Santa 2016

These past couple of weeks have been full of all kinds of holiday activities, but one of our favorite things to do has been to see the big guy in the red suit.  We have seen Santa this year more times than I'd like to admit!  From mall trips, to Christmastown, to Brunch with Santa, and Cookies and stories with Santa at our neighborhood clubhouse - Santa has kind of become an honorary member of our family!  Our experiences with Santa this year compared to last year couldn't be more different.  Last year Addie was absolutely terrified while Bella just sat quietly and was completely content.  This year, the roles have been reversed.  Addie is absolutely obsessed and Bella is absolutely terrified!  Addie proudly sits on his lap, rambles off her endless Christmas list (which usually includes a baby doll and 2 bottles or a new ball, but occasionally she adds in a random item such as a helicopter or a dog that barks), smiles for the camera, and always ends her visit with a hug for Santa.  Bella screams her head off - the entire time! Memories are made regardless of the smiles or screams and I cannot wait to see what next year brings as we add another little one to the mix.  Until then in the words of the big man himself, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"  

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season - the season full of Christmas carols for all to hear, hot chocolate by the crackling fire, cookie baking & decorating, and lots of Christmas cheer.  This is easily one of my favorite times of the year and it gets more and more magical every single year.  I love creating special memories for the girls, starting our own family traditions, and doing, seeing, eating, and breathing all things Christmas.  We've been to Christmas parades, we've had several Christmas play dates, rode the tram through the Botanical Gardens to look at the lights and even took an adventure down to the oceanfront to see the lights on the Boardwalk, we've seen Santa more times than I'd like to admit, and have already made 3 trips to Christmastown at Busch Gardens (more on that later!)  Every single thing we do is full of lots of smiles and giggles and has created the most amazing memories during the most amazing time of the year!

Miss Addie is at such a FUN age this year!  She walks around the house singing her favorite tunes, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas - and I can't believe how quickly she has picked up on all the words!  We started doing Elf on the Shelf this year, who she has named "Sparkle" and she gets so excited to find her every morning.  She's obsessed with our Christmas tree and is 100% insistent that the lights are on at all times.  One of her favorite things this year is seeing Santa Claus.  She gets so excited to run up and give him a big hug!  She tells him every time how she really wants a baby doll and not 1, but 2 baby bottles and then gives us the biggest grin so we can snap a photo!  Addie lights up every time we see one of her favorite characters - Santa, Frosty, or Rudolph - and loves to point out all of the pretty Christmas lights.  Addie is totally obsessed with all things Christmas - just like her Daddy - and it is such a magical sight to see!

Bella is experiencing a lot of firsts this Christmas season since last year she was only 4 months old.  She absolutely loves Christmas lights of all kinds and has the most adorable little dance moves every time a Christmas carol comes on.  She loves to point at all of the ornaments on our tree and loves the train the Eric bought this year to go around it.  She is not very fond of sitting on Santa's lap, but will give him a wave or a smile from afar.  We took the girls to Disney Live! this year, which was a huge hit since Minnie and Mickey are her current favorites and she can do the Hot Dog dance with the best of them! 

There really is nothing better than watching your children experience the magic of Christmas right before your very eyes!  Over the next 2 weeks we are going to continue to enjoy all things festive and fun and we hope you do the same!  Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Baby Bump - Month 4

How far along? 18 weeks

Gender:  Unknown

Here's the breakdown according to Old Wive's Tales:

Heartbeat - below 140 at 132 - BOY (Both Addie & Bella were above)
Cravings - SALTY - BOY
Headaches - BOY
Chinese Calendar - BOY
Sleeping - on the left - BOY
Morning Sickness - Yes - GIRL
Carrying - high - GIRL
Skin - GIRL
Sleep - both sides BOY or GIRL

Eric's prediction: Girl
My prediction: Girl, I think Eric and I both have the mindset that we always have girls!
Addie's prediction - it depends on the day, her answer changes frequently

We can't wait until the end of the month to find out!  Until then, here's a side by side of all 3 pregnancies.  What's your guess?!?

