buddies back together

the clays were back in town for the holidays, and we were able to get the boys back together!

graham was very excited to see liam!!  we went to the park to burn a little energy....

...and then we met up at a friends house for some post-christmas fun!

it's christmas!

WOAH, santa ate all the cookies and the reindeer at all the celery!

and santa must have a memory like an elephant.  everything in graham's stocking was.....BATMAN!

someone brought in the loot!  spiderman, batman, ironman, hulk, monsters, and....a view finder!!!  those were some of the hot items this morning as we were unwrapping.  

and then an attempt at some family photos!

we had such a great time. and again, i realized that i didn't snap a photo while grammie and bruce were at our house.  i think we were too busy stuffing our face with sticky buns and hotdog pie!  

merry christmas!

christmas eve

we traditionally have lasagna for dinner on christmas eve, but um yeah, kind of ran out of time.  so we had spaghetti instead.  close enough right!  once we finished up eating dinner, it was time to decorate cookies for santa!

wow...so we figured out that the sprinkles come out REALLY fast!  :)  after that disaster we stuck to frosting in a can and getting the reindeer's celery and peanut butter made.  on christmas eve, wink's elf magic can be lifted and graham was able to hold him, give him a hug and a kiss.  he was SO EXCITED!  all he's wanted to do since thanksgiving was to touch wink! 

so we got our plate of cookies and celery ready.  put out a glass of milk.  and sat wink next to everything so santa would know where to go for a quick snack.  we hung our santa key on the front door so he would be able to get into the house and bring presents, and then headed up to bed.  looks like wink had one last trick up his sleeve!!  a little elf boobie trap!

and a special....

...merry christmas eve from the sanners!!!

29 weeks

so the last visit i had at the doctors i had gained another two pounds.  not bad!  so far, for 29 weeks i've only gained 11 pounds.  much less than i did so far with graham, but still feeling like i have more of a basketball sticking out in front!  

my skin is much tighter around my belly, and yes...i've seen the dreaded first stretch mark.  booo!  but honestly, with how much she's sticking out, it doesn't surprise me.  interestingly enough though, i had stretch marks below my belly button with graham, and with hannah they're on the top of my belly button.  also, this time around my belly button has started to pop, which didn't happen before.  

i'm starting to get tired a little faster, but prepping for the holidays probably isn't helping things.

i still have my weekly saturday morning regular coffee, but during the week i have been addicted to decaf black tea with honey and milk.  

graham will tell you that i have a baby in my tummy and her name is hannah, but still not sure how much he really comprehends it.

she is still a kicker!  when dr. foster was listening to her heartbeat at my last appointment, she decided to kick right under his hand.  took him a little by surprise!

santa

after a previous failed attempt to seeing santa....the line was RIDICULOUSLY long the first time we went...and seeing as i had today off, i picked up graham early from school to go see santa.  phew, and i'm glad we got there when we did.  we were the second to last people in line before they cut it off for santa's hour long break!  it took us an hour, but it was well worth the wait.

graham was getting a little antsy towards the end, but when it was our turn to go see santa he got right up in santa's lap.  got our picture taken, and then graham and santa had a little side discussion.  it was too cute!  he was so happy afterwards.  the magic of christmas is alive and well and i'm LOVING it!

so what did he ask santa for christmas you ask?

batman!!!

well hello there

got a little face to ultrasound time with hannah this morning.

just like her brother before he was born, she likes to have her hands in front of her face when getting her picture taken!  we were able to get a couple good shots though.

in the top photo she has her hand right near her mouth.  and in the bottom right photo she is opening her mouth.

oh....and at the end of visit they let me know how well she's been growing.  maybe a little too well!  it seems that little miss is 2 weeks ahead of schedule, at a whopping 3 pounds 1 ounce already!  oi vey!  of course when i asked the ultrasound tech if that would change my due date....nope.  

so we'll see...maybe our little march baby will be a february baby?!

hinge holidays

we had a good 'ol fashioned ho ho homicide hinge holiday party! (aka a north pole murder mystery party)  here are a few of our mug shots.

us reindeer have to stick together!!!

love my hinges!!

a birthday!

happy birthday daddy!!

graham: "look mommy....wink brought daddy's birthday!!!!"

me: "yes, yes he did graham!"

we love you so much daddy and hope that you have a wonderful day.

enjoy the last year of your thirties!  ;)

wink shenanigans continue

that wink sure is a trickster!!

taking marshmallow bubble baths, sending hello greetings and bringing our christmas stockings!!

he is definitely bringing the christmas spirit to our house.

every morning graham is looking to see what wink got into.

i love it!

oh...and i'd like to say that wink is almost famous!  he made it onto the redskins flagrunners facebook photo page!  graham was pretty excited!

snow day!

it worked!!!!!

we have snow!!!!

graham and mojo decided to snuggle on the couch and stay warm for a bit.

then we headed outside for a little fun in the snow.  it was the perfect amount for little boys!

snow wishing!!

they're calling for snow.....

