Friends...what would we do without them?

On Christmas day, we had our closest friends over and had a fabulous time! Exactly what we wanted! We have all been good friends for 5+ years and have been through the good and bad times together!!! We know we can count on each other for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and at ANYTIME! The funnest part this year is that three of us ladies are pregnant and due within a month of each other! One of those women (Brooke) however wasn't able to be here on Christmas due to being on bedrest in the Hospital. We really missed her!
Top row: Left to right:
Teri & Steve, Brent (Brooke's husband), Laura & Brent, Liz & Lars
Bottom row: left to right: Donnie & Rene, Lindsay & Greg
The Guys: Donnie, Steve, Lars, and Brent chatting about guy stuff (electronics mostly!) (not shown in this photo: Greg and Brent) The guys too really hit it off and love to hang out together!
The Girls: Liz, Lindsay, Rene, Laura, and Teri (Teri and I are due one month apart and Brooke was due between the two of us.) Last Wednesday, Brooke ended up having her baby at 25 weeks. So far, so good with their little guy!

The friendships we share with all these people means the world to us! We were told about two weeks ago that one of these couples (Greg and Lindsay) will be moving to North Carolina when school lets out and it makes me very sad! I think right now we are all in denial and don't want to think about the fact that they are leaving! It breaks my heart to think about not having them around anymore! We will miss them so much!

Our White Christmas

I know I'm a little behind on my posts and now I'm out of order but I had to show everyone what a wonderful Christmas we had! This is just the start of a perfect day!This is what we woke up to Christmas morning! We were so excited! The last time Texas had snow on Christmas day was back in 1926!!!
This is the backyard where the reindeer waited while Santa delivered our gifts. Can't you see the hoof prints?
The girls couldn't wait to play in the snow! They are still in their pajamas!
Our little snowman lasted only 2 days!
Our little "snow" angel!

The joys of being pregnant...

I think my eyes can only see PINK these days. I've been spending so much time getting ready for this baby to arrive, it seems I fill my days setting up the nursery and getting things we will need. In addition, my "nesting" period has set in. Brent is LOVING it! Everyday he comes home to having another closet cleaned out or my many "hot spots" or "piles" as he puts it, cleaned up. He says this is the best part about pregnancy!

I'm experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions which I didn't have with the other two and just this week she has started getting the hiccups but only in the middle of the night which wakes me up. The girls love to see my stomach move and take different shape and they are really cute about hugging my belly before they will hug me. (You can tell who they love most right now!) This pregnancy is going by so quickly it's hard to believe in 2 1/2 months she will be here. At my last appointment this week I was shocked to learn that I had gained 9 pounds in one month! My Dr. said it was mostly water weight because I'm measuring right on and my legs were a little more swollen than last time. The girls tell me I look like I swallowed a watermelon. I am now going every two weeks to the Dr. so now the time is really going to fly! I just hope I can get everything ready in time!

Six Months!

3 months to go! I love feeling the baby move and so does Brent and Danielle. Hannah has yet to feel the kicks and rolls and it makes her so mad! The baby does move around alot enough to make my whole belly move. Sometimes it feels like she's dancing inside because I will feel her top to bottom and side to side all at the same time. I am also experiencing some sciatic nerve pain already which started much earlier this time around but I'm seeing a massage therapist who helps me with some stretching to aleviate some of the pain. Everyone tells me how cute I look right now but WATCH OUT, I'm going to balloon here at any moment! I've gained 10 pounds already and with the other girls I didn't put on any weight until the last trimester. But then again, this pregnancy has been completely different from the others. I feel as though my body has been taken over but I'm trying to enjoy every moment!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...Minus the Snow! The girls have been begging for a blow-up Christmas decoration to put out in our yard so I found this one and we LOVE it! Since we live on a corner lot everyone who drives by gets to see it! I hope they all are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and it's nice to reflect what is in our hearts in our Christmas decor!


Hannah (9) found out about Santa this year but is being so wonderful about playing along. Our neighborhood had a Christmas party and had Santa come visit. She even sat on his lap and told him what she wanted...a dog!


Danielle sat on Santa's lap too even though she knows this isn't the "real" Santa. She believes Santa is at the North Pole getting ready for Christmas Eve and that these "dressed up" Santa's are only his helpers. She asked for a dog too...Sorry girls, we are getting a baby this year.


This picture was taken before we left to go to Brent's work Christmas party and we had to dress up. Aren't we a handsome couple? It was an adventure trying to find a modest maternity dress that would be appropriate for this occassion. I finally found this one and I felt so beautiful in it! (even with my growing tummy!) It was pricey and I have only worn it twice but it was worth it! I wish I could wear it everyday!

Baby number three is.......

A GIRL!!!!!!! We are loving the thought of ALL girls! When we were told we were having a girl, every desire of having a boy disappeared! We already know what to do with girls and I have to say we make pretty cute ones at that! Lucky for Brent, he will have four women who LOVE him more than anyone and four women who will happily spend his money! We are very excited to have her come...now for some shopping!

CLOSE CALL!!!

On Tuesday, I had been out all day and came home for about an hour in time for my girls to get home from school, eat a snack, and then take Hannah to piano lessons. About 5 minutes before we were to leave the house, I started smelling gas or something that may be burning. I knew it was in my kitchen but I couldn't figure out what it was. I checked EVERYTHING! I started to worry knowing I was leaving the house and because I was breathing in something that I knew was bad for the baby, me, and the girls. I sent the girls out to the car to wait while I called Brent. While I was on the phone I started to see smoke coming from behind the refrigerator! I heard sizzling coming from the bottom of the refrigerator so Brent told me I needed to pull it out to see what it was. This was not easy in my condition! But I did it. I couldn't see anything so I finally unplugged it and the sizzling stopped but the smoke kept coming! I called My friend Rene, she came right over to help and within minutes, another friends husband knocked on my door saying he heard we needed help!(I had called his wife too!) He found we had an electrical fire in the bottom of the refrigerator! Some of the insulation was burned and we think the compressor was what was burning. I was heartsick knowing I had just stocked my freezer and refrigerator and it was all going to go to waste. Ben and Rene were nice enough to take the majority of the food and store it at their homes for me. What a blessing! We aren't sure if it can be fixed or if we will need to get a new one! I didn't realize just how much I depend on my refrigerator and how much I use it until now! I feel like the kitchen has been shut down and am limited as to what I can make. To top it all off we were having family come stay that evening and for the remainder of this week. Sorry guys! Another aspect of all this was that I was so panicked that I was crying and didn't know quite what to do, I often went to call for help but couldn't find my cell phone. After I had calmed down and I got my brain working again, I realized it was in my pocket the whole time! This could have all taken place while I was gone and then my home would have had serious damage, possibly caught fire! One of the thoughts I had through all this and the potential harm that could have been done was that all the Christmas presents I had just bought could have been lost and a friend of mine had just dropped off a Christmas gift for her daughter for "safe keeping" maybe 45 minutes earlier and that that gift could have been lost too! But, the greatest blessing of all is this: The Lord is always here to help, guide, and protect me! Sometimes I don't realize it as I should but this time I really felt him there with me and that he made sure everyone and everything was safe. I got the help I needed, just everything fell into place and all is good now. Needless to say, Hannah didn't make it to her piano lessons and that's OK!