Out of practice and energy

I promise I did not fall off the face of the Earth. I feel as big as the Earth but still here. I have been so tired chasing my two little ones around while trying to grow one inside. I am too tired to blog at night, but today I felt like I needed to catch up. Maybe Emme will be coming soon. Lets recap the past 2 months.

November Miss Emme tried to come early at 34 weeks. After two shots of this medication that makes your heart feel like it will leap out of your chest, the contractions stopped. My cervix changed some to I was put on bed rest for a week then modified bed rest for an additional week. Was released after that to do pretty much what I wanted, except work, and we just knew she would be here before the first of the year. Well it is going on the second week of Jan and still no Emme. I have contractions frequently but not TRUE labor yet. I have been cleaning the house from top to bottom but all I tend to get  is a lot of Braxton Hicks and a back ache. Makenna has been talking to Emme, through my what is left of a belly button, telling her to come out. Maddax is still oblivious.

December we celebrated Christmas and Makenna's fifth birthday. My parents surprised us by coming in before Christmas so it made the Holidays even better. Maddax finally got the opening of Christmas presents down and was loving every minute of it. He got a lot of Cars from Disney and his favorite is Sally. Each morning she is the first thing he is hunting for and he has the cutest little lisp when he says her name.  Makenna knows she is his favorite so she is always trying to hide it from him. She gets many a consequences when she is caught doing so.

loves his new lightening towel

Makenna received princess stuff. She had been wanting a princess castle from Disney World and this year she finally got it. She was very excited to play with all the cool features like light up bushes and hidden passageways. Lately however she is more taken with the stuffed Prince Larry and Sweet Pea Beauty from Veggie Tales. That poor doll has been everywhere with her.

her and Uncle Jeff were like peas and carrots

Then It was a bittersweet day. My munchkin turned 5. I had promised her a princess cake but was too tired to make it so I bought one. We wondered where all the princesses were that should have been on the cake. Well Chris was not informed at pick up that they were inside the castle and had to be assembled. Oops. She loved the cake and her balloons that daddy tied to her bed when he got off work at 2 am that night. He said it was kind of hard to explain princess balloons in the back of his cruiser when he had to take a call, but that she was worth the explanation. Good daddy. He also picked up her favorite breakfast, chocolate doughnuts, for her.  We rarely have these because of the plethora of non food ingredients but it was her birthday and she deserved it. 

she has worn this hat at every birthday since she was 2

I cannot believe 5 years ago she was a helpless baby and now she does so much on her own. I am so proud of her and pray she grows into a Godly woman when she is older so we are planting those seeds now.

Now what? We wait. Emme is due Jan 23 but my doc said they may induce at 39 weeks because I am an experienced mother. Do not know what that has to do with the price of tea in China but if it gets her here sooner and smaller then I AM EXPERIENCED! My mom has been fixing up Makenna and Emme's room and did a beautiful job.

I am so excited to welcome this new little joy as is the rest of the family. Thank you God in advance for our soon to be new little bundle.

A great leader

So I woke up this morning with an extremely sore abdomen. I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. On Monday at work I had to get re-certified in CPR on a computer dummy. I spent and hour and 40 minutes in there, thus the sore abs. All I can say is if you are an infant, I can save a life. If you are an adult, the compressions may be too fast, too slow, too deep, or too shallow so you might survive. Needless to say I know why my stomach is so sore.

Since my last update I had been on a hunt for a kids snuggie. Chris bought me one for Christmas and Makenna was beside herself to get one as well, "In pink monnie." I asked her where her money was and she said, " In my giraffe bank that I got from Nana at Christmas." Smart kid. So thus began the hunt. After many a Walgreens and a few Bed, Bath and Beyonds, the snuggie was found. Hers came with matching pink socks that are so big I can wear, but she did not seem to mind the growth hanging of the end of her foot. She was one happy and warm little girl. Now she and I wear our matching snuggies on the couch when we do quite time.





Maddax has been learning to walk but not with the intentional toy that promotes walking with wheels. No my little man is creative. He stands at either his leapfrog toy or the kitchen chair and proceeds to do a pelvic thrust to advance the object and himself forward. I know, he gets his weirdness from his father of course.





Kenna decided to play dress up yesterday and I found her preparing for the Nutcracker Ballet as she stated. I said where are your tights? She returned like this and I was left speechless.






