Abundant Recompense Copy

I woke up today and realized two things: 1. It's payday. 2. I am 20 weeks pregnant as of today! That's halfway through! If that's not a fabulous way to start the day, I don't know what is. As far as a pregnancy update, I feel like there's not a ton to tell. Feeling good most of the time. There's the occasional dizzy spell or really tired day, and I have to talk myself out of gagging every morning when I brush my teeth. Really nothing much to complain about. I've graduated to maternity pants, and am obviously pregnant enough that people are daring to ask. I felt the little guy in there swimming around for the first time around 16 weeks, which means that I a) know what it feels like and can recognize it better than previous pregnancies (18 wks for Bryn, 20 or so for Addison) and b) my uterus is getting old and flabby. I'll focus on a, thanks. We have our big ultrasound on Monday where they look at everything. That's always an exciting and special visit...

Though I am fully aware that I have not yet posted about Thanksgiving, I wanted to put up a few pictures of the pre-Christmas fun we've been having. I realized today that my family, as in my parents and siblings, don't know what my Christmas decorations look like. Kind of an off-the-wall thought, but it makes me a little sad. Sometimes it's just hard to be far away. That said, this is the first year that I've been able to listen to the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" without bawling. So I am making progress! And I'm grateful for technology that makes the 2,000+ mile gap seem a little smaller. We have really been having such a good time this holiday season. Our kids are at such a fun age and they make it magical. Our sweet little girl in her Christmas dress.  We visited Temple Square with Beck, Ben, Megan and Sam. It was COLD but beautiful! Nate and Sam proved their manhood by hanging up lights on our really tall house in the freezing cold.  The kids ...

We celebrated Addison's birthday on December first. I can't believe that my baby is four! It was a great day. As a special unplanned bonus, Daddy worked from home, because all the wind damage would've tacked hours onto his commute. He made Addison's life when he burst through the door with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday and a bunch of balloons. Addison helped me make these lion cupcakes to take to his friends at joy school.  Addison was so sweet with his balloons. He gave the yellow and purple ones to Bryn and the orange one to Daddy. Addison and Bryn braved the cold and wind to go outside and ride bikes with balloons tied on them. They had a blast! We had a birthday picnic lunch in the family room. Addison loved getting cards in the mail.  After the birthday supper (cream tuna) Addison elected to open presents before cake. He'd been dying to do it all day. And he got quite a haul.  Side note: I have a picture of me when I was little that looks exactly like B...