Merry Christmas!!!

This year my family got together and acted out the Nativity. It was kind of crazy with all the little ones, but it was a lot of fun, and I think it helped us all to focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas.Tuesday was Kenny's birthday - Happy Birthday Honey! For his birthday, he got ALOT of snow! It snowed ALL day, what a blessing! We had planned to go to Cortez, go out to eat and do some last minute Christmas shopping, but the roads were pretty scary, and Stetson was sick, so we opted to stay home. We did make pizza and watch the BYU game at Kenny's parents' house, and that was fun.

Stetson and I spent the next two day inside as he had a fever and bad cough. Poor little guy was sick on his birthday, and now on Christmas :(

We were able to go over to Kenny's parents' house on Christmas Eve for the traditional candle light dinner. We were entertained by his talented family, and then the kids had a blast breaking a snowman pinata and gathering the loot. We read the Christmas Story from the bible, opened presents, and ate ice cream - a wonderful evening!

Stetson slept in on Christmas morning, which was fine with me! He still wasn't feeling very good, but after awhile he perked up and really got into the spirit of opening gifts. Every gift was so exciting to him - even if it was just a new pair of clothes. We ate a yummy breakfast, and Andy and Alicia and Dodger came over to visit. We went over to my parents' house where we were able to talk to my brother J.J. on the phone; he is serving a mission in Guatemala. It sounds like he is doing very well, and really picking up on the spanish language, as he talked quite a bit in spanish. We ate a yummy lunch and opened more presents. I think the highlight was Josh's gift to Kenny - wow! We usually have a big dinner, pop popcorn, make frape, and watch a movie on Christmas night, but Stetson was not feeling well, so we ended up going home and missing out on the rest of the festivities - oh well!

The next day we went ice skating with Kenny's family on a pond behind his parents' house. I had never been ice skating before, and found out that I am not very good at it! Kenny, however is very good - a talent I didn't know he had. Stetson had a blast getting pulled around the pond in a sled with his cousins.

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas. I am so grateful that God loved us so much that He sent His son. I am grateful for Christ, for his example and his love. I pray that I will be able to live worthy these and many other wonderful blessings. May the spirit and magic of Christmas remain with all of us throughout the coming year, is my prayer. Best Wishes to you all!

16 weeks. . .

Well, I decided to do a pregnancy update since it has been so long since the big announcement. I will be honest, this pregnancy has really been an eye opener for me. I honestly thought that they would all be a breeze, like my last one - but boy was I wrong! It didn't help that I got the flu and croop and a sinus infection right at the beginning of the pregnancy - - it is bad enough to feel nauseated, but when you can't breathe or stop coughing at the same time - that is miserable. Luckily, that only lasted about a month, and then I just felt nauseated - pretty much all the time, but it got worse if I went longer than about 2 hours without eating. Finally, at about 12 weeks I started to feel better during the day and worse at night, starting at about 6:00. Now, at 16 weeks I am mostly very tired in the evenings with only an occasional evening of feeling sick. So, things are improving! I realize that there are a lot of people out there who are much sicker than I have been, but it was a surprise to me because I was not hardly sick at all with Stetson - a sign that it must be a girl, as I have been told!

We have talked with Stetson about being a big brother, and that mommy has a baby in her tummy, but he just looks at us like we are crazy. I think once my belly starts getting bigger it will be more real to him. I'm not really showing yet, though I have put on a little weight and my clothes are starting to fit a little more snug. Stetson is really sweet with Aspen and Dodger, and as soft as a two year old can be, so that is a good sign.

I went to the doctor at 14 weeks, then back in for an ultrasound at 16 weeks. I knew it was probably too early to tell the sex, but the doc wanted me to have an ultrasound - mostly to confirm the dates, which seem to be right on. The baby is only about an inch long, and weighs about 5 oz, which is amazing after watching it move around on the screen. We saw arms and legs and fingers and toes, and a super cute little profile of its face. Of course I also have pictures of the heart and kidneys and other internal organs, but I can't for the life of me see them. At one point they said that the sex was obvious (girl), but then changed their mind when a little dot appeared down there. . . I guess we will just have to wait and see. I still think it is a girl - if you want to make a guess, I would love to know - just leave me a comment.