Christmas Eve Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve Eve (the 23rd) with my family which also happens to be my dad's birthday.  We all made a movie for my dad and, thanks to Ben and his mad skills, it turned out great.  Pretty sure my dad loved it.  I teared up a bit during it...so did my mom...and my little sister who just had a baby and is still all hormonal.  It was great.

Happy birthday dad!

We then opened some presents for Christmas.  The wrapping and labeling got a little confused and Maddie ended up with 2 of the Twilight movies.  She had no idea what they were, but was thrilled and yelled, "I LOVE this movie!"  We got it all sorted out and she ended up with the movie she was actually supposed to have.

 Maddie and Brooklynn.  Mads LOVES this little girl and is so protective and cute with her.

A little blurry, but really the only picture of just the 2 of us the whole night...

 My cute mom.  I don't really know what is in her hand...probably the present we all gave her?  Glad I pay attention.

 Mandy and her cute boyfriend Jeff.  He just bought a Gandolfo's franchise in Provo and has mad sandwich making skills now.  We really like him and hope he stays in the family.  No pressure though.

 Jeff's very favorite present.  He LOVES this little remote control helicopter.  He's getting really good at steering and landing it.  I told him to pick out and order the one he wanted then we had my parents give it to him so he could open it earlier than Christmas day.  I think yesterday is the first time he has NOT played with it since Thursday.

 This little dude is wild.  We got him this outfit.  It's kinda ugly, but he is obsessed with Woody and Buzz so we figured this was a safe bet.

 I love this picture of my dad holding Brooklynn and hanging out with Sam.  He loves his grandkids.

 Becca and Devin.  Again, blurry, but I like the look on their faces. 

Thanks to Emily and Ben for the diapers and super cute onesie for Baby Cakes.  She loves them and can't wait to wear each and every one of those diapers within a few days when she finally comes...

Isn't he going to be such a cute dad in a couple months?  Look at how gentle and enthralled he is with Brooklynn.  I love this guy.

 

For some reason I don't have a picture of Emily and Ben together where they both have their eyes open and are somewhat looking at the camera.  Probably because they were parenting their children the entire night and didn't have a moment without making sure Mads and Sam weren't opening other people's presents or injuring each other.  Christmas day was another day full of family fun, but that will be coming a little later.

Randomly found this on YouTube...Yay Maddie!

2 Years

We celebrated our 2nd anniversary yesterday!   It was absolutely perfect in every way...after we both were done at work anyway.
This is what I came home to:

 

Yep.  I have the cutest husband ever.  We ordered dinner in from P.F. Chang's and watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds.  Jeff left work a little early and did all this, then when I called to tell him I was finally on my way home, he said he was too.  He sat out in his car until I got home so that it seemed like he had just gotten home as well.  Good job, husband.
We agreed on no gifts.  I gave him a card.  And I felt super lame because he did all that PLUS added to the book he made me last year.

Naturally, I cried.  A lot.
Jeff, thanks for the best 2 years of my life.  I'm so excited for the rest of forever with you.  You will be an amazing dad to our baby cakes.  We will be the 2 luckiest girls in the world to have you.  Thanks for being patient with all my crying and emotional instability these last several months.
Happy anniversary!

We were talking about how it has only been 2 years, but already 2 years at the same time.  It's so weird and almost foreign to think about life before we were married.  It feels like we've been together forever, but it has also gone by so fast.  We always talk about how marriage has not been hard for us at all and has just been such a natural transition.  This guy sure makes me happy and I'm grateful he chose me! 

Prego + Santa = Our lives lately

Here we are with 9 weeks to go.  It's been quite the experience.  Maddie said to me, "Wow!  Your stomach is huge!  Why is it so big?"  This was said as she was rubbing it like a Buddha belly.  I told her it's because there is a baby in there.  She couldn't get over how big it is.  Thanks, Mads.  'Preciate that.  I wasn't going to do any pregnant belly pictures, but we've had some requests so here it is:

 Merry Christmas from the 2 1/2 of us.  This is as close as we'll get to a Christmas card or anything of the sort this year.

Jeff did a Santa gig tonight for Joey.  He makes a pretty perfect Santa, don't you think?  The kids loved it and he did a good job of being jolly even though he got a little annoyed with a few of the kids. 

Check out this kid's sweet mullet.  We were in Saratoga Springs so maybe it's a small town Utah county thing.

 The end of the night.  Jeff enjoyed the nice, big, comfy chair.

And in totally unrelated news, this is our new purchase.  We got a sweet deal on it.  Jeff spent the ENTIRE day on Saturday getting it all set up (thanks for that!) and I love it.  We decided to invest in one so that in the mornings, when we don't have a ton of time, but enough for a quick workout, we can do it...and so that when we have our baby, it will be easier than trying to find a babysitter or taking her to the gym daycare thing.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fantastic.  We truly are so blessed and I love the holiday season to remind us of all the blessings we have.  We spent time with both sides of the family which was fun and busy.  The boys apparently have a tradition to wear the most awful things and it was hilarious seeing what they came up with.  Joey sported a boy scout shirt, Superman tie, and shaved the top of his head.  Spencer started out in a wetsuit but quickly changed because it wasn't too comfortable.  Jeff put on his "food tie" with a polo shirt.  Susan, you would have appreciated Kyle.  He wore jeans and a blue button-up (or button-down) shirt.  Very classy.  I didn't get a picture of them all together.  I was mashing potatoes or something lame like that.  Here are the photos of the day.

Thank you, Susan!  Here are Joey and Spencer:

 
Carly's set up: It was perfect!

Cute Kaitlyn.  I love that cheesey grin.

This little girl LOVES her chapstick.  I can't blame her.  I love it too.  Amy said she ate Joey's deodorant just a few days before this.  Hilarious.  And gross.
This is the only picture I have with Kyle in it too.  Sorry, Kyle.

Joey's tribute to their dad.  Amy was a good sport about it.

Only picture of us the entire day.  And it's terrible.  But at least it's proof that we were there.

Our hosts.  Thanks Carly and Spencer!  Notice the tie with the t-shirt.  Very nice.

This is what happens when she hangs out with her uncles.

The post-meal misery.

We also were able to spend time with my side of the family that day.  I didn't take any pictures.  I do love my fam though.  I just didn't get that blasted camera out.

We have so much to be thankful for and try to remember that every day.  We are truly blessed and are so excited that we have a healthy little girl joining us in just 10 more weeks!  We love our families and are so thankful for their love and support.  I could make a mile long list of the things I'm thankful for, but I won't on here.  I LOVE Thanksgiving through Christmas!  It's my very favorite time of year and I'm so glad it's finally here.