Any chance its a 26 lb baby?

Okay, so while Mandy was here I had my monthly check up with Dr Klein. She and Elijah went with me (Beau had to work). I have gained 26 lbs since I got pregnant!!! Are you kidding me? That's about how much I gained the whole time with Elijah. Wow!! So when Dr Klein came in I said, "you're going to tell me I'm too fat aren't you?" He said, "I would never say that. Lets talk about it..." He went on to ask if I was exercising to which I asked..."what?" He said I should really get back into exercising. I told him I would, but I'm so exhausted from work that on my days off I just want to rest. He told me some junk about exercising giving me more energy and even helping me during work...what a load. I guess I better try it though. I told him I think its totally inappropriate to weigh women who are pregnant during the holidays. He told me there's a small chance Sadie is already 26 lbs, but its a REALLY small chance. I keep hoping...
I know what the problem is though. I wasn't near as sick this time and I don't have any problems with sugar like I did with Elijah and its the holidays for crying out loud!! So I guess after we get back from our Christmas travels I will have to start getting back to the gym. If I stay at this rate I'll gain 60 lbs by the time she's here. My heartburn is back. So I'm warning you, I'm posting a belly pic. View at your own risk...

Okay, Mom, the reason my hair looks so bad is because it was crazy humid and rainy outside so I chose a ponytail for our shopping and Mandy didn't tell me it was sticking out. I really do fix my hair most days.

In other news...I should be at work today. I actually got put on call and I didn't even ask for it. I had no problem paying my dues and working today, but I'm thankful to be home getting stuff done and spending time with my boys. We went out to dinner with John and Bibby last night and had a great time. Beau and I decided to let Elijah open a few gifts tonight. I am totally against opening gifts before Santa comes, but let me explain. So many people love Elijah...he has received close to 10 gifts from people at church (and one from Aunt JoCarol). That's on top of the 3 gifts from Santa, his stocking stuffers and his elf gift. So to keep him from being overwhelmed in the morning we will let him open a few tonight.

Our plan for tomorrow is to have our morning together, have our new traditional Monte Cristo Christmas morning sandwiches, pack and leave for Rosebud around lunch time. We'll be in Rosebud till Saturday, then Stephenville from Sat afternoon to Tuesday, then back to Rosebud Tuesday afternoon and home on Wednesday! That's a lot of traveling. Please keep us in your prayers.

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Time Catch up

I know, I know...I've been MIA lately. You know...its a busy time of year. When I'm not working I'm shopping or hosting a party or resting (which I'm apparently not doing enough of...I say I'll rest in January!). Anyway, first of all the next couple pics are of our "Elf gifts". This is the first year I've done this. I bought an advent box and every day Elijah gets a gift from the Elves. (Luckily he's only 2 and doesn't realize that he's only actually gotten a gift about every 4 days! Ha!) I'll have to do much better next year I guess. Here's the box, I put it in a cubby hole walking into the living room. It's kinda neat because it has a light that shines right on it and it looks really special. Mamaw...do you notice the cup and saucer? Mamaw gave us this tiny cup and saucer and we will start the tradition of using it for Santa's milk and cookies this year...

Here is Elijah with his first gift...Its Dinky the Donkey.

What? You don't know Dinky the Donkey? Then you must not be in my family. This is a book that was my mom's favorite growing up and we read it as kids. Dinky the Donkey was a donkey that knew he was special. He just knew he was "not meant to carry water up the hill like the other donkeys". Well come to find out, Dinky realizes his special purpose...he is chosen to carry Mary to Bethlehem! Its such a neat story, but hard to find. If you ever find it, buy it.

We also had our Children's Christmas Party at church. Elijah had a great time this year. Here he is with Beau singing Christmas carols with the kids...

Then came time for the Hay Ride and Elijah wanted to sit with Amy Jo...

He did, at one point, sit with Beau...

During craft time some one special showed up. Elijah had talked about Santa for days and told everyone at church that morning that he was going to see Santa, but I was still worried we might have a repeat of last year...

But no! He loved Santa (maybe he subconsciously knew it was Rayford). He wanted to sit in his lap and not get down...

He had a great time and talked about it for days.




The next week I got off work on a Friday night and Beau was out with the youth group caroling. I came straight from work and met Beau to get Elijah so I could take him to the Fire station. I had heard they were having an open house and you could see Santa. I just knew with Elijah's love of big trucks and Santa he would love it. It was the only night we could go so unfortunately Beau couldn't come, but we made the best of it.