Feeling: This past month I have finally felt back to my normal self!  I can get through the day without a nap and keep up with Addie and Bella (most of the time!)  The morning sickness has subsided, along with the headaches and other unpleasant symptoms of the 1st trimester :)  The 2nd trimester has been pretty good to me so far, but new pregnancy symptoms are starting to show such as a sore lower back and heartburn.  This babe is starting early on his or her head of hair!  I officially "popped" about 2 weeks ago and I am quickly outgrowing most of my regular clothes.

All about Food:  I am craving a lot of healthy things this time around, which is very much the opposite of my normal self who has quite the sweet tooth!  I can't get enough fruit, especially clementines.  I love salads, meats (minus chicken) and cheeses, olives, and pickles.  I've been craving sushi lately, oh how I miss our weekly sushi dinners and I just want to want coffee again, especially on these cold winter days!

Favorite moments:

-Sharing the news with the rest of the world!
-Feeling movement, little flutters have turned into little kicks here and there recently and I love it!
-Talking to Addie about her baby brother or sister - She was so little last time around that she didn't really understand.  I love that she gets it more this time around.  The other day I was tickling Addie and she looked at me and said "Mommy don't tickle my baby in my belly" and I couldn't help but laugh.  She loves to play "Mommy" and apparently is also carrying a child ;)  She has also added the baby to the list of people she prays for and it is absolutely adorable.
-Getting my official mom car - the swagger wagon as we call it.  We bought a Toyota Sienna and boy do I love the mini-van life!  I can't believe I've been missing out on all of it's luxuries all of this time!!

Looking forward to:  

-Finding out the gender!
-Celebrating our last Christmas as a family of FOUR

Our Beautiful Ballerina

This fall Addie was transformed into the most beautiful ballerina as she completed her first ballet class.  We decided to start simple and signed her up for a weekly class at the Y to see if she like it and did she ever?!?  She loved wearing her "dancing shoes" as she called them and had the most adorable little plie that I have ever seen.  Week after week she proudly ran into dance class ready to have fun with one of her best buddies.  They danced and giggled around the room for the entire 45 minutes - and even learned a little bit about ballet, I think :)

On the last day of class, the teachers invited the parents to join and see what they learned.  This was our "recital" you could say, as much as a recital as I guess you can have with 2 year olds.  Addie was beyond excited for Daddy to come watch her  dance.  She grinned from ear to ear and you could tell she was really loving every single second.  They started the "recital" by stretching and showed us some basic dance moves that they learned.  Then, they took turns moving across the room doing various things, the "princess walk" was my favorite!  They ended class by dancing to one of their favorite songs in which they moved around like animals, it was adorable.  After the show was over, Addie's little buddy came in to bring the girls flowers for their first "recital" and it was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  We snapped a few pictures, said our thanks yous and goodbyes to the teachers, and went out for donuts to celebrate.  It may not have been an elaborate, over the top recital, but it was a proud mommy moment with my sweet little girl who is quickly growing up before my very eyes.  Good job Addie girl, Mommy loves you!

Baby Bump - Month 3

How far along? 13 weeks

Gender:  Unknown

Feeling: If there's one thing I learned this time around it's that the only thing more exhausting than being pregnant (with Bella) and chasing around a very active 1 year old is being pregnant this time and chasing around 2 young children who are always on the go, usually in opposite directions.  I had to take a nap when the kids napped almost every single day just to make it through.  Not to add, it was Eric's busiest time of the year so several times a week he didn't get home until 10pm.  My 3rd pregnancy didn't bring any morning sickness (Yayy) but it did bring evening/night sickness.  I felt pretty nauseous, but rarely actually got sick.

All about Food:  My cravings have been all over the place this time around.  I can't get enough of fruit, specifically clementines and apples.  I am loving salty vs sweet snacks, which is very unlike me.  I can't get enough Italian food, pasta, Italian subs, eggplant Parmesan, pizza, bring it on!  I want nothing to do with coffee or chicken.

