants to eat that super hard gingerbread anyway??? 

The Gingerbread Party: AWESOME!

There was even a super fun photo booth set up!

That's me & Amy there... We had a lot of fun, and Amy's super creative and makes a lot of fun stuff for the kiddos to do. She's awesome like that....