The month of December...

What a whirlwind the past month has been! We spent the first three weeks of December with basketball season in full swing, including two tournaments and starting district off 2-0! Throw in a few Christmas parties, road-trips, doctor's visits, and lots of running and playing and we were ready for Christmas break! Christmas break has been a MUCH needed time of rest and relaxation for our family. We spent the first week celebrating Christmas with all of our different family groups and have literally been at home the entire second week due to cold and icy weather. What a blessing this icy weather has been for our family to be able to stay in, cuddle, get some much needed work done, and spend time together. We are so blessed!

Christmas Fun
This year's Christmas was HANDS-DOWN the very best Christmas we have ever had! What a difference a year makes! Last year the twins were only 9 months old, so they had no clue what was going on. This year the twins were much more excited about the whole thing! They loved reading Christmas books, hearing Christmas songs, going to see the lights, decorating the house, and opening presents! We had several different celebrations and our kids are amazingly blessed with friends and family who love them very much. Here are some highlights:

* Adelyn called Santa "Ci-Ci"
* We took the twins to see the lights downtown and they "oohed and ahhed"
* I took the twins to breakfast with Santa and they would not sit on his lap!

* We read Frosty the Snowman at least 10 times a day...every day...without fail

* We took the twins to get presents for their Angel Tree children and to shop for an "adopted" family
* The twins made salt-dough ornaments with Lyla and exchanged presents at Chick-Fil-A
* Fun Freeman family Christmas with Mickey and Minnie presents
* Opened presents with Grammy, Grumpy, Aunt Hillary, Uncle G, Jordan and Jaxson. The twins loved their Sesame Street toys, chairs, and Cozy Coupes, but mostly just getting to play with their cousins!

* Traveled to Brookesmith to open presents with Papa, Mimi, Aunt Mitsy, and Granny. Favorite toys were Baby Lyla, stick horses, and trucks

* Got to go to Christmas Eve service and see our children's faces light up with candles

Hands-down my favorite part of the holiday season was spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home with our little family. This year we did big "Santa" presents which were a work-bench for Tucker Boy and a kitchen for Adelyn. Thanks to pinterest, my dad's carpentry skills, Derek's painting skills, and my decorating, we were able to make these home-made. I LOVE that they had home-made presents and that the kitchen was actually my old one from Christmas long ago. I had a blast accessorizing their gifts and was a little giddy to wake up and see what they thought.  

Christmas in my own home with my own sweet babies is something I have dreamed about for such a long time. What a good and faithful God we serve who grants us such sweet desires of our hearts. I love making memories with these two, getting to watch the world through their eyes, and having such a fantastic partner by my side through it all. We had such a great Christmas morning of making new memories and traditions for our family. Love love love this sweet time!

Being Home

With Christmas Break being our last real break-time before this baby comes, I have had a mile-long list to accomplish while we are off! I know my husband has LOVED all my little projects, but thanks to the icy weather, we have had time to get almost everything done!!! My #1 goal was to move the twins to the guest room and get their room ready for the baby. This included getting all of the guest room furniture out, find new places for all of the stuff in the guest room, move their furniture, rearrange it a couple of times, get the used to sleeping in a new room, and then decorating! And somewhere along the way, I decided I needed to organize all of the closets in the house, needed shelves built in the garage, and needed to buy a whole bunch of organizing tubs and supplies. Feel sorry for Derek yet???

It has been QUITE a project, but thankfully we have almost EVERYTHING done except for getting stuff hung on the walls. The twins are adjusting to sleeping in a new room and both babies slept ALL the way through the night last night without a peep (ok one little rocking at 11:00, but we were still up!). The baby's room is all set up besides the crib, car-seats are laid out, newborn clothes in the dresser, and everything else we can do up unto this point. I have been so good about not knowing what the baby is this whole pregnancy until this week!!! Now, I am SO ANXIOUS to know! I have boy and girl stuff all ready but it would be so much easier if I just knew what this little crazy baby is!!! I am glad I waited this long to get ready, because I may not have been able to hold out!

Baby #3 
So far this pregnancy is continuing to go as planned! Even though I am super ready to find out what my wild little monkey is, I am hoping that we carry all the way to term and have a healthy, safe delivery. I just passed the 31 week mark which means we have about 60 days before we meet this little angel. 60 days!!! I am still up in the air about what it is. Deep down, I have had a girl vibe the entire time until this past week. Now I am leaning towards boy. Whatever it is, it is CRAZY ACTIVE and kicks me ALL THE TIME!!! It is rolling, moving, elbowing, kicking, and doing all sorts of other ninja moves 24-7. I am still feeling good, but much bigger and slower than before. The past two weeks have been so nice to rest, but I am a little worried about having to go back to work after so much down time. I have gotten really used to wearing sweat pants, taking naps, and having Derek home to help out! Going back to reality will be NO FUN!

I also hate the thought of going back to work simply because I enjoy being home with my family SO MUCH! I love being here all day with the twins. Love being the one who puts them down for nap. Love not being super strict on the clock or what time it is. Love all the snuggles, rocking, reading, and playing. LOVE getting to be mom all day everyday. Not having to leave them to go to work. I know that I am SUPER fortunate to be able to only work part-time, but it will definitely tug at my heart to have to go back to work on Monday. Thankfully, I will get to spend the majority of March and April back at home with them and our new little love!

We are now going to the doctor every two weeks and are planning to have a sonogram in a couple of weeks to see what size this baby is. We are hoping to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) this time around, as long as this baby isn't ginormous! My due date is March 4th, which happens to be the Wednesday before Spring Break. I would love to make it all the way to Spring Break, but who knows. My one wish is that this baby does not come on March 6th (the twins' birthday) because I want to keep that day special for the twins and let this baby have its own special time. My other goal is to be able to get through basketball season without this baby making its appearance! With playoffs starting February 16th/17th, we need your prayers!

28 weeks...I haven't taken a picture in awhile!

2015
We pray that 2015 finds all you happy, healthy, and enjoying God's blessings in your life. One thing that I have learned in the past few months, is how much I want to slow down and enjoy our little blessings. Like Tucker's cheesy grin. And Adelyn's sweet hugs. My husband's hard-working spirit. And my niece and nephew's laughter. God has blessed us so abundantly with PEOPLE in our lives that are SO MUCH more valuable than anything money can buy. We are SO ECSTATIC that God decided to bless our family with one more little baby to love on in 2015. We have been praying that God prepare our hearts and home for this new arrival, as well as prepare Tucker and Adelyn for the changes that will take place. We ask that you join us in prayer in the days to come as we make the change from family of four to family of five. And we pray that you enjoy the blessings that God has so richly poured out on you throughout this year.

"In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted." Isaiah 12:4