While we were waiting

Goodness, at the rate I'm going it's going to be Spring Break before I finish writing about Christmas.  Sheesh.  I usually have to upload pics. and then a few hours (or days) later I finally get to write.  

Okay, so here's a little snapshot of November, which was the longest month EVER.  The last month of pregnancy always is.  It's like waiting for a bomb to drop.  Labor could start any second.  And the closer you get to your due date the higher the suspense.  I started feeling like everyone was sitting waiting for me to explode!  Every time I took a weird breath Chris looked at me inquisitively.  I kept having to reassure him I wasn't in labor!  

Anyway, first of all, we had snakes in our house.  This first one was in October.  

Then in November we had this guy.  I'm not very squeamish.  I didn't even scream when I saw either snake, but I do prefer wildlife to stay out of my bedroom.  This second one tried to escape by burrowing into the rug where we couldn't see him.  That did freak me out a little bit.  I was afraid he'd be loose in our room and we'd never find him (shudder).  Thankfully we found him in about 5 minutes.  Yuck. 

Some sweet friends of mine threw me a baby shower.  I was very touched.  Especially considering this was my third son in 5 years, but every baby needs diapers!  It was a fun shower and this cake my friend Ginny made was amazing!

Chris and I went to a charity event with his company.  There's nothing like shoving your swollen feet into heels and walking around with a bunch of business professionals while you're 37 weeks pregnant to make ya feel super cute, not.  

Madison was in the Veteran's Day parade with her girl scout troop.  We went to cheer her on.

Such a cute brownie.

Colton and I enjoyed some fun times together.  He wins the prize for being my most easy-going buddy.  He's super fun to take places and is usually content to just hang out in the cart etc.  One day he declared it "ga-jama" day and he went to the store in this ensemble. 

Madison continues to wow me with how helpful she really can be.  One night we were having friends over for dinner and I had her make the muffins.  She did the whole thing herself.  Granted, it was just a Jiffy mix, but it was still very helpful!  

I made a new carseat canopy for the baby.  I wanted a warm, thick one for winter.  I lined it with minky fabric.  I've loved it!

We spent more time playing outside.  One day Jaxon decided to try riding two scooters at once.  He's such a funny kid.  

We decorated for Christmas.  Colton, of course, found all the car/plane/boat ornaments and lined them up!

We visited Jaxon at school for lunch!  These two are best buddies (when they aren't fighting).  Colton loves to go visit the big kids!

Every week during Madi's piano lesson I take the boys to the park down the street.  One day Jaxon found this massive leaf and wanted me to take a picture.  I have to admit it's a pretty cool leaf.

Jaxon had his Thanksgiving feat program at school.  

Colton and I walk to pick the kids up from school most days.  One day it was raining.  Thankfully Colton had a nice dry place to hide under the stroller canopy.  Poor kid.  He doesn't really love going to pick up the kids because I usually have to wake him up from his nap.  

Thanksgiving came.  I was still pregnant.  I spent the week on my feet cooking up a storm, trying to go into labor.  Madison helped me with the pies!

Colton helped with rolls.  He obviously enjoyed using the rolling pin!

Thanksgiving day we made marshmallow/apple turkeys and watched the Macy's parade.  Chris smoked a wonderful turkey.  

Aunt Danielle, Trevor, and Milo joined us for Thanksgiving break.  They were supposed to watch the kids while we were at the hospital.  Obviously that didn't happen, but we always have fun with them here!  And it was a nice distraction to have company when nothing else was happening.

The day after Thanksgiving we went bowling.  Have you ever seen a 9 month pregnant woman bowl? I'm sure it was quite hilarious.  The kids had fun, though!  We also went to see Frozen, which was super cute!  

Then Danielle and Trevor left so Trevor could go back to school.  Sunday morning Danielle left and Sunday afternoon Grandma Wise came.  At this point I was about ready to lose it.  The first shift of "help" had already come and gone.  All my patience and positive feelings and ideas to keep busy were gone.  I hadn't had one darn contraction.  Everyone on the planet had advice for how to get me into labor.  I had tried pretty much everything--including jumping on the trampoline--and I was still pregnant.  I was starting to wonder if I would be pregnant for eternity.  I've already posted about how it all worked out.   I'm just very thankful I didn't have to wait long!