Is this not the saddest face?

You would have thought the poor guy just heard that there wasn't a Santa Claus?  

(He just wasn't feeling good when we went to take some pictures for Christmas presents.)

24 weeks

 Here I am at 24 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How far along? 24 wks. 1 day (in picture)

Weight gain: weeeelllll...do you really want to know????

okay, I am nearing the 20 pounder mark! Yikes!

Gender: BOY

Sleep: when Russ doesn't snore like a lumberjack, pretty good, but when I can't sleep I just toss and turn all night! (Earplugs are the key to a happy marriage:)

What I miss:  sleep, not having to go to the bathroom ALL.THE.TIME

Cravings: Just that same ole Mexican food!  

Symptoms: having those Braxton Hicks contractions ( I think from being on my feet during Thanksgiving) and do bad hair days count?  I think they do!

Best Moment of the Week: decorating the Christmas Tree with the kids and telling the stories about all our ornaments and where/when/why we got them.  

Cute Thanksgiving Day pictures by Rick!

 In between, eating, sleeping and cooking, we put up some of our Christmas decorations and the kids had so much fun! Each year, it is so fun to watch Grace Ann get more and more into the Magic of Christmas!  And I know how fun it will be to have three sweet kids grow up together celebrating these wonderful holidays! 

Our Turkey Day 2012!

 So our Turkey Day really started the night before, with GA and Russ assembling the tree and Russ getting the turkey ready to be smoked.  We enjoyed a very low-key Thanksgiving just being thankful for the wonderful blessings that have made our life better than we deserve! I am so glad that my parents drove in from Cleveland to spend the day with us and help get our house ready for Christmas.  They were a big help! We did miss our other family spread around in Midland, Mississippi, Alabama and Ohio, but hopefully we will see everyone sooner than later! 

 Russ and his prize turkey! It was delicious!

 Watching the parade and getting ready for a great lunch!

 He was saying, "Cheese!"

 Somebody has been sneaking around the marshmellows and I think she got her hands on a few!

 What a sweet boy I have and now I get to have two sweet boys to love on!

 Not the best picture of me, but I wanted to capture me and Mom in the kitchen getting things together.

 These were two of GA's crafts she did at school that I used as table decorations. 

 I promise he wasn't in the highchair all day, I just needed him to stay put sometimes!

And the best part of the day...The Turkey NAP! She was out until 5pm!

Grace Ann's Thanksgiving Feast

 On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Grace Ann had her little feast at school. Russ was even able to take off again (and thank goodness, Mr. Henry was a little turkey himself!) and come to see her eat like the 1st Thanksgiving Feast!  GA got to be an Indian this year with the name, "Rushing Wind." 

 Brother was so excited to his "sissy" and he wanted to be in the middle of all the festivities.  He kept clapping and saying, "Yay!" Poor guy, he hasn't been to too many of her parties! 

 Hanging out with Daddy!

 These two shots were taken that night when we were sitting down for dinner. I thought they looked so cute, and needed to snap a little pic!

And poor brother had an ear infection, fever for three days and a bad wheezing cough and cold all week!  He was a trooper though! 

Grace Ann the Great!

 I was trying to snap a few pics of GA one day before school, but ya know it's so hard to get those cute smiles from her nowadays!  She is my silly girl!

 Story time at the library!

 She is telling me "not to take her picture!"

This girl is so full of life and 4 year old wisdom these days!  Russell and I just do double takes on what she says all the time!  We are constantly saying to each other, "Did you hear your daughter?" or "Grace Ann just said what?"

Lately, Grace Ann has been:

• writing her name and wanting to write her friends' names.
• can sit down and enjoy drawing, painting or coloring for a solid 15 minutes!
• starting to read some basic books
• reciting bible verses
• is getting good at letting me know when I am frustrated! who me? 
• loves to play dress-up, pretend games with her stuffed animals and chase her brother around the yard
• loves to be mine or Russell's helper (she got to hammer her first real nail this weekend!) 
• tells us constantly how much she loves us, her family, Jesus and her life! (so sweet)
• enjoys her classroom and her teacher
• can count to 20, sometimes 30 on a good day
• loves her ballet class, but says when she is six, she is switching to soccer!
• she is a planner, like her momma and a good organizer, too!
• can make up her bed and clean her room, when strongly motivated:)
• as of now, when she grows up, she wants to be a: mommy, a doctor and a fixer!
• loves to watch Baby Einstein with brother, Doc McStuffins ( a new fav), Max and Ruby and Super Why?

I think I read on someone's blog about how they love every stage their child has gone through and the latest one is always their favorite and I have to say that is so true!  Even though there are so many struggles and daily battles with little ones, I love how their little triumphs outweigh the hard moments.  I love watching Grace Ann accomplish tasks she is just learning and watch the sheer joy she experiences from her success!  She is definitely a firecracker, but man does she light up mine and Russell's life!

God Bless our Veterans today!  I am so thankful we have brave men and women to protect our country and our freedom!

My big boy!

 I can't believe this sweet boy is 20 months already!  Where has the time gone?! And in a few short months he won't be my baby boy anymore! Unlike, Grace Ann, Henry is more attached to me than she was at this age.  I don't know if it is bc we are together more or if he is just my sweet ole momma's boy.  Before my pregnancy brain lets me forget all of his sweet things at this stage, here is the list of what is going on with Henry :

• getting more curious on how things operate, i.e. cars, broom, his little people farm (opening and closing the doors)
• loves to close any open door
• call GA "sissy" and looks for her when she is at school
• loves anything to do with balls, trucks, tractors, basically things that go and that he can push
• can sing along to ABC song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Bingo, and Old McDonald
• loves to watch Baby Einstein and Elmo
• runs and loves to slide down the slide and say "wheeeeeeeeeeeee"
• has all 4 one-year molars cut through and working on some more teeth!
• eating lots of fruits, turkey, chicken, cheese, spaghetti, pancakes, cereal bars, yogurt and applesauce
• does NOT like pizza?!
• hates to get his diaper changed...such a wiggle worm!
• sleeping has been a challenge the last few weeks, not sure if it teeth or beginning nightmares or seperation
• still loves to be rocked at night...which I love!
• loves to read board books and points to pictures and ids the picture

All in all, we have a happy, healthy toddler who loves his family and we are so excited for him to have a brother as a playmate!