Maggie's 3rd Birthday

 Well, the picture uploader was finally working this morning when I attempted to get a new blog post done.  Unfortunately it's 10:30 and I've been working on getting them up for over 2 hours!  But I think it's finally working!

First present, bright and early!

Maggie got this new t-shirt and sparkly purple headband first thing in the morning on her birthday.  She was going to wear it for our fun family day in Sioux City, but... well, lots of things prevented that.

I made this sleeping bag for Maggie's doll, Laura.  Now Laura gets to sleep on the floor next to Maggie's bed!

Maggie has a major obsession with Doc McStuffins.  Norah saw this dinnerware set at a store a month ago and decided she and Aaron just HAD to get it to give Maggie for her birthday.  (The purple headband she got is just like Doc's!)

Here's one of the reasons we stayed home.  Maggie developed hives all over on Monday night and they weren't any better Tuesday.  We cancelled her 3 year portraits too!  No idea what caused the hives, but it was fun at 8 pm to try to track down some allergy medicine.  The hives went away after she had a dose of medicine, and we kept up the pattern for about 3 days.

Maggie got a doctor costume too.  Notice the theme?

Here's Doc McStuffins (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Kanz) and Doc McMaggie!



I made Maggie a Doc McStuffins cake! 

And she actually blew out the candle!  (See the hives still there?)

I'm trying, really I am...

I just wanted to leave a little note to let you know I'm trying to do a couple posts from Christmas and after.  I'm having trouble getting the picture thing to work, so I'm currently unable to post any photos.  And a post with no photos just isn't any fun.  This has been going on for about a week now, but hopefully I can get it figured out soon! 

Baby Update

 

 

I had a doctor's appointment and ultrasound this past week.  Everything looks good!  Here's a picture of baby's profile and abdomen.  His/her chin is down on the chest and the feet were all squished up there too, though they don't show in this picture.  I'll add some other details below the picture.

 

Friday, the 7th, marked 20 weeks of pregnancy.  I'm feeling pretty good, though worn out from some of the busier days we've had lately.  I think that's more December related than anything though!  I have gained 6 pounds, which still puts me 5 pound below my pre-pregnancy weight.  That's pretty good I thought!  I certainly had a little extra to lose, so nothing to worry about.  Baby's measurements put him or her at 20 weeks 2 days, which was 4 days ahead of gestational age.  Each measurement was about 60%, and all was proportionate.  No really long legs or big head just yet!  Baby weighed 0.78 pounds, however many ounces that is - 12ish.  At 20 weeks, baby should weigh about 10.5 ounces.  I've been thinking a lot about when this baby will be born.  Maggie was 8 days late, and then Aaron was 3.5 weeks early.  No predictions here.  And baby's heartrate was 140, which is right in the middle of what the old wives tales say for boys and girls.  Looks like baby will keep us guessing right up until the end.  I have no suspicions or mother's intuition this time around, yet.  Each day I'm feeling the baby moving more and more, and it shouldn't be too much longer until Tim and the kids can feel it too!  Norah's especially looking forward to that. 

Christmas Goodies

Norah did ALL of the green sugar cookies this year!

#1 official candy unwrapper.

Ah, the perks of being a helper!

THREE helpers!  Aaron just jumped right in.  He saw what the girls were doing and that was it.  He had to be involved.

I wouldn't suggest mixing 4 kinds of cookies at once unless your children are sleeping!  Thankfully, I didn't have too many distractions and I don't think I forgot anything.  They all turned out anyway!

Our Godchild Jonathan

I haven't visited a newborn in the hospital in FORever!  Jonathan Andrew Frank was born November 25.  His parents are another Pastor and his wife who live near us.  Jonathan weighed 10 pounds!

Here's the happy family.  Big brother Samuel is missing though.  He's about 2 months older than Aaron.

Tim and I are Jonathan's sponsors.  Tim wasn't able to make it for the service, but he hurried over as soon as he was finished with church.  December 2.

Maggie and Norah both had a turn holding Jonathan too - we had to steal him away from his great grandpa though!

Assorted November Pictures and Thanksgiving

 

Yes, I did take a picture of the wall Aaron colored.  Third child, first crayon on the wall.

 

Aaron wasn't so happy I scolded him and then tried to make him stand by the wall to take a picture of him with his masterpiece.

Aaron was a very tired boy after Grandma and Uncle Josh visited.  This is lunch, just a few hours after they left.

We had a "Girls Afternoon" and went shopping for Christmas presents.  The 11 Chase cousins do a gift exchange, and it was extra fun this year for the girls to pick things out themselves.  They also helped me wrap the presents.

Aaron looks like such a big boy after his first buzz.  Nothing too short, but still a pretty dramatic difference.

Thanks Grandma and Auntie Jessi for the fashionable Thanksgiving outfits!

Aaron got a shirt too.  Happy Thanksgiving!

It's tough to get all those cousins together and behaving for a picture.  I think this was the silly picture, though it's pretty close to what all the "nice" pictures looked like.  Cousin Peyton had already escaped by the time we did this one, just as Aaron had managed to slip away at the beginning and nobody noticed for several shots!

Aaron's Big Boy Shoes

 

Thanks Grandma!

 

(Look at me with two posts so close together!)