To My Valentine

I know this is over a week late (like everything these days), but, at the risk of this entry being very cheesy--sorry, I just had to let my Valentine know how much he is loved and appreciated by his adoring wife.

Matt, I know life with a 37 week pregnant wife can not be easy, but you come home every night, with a smile on your face--you are always so happy to see us! Even as I am having you vacuum, mop, tie my shoes, help me with dinner, and spend all your hard earned money on burp rags and baby strollers, you happily do all of this and more to try and make me feel comfortable and loved and you never, ever complain about anything. You are the most incredible person that I know and I love every minute that I get to have with you....

Just another week or two til we meet our new little one, no better late Valentine gift than that (although the Wii is pretty cool!).

ILY,
am

Ray's new bed...

...Not our best idea! Reagan looks so darling in her little toddler bed, but, alas, it didn't last long. We have moved her back to the crib. She was up at least 5 times a night and one time I found her on her way downstairs, at 2am, to play with her toys! It's funny how each child is so different...Jackson went into a huge bed at 18 months and never looked back. I can't even remember him getting out of his bed once. We will probably not try Ray in a bed again until we have to--around age 3!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Here we are decorating the tree for our first Christmas in the new house.

Most of the ornaments ended up in one area--the area that Jackson could reach with the step ladder. He is such a funny kid--he doesn't like change and did not want us to move that stool to the other side of the tree, at all. So, our tree leaned a bit to the right because all the ornaments were on one side.

Christmas Hair

For Matt's work Christmas party we were ready a little early (never happens!), so I wanted to try something fun and different with Ray's hair. My Aunt Jan use to do her girls' hair in "Angel Braids" and, although, this didn't look half as good or stay in, I tried a similar thing. She looked adorable for the 1/2 hour it was in.

Christmas Lights

We went to look at Christmas lights with some of our really good friends and afterwards everyone came to our house for dessert. We had such a fun time!

Christmas Cookies

I wanted to do something fun with the kids to get the "Christmas Spirit" into our home--we had been so busy with moving and me taking my test, that a lot of Christmas traditions had to be set aside until the very last minute. So, I decided to make sugar cookies with the kids. I had no idea it would turn into a 4 hour ordeal! In the end, though, we had six dozen very good cookies to take to friends. We definitely couldn't have done it without Matt's help!

Christmas Morning

Here we are! Christmas morning, coming down the stairs....

From Santa, Jackson got a "Prince Caspian" set up, complete with cape, sword, shield, and crown.

Reagan got her first dollhouse from Santa.

Chrismas Eve

I know! I am a little behind, but here are some of our Christmas Pictures....
Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Matt's family at his aunt's home. We had such a wonderful time! Great food, a short Christmas Pageant (see next post), white elephant gift exchange. My parents came too, Jackson and Reagan were in heaven to be surrounded by so many people they love (including Santa).

Reagan and her uncle Dave.

Jackson had no idea that "Santa's Helper" this year was his grandpa...

Leonardo and Mary

For Christmas Eve, Matt's family had a little Christmas Pageant. Since Jackson was the oldest boy, he was Joseph and Reagan was Mary. We had to tell Jackson that he was Leonardo from the Ninja Turtles in order to get him to keep his head band and costume on. Reagan loved holding the baby Jesus! The whole thing lasted no more than two minutes, but it was adorable! It really put into perspective what Christmas is all about.