It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

There'll be much mistltoeing

And hearts will be glowing

When loved ones are near

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

 

Christmas really is one of my favorite times of the year. The decorations, the songs, the family time, the occasional Texas cold front - it all puts you in the mood to be ready to celebrate the season of our Savior's birth. Of course, this year the Christmas season had us thinking a lot about our own little one's birth coming up in the new year.

 

I've felt really blessed lately because of the great love and care shown by my husband Kevin. This year I was worried that the Christmas holidays might be spoiled because I was SUPER sick with a sinus infection the last week of school. Now, over the years I have developed a pretty hardy immune system from being a teacher. So if I'm sick, I'm really sick, and when I'm really sick, I need really good drugs to make me better. The only problem this time was I was pregnant at the same time as being super sick. So no super drugs for mommy. In fact, all I got was a simple prescription for amoxicillin, which was fine except for the fact that with all the stuff stuck up in my sinuses it felt like someone had shoved cotton up my nose and then decided to sit an elephant on my face. The pressure was horrible. Claritin D - my good old standby and safe to use - did nothing. Sleeping on a thousand pillows did nothing. Drinking lots and lots of fluids did nothing made me pee even more than my pregnancy normal. It was BAD. Poor Kevin, he just didn't know what to do to make me feel better. He made/bought me tons of spicy food, drew hot baths, and even slept on the couch one night because his snoring was keeping me awake (I think I had gotten him sick too). But the ultimate moment of sacrifice on Kevin's part came one night after dinner. He had suggested that I take a warm shower to try to open up my sinuses since it helped in the morning. Unfortunately about 15 minutes into said shower, the worst happened - I got sick. Twice. All I could do is stand there and cry. Poor guy came in to see what was wrong, only to find me cowering in the corner sobbing uncontrollably. I think I was crying more because I knew he'd have to clean up after me yet again than because I felt so bad. He got me out of the shower, let me cry some more on the side of the tub, got me dressed and settled in bed - and then tackled the shower. Talk about unconditional love. He's truly been a blessing to me while being pregnant. He may not be a man of many words, but he is a man with a servant's heart.






Our "little" Christmas



But things did get better - thanks to my husband's care (and the neti pot), so we were able to enjoy a nice set of Christmases with all of our families. As we looked at our tree Christmas morning, we talked about how this was our last "little" Christmas as a family of two (three, if you count Lizzy). We have had several blessed experiences this holiday season:

• Our families have continued to shower us with their prayers and gifts as they have helped us start to get ready for Baby Emma. Even Emma had presents under their trees this year.

Emma's Christmas gifts from our families

• Our friends the Tauriellas gave up one of their child-free days to help us begin registering. Registering is a daunting task, by the way. We spent three hours at Babies R Us and still didn't get everything scanned. But without them, I think we would have been completely lost!
• We got to have another successful ultrasound of Baby Emma. We had to go back and check her heart because last time it was too small to get good pictures of. At first, we didn't think she was going to cooperate - she was hard asleep with her back and butt to us. The tech had to wiggle and jiggle my belly quite a bit to get her to finally wake up, roll over, and get her picture taken. When she did roll over though, we got to see the cutest yawning face ever. Both of our moms commented that she must have been warm and snuggled down hard (like her mother when she sleeps).




That's a yawn - not a scream face.

• We've gotten to start on the baby's room! We have her bedding, ordered furniture, and began working on paint and trim. Working on the room makes it feel a little bit more real because there's something concrete that we're doing for our child. My brothers Stephen and Philip have been a big help to Kevin getting all of our stuff done. Here's a small sneak peek:

• When she's not sleeping, Emma's a child on the move. A lot. I've been feeling her movements since Thanksgiving, but Kevin had only felt her move twice up until Christmas. Every time she was moving and he went to feel it, she would stop. I think he was starting to take it personally. Now, that's not a problem! Kevin laughs every time she kicks his hand away. She's also managed to kick me right on the belly button - ow! - and at our last OB appointment, she kicked the Doppler away while they were trying to listen to her heartbeat. The nurse told me she must have been excited for the Aggies' bowl game that night. 

Mommy at 25 weeks

All in all, it's been a pretty awesome holiday season, and with the new year now underway, we can't wait to see what blessings come our way in 2013!

And just in case you haven't seen it,
one our favorite AllState "Mayhem" Commericals: Labor