...maybe wink will bring some tonight!!!

27 weeks

i head to the doctors on thursday, so no update on weight gain.  however, when i was at the doctor yesterday (with a sinus infection), it looked like i was at the same weight as last month.  so we'll see!

i feel like i'm getting bigger, faster this time around though. but opposite to the old wives tale, i feel like i'm carrying much more in front with little miss.  i look back at when i was pregnant with graham (http://katiesanner.blogspot.com/2010/08/7-days-7-nights7-months.html), and i feel much less....wide!

she is still quite the little acrobat.  not only can i feel her jumping and kicking, but i've also started feeling her simply shifting around.  i like being able to watch her do that too.  i'll lift my shirt on the couch and just watch the show for awhile.

and for the BIG news....we have a name for little miss....

Hannah Kathryn

...we can't wait to meet you soon!

up to no good

wink has been one silly little elf lately!

he's baaaaaaack!

wink has made his triumphant return!!!

he must have heard us saying how our tree topper was too heavy for this tree, so he hopped up there himself!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

i'm so excited for this christmas.  graham is old enough that he finally, somewhat, gets what christmas is all about.  normally we get a real tree, but i'm usually the one in charge of lighting, decorating, watering and taking down.  wasn't feeling it this year with little miss and all.  so we got a pre-lit one that is PERFECT!  the perfect size for little people to help mommy decorate!!  i'm so happy to have a helper this year!

he did a really good job helping at that too!  somewhat heavily concentrated ornaments in one spot (see top right photo), but we were able to disperse them when he wasn't looking.  :)  he definitely had a technique of his own though.  instead of hanging the ornaments on an actual branch, he would look for a light and hang the string on that.  too funny!

the tree turned out great, and someone loves helping me plug the tree in!

christmas is coming!!!

give thanks

grammie was oh so gracious and hosted thanksgiving at her house this year.  and what a fun time we all had!

we did a little exploring outside with mojo.

attempted some KEY-YUTE finger painted cards with grammie (we only got one done before graham became uninterested).

played a little piano and guitar.

caught up with the fam: grammie, bruce, kim, sam, justina and garrett.

and most importantly.....ATE!  :)

and oh my...for dessert we had three, yes three, different kinds of pies.  so of course i had to try all of them!  they were all delicious, along with dinner of course.

i'm so thankful to have this special time with our family.

25 weeks

well, gained another two pounds since last month.  not too shabby! (especially with halloween candy being consumed over the past month!)

the doctor is very happy with how i'm progressing.  crazy to think i'll start going to the doctor every two weeks soon!  how time flies!

the ultrasound doctor hasn't moved my due date, but let's say with recent measurements...i'm not so positive if i'll make it to my due date!

 she's still a little busy body in my tummy though.  especially after that tasty lime/mint sparkling water i'm in love with.  so much that grady has now felt her kick and graham has SEEN her kick in my belly!  i didn't even have to ask graham if he saw her.  he pointed to my belly and was like....was that it!

i'll often times have graham say good morning to the baby and i love you.  i will permanently burn the image into my brain when he was saying good morning to little miss, lifted my shirt a bit, and kissed my belly.  he truly is a sweet sweet little boy.

old and new

someone has started to become very attached to his bears!  

what makes me so happy is how dink, my bear when i was little, loves to cuddle with the dude and his panda! usually black bear makes a cuddle appearance as well...just so happened he was left in bed for this shot.

playing around

we're taking advantage of the unusually pleasant november weather.

haircut and dinosaur playground here we come!

playoffs

no, not NFL...flag football!  :)

croistoir's team, the chargers, started their playoffs this morning at 10am.  the weather was beautiful, so we headed down to algonkian park to cheer him on.  we were a couple minutes late, but even when we got there, the chargers were up!  and it wasn't long that we were there when who receives the ball and runs right by us for a touchdown....criostoir!!!  chargers win the game and go to game two.

(even though graham did some cheering for criostoir, the tall grass was just too enticing!)

chargers win game to and head to the finals!!!

we weren't able to get to the final game since graham was wiped from playing at the other two games and taking a nap.  but when we heard from colleen, it was a close game, but unfortunately the chargers lost the final game.  bummer.

but the good news out of all of it....criostoir got MVP for his team for scoring FIVE, yes FIVE touchdowns!!!  pretty proud of him.

this is halloween

a little nightmare before christmas for you!

and then some spooky silly fun!  somebody was beyond THRILLED to be sully for halloween this year!!

the remaining members of the bad boys club ended up going trick-or-treating together.  they had a great time!  graham was a little hesitant at first, but i think when he realized what happened when they knocked on a door....he was VERY into it!  we were also very good about saying thank you to everyone.  the three boys were quite the hit with everyone too.

and yes...even mommy dressed up this year....a baby mummy tummy!

blanket buddies

you have a blanket?  you have mojo!

open up and say ahhhhhh!

today was our very first visit to the dentist.  and man, have children's dentist offices changed since i was little!  this place has an air hockey table, 4 video game consoles, a movie amphitheater, tree house play area, parent waiting lounge and tv's at each patient chair.  craziness!

the first words out of graham's mouth when we walked in the door.....'woah!'  

he was so good too, momma was very proud.  he let the assistant clean his teeth, floss his teeth, take images of his teeth as well as xrays!  he got to pick out what he watched on his tv, and went with diego.  and of course, it was a dinosaur episode!!  perfect!  he was so good he got to pick out three prizes at he end of his visit too.  and a special treat each child gets when they leave is a big bouncy ball they get out of one of the big gumball machine looking things.  he was so excited!  

bad news though...i had noticed a spot on one of his back molars, and it was worse than i expected.  poor dude has to go back in next week for a pulpotomy as well as a repeat frenulectomy on both his tongue and upper lip.  and i'm freaking out because he's going to have to go under iv sedation.  :(  i know he'll be fine, but i feel like such a failure that he has to go through all of this.  

the words he said to me tonight....'mommy, i have to brush my teeth so i can go back to the dentist tomorrow!'  oh buddy, little do you know.  hopefully this next visit won't make him scared to go to the dentist since he had such a positive visit today.

21 weeks

yup....even bigger!

energy has pretty much come back, and i'm enjoying not feeling like a walking zombie

in addition to being addicted to lime mint sparkling water, i've also been craving red grapes

little miss is ACTIVE!  especially right after i've eaten dinner or drink a lot.

i feel like she's sitting a lower than graham was during this time

only gained 2 pounds so far...so i'm pretty darn happy with that!

apparently when we had our last ultrasound, little miss was measuring 6 days larger than expected.  no, that doesn't mean my due date will be moved up...just means she might be bigger than graham!

i've packed away all my normal clothes and have switched the closet to all maternity clothes

blood pressure was so good at my last doctors appointment, that now i'm down to taking my medicine just once a day instead of twice.  YEAH!!

chalk it up

just a little sidewalk chalkin'

the big reveal

that's right folks....we're thinking pink!  :)

i was convinced we were having another boy, grady kept calling the baby a she, and my doctor guessed it was a girl.  well...guess i was wrong this time!

we're so excited and we can't wait to meet you little miss!

little man!

rise and shine birthday boy!!!!

how has it been three years already?!

three wonderful years at that!

every year so far when i wake up on the morning of 10/22 i recount all the events that happened early in the morning into the early afternoon.  it truly is amazing how these little miracles change your life forever.  it's to the point now where i can't remember life without him!  we love you dude!

here's what you've been up to:

height: 35"

weight: 35 lbs

most nights sleeps about 10 hours and a usually takes a 2-3 hour nap

moved into a big boy bed with no rails and has yet to fall out!

fully potty trained during the day (YEAH!!!!) and pull-ups at naptime and bedtime

still totally into dinosaurs and can even say several of the really hard names

is one of the most animated little boys i've met. something tells me you might have a future in comedy!

got strep for the first time

went to the movie theater for the first time

went camping for the first time

is more of a quiet, solo player and will often spend an hour or so playing with play-doh, blocks, dinosaurs, or other action figures

loves watching movies and playing games on 'his' ipad (no...it's really mommy's ipad!)

it's very common for graham to walk into a room with all or part of a costume and want to dress up (usually a superhero costume of sorts)

likes to help vacuum with mommy

likes to help make english muffin pizzas and eat a handful of cheese

Nicknames: dude, buddy, graham-bo
Favorite color: green
Favorite animal: elephant
Favorite book: no no no
Favorite TV show: madagscar
Favorite movie: madagascar
Favorite song: ho hey
Favorite food: chicken nuggets
Favorite drink: milk
Favorite breakfast: didn't answer
Favorite lunch: dinosaur nuggets
Favorite game: sword fighting game (on the wii)
Favorite sport: didn't answer
Favorite toy: captain america
Who is your best friend: grana
What is your favorite thing to do: play
What is your favorite thing to do outside: play cars
What is your favorite holiday: yeah
What do you take to bed with you at night: sully
Where is your favorite place to go: to the park
What is your favorite restaurant: chicken nuggets and the playground (chick-fil-a)
Where do you want to go on vacation: despicable me
What do you want to be when you grow up: i don't want to grow up
What did you do on your birthday: saturday before we went to chuck-e-cheeses with bella, criostoir, miss colleen, mister cormac and grammie.  sunday we went to a puppet show with grammie, mister bruce and garrett.  on your actual birthday you went to school and then we went to chick-fil-a for dinner, played on the playground and had ice cream!

