9 Months

Well, here I am in all my glory at 9 months pregnant and 19 pounds heavier. And I'm still smiling! :)

This baby boy's due date is today... There have been contractions on and off for the past week, but nothing to send us to hospital. For now we are just playing the waiting game. I do have another weekly doctor appointment on Thursday. If he hasn't arrived by then I'm assuming the OB will recommend an induction next week. We shall see... I'm tired, but I'm not totally miserable. You kind of get at that point where having a newborn might be a little bit easier than not being able to sleep comfortably. The girls are definitely anxious for their little brother to arrive. Rachel was just talking to me last night and said, "Maybe he'll come tomorrow Mom, because that's his due date". :) We are still undecided on a name, but the list has narrowed. I guess we'll probably just make the decision when needed. Due to nesting most of my spring cleaning has been completed. The nursery is ready and all the baby gear has been assembled. We will keep you all posted on when our baby boy decides to arrive!

Our Audrey

Audrey is now our big 3 year-old. She is a whooping 25 pounds and 35 inches tall. What Audrey lacks in size she makes up with personality. She loves to tease and gets us laughing with her many facial expressions. Audrey loves her sister and it's so much fun to watch and hear them play together. Even though she loves playing with Rachel, Audrey is also a very good independent player which I am grateful for. She loves to play dress-up. There are some days that that's all she wears all day long - is different dress-ups. She loves anything princess. She'll ask for a movie to be put on, but then she doesn't really watch it. She still has very little interest in TV. One thing she does enjoy doing for an extended period of time is going to youtube and watching princess sing-a-longs. Audrey is also my little shopper as she is the one that runs errands with me. She recognizes and knows all the stores we frequent. Audrey learns so much from her sister. She is constantly trying to keep up. Her latest thing is to ask me how to spell things or what letter things start with. She listens to her sister... Audrey has gotten more into playing with baby dolls the past couple of months. She often has to tell me to be quiet because her "sweetie" is sleeping. Every day Audrey is very anxious to pick up Rachel from school. And as we walk home from school it's so much fun to hear them talk about their days as Rachel walks beside the stroller. This past summer Audrey proved to be quite a fish. We are excited to put her in swim lessons this coming summer. She LOVES the water. When we have a somewhat warm day she asks if we can go to the pool. :) Audrey is quite the adventurous eater. She is usually willing to try something once. Recently we discovered she likes hummus and pomegranate seeds, which are two items we don't usually have stocked in our home. Audrey is also quite the little snacker. She is constantly asking for something to eat. Audrey is very excited to be a big sister and for her baby brother to arrive. We are so grateful for Audrey and all the joy, happiness, and laughter she brings to our home.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve we headed over to Sugar Land Town Center for a kid-friendly and early (7-9 PM) celebration. The girls enjoyed checking out the different performers There were jugglers, dancers, ice sculpture artists, Japanese candy-makers, and a trapeze artist. And the weather was absolutely perfect. We all took jackets and ended up taking them off... Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

After the kid-friendly celebration we enjoyed going over to a friend's house, putting all the kids to bed, and playing some games. 2011 has definitely been a good year for us and we are looking forward to the adventures that 2012 will hold. Happy New Year!

Jeff & Amy's Visit

A few days after Christmas Jeff and Amy drove down from my parents' to visit us. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them! The girls were absolutely thrilled and it was like Christmas all over again with the presents that they brought down from them and others. We enjoyed just hanging out, eating good food, and playing games.

Christmas

Christmas this year was very quiet for our family, well as quiet as it can be with two excited girls in the house. We stayed home since I was 38 weeks pregnant and traveling wasn't the best idea... On Christmas Eve we got together with a few other families for dinner. After spending time with friends we came home and the girls each got to open one present - a Cinderella ornament to help them remember their Disney World adventure in 2011.

The next morning the girls checked out their stockings before we had to get ready to go to church. Conveniently they received a few items that were appropriate to take to church and enjoy. What a smart Santa!

After church we continued the rest of our present opening. It was hard to get Audrey to look at us at all, so all the pictures of her look very similar to this:

Rachel was much more willing to pause and pose for us:

Overall I think the girls were pretty pleased with what Santa, mom, dad, grandparents, and cousins gave them. They have definitely enjoyed their new toys, dresses, cowgirl boots, and hooded towels. Andy and I both received a few stocking items. Christmas day we all took naps, talked to family members, and enjoyed leftovers from Christmas Eve dinner. It was very nice and relaxing.

