{Christmas Day}

{Merry Christmas}

{ward Christmas party}

Eli is not pictured with Santa because he panicked, cried and lunged off of his lap the moment I put him down. Oh well, perhaps next year. Dean, on the other hand, loved Santa and couldn't wait to sit on his lap ... until Santa gave him a little goody bag. Then it was all about the candy (sorry Santa).

And remember our beautiful Temple gingerbread house that we built with our friends? Well, we were pretty proud of it until we saw this as we walked into the party... I guess the Bishop and his family decided to brave a temple too. A perfectly-to-scale, no-detail-overlooked type of temple. Isn't it pretty? Needless to say, we placed ours nearly as far away as possible so that the two could not be compared, and I think it looks pretty nice in the ward gingerbread village.



Here is Daddy barely clinging to his sanity after practically a whole two hours of chasing wiggles here, I mean Eli, around the cultural hall.
Here are the boys pictured in front of the gingerbread house that now inhabits my living room. Dean was so elated to be able to bring this home with him!
And last, but not least, Here is Eli getting his groove on with Dean's future wife, Madeline, helping him out. She'll be a good sister-in-law someday.

{drumroll please...}

Ta Daaaaaa! We are making a village of gingerbread houses tonight at our Ward Christmas party and there was a sign-up list to make a house and bring it. We decided to make the "House of The Lord" (okay, that was cheesy) with our friends, Megan and Patrick. Oh yeah, and that's gummy Moroni on top, of course. LOL.

This is a gingerbread interpretation of the Houston Temple in case you were wondering.

{oh pregnancy...}

Whenever I am not pregnant anymore, I miss it deeply. There is no comparable joy for me than feeling my baby kicking and rolling around inside my tummy. It's pretty incredible and I am definitely appreciative of what a tremendous blessing it is to experience that as I was once told I never would. Keeping that in mind, now that I am pregnant again, I'm beginning to remember all the reasons that make it so difficult for me as well.

1) The first is more of an annoyance than anything else: Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). I have this all the time but it's relatively unnoticeable when I am not pregnant. However, when combined with my pregnancy hormones, the RLS gets out of control! There are some nights that I am all-but-crying as I lay awake in a sleepless misery knowing that the boys will wake up in only a few short hours expecting a fully-refreshed mommy (which I am not, half the time).

2) Another issue that has already started to occur (early compared to previous pregnancies) is a problem with fainting. I have a pregnancy-induced fainting disorder that my OB once called pregnancy-induced tachycardia and my other OB called some other medical name. Who knows. All I know is that I faint when I'm pregnant. A lot. And nothing seems to help. It happened three times with Dean and it was so common with Eli that I was actually hospitalized twice because of it (two abdominal landings - scary). I try to be better at recognizing when it's coming on, but sometimes there's just no preparing. I can already tell it will probably be worse this time (which leads me to believe that it gets worse with each pregnancy). Fun.

3) Oh, and on top of many other issues, have I ever mentioned that I am allergic to pregnancy? I pretty much mean that literally. When my pregnancy-related hormones grow as my pregnancy progresses I start to have a hormone-related infection that I can't fight off no matter how much I treat it (which is pretty much the whole pregnancy). I already have it this time, which is earlier than ever, and the scary part is that it causes early labor and has been narrowed down to being the most likely cause for Eli's early arrival. I sure hope we at least make it 36 weeks this time because the NICU is not fun.

4) Because of the combination of my thyroid issues, premature birth history and past miscarriage history, I am a high-risk pregnancy. We waited so long to share the pregnancy news this time; first, because it was such a surprise to even us; and second, (not because it seemed fun because let's face it, if you know me at all you know that I can't keep a secret) but because there was a huge risk that we would miscarry. There is still a relatively small risk, but we're pretty much in the clear.

