Time for Guessing!

Let me give you an update. I will be 39 weeks tomorrow. At my last doctor's appointment, I was not dilated at all and 30% effaced. And she has not dropped. With Amelia, I was induced at 4 days overdue. And Amelia did not drop until I was dilated 10 centimeters. So let the guessing begin! Will it be the same old story? Or will this baby pave her own way and still come a few days early?! Additional info: my due date is Jan 11, Amelia weighed 8 lbs 12 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long.

And now so you can see how awesomely huge I am these days, a review of the end of our 2011 in pictures.

Juan had the whole week off between Christmas and New Year's. And here in Austin, it got up to 70 degrees most days. Amelia was spoiled with trips to many many parks, sometimes multiple times a day.

 And she finally keeps her cute cute sunglasses on. $6 not wasted afterall.

We celebrated New Year's with Amelia before she went to bed at 9.

 As you can tell, she was super into it.

 And Juan grew out his facial hair once again during break. He looks very handsome here, but inevitably he shaved today, so I didn't get too attached. Let's be honest, I never wanted the mustache to stick around. I really do like this picture though.

 Amelia showing off her painted nails. And Juan and I had a good laugh, her hands look adult-sized in this picture!

After Miss Amelia was down for bed, the second party started! We had a few friends over for games and a jammin' party! Woot woot!

 James, Allison, me, Kasee, Jason.

 I was laughing so hard because Blakely said right before, is this like an Awkward Family Photo? Ha ha, us with Blakely and Lindsey.

It was a fitting celebration for a great year. Juan graduated, I spent most of the year gratefully pregnant, we moved to our new home (meaning Austin, not an actual house), and Juan started his new career. Amelia turned 1 in 2011 and I am already calling her a 2 year old by now. She is such a sweet, easy-going girl. We love her.

Happy New Year!

And don't forget to guess when this baby will come, and how much she will weigh.

Our First Texas Christmas

We spent Christmas Eve with just the 3 of us. We started out the night with Texas Barbeque at Rudy's. Mm mm good.

 In a desperate effort to avoid another picture, Amelia showed off her awesome curls. Such pretty hair, I wish I could take credit. I just wet it down and brush it.

We got home and started our Christmas Eve program. Of course we started out with a dramatic reading and re-enactment of the Nativity. 

 Mary and Joseph on the donkey.

 Mary and Joseph in the stable with Baby Jesus.

 And a tender moment between Mary and Baby Jesus.

 I played the angel/director.

After the Nativity we sang some Christmas carols together. Juan performed a compelling version of You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch. We all sang my family tradition song Jingle Bells/Happy Holidays round. 

 Amelia rocking out to Jingle Bells. She wasn't quite ready to let go of her Mary shawl.

 Opening her new pjs. 

We ended our Christmas Eve by reading books by the tree and watching Mickey's Christmas Carol with Amelia. After Amelia went to bed, Juan and I played Mario Party and watched White Christmas. It was a perfect Christmas Eve.

 The house after Santa came. Before Amelia awoke.

Santa brought Amelia her very own kitchen for Christmas. I would say this is the gift that stole the show of Christmas for her, she LOVED it. Between every present, she would run to her kitchen. And even now when she's not excited to go home, we remind her of her kitchen and she gets excited!

 Her gift from cousin Brooke. She also loved the Minnie Mouse shirt she got.

 Showing off her new apron from The Apron Gal herself. Thank you Kasee!

 Juan got a Texas t-shirt, The Giving Tree, West Wing the full series, and the movie Charly from me. He also got that awesome Texas tie and the Sing-a-ma-jig from my sisters. The Singing doll is his favorite, Juan has always admired them in the stores.

 I got a cool omelet flipping pan from Juan, along with a kite, The Help, earrings, sunglasses, and dah dah dah Wicked tickets!!! We also got a fun game and gift cards from my parents. So nice.

Amelia was a spoiled girl with a new doll, various Minnie Mouse paraphernalia, and her letter fridge magnets. As you can see, she is a happy camper.