New Look

I know both grandmas are anxious to see their Rachel... Yesterday Rachel got quite a bit of hair cut off. For years she's wanted to grow her hair long, so we've just been doing trims. And it's taken forever to get her hair somewhat long. But just a few weeks ago she decided she wanted to get her hair cut short like her friend Jenna's. I talked to her quite a bit about it, just to make sure we weren't going to have a meltdown once it was done. But she was set on it. Last week at school she told all her teachers and friends that she was going to look different after Winter Break. And she does look different! We love it! Rachel's happy with it and is enjoying flipping her hair around. :)

Christmas Dance Performance

On Tuesday we got to go watch Rachel perform the Christmas dances she's been working on. She was kind of sad she couldn't keep the white dress, but I reassured her that at the end of the year she'll get to keep her costume for the big recital. I really like that they have these mini performances at the studio. I think it helps get them ready for the big one at the end of the year.

At first they showed us how they warm-up for each dance class:

More dance exercises:

The ballet performance (Rachel was very excited about getting to dance with a nutcracker):

The jazz performance:

Audrey's Birthday

Audrey's birthday celebrations began 2 weeks before her birthday. While we were up at Papa and Grandma Michaelson's, we went ahead and had Audrey open her presents from them.

Very excited!!!

Audrey was thrilled with her new dress-up and her play food and scanner.

Two weeks later, on December 11th, we celebrated at home. Audrey was so anxious... So, we spread out the present opening to all day long. She opened her first present (from us) after lunch. And it was the one thing she requested for her birthday. About a year ago Rachel received a cape with a "R" on it at a party. So, Audrey decided to request a cape with an "A" on it...

They are pretty well coordinated now (Audrey wanted the same colors as well):

After her nap she opened yet another present from Papa and Grandma Smith. The girls have had so much fun this past week playing with the play-do. We've always had play-do, but we haven't had many tools. So, they've had a ball!

After dinner Audrey opened 2 more presents. One from the Hoglund family and she loves her new jacket:

And another gift from the King family. Audrey was thrilled to get a Snow White shirt:

After a wardrobe change - new outfit and jacket on - we got out the cake:

Audrey did a fabulous job blowing out the candles:

It was fun this year to have family join in on the celebrations. We are enjoying have Craig, Natalie, Chase, and Landon so close. It's not often that we have family around to celebrate birthdays, so we're enjoying the change.

A few days later Audrey went and picked out a doll from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Amy:

I think Audrey's birthday was a success! She was spoiled by so many with phone calls, cards, and presents. She is one lucky who girl has lots of people who show her love. We are so grateful for Audrey and all the joy that she brings to our family.

One month to go...

Believe it or not, there's only one month left for our little guy to get a little fatter and a little stronger....

I am blessed to be feeling pretty good. The biggest complaint I can offer is being tired. But who isn't tired??? :) I'm also feeling pretty massive, but who isn't at 8 months? I'm still able to enjoy my cycling classes at the gym. I sleep pretty comfortably - there's just a few bathroom breaks needed every night. This baby boy keeps on dropping. The past 2 times I've been to the doctor, he tells me he's dropped a little more. I've gained 17 pounds so far. The hospital called today to verify my insurance information and informed me of what I was expected to pay when checking in to the hospital. So, we are all squared away there. The nursery is coming along. I was spoiled by my friends with lots of clothes. I've got them washed and folded (his drawers look the best they'll probably ever look). Boy clothes are definitely fun as well! :) If you're wondering, no, we still haven't decided on a name. Poor little guy... He will get one, we just don't know what it is yet. The girls are getting very anxious. Just today Audrey told me she wanted her baby brother to come out. I told her not quite yet... So, here's to surviving the final month!

Work Family Christmas Party

Andy's work has continued the tradition of a family Christmas party, which I enjoy much more than the fancy adult one. Although we definitely don't go there for the food. I haven't been impressed with the catering the past 2 years. But the girls enjoy seeing Santa, getting their faces painted, getting air-brushed tattoos, and ice skating at Discovery Green.

The girls in front of the Christmas tree in the lobby at Andy's work (couldn't get a good smile out of either of them):

Enjoying ice skating (we love the double-bladed ice skates):

Andy was in charge of the girls this year on the ice. I have a hard enough time when I'm not pregnant, so I wasn't even going to attempt ice skating while pregnant. Audrey went around the big rink once with Andy and Rachel never cared to. The girls had fun skating around the little kid ice rink.

A video of them skating (don't mind National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in the background - it was also movie night at Discovery Green):