Christmas Day

Christmas was so fun this year. Payton is starting to grasp the concept of Christmas and was super excited to help wake everyone up to see if Santa came and start opening presents. It was so cute.

This year Santa brought Payton a dolly with a highchair, stroller, and bassinet. When she saw them she beelined for them and started playing. About a half an hour later we were begging her to open some of her other gifts. About an hour later Dave finally opened another one of her gifts and showed it to her. If we would have only known. It took her about 3 days before she even looked in her stocking and another day to open all of her presents.

We spent the majority of the day at my parents house. When we got there they had a yummy breakfast of french toast waiting for us. I love french toast! Then we all got together and opened our stockings. This tradition has sort of evolved over the years. My mom puts together a stocking, which is really a big Christmas gift bag for each person. It is always fun to watch her try and figure out what everyone needs/wants.

After round one of opening presents we cleaned up and got ready for additional "family" to join us for Christmas dinner. Funny story about the dinner. One of the things we had was Tri-Tip, usually this is one of our fall back dinner items. They have always turned out delicious. And I was definately looking forward to eating it. Well, let's just say it was "well done". When Dad pulled it off the grill jen asked if it had gotten a little burned but he kept trying to say that it was fine and just to cut off the outside. Well, when he tasted it I think he realized how done it was. Hee! Hee!

Payton certainly was spoiled. Between all the grandmas, great grandmas, her aunties and uncles, and mom and dad she really brought in the loot. Lucky girl!

I really do love the Christmas Season and I am always sad to see it go.

Effaced and Dialated

OK this is definitely not the most flattering picture ever taken of me. But I am amazed how huge I look. Yikes!
Anyway, at my last doctor's appointment, which was a week ago as of this post, the doctor said I was 50% effaced and almost 1 centimeter dilated. Yay! However, I almost wish that they would have found no action happening. At least before I went in for my appointment I wasn't expecting anything to happen. I just assumed that my due date would come and go with no baby and I would have to schedule the C-section. Now I have this hope that I may have go into labor early. Each day that goes by I am more and more disappointed that the little guy is still inside.

I am just scared that when I go in for my appointment tomorrow that I will have actually gone backwards meaning I am no longer dilated or effaced at all. I am starting to think that the C-section was a better option for me since I like to plan things out. :o)

Our First Ponytail

It is getting harder and harder to catch a good picture of Payton these days. She is just way too fast.

For the longest time I have been able to put Payton's hair into half piggytails and half ponytails. Her hair was just not quite long enough to get it into a full ponytail...well, until now or so I thought.

As cute as it was it only lasted until her nap. Still not quite long enough to withstand all the moving around of a 20 month old. Oh well, it was cute while it lasted.

Christmas Tree Decorating

Let me start by saying that Costco is a great place to shop for your Christmas tree. Well, that is unless you want to go out and chop one down yourself. If that is the case Costco would definately not give you the same experience. :o)

For as long as I can remember I have been a fake tree sort of gal. Let's face it, I would rather have my curious kitties knock over a fake one than a real on with a dish of water underneath it.

Anyway, Dave's family always gets a real tree. I believe they usually get it from the same place too, I just can't remember where they said they had gotten them. This year they decided that it would be easier just to go to Costco and pick one up. So Dave and a I volunteered for the job of going to get one.

You just go up to the register and tell them you want a tree, they give you a receipt, you go out to the parking lot and pick one out of a truck. They are all bound up and ready to go. I was nervous about not being able to see the tree unbound and was afraid that we would end up with one with a big gap in the branches or something. Fortunately, my worries were for nothing.

When Dave and his dad brought it into the house it all of a sudden seemed taller than it did when getting it out of the truck. Then once they got it in the stand and unbound it... The best way to describe it was from the scene on Christmas Vacation. That tree is huge! Beautiful but huge!

This last Sunday was decorating day. Payton decided she was going to help. It was so cute. She kept pulling out all the empty ornament boxes and handing them to her grandma. Then came the bead garland. I am just glad she didn"t take off running while the garland was drapped over her shoulders. Lastly came the discovery of the Candy Canes.

Need I say more. :o)

Pregnancy

I realized after taking these pictures that I should not allow anyone to take pictures of me while pregnant. Not pretty. At least not great when taking them of myself. I will have to have Dave take some pics of me that I can be proud of. :o)

So this is me at 37 weeks pregnant. I am hoping that this little boy decides that he wants to come early. However, I have told the doctor that this will not be the case and that my due date will come and go and she will need to schedule the C-section. For those of you who didn't know, I had to have Payton by C-section because she was confused about how she was supposed to come out. Evidently she was under the impression that rear first was a good idea.

At my doctor's appointment this week we discovered that our little boy baby may be a little confused as well. He is at least head down but has decided that he prefers the sunny side up position better than the "normal" back facing position. Not optimal positioning especially when attempting a VBAC. My doctor says there is still time for him to turn and that this doesn't mean that I cannot still try a VBAC. She just said it makes it harder. Wish us all luck!

Truth be told, I am really excited for this little guy to come. This pregnancy has definately been more difficult that my first and I feel bad because I feel like I complain a lot. Dave (and his family) have been VERY patient with me. But I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to have children and that I have been able to experience life growing inside me. I am scared that I will not be able to handle two kids but I am looking forward to the challange. I can't wait to hold him, to watch Dave with him, and to see how Payton interacts with him. Exciting times.

All Tuckered Out

Figuring out a nap schedule for Payton can be very challanging. I am not complaining, at least she taking naps now. :o)

A couple of Mondays ago I went down to Gilroy for a playdate and I decided to just nap Payton when we got back. When we got in the car she insisted on looking at this book so I gave it to her and didn't think anything of it. I started off the trip talking to her about the playdate and what she was seeing in the book. Then all of a sudden it got very quiet in the back seat. I figured she was just really into the book and was ignoring me. After all she was holding up the big book, so I stopped talking.

When I got home and turned around I peaked up over the top of the book because she still wasn't answering me and found out why...She was asleep! It was so cute I had to take a picture.

What's funnier is when I took the book from her. She didn't wake up and her hands never moved. She was sitting like she was holding an invisible book. I love times like this! So cute!

Guitar Hero

Payton is getting to that age were she just loves to copy anything you do. Cute, but also makes you think twice before doing something. :o)

Anyway, She saw her uncles playing Guitar Hero and wanted to join in on the fun. Her cousin Ethan was all over it too. They are both so cute.

She is a natural!

Bed Head

Payton is definately going to hate me for this when she is older but I have to post these pictures. These pictures were taken when we were up in Truckee for Thanksgiving. I had done her hair in french braids the day before. When she went to bed I just took out the rubber bands and didn't finger out the braids. So this is what she looked like when she woke up. LOL So cute!

I just love that smile.

Thanksgiving

So this is what you get for eating too much Thanksgiving dinner. LOL Just kidding. But really doesn't it look like my belly is floating?

Every year Dave and I alternate between families celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year was the Ahlgren's year for Thanksgiving. After getting the OK from the doctor we headed up to Truckee for the week. It was really nice to have all of Dave's family together. That hasn't happened for a while with missions and military service and the like.

For the most part the weather was really nice there. There was only like a day and a half when it got cold and started snowing. Fortunately for us that wasn't the day we were heading back. :o) Traffic was horrible that day (sorry Rob and Keri).

Much of our time was spent relaxing, eating, and just hanging out. Some did go out and go snowboarding while leaving a certain pregnant lady home to pout. Others braved their luck at fishing two days in a row while the rest of us ventured out to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, which actually wasn't bad, I was expecting Gilroy Outlet traffic. We also took Payton and Ethan out to play in the snow. For some reason it took Payton a while to warm up to the idea of being pulled in a sleigh but she didn't mind pushing it around while Ethan was in it. She is so wierd.

Overall, I think everyone had a really good time. I included this last picture because with the two kidlets in my lap I don't even look preggers. They hide my belly well, don't you think?

LOL Parties

Yes this is my lame attempt at trying to catch up on my bogging. Please bear with me. :o)

As many of you know and may be involved in, there has been a group of us in Gilroy having play dates every Monday for a long time. I have loved these play dates and look forward to them each week. Payton and I both have gotten to know and become good friends with these girls and their kidlets. When we moved to San Jose I vowed to still go to the play dates and have done so. Shoot everyone has even hightailed it up to San Jose for a play date.

Well, to my suprise there is a group of ladies from our ward here in San Jose that get together for play dates once a week on Thursdays. I have to admit that I have not been as regular at attending these play dates but it has been nice getting to know the ladies in this area and their kids. It is a bigger group that get together up here and sometimes I think Payton is very overwhelmed but over all I am glad when we are able to go and am excited for Payton to get to know these ladies and their kids too.

Well, a few weeks ago the San Jose play date ended up being at a place named LOL Parties. I considered not going because I didn't know if there would be anything that Payton would enjoy. I had looked on the website and it said for kids 18 months up to 12 years. I thought that she would get run over. Fortunately, our group was the only one there and Payton had a blast. I would love to take her again, she was able to run around and just be a kid. She definately needs more time like that.

Long story short, if anyone wants to go just let me know. I am game.

Group Baby Shower

So in our new ward there are or should I say say "were" 5 of us all due within about 6 weeks of each other. To date, everyone but me has had there baby. Good for them! My moment with eventually come. :o)

Anyway, the ladies in the ward put together a group baby shower for all of us. I really didn't know what to expect. I mean Dave, Payton, and I just barely moved into the ward and no one really new me at the time. I figured I would go and visit and get to know everyone better. I didn't realize it would take several of us to carry all the gifts I got out to the car and then into the house.

As it turns out, anyone that brought a gift brought 5 of them! I can't believe the generosity of the members in this ward. There were so many great gifts, clothes, blankets, diapers, wipes, and even prepared meals all ready to be frozen. I think we all had fun, I know I did.

I made Nursing Cover Clips for each of the girls. They were a bigger hit than I had anticipated, which I am way happy about. I put together a tutorial of how I made them here on my other blog. Take a look and let me know what you think.