The rest of Christmas was spent at church and then to dinner at our dear friends' Blakely and Lindsey's. They have a baby named Charlie and Amelia adores him. Juan made the ham and once again had success! Good food, better company, great Christmas!

The Heckler has been silenced

I got to say those words to Juan this morning. I mentioned before that I was working on a quilt for Baby #2. And well, the project was on a stand still for quite a while, taking up a lot of counter space. And every day Juan would tell me I'd never finish. That at this pace, I'd have it done when Baby Girl was 12 years old, ha ha. Well guess what?! I finished last night!!! I shut myself in the house, neglected Miss Amelia just a little, and worked worked worked. And I am very happy with the result:

It's reminiscent of Amelia's quilt, and yet very different. I love the colors and I LOVE the back.

And for a picture of the Heckler himself:

Juan as a Texas Longhorn

Merry Christmas!

Surprise Date!

 I woke up Thursday to find the cutest note from Juan telling me that through all my tireless efforts, it's time I receive a gift! And that I should be ready by 5 pm, dressed in my finest, for a surprise date! I had the biggest grin on my face and was crying at the same time. That's pregnancy for you.

He had set up our friend Lindsey to babysit and so we dropped off Amelia and headed downtown. I still had no idea where we were going, but as we got closer I was able to guess: Hopdoddy's! This is a burger place that all our friends have been talking about and Juan and I were both dying to try. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I can't say it was my best burger ever, but it was good. And Juan's, his was better and close to my best burger, juicy, hot sauce, it was delicious. And the shakes, they tasted like Christmas.

 Next stop, UT Austin campus. I was confused, we were dressed up, obviously not for the burger restaurant. And last time we were at UT was for a football game. So I was thinking Disney on Ice or the Nutcracker. Then we get to Bass Concert Hall, so then I'm thinking orchestra or opera. Ha ha, which neither of those sounded like Juan and me. And then I saw the sign:

And I cried again. Beauty and the Beast! It was so good and the voices were amazing. Beast was hideous but you know, he's supposed to be. It was such a good night. Thank you to Juan, it feels extra awesome to be pampered like this when I am so big and pregnant.

 And we've been busy doing other things too. The weather has been beautiful some days, dark and rainy most days. I like it. On the good days, Amelia can eat on the porch, play at the park, in December! And on the bad days, she can wear her cute coat and we can get a taste of a winter that isn't chilling us to the bones.

 My mom sent a package with a gift for each 12 days of Christmas! She is so cute and sweet, and of course thank you to Crystal as well who definitely helped. And can I tell you, best part of staying home for Christmas is all the packages! I love getting packages.

 Last night we went to a Live Nativity in the next town over. This was the real thing people, the whole town of Bethlehem was set up and they acted out the whole Nativity. Amelia wasn't being an angel while we were waiting in the chapel, but once she saw Mary and Joseph, and then all the animals, she was super into it!

Juan and Amelia with the donkey. This picture looks so vintage Juan. I'm pretty sure he looks identical in a picture I took of him at 16 years old. Ageless.

 

We are just making the most of the Christmas season. Maybe I am almost 37 weeks pregnant with plenty to get done before this baby comes. And maybe my house is falling apart and the laundry and dishes are horrendous, but guess what? I don't care! I'm not going to pause for one second and let Christmas pass us by.

And one more happy thing! Baby #2 flipped. She is head down and ready to come! We are still deciding on the name, ugh. Each day I switch between Lucy and Maya. And when I decide on one, something in me starts defending the other. Maya is Juan's pick and Amelia loves it too. She can't say L's yet so she can't say Lucy, and when I ask her to say Maya, she says it with such gusto: Ma-a!

Profile shot of the Baby. If you can make it out. I think she's pretty adorable.

8 Months Pregnant!

I am feeling pretty good in my pregnancy right now. I have a few worries, like the baby's head is up in my ribs right now. I need this little girl to flip for me! And I worry that her birthday will be too close to Christmas. I know that Amelia was 4 days late and I am hoping the same for this one. We recently got a King sized bed! And it has been a dream when it comes to sprawling out and sleeping with extra pillows. There's more than enough room! I am still going on walks with friends and keeping up like normal. No terrible aches or pains. I do completely shut down around 10 pm every night. Like I feel like I can't even move. 

