O Christmas Tree...

I can't believe Christmas time is upon us. I have been looking forward to it a little extra this year because it also brings the end of this pregnancy; which of course made it seem extra far away.

And now here we are setting up the tree. Which is especially nice considering even my maternity clothes are getting a little too snug on me.
Bailey was quite the little helper this year which made it sort of fun, sort of stressful. Our tree gets to be pretty top heavy considering she loves pulling the bulbs off the tree and just throwing them around the room and chasing after them.
At least she thinks she is helpful.
Let the Christmas Season begin!

Bye Bye Reno

Long road trips home are so much easier when Uncle Craig sits by you. They are extra fun when he falls asleep with his face close enough to you so you can poke him with your chubby fingers.

Good thing he is such a good sport.

College Football Saturday...

Saturday was spent doing a little more shopping at the mall. It was like a night and day difference between the two days as far as crowds went. Bailey liked watching the big ferris wheel. Unfortunately she was too short to ride so she just got to look at it and point.

After some morning shopping we headed back to my Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim's for some hot dogs, chili, and college football. We once again ate so much that even the boys were full.
Our evening ended with a little bowling and dinner in the hotel's cafe. Sam wanted to break 100 so bad so it was a little extra funny/sad when he ended with a 99. Craig took the cake. He kept saying how bad he was at bowling the whole time and then he through 4 strikes at the end making the come back of the century. Hurrah! I guess little brothers can win after all.

Black Friday in Reno

There was no early morning black Friday shopping for this family. Instead we slept in and then headed down to the arcade after everyone was done working out and getting ready for the day. Bailey showing off her dance dance revolution moves...

We all quickly became obsessed with the Deal or No Deal game.
I played it first and won a whopping four tickets. You would think that would make me the worst suit case picker in the family. Wrong. I definitely beat both Rachel and Connie who got three and one ticket.
We all did such a bad job the first day that when we went back to the Arcade my Dad, who had actually picked the five hundred ticket case took a 52 ticket deal because comparatively that was a lot of tickets. Wah Wah!
After the arcade we hit up the all you can eat Round Table Pizza buffet. We all stuffed ourselves to the brim. Everyone was pretty much full the rest of the day except for the two boys of course.
Then it was off to the mall to collect some of Craig's mission supplies. Apparently Sapporo, Japan is an icy tundra and Craig may just die of coldness. You get way colder when you don't have an ounce of meat on your bones. Good luck with that skinny Craig.
Happy Black Friday!

A Reno Thanksgiving...

We thought a family get together this Thanksgiving was going to be impossible considering I am about to pop. But who doesn't love piling into the car for a seven hour road trip to Reno at 37 weeks pregnant? After many prayers that I wouldn't go into labor on that lovely Nevada stretch of nothing and for the four days in Reno, we were off to go see family. Craig and Robby drove down from Idaho Tuesday night, Sam finished up class on Wednesday around two, Bails was awakened from her nap around 2:15 and then we hit the road.

We met my Mom, Dad and Rachel in the hotel. We checked into our rooms and then hit the hay. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim generously upgraded our room to a suite which joined both Connie and Brandon's room and Robby and Craig's. Lets just say Bails was in absolute heaven running around finding and playing with everyone. She would wake up in the morning, sit up and get her bearings, and then gasp and start pointing and running towards the door that joined us to the boy's room asking to go in and wake them up to play.
Thanksgiving morning we headed over to my Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim's beautiful house. We got spoiled just as much as Bailey with football games all day that involved prizes, the best snacks and food, great company, and the most delicious dinner.
Bailey is officially obsessed with Grandpa. She would gladly choose him over anyone, including me. She also liked chasing around Rex and Bobby and only cried a few times when they started barking up a storm. I guess she is still a jumpy chicken.
There was also a lot of sitting around which is just perfect for my large pregnant body. The only bad news was I forgot my lazy sweat pants and lounging around in jeans was not as comfortable.
There was little lounging for Bailey. She would go from one person to the next bossing them around; making them take her places and feed her delicious treats the whole time.
I wish I could say this was a really bad angle and I am not really that puffy, but that would be false.
Just looking at these pictures is making me crave that dinner again. What I wouldn't give to go back in time and eat it all again right now. Yum Yum.
Every time I am around these two brothers of mine I am always surprised how much they can eat. It is ridiculous. And also the fact that everything is a competition with them. Who can eat more, run faster, be stinkier, win the game, grow taller, etc. You name it they can turn it into a contest.
During dinner Bailey followed the growls of her stomach. Anyone she could mooch off, she would.
She stole Robby's mashed potatoes and turkey first considering that Robby and Craig were the first two in line and practically done with their first round before everyone else had even started eating.
The rest of the gang getting their food before Rob and Craig ate it all.
And the reason why I am so puffy? Pretty sure I ate all of that and then I went back for a little more. So delicious.
Bails making her continuous rounds to mooch some more. I think she ate all of my Dad's green beans. At least we got some vegetables in her that day to counteract the M&M's, chips and cookies she kept sneaking off the snack tables.
Here is table #1. Sam was too busy taking pictures he forgot to get a plate and sit down to eat so he ate at the adult table with my Aunt, Uncle, and their friend Mike.
And to end the evening the dancing game on the wii got pulled out to burn off some of those calories. Bailey is a master dancer. She has got some serious rhythm. Dana, I hate to say it, but I think she may dance even better than you. Not to mention all the new and exciting moves she learned to add to her collection.

