Baby Week 17

I had a doctors appointment today and got to hear Baby Stancil's heartbeat again.  I love that sound. Baby's heartbeat was 162bpm today.  Everything else looked good...my sugar, blood pressure, and weight.  I did finally gain some weight this time, but you can tell that by looking at me.  This time I gained 3lbs...I am pretty sure it is from all the cake, cookies and candies I have completely eaten up at our house!!!  She told me that I would need to schedule another appointment for 4 weeks and then she came back and told me that I could have my ultrasound before that...so of course I scheduled the ultrasound for 3 weeks, so we go January 20th to see Baby Stancil and find out whether baby is a boy or a girl!  I can't wait to see our baby and I know Mark can't either. 

Christmas 2010

Wow we have had a wonderful Christmas this year.  The girls were so excited this year and I think they got everything they asked for.  Christmas Eve we spent with at Mema and Pop's.  We had lots of good food and of course the girls got lots of great presents.  After that we went home to get ready for Santa. The girls took a bath, made cookies for Santa, put the Santa Key the door, since we had a fire, and I read them "Twas the night before Christmas".  They were fast asleep by 8pm and Santa arrived about 9pm and finally finished up at 1am.  I was like a little kid again, I could not go to sleep anticipating their reaction when they got up.  I woke up at 5am and waited patiently until it was 7am to wake them up.  Mark and I got up, he got the video camera ready and I went to wake up the sleeping beauties.  Well they were not as excited about getting up on Christmas morning as I was.  Gracie cried and Hayden was trying to figure out what was going on.  You can tell on the video camera they weren't very excited, they were just trying to wake up. They did start getting exciting once they realized everything they had under the tree.  They were both definitely pleased with their doll houses and I am pretty sure their new tent was the next favorite thing.  Hayden loved her leapster, she now takes it everywhere she goes and the game she likes the best is learning to write her letters, can't go wrong with that! 

After they played for a little while we got ready to go to Grandmama's house for Christmas breakfast, which my husband makes the best omelets in the world!  Then we went to Mimi and Pop's house to open more presents.  Needless to say Hayden and Gracie had lots of presents and they were excited about all of them.  Mark and I also had a great Christmas...He got his knife and I got a new laptop and printer!   We also got some really great gifts from Mimi and Pop.  I got a new swing, and now I can't wait for it to be Spring where I can enjoy it!  Aunt Kim and Uncle Artie gave the girls some guitars and microphone and let me just say one day they may be famous with those beautiful voices they have!   We had a great Christmas and we love all of our family very much!!! 

Here are some pictures of what Santa left and Christmas and there are even a few from the snow on Christmas Day!



Christmas Traditions

Saturday night we took the girls to the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds to see the lights, we also invited Mimi and Pop so they could see how excited the girls would be.  I thought it was pretty neat how the music and lights went together, but Hayden wasn't as excited as I thought she would be.  Gracie was too busy sitting up front pushing all the buttons in the car, oh well there is always next year.  However, even though they weren't too excited about the lights they loved the Santa workshop at the end.  They had pony rides, slides and yes the jumping thing, which is officially called "the spider jump".   Gracie loved the pony ride so much that she screamed when she had to get off and all Hayden wanted to do was JUMP.

Check out that big smile: 

Sunday we had Christmas with my Daddy's side of the family.  It was nice to hang out and eat some yummy dressing.  My Aunt Pam makes the best dressing in the world!!!   Everything was fun except the fact that my daddy's wife didn't bring him, oh well guess I will keep my negative thoughts to myself.  The girls had fun and got presents, which they LOVE!  Then after that we had to go to my Pop's side of the family.  It was fun too, they always play the white elephant gift exchange which can get pretty interesting.  Everybody always tries to still Mema's gift and she gets so agitated.   The girls were completely worn out and fell asleep in the car on the way home, but when we got home they were ready to go again!  Good thing we didn't have to get up early Monday morning, well except Mark but he was a good sport. 

