DECEMBER!

Well folks, we have hit December! WOOT! You know what that means?! It's almost Christmas, Scott is almost done with this semester!!!!! ...And we almost get to go back to Utah to see our family! We have some exciting things coming up, but that hasn't prevented us from doing some exciting things this month so far. Isn't this time of year just the best?!

Right after Thanksgiving, we went to the dollar store and found a little tiny tree and some ornaments that we were able to buy for super cheap so we could have a tree to help us get more into the spirit of Christmas. And what better type of tree for Kaiser to decorate, right?!  I think we bought the whole thing for less than five bucks. Go us! Here are some pictures of Kaiser with the tree:

Decorating it very precisely, of course

Love his little grin! He had a great time putting the star on top!

The first day in December was a great one in College Station--It was free Bahama Bucks day! Which means, Kaiser and I went and got some free snow cones! He wanted a pink cotton candy one, and I got a blue coconut. And considering the warm weather we have been having here in December, they were quite refreshing! Kaiser doesn't love cold things, but he loved the sugar so he was torn haha--he kept eating it, but also kept telling me to "warm it up!" haha! Win for Bahama Bucks!

On December 4th, we had our ward Christmas party. We had dinner, and the primary put on a cute little program, and then Santa Claus came and brought candy canes for all the little kids. If you ask me, Santa looked a little thin and maybe a little creepy. I think his hair needs to be managed a little bit--talk about out of control! But, Kaiser got the concept nonetheless. He was weary of sitting on his lap, but once he was given the candy cane he was all for it. That kid loves him some candy I tell you...

Next, we decided to make some Christmas decorations this year. We started the tradition when Kaiser was born of giving him an ornament each year for Christmas but since we are not wanting to spend money, we decided to make some instead for super cheap! And Kaiser had a fun time and it actually held his attention for longer than I thought it would. We put beads on pipe cleaners to make candy canes and we used big popsicle sticks, paint, and sparkly star and some jewels to make a Christmas tree (not pictured...) But he had fun. 

Last weekend was "Christmas in the Park" in College Station. This was held in Central Park and was fun--I only wish I took more pictures. We first went on a hayride pulled by a tractor around the park to see all the Christmas lights. Kaiser loved that. We had quite a bit of fun! Then we walked around seeing all the vendors and other sights. They even had a real snow hill people could sled down. We figured we'd pass until we got to the real snow in Utah haha. So we went to the petting zoo. Kaiser got to interact with some goats, a llama, a baby kangaroo, a tortoise, and a cow. It was fun for him. Here are a couple photos:

The following two photos, I just had to share--This was just this last Sunday, the 6th. It was the first time that Kaiser got "dressed up" for church. He looked so handsome he could have had anything he wanted haha. I had to document it. He loved wearing his tie and was rather obsessed with it. And Scott and I are obsessed with him. :)

The next few photos are just some activities that we've done this week. The weather has been so nice here we got out and went to the park multiple times with friends. This picture of Kaiser and his buddy Peyton on the slide, they were yelling "Momma!" at Emily and I and laughing hysterically. Little cuties...

Yesterday, December 11th, we had a little kid Christmas party at my friend Brittani Keller's house. My friend Jenepher brought a bunch of crafts for the kids to do--I am so grateful for thoughtful, creative friends! The kids enjoyed playing outside (jumping on the trampoline, swinging, playing on the jungle gym, etc.), eating yummy snacks (us mom's too), and doing crafts. The crafts included coloring Christmas pictures, frosting and decorating Christmas cookies, and coloring and glitter gluing snowmen and gingerbread men. It was so fun and Kaiser had a blast. Yay for great friends!

Now it's time to get ready to head to Utah! We leave on Tuesday, December 15th and we are excited to be able to spend some good quality time with family!

Fall Shenanigans

Here are a few little snippets into what we have been up to the last couple months. I didn't feel like creating several posts about all of them so here you go, recent random moments documented via pictures!

We LOVE parks. And rocks. And I love Kaiser!

This is Kaiser and Roslin playing in the puddles. We have been babysitting Roslin since May.

This was taken at my friend Sierra's house on a girls night. We were making vinyl letters for the holidays! Jenepher.Emily.Me.Amanda

Here are the finished products :)

And the back :)

Scott and I got to go to the last football game of the season together! A&M vs Western Carolina 11.14.15

Goofy Kaiser being an astronaut!

Kaiser is helping me vacuum! His idea hahahaha

Me and Kaiser had a park date the day before Thanksgiving this year. I just love his little grin!

Had Thanksgiving with Tyson and Kendyl and a few friends from their ward in Katy. Kaiser enjoyed the bounce house way too much haha! Even in the rain!

Our turkey for craft day!

Kaiser LOVES books lately. We set his tent up and it was his little reading nook for quite some time. Melt my heart!

Well, there are a few random photos to finish getting caught up! Pictures I always want to have and remember because memories are the best, right?? :) 

27 Weeks PREGO

I've been so busy trying to catch up on all of my blog posts that I haven't gotten around to even thinking about posting about my pregnancy! How does that even happen?

Well, now that up to this point, I am somewhat caught up, why not post a little bit about it?

So, I know i've posted about finding out we were pregnant, and about our ultrasounds, but I haven't really gone into detail about how this pregnancy has been for me... So here goes:

We had felt like we should have another baby for a while, but were both super nervous about having more than just Kaiser. Is that normal for most parents or are we just the weird ones? Anyways, we ignored many promptings for months until we finally decided to get serious and try. It was definitely the right time because we got pregnant after only a month of trying.

It has been very similar to my pregnancy with Kaiser. I needed a test to tell me that I was pregnant because none of the warning signs were there, (tender breasts, nausea, etc..) We found out that we were pregnant while I was in the middle of trying to lose weight and trying to become a more healthy me. Which was working..I had lost around 20 pounds just by eating better and working out. I was running 5-6 times a week and feeling pretty good, but still wanting to become more fit and healthy-looking. I was lucky enough to be able to continue on the path. Not intentionally dieting, but just being careful with what I ate and making sure that I made exercise part of my daily routine. Exercise was and still is something that I don't super enjoy, but I know that I need it for my own personal sanity and mental health.

Anyways, I've been able to continue working out just about every day of this pregnancy--running, walking, playing volleyball, workout routines at home from the internet, etc. But mostly running. I've been feeling really good as well. I find that I get tired and a little more achey as time goes on, and have especially been feeling more sore and tender the past 2 weeks, but I am still trucking on. I hope this little boy inside me reaps those benefits...

Symptoms this time around have been similar to Kaiser's pregnancy as well. Mostly just tiredness in the beginning, and still every now and then but it isn't as bad as it was up until about 18 weeks. I got headaches and dizziness every now and then which is annoying, but other than that and being super tired, everything has been really good for me. When I was in my 23rd week of pregnancy, I got the 24 hour flu. That sucked. I threw up only once but felt awful for a while. I was so glad it was during the weekend so Scott could take care of Kaiser while I stayed quarantined in our bedroom. Later on in that week, I threw up again as well which I thought was odd. I'm still not sure if it's a symptom of pregnancy or just more sick bugs going around. But I continue to get nausea spells every now and then. But no more throwing up so far other than the two times mentioned.

Cravings haven't really been there a ton. I crave and eat similar things to last time--cold cereal, sandwiches, peaches and cottage cheese... The usual. There isn't really any food that sounds yucky to eat this time either which is nice. The only thing that has been slightly odd is that my popcorn cravings haven't been there. I have been craving chocolate a lot more. Usually I am not as big of a chocolate eater, but lately that's sounded fabulous to me.

Starting in about week 25, I have really started to feel pregnant and this week it has been a little bit tougher on my body. Which is normal, but I sometimes feel that I am an invincible pregnant woman and nothing phases me even if I am pregnant...but my body has had to slow me down a few times over the last week or two. I get more back aches, hip pains, dizziness, light headedness, etc.

This last Monday, the 7th, I went in for my labs and my glucose test for gestational diabetes and everything came out normal. My hematocrit and my RBC count have been slightly low this whole pregnancy but hopefully it's all well. My doctor doesn't seem to be too worried about it so I won't either.

I'm getting more noticeable spider veins in my legs from being pregnant this time around which isn't the greatest, but there's not much I can do about it. I continue to stay active and keep my feet up when I'm resting...there isn't much else that can be done I don't believe. 

It's crazy how much quicker this pregnancy has gone than Kaiser's. I am now in my 3rd trimester and it is scaring the crap out of me! This little boy is going to be here before we know it and we are SO not prepared physically or mentally! Hopefully we will be prepared sooner rather than later.

As far as names go, we haven't the slightest idea what this baby's name is going to be...poor little guy. We want something that is going to be unique like Kaiser's name without being too weird or out there. But we do like originality. So we will see. We have a lot of work to do to get prepared on that front as well. We have a short list but none that we are both super in love with. It's a work in progress I suppose.

Well, I guess that is all for now! I will end with the dreaded maternity photos that I feel the need to take because we did it with Kaiser. I do wish that I could look like a cute pregnant lady, but I feel like I just look more chubby. And my butt gets bigger with each picture. Why that is, I don't know? Oh well... Is there anyone who likes to take pictures of themselves getting bigger?! Props to whoever does haha! Here they are, and yes, we have been inconsistent. That's what happens when life is crazy busy in graduate school!

Kaiser asked to have his picture taken too--isn't he the cutest thing ever?! He melts my heart... haha!

Halloween 2015

I feel like we didn't do a ton this Halloween, but we have a few pictures to prove that apparently we did more than I thought...

So, we didn't do pumpkin carving this year...(we suck, I know.) Instead, Kaiser and I went to a friend's house in Bryan who hosted a fun little pumpkin painting party! Kaiser had a big pumpkin and a small pumpkin to paint. And he had SOOOO much fun doing it! 

Apparently I didn't take a finished picture of the pumpkins, but I'm sure this is close :) This is so much more fun than carving, and they actually last more than 3 days without going moldy in this humid climate. I thought it was a good choice...

Next up was deciding what Kaiser should be for Halloween. We had a Thomas the Train costume already made for him but he claimed he didn't want to be Thomas. I went through a couple options but we all agreed on Kaiser being a shark. He was pretty excited about the idea so we went ahead and made him a costume! We just bought felt and a cheap outfit and glued it on together! It was such a fabulous, cheap, and quick costume! Kaiser was excited until he saw all of the teeth on the shark. It made him nervous at first, but we bribed him with a sucker and he tried it on and loved it. Here it is:

My friends and I put together a fun little Halloween activity day for the little children! We made a few crafts and did a few fun activities! We had a great time! Not in the pictures was our awesome mummy wrapping activity and our dance party!

His marshmallow mummies and his ghost bookmark

Donuts on a string

Kaiser gave up on trying to get it with his mouth and just held it in his hand haha

We then went a few places for trick or treating...but we got the most candy at our ward trunk-or-treat, which actually wasn't a trunk-or-treat because it was rainy and we couldn't have it outside. So we had it in the gym instead haha.

My cute little shark

His cute little trick-or-treat bag that Grandma Teddy made him!

Kaiser and Enok

CHEESE!

The LOOT

I feel like Kaiser understood the "Trick-or-Treat" concept much better this year than last! He said "trick-or-treat" to most people when getting candy and was gracious enough to say "thank you" after every candy given. What a little sweetie, right?

I think my favorite part was taking him actual trick-or-treating door to door on Halloween night. He did so much better this way than at the busy trunk or treat. And he definitely had the most fun doing it too. The first house we went to, Kaiser made himself right at home by going inside haha--we had to teach him not to go inside, but he caught on quickly haha! After he did a couple of houses and it was about time to be done, he wanted to keep going. He kept saying, "One more house, one more..." It was adorable. I'm glad he picked it up a lot better this year. Halloween is SO MUCH MORE FUN with a kid! Happy Halloween everyone!

This was one of the houses we went to. I just thought Kaiser looked so cute standing there all by himself like such a big boy!