A Christmas Surprise!

We shared these cards with our families at Christmas...

 

Vera's going to be a big sister in June!  We're pretty excited about the addition to our family.  Right now, Vera says she wants a baby brother.  But since October, she's also said she wants a brother AND a sister, and on other occasions she's said she wants a sister.  I don't think she totally understands all of this.  I'm sure as my belly grows, it will be more realistic for her.  As of now, she does not like the idea of moving out of her bedroom.  We have a few months to work on that.

My exact due date is June 29.  So, at Christmas I was about 13 weeks.  I went through about 2-3 weeks of feeling pretty sick and yucky all the time.  By the end of the day, I was totally exhausted, and no food at all sounded good even though I was hungry.  But, I am starting to gain back my energy and the nausea spells have gone.  It feels good to be able to tell our family and friends so they can share in our excitement. 

This is how I told Adam I was pregnant.  Back in October when I found out, I took this picture one evening while he was gone.  When he came home I said, "Hey, look at this picture I took tonight."  It took him a few seconds to figure out what was up.

Christmas 2013

Our Christmas this year was filled with much excitement, busyness, and memories.  Vera was pretty excited about Santa and Jesus' birthday. 

It all got started on Christmas Eve with Santa stopping by our house.  Vera, mom and dad were all taking naps and resting up when Santa slipped in and out. 

The calm before the storm.

The first gift Vera discovered was the tricycle.  She was excited to sit on it and ring the bell.  With dad's help, she was able to cruise around the room too.  She's still not able to pedal herself, but we'll keep working on that. 

This was a set of mixing bowls and measuring spoons so Vera can do some more cooking!

An Ariel necklace (that broke into a zillion pieces an hour later!)

A Minnie alarm clock.  It's all set and ready to wake Vera up when our vacation is over.

Some tools to help dad fix things.

Uno Moo! has been a big hit. 

And the Super Why! ABC game is a little too tough for Vera, but soon enough she'll be able to play.

This was a Little People house.  Vera's doing a good job of pretending and playing with the mom, dad and baby that came with it.

Vera really wanted a "Crash Register" for Christmas.  This was also hours of entertainment and fun.

On Christmas Day, we took off around noon for the Bertke Christmas.  We had a good time, and it was nice to see everyone.  Vera enjoyed lots of snacks and treats--and I think plenty of my cousins and aunts helped feed her junk food too.  She was tired when we left--sound asleep before we were through Ft. Loramie.

For dinner, we took off and headed to the Pearsons for Christmas.  Vera didn't get cheated there either.  There were plenty of surprises to go around.

An awesome wooden high chair for Vera's babies.

Fishing game from Uncle Brian

We gave Bailey a Sofia amulet.

A Sing-Along CD from Brian.

PICKLES!  From Uncle Brian.  Vera was a little confused about why she got pickles for Christmas, but we all thought it was a good laugh.

And a singing machine from Brian too!

 

And of course, it wouldn't be a Pearson family get-together without the photo disaster with grandma and grandpa.  These two photos explain perfectly how it goes every single time!

 

When we came home on Christmas Day, I was really tired.  But the next day, I really struggled because Christmas Day was over.  I was sad and bummed that it all came and went in just a few short hours.  It felt like there was a piece missing. 

We celebrated Christmas with my parents and siblings the weekend after Christmas, so I was able to grasp on to and look forward to that.

My mom says every year that she's going to "cut back" on the gift-giving.  Even if she does cut back, everyone still goes home with plenty of really nice loot! 

Vera and Blake are best friends and worst enemies.  Vera wants what Blake has, and Blake is good at sabotaging whatever Vera is playing with.  Grandma let Vera and Blake each open a gift before we got started with all of the presents.  Blake opened a couch-like bed and Vera opened a really awesome wooden crib bed for her babies. 

 Then this happened:

 

 Vera didn't win.  She just managed to sneak over to the couch when Blake wasn't looking.  They both wanted the couch AND the blanket that came with the crib.

From Uncle Steve & Aunt Lindsey: a really cool pretend cupcake decorating set.

A trunk filled with dress-up clothes and jewelry from grandma and grandpa.  This has been a huge hit, especially the wings!

From Aunt Karen: a MagnaDoodle.  Note the wings.

It's been a while since we took a "formal" sibs picture.  Aren't the girls so short?  I am glad to NOT be the shortest!  I hope my kids get to be as tall as Steve! 

Christmas at Patty's

Patty continues to out-do herself.  We are always amazed at how good Patty is to us.  Each week, Vera comes home with numerous worksheets, activities, crafts and other fun surprises.  Patty puts a lot of her own money, time and resources into the kids' school work, and I always feel a mere "thank you" is never enough. 

