A 5 Month Recap

I know it has been a really long time. I have been pretty bad about not updating. However, for the last few months, all I have wanted to do is come home from work and crash. I remember being pregnant with Ella and coming home from work and taking a nap or resting at my leisure. Not this time around. In fact, this pregnancy has been quite different from before. Not really good or bad, just different. Definately more tired. Well- I am 4 weeks away from our March 14th due date and 1 cm dialated. I chuckled when the doctor told me that because I got an epidural at 1 cm with Ella. I am done with teaching for the time being to stay home with the little ones. Yeah! I just started my leave and I am looking forward to it. I'll do a quick recap with pictures and captions and hopefully I can stay up-to -date for a while.

Towards the end of October we went to Missouri to visit with Jake's family. We made apple butter, went on a hay ride, went to a pumpkin patch and played with cousins. Ella love seeing the pigs and playing outside on the swing set. On the last day we drove a little north and met half way to visit my brother and his family who just moved to Iowa this summer.

Ella with Cousins Gavin and Kylie. We met at a little park to visit and play for a little while.

Ella loved Halloween this year. She was a lady bug and just loved showing everyone her costume.. Just the other day she saw something that reminded her of Halloween because she was recalling that she was a lady bug. I couldn't believe that she remembered and that she knew she was a ladybug.

Thanksgiving was pretty quiet this year. My family went up to visit my brother in Iowa, so we had our first Thanksgiving at our house. We did invite our good friends Mark and Diana over with their two little ones. It was small but very nice to be with friends. And yes, once we all got talking, eating, etc. it was all over and I didn't even take any pictures. Just a couple before all the fun started.

Ella met with Santa a few times this year. At first a little shy, but she loved it. Jake's company had a family day Christmas event so this is the Honeywell Santa. Here I am about 6.5 months pregnant. I beleive this was Christmas Eve night before church.

I tried many times to get a good Christmas picture. The lighting and camera didn't do so well especially once they were printed. They looked better on the computer. I thought this one was cute. She's getiing so big, so fast.

Ella's presents from Santa this year were a tricycle, doll crib and highchair. She loves her "bike" but still has some trouble pedaling. The day after Christmas we went to Missouri to see Jake's family. It was definately a cold one this year. This was Ella's first time really being in snow and she loved it. The cold didn't seem to bother her. She also had fun playing with her cousins Madelyn, Samuel and Gabriel. She absolutely loved playing on Aunt Cas' stairs. It was great to visit with everybody. We also drove to Iowa to visit my brother for a couple of days at the end of our trip. Let me tell you- that was a lot of traveling and driving for a pregnant woman. I didn't want to see or think about an airplane or car for a while.