He's saying "big trucks, Mama!" (Notice how Elijah is dressed when Beau is left to pick out clothes. Solid red, two different shades! Ha! Can't wait to see how he'll dress Sadie, probably about how my dad dressed me!)




He got a fireman's hat...

He wanted to go in and see Santa, but I wanted a picture of him in his hat. I said take a picture and we'll go see Santa. This is what I got...


A little better, after coaxing...





He got hot chocolate...

Mmmm...


He got to sit in the firetruck...(sorry about the rear shot of the fireman)

Sitting on the bumper...

I'll have to scan the picture he took with Santa. I couldn't use my camera at the same time because we were trying so hard just to get him to sit still and look at the photographer. He wasn't quite as comfortable with this Santa (he was really big) so he sat in Mrs. Claus' lap for the picture. The next day we showed Beau the picture and I pointed to Santa and asked Elijah "who's that?" ..."Santa"...pointed to Elijah..."who's that?"...."Ligy"...pointed to Mrs Claus..."who's that?"..."Mary"...he's really getting his stories mixed up!!

Last weekend we had Progressive Dinner. I hosted appetizers at our house for 16 people. Aimee and Bibby helped. I forgot to take any pics of what all we did, but it was really good.



The next day at church Beau led singing and asked if any children would like to come up to the front to sing a few songs. This was the first time Elijah went up there and he loved it! I don't know what the Bible says about taking pictures during church, but I couldn't resist!...

Since then Mandy came to visit (she took a belly shot I'll post later), I went in for a check-up, and we hosted the youth group Christmas party. So I'm still not 100% caught up, but I'll work on it!!

Happy Birthday Beau!!

Today is Beau's birthday!! The big 2-8! I have to admit I wasn't in my usual "top form" today. I had plans to make him this big dinner and cake and everything. Well, first I found out that he was only going to be able to be home for lunch (not dinner) and I found that out about an hour and a half before lunch. So I improvised. We had Sliced Steak with Fondue Gravy and Smashed Pea Potatoes. I also made my grandmother Jo's Hot Fudge Pudding Cake (its the easiest dessert on the planet and its oh so good). Luckily since it was Rachael Ray and I had planned on making it anyway I was able to pull all of that off in about 45 mins. Nothing spectacular, but we are going out to dinner tomorrow night to officially celebrate.

I was just so tired today. I have worked way too hard in the last 4 days to be almost 23 weeks pregnant. I was under strict orders from Beau to only rest today so I stayed in my pajamas until 4pm!! If I hadn't been so tired and just laying around I could have gotten more stuff done, but then I probably would have gone into early labor and I got yelled at last night by Mandy about that. So if you're upset that I haven't blogged all our latest happenings you can blame Beau and Mandy!! Ha!

I feel a little better. Elijah and I are about to take a shower ("Shower with Mama" started during the hurricane and its one of his favorite things) then we're going to watch Charlie Brown Christmas. He really likes it. His obvious favorite is "Snopy". That's no typo, that's how he says it. Tomorrow morning I'm getting up and going to register for a few things at Babies R Us and try to do a few more errands before Beau has to go to work at noon. Then Aimee's coming over to help me get some things ready for Progressive Dinner on Saturday. Appetizers are at my house and we're serving 16!

Anyway, I'll leave you with a funny story about Elijah. Beau and I have been taking every chance to explain to Elijah why we really celebrate Christmas. We've talked a lot about Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph. On the other hand we also talk daily about Baby Sister Sadie being in mom's belly. Well the other day Elijah is rubbing my belly and I say, "who's in Mama's belly?" and Elijah very proudly states, "Baby Jesus!" Beau and I start laughing and then spent a while trying to convince him that Baby Sadie, not Baby Jesus is what's in Mama's tummy. Too cute! You can't make this stuff up! I'll try to blog more with pics soon. We're off to the shower.

Holiday Acres Fun!

Thursday morning Elijah and I went with MOMS club to the Holiday Acres Tree Farm in Manvel. I had never heard of it before, but just another perk of MOMS club - they find cool things to do. Elijah had a GREAT time. Definitely worth the $5.


First we visited the Hay Maze. I don't think Elijah understood the point (he probably it was just a big fort) but loved running around with the other kids...


Then some digging...

Then we fed the goats...

"Hello Goat"...

Then playing in some random big tires...

Then came Elijah's favorite and where we ended up spending the large majority of our time...sledding. In Houston since we don't get snow we make our own "mountains" out of dirt. At least it was cold...

The push-off. I wasn't sure how he would do. I showed him how to hang on, but thought he would surely "bite the dust" (literally). I wasn't even sure if he would like it but we tried...

