Merry Christmas to all!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas has been so much fun this year! Gwen was loving every minute and now so can you! Here are pictures and videos of our Christmas Eve at Grandmother's house and at our house! Stay tuned for another post of Christmas with the Tempels and the Caseys!

Gwen say Santa at Grandmother's house and was still a little nervous to say hi.

Santa was so nice and brought her a grocery cart! Gwen was excited, but after opening it she said to me, "Mommy it's a grocery cart. I asked Santa for a dollhouse." So innocent and so funny!

Gwen just loved her new Christmas dress!

She wanted to model it again later with the addition of a Santa hat! It really makes a statement don't you think?

Christmas morning at home was so much fun with Santa visiting and even bringing presents for Gwen all the way from Bubba and Gammy's house!

Santa brought Gwen her very own Polar Express Train that plays music and everything--an instant hit with Gwen and Daddy!

Gwen asked Santa for a dollhouse with a family for Christmas...did he deliver?

Here's the family!

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!!!!!!

Santa wasn't the only one delivering presents this Christmas...Joey's goats were delivering babies too! This mama had twins! (they are a day old here)

Another goat had her kid on the 23rd. Gwen just loved checking them out and saying hello!

Christmas is coming!

Christmas is always such a fun time of year! We, along with some of the Tempels, adopted a family again this year. It is always so nice to come together to share with those who are not as fortunate as we are. On Sunday we had a small party to wrap everything and get it ready for delivery!

Our little elves! (from left: Jace, Gwen, Addy, Alayna, and Blake)

Gwen was really enjoying Christmas so far this year!

We did a little gift giving as well...Gwen loves play-dough!

Kelley sent Gwen a very cute Kitty hat--She loves it so much, we couldn't get her to take it off!

This year we have a new guest...Dory the elf! Gwen loves to find where she is hiding each morning and reporting all that she has done for the day!

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Update on our Baby Boy: Doctor's appointment this morning went well. We are 28 weeks along and measuring well. I have gained 18 lbs. to date, but my doctor said that I am doing fine and not to worry about it. The big thing at this appointment was to find out that I passed my glucose test (hurray! I can keep eating all the Christmas cookies!) and I was given the okay to fly to Chicago on Monday! So far so good!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

"Happy Birthday to Mommy!!!!!"

Today was my birthday and Gwen helped me celebrate all day long! I was given a great birthday present at 5:30 am...school was canceled!!!!! I was able to go back to bed, hang out with Gwen all day, and not worry about being anywhere but in the house :-) Gwen and I baked a cake in the morning (due to Gwen's diet restriction of no dairy, we made an angel food cake with chocolate frosting--milk was the last ingredient on each so I figured we were probably safe), decorated it in the afternoon, as well as...

hang out at Gwen's new favorite spot...the vent. Just like you Gammy!

And, we even made jello jigglers! Gwen ate all the shapes except 4, which were left for Daddy. Next time, we will need to plan ahead and make more jello :-)

It was a great day of relaxing and playing, just how birthdays should be! Happy Birthday to Auntie Erin too; we hope it was a great one!

Santa message

Gwen received this email from Santa today and we wanted to share it, and her reaction to it, with you :-)

To view the video message, go to the address below:

www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/EzrwLHnhG8zxeBZQn9DtXQ

Snow Day!!!!!

Over the weekend, mainly on Sunday, we got our first snow!!!!!! We have had flurries on and off, but nothing that stayed longer than a few hours. About 2 inches fell, but with a concern about ice underneath, school was canceled for Monday :-) Gwen and I thoroughly enjoyed the day together! We slept in until 7 am, watched some cartoons, played outside, made play-dough, ate lunch, napped, and then played some more!

"I think this is the Best Snow Angel Ever!"

Gwen and I attempted to build a snowman, but the snow just wasn't sticky enough

"Whoo Hoo!" Gwen was loving the snow!

After warming up with some hot chocolate, we made our own play-dough and made it smell like an apple pie!

Gwen made numerous cookies and had a blast playing!

Today we are on a 2 hour delay, but Gwen and I still enjoyed our relaxing morning together! Time to head to school!

It's Christmas Time!

The tree has been put up and we are definitely feeling the Christmas cheer in this house!!!!! Brad requested a belly shot next to the tree and even Gwen wanted to join in!!!!

Here is Baby Boy and I at 25 weeks and Gwen after a dinner of 10 fish sticks!!!!!

To update things on Baby Boy Tempel, he is doing well. I am feeling kicks like crazy, and Brad is able to feel them some. I have earned my appetite back and am taking advantage of all the yummy treats that are available during Christmas. He likes to move around most when I am trying to fall asleep at night, and stays pretty quiet most of the day. All in all, things are great!

Santa's girls

How did Gwen get in Santa's sack?

Gwen even said some funny things while decorating...believe it or not! She found a jellybean dispensing reindeer and started putting mini gummy bears in the back end. My response: "Gwen, please don't put gummy bears in the reindeer's butt." Gwen's response: "Oh, man!" Also when asked if her brother's name might be Zach or Wyatt today (2 of the many names we are considering at the moment), she replied, "Zacatt". How creative, but definitely not my first choice!

Tonight we went to visit Santa at his house here in Santa Claus, IN and Gwen didn't know what to think. She talked to him for awhile (we thankfully were the only one's visiting at the time) and told him what she wanted for Christmas.

She didn't want to talk the official picture alone, so we all got in the picture!