Monday we spent the day or I should say I spent the day cleaning the house and washing clothes.  The girls enjoyed a little down time and played and watched their shows on TV.  Nothing exciting but it is nice to have the house pretty much ready for Christmas.

Tuesday we met Grandmama and Linda at the Mall so they could watch the girls on the jumping thing.  Then we went to the Olive Garden for lunch, my favorite.  After that Hayden went to spend the night with Mimi and Pop.  She had lots of fun and went Christmas shopping and got us some gifts.  I can't wait to see what she picked out.   She had so much fun that she cried when she had to come home, which kind of hurt my feelings but I got over it.  She ended up crying all the way home and then pouting for about 30 minutes after we got home.  I guess I should say she pouted until she realized the new Rapunzel pajamas and bed room shoes on her bed. 

Tomorrow is grocery shopping and then Friday we will spend with my Mama's side of the family and get ready for SANTA!!!!!

Surprise!

This morning when I woke up, I wasn't sure if Hayden was going to be able to go to school.  I turned the TV on and GWA wasn't on the list of school closings, then I called Mark and he said the roads were fine, so then I called Mimi to make absolute sure that GWA wasn't closed or delayed before dragging myself out of the warm bed.  Mimi said "No" so I went ahead and dragged myself out of bed and got ready to go!  I didn't want her to miss school if she didn't have to, they are having so much fun this week with all the Christmas things!  She was also going to get a surprise at school today...Mimi was coming to her class to read A Christmas book to them!  When I picked Hayden up today...I asked her if she had a surprise today and she said that Mimi came to her class and read 3 Christmas books.  I asked her if she was sure that she read 3 books and she said "Yes, Mommy...She read one abut a bear that wouldn't go to sleep and she read my book (aka The Night Before Christmas) and she read something about a happy birthday."  She was excited that Mimi was able to read to her class.  Thanks Mimi for making her day! 

After we got home...Mommy had some surprises too.  Hayden has been a very busy little girl at school this week.  I have already gotten the best gift this year, Hayden made me a gorgeous candle holder completely decorated in glitter and it looks beautiful all lit up.  She had the biggest smile on her face when she gave it to me,  it was priceless!  She was so proud of herself! I sure do love her!!!  She also made Mommy and Daddy a Christmas card, that she decorated and inside there is a picture of her and it says that she will always be our little angel and that is the truth.  I put it right beside my new candle holder for everyone to see! 

Thank you Hayden for all of  your surprises.  You are the sweetest, caring little girl ever and we love you so much, Love Mommy and Daddy!

More Mail from Santa

Yesterday Hayden and Gracie got letters from Santa.  They were excited but they wanted to wait until Daddy got home to open them.  Hayden had to go first and she was excited to know that Santa knew she had played Soccer and performed well in her Thanksgiving Day Play!  Gracie didn't really understand but she sat in my lap and listened anyway.  I think they were more excited about the stickers that Santa sent to them!  Hayden wanted to wear hers to school today but I told her that it would be better to wear it on Friday when she has her Christmas Party.  Good news is that Hayden and Gracie both made the nice list again this year and Rudolph promised to guide the sleigh right to their house!  Thanks Santa for the letters!

Getting Well!

Hayden officially missed her first day of school on Friday.  She wasn't very happy about it, but she was running a fever and couldn't go!  She ended up on an antibiotic for an ear infection, which is only like the 3rd one she has ever had.  Thanks again Aunt Kim...for checking out our little angel and making her feel better!  She ran a fever until Saturday night and then I noticed that little Gracie had a fever too!  Guess what she caught all of her sister's germs, somehow I knew it would happen.  Gracie ran a fever all weekend and has been a little stinker about taking medicine for the fever and saying that she is a stinker is putting it nicely!!!  She absolutely goes crazy and holds it in her mouth and pretty much spits it back in your face, needless to say that at 2am this is not fun!  We had a very rough night last night with fever and crying so this morning I stopped by to see Aunt Kim again and guess what she had an ear infection too.   Aunt Kim we so appreciate all you do for us, especially when our babies don't feel good...I feel like we don't say thanks enough...So here is a big THANK YOU from all of us!!!  So now we have all been on antibiotics except Mark, and we are hoping that he won't need them!  

