Santa Kelly

We had a busy but fun weekend. I spent most of it distributing Christmas presents to my friends. I was determined to get them out BEFORE Christmas for probably the first time EVER. I did homemade gifts this year. Part of the gift was edible so I think that motivated me to get organized and try to meet with everyone. I made six different kinds of candy: Peanut Butter Balls, Martha Washington Balls, Chocolate Covered Peanuts, Peppermint Bark, Millionaires, and Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz crackers. Those were the easiest to make. I also cross-stitched them an ornament. I started on the ornaments a few months ago and tried to sew a little bit each night after Sawyer went to bed. I've decided that next year I will either need to buy gifts again or start in August in order to meet my deadline.


Luckily Lorne noticed that I had forgotten to fray the bottom of this one BEFORE I gave it as a gift!

I had lunch with Kristy on Saturday. It is always so nice to get away for a few hours. We always meet at On the Border which is one of my favorite restaurants so it's a great time.

We went to Lorne's group Christmas party Saturday night. We left Sawyer with Crystal again and she said that he did great. He knocked over the lamp and broke the bulb, but he's done that at least twice while we were here so no big deal. I fed him dinner and bathed him before we left just like last time. I told her that I may have her do it the next time she watches him (I guess if there's a next time). She said that would be no problem.

We had a gift exchange at the party. Lorne went home with the game that he brought as his gift and I got a watch. I had a really cute snowman wall hanging but it was stolen in the process of opening. I brought picture frames and one of the guys ended up with those. I don't think that he was too happy about it, but oh well. That's a gift exchange for ya.

Sunday we went and had lunch with Rick and Priscilla and exchanged gifts. She got Sawyer two outfits and some books. She also bought an outfit for the baby girl. Sawyer carried it around for quite a while.


Sawyer had fun carrying around his sister's onesie (and his dad's watch!)

Speaking of Sawyer, he has started wanting to give us kisses. It is one of the sweetest things that I have ever seen! He will lean forward and start smacking. I got a great picture of him trying to kiss their cat Ethel. I have a feeling that Ethel was none too impressed!


No toddlers (or cats) were harmed in the making of this photo.

After lunch Sawyer and I went to see Laura and Logan. We didn't stay too long because Sawyer had only had a short nap in the car that day and it was getting close to dinnertime. Laura told me last week that they may be moving to Little Rock and I am so bummed! She said they will know for sure next month. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with her. We have had some fun playdates.

I had a prenatal appointment yesterday and it went well. I had my gestational diabetes test so I had to drink the lovely Orange Crush-like concoction exactly one hour before my appointment. I'd just started drinking the liquid (which I have to consume in five minutes) when Sawyer fell off of a chair in the kitchen. It was no doubt a wonderful sight with him screaming and me chugging the orange nastiness while I consoled him. He has a lovely bruise on his forehead just in time for Christmas. At least I have already had his pictures made!

I got to the office in time to have my blood drawn. I should have the results in a few days. I heard the heartbeat and measured 28 cm so that's good. My total weight gain is now 16 pounds which I'm not really thrilled about, but I'm about fifteen pounds lighter than I was with my last pregnancy at this point so I'm proud of that. I couldn't believe that was my last monthly appointment. I will be back in just two weeks. Dr. Watts said that I should just gain two pounds MAX between now and then. Um, yeah, did you remember reading about all of that candy that I made? There are leftovers just dying to be eaten BY ME!

We stopped by the pediatrician's office on our way home since it is right next door. I asked to speak to a nurse because I wanted someone in the medical field to lay their eyes on him. She ascertained that he was fine, I felt at ease, and then her parting comment was for me to watch him because sometimes the blood clots take two to three days to form. Wow, thanks lady for putting the fear of God in me! Needless to say, I'm not letting him anywhere near a chair today!! I'm just hoping our little girl won't have a propensity for climbing. What are the odds?

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Sawyer is Eighteen Months Old!

Sawyer had his eighteen month well-check today. He weighs 26 pounds and is 32 1/4 inches tall. He is still the 50th percentile for weight, height, and head circumference. They have me fill out a questionnaire at each well-check to follow his development. He is doing all but two of the milestones on the 9-24 month chart. The first is drinking well from a cup without a spout or lid and the second is removing clothes other than shoes and socks. I like to cheat and study the questionnaire for the next visit so that I know on which tasks we need to focus. We start out with a new questionnaire next time, unfortunately, so I'm not sure what he's supposed to be doing by age two. No cheating for me!

The appointment went so well. Dr. Darrow said that he is developing normally and there wasn't any sign language bashing to be had. She asked if he was saying four to ten words and he's saying ten so we're in good shape. He is saying bye-bye, hi, cuckoo, clock, balloon, done, mama, dada, ro ro ro for Rosie, and up. There may be others but I can't think of them right now. He doesn't have another well-check until his second birthday so I'm hoping that we can have smooth sailing in the pediatrician department. We get to start all over in March when the baby girl gets here. I'm curious to see if I will be more assertive with her on certain issues since this won't be my first rodeo. I'm really hoping that will be the case.


Sawyer was clapping at some commercial on TV. Please note that the Christmas tree is ornament free on the bottom. There are also no presents underneath. I wonder why that is? :)


I could not get him to look at the camera this time.


