12 days and counting

i am due in twelve days. twelve. this has been, by far, the easist pregnancy out of the three. maybe because i was in such good shape when i got preggo. (keyword: WAS!) as good as i've been feeling i AM tired, my body DOES hurt and i am a TAD cranky. mostly i am really excited and anxious to meet this little man and to see how he will change our family dynamic. i've been feeling a little sad too thinking about that, how stephen won't be my littlest baby anymore and how mason will have that much more responsibility as the big brother. also this will be our last baby, unless the powers that be have other plans. i'm looking forward to trying to live in the moment and enjoy the baby time as much as possible.
i am also a little excited about the future and some plans i've been making in my head, regarding going back to school and things like that. more will be revealed on that :)
stephen DESPERATELY wants to be potty trained! he has been taking off his own diaper and going potty in his little potty all by himself. as fantastic as that is, its a little difficult because i am not in a position right now to take a few days and do the deal. i want to wait until after the baby is born and do it this summer. its pretty great though to watch his independence and self sufficiency grow.
i probably won't blog again until after baby has made his arrival. so next time i'll have a birth announcement!

ho ho ho

we really had a great christmas this year. one of the best parts has been that mike has been home so much over the last few weeks so we really have been able to spend a lot of good family time together. on christmas eve we had our friends the levits over and mikes brother kelly and his wife dmitri. we cooked up a big ole yummy bird and had sweet potato, butternut squash & pecan pie for dessert. the kids ran around and played (happily) and the adults got to relax and enjoy ourselves. santa did make it by our house this year, and really enjoyed the milk & cookies we left. the boys were so excited to wake up and see what presents were left for them. we made homemade monkey bread, yum!, and fried bacon, of course! i realize that i am talking about food a lot here, that is because not only are we big eaters around here, but one of my most favorite things is cooking with my husband. i really enjoy working side by side with him. later in the morning we went over to mimis house and had a visit with her and mikes sister leila who was in town from arizona.

shalom everyone!

choo choo

here are some pics from a little train ride we went on down in alvin before christmas. it was a neat little place that had some live christmas tunes and kettle corn. the boys LOVED it!

merry merry

it snowed this past friday on the 4th. it was AmAzInG!!! for me anyway! it has snowed five times in my lifetime, 3 of which have been in the last five years. i have never gotten to experience it actually snowing. it started to sleet here around 7:30, turned into the real deal around 9 and went all day long until about 4:00! mike had taken mason in to school but we picked him up around 10:30 so he could enjoy it with us. we didn't spend too much time outside because we live in houston and do not have appropriate cold weather clothes. it was super awesome, the boys loved it. although i think i was the most excited out of all of us!

party time

to celebrate the boys bdays we had a party at the casa. mike grilled burgers and the kids jumped on the moonwalk and ran around. it was a lot of fun and the boys had a blast! i did not take many photos, but here are a couple.

Happy 5th Mason Owen!

Mason turned five on november 19th. FIVE!FIVE!FIVE! i have no idea how we got here, but glad i've made it (so far)! We celebrated by eating ice cream sundaes with one of his favorite candies thrown in, gummie worms. mmmmMMMMmmmm......MMMMMmmmmMMMMM.....
i cannot believe my baby is five. along with continuing to be one of the hard-headest children, well people, i've ever known (and attitudinal as well) he is so funny and kind and smart. he is really getting the knack with letters and is starting to learn how to read a bit! he LOVES all things science/nature/animals. he loves to know things and to talk about those things. oh mason, you are so much like your mamma and i wonder if i will ever learn how to not butt heads with you? i love you i love you i love you and i am so glad that you are mine :)