Needless to say, Devin and I have known since before this pregnancy that if we had another, he or she would be our last. That is only more clear to us both as we experience this pregnancy and all that comes with it. I am a bit sick of people saying to us, "you're so young to think you know you're done having kids" or "what a drastic decision after only three" (People are pretty forthcoming with their opinions on this, I'm learning). Anyway, if others feel that way than perhaps they can continue having their easy, problem-free and fun pregnancies to "multiply and replenish the Earth". I honestly don't think Heavenly Father will be offended by the decision we are making as he knows best that we have our family's best interest at heart. Not to mention, I just cannot handle the panic I feel while pregnant even one more time. I am trying to savor all the joys this last time but I still constantly worry that something is wrong or that I will inevitably miscarry or go into premature labor - CONSTANTLY - which makes it tough. Still, we are so happy about our sweet baby girl on the way and I will be breathing much easier when she is born in May (emphasis on MAY).

Oh, and speaking of girl, here are some strange differences between this girl pregnancy and my past boy pregnancies.

1) This has been a VERY intuitive pregnancy for me. I am not being sarcastic or over-dramatic when I say that I started feeling pregnancy symptoms the DAY AFTER I became pregnant. Yep, that means that the fatigue, frequent urination, restless-leg syndrome, headaches, body aches and cravings started about three weeks before I could actually take an at-home test which drove me nuts. I never felt a thing with my boys until I missed my periods.

2) The ENDLESS nausea and vomiting! (I say "endless" because it still comes and goes.) I only threw up twice with Dean and realized quickly that it was only because anything with a tomato-based sauce (minestrone soup and spaghetti were my culprits) just didn't settle well during his pregnancy. Other than that, I felt great in regard to nausea with my boys.

3) New hair growth? While pregnant with my boys, my hair grew much quicker than normal so it's always long by the end of my pregnancies (loved that). This pregnancy, it seems like my hair isn't growing at all, but I am getting tons of new hairs sprouting around my forehead and partline instead (not loving that) so I have to wear my hair up to try and hide my new frizzies.

4) I am only 19 weeks and I am showing already. I didn't show even the slightest with Dean until about 22 weeks and not until about 25 weeks with Eli (could have been the surgery that delayed his bumpage). Everyone keeps saying, "oh, you're tiny, whatever." or "well, it is your third in under three years so what do you expect?" But I am still a bit perturbed about it. LOL. I am still excited to start showing though. That is, after all, one of the best part of pregnancy.

{goody, goody gumdrops!}

Dean just couldn't control himself any longer. The temptation of all those glistening gumdrops and colorful candies smothering the gingerbread house that he made with Grandma finally became too much and I caught him sneaking a post-breakfast munch this morning. And actually, he wasn't even trying to be sneaky, but rather grazing naturally as if he knew that was what he built the house for anyway.

I can't wait until the sugar high kicks in.

{a strange sight to see}

As I walked out of Walmart today, to my shock and amazement, it was snowing! That's right, I said SNOWING. In Houston. (I know all you Idahoans are probably laughing at our lame snow right now, but it was actually kinda exciting. Especially since it was 70-degrees on Saturday.) We proceeded straight home and the boys enjoyed playing with some of our excited neighbors. I hope it snows on Christmas or Christmas Eve. That would be magical 'round these parts and is that really too much to ask?

{early Christmas from Grandma}

The boys had so much fun with Grandma. Dean helped Grandma make a Curious George fleece tie-blanket which he has been toting up and down the stairs with him since. He also loves his new Spiderman Web Shooter (which he is getting dangerously good at) and his Incredible Hulk. Little Eli won't put his red 4-wheeler and Yellow Shake 'n' Go Ramone down (I swear Grandma bought this to torture us because it is noisy) and loves trying to munch his new puzzle pieces before putting them in their proper places in the puzzle - the duck, "du" in his own words, is his favorite piece.

Thanks for everything, Mom. Our baby girl is definitely going to be stylish in all her new clothes and my new jewelry box is going to look great hanging once I put pictures in the frames! Oh, and Devin is going to LOVE - and wear out - all his new pj pants and slippers (I'm making him wait until Christmas Eve for all of them). Thanks, thanks, thanks from all of us.