We are the most spoiled people ever!

Tonight we received two great packages filled with presents from my grandparents. It was so fun to open the door and have two huge boxes on the porch. The kids obviously enjoyed the peanuts. Who needs gifts?? Just send peanuts! Elle put them in her ears, and Mya tried to eat them (I hope they are not toxic!) It was a pain to clean up, but the girls had fun. I'm really feeling so spoiled by the gifts under our tree. We have such a loving family who wants to make our Christmas great even though we won't be with them to celebrate. I am so grateful for them! Thanks for making our tree so full and our Christmas so wonderful!

I Just Can't Figure Out How Mommy Puts This On!

Woodlands Kids Museum

Last Friday, we went to the Kids Museum out at the Woodlands. The kids had a lot of fun! We took a break at lunch and headed over to the food court (the museum is in the mall) which was really crowded. There is also a fun carousel in the food court, so the kids got to ride that. They personally can make me a little dizzy and yucky feeling, but oh well! We then headed back to the museum to let the kids play a little more. We were there for so long, but the kids had such a great time! It was great that they were entertained for so much of the day.

Tattoos and Christmas Cards

So as for the pictures of Mya's leg...I've come to realize that really all she's doing is practicing for her future job as a tattoo artist at the family tattoo parlor.

And as for the pantry door...Christmas is getting very close! Our paper chains are short, and the door is filling up with cards. I hit the jackpot today and got a bunch of cards in the mail. It was so exciting!

The Two Year Anniversary

Last night was the two year anniversary from the big roll-over. It is weird that it has already been two years since that happened because I can still remember lots of things about that night. That is a night in my life where I know that we were being watched over very closely because we escaped virtually injury-free. Elle cut the back of her head and has a nice little reminder scar, but beyond that, we really were okay. There are so many more things that could have gone wrong that night. We barely missed hitting a fire hydrant. We swerved across three lanes of traffic without hitting another car. We rolled over instead of hitting the trees. I had my cheesy potatoes in a metal pan as opposed to a glass pan (which really could have been scary to be flying around the car). And how many people get a trial run of the room they will deliver a baby in? (I stayed overnight in the same room I delivered Mya in three weeks later). It really was a miracle that more didn't go wrong, and I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for watching out for me, Elle, and Mya (in my tummy) that day. I have to wonder, if you cut the grass away off the side of 249, would you still find my tire tracks and pieces of our totaled 4-runner? And also, I still wonder why Jake let me call the nurse when I was all doped up on Ambien. I got to climb out of a car window and pee in a bed pan all in one night. How many people can say that?:) The bottom line is that, while the car was cute, it apparently wasn't safe. I am just so grateful that something more serious didn't happen. I guess the funky maroon Malibu is a safer bet for now.

I have the smartest husband ever!

I had to dedicate a post to my smartie pants husband, Jake, or the newest member of the CPA nerdy accountant society. We just found out today that he passed his fourth and final section of the test. What makes it even better is that he passed all of the sections on his first try! We are so happy about that because it saves us a lot of money (his company pays for the first time taking each section) and time from re-studying. It was a busy year and a lot of work. He took his first section last January and took the fourth this November. He spent a lot of nights and free time studying and many Saturdays in CPA review courses. So, needless to say, we put in our time and are soooo glad he passed! Congrats Jake! I'm so proud of you and am so glad you are such a smartie!

Kid Christmas Party

Today we had a fun Christmas get together with some mommies and kiddos. It was the sequel to our exciting Halloween party, and next on the list is the Valentine's Day party which will be held at my house. We made some cute gingerbread houses with graham crackers and frosting and candy, snowman cupcakes, stenciled an ornament on paper with paint, and ended with a fun book gift exchange. Needless to say, the kids consumed way too much sugar, but had a fun time. I think Mya won the prize for the messiest shirt of the morning. Thanks Tori for hosting the fun!

Work Party and Christmas Pictures

Jake and I had his work party on Saturday night. Even though I go and don't know a lot of people, it is still fun to get dressed up and have a night out. I wore a black maternity dress (not too maternity so it didn't look like a balloon on me) I found at Old Navy on sale marked $1.97! It is a real bargain. I wish you could see it better in the cheesy picture because it is really cute. And speaking of the cheesy picture...You stand in front of a green screen, take a picture, and like that you are riding in a sleigh in a snow globe. It is kind of funny. We did have a good time, especially scoping out all of the different food tables and ordering water from the bar.

