Christmas 2011---- where are the pictures???

Well... I have misplaced my camera. So I have absolutely no pictures from Christmas. We have a few videos on the Blogger camera and Josh's phone. Other than that I have one from my phone I took the other day as I was taking down the tree. This year was tough. I was so emotional thinking about my grandmother and Dad not being here; I definitely broke down several times. Last year we had just learned that Daddy had lung cancer and he was taking chemo and radiation. We had no idea that in a week he would be gone. My Aunt Jane and Uncle Richard came in and spent Christmas with us so that was nice (we are their only family left) and we were thrilled they were here. We had Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve since my sister and her family were leaving to go to her in-laws that evening. Mom cooked a big breakfast and we all brought food; I made 2 quiches (is this plural?), hash-brown casserole, and pigs in a blanket. Eli's favorite toys were the take apart truck with working drill and the plasma car. He also had fun with his new power Buzz Lightyear truck from Mawmaw and Pawpaw. He was a bit skittish at first but was soon pushing the button and riding around like a pro. Isaac was absolutely pumped with his new I-pod touch (he had been saving quite a while for it) as well as his new air-soft gun from my mom and step-dad. Josh and I did stockings for each other but I did secretly surprise him and I got him a 'work coat' (a Carhart jacket) for all the tree splitting he needs to do at our new house. We continue to adhere to the 3 present rule which we started a few years ago. The boys get three presents from us and their stocking. However by the time we are finished with Christmas on both sides of the family they definitely have more than enough. We both see no sense in spoiling them senseless since they are spoiled enough as it is throughout the year. Our philosophy continues to be "If 3 presents were good enough for Jesus, they're good enough for anybody!" Christmas morning we had all intention of going to church but for some reason which I think is related to the back molars Eli is cutting.. we were up all night. He was sooo cranky Christmas morning even the presents were not enough to contain the beast! He whined and whined.. so he went down for a nap at 9:30 am and after that he had a much better day. We went to Josh's family after Eli's nap and had a great time being with all the family. This year all his siblings and their families were in town for Christmas. Even with the sadness of my dad missing we are so blessed to have wonderful families that shower us with love.

House update

Trying to decide on a color....

The cedar shakes are going up!

The built-in's are in (without the doors of course)

Mason is working on the rock for FP

We finalized our kitchen granite (Typhoon Bordeaux)

Final color-- Autumn Grey (it's a green grey)

Final color on front of house (front is almost finished except for rock work on front of the house and wood posts)

Baby girl's pictures

Josh shot these from his phone so they aren't the best quality... but you can see her little profile in this one and this is the supposed 'girl shot'.

The Polar Express

Mama on the Polar Express

Audra really wanted to take Carter to see the Polar Express this year so I agreed to bring Eli along too. Mom went with us and of course Camden came too. We went to the 5 o'clock ride and the boys did great on the trip there (1/1/2 hour drive). We were a bit rushed for time so Audra dropped us off at the door and went to park. I put Camden in the baby bjorn and we grabbed our bags and Carter and Eli and off Mom and I went to find our seats. We both forgot our phones so we ended up having to wait on Audra to get back from parking because we had her ticket. We rushed to train # 5 (all the way at the end) and boarded the train (loads of fun with 3 babies and heavy bags). We listened to the Polar express story, Santa came aboard and gave the boys a bell,  and we had hot cocoa and cookies and sang Christmas carols.  Eli didn't want to sit still and of course didn't really grasp the whole Polar Express thing but I think he enjoyed seeing Santa, getting his bell and singing. I think he needs to be a bit older to really enjoy the experience. Carter will be 3 in May so he had a great time and looked out the train window. After the ride, we grabbed a quick supper and then headed back home. Carter fell asleep pretty quick but Camden and Eli both cried for about 10 minutes which always seems like longer. We took Isaac when he was 3 so I am glad the little boys got to go too! Well I was just trying to upload some pictures from the adventure but all the images of the boys are videos soo I guess we will just put one up of mom!

I've picked out her nursery

Well.. since the painters are working hard on the interior colors I decided I needed to pick bedding and decide on wall color asap. I want something elegant and not too pink so I found a set I love from restoration hardware. I am going to find a white crib set somewhere.

It's a ...................

GIRL!!!

I am in total utter shock! I was 100% sure this baby was a boy. I had picked his name,  and allocated furntiure and bedding.  I am very thankful everything looks good so far. We were able to see all her anatomical structures and everything measured on target. We laughed because her legs measured in the 60-70% percentile and at Eli's ultrasound his measured in the 15%. Josh has a long torso and short legs so Eli definitely took after him. I don't know any thing about being a mother to a girl... but I guess I will learn. My sister has two boys and we have two boys so I thought we were destined to have all boys! I wanted to wait until Christmas to find out but of course I couldn't wait when I got to the ultrasound and I had to know. We did go to the mall and buy two Christmas ornaments with pink on them and I had them enscripted with "Baby Girl Allison, coming May 2012". We had Josh's brothers and sister meet us at his parents house and let his mom open the gift. She said she knew it was a girl the whole time. We also gave my mom an ornament to open and she was in total shock! We brought Isaac a pink gum ball (after 5 tries we finally got pink out of the machine). He said he wanted a sister :) It may take me a few days to get used to the idea of a girl; but I am very thankful for this blessing God has given us. 

Last minute pics...

We had a few requests from family that they wanted some pictures so I called spur of the moment to JC Penny, through some clothes together and off we went. Not the usual Katy Cook caliber of course but we got a few cute shots. Eli was a PILL... he did not want to cooperate. I think we are heading in the 'terrible two' territory. We've been using the 'cry mat' at home that my friend Amber used with her daughter and that has worked pretty well. When he pitches a fit for an undue cause then he has to go sit on the 'cry mat' until he is finished crying.

Isaac's 5 K

Isaac has been running before school to train for a local 5 K with  another elementary school in our county. The "Track Pack" has been a really neat way to get kids active... our PE coach and a couple other teachers started it up this year. The kids raced at Lake James State Park and were all really excited. I took pictures because I figured I wasn't up to being a 'running buddy'. I have done absolutely zero physical activity this pregnancy so I figured running a 5 K probably wouldn't be a good way to start out at 17 weeks. I do want to start exercising to some extent... I just need to find the energy and time.

I stick out my tongue just like my brother did

Concentrating