A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

We just returned home on Wednesday afternoon after a wonderful week at home with the families. I will write about the whole week in more detail soon. I just wanted to pop in quick and show off my new toy! My mom and dad were too generous this year and with their help (along with lots of unused credit card reward points) I was able to upgrade my used Nikon D40 for a brand new Canon Rebel T3i...oh.my.god. You guys, this camera makes me giddy...and I only had stress dreams about the price tag for two nights! I just can't wait to see what this baby can do.

Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas Card 2011

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Because I love indulging my kid!

In the past few weeks Lily has professed her undying love for holiday lights. She is completely obsessed actually. Wait, is there a word that means more than obsessed? Engrossed? Infatuated? Hmmm.

Every night before bed she begs to be taken outside in her jammies to bask in their warm glow one last time. The first words out of her mouth in the morning are "Christmas. tree. lights?!?!?!?" (all said while nodding her head up and down, vigorously). Subsequently the first thing I do in the morning is no longer let out the dog; it is plug in the tree. 

In an attempt to indulge her obsession I googled "Christmas light displays, MA". After sifting through the results for a few minutes I came across the website for Edaville USA. Edaville is a small amusement park located about an hour south of where we live. The drive time made me apprehensive..what if we got all the way there and she hated it? After asking around and reading reviews, Dingle and I decided it was worth the trip. They have a train that takes you around the whole park for the sole purpose of looking at Christmas lights...I mean, come on! 

Lily loved every minute. It is an outside park and I was worried that she would be cold, but she couldn't have cared less. She loved the lights and the displays. She loved the train ride (and the fried dough Daddy treated us to). She loved the ridiculously fast merry-go-round (mommy and daddy not so much...seriously it was a little scary). She LOVED the flying elephant ride. I think we have a new holiday tradition!

(The auto focus on the camera is acting up, plus it was dark and I was wearing gloves. I realize some of the pictures are out of focus) 

Half Baked (20 weeks)!

20w (maternity cords, maternity top) 

The headaches are a distant memory and these days I am feeling great. I wouldn't say that I have had a second trimester burst of energy, but I also have a toddler...so there you go. For the last week or so baby boy has been hosting his very own dance party every evening between 8 and 11pm. On Tuesday (12/12) Dingle felt his first real kick.

My belly is starting to "get in the way" a little bit and several times in the last two days I have given baby boy a "love tap" with the refrigerator door, oops. Lily is becoming increasingly aware of the belly too. Today out of the blue she started patting my belly and saying "pats for baby"...and then my heart burst and I died from the cuteness. Seriously.

Best First Ever.

" I lub you mommy"

I love you too Coo Coo girl. 

Boy OH BOY was I wrong!

Introducing our baby...BOY! 

Our anatomy scan went perfectly on Wednesday. The baby was asleep for the first few minutes of the scan which gave the tech some great photo opps! Once she woke him up it was a whole other story. Not surprisingly our little guy is a mover and a shaker (I have been feeling him since about 17w) and did not want to cooperate. As will be the case for years to come, her little brother's antics put Lily's patience to the test. Daddy did a great job stuffing her face with cereal bars and keeping her relatively happy for FORTY-FIVE minutes. Somebody get that guy a Klondike!

Once we had confirmation that baby looked good I sheepishly asked if we could find out the gender. I just about fell off the table when the tech said BOY!!! 

TRUTH: I cried happy tears. We are so blessed to be Lily's parents and I just can't even imagine being blessed enough to have one of each.

TRUTH: I am a little sad for Lily that this baby is not another girl, but she will be an amazing big sister regardless. 

TRUTH: The idea of having a boy scares the stuffing out of me!!