I also wanted to include the two cute pictures of my girlies by the tree. They can be so cute sometimes...Too bad neither one of them wants to go to bed tonight. Oh the joys of bedtime. You would think, what's the problem? We do this every night! But kids have a mind of their own.

The Belly and The Pants

So two things of note in my life lately. The belly, as you can see by the pics, is already growing. It seems a little early to be popping out if you ask me, but there it is like a nice little pot belly reminding me that maybe I'm eating too much this time around or that third time around the belly doesn't stay hidden for long. Either way, it's here to stay, so I might as well get used to it. We are going to become very well acquainted over the next six months. (Sorry for the bad pics of the belly- it's kind of hard to take pictures of your own belly!)

Secondly, Mya got her hands on a dry erase marker the other night while at a friends house. She decided to try out her drawing skills on her pants (as you can see), their carpet, and some type of bottle. Anyways, I'm happy to say that it came up off the carpet which really is the biggest concern. But now I am left with these pants. I have no clue how to get dry erase marker out of pants. Any tips??

Christmas-ie Things

Here are a variety of pics showing our fun Christmas preparations. We finally tonight got around to making paper chains- they're still pretty long even though it's already December 7th. I hung them by our pantry which is also the place I have decided to place Christmas cards when they come. We've already gotten 2 in the mail- I guess I need to get on the ball! I have the cards (they are just the Costco variety- nothing fancy, but still cute). I'm trying to decide if we should include some type of letter with them, and I need Jake's approval and opinion on the list. I do have the stamps though. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself because my Christmas shopping is basically done, and my three packages to mail were sent on Monday. I bought some friend gifts tonight, so all I really have left to do is the cards, make goodies for some people (neighbors, etc.- I still need to get stuff for that), and decide what I am going to do for my nursery kids and any of my kid's friends. Oh man, when I write it all down, it seems like a lot to do still. There is the wrapping also. I guess I'm not as close to being ready as I think! I had to include some pictures of the gingerbread house- thanks to Nicole! Our house was kind of a modge-podge of stuff, including a lake with a dog drinking out of it (courtesy of Aaron), a large bonfire in back (courtesy of Jake), and all sorts of other yummy things. I also included a picture of the "junk yard" tree that I helped Elle take. So that is how Christmas prep is going our way. Still lots to do, but no time of year is better than this!

Turkey Day and The Big Boy's B-day

Last post about the trip...I promise! I just wanted to include a couple pics from Thanksgiving day/ Jake's #28 b-day. He is rapidly approaching the big 3-0! It was a fun day, nothing overly exciting. We had dinner at the Luling Chapel. My in-laws are always so good about making sure that everyone has a place to go and people to spend holidays with, so we had a big joint dinner at the building. They are such a good example of service and love for everyone. I am amazed by how much they do for other people. Anyways, the food was good, the girls got to play in the nursery, and the day was a success!

Our Cajun African Safari

We may never go to Africa, so this little safari adventure we went on in Louisiana may just have to do. We went to a place called something that I can't remember, but it was out in the boonies and really did cost a good deal of money. The good news is that the girls had a great time. They take you on this long tram type ride through acres of land where wild animals just roam freely. You buy food to feed them, and they come right up to the wagon. They had all kinds of animals to feed like llamas, deer, camels, cows, giraffes, donkeys, etc. Luckily no one lost a limb to the zebras they had (you weren't supposed to feed the zebras from your cup because they could bite your limbs off or something like that). Both kids got to feed a giraffe from their cups (the picture is of Mya feeding the giraffe). Elle almost got her face scraped up by some cow's big horns, and we had to convince Mya that the food was for the animals and not for her. We really did have a fun time, and I think that the girls really liked it.

On another note, today I am so retarded. While making lunch, I couldn't get the box of mac and cheese open, so I pulled out some scissors to help me. Tonight at Christmas enrichment I spilled soup down my pant leg. And when I got home and was changing out of my pants, I completely fell over on the ground. I had no idea that taking pants off could be so difficult.