Merry Christmas

Hope everyone out there had a very nice holiday. Ours started at 6am and was fun filled from start to finish. All the presents were open by 7, breakfast done by 8 and all the new toys played with at least once by 10am. :) I have a few photo's and some video from the actual day but these 2 videos are from Christmas Eve. Absolute classic Nattie. Enjoy!

AHHHHHH Vacation....

The best thing about the winter closure at VCU is being off for 2 weeks. The worst thing about it is the three weeks leading up to it. But, I survived and am now sitting in my favorite chair, having completed several projects, thinking how nice it is that I don't have to go to work until 1/5! So.....what have we been up to??? As I mentioned work was total sh!t for most of December up until Fri at 3:45 so thats what I've been buried in. Nattie has managed to escape some bacterial nasty at the daycare that has sent home half the kids & staff (phew!!) and Jame is on a break of his own with classes - tonight is his last night of work for about a week.

I've taken advantage of my time off so far by spending some QT at the chiropractor, wrapping xmas gifts, painting Baby W's nursery, making a massive donation at Goodwill, sorting thru all of Nattie's tiny baby clothes and sleeping in until 6:45! At some point during this 2 week span I do actually plan to do some heavy relaxing but I figure I might as well stay busy while I feel motivated and can still see my toes.

Tomorrow Nattie & I have big plans to bake cookies for Santa :) And a few days ago I DVR'd the Grinch that Stole Christmas (the Dr. Seuss version - not Jim Carrey) and Nattie loves it. So, I get to watch my favorite xmas movie over and over with her....she likes to proclaim that she doesn't like the grinch very much. Hilarious!

Hope everyone is well & if I don't check back in before hand Merry Christmas from all of us!

BIG NEWS!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!

The ultrasound went great this morning. Baby BOY Webster is measuring right on for my due date and is approximately 13oz. He was moving his mouth, covering his face w/ his hands and stretching his legs out. So much fun! Jame & I are absolutely thrilled....we'll see about Nattie. She's been insisting she's having a sister :) Enjoy the pictures!

Nattie's Big Girl Room!

I'll have to post a few more pics when we get some of the decorations on her walls but she was so excited (as were we) about her new furniture that I figured I'd share the photos with everyone. Her new room looks adorable and she did great last night. I was wondering if she'd get scared at the last minute and want to go back to her old room but after a little tossing and turning she conked out and slept great all night. Way to go Nattie!

HALF WAY THERE!

Happiness is being officially 20 weeks pregnant! Okay - I know the long, painful half is still to come but still, its a big BIG deal to have reached this point. I had my monthly OB appt this morning and everything looks good. She had to chase Baby W around for awhile to get the heartbeat on the doppler. Little stinker had its back facing out and was moving all over the place. Finally s/he turned over and stayed put for about 20 seconds and we had a good listen. My blood pressure was a bit low but still within a normal range and (woot woot!) I only gained 1lb last month so I believe I officially deserve something fantastically tasty for lunch today!

Busy Weekend

We did a lot of running around this weekend. Here's a quick recap...
Saturday was the usual errands & such but I also managed to get the outside of the house decorated and everything all festive on the inside minus the tree which we didn't have yet. Good times were had by all and the house looks really pretty. This year I convinced Jame that we shouldn't abandon our tradition of cutting our own tree after just one lousy experience last year. He agreed to try one more time. I researched all week and found a place that looked promising...and only 25 minutes away. Should've known better.... Please note the pic of what a VA tree farm has to offer. Yikes!

And so, at Nattie's request, we went to Lowes and bought a perfectly nice tree off the lot. I feel the tradition slipping away.

Today we finished decorations, had a play date, sold stuff on Craigslist and even managed some football on tv - not the Pats of course (poor Jame). Nattie did great helping me get the tree decorated and managed to only break the back legs off of 1 cat ornament. Poor thing probably wasn't expecting a double amputation after 11 months in storage but what can you do.

And the weekend comes to an end....

Good Job Mommy!

Conversation over dinner last night....

Nattie: My Mommy had a baby!
Jame: No, we have to wait for our baby.
Nattie: We have to wait for our baby?
Jame: Yes, it needs to cook for a few more months.
Nattie: Mommy, you're still cookin' our baby?
Kate: Yes, I'm still cookin' it.
Nattie: GOOD JOB Mommy!!

Thanksgiving Update

We had a very nice long weekend. I came down with some ickyness and so was forced to relax for a few days. Much needed and I should try it more often. I did cook a traditional dinner and we've been enjoying a lot of leftovers. Nattie continues to gobble, blurt out "turkey turkey lurkey" and request another turkey party. I think she just likes to eat homemade whipped cream :) By Sunday I was ready to start putting up Christmas decorations but the weather didn't cooperate so only parts of the inside look festive. Hopefully we'll get the outside and the rest of the inside done next weekend so that Nattie will stop asking why our neighbors have such pretty houses compared to ours.

Baby Webster decided this weekend would be a good time to demonstrate its mover/shaker capabilities. I had long stretches of pops, wiggles, and flutters. I love this stage!

Fall Fun!

It was chilly this weekend but the sun was shining and I got some good pictures. Thought I'd share :)

Well Done!

Quick congrats & pat on back to James who just finished another set of classes and continues to get all A's! Nattie & I are very proud!

Brag!

Yesterday I had Nattie's parent teacher conference and got glowing reports from her 2 teachers. She's doing extremely well and they enjoy her a lot. They also told me that she's completed all the competencies for the 18-36 month age group and so they've begun evaluating her for the 3-4 year old skills. So far she already completed several of them. Obviously brilliant and fabulous! Go Nattie!

Busy Weekend & 16w appt updates

Got caught up on a lot of stuff this weekend. Most important we ordered Nattie's big girl furniture. It'll be nice for her to have a place to sleep & put her clothes when Baby W takes over the nursery :)

This morning I had my 16w appt. I'm healthy, Baby W's heartbeat was 157 and sounded great. The scale even chose to ignore the Halloween candy that I binged on last week so my gain was teensy (Yay & Phew!) My 20w ultrasound is scheduled for mid-Dec and am so excited to find out which variety of kid we're getting. All in all a good day!

Pictures!

Here is Miss Natalie on Halloween!

Here is Baby Webster at 8w - 9/17

Here is Baby Webster at 13w - 10/21

Amazing what a difference a month can make!

First Try at this

We've had a lot of requests to start something like this since so many family members & friends are so far away.... And of course there are always fun things to update when there is 1 kiddo at home and another on the way. So, hopefully everyone will find this to be a helpful & fun way to keep up with our comings & goings.