Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Card '09

We hope you are able to take time to enjoy the Christmas season and celebrate the birth of our Savior with your family and friends!

What's in a name?

After much contemplation, Matt and I reached an agreement on BabyBoy's name. His given name will be...

We'll call him by his middle name, Abel. It was a difficult decision, but I love the meaning of his name. Matthew, after his daddy, and meaning "Gift of God." Abel means "breath" and Abel was the first person in the Bible to please God after Adam and Eve fell out of His favor.

We can't wait to meet this little blessing in April!

Introducing...

...Ella Carmen

This adorable baby girl is the brand new daughter of one of my bestest friends, Sammie and her hubby, Rich! She was born via C-section today at 2:11pm weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and measruing 20 inches. Mom and Baby are both doing well! I cannot wait to meet this precious new blessing!

Weekly Wrap Up #2

This has a been a busy week.

Monday was my routine OB appointment. BabyBoy's heartbeat sounded awesome. He is growing and we're right on track. Everything looks great according to the docs!

Eli has the Little Gym on Tuesdays, and he's learning so much. He loves hanging from the bars, walking on the balance beam, and doing the group activities on the big red mat. His favorite parts are playing with balls, the parachute, and the AirTrack. It's so nice to have an outlet for the little guy's energy! On Tuesday afternoon, we all (Daddy even got off work early) went to get Jacob and take him to guitar lessons. While Jacob was at lessons, we did some quick Christmas shopping.

Wednesday was a nasty, rainy day, so Eli and I headed up the indoor playground at the mall. While we were there, we stopped by for a visit with Santa (aka Ho-ho). Eli was the only little one not crying on Santa's lap. He ran right up to him and hopped up on his lap. He sat there and stared at him. Too cute! We have a picture, but I haven't scanned it yet. I'll post it next week!

Jacob had a winter music concert at school on Thursday. He did great! His favorite parts were obvious by the big grin on his face. I'm so amazed at how big he is now. This is his last elementary school music concert!! WOW!!

Yesterday, Eli and I headed to Wilson to say a final goodbye to my grandmother's close friend and companion, Mr. Charles. He was almost 100 years old! He was a good man and we really enjoyed sharing life with him the past couple of years! He will be dearly missed.

And, finally...today is the family Christmas exchange. I can't wait! I absolutely love the holidays and the time spent with family. It's not about the gifts, but just a chance to be with those we love!

Enjoy the pictures and please forgive the quality. I'm hoping Santa brings me a camera (a Nikon Coolpix S620 or a Canon Powershot SX20 IS...or any other great camera as I am NOT a professional)! If Santa doesn't come through for me, maybe the stork will leave one when he drops off BabyBoy!

Have a blessed week!

Weekly (and a little more) WrapUp #1

So, I've been horrible at posting on the blog. Especially since I've discovered the ease and simplicity of Facebook. With that, my new goal is to post here at least once a week in the form of a weekly wrapup. Hopefully this will keep everyone up to date and document BabyBoy's journey to the world.

*I started feeling BabyBoy moving around about two weeks ago. It is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy...well, until it gets uncomfortable!

*Eli is using more two- and three-word phrases now. He's changing everyday. I love staying home with him and watching him learn and grow. Despite the impending "twos," he is a joy and we have a blast together. He's even becoming a great helper...unloading the dishwasher, loading the washer and dryer, cleaning up toys, and holding the dustpan just to name a few

*BabyBoy has been named and we will announce that name as soon as we can let the whole family know first!

*Jacob is SOO excited about Christmas break. He can't wait to spend time with his family, near and far and get some time away from school.

*Matt is adjusting to his new position at Wells Fargo. It is different and sometimes a challenge, but his work ethic is amazing and he's trying to look at the bright side. We are blessed that he is in a much more stable position within the company and layoffs are no longer an impending risk

*Our lights are up and the house is decorated for Christmas. After some initial touchy moments that could have been very bad between Eli and the tree, we've come to a "one-finger-touch" agreement and things are good

*Bonus Sweet Moment: The boys were playing around Wedndesday night when they bumped heads. Jacob said, "owww!" So, Eli leaned over and kissed his "boo-boo" on his forehead. Awwwwww! I just love those moments

So, take care this week, and we'll catch up again soon!!

It's a...

We are so pleased and grateful to announce that we are expecting a healthy baby...

...BOY!!

I know it's hard to decipher exactly what you're seeing in the ultrasound photo, but it's a close up of the profile of his head. He has his little fist up by his face as well. We are so thankful for the good report and so in love with him already!

Halloween Quick Pics

Tonight we headed out as a family for some trick-or-treating fun! Matt and I were accompanied by a scarecrow and "Static Cling." Eli had an emergency costume change. He was scheduled to appear as a spider, but we discovered quickly that he treated his costume just as he does the poor daddy-long-legs that he finds in our yard...he tried to pull the legs off! So, after a quick re-do of his costume and a final stuffing of Jacob, we headed out. As we approached the first house, I talked to Eli about saying "trick or treat" and saying "thank you." Apparently during my lessons, I failed to mention that we don't get to actually go into each house we visit! We discovered his disappointment in the lack of getting-to-go-inside-each-and-every-house, with his outward disapproval. Oh, yes...my kiddo was the one who got his candy, said "thank you," then left screaming and crying because you didn't invite him in!! Following a couple of those embarrassing episodes (that were calmed only by the offer of a Smartie), Eli and Daddy headed home and Jacob and I tackled the rest of the neighborhood alone. Jacob got a bag full of candy and was happy with his loot! He had so much fun, he topped the night off by losing a tooth in a Milk Dud!

Happy Halloween!!