Christmas Weekend

Wow, I can't believe Christmas has already come and gone!  Good thing we have one more Christmas weekend with Nate's immediate family!  We were very busy celebrating with both our families this past weekend.
Christmas Eve we spent the evening at Bopapa's house.  We had a delicious Ham dinner and opened gifts.  Here are some pictures from our evening.

 Kaitlyn getting ready to open presents at Bopapa's house!  She was so excited!

 So many presents!  Cousin Diana made it fun by wrapping each present in tissue paper!

 Kaitlyn and Mommy wearing mommy's hats she got from Bopapa for Christmas!

 Kaitlyn was so excited for Santa this year!  She has been asking for a baby doll with a nukie!  The funny part of this is... First she asked for Santa for a Baby Doll with a nukie!  Than she added ...and a bottle a few weeks later... Then the day before Christmas... she also wanted a rubber ducky!  When she opened her stocking and present from Santa - which contained... a baby doll with a nukie... She looked at us and said..Where's the bottle?

Since Christmas Day is Jesus's Birthday.... we had to make muffins and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus!

 Later that day we headed to my sister's house for our Christmas Day Brunch!  Kaitlyn got to open more presents. 

 The McNeilly's! 

 My little sister and me on Christmas Day!

 The Girls!

 Nana and her girls!

 Kaitlyn and her Godparents.  My sister asked Randy to put on a nice shirt for pictures.  Don't you just love the ugly Christmas Sweater he picked?

 Papa and his girls!

Papa and all his girls!

On Sunday we went to Nate's Aunt and Uncles for his extended family Christmas!  We spent the day being entertained by all the little cousins opening their presents.

 Kaitlyn got a purple unicorn pillow pet from Great Grandma and Grandpa.  She was so excited!

Her other favorite gift was a guitar from Aunty Betty and Uncle Matt!  She was styling in her pink Christmas Dress, Pink Sunglasses and Pink Guitar!

Christmas Eve Morning

We woke up on Christmas Eve morning to several inches of snow.  Kaitlyn and mommy decided we should shovel off the deck and play in the snow before we headed to Bopapa's in the evening.

 Kaitlyn trying to maneuver through the deep snow in the backyard.  She dropped her shovel off the deck and had to go and retrieve it.  Mommy couldn't help because her snow pants no longer fit over her big belly!

 Cody digging for sticks!  He spent most of the time with his head buried in the snow looking for mulch or sticks.

 Kaitlyn getting ready to sled down the hill daddy made with all the snow we have gotten this winter.

 Kaitlyn climbing up the big snow hill!

 It's so sad to see our boat surrounded by snow under our deck!  Dreaming of a warm sunny day on the lake!

Kaitlyn loving to be outside and playing in the snow! 

25 1/2 Weeks

Wow, I can't believe that my 2nd Trimester is almost over.  This begins the true countdown until our newest family member makes an appearance!  We had another ultrasound on Monday to check a few things that we weren't able to see in our first ultrasound.  Baby is looking great and everything is measuring normal.  Here is a cute profile picture of our little one.

As I have stated before.  This pregnancy is very different from Kaitlyn.  Our little baby is very active at all times during the day.  Kaitlyn loves to give mommy's belly hugs and kisses to her baby sister or baby brother. 

Making Cookies!

This past weekend we had a huge snow storm.  5th Largest Snow Storm in the last 20 years.  We enjoyed the snowed in weekend at home.  Not exactly sure, but I am pretty sure we saw close to 18" in Mayer.  Saturday evening we decided to make some sugar cookies.  Kaitlyn loved helping in her new apron that I found a local craft fair.

 Getting ready to make the cookies! Kaitlyn loves helping in the kitchen.

"Mommy, stop taking pictures so we can make cookies."

 It's time to frost and decorate the cookies we made!

 The finished product by Kaitlyn!

 Yummy! That was good mommy! 

 Some of our master pieces!

Kaitlyn's Christmas Program

This was Kaitlyn's first Christmas Program at school.  We weren't sure what to expect from 3 and 4 year olds, but they were adorable.  It was held in Kaitlyn's school gym.  It was so cute to see all the kids dressed up and ready to perform.

Kaitlyn is in the front row, second from the left.  She had almost a whole row of fans watching too.  Daddy, Mommy, Aunty Anny, Uncle Randy, Bopapa, Nana, Grandpa, and Grandma.  She did spend a lot of time watching the 4 year olds doing the actions and would copy her favorite parts.  When we got home, she did tell me she didn't sing all the words because she didn't know them, but did sing her favorite parts.  Her favorite song was "Away in a Manager", which she has me sing before bed every night.

Kaitlyn loves baby dolls.  After the program she had to go and hold Baby Jesus.

Kaitlyn and Mommy before her program! 

The McNeilly's!

24 Weeks

Tomorrow I will be exactly 24 weeks.  That means only 16 more weeks until our little one arrives.  If this little one decides to come early like their big sister... that is only 11 more weeks.  Less than 3 months! 

Many of you know this pregnancy has been rather stressful.  We have really had to Trust God during this pregnancy and I can't say it was easy.  I would like to share with you our experience.

A few weeks ago we went in for our 20 week ultrasound.  The ultrasound tech does a lot of measurements to make sure everything is normal.  The tech found that our babies nuchal skin fold thickness was over 6mm which automatically flags our baby for a higher risk for Downs Syndrome.  It changed our ratio from 1/900 to 1/50 because of this one Key marker. 

We went through a rush of emotions when the doctor explained our new ratios.  It was very hard to stay positive even though our odds were still 98% the baby was normal and 2% our baby had Downs.  After a long weekend of going through all the scenarios, we decided to do an Amino.  This procedure had risks, but we wanted to be prepared if indeed our baby had Downs Syndrome.

That following week I scheduled the Ammnio procedure.  This procedure requires a needle to be poked through my belly into the amniotic fluid.  Here they draw out about 20 cc's of fluid to be tested and a full chromosomal work up would be done.  This would give us a 100% answer on our babies health.  The procedure itself was uncomfortable but not painful and I left the clinic with a little band aid on my belly.

After about a week and half of waiting for the results.  The results showed everything was healthy and normal.  We are so Thankful for all the prayers and support we received while we waited to hear the results.  I am just happy that we can continue to enjoy this pregnancy until our little arrives.

Kaitlyn's Prayers

Recently Kaitlyn has started leading our bedtime prayers.  Here is her prayer for tonight.

"Dear God, Thank you for my mommy and my daddy's.  Thank you for my Nana, Bopapa, and all my Anny's, all my uncles, and Daddy's deer. Amen." 

Than she realized she missed some people in her prayers, so we started a new prayer.

"Dear God, Thank you for my Grandma Suzie, and Tim.  Thank you for my Mandi.  Amen."

Nate and I have really enjoyed Kaitlyn leading the bedtime prayers.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

Wow, It's December in a few short days....  Thanksgiving has already come and gone.  Now it's the countdown until Christmas.  Friday after a long day of shopping that started at 2:30am... we decided to head to Mora to see Santa.  He was scheduled to come on a Fire Truck.

Kaitlyn was excited to be with her cousins and to see Santa.  If you ask her... she was scared of Santa when he was on the Fire Truck because there was a marching band that was loud, but liked him when she met him.

Kaitlyn wouldn't sit on his lap, but would talk to him.  When asked what she wanted for Christmas... She said... "A Baby with a nukie and a bottle." 

Santa and the cousins. 

Picture after Gibson realized who was holding him.  Priceless!

Happy Halloween

Wow, we had a busy day.  The morning started out with mommy and daddy getting ready for the Fall Mayer Fire Fish Fry.  Aunty Anny and Bopapa came to hang out with Kaitlyn until it was time for some fish.  After a long morning/afternoon of handing out Halloween Safety Bags, and bake sale goodies.... Kaitlyn and mommy went home for a nap. 

After nap we had a little dinner and started getting ready for our night of Trick or Treating. Kaitlyn was a butterfly this year.

 What a cute butterfly!

 Cheese!

 First house of the night! 

 We went Trick or Treating with some friends in town!  Here is a group picture of all the kids.  I was happy that Kaitlyn wanted to be in the picture this year!

 Successful mission with Kaitlyn's friend Parker!  More Candy!

 Riding in the wagon. 

The girls enjoying the nice evening!