New Year

I'm just about caught up on the blog, as I neglected it for a few weeks.  

We had a very, low key New Years Eve this year!  We took the kids to see Christmas lights, got hot chocolate, then came back home to watch the ball drop (well….Scott is the only one who lasted that long).  This was our first year in awhile that we weren't with friends on New Year's and I missed being with them, but didn't have enough energy this year to hang out (pathetic I know). 

We had a really, really great 2013.  Elli turned 3, began 2-day preschool, and started taking a weekly dance class.  Connor turned 2 and we've really seen his personality develop this past year.  We were able to travel to Florida in February, Dale Hollow in August, and Disney World in October.  Scott and I traveled to Mexico in March with his company and Tennessee in December for a wedding.  I was also able to travel with him to Florida in January on a work trip.  We had decided to sell our house last spring and had it on the market at the end of July and sold by September.  We were both nervous about this, but we are still really happy with our decision.  Scott had another successful year with NetJets and continues to love his job.  I've heard many people say they were ready to get the past year over with and I've thought, no way….we've had an excellent year!  

What we weren't expecting this past year was a pregnancy.  We found out in November that we were expecting baby #3 and to say it was quite a shock is an understatement.  Although we hadn't ruled out the possibility of another child (ok…Scott kind of did), we wanted Elli to be at least 5 and Connor 3.5.

This pregnancy has been rough, really rough.  I've been sick, tired, have had many food aversions, and other pregnancy symptoms that I'll leave out.  We've been in survival mode around our house and I'm JUST NOW starting to slowly feel better.  It is safe to say that this will most definitely be my last pregnancy….ever…and I'm not one bit sad about it.  We were planning on me going back to work next fall while both kiddos were in preschool; however, we'll unfortunately be putting that on hold for a little bit longer.

Elli is unbelievably excited about the pregnancy….Connor doesn't understand.  Elli wants a baby sister and we're a little nervous to see her reaction if we do have a boy.  I think 'baby' is a girl and Scott thinks 'baby' is a boy.  I am due August 3rd and really just want a healthy, easy baby that sleeps through the night (is this possible????).  We are not going to find out the gender in advance, so it should be an exciting delivery.  And one of these days, Scott and I will get around to talking about names.  Because we didn't have a definite name for Connor right after we delivered him, he became 'Baby Boy Lindvall' and that name stayed with him all the way to Children's Hospital….I wasn't able to change it at his cardiologist until he was about 4 months old.  That won't happen with this child and hopefully we won't be running to Children's upon discharge!!     

 Here is our first couple pictures of the baby.  The dr. said the baby looks great so far!

So, 2014 will prove to be a very exciting year for us.  We have a trip to Florida planned in March and a trip to Gulf Shores over memorial day with my family….we haven't taken a trip with my family since Elli was 5 months old.  We had originally planned on Outerbanks in the fall, but we had to alter our plans because of new the baby….we'll try this next year! We'll be adding another kiddo to our family and also moving into a new house.  I have no doubts that this will be a great year for our family.

Christmas in Mansfield

The weekend before Christmas, we headed up to Mansfield to spend a few days at the 'Red hotel slide' as Elli would say and celebrated Christmas with my Grandparents.  The kids absolutely love this hotel and especially love going down the slide!

 I slept with this Monkey….I'm not one that loves to sleep with my kids, as he was scooted close to me the whole night long!

 Amber had to wear her floaties in the pool (you didn't think I wasn't going to post this picture, did you?)

 Connor figured out he could float on his back (with the help of his floaties).  Um….not sure why the water looks green….I don't remember it looking like that while we were there.  This was the hot tub….

We had a good time, but we were all a little exhausted by the time we left!

Christmas 2013 continued...

After we opened up our gifts on Christmas morning, we headed to Marion for 4 days of Christmas celebrations.  

Christmas at Papa and Nana Brauchler's house

(Kensley and Elli were 'reading' the bible before we opened gifts)

 She got just what she wanted….

 Wearing his new Thomas slippers

 Trying on his new 'Dusty' outfit (with new PJ shorts underneath)

 Christmas at Nana & Papa Lindvall's house….

Christmas with the Zurchers!  Connor, Elli, and Kensley put on a 'Christmas Program' before we opened gifts.  This is by far my favorite memory from Christmas 2013.  It was so funny to see Connor singing and doing the hand motions with the girls….

 Christmas morning!  On our way to Papa & Nana Lindvall's church.  After church, we celebrated Christmas with the extended Lindvall family.

We had a great Christmas, despite me feeling sick and tired 100% of the time and Elli getting an ear infection!

Christmas Morning

We began our Christmas celebration by attending the Christmas Eve service at our church.  We had planned on making dinner at home after the service, but I wasn't feel well, so we opted to pick up food. We came home, let the kids watch 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'  put our cookies and apple out (Elli was insistent that Rudolph would only eat apples), and headed to bed.  

Photo Shoot before….

 Connor was being like Elli by tilting his head...

 (Ignore the tape on the wall….our stockings fell down.  I did the best I could decorating our apartment with the decorations we actually had at the apartment.  Our tree looked pathetic, as most stuff is in storage).

 Elli went down stairs in the morning to check if Santa came and then ran upstairs to get us.  We, of course, had to wait for Connor to wake up.  We read The Christmas Story and then began opening gifts.

We had a bit of a traumatic event, as we thought we had lost the one thing Elli asked for for Christmas, her ariel fin.  During present opening, I tore apart the apartment looking for it.  After about 20 minutes, I realized she had already opened it (Elli and Scott thought it was a shirt that she opened and tossed it over to the side).  Before I realized this, she kept saying…."I mean, thank you for all my gifts. I really love them all. I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't get my ariel fin. I asked for it. I thought Santa would have brought it." So glad we found it and didn't lose it!!

Connor got stuff for his trains, which is all he wanted!

We had a good morning at home.  It was really nice to be at home on Christmas day.

Elliana's Christmas Program

Elli had a Christmas Program at her school the week before Christmas.  I'd be lying if I didn't say that I had been looking forward to this as soon as I found out about it.  She practiced a lot around the house leading up to the concert and we couldn't wait to see her perform on stage.

Before her concert….

Nana and Papa B. were nice enough to make the 3 hour drive for the 30 minute concert :)  They also saved the week when they stayed the day after the concert to help me out with the kids.  I was so sick and Scott had to leave on a trip out West.  

 The Star of the Show….

 Connor's turn with the 'star'

 Can you find Elli?  She did awesome!!  She sang every song and did all the hand motions.

  After the concert Connor said, "You did good job, sissy."  And a good job she did!!
  All the parents provided cookies for everyone in attendance to enjoy after the show (and yes, mine were store bought….I was sick).

Santa

The kids were so excited to see Santa this year. 

(I had to post this next picture….I'm not even sure why Elli was crying, but this is what happened minutes before we were walking out the door.)

Both kids were excited to tell Santa what they wanted this year.  Elli told him she wanted an ariel fin and Connor told him he wanted a boat and more 'choo choos'.

 We waited in a 30 minute line to see him.  Neither kid was afraid, they both walked right up there and told them exactly what they wanted.  I have a cute video that I will have to post later.

 Elli gave Santa a big hug when she was leaving!