Baby Shower

Last weekend my sister-in-law Jacque and I hosted a baby shower for my cousin Ashley, who is pregnant with her first child, a baby girl. Jacque hosted the shower at her house, so really she did most of the work, but I enjoyed helping as much as I could, and also became the unofficial photographer (as I was the only person who brought a camera).

We found a great printable party pack on pinterest (gotta love pinterest!!) that we were able to purchase thru etsy. The fabulous thing about this party pack, was that it was made to coordinate with the bedding set from pottery barn that my cousin had registered for!! It was meant to be! It also made putting together decorations a breeze!

Some of the decorations
The food
I made little birdie cookies to go along with the theme.
The cupcakes

Opening presents
There was a big snow storm the morning of the shower, so we were worried that not everyone would be able to make it. But luckily only 1 person stayed home due to the weather!
I'm so excited for my cousin, and also excited that we are going to have baby girls that will be so close in age!

Prayers

I love listening to Makenna say her prayers at night. They are getting longer, more unique, and sometimes really funny. Here are two recent examples of some of the funnier things she has said in her prayers.

In November, John had several business trips, and during one of his trips Makenna prayed that he would be safe, and that he would not get into trouble or go to jail!! I don't know where the jail comment came from, but I too was glad that he didn't end up in jail on his business trip!

A few nights ago, Makenna was praying that our baby would grow healthy and strong (a normal part of all our prayers), but then she added the following, "Please bless that if Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are having a baby that their baby will grow healthy and strong too!!"

Love her and her prayers!!

The Zoo

My sister Amanda and her 2 girls have been visiting this week from Phoenix. We have loved being able to see and hang out with them everyday. Today we decided to head to the zoo. (No visit to Omaha is complete without a stop at the zoo!) We contemplated changing plans after predictions of rain/snow this morning, but lucky for us, it stayed dry, and everyone else stayed home, meaning the zoo was quite empty! My sister-in-law Jacque and her 4 kids joined us, as well as my mom and one other cousin. So with 4 adults, 9 kids, and a mostly empty zoo, we had a great time! We love hanging out with our cousins!!

New Year, New Changes

2011 brought many big changes for us. John graduated from business school and got a new job, we moved to Omaha, NE, and we bought our first house. I thought 2012 might be relatively low-key in comparison, but we do have one big change coming to our house. In May we will be welcoming baby #3, a girl to our family!!

My pregnancy has gone well so far. Of course the first trimester was pretty miserable, but now I feel great. Makenna is SO excited to be a big sister again, and is always wanting to feel the baby kick. She also likes to point out to me on a daily basis that the baby and my belly are getting bigger!

December Extras

We had a great month celebrating Christmas, and enjoying all of the fun activities that go along with the season. Here are a few of our other favorite moments from December.

Way back at the beginning of the month (before it became unseasonably warm) we did have one good snow storm. Makenna played outside with some of our neighbors,

and made a Nebraska-worthy snowman with John.
Makenna also loved decorating for Christmas this year. After bringing our Christmas boxes up from the basement, Makenna asked several times a day if we could decorate more. She even got to put the star on top of the Christmas tree (while randomly wearing her 4th of July dress).
The kids were able to see Santa at our Ward Christmas party,
and John and I were able to wear our Ugly Christmas Sweaters again. John even wore his to work.

Our final fun December activity came after Christmas, when John's parents stayed a night with us on their way home from spending Christmas in Wisconsin. It was their first visit to Omaha since we moved back, and we loved being able to show them our house, and loved it even more that we have enough room to have them stay with us! The kids were excited to see them again, and were also excited to have one last round of Christmas presents to open.

Christmas

Christmas Eve

We were in Omaha for Christmas this year, and spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house with my two older brothers and their families. We arrived late afternoon for some appetizers and games, followed by way too much food for dinner. I think that my favorite part of dinner was the traditional 'slush' that my mom made. My grandma Durrant use to make slush for Christmas dinners, and it is definitely a Holiday tradition.

After dinner, it was time for the kids to dress up for the Christmas Nativity program. Makenna was beyond excited, because she was able to dress up as Mary, or "Mary Fair" as she liked to say. She has been talking about dressing up as Mary for weeks. Hudson dressed up as one of the Wise Men.
My dad read the story of the Savior's birth from Luke 2, and the kids 'acted out' their parts. Hudson was very excited to give a present to baby Jesus.
Makenna had her 'baby Jesus' with her all night long. She made a very sweet Mary.
After the story and nativity program, it was time for presents. Of course this portion of the night was a little chaotic, but that is what makes it fun! My mom made matching nightgowns for the girls, which they were happy to model.

For dessert we had a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, and the kids got to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. They really enjoyed this, and it was another great reminder for them about why we celebrate Christmas. By the time we loaded up the car to head home, we were all full, happy, and feeling very blessed to have been able to celebrate Christmas with family.

Christmas Morning
Makenna was so excited on Christmas morning to go downstairs and see if Santa had come. She immediately noticed the fireplace screen which Santa had forgotten to put back on. She also checked to see if there were any cookies or milk left. She was happy to find that Santa had helped himself. After that, she made her way over to her stocking, and discovered the Dorthy doll and Wizard of Oz movie that Santa had left for her. She is very into the Wizard of Oz right now, and had asked Santa to bring her some Wizard of Oz stuff. She has also decided that she is going to be Dorthy for Halloween next year.


Hudson was very excited to see his new car ramp, and has been playing with it almost non-stop since Christmas.

After looking thru our stockings, and having Makenna help each one of us pull everything out, we moved on to a few presents under the tree. Makenna was more than willing to help anyone and everyone to open their presents, and luckily none of us minded :)

It is such a joy to celebrate and share the joys and wonders of Christmas with Makenna and Hudson. They bring so much fun and excitement into our home, and it is a pleasure to celebrate Christmas with them!

ConAgra Foods Ice Rink

Earlier this month, the kids and I headed downtown to meet John on the ConAgra campus after lunch to do a little ice skating. ConAgra sets up an outdoor rink every year, and all proceeds from the $5 admission are donated to Food Bank of the Heartland as part of a "Shine the Light on Hunger" campaign.

The kids have never been ice skating before, and I haven't been since I was a freshman in college. Being a Friday afternoon, the rink was mostly empty, which worked out great for us.

Makenna LOVED ice skating, and often would let go of our hands so that she could skate by herself.

I think Hudson thought we were crazy at first (putting him in unsteady ice skates, and taking him onto the slippery ice), but after a few laps, he started to really enjoy it too!
When Hudson needed a break, Makenna and John stayed out and skated some more,

meanwhile, Hudson found a pile of snow/ice to play in.
We also spent a lot of our time skating in a group. We had SO much fun, and are definitely planning on making it a yearly tradition!