4 months pregnant!

Well, as of yesterday I am 16 weeks pregnant. As much as it feels that it is dragging on, at the same time it is flying by! I was going to wait to post my first pregnant pics until we found out what it was, but I snapped one of Karly chatting with "it" and decided it was too sweet to not pass on. I really didn't think I was showing, and my scale hasn't gone up much but my belly is definitely rounder and harder than it was even just a few weeks ago. I was hoping to hold out another month, but I am guessing the belly is here to stay for awhile! Now just have to hope my regular pants will hang in there with me for a few more weeks! Other than my impending fatty doom I am feeling much better. They shouldn't tell you at 12 weeks things are better...really its 14 or 15 before you are human again. Chris and I are getting a little closer to agreeing on names. Part of me really wants a girl because I have already done a girl and the stuff is just so much cuter! The other part thinks a boy would be a neat change. Plus, I don't know how much more pink I can handle! Karly and Chris battle with the belly...Chris: "make daddy proud and grow a weiner!" Karly: "please, pretty please be a girl" and we do this atleast once a day! Poor baby isn't even here and is already getting bossed around.

Here's a picture of Karly telling the baby how much she loves her, encouraging her to be a girl, and giving her some Christmas kisses!

This Christmas

Christmas was much different for us this year. It's our first Christmas in Texas away from our families. My grandparents have done Christmas Eve dinner at their house since probably before my birth! I really missed that tradition and gathering this year. I am thinking of starting a Christmas Eve dinner tradition next year so I won't have to miss it ever again! Christmas Eve we went to dinner with some friends and did our present swap with the kids. Christmas morning it was just us and Grandpa Oxford opening presents. I skipped breakfast since our first stop was lunch at 12:30 at Jason and Tammy's house. Lunch was great! We did a white elephant swap and did a little mingling...right when it was feeling like nap time we had to head to Danny and Gay's for their Christmas at 3:00. We had a great and family fun filled day! Thanks to everyone for making our first Christmas here special! We love you all! To our far away family & friends...we truly missed you. It just wasn't the same without you! Love to everyone!

I had so many pictures I thought putting them in a slideshow may help (and take up less space)...enjoy!


Christmas Morning at our house

Christmas at the Bandel's & the Craig's

Holiday Photo Shoot

Right before Thanksgiving I finally was put in touch with a photographer that looked like she could take some pretty great pictures! I left her a message and had no return call :( I pretty much came to peace with the fact that no pictures would be going out to our loved ones in Christmas cards! This was a bit of a bummer as I typically give framed pics to my grandparents for Christmas! I decided to try to call one more time about 2 or 3 weeks before Christmas and managed to get an appointment! I was pretty stoked as I had an appointment and Chris's fat red nose was looking better (from his wreck). At 130 I get a phone call with this lady cancelling! WHAT THE HELL?!!?! Our appointment was only 4 hours later! Super flake! Luckily our cousin was in town and after a quick phone call she said she would try her best! Lucky for us, she did great! We got a few cute pictures so I thought I would share! Enjoy! Thanks again Laura!

Firework Fun!!

Karly had a sleepover last weekend...I don't like sleepovers :) Either way, she had her chit chatty little friend over and played babies and scream and run from the dogs for almost 2 days..yay! Saturday night Chris decided to bond a little with them...what else do people in TX do to play with their kids?!?!...give them explosives! Now that it's almost New Years all the firework stands are open! Chris LOVES fireworks! He gave the girls sparklers which I suppose are fairly safe. He then decided to let a big one off...just to try it out. Unfortunately he didn't think about the dogs! First BOOM and they bolted!!!! Sooo, we have a firework that seems to never end and my dogs running towards a highway with me and 2 little girls screaming after them. Just another lovely night in TX with my family!

A little clip of Karly and Danielle being fairies as they like to say.

Sucky Fingers

No more "sucky fingers" for Miss Karly! At 10 years old she has finally given up the habit! Ok, so she was encouraged/bribed. Chris made a bet with her that she couldn't go 2 weeks without sucking. If she did she got to pick something to buy....she decided she wanted press on nails. I don’t think she realized they are 5 bucks and she could buy them herself. Either way my poor baby was like a little crack head desperate for those fingers! “but Momma you don’t understand! They taste so good and make me all warm and cozy!” Of course I told her to go ahead and suck but she refused to lose this bet! She is as stubborn as Chris! Every day she would tell me the countdown to 2 weeks. I actually felt a little bad for her, her entire world revolved around counting these days down and trying not to accidentally suck. Well, she made it! She got her fake nails that lasted all of 1 day! She isn’t allowed to wear them to school so she waited until the weekend to put them on…by the next night she had ripped them all off. Shockingly she didn’t go back to sucking much! She still will from time to time in her sleep, but has done really well with it! My baby isn’t a sucky finger baby anymore!

As Promised

A few pics from Karly's ballet and cheer. They had a little end of the year ceremony showing a few things for the parents and gave out ribbons for perfect attendance.

Such a little nerd! Wouldn't want her to smile nice like I asked...no, must be a goofball!

Cheer I got there late, so the one pic I got is through a window and with my phone! Sorry!

That's my little baby on top!Karly's cheer class

I couldn't tell you the name of what she is doing here, but it's supposed to look like that :)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…which just so happens to be my favorite time of year! I love the weather, the sounds and the smells and even the hustle and bustle of all the crazy holiday shoppers! I must say this year is far different than any other, yet the same as every year….just less wine! I did my shopping as usual but instead of doing it last minute with my sister, I went early with Karly. Not quite the same since she doesn’t enjoy a relaxing cocktail while breaking for lunch but an enjoyable day with the one I love just the same. I am very sad that I won’t be going home to see my family. Thinking about it truly brings me to tears, so I will move along. I must say that while I will miss my family tremendously I am very lucky to have married into such a loving and welcoming family. This year definitely has brought much change to my life. Here’s to new traditions and my first holidays in my new home!