We celebrated St Nick's on December 5th. It is a little tradition we take from Wisconsin. Santa fills our stocking on Dec 5 and in our family, he brings us new ornaments for the tree! We added a Mickey Mouse and Simba ornament this year, to Amelia's delight:

Amelia is just at the best age right now. She is just picking up on colors. Well actually only one color- pink. That's my girl. I am so not a girly girl, but I do love Pink as I grow older and have my girls to dress. She is talking more and more and almost every night when we put her down to bed, I miss her and can't wait to hear the new things she says the next day, or the new toys or games she will want to play. She thinks of the funniest things. I am DYING to see her open her presents. She loves to sing Rudolph, especially when we do all the actions.

I am really trying to teach Amelia about Jesus and I try to explain the story of Christ's birth using her cute Nativity. She definitely recognizes baby Jesus and has been able to identify all pictures of Jesus for a while now. Her mind is just soaking it all in, and I'm glad she's learning the real meaning of Christmas along with all the Santa and tree and presents part. 

Twelve Day of Christmas start tomorrow! I am just so excited! I can't believe it's getting closer and I don't want to miss one moment with my little family.

Loaded weekend

 We got the weekend off to an early start by taking Amelia to see the Big Tree on Thursday. We ate at Panera (love having a Panera Bread here) and then we headed to the Domain for shopping. I told Juan I could go there every night, it is just so Christmas-y there. And there is a big fireplace and people were bundled by the fire (I'm pretty sure it was high 60's but hey, people like to bundle up by fires).

 Saturday morning was our church party and we had breakfast, and then we stopped to see Santa. We were preparing Amelia for Santa, I even showed her picture from last year so she could see how happy she was:

Sweetest Santa picture ever. 

This year was not so successful. She kept running up to Santa while we were waiting in line, studying him and keeping a certain distance between them. But when it came time to sit on his lap, no way, she had a locked grip around Juan's neck and he couldn't release her. So we are stuck with this lame picture. Not even a sitting-in-lap-screaming classic picture. We may just have to find another Santa this year. 

Then we were off to get Amelia's first haircut! One night I just decided it needed to happen. Her top layer was longer than the bottom curls and those curls just need to be shown off while they last. Here she was the night I decided it was time:

Frizzy and long in the back. And I wouldn't even know where to start with product in my toddler's hair. 

So here she is at the hair cutting place. It was so cute and fun for kids. She could have had a blast, instead she assumed Zombie mode. Perfectly still and inexpressive the whole time.

 

And a real life after shot. No product or anything, the curls just naturally come out and don't frizz. Yay!

Her haircut is pretty noticeable, especially looking at the first picture in this post, it's definitely not that long on the sides anymore. I love it! We continued our packed day on Saturday with Amelia's first official Birthday Party, her little friend Lily turns 2 on Monday. It was so cute and fun to see all the kids running around and playing. And then we headed straight to a Gingerbread House party! Here is our Gingerbread creation, Juan came up with the concept, I executed.

And we won Most Creative! Check out Mr Hunchback pulling the rope on the clock tower (which I'm now realizing should have been a bell tower, haha). Pretty awesome.

We have started Time Out with Amelia in the past couple months. She sits at a certain place in her room and folds her arms while I count to 20. Then she gives me a hug and I explain again why I put her in time out. Well today she was stepping on a game box and bending it, I asked her to stop, she wouldn't. And so then I said, do you want to go to time out? She ran to her room and plopped in the spot all happy, then waited for me to count. When I got to 20 I said, all done, come give mommy a hug and she turned to me and held out her little pointer finger, her way of saying, one more time? Ha! She's not getting it people, she's not supposed to love Time Out.

Amelia is obsessed with a new Ringtone of mine. Here is a video of her loving it.

Happy December!