Merry Christmas 2012!

Bike Riding

Will has entered the world of independent bike riding! After a couple days of dad's help he is now maneuvering and making turns on his own in the street. I think it's about time to venture to the Greenbelt paths! He had his first bike lesson, no kidding, at night...yes it was completely pitch black. No worries there's a convenient street light right in our yard, so Tim seized the moment and I fixed the flat tires and put the chain back on the bike that's been sitting dusty and dirty in the garage--just waiting to be used. This is no ordinary bike...it's Cali's first bike that Tim affectionately spray painted with love so it would look more boy like. Hooray for frugality and an age that's too young to care or notice! He'll get a bike of his own by first grade when he'll really start caring.

Here's a picture of Will after his first rides the other night.

It's a boy!

Well its official, Cali can use my phone in more ways than I thought! I have found the author to this mysterious post. It was none other than my daughter...silly girl! Not sure how she knew how to use this app on my phone, but she did! I think kids come these days with a special technology gene. Love this girl. Thanks Cali for letting the world know our big news! Yes we are having a boy! Although William refuses to believe yet. He insists he saw long hair in the ultrasound and so that means its a girl....no matter the evidence we all saw that would hardly shed any doubt it was a boy! I confess having another boy to melt this mama's heart is exciting. But I'm also super excited to have a really good excuse to get away with Cali more for girl time...because really we need it sometimes with these crazy rambunctious boys that we love and adore!
Below is the pic Cali originally posted from my very first ultrasound. I really don't think any pics from this last ultrasound look good enough to post ( hard to see anything), but since I have placenta previa I will get another ultrasound. I will post then in hopes those pics will look much better...which I'm told they will! :)

Our Christmas Tree

So here's our tree... the tree that was rejected from being used as a decoration tree, not their main tree, from Tim's rehab center a couple years ago; because it didn't look good enough. So who would come to the rescue of this poor tree, none other than my awesome husband. It doesn't matter that it isn't that tall, has many open spaces, or that it doesn't even balance correctly...quite frankly it's a step up from our former tree that was 1/3 it's size that Tim rescued from a hospital dumpster when Cali was a baby; so I had 0 complaints when we set it up! It's pretty fitting as it goes quite well with our completely random ornaments as did our old tree, but since I've never proclaimed to be a decorator we just let the kids do their magic with what we have. I'm sure once Cali's older she'll help us out with our style. And although we could afford a bigger and nicer tree and much better ornaments I'm okay with this one for now...it's a great reminder that I don't have to create pressure for myself to make my tree look as good as those who are more skilled at decorating than me. I can simply enjoy the beauty of their trees and appreciate our varied talents in life. :) And as a bonus I can let my little kids enjoy something they helped create and not go crazy if they mess it up...I do enough of that in other areas of our lives!
Merry Charlie Brown Christmas tree to us!

My Awesome Children

Anyone that knows my kids knows they aren't perfect. They can be the sassiest, bossiest, craziest kids when they want to be. Today I'm super thankful for them particularly my two oldest. They have single handedly kept life running today. They watched their 2 yr old brother for most of the day. And while he was napping they cleaned up the kitchen, Cali made pumpkin pies ( I did the oven part before you think I'm endangering my child), and they broke up 2 loaves of bread for stuffing. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and last night I began to get achy and I knew the flu was coming on. While not the worst flu I've ever had, being that I still have morning sickness has made today not exactly pleasant or rendered me being very useful. Wondering if Thanksgiving will take place tomorrow because i dont think i can ask Cali to do a Turkey quite yet...but I've spent today resting and conjuring up every homeopathic remedy in hopes I'll be fine tomorrow. Thankfully I've got some pretty awesome kids though!