I'll Huff, and I'll Puff...

Big bad wolf, PLEASE don't blow this little piggy's house down. I don't know if this house of sticks and stones is going to stand up to your powerful blowing.

I'm not speaking in metaphors...our wind is kind of freaking me out. It's days like this all I can do is pray that Richmond American Homes really put all the nails and screws in the walls that they were suppose to...other wise our roof may end up a few hundred yards away. Holy Smokes.

Kyle actually came to me this morning and said "Mommy, I'm scared of the wind, make it stop." I told him to yell as loud as he could to 'go away wind', which he did, but it didn't seem to work! We then ended up in his room cuddling for a while singing songs to drown out the noise a bit. Although I don't love the wind, I'll take cuddle time any way I can get it!

Our Christmas

Christmas came a little early for me! (Well, just by one day.) Scott surprised me on Christmas Eve with tickets to the matinee showing of Legally Blonde The Musical at the Kennedy Center.
What a fun start to a couple of GREAT days! I've got to give it to him, since we've been married his gift-giving has definitely gotten better and better by the year!! ;) Thanks babe, for such a thoughtful and fun gift.

After the show we came home and had a really nice relaxing evening with just our little family. It was wonderful! We snacked on shrimp cocktail, cheese, pizza pockets, and some other fun snacky stuff. We capped the evening off by watching Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (The old school animated one of course!) and then settled in for a nice winters sleep!

Here is a 'before' picture of the tree and Santa's surprises... (Oh shoot, your just going to have to use your imagination, I forgot to rotate the picture before downloading it!!)

...And here is Kyle with all his loot!He was THRILLED with all his fun things on Christmas morning. A big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Walters for the awesome trampoline and books. Grandma and Grandpa Pugmire for the Kitty Webkin. Uncle Eric and Family for the AWESOME zoomer toy and movie. Uncle Tom and Aunt Jill for the Moon Sand. And Santa for the bicycle and Elefun game.

Whew! One spoiled kid. Thankfully he's just spoiled, and not a brat! (I guess that is just my humble opinion!)

It was so much fun to watch Kyle open his gifts. He's finally starting to 'get it' this year. He was so happy and excited, yet very gracious thanking everyone after each gift (even though they weren't here to hear it!)

Last but certainly not least, our traditional family picture in front of the tree...
Oh, and this last picture is for Grandma and Grandpa...Kyle obviously LOVES his new tramp.

The true spirit of CHRISTmas.

I walked into our living room a week or two ago and came upon this...

I LOVE this time of year, and I LOVE that Kyle can spend minutes on end (which is a lot for a 3 1/2 year old) playing with 'his' nativity set. The angel sings 'Away in a Manger', and I can't even begin to count how many times we have heard it over the past few weeks...and I'm not even sick of it! I'll take 'Away in a Manger' any day over some of the crazy stuff we hear these days.

NO Fear!

We took these pictures of Kyle on Thanksgiving morning. We were staying at Scott's Aunt's house in NC. This was in the room that Scott and I were staying in. Kyle quickly found out that air mattresses are much more fun than regular old bed mattresses!! Seriously, the kid has NO FEAR!I guess it's about time for us to find some tumbling classes!

Oh, and here is a little video of his tuck-n-rolls! (Sorry about the blurring, the video is just from our still camera!)

We'll SO miss you!

Our heaven sent visitor left this morning. We've been so blessed to have my mom, a.k.a. Grandma Sandy, in town for the past 10 days. Of course we ALWAYS love when she visits, but her visit this time around was especially timely.

My body is taking this pregnancy so different than with Kyle. Although I had the blood pressure issue with K-man, (as well as this time around) I always felt like a champ. I was lucky enough to not get sick and to not have too many eating issues. By the time the second trimester rolled around I had plenty of energy, etc. NOT SO THIS TIME AROUND! This pregnancy has just left me exhausted and not feeling well most of the time. And instead of it getting better, I kind of think its just getting worse. Needless to say, my sweet hubby Scott hasn't had too many decent meals in the past few months. I'm sure he enjoyed not having to eat fast food while my mom was here. (When I felt like I could eat it, I know I did!) She also is a CHAMPION dish washer! Thanks mom, for giving me a break on dishes the whole time you were here.

Another MAJOR accomplishment is that Kyle is super close to being potty trained! I had all but given up on him, but we kept telling him that as soon as grandma got here that he was going to have to be a 'big boy'! The addition of another adult seemed to be the trick. He's got the whole potty thing down and has only had one or two accidents in a week...we're still working on the 'other' issue. Let's just say that in the morning we keep a pull-up on because I'd rather throw away the mess than have to wash it out! By afternoon, once the deed has been done, he's good to go with wearing big boy undies! Yea for us! We're almost there! I can definitely handle one pull-up a day until he gets the poop thing down.

On top of everything else, she helped me to get the last four or five remaining boxes upstairs unpacked (yes, we've only been moved for two years!) And she was a great companion for me during the craft show on Saturday.

I'm pretty sure that Kyle lives his little version of 'heaven on earth' when Grandma is in town. He got her all to himself for 10 days. She surprised him with lots of new books, which she read over and over... and over! She played with him every time he asked, and got to have lots of cuddles and tickles. It was wonderful!

So, just like always, her visit was fantastic! Being pregnant, I really appreciated all the help and breaks she gave me. Just having her here for moral support was priceless.

Thanks mom, for being my very best girl friend. Thanks for loving me unconditionally and being there for me no matter how emotional I am. Thank you for all the help you are and for being such a great example to me. Thank you for being such an amazing Grandma to Kyle and the future little Pug. I love you SO much and can't wait untill we can see you again.

Our Thanksgiving

• 4 days of family vacation Fun!
• 522 mile round-trip drive
• $65 in gas money (SO MUCH CHEAPER than this time last year!)
• $126 donation to Nelson Co. Virginia Public School system (a.k.a speeding ticket!)

Not having to host, or cook Thanksgiving dinner...PRICELESS!!

Thank you Cunningham family for being so great to us. We had such a great holiday with you. Kyle can't stop talking about Casey and Natalie and all their fun tea parties. And for the first time in a long time, we didn't need a vacation from our vacation. (Thanks for not making me feel guilty for sleeping so much!) Also, thank your dear friends for cooking the turkey, it was SO nice not to have to smell that the whole day, I'm pretty sure my preggo stomach wouldn't have handled that too well! We love you, and can't wait to see you again soon!