birthday celebration part II

we headed out west this morning to go to grammie's house.  she's scoped out a puppet show that we'll be going to for graham's birthday (part II).  we got there a little early, so we walked around, played a little croquet and got some plain 'ol energy out.

then it was time for us to head to downtown martinsburg to the wonderland puppet show theater.  the show of the day was the three billy goats gruff.  it was a pretty cute place.  puppets everywhere and little ones for the kids to play with.  when the show started graham even got a special birthday serenade from a puppet doggie, he loved it! (again...he's liking the attention his birthday gets him this year so far!)

we were a little squirmy through the show, but once i got him on my lap he seemed to calm down.  we watched the show and then took some photos with the puppeteer himself and two of the billy goats.  we even got grady in on the action (oh how he loved that!).  :)  

first puppet show was a success.  thanks grammie!

birthday celebration part I

today we celebrated the dude's birthday with the murray's and grammie.  we did things a little differently this year and decided to head out to chuck-e-cheeses for the festivities.  the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and graham LOVED having everyone sing to him for his birthday!  

we ate some pizza, played lots of games and ate some cake.  we picked up a whistle, curvy straw and a bracelet using the tickets won from all the games we played.  

good time had by all!

happy (early) birthday dude!

we're grabbing our hats...

...and wishing grampa a texas-sized birthday!!!

18 weeks

getting a little bit bigger

definitely wearing mostly maternity clothes now

energy has somewhat come back...but only to a point since i'm also chasing the dude

appetite has come back for the most part.  although i'm still not 'eating for two!' mostly sticking to smaller meals more frequently.

latest addiction...lime and mint sparkling water!!!

feeling little movements, nothing on the outside yet.

feeling like it's another boy....but we'll see in 2 weeks!

special delivery...

...from the mouse himself!!

graham was awestruck from receiving a postcard signed by mickey mouse!  he wouldn't put it down!

thanks cousin olivia and mason for thinking of graham on your disney vacation!

Ryder's first!!!

today we headed to cox's farms for ryder's first birthday party!

of course graham fell asleep on the way to the party, but we got him to wake up a little while after getting there.  luckily!  he had an AMAZING time.  

the dinoslide was the main attraction for him!  daddy stood in line with him and took him down the slide.  he wanted to do it again, but the line was even longer than before.  so we took him around to the rest of the park.  

we saw some cows, walked through the stands in front of the milking stage, played in the hay and played in some kid-sized eggs!

happy birthday ryder!!!  i can't believe it's been a whole year already!

16 weeks

first sightings of a bump!

and i know it's not just me 'letting myself go' since i've lost 4 pounds since i found out i was pregnant!  nothing to worry about, i'm positive i'll gain it back soon.  :)

i'm feeling good so far.  

still no morning sickness (YEAH!). although sometimes my stomach feels a little off, but all i have to do is drink some water and it seems to go away.

and not having an appetite really could be a reason i've lost 4 pounds too.  

feeling exhausted still all day long.  but as my doctor said...since i'm chasing a toddler as well there's only so much 'rest' i can get.  just been trying not to overdue it.

still wearing my normal clothes, although some of them are getting a little snug.

blood pressure seems to be good this time around. probably because i've been maintaining it before i got pregnant!  novel concept.  ;)

only slight craving i have so far is for fruit.  guess it could be worse!

miss keigan

aunt star (now known as aunt bacon) and keigan came up for the weekend!!!  and grammie also came on friday night to have one big sleepover!  it was too cute, when graham woke up on saturday morning his first words were "can i go downstairs and play with my best friend?!"  he LOVES keigan!

he showed her how to aqua doodle and gave a gentle kiss.

then we had some cute moments from miss keigan that i had to capture.  i think aunt bacon might need to invest in a doorway jumper as she seemed to really like it!

graham shared his woody doll (like i said...he REALLY likes keigan!  he would have to to share that doll with her!)

oh, and keigan LOVED miss mojo!  mojo let keigan pet her and keigan let mojo kiss her.  best friends for life!

only one thing that will be a challenge when our new one arrives.  graham didn't want keigan to nap at all.  luckily keigan was just hanging out for a couple minutes when i took these pictures, but graham was always excited to get in the pack and play with her. 

we had so much fun visiting with everyone, but we're going to have one sad boy when everyone leaves!

iphone photos

apparently i forgot to send myself a few awesome iphone photos from when grana and grampa were here!

love all of these!

oh rudy

apparently he just wanted to play blocks with graham!

:)