Christmas Recap

Hello! Thank you all who commented on yesterday's post! I actually (knock on wood) felt ok for most of the day today, so I'm hoping this pesky 'morning sickness' is going away...

I wanted to post a little recap of our Christmas. We still have Bill's extended family Christmas on the 2nd, but here's what we were up to during Christmas week...

I was happy enough to get our tree and our stockings up this year. I did buy some new Christmas decor for our dining room, but never got it to the point where I felt it was photo worthy. I do love our white stockings against our brick fireplace though! We will have to make room for another one for next year! The little "C" one is for our dog, Charlie :)

My mom got Camden the cutest little monogrammed 'Merry Christmas' bib! He wore it all day on Christmas eve and helped me finish wrapping our presents. 

We went over to my parents' house for Christmas Eve. Every year, my mom serves the best cheddar potato soup with all the toppings and there is just a spread of finger foods like shrimp cocktail, cocktail weenies, cheese and crackers, etc. I always make home made chex mix to add to the spread. 

(sorry, this picture isn't the best quality... I forgot to bring over my good camera!)

After dinner, we typically open gifts on Christmas Eve. We've been doing this ever since I was in college just because there were no other kids in our family and my brother and I wanted to sleep in Christmas morning ha! I think maybe next year when Cam is a bit older and understands a little better, we may switch this tradition. 

We spent our Christmas morning at home and we had a few presents for Cam to open. This vtech smart shots sports center was the big gift. I also got him some clothes and bath toys. We didn't go over board on his gifts because he got so much for his birthday last month!

My parents, brother and his girlfriend came over to our house for Christmas brunch. I set a very festive table! I had an idea of getting flannel, plaid fabric and making a table runner, but I ran out of time. So, instead I used one of my plaid blanket scarves as the runner! It actually worked out great! Use what you have people! The holiday plates and glasses were both gifted to us from our wedding and they had yet to be used! So, I was happy to break them in. 

After Christmas brunch, we all got ready to head to Bill's hometown (about 2 hours from Columbus) to celebrate with his family. We had Christmas dinner with the Rumples and enjoyed a leisurely evening of watching Christmas movies and drinking egg nog! Cam was so excited he had a bit of trouble going to sleep at his grandparents, but he finally settled down around 9pm. 

The next morning we all stayed in our PJs for a while and just spent some quality time together. We opened some gifts for the kids as well. Cam's aunt and uncle got him this awesome tunnel and tent from Ikea! He had the best time crawling through it! He also got some clothes and sound books from his grandma and grandpa and a toy bulldozer from his other aunt and uncle. 

I'd say, Cam had a very successful Christmas! And the best gift of all... He is going to be a big brother! :) 

How was your holiday week?

Coming Soon...

SURPRISE!

If you haven't already guessed from the lack of posting this month, I'm pregnant with baby #2 due July 4th! Camden is going to be a big brother and we could not be more excited! 

However, this pregnancy has been a bit more brutal than the last time I was pregnant with Cam. The nausea and fatigue have hit me like a ton of bricks over the last 6-7 weeks. I remember feeling sick with Cam, but it was mostly at night. This time it is allll day everyday. And I feel like I could sleep the days away. Every little task seems so exhausting. Trying to take care of a 1 year old it tiring on it's own, but throw in pregnancy symptoms and ughh... I'm officially 13 weeks today, so I'm hoping these symptoms start to fade away soon. I think I remember around 14 weeks is when I started to feel a bit better with Cam, so hopefully just a few more weeks of this!

I really hate complaining about the way I feel because I know there are so many out there that struggle with getting pregnant and we are so lucky to have been able to get pregnant again so soon after our first. 

This time around...

This time around I will NOT be posting weekly 'bump dates'. It was fun for the first few weeks of my first pregnancy, but towards the middle I just felt like I was copying and pasting info from the last week because there really wasn't anything exciting happening. I may post a 1st, 2nd, 3rd trimester recap or something like that, but don't expect a weekly update. 

I thought I would go ahead and answer a few questions you may have:

Did you plan to have your babies so close in age? Actually, yes! Bill and his brother are 18 months apart (Cam and baby #2 will be 19 months apart) and he said it was great having someone so close growing up. Also, being that I'm 33 this year, I wanted to be done with having kids by the time I'm 35-36 (just incase we are thinking of having a 3rd... Which, after this pregnancy may not be happening). 

Will you find out the gender? Yes! My Dr actually offers a separate gender ultrasound for an extra cost as early as 14 weeks! We are finding out the gender on January 7th! To be honest, I have no idea what we are having this time around. There are a lot of similarities with Cam's pregnancy, but it's also been a bit worse. I had an instinct with Cam that it was a boy by this time. Some days I think definitely girl, then other days I think another boy!

Will you have another c section? As of right now, I am planning on scheduling another c section with this baby. My Dr does allow a vbac option, but she suggested since the babies are so close in age (and we didn't wait the recommended 2 years inbetween) to have another c section. Also, given that I was induced and labored for 27 hours with pretty minimal progression, I think that c section is the best and safest option.

Did you start to show sooner? Yes! I felt like my belly started to poke out around 8-9 weeks this time around! Of course, I was the only one that noticed and I've been wearing baggy sweaters and tunics to hide it until we were ready to let everyone know. But, there is definitely a baby bump growing!

Let me know if there are any other questions you may have!

I'll be back this week with a little Christmas recap this week. I'll be sharing some of what we got as gifts and our favorite moments. 

PS - Thank you so much to all of you that liked and commented on our IG announcement post! And it was so fun to find out that Katie is pregnant again too!! 

'Tis the Season...

'Tis the season to be busy, am I right? Sorry for the lack of posting this month! It has been pretty hectic in our little world and I wouldn't have it any other way. I promise I will be back to my normal posting schedule after the holidays die down!

Just wanted to give you all a little peek into our Christmas season so far...

We went together as a family to pick out our Christmas tree! Our first family outing was to go pick out our Christmas tree when Cam was just a little over a week old last year. I'm so glad we are starting these little family traditions!

I finally got around to sending out our Christmas cards. This year I DIY'd them! We got a pretty nice photo quality printer this year, so I just added text to the photo in photoshop and printed them on photo paper. I also lined the envelopes with scrapbook paper to add a little festive pop! (family photo by the talented Jenny Beck Photography)

I'm so excited for this Christmas with Cam. Last year he was just a little wrinkly newborn, but this year he is fully aware of his surroundings and I can tell he senses something festive in the air! He loves the Christmas tree and always points to it when he comes into dining room where it lives. He loves the lights and all the sparkly ornaments! I've also have been having so much fun dressing him in various Christmas PJs... I'm embarrassed to say how many pairs we own...

As far as this month's wardrobe is concerned... Let's just say my leggings and boots have been put to good use! I've been living in tunics and scarfs and it's been warm enough for no coat! I'm enjoying it while it lasts, but would trade this warm weather for a white Christmas for sure!

And then there was this priceless moment... I thought he could go one way or the other when he met Santa. What's sad is that he was all smiles in line and we even had him waiving to the nice camera ladies just moments before. Poor guy! 

I just started wrapping presents this week and I will say that I forgot how therapeutic it is! I absolutely love all the Sugar Paper goodies for Target this year! Did you guys snag any of their wrapping items?

I can not believe we are just a week away from Christmas Eve! This month is flying by!

I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday.