Getting home and Getting organized

Each year after Christmas, it is a job trying to figure out where the new toys will go! I'm so happy that this year Jamie and Dad got Lillian a big storage unit from Target with the fabric bins! She needed it for all her Barbie stuff she is aquiring. She is very like her mother with Barbies! I think I played with them until I was 13.

So when we got back, after my doctor's appointment on Monday, I began getting that put together and organizing it all. The shelf works perfectly! And I moved the smaller shelf Lillian had in her room to Andrew's room for his books which had previously been in a drawer and hard to go through.

***On a side note, I wanted to include a couple of pictures of the kids enjoying their new toys they didn't get to open in Alto...Lillian absolutely couldn't wait for me to put together her Barbie Palace, so that was done first before I put the shelf together. Here she is already playing with it. And Andrew was so excited about his Matchbox carwash from Dad and Jamie. It is a daily played with toy here so far! He loves the way it squirts water on the cars!

Christmas at Grandma Teddy's

Christmas afternoon, we went to my mom's house. Andrew was so exhausted from the morning activities, that he fell asleep on the way there. He made it the first 10 minutes, but the last 5 from Rusk, he was out! So we just brought him in and layed him on the bed to finish up a nap.

Lillian would not wait to open presents though, so we went ahead and let him open his up when he woke up. Lillian loved her new princess flip-out couch from Grandma and her new Leapster games from Katy and Clay. She sat immediately and played them on the new couch. She would have loved to open her new Fashion Fairytale Barbie palace from Tory, but we knew it would be too hard to pack up and haul home if we opened it, so she surprisingly let us put it aside!

Andrew woke up and got his new guitar from Katy and Clay, movies from Tory, and Toy Story couch from Grandma. He was very excited!

Then they both dragged their new couches out to mom's big extra room to watch tv. They looked so cute laying in there watching.

We had some more yummy food too that evening and Brandon had to leave around 5 to drive home, but the kids and I stayed through the next day before driving home on Sunday afternoon. Although very rushed this year, we had a fun holiday trip to Alto and always enjoy spending time with my family!

Christmas at Grandpa JD's house

Christmas morning was spent at Grandpa JD's house. The kids were excited to see Santa visited them there as well! Lillian saw her new keyboard waiting and Andrew had a fun riding toy! He was a little wary at first, but then was excited to try it out. Then after breakfast and waiting for Brandon to arrive, we opened gifts. Andrew loves loves loves his new matchbox carwash. He has been playing with it at home lots. Lillian got some new Barbies and other toys she also is enjoying. Dad tried on his new snuggie from Tory.

Jamie made lots and lots of good food! I was so stuffed! We enjoyed visiting with them and my sisters and brother-in-law. And we put together Lillian's new Disney puzzle, which took Brandon, Lillian, and I to complete!

Then we had to rush off to my mom's house because Brandon had to leave by 5 that day to be back home and work the next day.

Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus!

My mom wanted to make sure the kids got the true meaning of Christmas, so bought a manger scene that they kids could touch and a book about the nativity to read the kids. It talked about it being Jesus's birthday. The kids learned to hold up each character in the nativity when mom read about them. Then we had a Christmas cake for Jesus's birthday! The kids sang the birthday song and blew out the candles. That was our start for Christmas in Alto.

2nd OB Visit

***I'll post about Christmas soon, but need to go through the pictures!****

We drove back in to Round Rock at almost 8 last night from Alto for Christmas and had to get up this morning to be at my doctor's appointment down in Austin at 8:30. I'm very happy that we had no traffic with it being the Monday after Christmas and that the kids were surprisingly easy to dress and get in the car. They were excited when I told them they were going to see Daddy at work. They have never been there. Brandon said he would watch the kids for an hour there while I went to my appointment. So I dropped them off with him and went across the street to my doctor.

I have to also say, I LOVED being one of the first appointments of the day. There was no wait! I went right in and got everything done so quickly! That was the quickest I've ever been in there and this was supposed to be a long appointment! The doctor was going to try and listen for the heartbeat and was so pleased that as soon as she placed the doppler on my belly, it was there! She said that that doppler was usually more difficult to find too, so that was really good! Then we did a quick ultrasound and saw him or her. Looking good! It was so cute to see it bounce as soon as the wand was on my belly. And it also had it's arm up with it's hand on its head. I also asked my doctor about when the c-section would most likely be and she looked at the calendar and it would probably be July 12th since 39 weeks falls on a Sunday and then Monday, the 11th is one of her own childrens' birthdays and she always takes off that day.

I left and met Brandon with the kids and they had been exploring. They walked down to a park down the road and ran around with daddy. I'm glad they all survived! Next appointment, they should be in school again...January 27th.

Santa Came!

Santa visited our house last night. He knows we will be in Alto for Christmas, so he wanted to make sure the kids got their gifts before then. Lillian ran down the stairs this morning and was so excited! Andrew was a little less excited. I think he just wanted his normal morning routine. He came down and stared and then asked for his poptart! ha ha....He finally was excited later and rode his tricycle around the house quite a bit today. Lillian loved it all, but especially her Leapster! She wouldn't put it down to eat or anything! I think we have created a new video game monster!

Congratulations, Aunt Tory!

Katy, myself, and both kids left Round Rock around 6:15 Saturday morning to head to the big city of Huntsville, Tx. The drive wasn't so bad besides being up so early. The kids did very well for the amount of sleep that they got. We stopped a little over half-way and got them dressed and got some snacks and then arrived in Huntsville around 9:30.

My sister, Tory graduated at 10 from Sam Houston State University. We are very proud of her! Lillian was super excited when she finally saw Tory walking off the stage since she couldn't place her among all the graduates down there. She was jumping up and down and smiling so big. Andrew had trouble sitting still, but eventually passed out on Katy towards the end of the ceremony.

We met up with her outside the colliseum afterwards and took pictures. Andrew was still out until right after pictures.

Then we all ate at Margarita's Mexican restaurant to celebrate. We laughed and visited with family from both sides before we drove back to Round Rock. Congratulations, Aunt Tory! We love you!

Preschool Christmas

The kids had their Christmas parties at school today. Andrew enjoyed the yummy food...I think he ate all the grapes in the whole party tray for the class! Then openned up his book exchange present and his gift from his teacher. He was very excited to come home and show his daddy all his goodies!

Lillian's class exchanged books first and then went outside to hit a pinata! Each student had their turn hitting it. Her teacher waited for Lillian and a boy named Isaac to go last since she knew they would hit the hardest. It was cute to watch. The first 5 kids hit the pinata, but nothing happened, but when Lillian and Isaac got their turns, there were finally dents and the pinata was swinging around from the branch of the tree. Then finally, Lillian's teacher's assistant hit it open for them to collect the goodies.

Both kids had a great time and I know will miss preschool until it starts back in January!

St. Nick Came!

Lillian and Andrew were super excited this morning to see that St. Nick had visited last night. We actually got up this morning and ate breakfast and then I asked Lillian if she thought he had come last night, so we went and looked and they were jumping up and down!

Lillian was excited to find a pretty new Barbie doll and the newest Tinkerbell movie. Andrew got some Cars movie vehicles and Toy Story 3. After seeing this excitement, I'm really looking foward to when Santa comes in a couple of weeks. They are growing up and are so cute to watch as they get so much more into it.

Look here to read more about the tradition in my post last year.

Weekend in Rotan

We drove out west to my sister, Katy's house in Rotan, Texas this weekend. We haven't been out there since June, so it has been a while. Brandon hadn't been to Katy's new house yet either, so he got to see it.

We had a really good time hanging out with Katy and Clay. Clay made some good food and we helped Katy decorate her new Christmas tree. Then we all loaded up and went to the neighboring town of Roby for their Christmas parade. Katy's neighbors had a float they were putting in the parade, so they asked the kids to join in on the float, so my kids along with Brandon and Clay rode in the Roby parade! Katy and I enjoyed the kidless moment and got hot cocoa and a funnel cake while we waited for it to begin and then cheered them on as they passed. Lillian had a ball waving at people, but Andrew saw me and started crying! Poor boy! It was very chilly too, but a fun time!

So begins the Christmas festivities! More to come tomorrow as St. Nick comes to see us tonight!

We Visited Santa

We went to the mall this afternoon and had our annual visit with Santa. Lillian went right up and jumped in his lap, but I had to place Andrew there. At least he did sit with him this year and I didn't have to be in the photo, but he wouldn't smile. I think he was a little nervous about it all! We all survived though and it was a successful trip!