Today during our family devotional Chris ended with a prayer for the people of Haiti. Makenna being her curious self asked about those people. We told her that there were a lot of hurt kids and mommies and daddies from an earthquake and that they needed our help. I asked her if she wanted to donate some money to those kids who were hurt and she said yes. She went and retrieved her Giraffe bank. Daddy told her whatever she decided to give he would match. She pulled out a $20.00. I was so proud of her. She gets her giving from her father. He is one of the most selfless givers I know always helping others in need. I am so lucky that he is the one God chose to lead our family.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year from our crew to yours.

The past few weeks have been a bit of a blur. I picked up a few extra days at work to pay for Christmas, parents in to visit from New Mexico, visiting family, and attending weddings and Christmas parties. Needless to say the blogging fell behind. I will most likely be a weekly blogger at best.

We celebrated Christmas with Chris' family on Christmas Eve and had a great visit. I watched the love a almost 4 year old for her great-grandfather as she ran to hug an kiss a very frail and ill 80 something man. It made my heart melt for her to see past all the sickness and embrace him with all the love she had. Thank you Lord for a sweet little girl who loves others with so much passion.

Christmas morning we opened up presents from Santa and the mommy and daddy. She was so excited to see the "car slide" she had asked Santa for on 4 separate occasions. She kept asking how he got it down the chimney. Next year I hope he delivers toys that are already put together.

Maddax opened his tickle me Elmo, but was more enamored by the paper than the present.

That evening we spent Christmas with my family at my sisters. We played Phase 10, ate lots of food and Christmas candy, told stories about our childhood, and just enjoyed each others company. Christmas Day was drawn to an end with my little girl turning 4. Her birthday is not till the 26th but we decided to make due of the fact that we were already together. I was going to happily make her a birthday cake but Makenna insisted on her Nana making it instead. Is she trying to imply something? Nana did a fabulous job on the cake. It turned out better than I or Makenna could have ever dreamed. Makenna was so excited to turn 4 and eat her cake. I on the other hand was not so happy. It was a very bittersweet moment. My little girl was growing up. Sob Sob.
In all the hustle of the Christmas season we found every opportunity to tell Makenna and Maddax the real reason for Christmas. One night she came into the kitchen with a blanket on her head and holding a baby. I said, "What are you doing?" She said, "I am an angel and this is baby Jesus. I must lay him on the hay." I am so glad she knows about the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Sometimes even as Christians we get caught up in craziness of the season and forget the true meaning of it all. That God sent his only son to be born in a stable so that we may have life eternal. This Christmas I want to say thank you Lord for your gift of love and mercy.

cardboard Christmas Tree

Growing up we did not have alot of extra money to spend during the Christmas Season so my crafty mother would come up with inexpensive ways to brighten our season. One such craft was our 12 days before Christmas Tree. I was a Christmas tree cut out of Cardboard, covered with tin foil, and topped off with a star. Then she would glue 12 cupcake baking cups onto the tree. 11 of the baking cups held a note with a hidden treasure, and 1 carried the dreaded "love spanking." It was like the "Old Maid" of the tree. They were not lavish treaseures but things like a new earaser for school, new Christmas ornament, 50 cents, and our favorite....OPEN A PRESENT EARLY. Granted she picked the present we were to open but we loved it regardless. We would get up early and run to pick the next treaseure each morning. My brother, sister and I would take turns pulling off the baking cups each day each hoping not to pull of the "Old Maid." It was a great way to get us up in the morning and raring for school those last two weeks before Christmas break. Great memories.

I say all this because I have decided to carry on this tradition with my daughter Makenna. We began yesterday; however, she did not fully understand the concept till she experiencesd the whole process from retrieval of baking cup to recieving of treaseure. Yesterday it was a sucker. You would have thought she won the lottery. She does not get much candy so this was a big deal for her and her anticipation for today grew. When I returned home from work this morning, she was waiting for me at the door. Dressed in her best to pull of the glorious baking cup. She mounted the kitchen chair and tenderly pulled the cup off. Inside was a note that read, "sleep on the couch." She jumped up and down through the kitchen. Makenna, you see, loves to sleep on the couch but rarely does because HELLO she has a bed. This was a great treasure for her and she could not wait to tell her cousins and Aunt Sherrie.


I enjoy creating these special times with her. I know I am creating a bond that money could never buy. I hope one day she can look back and relish in these memories with her family as I do mine.