Catch-up for Christmas

I'm finally getting around to posting some (okay, tons) of pictures from Christmas 2012.  We had five Christmas get-togethers this year...whew!  We alternate when we go to each of our families each year, with Thanksgiving.  So, we visit our respective hometowns for Christmas every other year and go to the Thanksgiving get-togethers the years we don't make it to Christmas.  Make sense?  Yeah, it's a little confusing, but it allows our own little family to be in our own home to open gifts on Christmas morning, which is important to us.

Anyhow, here are tons of pictures from the various events:

Christmas in Flora:

We took Meredith to our local park for a "Christmas in the Park" train ride, complete with lights and decorations.  She very much enjoyed playing at the train table while waiting to board the real train.  Since this visit, she now says "choo-choo" when she sees a train.

Pre-train ride.  It was cold and she was scared from just seeing Santa.  That's the reason for her face here.

Post-train ride.  She enjoyed the ride with Grandma and Grandpa very much.

Opening her gift from Jeff, JoLynne, and Quenton.

She hasn't seen Quenton too much, but they became fast buddies.

Christmas Eve morning, just before opening her gifts.  Our little poser :)

Opening her gifts from Uncle Derek.  She loves the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book he got her.

Helping Grandma open her Willow Tree Angel gift.

Christmas in Bloomington:

Christmas Eve night, after going to church service.

Decorations....we even put up a stocking for Baby Prentice.

Christmas Tree.

Decorations...

Christmas morning.  Reading the Christmas story from her kid's Bible before Daddy read from Luke 2.  We made sure to read first, before opening gifts, so we remember the true reason for our celebrations.  I have a feeling she won't always be this patient when we read :)

Helping Daddy open his devotional calendar.

Opening up yet another book from Mommy and Daddy.

We got her a doll with a stroller (and pacifier and bottle), in hopes that she would use it to grow more accustomed to having a baby in the house in a few short weeks.

Christmas with the Prentice Family (celebrated the weekend before New Years):

It's feeling more real now.  Meredith is going to be a big sister!

Helping Grandpa open his new coffee pot.

Reading a new book with Grandma.

Grandpa, Meredith, and Grandma Prentice.

Hello 2013!

I can't believe today is the start of another new year.  As I reflect on 2012, I realize how blessed my family has been.  Here are some of our highlights:

• Took our first family vacation (to the Wisconsin Dells and Mall of America) in May.
• Purchased a minivan (still can't believe we are owners of a van) in February.
• Celebrated Meredith's 1st birthday in May...where has the time gone?
• Found out we are expecting Baby Prentice #2 in June.
• We lost Chad's Grandpa Prentice in July.  Of course, not a highlight of the year in a positive sense, but nonetheless something to reflect on.
• Meredith went from a crawler at the beginning of the year to a runner by years end!
• Meredith went from having zero teeth last January 1st to now having 12!

 Chad and I have each set a few resolutions, if you will, for this upcoming year:

• I want to eliminate soda completely from my diet (now I just drink a half to one can a day).  I usually try to eliminate caffeine as a resolution and it never, ever works.  It's too aggressive of a goal, since caffeine-induced headaches overwhelm me.  I plan to replace the soda with unsweetened tea, so I still get the caffeine, but lose the calories/sugars.  
• This may sound silly, but I want to make the bed everyday.  When the bedroom is clean and organized, I feel like I am organized as well :)
• Chad wants to read more and run more.  He also said he wants to be a better Daddy.  I think he said this because we watched "Courageous" last night, but I'm really stumped at how he can improve in this category.  I caught a good one (husband and daddy for my kids)!

Of course, our biggest excitement for 2013 is the arrival of Baby Prentice.  I am at 32 weeks now and at my doctor's appointment yesterday, we scheduled the c-section for February 18th.  There are many days I wonder if I will make it a full 39 weeks (mainly due to the size of the baby and the increased number of contractions I have been having recently), so we at least now know it will be the 18th or sooner.  We are so excited and can't wait to find out if we are going to have another little girl or a little boy.

Baby Bump

I'm getting quite the baby bump with this one.  So far, my weight has mainly been in my belly, which I'm hoping will make for a quicker weight loss after the birth.  It could also be why I have been having quite a few flare ups with my sciatica pain.  Anyhow, here is my bump at 29 weeks.  Just a little over two months to go.  Starting to feel very real now.... (Aaaaahhhhhh!!!!!)

PS - I'm back to thinking the baby is a boy.  Chad is kind of thinking this way also now.  I'm so bad with guessing, though.  Early on I thought boy, then for the later part of the 1st trimester and most of the 2nd trimester I thought girl, and now I'm back to boy.  Just glad we have names picked out either way :)

Preacher Baby

We are convinced I am carrying a preacher with this pregnancy.  It is the complete opposite of Meredith, who was our music baby.  Here is why we have come to this conclusion:  This baby does not make much, if any, movement during the worship songs at church on Sunday morning.  However, when Pastor Baker gets up to speak, watch out!  My belly starts moving in all kinds of directions.  We noticed this very early on in the pregnancy and it's quite hilarious.  On the other hand, Meredith was a mover and shaker when it came to the worship music, which can mirror a rock-style concert in our church, though I don't remember her moving much with the sermons.  What's so funny is that even now, Meredith will stop whatever she's doing at times and dance to music that's on TV, the radio, or that we are singing.  Who knows, maybe this is the next John the Baptist, or Joni the Baptist (if it's a girl) :)

Family Pictures

It's that time of year again....time for family pictures!  Actually, it's a time to get Meredith's pictures for Christmas and then get a few of Chad and I with her :)  We opted for an early Sunday morning photo shoot, hoping they wouldn't be too busy, but alas it was crowded as usual.  Guess it's just that time of the year.  We had to reschedule once because of a bruise Meredith had around her eye, due to a fall off the slide, so we didn't want to push the date back again.  Meredith did surprisingly well in the actual photo shoot, much to our amazement.  She is usually so squirmy for pictures we try to take.  However, trying to hold her still while we chose our favorite pictures was a different story.  Next time we'll have to take a sitter along with us!

All decked out for Christmas

What a big girl she is getting to be!

Our little bookworm :)

Hard to tame down all of the hair in the back :)

The Prentice Family

I love this picture, especially since we didn't get any professional pregnancy pictures while I was carrying Meredith.  It won't be long and we will be a family of four!