Holiday Cookie Time

My sister came over and we spent an evening making Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun! Even Katelynn got into the Holiday/cookie baking spirit. We might have to get her an apron next year!
Are they ready yet Mommy?!

 Please!!

 How about if I dance for them?!

Aunt Barby, Mommy isn't giving me any cookies!

Making cookies...

Katelynn helping her Aunt Barby decorate the sugar cookies...

 Aunt Barby it would be a lot quicker if we did it this way...

 Why is everyone laughing at me?!

The taste testers...

 Chris's "evil" looking cookies...

The final products...fruity pebble rice krispy treats, peanut butter cup cookies, chocolate chip/walnut cookies, hidden hershey kisses, and sugar cookies.

It was a lot of fun and hopefully we'll do it again next year! :)

Pregnancy Update

I am 32 weeks pregnant (this photo is from 30 weeks). I am starting to understand why so many people would never (EVER) move during a pregnancy. Talk about confusion. I figured it would have its ups and downs, but getting settled and finding an OB turned out to be such a pain. The military took care of it all in CO, but here in MD if you use the military you have to go to Bethesda which is a good hour drive (without traffic) from the base. The other option is to give up your military health care and switch to John Hopkins medicine (which is basically the same coverage - unless of course you leave the MD area then you're stuck because they are only in MD).
We ended up switching to John Hopkins (which was a big mess of paperwork and frustration). Turns out that the John Hopkins office that is 5 minutes from base delivers in Baltimore (about 45 minutes away), but the John Hopkins office that is 15 minutes away delivers at Howard County Hospital (about 20 minutes away). So, for a longer drive to appointments, it's a shorter drive for the hospital. It only took about a dozen phone calls/messages to get all this worked out. When I finally got a helpful person it turned out that the earliest they could get me in would be the last week of December (I'd be 34 weeks) and with a mid-wife...however after being on hold for awhile they got me an appointment this past Tuesday (same day Crystal delivered her baby) with a Dr. Goitom.
Of all the military people that we've been talking to about babies on base and what their spouses did we were told that John Hopkins is the best way to go and that Dr. Goitom or Dr. Rojous are the best. I actually really liked her, she was very helpful. But I probably won't be seeing her again. There are 4 doctors in the office and they like you to see them all since they don't know who will actually deliver the baby - and since I only have about 4 or 5 more appointments I probably won't see her again unless she delivers Denver. So frustrating. Of course in CO I had Dr. Gerow for my entire pregnancy with Katelynn and since she came 4 weeks early and Dr. Gerow was on vacation Dr. Andrews delivered Katelynn - guess it's not much different! Don't sweat the small stuff.
Other then the confusion of finding an OB and getting an appointment every thing has been going smoothly. Our new bed arrives tomorrow so we will no longer be sleeping on the floor. After 6 weeks of sleeping on the ground I'm SO EXCITED to have a real bed!!! I'm not sure who will be happier - the baby or my body! All the moving of boxes up and down stairs, organizing and shuffling things, and heaving myself off the floor every morning has made for some not so fun leg cramps.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that Denver stays put for at least 4 more weeks (that's when Katelynn came), and hopefully for 6 to 8 more. Dr. Goitom said after my files arrive they will be able to determine if we need to schedule a c-section or let me try to deliver naturally. It's all just a waiting game now.
We did manage to clear all the boxes out of Denver's room. This is what it looked like when the movers left...

 A week later...

This week Chris set up the crib and you can actually move around. I even hung up clothes and organized the dresser, got the changing station all in order, and stored some toys in his room. I'm waiting until it's finished for pictures of the final room. Should be done by mid-January...just in time!
I'll keep you posted! :)

Crystal's Baby Shower

On Saturday, November 20th, I threw Crystal a baby shower. I guess it's time I did the blog since she had her baby girl, Makayla Peyton (8lbs, 5oz), on December 14th. Oops!
Mom and I drove up from Clarksville and Michaela and Stew hosted it for us. Crystal's theme was originally Noah's Ark, but she was having problems finding the things she needed so she threw in Butterflies and Dragonflies too. I tried my best to find decorations for her party!
Her mountain of gifts...

 Wooden Noah's Ark toy...

 Noah's Ark bank...

 Some fun balloons and streamers...

 Welcome sign...

 Butterfly/dragonfly plates!

 Michaela took care of the cake! It was AWESOME!!

My sister organized the games, and she did a great job. We played a bunch of fun ones!
Can you guess how many baby pins are in the bottle??

 How about how big her belly is??

 Name that candy in the diaper?!

 Or guess the baby food based on smell and color??

Gift time!! She got a lot of great gifts...

 the guests...ooohhh, what did you get??! :)

 No, Crystal, I made that for the baby!

 And Lyndell got her the mecca of gifts!

 A baby bath/shower/spa set! WOW! That was very cool...

 Time for some cake...

The guest of honor...

It was a great little shower which none of us wanted to leave. It was the first time I got to hang out with my family in months, but it was a good 4-5 hour drive back to Clarksville. Best of luck to my best friend who has now ventured into the wonderful world of motherhood! I'm excited for the next 3 years and the opportunities we're going to have to spend time together with our little ones. :)

Look whose 2!

Katelynn's 2nd Birthday was a small celebration with her Nana, Aunt Barby, Daddy, and Mommy. Nana made the cake, and did a fine job too!

 She was unsure of the singing and cake...

 But LOVED the candle, but refused to blow it out...

 so Mommy helped...

We made the mistake of doing presents and then cake. By the time presents were done she wanted NOTHING to do with eating the cake so there will be no photos of cake eating - LOL. Now we know why they do it the opposite way.
Here she is opening her gifts...

Lyndell got her a fun hat that she did not want to take off and a pink Snoopy that she carries every where.

 Our friends the Stock's who are currently stationed in England sent a fun package with a sweatshirt that says "The World's Best Big Sister is a Redskins Fan," a tulle skirt, and necklace set.

 Mommy and Daddy got her a Disney Princess bath doll...

 Uncle Stew and Michaela sent her a Baby Alive doll...

 Mommy and Daddy also got her a Disney Princess doll with tea set...

 Her Baby Alive doll...

 Gee Mommy, which doll do I play with?? Okay, I'll play with all of them! :)

Okay, let's try the cake!

 I said I didn't want cake!!!! I want to play with my toys!!!

So no Birthday cake for Katelynn (at least until the day after her birthday). The other mistake we made was doing the presents in the evening. It was rough getting her to bed!!

Hope you enjoyed the pics of Katelynn's 2nd Birthday!!