Sophia Lynn...

More Photos...

As promised, here are more photos of Sophia.

Sophia Is Here...

Here she is!! Amanda-Pants had Sophia Lynn this afternoon at 2:54pm. She is 8 lbs 15 ounces & 19 1/2 inches long. And...she has a FULL head of black hair. Here are a few pictures for you - I'll post some more later. Ben & Amanda were gracious enough to invite us up to the hospital tonight, and we got to hold this little miracle for about 2 hours. So kind of them to share so soon!!

#4

Hello Snow Day #4...what shall I do today?

• Clean out the linen closet
• Finish the laundry
• Read my book
• Work on Christmas album
• Maybe go hold a new baby?!!? (Amanda went into labor this morning at 2:00 am)
  
• Make Sugar cookies
• Pack

I am happy to report that all bedding on our bed is clean, including the quilt, blanket, & kitties that lay upon it. That's right - the kitties got it last night - Ally was very brave, I can't say the same for Deacon...

Marshmallows & Dishes...

Tonight Tim decided to make his fancy homemade marshmallow. He made them last year for the first time & they were a big hit. So tonight, he began the process again. This year we are going to have chocolate marshmallows too - yummm!!

While searching for his recipe & ingredient list, he realized he needed some things from the store. While he went to the store (in the snow) I wrapped his birthday presents & put a few more things in his stocking. When he came home, he told me he had a present for me in the car - when I went out to go look here's what I found...

New dishes!! Safeway (of all places) has had these dishes for weeks & every time we go, we look at them. So tonight Tim got them for me - it includes a serving platter, huge-mongus serving bowl, 8 dinner plates, & 8 salad bowls. What a wonderful husband I have (although I already knew that) & what a spoiled girl am I...

23 Weeks

Here I am at 23 weeks...

(Oh & for those keeping track, tomorrow is Snow Day #3...) :)

Winter Wonderland...

Here are some pictures of our beautiful snow! We have (or maybe it's had now) about 4 inches on the ground. Very uncommon for Soggy Salem. And ironically, it's been raining at Erin's house this week - I think she should move back to Salem to enjoy our snow. I am currently enjoying Snow Day #2...

My House This Week...

Well what do we have here?! A Winter Gerbera Daisy of course! Who doesn't have one of these when it's 19 degrees & snowing outside? :) I think my little precious is confused. You see, each winter I bring it into the garage to survive for the next summer. This fall when I brought it in, I cut it down to the dirt & noticed a very small bud on it - so I left that part. Next thing I know, it's growing everyday & the green leaves are growing now too. Silly flower. It brightens my days (not to mention my garage!).

Yesterday, during Snow Day crafting #1, I made some more ornaments, like Erin-o & I made last year. I made enough for my leadership team & parent volunteers. The leadership team that I was suppose to have a meeting with this morning, but didn't because we had Snow Day #2. Ah well, maybe I'll teach this week? If not, I know what they are getting in January...

And here is my latest lovely. Saturday Tim & I finished up our Christmas shopping. We even found a few stocking stuffers for each other. Tim found this for me & I don't think it's going to end up in the stocking...do you? Hello pretty kitty ring...

Friday...

On Friday night, Tim took me to see this concert. Oh my goodness - it was wonderful. It was his Christmas concert & something that we'd both wanted to see for a really long time - what a wonderful treat!!

And on his tour was Melinda Doolittle. After the concert Tim noticed that she was sitting at a table with no line waiting to sign autographs. At that same time my friend Janelle from church found us too & so we both got in line together & acted like silly school girls, nervous & not sure what to do. :) Melinda was SUPER nice & this is the pic that Tim took of us - so fun!!

Thank you Tim for a wonderful evening (even with my cold - sorry for the sniffles during the concert...). :)

Last One...

Tomorrow is Amanda's due date (I thought it was today, but she told me tonight, it's actually tomorrow). So here we are, in all of our pregnant glory - Amanda 40 weeks, Jessie 22. It looks like I'm faking it compared to her!

Tonight we made sure Manda's toes were ready. They are now a sparkly red (very holidaish) & as she put it, delivery room ready. :)

P.S.

For those of you who are curious:

Tim - Ribbon tree
Nicole - Green, red & white tree
Jessie - Pink tree

**If you have no idea what I'm talking about - see previous post - 2 posts ago...**

A White Elephant Christmas...

Last night our life group from church had our Christmas party. We each brought a 'gift' & a treat. What a great evening filled with lots of yummy food, friends, & much laughter. My husband (the lucky man of the evening) came home with a microwave meatloaf pan. Wow. That will get lots of use at my house (insert eye rolling). :) Actually, Tim plans to give it to his younger brother for Christmas with his actual gift inside of it - perfect!

Here is Kari being scared by her gift. And with good reason...

A little torturing of the baby never hurt anyone. To our surprise - he thought it was hilarious!

I came home with the best present (in my opinion). I was #1, so at the end, I got to steal any gift I wanted. I came home with super fancy purple m&m's that apparently are to die for & a sculpturade game that looks very fun. Both brand new. Thanks Kari!! :)

Buttons, Bellies & Birthdays...

This weekend has been quite fun! Yesterday after being productive, Nicole came over & we played button trees. This year I bought two small trees & Tim did one. Can you guess who did which one? The players are: Nicole, Tim, & Jessie. Good luck with your guesses. Will there be a prize you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait & see.

I also decorated some Christmas ornaments for our Christmas bowl. We aren't putting up a tree this year, but I've put everything else out. I'm excited to add our two new button trees to the mix.

And here is another pic of me at almost 22 weeks (tomorrow) with my new hair. Laura cut & colored my hair for me on Friday - hooray!! Of course it looked better when she styled it, but you get the idea...

I'm off to take a much needed nap. Then it's off to work again for me tomorrow. Before I leave, I must say happy, happy birthday to my dear friend Kelly. I hope you are enjoying a wonderful day of celebrating!!! (Your card will be in the mail tomorrow...). :)

21 Weeks

Here is a tummy shot at 21 1/2 weeks. Baby Ella is getting bigger & kicking stronger each day. It's so fun to just sit and feel her move. The other night she actually woke me up with her kicking and squirming. I have a feeling it won't be the last time... :)

Tonight we decorated for Christmas & I made pumpkin cookies (thanks Erin-O for the recipe!) while we listened to Christmas music. How fun!! I also made a Christmas playlist on my iPod for school - so they can listen while they work during the next few weeks.

Hope you are all enjoying your holiday weekend - we each have so much to be thankful for...this year I'm especially thankful for my growing belly.

Look Whhhooo Came To Visit...

Stanley! Last week we had a guest in our classroom - Stanley the Great Horned owl. She sat on her perch & watched my kids while Susan, her care taker told us all about her. Stanley sat for over 1 1/2 hours in our room - it was very cool. The kids were SO excited - what fun. She even gave us a 'hoot' a couple of times.

Amanda's Baby Shower

On Sunday we threw Amanda Pants a baby shower. It was oh so much fun to get to spoil her & her baby girl - I was so excited for 3:00 to come. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought that I had...but that's okay - this gives you the main idea.

We had the shower at her mother-in-law's house. We played a few games including 'who's water breaks first'? (Where you freeze little plastic babies in ice cube trays & see who's pops out of the cube in a cup of juice first - I love this game). We also played the game where each guest was given two baby safety pins & told that they couldn't say the word baby. They had fun stealing pins from each other. :) And Miss Amanda walked away with lots & lots of adorable gifts for her baby. Here are some photos from our fun afternoon...

Why I think Ella will give Jessie a run for her money...

I Did It!!

...finished my Christmas Album that is. I told you I would. You didn't believe me did you? :)

Yep - as of this evening it's all finished, now all I need is for December 1st to come so I can begin my journal entries for the days leading up to Christmas. Hooray!

I must tell you before I show you the pictures - that I'm very thankful for two things during this project 1. My husband (aka, the computer) 2. My Cricut

Tim reminded me after I was already finished with cutting out 4 of the 16 scalloped papers to cover my chipboard that the Cricut (you may remember that he got this for me for my birthday) would do that for me. I shrieked with delight. I did not have this information! So - he scanned the chipboard & hooked up the Cricut to the laptop & boom - instant pages cut to fit exactly to the size of the chipboard. And it looks PERFECT! How fancy is he? I'm so proud of him. So here is a sneak peak of the album, in all of it's glory.