Sunday we finished up our Christmas shopping, the only thing we had left was Aunt Kim and I just couldn't figure out what to get her, but I ended up finding the perfect gift...or at least I hope so!  It feels good to be done and let me just say I know two little angels that are going to have a great Christmas this year!   I always get so excited about the gifts we buy for other people, I always try to get something very special for everyone.  Then after shopping we went to help decorate Mimi and Pop's Christmas tree, or I guess I should say we watched Aunt Kim and Hayden decorate Mimi's tree this year!  Hayden likes to hang everything on the limb and I sure hope Mimi didn't change it because she will notice...just kidding!  It was cute, I am pretty sure she had about seven ornaments in one spot.  Gracie didn't help decorate but she didn't feel that great either so maybe next year she will be ready to hang all of her ornaments in one spot too...hee hee!   Mimi also gave Mark his stocking early this year...I think it was probably the best stocking stuffer ever!!!

Today the girls got mail, which always makes Hayden happy!   It was mail from Mimi, which is even more exciting.  The girls opened up their mail and it was Princess Christmas cards with an ornament.  Gracie put hers in the perfect spot on the tree...in the back.  I told her to put it on the front and she said "No Mommy I like this side"  so I told her okay then whatever makes you happy.  Hayden put hers on her pink tree in her room, which looks really cute!  Thanks Mimi, you made their day! 

Oh and they also got letters from Santa Claus, but we are going to wait for Daddy to get home to open those.  I will post about those tomorrow!

Tree

I didn't post about the girls helping pick out the tree and decorate it because we got our tree the Sunday before Thanksgiving and well I just simply forgot to write about it. Sorry!  We went to pick out our tree which only took about 10 minutes when you go that early, there are still lots of trees to pick from and all the pretty ones are still available!   While I picked out our tree...Hayden and Gracie walked around picking up rocks and throwing them, yeah I don't know, apparently it isn't exciting to a 4 year old and  2 year old to pick out a tree.  Once we got the tree home the girls, well especially Hayden was very excited.  I think Gracie was just amazed, she was only 1 last year and didn't really get to help.  Unfortunately the day we got the tree was also the day that Mommy's bad cold started and I just really didn't feel good and being nauseous from baby didn't help either.  So for once we didn't decorate the tree the same day, that should tell you how bad I felt!  I am going to tell a story that Mark and I haven't told anyone...Monday night Hayden and I started putting the lights on the tree before Mark got home and, even though I just knew he was going to fuss at me for having to stand on chairs to get them on the top, I did it anyway thinking that I would be helping him out since he gets home so late now.  Well Hayden and I plugged the last strand in to put on and the whole tree went OUT!  I completely panicked and finally figured out which strand it was that went out and took it off and started over.  Well as soon as I plugged in the last set again the whole tree went out and I couldn't figure out which strand it was because I had put them all over the place trying to be good and not stand in the chair unless I had to(which meant that I was basically throwing lights at the tree and hoping they fell in the right spot).  Well this time I panicked and got really upset between the not feeling well and being tired and baby sick, I just wanted to be done but I wanted my girls to enjoy decorating the tree with me.  When Mark walked in the door Hayden and Gracie were watching TV and I was sitting in the chair with tears just streaming down my face.  It was a real cry, the kind where you sobbing and face is all red and puffy, and even though I knew crying wasn't helping I just could not stop!  He asked what was wrong and Hayden told him that the tree went out and he looked at me and told me it was okay and immediately went over to the tree to fix it!  He got it all fixed but after all that we decided to wait another day to actually put the ornaments on it.  Tuesday when Mark got home we put all the ornaments on the tree and I always love our special ornaments that Mema gives the girls every year.  I love new ornaments, to me that is what makes the tree special.  Hayden loved looking at all of her ornaments this year, she never really knew she had them.  Gracie was hilarious she didn't hang her ornaments, she just laid them inside the tree.  Needless to say the bottom of the tree had more decorations than the top, but we all had a great time decorating, even Mark, who usually skips out on the decorating part(he really enjoyed himself this year).  It was fun to sit back and watch the girls do it by themselves.  We had a great time and the tree is absolutely beautiful!