He's doing the "roll 'em up" part of Pat-a-Cake in this picture.


More Pat-a-Cake


Giving the bear a kiss.


I wonder what he's thinking?

Happy Thirtieth, Court!

I traveled to Houston on Saturday for Courtney's thirtieth birthday brunch thrown for her by her aunts. Courtney and I were pot luck roommates at A&M. I made a flying trip, leaving at 6 AM and getting home by 8 PM. I wouldn't have missed it, though. It was held at the Backstreet Cafe and it was a really nice time. I had the french toast, which was probably the caloric equivalent of a few days, but it was worth it!

She had a good turnout. Family members included her mom, Barbara, grandmother, Flo, two aunts, Patty and Claudia, two cousins, Stephanie and Hilary, and a second cousin, Mercedes. Melissa and Jenny were there from San Antonio, Jenny's sister Kim from Garland, and her high school friend Jennifer from Houston were also there. We had fun recalling our favorite Courtney stories. It was neat to hear all of them! They had a tiara for her to wear so that was pretty funny! Her mom printed out a list of the major events from 1976. That was fun to read since four of us there were born that year. We also had a champagne toast and cake. She also got some really nice gifts. We all got a gift of a picture frame and chocolate.


Court's cousin Stephanie passing down the crown.


Court and her mom, Barbara.


Aunt Patty, Courtney, Aunt Claudia, and her grandmother Flo.


Melissa, Kim, Courtney, Jenny, and me. Melissa and I look like pregnant bookends! Jennifer was running late, so I didn't get a picture of her.


Courtney and Louis.

I had never been to Courtney's apartment so Court, Mel, Jenny, Kim and I went there afterward. I had Christmas gifts for Court and Mel and a baby gift for Melissa. I wanted to give it to her this weekend, just in case I'm not able to make it to San Antonio. She is due February 15th and I'm due March 17th. She's having a boy, Richard Bryce, and I'm having a girl (still unnamed). We were joking about having an arranged marriage! It will be so neat that our kids are that close together.


The three of us at Court's apartment.

Party Time

Lorne's company "Holiday Party" was held on Friday at Hotel Intercontinental in Addison. It drives me crazy that it isn't called a Christmas party, but I digress. We have never attended one in the nine years that Lorne has worked there, so we weren't too sure what to expect, but it was fun. It was pretty kid-centered. They had balloon artists, craft tables, face painters, Santa made an appearance, and they had family pictures. The food was mostly the typical hotel fare, but some of it was pretty tasty.

Jesse and Laura and their kids and Bryan and Julie and their kids were there so it was nice to see them. Conrad and Judi and Kathy and Richard were also there. Lorne works with Jesse, Bryan, Conrad, and Kathy. We also saw Lorne's boss Don and his girlfriend Dawn. It's funny at company events how everyone just stays with the people they know even though there are hundreds of people milling around.


Each child in attendance receives a toy. Sawyer had fun playing with Christopher and his gift.

Sawyer didn't smile in his Santa picture or the family picture. I was okay with that, though, since he did smile like a crazy man on Wednesday when I took him for his pictures that cost money. I figure if you're going to frown in a picture it might as well be a free one. I wanted to include the family one here. They put the Santa one on a photo button, magnet thingie, so Lorne couldn't scan that one. He didn't cry and he wasn't afraid of Santa, he just didn't find him very amusing apparently.


This would have turned out better if I would have zoomed, but I was so excited to watch Sawyer's reaction that I forgot.


Lorne took Sawyer to get this snowman balloon. Sawyer said "balloon" while they were standing in line.


I think Sawyer was unhappy because prior to this he and Lorne were exploring the ballroom, which is much more fun. Just ask any eighteen month old! :)

Lexi Takes the Cake

We traveled to Wichita Falls on Saturday for Lexi's first birthday party. Lexi's parents are Ashley and Erik and Ashley is Lorne's first cousin for those who don't know. We had a great time. Sawyer did really well on the car ride both times so we were happy for that. We have been to four first birthday parties since June and this was the first time that the honoree actually got into eating the cake. Everyone else acted like they didn't know what they were supposed to do with the sugary substance in front of them. It was hilarious! Ashley sent her straight to the tub once she was through. I thought that she looked like a baby Kermit since the icing was green.


They both seemed happy to see someone close to their own size.


Ashley helping Lexi open her gift from us. We got her the Leap Frog Fridge Farm.


The poor cake never stood a chance!


Lexi in action.


Sawyer enjoyed playing outside in the cold.

Friday was a huge day for us because we left Sawyer with a babysitter for the first time. Crystal, the daughter of the owner of the Curves where I work out watched Sawyer for a few hours while Lorne and I went to Maggiano's for dinner. I wanted to have a dry run before we go to Lorne's group Christmas party in a few weeks. I fed and bathed Sawyer before we left around 7:00. Crystal played with him for about an hour and then dressed him in his jammies and put him to bed. I called around 8:30 to make sure everything was fine and she said that he was sleeping and that they had lots of fun. That made me feel better and I was actually able to enjoy my dinner. I'm hoping that if the next time goes well we may be able to go out again before we're back to square one in March.