Ticker Change Saturday - Merry Christmas!

Happy Sunday, ladies! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Kevin and I had a great time with our families. Saturday morning we woke up to five inches of snow at my parents' house. I was so excited! We were all so excited to see how Emma acted once she woke up and saw her presents from Santa! She didn't disappoint. The look on her face and the way her little eyes lit up was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Santa brought her a Barbie Jeep and when she saw it she went "oooooooohhhh" and just circled around it. She ended up opening all of her gifts while sitting in it! haha! Kevin and I got her a keyboard that looks like a cat and makes all kinds of noise. She absolutely loved the thing and wouldn't part with it during the day. My family told me I'd be getting paid back next year! ;)

On Christmas Day, I hit the 12 week mark. Just one week and three days left of 1st Trimester! I know anything can happen at any point, but if/when we make it to 13 weeks and 4 days, I will be so relieved.

According to Parents Connect, this week the bebes eyes and ears will move into place, making them look "more human". Their finger and toe nails are forming and they can now swallow. They have now doubled in size and are the length of your pinky finger. And by The Bump's ticker, they are the size of plums.

Here is a picture of what the bebes look like this week:

12 Weeks Pregnant

And for your viewing pleasure:


December 11, 2010 - 10 Weeks


December 25, 2010 - 12 Weeks

Now, I'm off to relax before bedtime! I hope you ladies are having a wonderful Sunday!

Free at last! Free at last!

This past Tuesday was my last class of the semester! Yay! Our final draft of the paper is due by midnight tonight, so we all know what I'll be doing tonight. I just can't wait to be finished with it!

We all know I love the snow, but ice? That's a whole nother story. Ashley and I barely made it down our hill this morning. My car had a solid sheet of ice on it, so it took us awhile to get it cleared off enough to see through the windows. I'm just hoping I can make it back up my hill after work. Walking up the hill was no fun before I was pregnant, but now? I can't imagine. I get winded walking up our steps! haha!

Kevin and I did some of our shopping for our nieces and nephews last night. We have gifts for four of them down, and three to go. I know what we're getting them all, except Emma. The child has tons of toys and loves Dora. I thought about getting her some clothes with Dora on them. Whitney told me Emma saw a gift wrapped in Dora wrapping paper and just went nuts over it. I would have loved to have seen that!

What about you ladies? Have you all finished all of your shopping?

I don't respect the turkey!

We've already switched the radio to a local station that plays nothing but Christmas music from the second/third week of November until Christmas Day at work. We're also putting up the Christmas decorations tomorrow, that way when we come in Friday it'll be Christmas-y! :)

I have so much due for school in the next three weeks and you know what I'm worried about?? Getting my Christmas decorations and tree out! I'm definitely putting it up this weekend if it kills me and I don't finish my paper. A girl has priorities, ya know!

How about you ladies? When will you put your Christmas decor out?

Well, I really thought I would have more to post, but I don't! Have a great day!

"Blogger's Block"

I feel like I should write something today, but I don't have anything to say.

My parents' electricity  finally came back on this morning. There is also someone coming to cut the up tree  today. I'm so happy they're finally able to come back home and not worry about being in someone's way! Whit, Nathan and Emma get to come home and have Emma where she belongs!

Here are some pics of the damage the tree did:

You can see how many trees fell that night! They were so lucky only one actually hit the house!

At least dad's icicle lights held up! :)

There are so many people in our area still w/o power and, now, many are w/o water. I still can't believe how lucky me and my hubby have been throughout all of this. We were without power for only 26 hours, compared to those who have been w/o since Friday evening. We haven't lost our water and there's no fear of us even losing it. I've gotten to come home to a warm apartment, cook a hot meal and take a hot shower everyday. This whole mess has really given me a new outlook on things. It has made me realize that I need to be a lot more grateful for things, instead of complaining over everything.

I can't wait to see my family tomorrow. I was already so homesick, but knowing that they're up there suffering and there's nothing I can do, has made it so much worse!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Snowflakes. :)

Today I'm entering my first blog contest! How exciting!

Its actually really simple! Momma Ruth is having a weekly treasure hunt on Etsy. Each Friday she'll give us a "theme" to search for on Etsy, we find something that we like or is meaningful to us and then post about it. After we post about it, we go back to Momma Ruth's blog and enter it into the McLinky box. Can someone explain to me what that is?

This week's theme is snowflakes. :) I was really excited when I saw this! I immediately headed over to Etsy and started my search. Wow! Soooo many pages came up with so many cute items dealing with snowflakes. I honestly didn't know what I was going to choose.

That is, until, I saw this:

Fine Threads

When I saw this, I couldn't help but smile! This instantly reminded me of my mamaw! As a side note, when I mention my mamaw, it is my dad's mom. I don't have a relationship with my mom's mom. It also reminds me of my mom. When I was younger, we'd spend several evenings going out and buying all kinds of Christmas decorations. My mom and mamaw would get all kinds of candles. They'd be shaped like nutcrackers, snowflakes, Christmas trees, etc. They'd set them up all over their houses. Everywhere you turned, there was a candle. But, my mamaw also made her own Christmas decorations. She'd crochet ornaments that looked somewhat like the one pictured above and would also make ornaments out of the plastic sewing canvas. She made some for my mom's tree and she still has them!

Christmas Memories

I keep reading on Facebook about how people need to finish their Christmas shopping. Me? I haven't even started. I mean, I have ideas of what I want to get everyone, but those can only go so far if you no have money. Now that the wedding's finished, we will have some extra money, but it won't be enough for what we want to buy for everyone. Isn't that how it always goes? I'm thinking of opening up a Christmas Club account this January. That'll at least give us some extra money next Christmas.

Our parents keep saying not to get them anything, but I couldn't imagine NOT getting them something. After all they've done for us this year, I feel as if we need to get them a little something. Of course, there's no question about our nieces and nephew. Emma's only four months old, so we can't really buy her any cool toys for her to enjoy right now. This is Jayden's second Christmas, but last year he was only two months old, so he'll actually have fun ripping the paper off the presents! Makayla's three years old now, so she knows exactly what's going on! I'm really looking forward to that! I'm still not sure what to get Kevin? Any ideas? What are you guys getting your men?

I've been printing off Christmas candy recipes all morning! I'm really excited! Hopefully, it'll all turn out okay? I'm not the best at baking, but I sure do give it my best! My plan is to be like my mom someday. That woman is the best cook in the whole world! Everything she makes tastes amazing. I always know its Christmas time when she's making peanut butter and chocolate fudge, as well as applesauce cakes! Yum! Dad, Whit and I always fought over who would get to eat the fudge off the sides of the saucepan when she was done! haha!

My favorite Christmas candy! :)

I'm also going to attempt to make this:

Tiger Butter Fudge! This was first introduced to me by Kelli when we worked together @ FOL. I've loved it ever since!

I've also looked up some punch recipes! That's another thing that makes me think of Christmas. My sweet little mamaw always made punch at Christmas! She would always be dressed up in a pretty little Christmas sweater and a Christmas aapron. She'd set up the punch, as well as Coke and some other sodas, on a little table in the foyer! It was always so fun to spend Christmas at her house!

What about you guys? Do you have anything like that that reminds you of Christmas? Nothing like the usual stuff (trees, snow, Santa, etc)!