pics from the beach

today we went to the beach and it was gorgeous!!! then everyone left to head home. it's so sad! the house is so quiet and empty and suddenly we have nothing to do. it's lonely!

A few pictures from christmas

At the wild animal park. the lion was right by the glass which never happens!

my sis in law cheryl being forced to feed the lorikeets.

zander feeding them.

on the train waiting to go

the cousins. matching shirts and looking adorable.

zander's new bike from oma and opa

opening presents

oma and ronan

zander in his christmas suit

ronan getting dressed

making gingerbread cookies with mama!

ronan and jabba the hut before christmas eve service

making sugar cookies

the brother's christmas morning

lots o' love!

celebrating zander's bday early with ben's family

FAT MONDAY

well i went to the doctor today....never a good thing after christmas....for the usual OB checkup. according to my records i'm around 28 wks + a few days. to start off my appointment i learned i gained FOURTEEN pounds this month. one month. ONE MONTH!!! hello hefty! fatty fatt two by four, can't get through the kitchen door! oh yes, i'm experiencing "excessive weight gain" according to my doctor. i'd like to show him what a heft woman can do with a two by four and his face! ok, i'm simmering....anyways, about the baby. this was the first time i had seen the doctor in about three months (normally i see the p.a.) so he told me i was measuring closer to 30 weeks and that my due date was mar. 17 (st. patty's day) according to my ultrasounds. no one had told me that before....so he told me to start looking at dates around march. 10 for my csection. holy crap!!!! that is almost two weeks ahead of what i was expecting! that means only 1o weeks from tomorrow this baby is coming! HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i'm so freaking out now! ben better get sewing on the baby's bedding!
well today the fam went to the zoo but i stayed back and rested. tomorrow is their last day here and we are going to hit up the beach. i hope it gets a little warmer since it's only been in the upper 60's so far. but i'm sure the boys will love playing in the sand anyways. i'm trying to load some pics so we'll see how that goes.

Christmas fun!

well the annens all arrived wednesday, christmas eve. after a whirlwind hello we headed to our christmas eve service. why do people think we want the kids in the service with us just cause it's christmas eve?! umm...nope, i don't. send them to nursery! ronan was all over the place and crazified....blah...by the time i left i was hot and tired. the next morning the boys woke up bright and early ready for oma and opa, and uncle jay and aunt cheryl. and of course baby jake (even though he's the same age as ronan). ben and i fixed french toast casseroles so we ate a good breakfast and then opened presents. it was a great morning but pouring outside too. (not fun!) so we sat around and played with presents. ate some lunch, took naps, then went to denny's for dinner since it was pretty much the only thing open.
by the end of the evening we were all exhausted. it was early bed for everyone. then this morning we woke up and headed off to the wild animal park. thank goodness it had stopped raining but it was still freezing! (ok like 51 degrees) but the wild animal park was fun and they've added some great ways to get to the exhibits without a lot of walking (thank goodness for this hefty preggo!). we got to see everything we wanted and still leave by lunch time.
while the boys slept, oma and opa (these are ben's parents in case you're wondering) watched them so we could go down to the mall downtown. really, i shouldn't have walked any more without resting...hello, seven months pregnant now?~! i was exhausted. then we came home and i grilled some chicken and we ate and just hung out. i am really really tired....but fun was had by all. tomorrow i think we're going shopping at the outlet malls and ben said i can only go if i agree to a wheel chair. :) we'll see!
so i'm pooped...off to bed i go. merry christmas all!

Crazy sick christmas!

the boys have been sick for over two weeks and the last few days have gotten a fever. so i took them to the dr. today only to be told that they were getting new illnesses so no antibiotics. dang it....ronan is struggling the most with not sleeping and the cough from all the drainage. zander's a little trooper. i was hoping to have them better by the time christmas rolled around and the annens all got here. apparently jake is sick too so they can all swap sicknesses. it'll be great. :) sunday the boys and i are headed to palm dessert to spend some time with my parents and ben is staying home cause he's still working. dec. 24 oma, opa, jay, cheryl, and jake all arrive. so hopefully i'll get things cleaned and goodies baked before then. being preggo at christmas is just not an easy thing. this baby is incredibly big, active, and painful. fortunately my pelvis has not been bothering me like it did with the last pregnancy so that's an answer to prayer! but i'm just sore and slow moving. no fun.
updates on the boys....ronan is a talking machine now. he repeats everything you say and of course loves to say "no!" but he says it so funny like. i can't write it, but he makes it sound cute. his favorite word is still "papaw" (my dad). he and zander love to wrestle and have dance parties. ronan copies everything zander does including how he plays with toys. its weird to me that ronan talks so much cause zander was well over two before he really started talking. ronan is also a VERY tall boy and sturdy. i thought zander was tall at his age, but ronan is huge.
as for zander, he's a true little angel. he has the sweetest heart and loves life. he's always thanking us for something, and giving hugs and kisses. his imagination is insane! i'm so not a creative person but zander blows me away with the things he imagines and stories he makes up. he loves to tell funny little made stories that just make me laugh. the other day we were driving and he told me he was flying in an airplane over oma and opa's house and jay and cheryl's house and they were drinking tea. TEA?! he's so weird...i don't even drink tea so i dont' know where he got that one from.
i love the boys so much even if they wear me down. honestly i'll be very glad to have the fam here so the boys get a little more play time attention that i haven't been able to give them so much lately.
well i'm off to bed....merry christmas friends!!!!

christmas with the parents

Last night (saturday) we had a fabulous christmas with my parents. we had a steak and scallop dinner followed by fun with presents. weirdly enough zander actually ate the scallops! i could barely get through dinner because i thought i was going to explode. it was sooo good! zander was going to die with anticipation about seeing the presents but having to eat first. but once the boys got to open presents it was a pure joy to watch. zander especially is the most greatful child i have ever seen. after every present was a big "OH THANK YOU!!" i swear you could have wrapped dog poop and he would have been so happy! my parents got him a big train track /space thing and i thought his head was going to pop with excitement. even after being home he kept doing his 'happy dance' which is just funny....you'd have to see it.
ronan is definitely at the age where boxes are fabulous. so he was just all over the place. all in all it was a great night.

Zander singing at church

I can honestly say that my heart is absolutely full after getting the priviledge to watch my precious song sing for the first time in church. I am definitely one of "those moms". :) Today the kids sang their songs in front of church for christmas time and it was a wonderful time. my parents came and zander was absolutely the proudest child ever to sing in front of us all. and for those of you who used to watch ben at the same age, you will be happy to know that zander sways while singing just like ben did. :) you never quite know how they're going to respond once they're on stage, but zander was a natural. but i'm way overly proud and biased. his three best girl friends, emma, caitlin, and elizabeth all sang too. i've included some pics to show you how adorable he was!