I think his face tells if he liked it or not...

And back to the top. We did this over and over and over...

Then we went on a hayride thru all the Christmas trees. We learned all about the trees. Pretty fun...

Elijah's usual "learning" face...

There was a really nice dog so of course we had to visit it...

What Elijah likes to do most with dogs...

Elijah also got to feed a Moose. A Moose you say? Yes, that's what he kept telling everyone. He even remembered later that day when Beau got home. Beau asked him "what did you do today?" and Elijah answered, "fed the moose".

Here is the moose I'm referring to...

I tried to explain that its a donkey, but explanations are pretty pointless to a 2 year old...

The "moose" ran out of food so Elijah took it upon himself to find more hay...

We also roasted hot dogs over a campfire for lunch. I didn't get pics of that, I had my hands full. We had lots of fun and hope to return next year.

Two Funny Stories

Well I am exhausted. I worked harder Monday and Tuesday at work than I think I have in my whole nursing career! I had a patient both days who apparently has 9 lives because he just kept trying to die, but I wasn't having any of it. Please say a prayer for him and his family. I got up this morning sore, tired and with a sore throat. I think I worked so hard I made myself sick! I was too tired for MOMS club meeting, but did manage to drag myself (no makeup, ponytail, tshirt and warm ups) and Elijah to the grocery store. It was go to the store or have a jar of pickles, mayonaise and tortillas (but only 3) for dinner. Beau said he thought I was going to by groceries, not the grocery store. I politely told him I did not buy everything the store had, after all, I didn't need toothpaste so...

But, I thought I could entertain you with a few recent Elijah stories. They both have to do with bodily functions (as do most things with a 2 year old) so prepare yourself.

When I got home last night Beau told me one funny story. He went to get Elijah out of bed Tuesday morning and there was poop everywhere, literally, everywhere. Apparently Elijah had a bad case of the runs. As soon as Beau opened the door Elijah shot up and said, "Ligy poo pooed, sorry Papa, Ligy clean up, sorry Papa." Beau said Elijah acted like he was so sorry and scared he would get in trouble. He kept saying, "Ligy clean up" but "clean up" pretty much meant smearing it everywhere. Beau told him it was okay and he wasn't in trouble, carried him to the shower, decontaminated him then started working on his room. He had to wash everything in a 1 foot radius of the bed...sheets, blankets, books, stuffed animals, the carpet...He said it was just so sad though because Elijah just kept on apologizing and saying he would clean it up. He has such a sweet heart.

Story number 2:
I don't remember teaching the word "tooted" to Elijah, but apparently he heard it. I was holding Elijah this morning and my stomach growled and Elijah said, "Mama tooted" I ignored it. Then all thru the grocery store this morning he would say (very loudly) "Mama tooted, Mama tooted!" I would say, "No I didn't" and then he would say "Ligy tooted, Ligy tooted!" This prompted a lot of stares and laughs, but no one bothered us....I guess they wanted to stay away from the gassy family!

Our Thanksgiving...

Okay, okay...so if you don't know yet I'll tell you. Actually, I'll let you guess. Here is a picture of Elijah with the first thing I bought the baby...

You guessed it! Its a girl! Sadie Anne Ballard. And yes, I will be one of "those" moms who has bows and flowers and everything and I don't care if you don't like it so keep your opinions to yourself!! :)

So here's how our holiday trip went. Tuesday I went to work, Beau spent the day loading the truck. He picked me up from work at 7pm and we headed to Rosebud. Here are a few pics from Wednesday in Rosebud...

Playing on Pepaw's "tractor"....

Riding on Pepaw's real tractor...

Playing a little before bedtime...

Thursday morning after breakfast we got back in the car and headed to Stephenville. As soon as Elijah showed up Brooklyn put him in her lap and read him a book. She was amazed that he wasn't a baby anymore (they hadn't seen each other since last year)...

The figured out pretty quick that they could have a lot of fun playing together... (sorry its fuzzy, it was just so funny to see them both try to fit into this one-seater)

Brooklyn told Elijah to drive and she got in the little basket on the back of the tricycle.

Jumping in the big piles of leaves...

The Thanksgiving hats I got for Brooklyn and Elijah.

Then Saturday we drove to Dallas to watch Zac's game. It was cold, but we had a great time...

After the game we got back in the car and drove back to Rosebud. We spent the night, went to church, had lunch and drove home just in time to go to church here. It was a long week, but we had such a good time. I'm on call today so I'll probably be going into work later. Better go get some things done.