Cleaning up

Last night we began taking our Christmas decorations down. I must say, it feels good. I love the coziness of the lights, tree, garland and other decorations, but Hylke and I both agreed that it just wasn't the same anymore. I think our time away visitng family and being up the in the mountains helped me transition. :) Noah's excitement seemed to die down as well. He would come out every morning and ask to turn on all the lights...since we returned home he's only mentioned them in passing. This morning when he came out and saw that the tree was down and lights were removed he just looked at me a little confused, "yights?". He was a big helper and brought me each of the 9 strands of lights that lit our tree and helped me put them in their boxes along with some other decorations as well.

So now comes baby preparations. Yes, I still have 8 weeks....or should I say, I only have 8 weeks? I think I may be nesting already...maybe it's because I know I'll be too big to be doing some of this stuff later, and since I'm cleaning and putting away now, I may as well be getting some of the baby stuff out and in their appropriate places. Or maybe the nesting instinct is really taking over?? Either way, I've decided to go ahead and begin getting things in order for Little Miss. Noah's toys used to be where our Christmas tree was, but before we put up our tree we reorganized a bit, changing our dining room into a play area with a nice shelving unit with baskets that keep toys, blocks, books and other various items. We moved our dining area to our back room (attached to the kitchen...) we never really used that room, so now it's nice to use our space a little more efficiently. Anyway, we wanted to move his stuff so that 1. he'd have a bigger place to call his own and 2. there would be room for some baby stuff to come back out.

Although I haven't completely gone mad with getting things in order, I figure over the next few weeks there will be evidence that a new little one is on her way. What a strange, but exciting reality. :)

Cabin Getaway

Getting all bundled up:


Heading out the door:


Noah sledding with Uncle Alex and Lily:


Noah sledding with Daddy:


The snowman I made while others were sledding:

2 months

Two months from today we will be welcoming Elliana Joy into our family. Wow! I am feeling very pregnant these days and at times I can't imagine her growing for 8 more weeks. Where will she fit?!? At the same time, I can't believe that there are only 8 more weeks until she's here. Will we really be a family of four?

On a different note, we just returned home from 4 days in Lake Arrowhead with my sister and her family. We had a wonderful time. Our cabin was nice and cozy and we had the best area for sledding just a walk away. And, we had it all to ourselves!! All three of the kids had a blast sledding and playing in the snow; Isabella was even able to go down the "slopes" all by herself! When did she get so big??? Noah had the best time with his cousins...he just loves them to death.

We planned out a detailed menu for each of our meals and brought everything we needed to have a very relaxing and very comfortable trip. I baked some ahead of time so we had more goodies than any of us could eat (though we did our very best..) we also made sure to pack enough tea, hot coco and coffee to warm us all up after a long day in the cold air.

Our cabin was just the right size...Amy, Alex and the girls shared the loft (which had 3 beds and a set of bunk beds) and Hylke, Noah and I shared the main bedroom downstairs. Once we figured out how to get heat to the game room we had a fun time playing pool and air hockey....even the kiddos hit some balls.

As soon as I upload my pics (and get the ones my sis took) I'll be sure to post some. In the meantime, it's back to unpacking and putting away. :)

Merry Christmas!

It's 7:15am, Christmas Eve, and I'm enjoying a nice cup of tea in front of the Christmas tree, in the quiet and stillness that comes while my two favorite boys are sleeping. There has been hustle and bustle the past couple days ...well-weeks, preparing for this wonderful holiday. Today, however, as we really begin to celebrate Christmas, I am determined to sit back and really enjoy it all. I will think upon our Savior's birth and meditate on how His birth in a manger, over 2000 years ago, has changed my life forever. And today, although I am celebrating His birth, I cannot help but remember His death and resurrection...the two events that have given me LIFE. Yes, it's fun to spend time with family, exchanging gifts, laughing, eating and making memories. But may we not forget the greatest gift that we were given, in the form of a sweet baby, Jesus.

I'm pretty certain I won't be online tomorrow to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. So, from my family, to yours...Merry Christmas. And, if you haven't taken the time to think upon the birth of our Savior, make sure you don't let this holiday pass by without taking time to meditate on the real significance of Christmas.

Let it snow!

We're so used to warm weather, even in December, that this weeks cold weather has been a very welcomed surprise. On Wednesday we took a quick drive up to Oak Glen where it was snowing and watched Noah as he experienced snow for the first time. Not only was everything white with snow, it was actually snowing. How fun! Here are a few pics of our little snow adventure. :)

Getting bundled up to go:

Noah with his snow bibs on:

Our little brown marshmallow:

Getting ready to go in the snow:
He didn't want to turn around for the pictures:

Updated picture

My new header is the latest picture of Noah in front of our Christmas Tree. I had a very limited amount of time to get this snapshot (it was right before bed) and although it's not the brightest of pics, I thought it was a fun one. Enjoy a couple of the others snapshots I got...he's was such a good sport. :) As you can see I was desperately flipping through the settings to find the right one...I really need to get to know my camera better. :) Enjoy!

Celebrations Galore

This my first night home since last Wednesday, and truth be told, if Hylke and I hadn't agreed that we would make no plans tonight, we might be out. Although it's exhausting at times, we've had so much fun at all of our Christmas events enjoying this wonderful time of year. We leave tomorrow for a little 2 day trip to Disneyland. We thought it'd be fun to stay over night this time so that we could take our time enjoying D-land at Christmas. I know Noah will just love all the decorations. He gets so excited to see our Christmas tree and the "yights" outside.

I start seeing the doctor every other week this month! WOW! I can hardly believe how quickly the time is going by. Here's my most recent prego picture: