The Nutcracker, Year 2

This is the 2nd year Lily and I have attended The Nutcracker Ballet at the Englert Theater. Last year my mom and niece, Kelsey, joined us. This year, Harrison joined us. Too bad the sword fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King didn't last the entire 2 hours otherwise he would of had fun. Randy was out of town so Harrison had to come along. :)

It's becoming a fun tradition for Lily and I. I painted her nails to match her new dress from her grandma Kim. Harrison and I also dressed up. She was all smiles throughout the entire ballet. We'll definitely be going again next year.

The Princess Pose

Lily likes to throw out the princess pose for pictures. And makes her dadddy pose like a princess too.

26 weeks!!

This is definetely my 3rd pregnancy because this is the first prego picture I have taken...at 26 weeks. I reassure you lack in photos won't occur once this bambino/bambina enters our lives. Maybe not the millions I took of Lily but plenty, I'm sure.

I'm very, very, very thankful and lucky to have great pregnancies. With Harrison's pregnancy my worst complaint was due to sciatica which really wasn't that big of a deal. This time around my biggest complaint is heartburn, which again isn't much to complain about. It's not easy caring for 2 other kids being pregnant but I knew what I was getting into. I really don't have any crazy cravings either. If someone mentions Thai food I know to order it within a few days or else it will be the only food on my mind. But Thai food is delicious, pregnant or not.

So here is the belly in all it's glory 3 weeks ago...

Goodbye tonsils!

Harrison suffered through 4 strep throat infections in a very short time frame. His main symptoms were grumpiness and difficulty sleeping. After a hard night, we'd look at his throat and shake our heads. His tonsils would get huge and red. Finally, after 4 rounds of this he had his tonsils and adenoids removed. We definitely played up the surgery with talk of all the ice cream he would eat but I think we did that to make ourselves feel better. The first day he did eat 7 popsicles but it wasn't an easy recovery. Now, 2.5 weeks later he is 100% back to normal. And by normal I mean crazy, blue haired rocker...

Coping with the booster seat

How does one cope with their child growing up? The pants that are too short, the shoes that squish the toes...these kinds of examples are difficult to accept but my new issue with growing up is the booster seat. How do moms and dads accept THIS change? To go from a 5 point harness (SUPER SAFE!) to a regular old seat belt????? It made me feel better to see the proud smile on Lily's face today when I picked her up from preschool and she rode in her big girl booster chair (with a NORMAL SEAT BELT) for the first time. She was SOOOOOOOO excited. But I still drove extremely slow because I'd look at her, my little girl, my first born, and she was wearing a NORMAL SEAT BELT. I would keep her in the 5 point harness until she was 65 pounds if I could BUT the stork visit in February means I need to readjust the car situation and make things a little easier. I figure if Lily can buckle herself that will be very helpful. Even though tonight as I was searching for the NORMAL SEAT BUCKLE I was totally squishing my belly trying to find it. But we'll get there.

A mom's letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

My 3 year old son would like a fire gun to shoot the naughty poo-poo.

Good luck with that.

At least my 5 year old daughter has a simple request...a bicycle.

Thanks,
From a mom who doesn't know what a fire gun is.