This Christmas was no exception.  The little preschoolers had a Christmas party filled with fun and crafts.  Here are a few of their adorable little projects.  I'm packing them away with our Christmas decorations so we can enjoy and cherish them for many years.

One night while Vera was taking a bath, she told me that she painted her hands and feet green at Patty's house.  A few days later, she came home with these.  I'm always amazed at how brave (and laid back) Patty is about doing such projects with four preschoolers.  I couldn't imagine the organization and mess that could come from this.

The little ones also made these cupcake Christmas trees, and each family got to bring one home.  Aren't they cute?!  Patty said the kids started to put the icing on the cupcakes, but they were eating more than what made it to the cupcakes, and she was afraid they'd get sick!  I think Patty stepped in and helped them finish.

Patty was also super-generous in Christmas gifts this year.  Vera brought home a cute little stocking filled with all kinds of treats:  a jingle bell, springy Christmas tree, a cool giant coloring book, and this Minnie jewelry.  Vera was thrilled with all of her surprises.  The jewelry has been a favorite over the last few weeks!  Thanks, Patty, for being the best babysitter and WAY  more generous than we deserve!!

St. Nick 2014

St. Nick visited our house last Friday evening.  He slipped in while Vera was taking a bath, and no one in the house even heard or saw him! 

We talked through the week about who St. Nick is, and Vera wanted to write a letter to Santa.  So I sat down with her and we wrote her first letter to Santa.  Here's what she had to say:

Since writing this letter, Vera has spent a lot of time asking us what we want for Christmas and recording our wish list in her tiny notebook.  It's pretty cute. 

She tucked the letter in her stocking, and anxiously waited for St. Nick to come and take the letter away. 

St. Nick was good to Vera this year.  She received a Sofia amulet, which she absolutely loves.  She also found a new book in her stocking, along with some sweet treats.  Mom and dad had candy in their stockings, and St. Nick also brought dad a new pillow.  He must've known that dad's bed pillow is in sad shape!!

Right away, she had to put on this tutu so she could look like a true princess.  I asked her to stop and take a picture.  This is the face I got; she was much too busy being a princess to stop and take a picture. 

Also, sitting on the shelf near our stockings was an elf!  Vera was so excited to see him because she just watched the show about Elf on the Shelf earlier that day.  She decided to name the elf Chippy, which happens to be the name of the elf on the show.  She knew right away that we can't touch Chippy or he'll lose his magic.  When we asked Vera what Chippy will do, she seemed well-versed in what he's going to do: he will watch and listen to everything that Vera does throughout the day.  Then at night, he'll fly back to the North Pole and report to Santa everything he saw and heard.  Before we wake in the morning, Chippy will fly back to our house and sit in a new spot to watch and listen. 

Since then, we have really enjoyed finding Chippy each morning.  We've found him on the Christmas trees, hanging from the ceiling fan, and even sitting on Vera's headboard.  There have been a few occasions where I've had to talk to Chippy about Vera's behavior.  But, Vera must be on the nice list because this week we found Chippy sitting under our Christmas tree.  He brought a small surprise for all of us!!  Vera unwrapped a new Sing Along CD.  Dad received golf balls, and mom found a new Christmas CD.  Cool!

We have another 9 days of Chippy watching and listening.  Let's hope we can all stay on the Nice List. 

Christmas Crafts

Last year, part of Vera's Christmas gift from Patty included some foam crafts.  She was too small last year to do crafts, so I saved them and pulled them out last week.  Vera couldn't wait to do our "projects."  We did the snowman first.

Melted snowman?

Too cool for crafts.

Vera argued with me throughout the craft because Frosty is supposed to have a button nose and not a carrot nose.  Though she's right, according to the song, I finally convinced her that this snowman could have a carrot nose and buttons on his belly.  Funny thing is, this craft kit didn't come with any wiggly eyes either.  Claude and Vera were missing eyes, and so was Frosty.  I found two matching buttons in my stash and used those instead. 

He turned out pretty cute.  It just happened that the evening that we made Frosty, it was about 1 degree outside.  He surely was an appropriate craft!

This evening, we did the second craft.  This one was easier for Vera because the foam pieces had an adhesive backing.  She could press the pieces together without having a glue mess.  She was super excited about this "project" as well.

 

 

This one turned out really cute too.  When we were finished, she ran as fast as her legs could take her to show daddy her project.  She loves this kind of stuff!!

 

Santa found his home on our Christmas tree.  I'll have to date this project so we can enjoy Vera's crafting memories for many years to come.