I just love our tree!  At night I just sit and look at it instead of the TV!  I am so excited this year about the girls and all of their surprises.  Excited does not even begin to describe how they will be Christmas morning!!!

Santa pajamas! 

Santa!

Saturday Mark, Mimi and myself took the girls to have pictures taken with Santa at Spring Street Studios.  Last year he was the best Santa and the pictures were amazing.  As I have posted in previous post, Gracie isn't a big fan of Santa up close...but she did a little closer on Saturday.  There is not one picture of Gracie smiling she sucked her thumb the whole time and she even cried a few times.  She didn't want to sit in Santa's lap or stand in front of him.  We finally got Hayden to sit in Santa's chair with Gracie and Santa stood behind them.  It was cute even though we didn't get Gracie to smile.  I guess when she gets older I will just have to tell her how she acted every time she saw him!  Hayden on the other hand was excited, she sat in Santa's lap and took lots of beautiful pictures. 

The best part was after the pictures were over Hayden told Santa that she was getting a new baby for Christmas, she is so sweet,  and then to my amazement Gracie actually walked over to Santa and told him that she wanted a doll house and babies for Christmas.  That was a huge accomplishment!  She also gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek right before we left, so even though the pictures didn't go as planned, it was worth it to see her actually talk to him!

13 Weeks!

I had a baby check up this morning and I could hardly wait to get there because I knew I would get to hear the heartbeat this time.  I haven't heard it since I was 6 weeks and as of today I am 13 weeks.  Baby Stancil has a strong heartbeat of 154 bpm and it sounded beautiful!  Everything else was good...blood pressure and sugar so basically I go back in 4 more weeks.  Oh and I have only gained 1 1/2 lbs so far, my doctor even asked me if I had been eating.  I told her yes but I have been sick a good bit too!  She told me as long as I am eating that I would be fine but to make sure I am eating.  I have no problem eating, just ask my husband!!!  Sometimes I catch him looking at all the food on my plate in shock and then when I ask him " What"  he says nothing and looks away!  I know what he is thinking but it is nice of him not to say it. Right?  I also crave sweets, anything and everything sweet, which I also craved with Hayden and Gracie too!  It was kind of funny because with both of my pregnancies with Hayden and Gracie I got in trouble a lot for gaining to much weight..hee hee!  On another note we should  get to see Baby Stancil on ultrasound the middle of January and find out whether baby is a girl or boy!?!

Email from SANTA!!!!

Santa is really up to date this year, not only does he make an appearance at every mall, he also sends emails to those little boys and girls that are really GOOD!  Hayden and Gracie got a very special email yesterday from Santa.  Gracie really likes Santa on TV, the computer and really far away...where she can just wave at him but you get her up close and she screams at the top of her lungs.  You should have seen them watching, especially Hayden...she was totally amazed.  Both of them kept waving and Hayden would even nod her head yes when Santa was talking directly to her.  Hayden has already told Santa twice now that she wants a doll house for Christmas so when it was in her message her face just lit up.  Watching their amazement with Santa was one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.  Gracie kept waving and then at the end when he named what she wanted this year she got extremely excited!  Hayden only had one question and that was "Mommy...How does Santa know all of this"  my comment was because Santa can see everything you do and knows everything about you, which means you better be really good!  Hayden watched her message several times and we had to watch them one more time when Daddy got home so he could see Santa too! 

This year is going to be so much fun with the girls.  I am so excited and ready for Santa to bring all their goodies!!!!



http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/tq1-g28_QcjUgoFBiocIfg  Hayden's Message from Santa

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/Km1rSYj1W8NqF2Yxi3w0yg  Gracie's Message from Santa