December Fun

December went by in a flash!  Here are a few things we did to keep us busy:

1. We had a pizza & movie night with our neighbors.  Harper & Tara had their own fun by dancing, singing and cheering!

2. We stayed in Des Moines one night to do some shopping, swimming & relaxing.  Harper is becoming quite the little swimmer with the help of her water wings.  We even met up with our good friends Abby & Aaron for supper - as always it was great seeing them.

3. Harper got to visit Santa TWICE this year.  Each time was a fail ~ she never cried but she also didn't sit on his lap or say one peep to him.  Maybe next year!

We also played in the snow after our first big snow storm of the year.  Harper & Adam played outside for almost 2 hours - she LOVES the snow!  She is really good at making snow angels, throwing snowballs, and eating the snow!

And of course we've been watching LOTS of Christmas movies and singing LOTS of Christmas songs!

Now that Christmas is over ~ I hope these next few cold months hurry by so we can enjoy Spring!

Christmas Engagement

So.........after 7 1/2 years of dating my brother finally proposed to his girlfriend!!!!  And we couldn't be more happier!!!!

Michael proposed to Kaitlyn on Christmas Eve in front of her favorite Christmas Tree in our hometown.  It is a gorgeous tree - mini tree of Rockefeller Center ~

And Harper is excited too!  She loooooooooves Kaitlyn!!!!

Welcome to the family Kaitlyn - we love you!  Can't wait for you guys to give Harper some cousins! {but lets wait a few years on that ;)}

Christmas 2012

We hope is having a blessed holiday season!  We celebrated with my side of the family on Christmas Eve - we ate lots of yummy soup, played Logo (FUN board game!), attending the Christmas Eve church service, opened gifts, and enjoyed more soup and family time at my Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Christmas 2012

My beautiful family!

Our 7th Christmas together!

14 weeks on 12.24.12

 This little girl had a great Christmas!  She is enjoying all of her new toys, which is also keeping us busy!  We've already talked about taking the Christmas tree down and she is NOT happy about that!  Wish us luck!  It's hard to believe that there will be a 2nd child next year at this time!  It's going to be so fun!  We can't wait!

This weekend we head back home again to celebrate with Adam's side of the family!!!  Check back then for more pictures.

And here is a blog on Harper's 1st Christmas :)

Mississippi Roast

Tis the week of pinterest recipes.  I tried a new roast recipe and it was quite tasty, definitely NOT healthy!  You'll soon understand when you see the ingredients.....

Mississippi Roast

Ingredients:
1 chuck roast
1 dry ranch mix packet
1 Au Jus dry packet
1 stick of butter (told ya it's not healthy!)
Pepperoncinis (come in a jar)

Directions: Place chuck roast in crock pot, sprinkle ranch mix and au jus mix on top of roast.  Place entire stick of butter on top of roast.  Cover remaining roast with pepperoncinis.  DO NOT ADD ANY WATER.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

The roast was very moist and full of flavor!  Perfect for this cold wintry weather.  Adam and his brother loved it - even wanted the recipe! 

Click here for pictures/printable directions.

Tree Farm 2012

The weekend after Thanksgiving we ventured out to find our Christmas tree.  This was our 3rd year of cutting down a tree and it is something we all look forward to.  My parents and Brett we even able to join us this year!  Enjoy the pictures:

And of course I love comparisons: Here is our 2011 experience!

12 Week Update

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of Baby: 2 inches (about the size of a lime)

Maternity Clothes: None yet!  Although I'm going shopping this weekend to hopefully find some cute maternity jeans, leggings, and tops.  It helps that I get to lounge around in sweats all day and wears scrubs to work.

Gender: We ARE going to find out the sex this time, mostly to prepare Harper as much as we possibly can for this huge change/transition in her life.  However, the name will NOT be revealed.  Speaking of reveals, stay tuned for details on the gender reveal party that I am in the works of planning.  We will hopefully be able to find out the gender in early February!!!

Movement: We had an ultrasound on Monday and saw the baby moving around like crazy, but I still can't feel it yet.  I am looking forward to that moment...hopefully next month.

Sleep: I am completely exhausted 24/7!!!  I could sleep 20 hours out of the day if I could.  The books aren't lying when they say fatigue is much more severe with your 2nd child, due to taking care of your first born!  I think the combination of being pregnant and working nights is really taking its toll.

What I miss: Nothing yet ~ 

Symptoms: Other than fatigue, I haven't really had many symptoms.  Certain foods make me want to vomit - particularly chicken breasts and any type of casserole.  If I eat too much of a warm food, I feel nauseous, which is really the only symptom that I have, which is all I had with Harper too!  Yes, I feel very fortunate to have missed out on the morning sickness each time! 

Cravings: Because the thought of certain foods make me nauseous, I pretty much keep to certain foods.  I've been eating a lot of yogurt, cereal, oranges, and milk.  I guess anything cold is appealing.

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing the baby for the 2nd time on ultrasound and getting to hear the heartbeat at my appointment.

Looking Forward To: feeling movement and finding out the gender

Online Shopping

I'm normally not a big online shopper.  I will order pictures from Snapfish, books/DVD's from Amazon, and maybe a few things here and there from Kohls.  But this year I did all of Harper's Christmas shopping online...and from one site, Toys to Grow On.

We received a catalog in the mail a few weeks ago and it had the coolest toys in it, stuff that you don't typically see in local stores.  We are very happy with their services ~ free shipping on all orders over $59 and it only took 1 week!

Here is what we picked out for Harper this year:

* Musical Hippity Hop (the girl loves to jump!)

* Make-A-Word Picture Puzzles (loves puzzles too!)

* Don't Let the Bugs Fall

* Clap & Laugh Microphone Set

* Marble Run

* Roll-On Painters

* Stencils

It's not too late for you to order too, guaranteed delivery by Dec 24th if you order by Dec 18th!

Early Christmas Present

Yes, that is Harper holding pictures from our ultrasound of Baby #2!!!  

Expected Arrival: June 2013

We feel very blessed this holiday season.  Thank you for all of the prayers!

Merry Christmas to you and yours :)

E Card

One of these days I will find time to blog again.......I promise!

Until then.......

Who Stole the Cookies From the Cookie Jar?!

We have a Santa Clause cookie jar sitting out on our kitchen counter right now and it is was actually full of cookies for a change.

Well, Miss Harper has a sweet tooth.  Adam caught her red-handed today stealing cookies!

After trying to reach the cookie jar with her step stool and not being quite tall enough, she moved a kitchen chair over to the counter instead.

When Adam asked Harper why she moved the chair over to steal cookies, she replied "Cause that's what kids do!"

Oh Miss sneaky and clever Harper :)