Favorite moments:

-September 13th, 2016 I found out I was pregnant with baby #3.  Eric had to work that night and didn't get home until late.  I waited until the next day to tell him so that Addie and Bella could share the news.  Addie painted him a  pumpkin picture that said "We are adding another pumpkin to our patch." The look on his face was priceless and after the initial shock, he was very excited!

-Seeing our little baby at our 6 week ultrasound, that little flicker of a heartbeat is so amazing!

-October 7th, 2016 - Surprising my mom, dad, Brian, Carla, and Kristen with the news.  I had fall pictures of the girls taken and printed them for everyone, with a few bonus pictures added in with them.

-Hearing the baby's heartbeat at 12 weeks

-October 22nd, 2016 - We decided to spill the beans with the rest of our Pittsburgh family during our trip!

Looking forward to:  

-Sharing the news with the rest of the world!

-Feeling those initial flutters and kicks - probably my favorite thing about being pregnant!

Our first ultrasound of Baby #3 at 6 weeks.

Baby #3 at 13 weeks.

Surprise!

Surprise!  We will officially be OUTNUMBERED and switching from man to man to zone defense!  Baby #3 is due May 2017 and we couldn't be more excited!  

Fall Recap - Better Late Than Never

I went an ENTIRE season without even doing 1 blog post.  There's a few reasons for that... 1)  We found out I was pregnant and during the first trimester I was more exhausted then I have ever been in my entire life!  2) I lost my laptop, yes I said lost - pregnancy brain at it's finest!  3) Life with a 2 1/2 year old and 1 year old is crazy busy, fun yes, but also very busy.  So, as a recap:

pregnancy + no laptop + 2 children 2 and under (while exhausted) = not one update about our fall

Therefore, I wanted to back track and share some fun memories from our fall because fall is pretty amazing!

Labor Day

Eric had to work in the OBX at the beginning of September and we decided to make a trip of it.  It was an added bonus that Julie, Todd, and Max were also vacationing that week and we even talked Kristen into joining us.  It was meant to be!  It started off in the middle of a full blown hurricane, but it did end up clearing up and we had a lot of fun!  We spent some time on the beach, but also ventured around town to the sand dunes, mini golfing, the aquarium, and ate way too much good food!

Pumpkin Patch

Weekend in DC

We spent a long weekend in DC to visit Brian, Carla, and Kristen in October.  My mom drove down to join us as well.  Some of the highlights were celebrating Brian's birthday, exploring the National Museum of Natural History,  a pirate boat tour down the Potomac, and of course Steeler football.  

Pittsburgh Trip 

Every year we take a trip to Pittsburgh in the fall and it's probably one of my favorites.  We started out the weekend by celebrating Kristen's birthday, with party favors, birthday hats, and noisemakers bought by Addie.  We took the girls to Chuck E Cheese for the first time, enjoyed a family dinner, spent the day at the pumpkin patch, and even made time to escape to a Steeler game and dinner.  It was a very busy weekend (it always is when we go to Pittsburgh), but also a memorable one!  

Halloween Fun

Trick or Treating 

This year was by far my favorite year trick or treating!  Addie had an absolute blast walking through the neighborhood with her buddies collecting candy and Bella enjoyed taking it all in.  Our little Nemo and Dory looked adorable and Dory even topped it off with the cutest little "just keep swimming" rendition any time I asked.  Halloween 2016 is going to be tough to top!

Friendsgiving 2016

Thanksgiving

Unfortunately, sickness struck our house right before our plans to spend Thanksgiving in Carolina Beach with Eric's cousin and his family.  Addie had the stomach bug the Tuesday before and Eric caught it on Wednesday, which left us at home for the holidays.  We made the most of it and had a quiet day at home.  We watched the parade and had some fun art projects to entertain the girls.  I cooked a mini-meal and the 4 of us ate dinner on our homemade table runner that I absolutely loved and may have to start doing every year!  We ended the night with Christmas pajamas and movies on the couch.  Thanksgiving may not have gone according to plan, but I am thankful that the sickness passed and we still were able to make some memories.