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. It was so fun being around family; the drive was totally worth it. We missed you Janet, Dana and David. Thank you so much Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim for everything. Dinner was so delicious and we had such a great time. Love you all.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Coloring Time

In order to keep the 4 to 5 year olds in our primary class attentive and occupied we usually spend the last 20-30 minutes doing some sort of craft or coloring. Bails likes to be like the big kids and has learned to love coloring too.

She usually gets bored of coloring on the paper after a couple of minutes and starts drawing on the table, floor, or any other surface she can get to before I notice her naughty behavior.
It is also mandatory to dump every last crayon out of the box. I guess it makes it easier to see your options. And it's probably funny to watch a giant pregnant lady crawl around the floor trying to pick them all up before the wax does permanent damage. Oh brother!

Eighteen Months

Height: 32.25 in - 48.66 %

Weight: 24.3 lbs - 26.57 %
Head Circumference: 50.3 cm - 96.92 %

-Loves to make all of her animals kiss. She also enjoys sharing her water and pacifier with Mr. Bear and her little figurines.
-Is constantly putting buckets, boxes, hats, etc on her head so they cover her eyes and then walks around giggling.
-Is getting pretty good at hiding. She will go behind the blinds, a sweatshirt or in the hallway closet and then hold really still. Then she will randomly peek out and look at you laughing.
-Obsessed with fruit. She will walk around eating an apple or pear for an hour. Also, giving her a box of raisins makes her just as happy as a few M&M's. Silly girl.
-Still loves bath time.
-Loves to brush her teeth, but hates it when I brush her hair. She barely lets me comb it and getting it into pig tails is absolutely impossible. Thus she looks homely with crazy hair the majority of the time.
-Is very independent. She has to do everything herself or she will throw a temper tantrum. She has to have her own spoon to feed herself her yogurt breakfast or someone will go deaf.
-Hates her car seat. She will climb out and then sit in the normal seat next to her car seat and act like she is ready to go.
-Went to nursery for the first time and marched in like she owned the place. She was a little teary when I went to pick her up so she may have been a little surprised we left her alone. We will see how the next week goes.
-Has to be in on the action. She is always wanting me to pick her up and has to help me do everything. By help I mean dump out or ruin whatever I am working on.
-Favorite songs are: Book of Mormon Stories, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Popcorn, Hands song, and Twinkle Twinkle.
-Always remembers to say her prayers before eating and bed. She usually is the one who reminds us.
-Loves her car or helicopter and runs around the house making noises as she drives and flies them around.
-Thinks the snow is funny. She points at it and laughs as it lands on her head. Glad one of us has a good attitude about it.
-Is obsessed with anything electronic. The computer, Ipad, television, phones, etc. Always wants to watch Elmo you tube videos with Uncle Robby or watch Tangled or any of the Toy Story movies on the Ipad or TV. This is good news for long car rides because she could watch movies all day if we would let her.
-Bailey can be super bossy. She has a mind of her own, knows what she wants, and is very good at pointing and getting her way.
-She still won't talk but likes making animal sounds like monkey, dog and cat. She also knows where her nose, eyes, mouth, hair and ears are.
-Is a super sleeper. We put her down at 830 and she usually sleeps till 8 or so the next day. She also takes 2-3 hour naps each day.

Bailey is a happy and silly baby and is always making us laugh. We just love her to death and are so happy she is in our family.

Hide N Seek

I guess when you are this little you can hide behind anything.

However, a little tip for the future Bails....When you find a pretty decent hiding spot that could scare the crap out of your Dad, don't ruin it by laughing the whole time.
I think I know where all my focus and energy is going to be placed until baby #2 makes its arrival.
Stealth hiding spots and scaring Sam half to death. It may be even funnier than when I do it and he won't be able to get angry or seek revenge.
Because who can get mad at that face?