Christmas

The boys were excited about Christmas this year. I only have pictures from Christmas morning, but we did some other things that were really fun. We went caroling with friends (I actually stayed behind for the caroling part because I didn't want to do a lot of walking after having cerclage). Jim and Ila Broyles were such great hosts; the other Broyles clan was there as well. I heard that Mills stole the show at every house--being the youngest always gets you a lot of attention. The bigger kids had a blast and received lots of candy and treats from the many people they caroled for. I can't wait to go next year! The other highlight was our church Christmas Eve service. Perry sang with the other 3-5 year olds. They did so well; and it was really sweet to see.

Christmas morning:

 Mills was really excited about his raisins!

Best pic I got of the boys together (Christmas in Denton)

cutest reindeer around!

Helen and Baby Caroline's Sip and See

Caroline was born in October, but I hadn't seen her in person until they came to Shreveport for Christmas. We were all so excited to finally meet her!

Perry and Mills LOVED baby Caroline. Perry would say, "She's so tute!"

(Notice the ball on top of Caroline's head--they were "playing" with her)

My mom and aunts hosted a little Sip and See for them the weekend before Christmas. It was a fun time and Caroline was a trooper!

 Helen and Caroline with our grandmother, Nonnie, and aunts, Winnie and Ann Reid

 The Waterfallens. Poor Dr. John finally holds a baby that isn't freshly born and she starts whaling.

 Mom and Cathie

 Grammy, Anne and Mae Mae enjoying Caroline's smiles

 Helen and Dad

snuggling with Nana and Papa

There were also many sweet friends who stopped by to see Helen and meet Caroline.

Perry's Christmas Program

Perry's K3 Christmas Program was the day after my cerclage, and I was very thankful I could make it! He did so well with his first program. Alex, Mae Mae and I had front row seats. I was a little concerned how Perry would do with us right in front, but it turns out I had nothing to worry about. He did SO well! While many of the kids were distracted or not participating, Perry was doing everything he was supposed to. I could tell he was proud to perform for us. Makes a Mommy happy! OK, enough with the bragging...here are some pictures.

 Putting his "fluffy tail in" during the Reindeer Hokey Pokey

 Dancing to another song

 We love our big boy!

Baby on the Way!

We're so excited to be adding another precious child to our family! Due July 1, 2014. We talked and prayed long and hard about this decision--our doctor(s) were supportive and our hearts kept leading us in this direction, so here we are!

Blogging (along with most everything else I normally do) completely ceased in November when my pregnancy sickness kicked in. I'm 20 weeks now (on February 11) and still dealing with some nausea/vomiting, but it's not that troublesome any more. I'll be happy if/when it goes away for good. Other things to report about this pregnancy have been how tired I was during 1st trimester. Maybe it's because I'm home with 2 kids instead of just 1 this time, but I've never been that exhausted before! Also, my desire has been to not find out the gender of this baby, so we haven't! Alex isn't as enthusiastic, but he's going along just fine. I've had so many ultrasounds since I'm high risk, but we've been able to avoid accidentally finding out. The not so good news is that my cervix started acting up earlier than expected this time. At 18 weeks, it was already funneling some, so I've been home on "take it easy" orders for a couple weeks now. Strict bed rest will start once my cervix is completely funneled to my stitch. I had cerclage(s) placed at 12 weeks and the surgery went well. Our saving grace this go round is Bethany, our full-time nanny. We knew getting pregnant would mean bed rest, so I starting looking for a nanny early on and we found Bethany! She's absolutely wonderful--I truly can't imagine anyone better for our family. So thankful God provided her! I'll try to do a better job with pregnancy updates. I've taken one picture of my belly. Here I am at 19 weeks: