Christmas Town at Busch Gardens

Busch Gardens started Christmas Town for the first time this year. Basically, the park is open in the afternoons until evening on the weekends starting the weekend of Thanksgiving. They are also open every night the week of Christmas. We took Addy on Monday night and went with some of our friends and their kids. It was awesome! The whole park is decorated with festive lights and decor. They also have 5 Christmas shows to watch, open a few of the rides, serve yummy peppermint hot chocolate, and other delicious warm treats. Addy loved the Sesame Street Christmas show, it was adorable! The weather was cold, but definitely mild compared to what it has been. We had such a nice evening that we didn't realize it was almost 10 by the time we got home. 

One of the shows, Deck The Halls, had singers and dancers performing to Christmas songs. Addy and Libby had fun getting on the table and dancing, most people around us were watching them instead of the show! 

Snow

While the rest of the East Coast (and Virginia) got about 2 feet of snow this weekend, we probably got a whopping 2 inches. I guess we'll take what we can get! It was very pretty while it lasted. Here is the picture of our house with a very light dusting of snow :)

Opening presents!!

Yesterday morning we decided to open presents that Mimi and Papa sent since we won't be here for Christmas. Addy had such a great time opening all of her wonderful gifts and helping mommy and daddy too! We also got a Wii Fit Plus that we had a blast playing with last night! 

We have decided from here on out that Addy will get 3 gifts from Santa because that is what Jesus received when he was born. Soooo, we also let her open one of them since it was a little larger to pack in the car for our trip (the rest she'll open on Christmas morning). 

She loves Fancy Nancy and was very excited for the Posh Puppy book

Her last present was the Fancy Nancy Doll! She is almost the size of Addy!!

Here was the gift from mom and dad. This is a beautiful stool that a woman hand painted for us. This picture doesn't do it justice because it's beautiful! When Addy opened it she said the sweetest thing, "I love it! You guys gave it for me!" We hope she is always this grateful!

Nutcracker

I took Addy to see the Nutcracker on Saturday and we had such a nice time. We went with our friends Molly and Libby. The girls were so cute through the entire show. They were very into the play, enjoyed the dancing, and sat very quietly. It was right during nap time, so definitely a special treat! Addy was scared of a few minor things (the Mouse King), but overall loved it! We took a picture of the girls at intermission since they didn't allow flash photography in the theatre. They were enjoying their Mouse King Cookies and chocolate Nutcrackers.

Belly Shot

Alright, so here is a picture of me at 16 weeks. As you can see, my belly is already REALLY showing! I am definitely a lot bigger than I was with Addy. I ran across a picture of myself pregnant with Addy at 20 weeks, and I was smaller than this. My only saving grace is that I still haven't gained any weight (I had already gained at least 7lbs with Addy at this point), but I know that will probably change very soon!

Rains 4th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Our BIG party was on Saturday and it was a blast! We probably had more people than we've ever had, 13 couples. Almost everyone wore a sweater, with the exception of 2 people. This year everyone went above and beyond. The sweaters were tackier than they've ever been. Almost all of the guys walked in the party thinking they had the worst sweater, only to see the next guy look worse! These pictures don't do the sweaters justice! I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get an entire group shot. We were having too much fun! The White Elephant gift exchange was a hit too!

Jeff decided he would wear his sweater one more time. It was retired and given as a white elephant gift. In case you can't tell, those are shoulderpads on my sweater! Borrowed from my 80 year old friend. 

Tom, the big winner! This sweater was hideous. You can't tell here, but those are actual lights on the sweater that light up and play music when he hit the battery operated box in his pocket. The chest hair helped him out too. 
These 3 lovely ladies showed up with the same sweater!
A nice shot of some of the gang. 

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday we took Addy to have breakfast with Santa. The Junior Women's Club of Williamsburg put on this nice event where the 3 of us had breakfast and Addy was able to get quality time with Santa. Our ticket also bought us a picture from a photographer here in Williamsburg that is awesome. The kids were entertained with a craft, stories read by teenage elves, and a story from Santa himself. Addy thinks Santa is pretty awesome, luckily she's never gone through the phase of being scared of him!

Here is our photo. The one on facebook is better because it was uploaded by the photographer. This one is just a picture of the picture that Jeff took.

Addy telling Santa she wants princess panties, a lollipop, and a Cinderella Toy.

Story time from Santa

Story time from one of the elves

Addy giving Santa a big hug!

We're having a............

BOY!!! We weren't supposed to find out until January. I went to a regular check-up on Thursday to get a heart rate and do a quad screen test. The ultrasound tech called me back (which I already thought was weird). She then says to me, "Weren't you just here a month ago? I wonder why they have you scheduled." Long story short, she decides that since I am in the room she should just take a look at the baby (at this point I am doing everything possible to go along with it!) We see the heart rate, limbs, everything looks great. I ask her, by any chance can you tell what the sex is? She asked me if I wanted to know, and I told her I did but my husband wasn't with me so I ask if she could write it down. She tells me to turn my head, and than tells me that she definitely knows what it is. She had me thinking it was a girl (which I already thought anyway). She sealed it in an envelope and off I went! It took a lot of willpower to avoid opening the envelope. I finally got a hold of Jeff and he came home for lunch to look at it with me!

We were both really shocked. I thought it was a girl, apparently I'm really bad at guessing what I'm having :) Jeff and I talked about names for a boy a few months back, but decided the conversation was going no where so we stopped. We sort of re-visited the conversation last night, and it didn't go anywhere again. Jeff claimed he tried looking for boy names last night, but stopped after a he didn't like any of the first few HUNDRED!! See what I have to deal with? I like traditional names, he doesn't like those or anything trendy. So that leaves us with very few options. I guess we have some time. So we will let you know when we come up with something, but I doubt it will happen any time in the near future. Addy has said she wants a baby sister, but is excited for any baby. She has been telling me for over a week that she would like to name the baby boy Jesus. We crack up! I have been meaning to post a picture of my preggo belly, that is way bigger than it was with Addy. Hopefully I'll get it up this weekend!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

So I finally posted some of our Christmas decorations. It's taken me awhile, but we've been soooo busy. We finished them the weekend of Thanksgiving, but I keep adding a changing things around the house. We're gearing up for our BIG 4th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this Saturday, so I want everything to look great. Addy LOVES everything Christmas this year. She is really enjoying the Nativity Scene and learning about Jesus. She sleeps with a Jesus momento every night, wants to read about Jesus in her books, and frequently takes him away from her manger (see below in her Nativity Scene). The teachers were very impressed when they pulled out the Nativity Scene last week to teach the kids about the story when Addy shouted out who everyone was (Joseph, Mary, Wise Men, Sheep, Donkey, Baby Jesus, etc). They thought it was cute that she even told all of the kids that the Wise Men brought presents to Jesus when he was born. She really loves the tree in her room. Most nights we leave the lights on because she won't let us turn them off!

The advent calendar. Every morning Addy asks for her treat, and I have to hide them until we're ready for the new day.

Her Christmas tree. The ornaments are very girlie, and she thinks it's a princess tree. 

Her favorite decoration. Baby Jesus sometimes ends up in odd places :) We have an "adult" Nativity scene that she knows she can't touch.

Christmas birthday party

Our little friend Georgie (Addy refers to him as Baby Geez) just had his first birthday yesterday. The threw him this very fun Christmas themed birthday party. All of the kids went on a scavenger hunt outside to find Christmas candy, they decorated stockings, and wore cute reindeer hats instead of birthday hats. We had a blast! Our friend Maria bought her 4 kids, her 2 nephews, and Addy these adorable snowman shirts that all have different designs. They all looked so cute coordinating together!

Addy jumping through leaves

I tried to get a good picture with Paige since they have the same shirt, but that proved to be a little difficult

Cake time! All the kids loved the Santas all over the cake!

