Birthday parties, babies, and baby showers, oh my!

This post goes back a ways, and I'd be lying to say I remember how far back (and would have to search through my calendar to get the dates right) so I'm just going to write about it and get it out of my drafts :-)

Back in mid-November my friend, Lindi, and I drove to Abilene to visit our friend, Wendy, and her family. She had triplet girls in late September, and all of them were home from the hospital after four weeks (praise God)! Maddie, Lily, and Aubrey were ready for visitors, so Lindi and I decided we wanted to help out Wendy and R.J. a bit. This was the only picture we took, as we were pretty busy :-) We took over for one of the night shifts (and they so kindly let us) so they could get an uninterrupted night's sleep. All I have to say is that I was worn out just after 24 hours, but I was amazed how good the babies were (and how calm and collected the parents of four girls 2-years-old and under were)! They go through about 30 bottles a day and who knows how many burp clothes and diapers?! It was great to see them in person, as we have been getting the cutest picture updates through email :-)

I also helped hostess my cousin Allison's baby shower the next day (three of our family members and friends are expecting baby boys during the last week of December-our little guy will have a lot of boys around his age to play with)! It was a lovely gathering, with lots of great company, food and baby talk, but I seemed to have been too busy to take pictures during the actual shower. Oops!

Here is a snapshot of the beautiful mom-to-be at, I believe, 35 weeks! She is due any.minute.now...

Jameston was invited to our sweet neighbor Avanti's 5th birthday party at Jump for Joy.

He had a blast!

It was our first, but definitely not last, trip there. We will be back!

Here Comes Santa Clause

Two Fridays ago, we headed to Jameston's school for "Spaghetti with Santa." They had two different seatings for dinner, andwe chose the later one so we could get some activities in before we ate :-) He loved the bean bag tossing games, as we hung out there more than anywhere else!And his Daddy had fun helping him, too!

And he even switched it up and threw with both hands!Mrs. Clause read "The Polar Express" to a group. Jameston was right at the front and even got up a couple of times to point to the picturesHe "wrote" a letter to Santa that we mailed that nightHe loves Thomas the Train, which was also on display in the Polar Express roomGetting him to sit on Santa's lap took some time this year (he was excited up until we went into that room). But nothing a good ole game of catch with the photographer couldn't fix! We loved it-no long lines, no crazy prices. Easy breezy!This year's picture:And for comparison's-sake, last year'sand the year before, when he was two-months-old and snoozing!

Jameston's going to have a...

Baby Brother!! Isn't he perfect?!

We went in this morning for our almost-20 week sonogram and saw our little boy, who was being bashful for the camera (maybe it was because it was bright and early AND he was up late moving around into the early morning hours. We even saw him yawing- so cute! I have been feeling his movements for over two weeks now, and it is incredible. Absolutely one of the BEST parts of pregnancy! Jameston felt him kick the other night :-) The sonographer said that this baby must be quite the little mover and shaker already. Baby boy Winters #2 looked "perfect" in her words, for which we are SO grateful! Praise God!!

To celebrate our little family of three went to breakfast (since Jameston was up at 6:30 eager to start our day) before my appointment. Here he is hardly able to contain his excitement:

We were sure to get "baby brudder" a new shirt afterwards. Jameston was a great little helper at the store, but they didn't have the exact onesie I wanted. Oh well, we settled on this one, which I think is the new motto of our household: Almost naptime (as you can tell by JW's eyes) but he's very proud to show off his "Big Brother" shirt and his little brother's as well:

This Mommy is quickly getting more and more outnumbered! Here is a belly pic from 16 weeks. I hope to take one every 4 weeks, but it is a little more difficult to remember these days (as opposed with the first pregnancy when I may have taken one every 2 weeks :-)

I am feeling great and have gained about 10 pounds so far. I have a long torso, so our little soccer player has lots 'o room to stretch out in there :-) I am measuring right on track as well, so the due date is still slated for late April.

We have yet to give our second son a moniker as of yet; we have a few in the running and hope to tell family and friends his name over the Christmas holiday!

Gearing up for Christmas!

Two weekends ago, right after we got back from Thanksgiving, we decked out the house for Christmas! Brett put out the outside lights that afternoon while I decorated the house. That Sunday night, we headed to a local church to find a tree! Part of the proceeds go to the youth group :-)

Jameston found the perfect sized tree for him, but this Mommy wanted something a little larger :-)

The guys goofing around and dancing to the Christmas music

What a cutie pie---he loves his Snoopy hat that he received from Granny and Pops last year for Christmas!

We settled on this 8.5 foot Douglas fir tree-It was on sale (I think) because it was a little lopsided :-)

Doesn't look too crooked, does it? Pardon the Elmo balloon in the background!

That night, we decorated the tree while listening to Christmas music in the living room by the warm fire (Jameston helped Daddy build it with his toolbox), and Jameston tried hot chocolate (and marshmallows) for the first time. It was love at first taste!

My boys

Giving the tree a hug

Posing in his new PJ's that first night in front of the tree

And we had fun decorating the "little tree" upstairs several nights later while Brett was out of town.

He had a BLAST setting up the nativity, but I failed to take any pictures (probably because I was on edge to make sure he didn't break any of the figures :-) And he was sure to give the second tree a goodnight hug as well!

What a fun time we had this year gearing up for Christmas! And we are sure to turn the outside, tree, and stairway lights on as soon as we get home each afternoon/night. We have also started the tradition of "Elf on the Shelf" (Jameston has lovingly named him Monkey Elf :-) Although the books talks about not handling the elf (who is supposed to be in a location that is to "watch after" Jameston during the day to see if he's been a good boy so that Monkey Elf can report back to Santa at night, Jameston LOVES telling everyone about him (so we have been guilty of taking him to daycare :-)

Thanksgiving in the Panhandle

For Thanksgiving we loaded up and headed 6 hours northwest to Plainview, where Brett's grandparents live, on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Jameston and I made the trek there (and stayed the night with my sister in Wichita Falls so that we could break up the trip after a long Wednesday at school/work), and Brett flew there on Thursday morning thanks to his work schedule.

As always, JW was a great little traveler! I made CD's of Bible songs, Lion King hits, and Sesame Street Christmas music for the drive. We listened to some of those songs probably 15 times! And we played our, "Mommy, sing about...(insert anything from horsies, to school buses, to birds, to his socks)" some of the way as well. Here he is snoozing that Thursday morning (so glad he did, since our Thanksgiving meal was smack-dab in the middle of nap-time)!

When we got there, JW got busy playing! Bubbles were popular,

As were "wagon" rides with Ian, Gage, and Xanthis (a boy from the Lubbock Children's home, where Aunt Kayla works)

Papa is a hit with the kids! I love this picture showing how intent the boys were listening to him...

The only family pic I got that day, since I got sick later in the afternoon...not fun having a stomach bug on one of the biggest eating days of the year! I am saving up my appetite now for Christmas already :-)

Memaw and Pappy, Great Aunt Patricia, and the great-grandkids, Ian, Gage, Jameston, and 2-month-old, Mallory Kate, whom we met for the first time that day!

Let's just say, Friday I was pretty worthless while others played outside, watched football, ate some more :-) On Saturday, we headed to see Pappy, who is at an assisted living home now due to Alzheimer's. Four generations!

Jameston had a BLAST playing catch with him!

Love it!

We ended up leaving earlier than planned, since Brett flew there but drove me and Jameston back (since I was not up for the challenge), so that we could get back to Dallas for the Tech/Baylor game at Cowboys' stadium. As always, we had a wonderful time seeing family, and look forward to our next time together. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well!