Christmas Tree Farm

We went back to the same lovely Christmas Tree farm that we went to last year to get a tree. We went the morning after Thanksgiving-- last year we went 2 days after Thanksgiving and it was already slim pickins!! We think we hit the right day this time around, and there were plenty of great trees to choose from. We love this tree farm! So much better than getting a tree at Home Depot that's been cut down in September. These trees are beautiful and could last months in our house (I only wish it was acceptable to keep a Christmas Tree until Spring!). Plus, we still pay less than $50. We've finally finished the last of the decorations tonight. It takes us the entire Thanksgiving weekend to get everything together! I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

Addy had a great time picking a tree this year. She wanted a little one, but we assured her she has a little one that will be in her room at home!

The tree we picked

Addy inspecting the guy as he cuts it down

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are so blessed to have such awesome friends that invited us over for a delicious feast. We enjoyed turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, corn pudding, salad, cornbread, chocolate cake, cheesecake, pumpkin pie, bread pudding, and maybe even more. Our friends, the Kokolis family, put on such a great Thanksgiving filled with great company. We have no pictures of the event because the camera battery died, so this one of Addy right before bedtime will have to do! Addy had a blast playing with all of her friends, and enjoyed too many treats. Today, we are thankful for so many things in our lives. God has truly blessed us in countless ways and we are so thankful to him!

Thanksgiving festivities

When I picked up Addy from school today, she was wearing this very festive feather Indian crown (she called it her princess crown). We also received a bunch of artwork the kids had worked on over the past week or two. Lots of hand turkeys, leaf paintings, pumpkins, and she even told me they learned about cornucopias today. They will have a Thanksgiving celebration next week at school, and I'm so excited to get to watch their festivities!

We played in the leaves after nap, a little dark outside-- but still fun. 

Gorgeous Flowers

Harris Teeter recently opened a few weeks ago, and it's right outside the gate of our neighborhood! This is such a nice treat for us because we were driving about 15 minutes to get to the nearest grocery store before it opened. I was very happy to see the beautiful selection of fresh flowers! We had a dinner party last weekend, and I spent about $30 on all of these gorgeous flowers! These were bought almost a week ago and they still look good! I had some of them arranged in vases with gourds, but those pictures didn't come out as well...

Big Sister

We thought it would be a great time to tell everyone that Addy is going to be a big sister! I am 10 weeks pregnant and due on June 3rd. We had our first ultrasound today and everything was perfect. Baby #2 is healthy and was doing backflips for mommy and daddy. Heartbeat was a healthy 161. The baby was also measuring big, and they are considering moving my due date up to the end of May but will wait until the 20 week ultrasound to decide. We are definitely finding out the sex, but have to wait until January! This pregnancy has been very smooth and I have felt great the entire time. It has even been easier than my pregnancy with Addy. We have been very grateful!! We'll be sure to post pregnancy pictures. I already look at least 20 weeks pregnant and started to show so much earlier than the first time. 

Trick or Treat!

Halloween was definitely a big hit this year. Addy loved trick or treating, loved eating her candy, and had so much fun at all the festivities! We started off at our friend's the Zola's house where we all ate pizza and food. We then went down a few streets trick or treating, and then off to the neighborhood party at the plantation. They had a big bonfire with cookies, cider, and more sugar than any kid needed. They also had a costume contest for all ages-- we were a little late to enter Addy into the 2 year old age group (hopefully next year!). We had a great night!

The cutest Minnie Mouse!

Enjoying dinner with friends

Hannah, Grace, and Addy posing before trick or treating

Off to get some candy!

Surry Pumpkin Patch

I finally took Addy to a pumpkin patch this morning. We've been wanting to go for awhile, but our weekends have been so busy that we haven't had any time! It was really neat because we took the ferry from Jamestown and went across the river to Surry. She loved riding on the Ferry! The weather was perfect too. As you can see, there weren't many pumpkins left but we already had some at home. We also walked through the corn maze which took quite awhile with a toddler in tow who insisted on picking up corn and rocks. We did have a nice time, and at the end of the corn maze I bought Addy some homeade pumpkin ice cream that she devoured! She wasn't necessarily in the best picture taking mood. It was quite a challenge to get her to even look at me!